NOVEL WEB Ah, this is a dream.
I realized it intuitively.
After returning from Seoul Forest, I had fallen asleep on the comfortable bed at the Sehee Research Institute, and now I was trudging through the rain.
It was a familiar scene.
It was the image of myself from a year ago, walking aimlessly through the rain-soaked forest, gripped by fear.
Even though my body had become physically invulnerable, I was still endlessly plagued by the fear of death, wandering without direction.
Death was approaching.
I wasn't out of breath, but my breathing had become labored.
Even though I had achieved a ghostly state free from physical constraints, I could not escape death.
Unlike the deaths of other Objects, the conditions for my own death were not visible.
I instinctively knew that death was approaching, but I couldn't understand what it was or how to solve it.
The flame the size of a fist that had replaced my heart was now burning smaller than a speck of dust. Was this the intuition unique to Objects?
I had known since the moment I was reborn that if this flame were to disappear, I would die.
But the flame only kept diminishing, never reigniting.
No matter how I tried to feed it or threw myself into the raging fire, there was no change.
Feeling suffocated, as if my insides were burning, I opened my mouth and let the rainwater pour in.
That's when a calm voice reached my ears.
"Oh my, there’s an object passing by. Won't you come and rescue me from here?"
Looking towards the source of the voice, I saw a woman peering at me through the bars.
The owner of the voice was standing there with her arms crossed, calling out to me in a composed tone.
At that moment, I had given up.
Since I was going to die anyway, I might as well help someone before I go.
***
The place, which appeared to be a normal prison, was in fact a sizable Object.
The rescue mission, which seemed like it would be simple, took days, and during the time I spent with the rather rambunctious woman, I was able to forget the fear of death.
But eventually, the long, dungeon-like tunnel did come to an end, and as I reached the end of the dungeon, my own life also reached its end.
While Sehee was reveling in the joy of escape, I slowly prepared for my death.
'At least, I'm dying after saving a life', I thought.
The flame within me had reached its limit.
I waited for the impending death, leaning against the shadows of the gloomy tunnel, watching Sehee joyfully raising her arms in the sunlight.
'Ah, this is truly the end', I thought, when Sehee returned to the tunnel and embraced me, saying,
"Thank you, thank you so much!"
With a slight glimmer of tears in her eyes, Sehee smiled brightly.
In that moment, the flame within me began to burn fiercely.
I couldn't think of anything.
It felt as if a bomb had exploded inside my body.
And that's when I finally understood the flame that was lurking within me.
A flame that burned on the fuel of comedy and tragedy.
The flame of curiosity.
And so, like Sehee, I began to seek out people who could become the kindling for my flame.
It's a memory with a certain significance.
It's a meaningful memory, but it was also incredibly difficult, so if I had to classify it, I would call it a 'nightmare'.
As my vision grew increasingly blurred, I felt someone poking my cheek, and suddenly I found myself back on the comfortable bed at the Research Institute.
***
Sehee POV:
---
I had a nostalgic dream.
I suspect it was because I found myself in a similar situation of escaping.
The situation where Reaper saved me from the brink of death.
In the middle of the night, with the rain pouring down, making it hard to see ahead.
Reaper, with a faint glow like a firefly.
Compared to Reaper's current appearance, the atmosphere was completely different, to the point that it was hard to believe she was the same Object.
There was a lack of curiosity, and Reaper seemed almost indifferent to the surroundings.
The burning glow that is so prominent now was barely visible back then, sometimes even going out.
Still, it was strangely frightening when I first saw it.
The weak but burning glow strangely triggered a sense of fear in me.
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Compared to now, it was a level of light that would be considered child's play, but even then, it had that effect.
I tried to act calm, hiding the trembling in my voice as I spoke to Reaper.
It was almost like a gamble.
A humanoid Object that suddenly appears across the grate.
Even if it's a human-type, there's no guarantee it can understand language.
And even if it can understand, most Objects that can understand humans are deceivers.
I spoke to it with a thought close to gambling.
It was an all-or-nothing situation.
Suddenly, the cave that swallowed me had no exit, and dangerous clay-type Objects were wandering around.
Whether I starved to death or got beaten to death by the clay-types, it was a life-threatening crisis.
In fact, many people died right before my eyes.
Fortunately, Reaper seemed to roughly understand human intentions and was not hostile to humans.
That's how I managed to survive.
At that time, the Reaper kept moving deeper into the cave, even though I should have gone outside. No matter how much I pulled its hand, trying to find a way out near the surface, it remained immovable.
When I was wandering alone, it was a place full of life-threatening crises, but when I was with Reaper, it felt like an escape room attraction. Moreover, Reaper seemed to know exactly what to do, as if it had the solution to the escape room. At first, I thought maybe there was something that communicated between Objects.
We found a key hidden in a box and opened the corresponding door.
Observing Reaper's actions, I realized this was not just a simple cave, but a puzzle-like Object. That's when I understood why Reaper was aiming for the deepest part of the cave.
We had to clear this dungeon to be able to leave.
The moment the long tunnel leading out appeared after we neutralized the infinitely regenerating golem at the very bottom of the cave, the sense of exhilaration was something I could never experience again.
I was so mentally uplifted that I didn't feel the slightest fatigue even as I climbed the endless stairs.
When I was cheering at the exit that had opened up in the middle of the forest, I turned back to see Reaper, who had grown increasingly gloomy, crouching in the corner.
Reaper, who had always been expressionless, now had a small smile on her lips that seemed self-deprecating yet satisfied. For some reason, that smile was so sad that I forgot about my cheering and rushed over to hug Reaper.
At that time, I instinctively expressed my gratitude with all my might. I don't know why, but I felt like I had to do that, even though it couldn't understand human speech.
Maybe influenced by that greeting, Reaper suddenly shone brightly, startling me, and transformed into its current appearance.
A languid expression, but always with curious eyes.
I can never forget the startled expression on Reaper's face at that time.
I never imagined the expressionless Reaper could make such a dramatic expression!
***
??? POV:
---
A clipping from an old newspaper was pinned on the cork board.
[Dozens of casualties after an Object suddenly appeared in Seoul Square, is the management system of the private Research Institute really okay?]
"The 'Abyss' that was rampaging in Seoul Square is still alive? Those idiots at the center are out of their minds?"
In the dark room, the man muttered as he stared at the cork board. Next to him, a small female shadow was constantly writing something in a notebook, clinging to him.
Strangely, the shadow of the woman was there, but her actual form was nowhere to be found in the room.
Underneath the newspaper clipping, there were a lot of handwritten documents, such as a list of employees who had left a certain Research Institute and projections of budget trends.
After briefly scanning the documents, the man let out a long whistle.
"There are too many people leaving, way too many. At this rate, the catchphrase 'The safest National Research Institute with 0 casualties!' will be too suspicious, won't it?"
The suspicious parts were heavily emphasized in red, to the point where the documents looked almost entirely red.
"Ah, this case is too dangerous for my junior to handle, but it's also the role of a senior to silently watch over him until he cries out."
The man chuckled as he turned away from the documents.
The dim light of the gas lamp was not enough to fully illuminate the room, so the silhouette of the figure in front of the cork board was only faintly visible.
"Busy, busy. This time it's a business trip to Seoul Forest where I can't use electronic devices. An analog detective is also good."
The man in a neat suit lit his pipe as he organized the cork board.
"Well then, Watson, I'll be going. Take care."
The faint shadow in the gas lamp's light nodded and then disappeared.
The man in the yellow coat turned off the gas lamp and left the room.
***
After the man left and the gas lamp went out, the lamp began to burn on its own again.
And the blood-stained shadow of a woman reappeared.
The blood-stained shadow of the woman began to paint the walls and bookshelves with a sticky, blood-red liquid.
[Is this Holmes perfect? Perfect? Perfect?]
[Perfect so far].
[No unsolved cases.]
[Aren't you choosing the cases? Choosing the cases? Picking cases?]
[Fortunately, that's not the case.]
With a pop, the lamp went out, and the blood-red inscriptions covering the walls and bookshelves disappeared along with it.