༺ Central Research Institute (1) ༻
Unlike the troubled research institute, the containment room was still enveloped in a calm atmosphere, save for the white noise from the TV.
On the screen, they were talking about how dangerous the Gray Reaper was and how irresponsible it was to entrust such a dangerous Object to a private institute.
According to the words spoken on the TV, I was an Object who could turn Seoul into a sea of fire and lure people to turn them into monsters.
Despite the fact that I had little to do with the recent case, such accusations were still hurled at me.
Thankfully, I was still able to gain something from the recent incident. Though it was not a particularly useful ability, I had obtained one of the abilities of the Steel Pig Statue.
“Reaper, you smell strangely good today.”
Yerin said out of the blue, as she watched TV while holding me in her arms.
“I can’t pinpoint what you smell like though; You just smell good. Did something happen?”
Yerin hugged my head, with a puzzled look on her face.
Unlike the Pig Statue’s ability to bewitch people and drive them mad, the ability I gained had diminished to merely ‘smelling good’. In fact, all the abilities I had were like that—degraded copies of the destroyed object’s abilities.
Apart from my original ability to get hints on how to kill something, the rest came from Objects I had killed.
Both Phantom Form and Physical Immunity were included in such a category.
Those two abilities were already more than enough, so I had no intention of going around to look for Objects and collect their abilities. Moreover, searching for Objects to get their abilities was not fun and just plain annoying.
“Just what on earth has changed? Should I go to the test lab and analyze the components?”
Yerin was still puzzled about the ability I had suddenly gained and was carefully analyzing it. She tried hard to determine the source of the scent and whether it was a real scent or not.
I wouldn’t have minded a simple analyzer on my head. However, when Yerin suddenly licked my scalp trying to taste the scent, I quickly slipped into my phantom form and ran away.
Did she not know that most of the tempting elements that came from Objects were very dangerous?
Yerin’s seemingly endless quest for the scent, in fact, ended with the arrival of Kim Jungrwi, who was searching for Yerin, as she hadn’t returned to work.
As soon as Kim Jungrwi detected the new scent in the containment room, he swiftly turned around and returned with a ventilator.
He put one on himself, entered the containment room, and forced Yerin to put one on as well before dragging her out. He then completely banned her from entering the containment room until the potential dangers of the scent were determined.
Naturally, the ban on entry was lifted as I, as usual, left the containment room in my phantom form and excitedly wandered around the lab.
***
My goal was to live a life of comfort as an Object, free from all worries. These days, however, always seemed to bring some sort of annoyance.
The aftermath of the ‘Seoul Forest Village Fire’ incident did not end as quickly as expected. Protesters, armed with loudspeakers, once again gathered, creating a mess in front of the research institute.
The continuous protests and public pressure dampened the atmosphere of the research institute.
While only a day or two might not do much damage, a prolonged gloomy atmosphere was bound to affect the lively Sehee Research Institute.
It seemed like Sehee Research Institute was trying to keep me at their institute at any cost, but it didn’t seem like a good choice. Rather, in order to resolve this situation quicker, it would be better for them to hand me over to the Central Research Institute, just as the protesters had suggested.
As I could turn into a phantom at will, there was no physical barrier that could confine me. I could just explore the Central Research Institute and return here whenever I get tired of it.
Expressing my intention regarding that was simple. All I had to do was to let Yerin, who thought I had the ability to communicate, know.
“You want to go to the Central Research Institute? Why?”
I pointed at the picture of the Central Research Institute in front of the quick-witted Yerin, and as expected, she understood my intentions. Though, it was a bit surprising to see her look like she was about to cry.
“Really? Are you really going?”
As I bobbed my head resolutely, Yerin slumped down like a wilted cabbage. It took several hugs and pats on the back from me to finally revive her spirit. It was quite difficult to comfort her since I couldn’t speak.
“I see. You want to leave because of all those protests, don’t you? But there’s no need to worry so much. Sehee Research Institute is also a fairly large institute, so we can handle this much!”
However, I had my doubts. I didn’t believe they would be able to endure the situation, especially not Sehee, the director of the research institute.
“Okay… then I’ll tell Sehee Unnie about it…”
Upon hearing the news, Director Sehee called everyone together for an important announcement.
“Let’s have a farewell party!”
With her order, the courtyard was immediately cleared and a simple party hall was arranged. At the party, they seated me in a high seat like a newborn baby.
Because it was a party, I put one of those pointed hats on my head. Yerin, however, probably finding it funny, kept taking pictures of me with her cellphone. Some people even said goodbye to me, even though they thought I wouldn’t understand their words.
And just like that, my final day at Sehee Research Institute passed in a somewhat noisy manner.
***
As the sun began to rise, casting a gentle blue glow over the surroundings, the once noisy Sehee Research Institute was now devoid of protesters.
Members from both the Sehee Research Institute and the Central Research Institute stood around me. The members of the Sehee Institute, clad in light clothing, stood on one side, while the Central Institute members, their bodies covered in reinforced-steel clothing and holding transparent riot shields, stood on the other.
The difference in their outfits were striking, the Central Institute was a little excessive, even for me. However, there was a sense of familiarity in the tense atmosphere.
Now that I thought about it, everyone at the Seoul Research Institute felt that way. This tension came from the fact that death was near them. Of course, there were some differences between what I felt from the members of Central Research Institute and the ones from Seoul Research Institute.
Without warning, several members from the Central Research Institute restrained my neck and all of my limbs tightly with a tool resembling a Sasumata1The sasumata is a pole weapon used by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. and dragged me away. Wasn’t this tool used for capturing wild animals?
I could have easily slipped into my phantom form and escaped, but since I wanted to see the inside of the Central Research Institute, I decided to endure it and follow their lead.
After putting me in a cage made of thick iron bars, they drove the car away from the Sehee Research Institute site.
I could feel the gazes of the employees fixed upon me. In their eyes, I saw a familiar yet different expression.
If the staff at the Seoul Research Institute were afraid and exhausted, these guys were the same but covered it up with hatred instead.
They strangely resembled the terrorists who had killed me in the terrorist attack when I was still a human.
Looking at their stiff expressions, I somehow felt like the tour of the Central Research Institute would be a very boring trip.
Well, if it wasn’t any fun, I could just return quickly.
***
In a certain office at the Central Research Institute.
“What a mess. They call this a report? There’s nothing there! It’s just full of useless nonsense!”
“Still, since it’s an official report, wouldn’t there be at least something useful?”
The deputy director of the National Central Institute For Special Research, who received the report, was seething with anger. The paper he was reviewing was a report sent to him by the Sehee Research Institute, regarding the ‘Gray Reaper’.
Meanwhile, the man, who appeared to be his subordinate, seemed worried. He feared that the deputy director’s anger might be directed at him.
“The classification is also vague. No experiments were done. Are they really doing things this haphazardly after taking financial support from the Government for managing important test specimens?”
Sehee Research Institute’s report was very long and bloated, but it contained almost no information that the National Central Institute For Special Research considered important.
“They didn’t even bother to test whether elimination is possible or not. They only pretended to experiment with the possibility of confinement while not even trying to test for banishment!! The management precautions were also filled with ridiculous details!”
The precautions sent from the Sehee Research Institute only included information about the Gray Reaper’s favorite foods, furniture, and TV programs.
After reading the entire report while holding back his blood pressure from rising, the deputy director concluded.
“There is only one piece of useful information. The Gray Reaper has the ability to turn into a phantom form.”
“Huh? It has a phantom form? Isn’t it prohibited for private labs to handle test subjects that are difficult to contain like phantoms?”
“No, it’s not prohibited per se. It’s just that most of these Objects are sent to the Central Institute because it is the only place that has a containment room capable of containing ghost-like Objects.”
The deputy director took out a small card the size of a business card from his pocket, scribbled his signature on it, and gave instructions to his subordinate.
“As soon as the Gray Reaper arrives, inform the team to bring it to our special research institute. The best way to securely confine an Object is to confine it within another Object.”
As the subordinate left the office with the signed card, the deputy director turned his gaze to the picture frame on his desk.
Within the frame was an old newspaper article.
The eyes of the deputy director gleamed with hatred as he looked at the article.
