༺ Central Research Institute (8) ༻
A loud bang echoed through the Central Research Institute.
With it, I was sent hurtling through the desks, crashing into the wall.
The impact was so great that had the wall been made of ordinary concrete, it would have turned into rubble, crumbling to the ground. But being made of an Object, the outer wall of the research institute, remained unscathed, without a single blemish.
The Hungry Ghost, having flung me aside with its tentacles, flicked its large tongue and scanned the area for other prey.
Drool dripped from its gaping mouth, sticky mucus oozing from its pores, and countless tentacles sprouting from its body. It was an Object with an unappealing appearance, yet I mustered the strength to rise up and rush towards it again.
It was a wrestling match with a difference in weight class by approximately a hundred times.
Still, I had no choice but to charge forward.
After all, It’s a monster I had brought out, so it was my responsibility to stop it.
If I were to run away irresponsibly, the employees trapped in the lab would die an unfair death.
Try as I might, I couldn’t understand the death conditions of the Hungry Ghost.
Since I couldn’t kill it, I decided to try neutralizing it. Though it wasn’t a method that I particularly preferred.
If all of those tentacles were cut off, wouldn’t it be similar to being dead?
***
Normally, this place was a hellish workplace filled with life-threatening dangers. However, compared to the hell that was the current situation, it was practically heaven.
The Hungry Ghost roamed, preying upon the people, while the Gray Reaper relentlessly attacked the Hungry Ghost.
Because of that, the locked Central Research Institute turned into a battlefield.
All the high-ranking people in the command chain suddenly disappeared, while the Hungry Ghost, an Object only ever seen in documentaries about the event from thirty years ago, appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
When I was running away from the Hungry Ghost, it was the Gray Reaper, an Object as infamous as the Hungry Ghost, who came to my rescue.
It was a clash between the most famous and dangerous Object from three decades ago and the most famous and dangerous Object of the present.
The Gray reaper gallantly rushed forward, yet it was still sent flying away helplessly.
Was the Gray Reaper not enough to kill the Hungry Ghost? As I thought so, the Gray Reaper jumped up and rushed at the Hungry Ghost again.
It did that again, again, and again.
It looked as if it were fighting in order to save us.
Despite knowing it shouldn’t be the case, the situation made me feel that way.
The Gray Reaper lunged at it, got thrown away, and lunged again, repeating the process endlessly.
The Gray Reaper’s one-sided beating continued, with no end in sight.
Just as everyone began to resign themselves to their fate, something unexpected happened.
The tables turned abruptly on the Gray Reaper’s one-sided thrashing.
In the midst of yet another charge towards the Hungry Ghost, a resounding crack filled the air, accompanied by the painful screams of the Hungry Ghost.
It was as if it had been hit by a bomb. The Hungry Ghost’s large eyes exploded, causing green blood to flow incessantly from its wounds.
How?
Though the Gray Reaper’s left arm was missing from the elbow down, Its hand was slowly regenerating as the severed area burned with yellow flames.
Those who saw this scene found a flicker of hope reignite within them.
We all wished for the seemingly less dangerous Gray Reaper to come out on top.
***
The method I used just now was a combination of several abilities.
Phantom form, physical immunity, and regeneration. A combination of those three Object abilities.
Objects with phantom form had the ability to superpose their bodies with those of others, enabling them to use dangerous techniques.
It was very simple.
While in phantom form, they had to superpose their bodies with their target’s before releasing the technique.
The drawback was, the bodies of the assailant and the victim would become intertwined and both parties would suffer fatal injuries.
In fact, among the Objects that had the phantom form, there were vicious guys who repeatedly used this technique.
However, when physical immunity was added to the equation, the dynamics changed.
An Object with physical immunity would be able to inflict damage on the other party without taking any damage at all.
It was a method often used when cutting iron bars.
However, it wasn’t commonly used against other Objects.
Why? Because if the other party remained physically intact, both would be destroyed!
In such cases, the crucial element was the ability to regenerate.
Though the process might be painful, if the damage could be repaired after it’s destroyed, it would still be a net gain.
No, I take that back. It hurts a lot! So I really hope I don’t have to use the technique often.
The pulsating flame inside my chest burned fiercely and regenerated my lost body parts.
The good news was that there were many people watching the fight between the Hungry Ghost and me. Their fear and anticipation greatly fueled my flame, causing my wounds to regenerate at an accelerated rate, almost as if time had been rewound.
Simultaneously, I saw the Hungry Ghost shrinking back as if experiencing pain for the first time.
Well, it was only natural. After all, how often would an Object with physical immunity get hurt?
This was likely the first time it had ever felt pain.
But was I not the same? When I first opened my eyes in the Seoul forest, I was always covered in wounds.
Unlike those weak guys who were born with physical immunity, I was an Object that had grown up being hurt and rolling around in the dirt.
The problem was that the Hungry Ghost also possessed a regeneration ability, albeit weaker.
Unless there was a limit to its regenerative ability, complete neutralization would be impossible.
While the Hungry Ghost fought with excitement, I had to quickly think of a way to drive it away or to neutralize it.
Unfortunately, the fight did not progress in a one-sided manner.
That guy must have realized that nothing good would come from just passively continuing to get hit, so it started to retaliate.
It swung its tentacles to push me away or backed off the moment our bodies overlapped.
The stalemate, where both sides struggled to kill each other, suddenly took an unexpected turn.
It happened after I exchanged my left arms for one of the Hungry Ghost’s tentacles.
The creature howled in agony and hit me with its remaining tentacles, sending me flying into the institute’s wall.
Normally, I would have risen from the impact and resumed the sluggish battle by charging at the Hungry Ghost. But this time, I was unable to do so.
‘???’
My body easily passed through the concrete wall, tumbling into the parking lot.
The Research Institute was destroyed! How?
Frantically, I turned my gaze towards the institute, only to realize that it was no longer an Object.
At that moment, the Hungry Ghost burst forth from one side of the Institute, breaking the wall in the process.
The Hungry Ghost’s prolonged shriek seemed to contain its joy of finally being able to breathe in open air for the first time in thirty years.
With newfound confidence, it ran towards me.
Did it perhaps think that the wider space outside would be more advantageous?
***
I handed my cane to the director.
“Sunbae! Is it okay to do this?”
“We have no other choice. Judging by the fact the deputy director escaped in a hurry, it’s clear that the Gray Reaper has appeared. If so, wouldn’t the Hungry Ghost have been released into the institute by now?”
“Huh? Then, aren’t we in danger?”
“That’s why I said we have no other option but to hand over the cane.”
Getting eaten by the Hungry Ghost versus striking a deal with a suspicious object.
Between the two bad choices, I chose the more favorable one—making a deal.
The director struck the floor with the cane I had handed him, similar to how I would activate the cane’s ability, he disappeared from the spot.
My junior stared at me with wide eyes, like a raccoon that had lost its cotton candy after washing it in water.
“Sunbae! Did it run away with the cane? You shouldn’t make a deal with an Object! You got scammed, didn’t you?”
Without responding to my junior’s outburst, I walked straight to the window and tapped it with my finger.
A clear sound of glass resonated as my finger made contact. Unlike before, it was an ordinary glass window.
That meant the research institute was no longer an Object.
“No, the deal went well. Let’s leave. This place is going to turn into a living hell soon.”
I snatched the sledgehammer from my junior’s hand, who happened to be holding the appropriate tool, and swung it towards the window.
If it were the usual Central Research Institute, the hammer would probably bounce off the window as soon as it struck.
But not this time.
Considering the hint given by my monocle, it was a natural result.
[As long as the Object is the director, the Research Institute will remain indestructible.]
Since the director had left using my cane, the Research Institute was now in a vulnerable state.
“Ahh! If you needed to break something with a hammer, you should have asked me to do it! I’m good at it!”
Returning the hammer to my junior who was talking nonsense, I moved in a hurry.
“Follow me. Considering the Objects contained in the Central Research Institute, we need to get away as quickly as possible.”
Time was running out.
The Objects within the institute should have started escaping by now.
Those Objects were vicious Objects that had been sent to the Central Research Institute because they were difficult to contain.
If we didn’t want to get caught up in the chaos of Objects and die, we had to grit our teeth and run away as fast as we could.
As I ran with all my might, the sound of the institute behind me being smashed to pieces filled the air.
“Run!!! If you don’t want to die, run!!”
It was a sound that announced the beginning of a living hell.
