༺ Black Butterfly (4) ༻
A truck with an unusual design entered the heavily guarded parking lot.
On top of the truck, I could see various items with Sanskrit writings.
As the driver’s door swung open, my junior, full of energy, leaped out and ran towards me, shouting loudly.
“Senior! I’m here!!”
“I can hear you perfectly well. No need to shout.”
I chuckled, amused by the sight of my junior who looked the same as usual.
Since I couldn’t find the time to do it, I had left a few tasks to my junior.
Given how little time available to her, she had done an excellent job so far.
As the cargo compartment of the truck swung open, a strong stench of blood permeated the air.
Soon after, a giant of a man walked out, accompanied by heavy footsteps.
It was a man so large to the point they couldn’t possibly fit in any vehicle except the cargo area of such a large truck.
He was almost 3 meters tall.
Surprisingly, even his towering presence was overshadowed by his massive, bulging muscles.
Contrasting his bulky muscles, his face bore the marks of age, deep wrinkles revealing just how old he was.
“Looks like the old man has grown even bigger.”
Clutching a large khakkhara in his right hand, a hefty book in his left, and a Buddhist rosary adorning his neck, he resembled a monk. However, he had no connection whatsoever to Buddhism.
In fact, if someone were to look at the face of the old man, no one would think of him as a monk.
That was because there were giant nails piercing his eyes.
He had personally driven these nails into his own eyes in order to find his daughter.
***
I led the old man to his designated accommodations.
“Please wait here, sir.”
“Understood.”
The old man was one of the key people in my upcoming plans.
In a way, he served as insurance if our search ended in failure.
The Objects he possessed posed a danger to himself whenever he used them, yet he willingly accepted my request.
Perhaps it was because I had helped him find his daughter in the past?
The ‘Book of Foreknowledge’ in the possession of the old man had a simple ability—it could reveal the location of any nearby item.
It was the perfect Object to find items in a limited space like this.
However, using the book came at a great cost. The old man had to drive nails into both of his eyes and endure various other side effects.
That ridiculous size of his was also one of the side effects. It was obvious that it would become fatal down the line.
I’d repeatedly asked him to stop using the book if he wanted to live longer. Unfortunately, the old man just didn’t listen.
Maybe my words were just not persuasive, given that I kept carrying Watson everywhere I went.
The ‘Book of Foreknowledge’ could be considered an Object that was backwards compatible with Watson, but it was necessary to solve this case.
Perhaps if I asked Watson about this case, I would get the answer right away.
However, I had a gut feeling that I shouldn’t ask it a question like this.
‘I should never ask Watson about the way to solve this case.’
Alarm bells were going off in my head.
If I were to ignore this intuition, won’t something terrible happen?
***
After the old man, a steady stream of people arrived at the camp.
Freelancers who traveled around the Seoul Forest to report on Objects and make a living from the bounties, as well as search teams from research institutes who mainly carry out the search work for their institutes, all made their way to the camp.
I reached out for assistance from as many people as my influence could reach.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t call the black suit guy from the Central Research Institute’s investigation team. But I guess it couldn’t be helped, he was probably busy attending hearings these days.
There were two plans put in motion. Plan A was to search the camp and plan B was to do the same but using an Object.
Plan A involved a thorough search of the camp carried out by investigation and search experts.
If the item was found during this search, it would be the best possible outcome.
The chances of success for Plan A—an ordinary search—were slim at best. However, it was a necessary step, hence its designation as Plan A.
Should Plan A prove unsuccessful in locating the item, we would have no choice but to move on to Plan B.
Using the power of an Object called the ‘Book of Foreknowledge’, which would tell the location of the item, the success of Plan B was almost guaranteed.
The range of the ‘Book of Foreknowledge’ was large enough to cover the entire camp, so there was no concern about its effectiveness.
But what if the item still couldn’t be found?
Should I just sit back and watch the missile attack happen?
Or should I ask Watson?
***
From atop the high wall, I looked at the camp below.
Before the missiles were launched, it was imperative that I gain control of the camp and find the item that created the butterflies.
However, even at a glance, it was something which wouldn’t be easy to do.
“Wow, is that the camp over there? Why are the people positioned as if they are standing guard?”
“That’s the problem. Their positioning is making it hard for us to enter.”
If we were to cause a commotion while entering, reporters from outlets like the ‘Daily Object’, who were eagerly looking for a scoop near the ‘Victim Camp’, would surely come and take a lot of pictures.
To avoid articles entitled ‘Forced Suppression of the Victim Camp’ and ‘Oppression of Public Rights’ from being written, we had to handle matters as quietly and quickly as possible.
Plan 0: Swiftly capture everyone in the camp.
Plan A: Conduct a thorough search of the camp with the search team.
Plan B: Concentrate efforts in the center of the camp to search for the target Object using the ‘Book of Foreknowledge’ possessed by the old man.
“In the end, we can’t do anything unless we proceed with Plan Zero, huh?”
My junior scrutinized the strategy map and planning chart, then spoke again.
“But sunbae, can’t we just shoot them all? I mean, I heard there aren’t any survivors inside, are there? Since we have soldiers with us, let’s just shoot them all!”
Once again, she started spouting crazy nonsense.
“Ah! If we use guns, the noise will attract attention. The reporters will come swarming in! Besides, the soldiers don’t know the details, right? Ugh, what should we do? Is there no other way?”
Though it was clear that the Gray Reaper had some sort of means to suppress the butterflies, seeing as there hadn’t been any noticeable changes in the camp yet, did it take time for it to have an effect?
Or did the Gray Reaper have to do it personally?
Not being able to communicate was proving to be quite inconvenient.
Come to think of it, where did the Gray Reaper, who was here just a moment ago, disappear to?
***
As expected, those detectives seemed incapable of solving the problem without my help.
The ‘problem’ they faced at the Central Research Institute was the ‘Hungry Ghost’, whereas this time it was the ‘butterfly infected people’.
It was a tragic situation where we had no choice but to treat those people as human, despite knowing they were no longer human.
As I listened to the meaningless meeting between the detective and his assistant, a realization struck me.
This case could be resolved if everyone was killed.
It was far easier than the time I faced the Hungry Ghost.
After all, all those butterfly-infected people would explode as soon as I touched them.
Considering it from that perspective, I realized that the seemingly pointless wall was far from useless.
***
Using my phantom form, I passed through the wall and discovered a virtually dead man, blood gushing from his mouth.
Did he say he was a reporter from the ‘Daily Object’?
He seemed to be talking with his mouth closed. What was he saying, I wonder?
Before long, a large group of butterfly-infected people gathered around him, feeding butterflies to the reporter.
The man, who had been reduced to nothing but a dry husk, swelled again up, regaining his human form.
The butterflies’ current behavior was slightly different from what I had seen back at the Central Research Institute.
Should I say that they had become smarter and more terrible?
Their eating speed had also increased significantly.
However, the butterflies were showing no particular reaction to me, perhaps because it was their first time seeing me.
With a bright smile, I leisurely skipped towards them and tapped them gently.
And with a loud bang, they exploded.
In the place of the human body, which had burst like a water balloon, only torn remnants of the clothing and I—who was completely soaked in blood—remained.
The startled butterfly-infected people must have finally grasped the gravity of the situation and scattered in all directions, running away.
It meant that a really fun game of hide and seek had officially begun!
***
Arrrgghhhh!
A distant scream echoed from a corner of the camp.
I covered my mouth with both hands, attempting to breathe as silently as possible.
I must never be caught. I must never be caught.
If I were to get caught, I would revert to being a butterfly.
Step-! Step-!
At that moment, I heard the soft sound of soles slowly pressing against the sandy ground.
“Heuk!”
I couldn’t help but make a choking sound, startled by the noise.
It was clearly far away, definitely a sound that came from far away!
Tong-! Tong-! Tong-!
A cute, rythmic knocking sound rang out.
Tong-! Tong-! Tong-! Tong-! Tong-!
The knocking became faster and faster, Causing me to forget how to breathe. I fervently prayed again and again for the Reaper to just pass by.
Bang-!
However, a hole appeared in the container, and the Reaper’s small hand popped out from it.
“Waaaaaahhh!”
Bang-!
Bang-!
Bang-!
Hole kept appearing in the container wall, with the Reaper’s arm repeatedly popping out from it.
All I could do while that happened was scream and shiver in fear.
Suddenly, the Reaper’s face popped out from a large hole in the wall.
It was a horrifying sight.
It was the Reaper with its fiery golden eyes and its face devoid of emotions. But to me, it felt as if it was excitedly saying ‘Found you!’.
“Aaaah! Help me!”
I gritted my teeth and ran away desperately.
However, this camp was an enclosed space, surrounded by walls on all sides.
There was nowhere to escape to.
Nowhere to hide from the monster.
In the end, I was caught, turned back into a butterfly, as I watched my body explode, scattering blood everywhere.
***
Although my current post was a comfortable one, it was full of strange occurrences.
It was particularly odd that the victim camp had been put under lockdown, surrounded by a steel wall and under heavy surveillance.
Additionally, I couldn’t help but feel surprised at how calm it was, considering our job was to watch over the place.
As I sat down with my junior, enjoying a bowl of ramen after descending from the guard post on the wall, a strange sound suddenly echoed.
“Please open the gate! For the love of God, open it now! The monster… the monster is coming! Open it quickly before it’s too late!”
A resident of the camp was frantically banging on the iron gate, trying to talk to us.
When I came to this guard post, I heard from my predecessor that such attempts happened quite frequently.
It was said that they were just trying to grab our attention and persuade us to open the door. Once the door was opened, they would quickly try to escape.
As a result, it became part of the sentry manual to ignore any sounds coming from the inside.
The only thing that struck me as strange was that they usually claimed that someone needed medical care urgently. Yet, now they were using monsters as an excuse?
How ridiculous.
Before long, the knocking sounds disappeared one by one until silence enveloped the area.
“As expected, it’s not a big deal, huh? Isn’t that right?”
I addressed my junior who stood beside me. However, he offered no response.
When I turned my head to check on him, I noticed that his face had drained of any color, resembling a ghost, while his mouth hung open in shock. Simultaneously, he was pointing towards the gate with trembling hands.
I swiftly followed his gaze and saw a thick stream of blood seeping through the tightly shut iron gate.
