༺ Seoul Forest Story: Epilogue (1) ༻
Ah, it was a dream.
I realized it intuitively.
After all, how could I suddenly find myself trudging through a heavy rain? Just moments before, I was lying comfortably on my bed inside my containment room at the Sehee Research Institute, having just returned from Seoul Forest?
But it was a scene that felt all too familiar.
It was a scene from a year ago, a scene of me walking aimlessly through the rainy forest in fear.
Despite having a body that was physically invulnerable, I found myself walking aimlessly, still haunted by the endless fear of death.
Death was approaching.
Even though I didn’t need to breathe, I was out of breath.
Even though I had acquired the phantom form that made me impervious to anything physical, I still couldn’t avoid death.
Unlike the death of other Objects, the conditions for my own death were not visible to me.
I instinctively knew that death was drawing near, but I had no idea what it was or how to prevent it.
The fist-sized flame, that now resided where my heart should be, was flickering, having dwindled to a mere speck.
Was it the intuition of an Object?
From the very moment I was reborn, I knew that if that flame were to disappear, so would I.
But the flame only died down little by little and did not flare up again.
Even when I tried to eat some fire or threw myself into a forest fire, the flame inside me remained unchanged.
Frustration gnawed at me, as if something were blocking my stomach. And so, I opened my mouth and let the rainwater pour into my mouth.
All of a sudden, a calm voice entered my ears.
“Oh my! Hey, you! The Object passing by! Can you please get me out of here?”
I turned toward the source of the voice and saw a woman looking at me through iron bars.
Arms crossed, she called me in a calm tone.
At that moment, I was truly desperate.
And so, since I would’ve died soon anyway, I thought it would be better to die after helping someone.
***
What had looked like an ordinary prison was, in truth, a fairly large Object.
The rescue, which initially seemed simple, took several days to finish. Yet, while I was with her—who was quite the chatterbox—I was able to forget about my fear of death.
But ultimately, even that long, dungeon-like cave had an end. And it was at that very moment, when I reached the end of that dungeon, that my life reached its conclusion as well.
As Sehee enjoyed her successful escape, I prepared for the embrace of death.
‘At least I die having saved one life.’
The flame had reached its limit.
And so, I waited for my imminent death.
Leaning against the wall, covered by the shadow of the cave, I watched as Sehee cheered, stretching her hands towards the sunlight.
‘Ah, it’s really over now,’
Just as I had that thought, Sehee returned to the cave and hugged me.
“Thank you so, so much!”
She said so with a bright smile, tears of joy dripping down her face.
At that moment, the ember inside my body began to burn fiercely.
At that moment, I couldn’t think of anything.
After all, It felt like a bomb had exploded inside my body.
Only then did I finally understand about the ember that was lurking within my body.
It was a flame which was fueled by both comedy and tragedy.
It was a fire of curiosity.
That’s why I began seeking people like Sehee, who could become firewood for my flame.
The memory was of an important day. A memory that was extremely meaningful, yet equally exhausting. So if I had to categorize it, I would label it as a ‘nightmare.’
Probably because I was still groggy from the dream, my vision blurred for a moment. Suddenly, I felt someone poking my cheek. Before I knew it, I was back on the comfortable bed inside the research institute.
***
I had a nostalgic dream.
Maybe I had such a dream because I had just escaped from a similar situation—getting saved by Reaper.
It was a rainy night, the heavy downpour making it difficult to see even more than an inch ahead.
There stood the Gray Reaper, its eyes glowing like fireflies.
Compared to its current appearance, the atmosphere exuded by the Gray Reaper back then was vastly different, to the point where it was difficult to think of it as the same Object.
It lacked curiosity, seeming almost uninterested in its surroundings. The burning light in its eyes, so prominent now, was nowhere to be seen back then.
Still, I was strangely scared when I first saw it.
Though faint, the flickering light in its eyes oddly evoked fear. Compared to the blazing flame it was now, the light back then was but an ember. Yet, even then, I was afraid.
Struggling to hide my trembling voice caused by the fear I felt, I spoke to it calmly.
Looking back, what I did then was nothing better than like gambling.
After all, it was a humanoid object that had suddenly appeared beyond the bars. There was no guarantee it would even understand what I was saying.
Even if it did, most of the Objects that understood human speech tended to do so in order to deceive humans.
With a gambler’s resolve, I spoke up.
It was all or nothing.
The cave that had suddenly swallowed me had no exit whatsoever. To make matters worse, dangerous clay dolls were roaming around.
Whether from starvation or being beaten to death by the clay dolls, the only ending was death anyway.
In fact, many had died before my eyes.
Fortunately, the Gray Reaper seemed to be able to sense human intentions and wasn’t hostile, which is why I was able to survive such a situation.
Even though we needed to go outside, the Gray Reaper pressed deeper into the cave. Even when I pulled its hand to find a way to the surface, it remained steadfast.
When I walked around by myself, every step seemed to endanger my life. Yet, with the Reaper, it felt like an escape room challenge. Moreover, the Gray Reaper clearly knew what to do, as if it were an expert at escaping such challenges.
‘Is there a connection between the objects?’
After all, the Reaper kept finding hidden keys and used them to open the matching door.
As I observed its actions, I realized that the cave was not just a normal cave, but some kind of puzzle-like Object. It became clear why the Reaper was fixated on reaching the deepest part of the cave—the only way to escape the dungeon was to clear it.
The thrill of disabling the infinitely regenerating golem at the bottom of the crypt with a hidden switch, thus finding a long tunnel that led to the outside, was an unforgettable experience.
I felt so accomplished that I didn’t even have any difficulty climbing the really, really long flight of stairs.
I was elated when we finally reached the exit of the cave, in the middle of the forest.
Yet, when I turned around after cheering my heart out, I noticed that the Reaper had grown even darker than before, and was crouching in the corner. It had become darker and darker with each passing day. And now, it looked like a clay doll on the verge of crumbling.
The Reaper, usually devoid of expression, now wore a faint smile that seemed to express both self-deprecation and satisfaction. Strangely, that smile carried a profound sadness, so much so, that I forgot about my cheering and rushed over to hug it.
At that moment, I instinctively poured all my gratitude into that hug. Though I knew the Reaper couldn’t comprehend human speech, I felt like I had to do that.
Probably because of that gratitude, the Reaper glowed so brightly that it surprised me. Before long, it transformed into its current appearance—a Gray Reaper with a languid expression, yet eyes brimming with endless curiosity.
I still couldn’t forget the look of astonishment on the Reaper’s face at that moment.
To think the always expressionless Reaper was capable of making such a dramatic expression!
***
There, pinned to the cork board, was an old newspaper article.
“The ‘Hungry Ghost’ that was running wild in the Seoul Plaza is still alive? Are those central bastards sane?”
“…”
Inside a dark room, a man stared at the cork board, muttering to himself. Beside him, the shadow of a small woman clung to him, diligently writing something in her notebook.
Oddly enough, even though her shadow was present, the woman herself was nowhere to be seen in the room.
Underneath the newspaper article, lay numerous handwritten documents. They contained information about a certain research institute, particularly the list of employees who had resigned, as well as the budget trends.
The man glanced over the documents and let out a whistle.
“There are too many people who have left the job. With this many resignations, the slogan ‘The safest national laboratory with 0 casualties!’ looks too suspicious.”
The parts which were deemed as suspicious were heavily highlighted in red. The markings were so plentiful that the documents seemed to be bathed in red.
“Hey, this case is too dangerous for a junior to handle. But it’s also the senior’s duty to watch quietly until the junior starts crying.”
Chuckling to himself, the man turned away from the documents.
The dim glow of the gas lamp was not enough to illuminate the entire room, making the figure in front of the cork board appear blurred.
“I’m busy. This time, I’m going on a business trip to Seoul Forest. Electronic devices can’t be used there. Well, an analog detective is good too.”
With that, the man, dressed in a neat suit, lit his pipe and tidied up the cork board.
“Well then, Watson, I’m off. Take care.”
The shadow faintly reflected in the gas lamp nodded before disappearing.
The man in the yellow suit turned off the gas lamp and left the room.
***
In the room left behind by the man, the gas lamp flickered back to life on its own.
Soon, the blood-red shadow of the woman appeared there again.
The blood-red shadow began to coat the walls and bookshelves with a slimy, blood-red, liquid.
[Is the current Holmes perfect? Perfect? Perfect?]
[He’s still perfect so far.]
[There are no pending cases.]
[It’s not that he’s choosing a case? Choosing a case? Choosing a case?]
[Fortunately, that’s not the case.]
As the gas lamp went off with a loud snap, the blood-red shadows that covered the walls and bookshelf disappeared as well.
