༺ Seoul Forest Story: Epilogue (2) ༻
Seoul Forest Village lay in ruins, completely reduced to ashes. The village that was full of wooden buildings was like a tinderbox, and one of the houses catching fire was enough to burn it down to ashes.
Amidst the burnt ruins, researchers from various research institutes scurried around, conducting investigations and cleaning up the area. They worked diligently, sorting through the wreckage and organizing the data.
Meanwhile, from the slope overlooking the devastation, two men with completely different demeanors looked down.
One was a stoic-looking figure dressed in a black suit, while the other one was a cheerful-looking man donning a bright yellow suit.
“It’s all gone, burned to the ground. Well, since everything here was all wooden, it can’t be helped.”
The man in the yellow suit spoke as such while looking at the remaining wreckage.
“…”
“Han Kangcheol, the man who single-handedly built the Seoul Forest Village, has died in a fire. Perhaps the Seoul Forest Village will just disappear after this? I came here in a hurry after receiving a request to find someone, but little did I expect that this would be the only way to fulfill that request. Since you have a lot of manpower, can’t you do anything to help me? It would be nice if you could find a violin or something.”
“…If you want us to provide information to you, you should make a formal request to the Central Research Institute.”
As if the yellow-suited man had expected such an answer, he paid him no mind and continued to scurry about, collecting bits of rubble. The man in the black suit, who kept ignoring him, did not stop him from doing so.
“If you look at the testimonies alone, the Gray Reaper was mentioned quite a lot, yet no clear evidence surfaced. Last year was the same, wasn’t it? Circumstances suggest that it was the Gray Reaper’s doing, but there is no evidence at all. This time, the headlines might read, ‘The Gray Reaper Reduces an Entire Village to Ashes!!’”
“…We just make the most reasonable conclusion in the absence of contradicting evidence.”
“I’m not criticizing you or anything. After all, this place is the Seoul Forest. A place where no electronic device can be used. It can’t be helped, right?. In your last report, you mentioned that there’s only circumstantial evidence, didn’t you? If it turns out that it was caused by a completely different Object, it’ll be an utter disaster.”
Excitedly rummaging through the pile of rubble, the yellow-suited man picked up a charred piece of wood.
With a twist of his body, he exclaimed, “Oooh! This! This is a violin! A violin. I think it’s the violin of the person the client asked me to look for. Seems like I’ll have something to report back to the client.”
“…”
Deciding to walk around and gather information from others, the man in the yellow suit proceeded to leave. The man in the black suit spoke without even looking at him.
“If you’re looking for a violinist, ask Director Lee Sehee of the Sehee Research Institute. She might know something.”
“Thank you~ Then, I shall take my leave~ Work hard.”
The yellow-suited man walked away, waving his hand listlessly. The black-suited man, without even showing a hint of willingness to respond to his antics, closed a file labeled ‘Seoul Forest Village Fire Incident Report’ before looking around the scene of the incident again.
***
Following the aftermath of the Seoul Forest Incident, the Sehee Research Institute was bustling with people.
Oh Yerin suddenly entered the director’s office, seemingly running away from something. She explained that she had come all this way to avoid the angry Kim Jungrwi.
“So you ran all the way here?”
“Yes, Jungrwi Sunbae is very upset. It’s probably because he was harassed by the reporters… On top of that, since a big fire broke out in the Seoul Forest, it was revealed that I wasn’t actually staying at the Seoul Forest Village.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of her words. It was understandable for Jungrwi to be angry since all Yerin had done was just write her name on the visitor list at the gate of Seoul Forest before going home. Well, it won’t become a serious problem; it would all be resolved once Jungwi nagged at her a little.
“We’re going to lose the Reaper to the Central Research Institute this time, aren’t we? The public sentiment this time around seems exactly like when the ‘Cute Puppy’ incident blew up…”
“Probably? But I’m not sure if the Central Research Institute will be able to contain the Reaper.”
At my words, Yerin, who was very close to the Reaper, looked crestfallen. However, given the public sentiment, sending the Reaper to the Central Research Institute seemed like an inevitable choice.
The atmosphere at the institute had become quite troubled after the Seoul Forest incident. A certain online article that was posted today, particularly, had a big impact. Until now, only the third-rate online newspapers wrote those types of provocative articles. However, this one was posted by the same place that became very famous after publishing a special article on the Gray Reaper a year ago.
‘Daily Object.’
Anyone who worked at the Sehee Research Institute would recognize the name, as they were always causing trouble for them.
Not only were they a major media company that sensationalized the Gray Reaper, but they also actively pushed the theory that the Gray Reaper was behind the recent case as well. Judging from just that one article, it seemed as if the Gray Reaper was the ultimate mastermind in the shadows controlling all the other Objects. The main culprit behind all the sorrow in this world.
I was really curious as to just what kind of investigation they had conducted to be able to come up with a story that the Reaper summoned burning monsters from hell through a voodoo ritual.
“Ah, this is a report issued by the Central Research Institute. Us researchers are allowed to read it. I didn’t think the director knew about it, so I brought it with me.”
“Hm, Is that so?”
What conclusion did the report published by the Central Research Institute draw in this case? It would be nice if it favored the Sehee Research Institute, but that was unlikely.
Oh Yerin sat beside me, and read the report together with me. Although it made me feel uncomfortable, since Yerin hadn’t read it yet, I had no choice but to read together with her.
‘This report investigates a recent incident involving a new Object, (tentatively named) Steel Pig Statue, and the Gray Reaper.’
‘The Steel Pig Statue caused mutations in a total of eight individuals, all members of the same family living in Seoul Forest. Despite severe bodily deformities, genetic and dental analyses remained unchanged, facilitating identification of the affected individuals.’
‘It was observed that the Steel Pig Statue has the ability to produce a substance (tentatively)called ‘sweet rice balls made of fire’. Numerous testimonies describe an unbearably delicious aroma being emitted by this substance. Consumption of the substance appears to lead to physical mutations..’
‘It was noted that all family members, except the head of the household, were imprisoned in the house. This action was presumably to monopolize the ‘Sweet Rice Balls Made of Fire’ for themselves.’
‘Individuals who consumed the substance seemed to become unable to eat other foods. Prior to their imprisonment, the affected family members were frequently observed vomiting and unable to consume regular food items within the village.’
‘Evidence suggests that the monster i.e., the family head may have abducted individuals and fattened them up for the purpose of offering them as sacrifices to the Steel Pig Statue.’
‘It is important to note that no connection was found between the ‘Steel Pig Statue’ incident and the ‘Mass Death Incident’ that had previously occurred in the Seoul Forest.’
The report meticulously documented every single available detail about the incident. Fortunately, even though there was mention of sightings of the Gray Reaper, it was acknowledged that it was difficult to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship.
Yerin’s face turned pale as she read about the deaths of the abductees. It seemed that more people had been killed in this incident than she had expected.
Well, there were quite a lot of bones piled up in the basement.
Knock-! Knock-! Knock-!
Suddenly, there was a heavy knock on the door, causing Yerin to flinch and look around in search of an escape. But no matter how much she looked, there was no way out of the director’s office; hehe, it was a dead end.
As Yerin’s frantically shaking eyes met mine, I couldn’t help but smirk at her reaction.
“No… No way, Director? Are you the one who…”
“Director, I’m coming in.”
Kim Jungrwi stormed into the office, grabbed hold of Yerin and dragged her away. Her pitiful screams echoed as the office door slammed shut.
***
After a series of unsettling incidents, the forest guard post in Seoul finally became quiet once again. The junior, however, had a gloomy expression, much like the weather.
Ever since the person in the blindingly bright yellow suit had visited them, his face had lost its brightness. Clutching the charred violin that had been handed to him as a keepsake, he continued to shed tears. Even when the senior told him to take a vacation, the junior just ignored him.
“Jua… I should have stopped you from going.”
Upon hearing the junior’s story, he learned that the person his junior had been searching for was his own younger sister. She was one of the victims of the Seoul Forest Incident. Her chances of survival were minimal as eyewitnesses claimed to have seen the moment of her death.
His junior’s eyes no longer looked normal as he mumbled, holding the charred violin in one hand and an urn believed to contain his sister’s remains in the other.
“It’s all because of the Gray Reaper. It’s all because of the Gray Reaper. It’s all because of the Gray Reaper. It’s all because of the Gray Reaper. It’s all because of the Gray Reaper.”
In his junior’s hand, there was a small smartphone playing a video known as a so-called ‘Cyber Wrecker’1a stupid video reporting fake news or exaggerated facts as clickbait to make money.
It was a video from ‘Daily Object’ who were known for always spouting nonsense. This video was particularly focused on portraying the Gray Reaper as a devil by pushing all kinds of bad narratives against it.
Normally, he would have yelled at him to stop watching that illogical video, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that now.
On one hand, he felt sorry for his junior, who had just lost his younger sister. On the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear, for his eyes seemed unhinged, as if he might stab him with a knife at any moment.
He was someone who always looked forward to the workday passing quickly. It had always been that way, but now, more than ever, he desperately wanted the workday to come to an end.
