NOVEL NEXT As I was debating whether to go destroy the totem pole, a purple light began shining down from the sky.
A strange purple moon shone above the Ice Throne, glowing with a purple light.
It wasn't just an unusual color, but this moonlight did not cast any shadows.
The light reached even under rocks.
It illuminated places where shadows should naturally form.
With no shadows anywhere, it felt unreal and strange.
The purple color also made it seem like a game with a broken graphics card.
However, it wasn't completely without shadows - splotchy shadows formed here and there.
Looking up at the sky, those splotches were actually patterns on the purple moon.
The light was shining unevenly from the start, causing those patchy shadows.
The shadows seemed so strange that I ran towards them to touch them, but they scattered away from me.
Just like the totem pole, these shadows were behaving oddly too.
What did I do wrong for them to act this way?
I kept chasing after the shadows on the ground, trying to step on them, but they kept evading me.
This pursuit continued until the sun rose.
After the sun came up, all that remained was the snowy field covered in my footprints.
***
??? POV:
---
Panting heavily, I looked at the center of the clearing where the shattered remains of the totem pole lay pathetically.
The totem pole had been destroyed.
By gathering the mirrors that didn't reflect the totem pole to make one large mirror, and reflecting the mirrored image of the totem pole back onto itself, the problem was solved.
The non-corporeal totem pole had manifested its true body in reality, only to be smashed.
Haha. Finally.
But it was too late.
Night had fallen.
The nights in Dobong-gu were extremely dangerous, due to the Object known as the 'Snow Field Moon.'
That purple glowing moon was an Object that appeared when night fell in the Snowfields, anywhere on Earth. Its purple light cannot be blocked, even indoors.
Because of this, snowy areas around the world were considered uninhabitable by humans.
However, the conditions for this 'Snow Field Moon' Object to appear are uncertain.
It sometimes appears in places that clearly aren't snow fields, and sometimes doesn't show up in confirmed polar snow fields.
It's an Object that can't be verified until directly observed in that region.
The only certainty is that the Snow Field Moon always rises over the snow-covered Dobong-gu.
While that purple light piercing even eyelids only causes insomnia and not life-threatening harm.
The real danger comes from the shadows that appear alongside the purple light.
"The moon is rising! Everyone gather!"
We gather in a circle in the clearing, facing each other.
Then we drive stakes into the ground around us and secure our bodies to them.
In the center of our gathered circle, a totem-like device is set up.
It's a device imported from the US to block the mental interference of Objects, but it's only a stopgap measure.
Of course, the fact that we could even make such a thing was impressive in itself.
In Korea, we can't even grasp what kind of phenomena Objects are.
The shadows cast by the Snow Field Moon are bottomless pits.
If you step into one, you'll simply sink down and disappear to somewhere unknown.
Where people disappear to still hasn't been uncovered.
Fortunately, the shadows don't actively attack people, but they do exert a pull.
To use an analogy, it feels like wanting to fit a misaligned tile into place.
The more you look at the bottomless pit shadows, the more they start to feel like the perfect hole shaped just for you.
And an urge grows to fit your body into that space and fill it completely.
Almost no one can resist that urge without the device's help.
The night is long.
Hopefully we can survive this night safely.
I can sense the nearby personnel struggling around me.
We've secured our bodies with stakes, but if they really try to break free, there's no stopping them.
I grit my teeth and close my eyes.
But even with my eyes closed, the purple light pierces through, and so do the shadows.
With my eyes closed, I can still see the perfect hole shaped for me.
Right there... in front of me now.
A hole in this perfect purple world.
If I could just fill that hole, it would be perfect.
'Why is there a hole like that?'
I hurriedly unfastened the pins securing me to the stake one by one and stood up from my spot.
'There's a hole in front of me that I have to fill.'
'Yes, a hole only I can fill.'
Part of my mind knows this is all an illusion.
But I can't resist it. I absolutely cannot resist.
I slowly walked until I arrived in front of the hole.
'Yes, this is the hole! The hole perfectly shaped for me.'
The moment I lightly traced the edge of the hole with my finger, the purple hue filling the world disappeared and I saw the morning sun rising in the distance.
Startled in that moment, I pulled my hand away from the ground.
It was a hairbreadth escape from disaster.
Five agents had disappeared over the night.
Fortunately, it wasn't a loss of personnel that could be called a mission failure.
The operation to destroy the Throne has not failed yet.
***
Reaper (MC) POV :
---
After the game of tag with the shadows ended, I lay on top of the tall debris, feeling the morning sun warming my skin.
Hearing a commotion, I looked down and saw people gathering near the Throne.
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Wasn't it minus 100 degrees Celsius near the Throne? Or was that extremely cold place somewhere else?
They seemed like people who hadn't slept well at all.
They were setting something up around the Throne.
What they were installing were Objects.
At a glance, they looked like bombs shaped like sticks of dynamite bundled together.
Since missiles can't destroy the Throne, are they deploying Objects?
But that Throne isn't an Object, so this is just a futile effort.
I watched their futile efforts with an amused expression.
Actually, someone should have looked in my direction.
But I guess they were too focused on setting up the bombs to notice me.
Kwung-!
At that moment, I felt the ground pulsate.
As I turned around, a tsunami was rushing towards the land.
Buildings collapsed, riding the waves, and the ground curled up into a rounded shape.
Debris turned to dust and swirled forward, pushed by the crashing waves.
It was a massive tsunami made of dust and debris from the land.
Anything touched by the pulsating waves of the tsunami turned to powder and scattered.
The remnants of civilization like concrete and asphalt turned to dust and dispersed.
Of course, the Object bombs made by humans met the same fate.
No!!!
A man's scream echoed through Dobong-gu.
***
??? POV :
---
"Noooo!!!!!"
I screamed in vain as I watched the Object bombs scatter into dust.
No matter how much I grasped at the dispersed bombs with my hands, the powdered bombs did not return.
We had sacrificed many agents to reach this Throne, so why is this happening!
A storm of dust rushed in, darkening the surroundings.
The ice soldiers carrying the Throne turned to dust, causing the Throne to fall.
The tremendous shockwave and air pressure sent me and the team members tumbling across the ground.
Lying face down on the ground, a yellow light entered my eyes.
From within the dust cloud blocking out the sun like volcanic ash, a yellow light shone into my eyes.
"The... The Gray Reaper!"
The Gray Reaper stood high up, looking down at us as if mocking us.
Did the Gray Reaper have an ability like this?
Not just the Object bombs, but all our electronic equipment and firearms had turned to dust and vanished.
This seemed similar to the phenomenon happening in Seoul Forest.
But here was far enough away from Seoul Forest.
This unusual incident was definitely a major issue that needed to be reported.
The sudden appearance of the Gray Reaper and the phenomenon that seemed to be the work of Steel Tower.
The shockwave had also shattered all our communication equipment, so to report it, we had to directly return.
In order to report and deal with this, we had to return while preserving as many agents as possible.
"The operation has failed. We're pulling back."
Keeping a close watch on the Gray Reaper, my agents and I slowly retreated.
We had no choice but to return while being consumed by the dust.
***
Reaper (MC) POV :
---
This pulsation of the earth felt familiar.
Yes, it felt like Steel Tower.
I sensed the power of Steel Tower that grinds civilization to dust.
But Steel Tower's domain should have been stabilized, so what's going on?
This was the first time I've seen Steel Tower's domain pulsating like that.
The pulsing, powdery ground looked like a tsunami of dust rolling in from the land.
The buildings and asphalt curling up and crumbling in waves was a spectacular sight.
The strange thing was that the ice soldiers were also helplessly shredded and crumbled by the tsunami.
So Steel Tower treats even ice soldiers as part of civilization?
The pulsations of Steel Tower ended after just a few minutes.
The devastated appearance of Dobong-gu became even more desolate.
However, a strange structure remained in Dobong-gu, which the tsunami had scraped over.
There were an enormous number of holes like an ant colony dug underground in Dobong-gu.
I had a feeling that the owner of the Ice Throne was down there.
***
??? POV :
---
Seoul was facing a huge crisis.
The temperature drop that started in Dobong-gu?
The temperature drop that started in Dobong-gu didn't even affect all of Seoul.
It was just rapidly lowering the temperature in some nearby areas before recovering.
Attacks by the Ice Throne's soldiers?
That was being sufficiently suppressed by the military's efforts currently.
The problem that sent Seoul into panic was something else.
'The expansion of Seoul Forest'
It was observed that the domain of Seoul Forest was gradually expanding.
Like a beating heart, it was pulsating and gradually increasing its domain.
Steel Tower's domain expanded its area instantaneously like a pulse wave, then contracted repeatedly.
But anywhere that had been within its domain for even a moment had civilization crumbled to dust, so it amounted to rapidly expanding all the same.
Korea had been diligently preparing to fight the Ice Throne in Dobong-gu, but was powerless against Steel Tower.
Because there was no way to confront it at all.