NOVEL NEXT Still Reaper POV:
---
In the midst of everyone shutting their mouths and becoming quiet, only the sound of the ringing phone was loudly asserting itself.
"Um... what should we do?"
"We have to answer it. We can't just ignore it, right?"
Gulp.
Swallowing his saliva, the factory employee was trembling.
It's just a phone call, but why is he so scared?
The factory employee tried to answer the call with his eyes tightly closed, but his hands were shaking, and his eyes were closed, so he couldn't do it as he intended.
Hiding in the shadow of the employee with his eyes closed, I released my ghostification and firmly pressed his finger, sliding it.
"Aahh!"
The factory employee was startled and dropped the phone on the floor.
The employee, terrified, rubbed his finger and looked around in all directions.
Hehe, no matter how much you look around, you can't see me since I'm ghostified!
[There was a loud noise, did something happen?]
A voice came from the phone dropped on the floor.
Leaving the terrified employee alone, another factory employee answered the call.
"No, sir."
[Is that so? I'm in the middle of escaping, and it seems like I'll be able to get out in about a day.]
"Ah... then the Object in the factory hasn't been resolved?"
[Yeah, the re-containment failed. Fortunately, that bear is too big to enter narrow spaces, so it's currently crawling along the ceiling. I should be able to get out in about a day, so let's talk then.]
"Then you don't need a rescue right now?"
[It's better if you don't come in and cause a ruckus. We'll discuss the next re-containment schedule after I return.]
"Understood, boss!"
As the call ended, the quiet atmosphere was suddenly lifted.
"This time, it seems to be the boss?"
"It was the boss's phone number and voice, so it must be him."
"But the previous call was strange too, talking about Block B and such."
"But is there really a space in the ceiling?"
"Who knows, who's going to go up there and check."
However, the employees' mood was ambiguous.
They couldn't simply rejoice that the boss was alive because the previous call had been strange.
The strange call that came from the boss's voice and phone number.
We had come to seize the pudding, but suddenly it felt like a mystery was unraveling.
***
3rd Person POV:
---
In the Golden Reaper garden that occupied the backyard of the Sehee Research Institute, the Golden Reaper poked its head out.
The Golden Reaper had pudding strapped to its back.
It already knew that its Creator was not in the vicinity, but it didn't neglect to check the surroundings.
If it was caught, it would lose the last remaining pudding, so it had to be careful!
The Creator could deceive its location if it wanted to, so it couldn't let its guard down.
What about those who let their guard down?
They had all lost their pudding.
No matter how much they grieved over losing it, the pudding wouldn't come back.
For the sake of the poor, unfortunate pudding-loving humans who haven't had a single bite of that truly delicious pudding, we couldn't let it be taken away.
A large door blocked the way ahead.
The large door separating the backyard and the inside of the Research Institute.
Normally, it could have leaped over it in an instant with ghostification, but it was impossible now.
Because it had to carry the pudding.
When footsteps were heard, the Golden Reaper hastily hid its body.
It couldn't be caught by humans either.
Because if it didn't give pudding to humans, humans would be sad.
And if humans were sad, it hurt its heart.
Hiding in a nearby shadow, it waited for the moment the door opened and secretly passed through.
Now, it must reach the beloved human without being discovered in the building full of humans!
The Golden Reaper steeled its determination with a resolute expression.
***
Yerin POV:
---
The incident at the pudding factory was becoming chaotic.
Ah, it's so confusing.
When I returned to the vehicle, Gray Reaper suddenly popped out of the empty backseat with a "bung" sound.
Ah, as expected, it followed me using ghostification.
I picked up Reaper and placed it on my lap, hugging it.
Perhaps because it's often held, Reaper naturally relaxed its body and leaned against me.
"Reaper, what's going on? Something serious seems to be happening, but I can't figure it out."
In the midst of the confusion, hugging the soft and warm Reaper calmed my mind.
In the rearview mirror, Gray Reaper's face is expressionless.
It seemed to have no thoughts, cuddled in my arms like a teddy bear.
"There were two calls from the boss, but which one is real? Or are they both fake?"
No matter how much I think about it, I can't figure it out.
Until something comes to mind, I should just cuddle and heal with Reaper.
***
Reaper (MC) POV:
---
Yerin's complicated feelings felt like a tangled ball of yarn.
It seems like she's overthinking a rather simple problem.
As I lay down on the seat in the backseat, Yerin didn't lie down with me but instead stroked the soles of my feet.
Yerin often does this whenever I lie down. Is she giving me a massage?
It's not really effective though.
The two calls received during this incident contained completely opposite content.
The first call was 'Gather as many people as possible and come rescue me!'.
The second call was 'Wait until I escape!'.
If the first call was fake, then someone who wanted people to come in made that fake call.
It's the kind of call an Object that lures humans would make.
If the second call was fake, then someone who didn't want people coming in made that call.
Since an Object pretending to be human while disliking humans is hard to imagine, it's the kind of call a human would make.
Depending on whether the culprit is human or an Object, the call to believe differs in this case.
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Hoaaahhhm~
Even though I don't have lungs, I somehow yawned.
I used to think this was just a lingering habit from my human days.
But seeing Golden Reapers do it too made me wonder if they yawn for a different reason than humans.
Or maybe they were originally made to mimic humans as Objects.
A sudden rush of sleep.
Flap flap~
Feeling that I might fall asleep if I kept getting the massage, I shook my leg to remove Yerin's hand.
At least I should resolve the pudding incident before resting.
For the pudding!
***
3rd person POV:
---
The smart watch that had been allowing proper communication just moments ago was now emitting only noise.
"Ah, damn. It got disconnected."
Said James, who had been talking through the smart watch.
"Why? Why did you make that kind of phone call?"
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
"The call content! You said you might die if rescue doesn't come right away!"
Bang bang.
The sound of something shattering could be heard from outside the control room.
The sound of steel crumpling and breaking mercilessly.
"What... what was that?"
"It realized we succeeded in making the call by routing through the control room. The bear is destroying the control room. That noise was probably from Control Room 2."
Unlike the terrified interpreter, James spoke in a calm voice.
"Now it's certain, I'll die if rescue doesn't come. That bear will eventually find its way to this control room too."
"It's the end."
The interpreter dejectedly grabbed his head and said gloomily.
The steel bear was destroying the control rooms one by one.
The sounds of destruction were still far away for now, but eventually it would reach here.
Thump thump.
From the interpreter's perspective, the heavy footsteps echoing from afar sounded uncannily like a predator from the movies.
"There's no need to be so hasty."
James continued speaking with a relaxed expression.
"According to my route prediction, it'll take that cute little bear about 15 hours to reach this control room. We still have plenty of time. Why don't you take a nice nap on the bed prepared in the control room."
"But if rescue doesn't come within 15 hours, we die!"
"Exactly."
"Then why did you make that kind of phone call? B Block? Milling machine? What is that? You could've just said Control Room on the 2nd floor of Building 7.... Why did you...?"
The interpreter seemed to be sobbing as he spoke while crumpled on the floor.
And James shook his head while looking at the interpreter with a pitying expression.
"It seems your head isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Didn't I tell you? This incident involved human hands."
"?"
James provided additional explanation to the interpreter, who looked up at him.
"Obviously if I gave our exact location, that bear would come crush our heads before people could arrive, right?"
"Then with B Block and milling machine, will people be able to find us?"
"Of course. I left a hint that the factory staff can definitely find, but terrorists won't understand."
The interpreter looked back at James with a face that seemed to regain some hope.
"Terrorists aren't stupid either, so if I leave an ambiguous hint, they'll probably try to find the old blueprints of this factory."
"I suppose?"
"But in those old factory blueprints, there's no B Block or milling machine mentioned. The terrorists will give up at that point. Like the bear now, they'll choose a different approach instead of deducing."
"So?"
"There's a hidden story here. There's a twin factory in Busan that looks exactly the same as this one. If you compare the blueprints of that twin factory with the current blueprints of our factory, you can instantly pinpoint our location."
"Who would ever figure that out!"
The interpreter shouted, forgetting the fact that a murderous bear doll was roaming around.
The interpreter, who was filled with hope a moment ago, dejectedly sat back down with a dejected expression.
"It's all over now..."
***
Reaper (MC) POV:
---
I gave up thinking.
Did I really need to figure out which of the first or second call was the truth?
It didn't seem like I needed to know what B Block and the milling machine were either.
Why should I be the one agonizing over this?
First, I need to go in and pull out the head of that steel bear Object.
That bear isn't a part of the pudding factory, is it?
As I finished my thoughts and got up from my seat, Yerin reacted.
"Going into the factory? Then I'll come with you!"
Yerin smiled brightly and followed me out.
Yerin and I sneaked towards the factory entrance.
Thanks to the boss's call, there were hardly any guards around.
"Somehow this is fun. It feels like playing hide-and-seek when I was little."
Yerin seemed to be enjoying herself, which made me feel a bit happy too.
Moving from shadow to shadow, we entered the factory entrance.
Inside the factory, we were greeted by a broken parking lot with debris scattered everywhere and headless corpses.
"Reaper, there are corpses here. From their attire, they were probably the people the boss said were here to retrieve the Objects?"
Thud. Thud. Thud.
As Yerin's voice echoed through the parking lot, heavy footsteps could be heard approaching.
Yerin tensed up and gripped my hand tightly.
From the large open entrance of the building beyond the parking lot, a red glow appeared.
Two points of red light, glowing like the eyes of a beast in the darkness.
Thud. Thud.
Along with the heavy footsteps, the silhouette of an Object blended into the darkness began to reveal itself.
It was the steel teddy bear Object's appearance.
And the bear, making eye contact with me
Thud. Thud.
Slowly began to retreat back into the darkness.