Seoul Object Story

No trace of the Trinity Research Institute could be found anywhere in Gwanak-gu, which had morphed into a twisted version of hell. The tentacles waved wildly, while black water that swallowed everything covered nearly the entire area.

In James' opinion, both the sky and the ground were equally screwed.

Tentacles, sprouting from the overturned black sea that had replaced the sky, were snatching helicopters out of the air and dragging them into the black sea.

And those helicopters were the ones from the broadcasting stations, dutifully filming the chaos from what they thought was a “safe” distance.

Cute, right? Too bad for them, the entirety of Gwanak-gu was already a dangerous tentacle-filled playground, and safety was just a laughable notion at this point.

The only spot that could remotely be considered “safe” in Gwanak-gu was the patch of white land where James stood—courtesy of the Gray Reaper’s handiwork.

James lowered his stance, resting his hand on the soft, white earth.

Huh…? This… Is this a marshmallow?

A marshmallow island, conveniently blocking the hellish tentacle assault. How quaint. It’s like something ripped straight out of a children’s bedtime story, if that story was written by someone with a very dark sense of humor.

Despite the giant tentacles raining down from above, they couldn’t quite touch James and his crew.

All thanks to Relic Number 0, burning brightly above the Gray Reaper’s head like a makeshift sun.

“Huh…? So Relic Number 0 can do that too, huh?”

James muttered to himself, discovering yet another surprise from the relic he’d been poking and prodding for ages.

The white light had this weird divine vibe, so much so that even the interpreter—who usually couldn’t stop trembling and making a fuss—shut his trap and watched in silence.

Beneath that glowing light, the Hungry Ghost, which had collapsed onto the ground, stared up at the Gray Reaper with a blank expression.

Meanwhile, the Gray Reaper and the Golden Reaper stared back, all casual-like.

The Gray Reaper, locked in this little staring contest with the Hungry Ghost, slowly raised its hand into the air.

And as if on cue, the white sphere drifted closer and closer to the Gray Reaper’s outstretched hand.

The moment the sphere made contact, an intense light erupted.

James had to close his eyes against the blinding flash, unable to keep them open.

When he finally managed to pry them open again, the white sphere was gone. But the light? Still there, only now it was emanating from the Gray Reaper itself.

The now-glowing Gray Reaper casually strolled forward and placed its hand on the Hungry Ghost’s head.

And just like that, the Hungry Ghost turned into ashes, scattering on the wind.

For a creature that looked so vicious, the Hungry Ghost seemed almost… peaceful as it dissolved into nothing.

With the Hungry Ghost reduced to ashes, the Gray Reaper, which had been glowing like a mini sun, stopped shining.

Did the Gray Reaper just eat Relic Number 0?

Well, based on the evidence, that seemed to be the case.

The Hungry Ghost turned to ash, and Relic Number 0 had disappeared.

But the Gray Reaper wasn’t done showing off just yet.

It crouched down and pressed its hand into the marshmallow ground. Then, something popped up—a large, round mound of marshmallow.

From that mound, limbs and a tail sprouted.

And as eyes and a mouth appeared, it began to take on the shape of something familiar.

It had become… cute?—minus the tentacles, of course.

It was a huge, white Hungry Ghost.

The new Hungry Ghost, which was twice the size of the one that had just turned to ash, opened its massive mouth and let out a sound like a dolphin.

Gyuuuu-!

Then white flames erupted from its marshmallow skin as it charged straight toward the jellyfish.

It was off to fight again, but this time decked out in white flame armor that incinerated the tentacles on contact!

*******The Hungry Ghost was just lying there on the ground, looking all pitiful with its body full of jellyfish tentacles. Its big, sad eyes were fixed right on me. Sigh…

It almost seemed like it was silently begging me to put it out of its misery.

The killing condition of the Hungry Ghost was still < Stone created by the Object of Beginning. >

But then, it suddenly started acting all weird toward me. Like, what was that about?

Just as I was trying to figure it out, a white rock whooshed over my head, glowing all bright and sparkly.

Hmm… if I put two and two together, that little floating sphere up there was probably the 'Stone created by the Object of Beginning.'

I tilted my head up to gaze at it, and a little idea started in my mind. Oh, I knew what to do! Even though I’d never tried it before, it felt like second nature.

With a little flourish, I reached out my hand towards the stone.

The instant my fingers touched it, a flood of ‘unknown memories’ rushed into my mind.

In those memories, I was standing in front of something big and white.

Was it a giant frog? Or maybe a shiny, glossy Hungry Ghost?

Whatever it was, the person in the memory—was that me?—placed their hand on the head of the large white frog that was way bigger than the current Hungry Ghost.

They said something, though I couldn’t make out the words. They felt warm and kinda sad, like a heartfelt plea.

When I snapped back to reality, guess what? That very same frog from those ‘Memories’ was standing right in front of me!

It had turned into an Object in the Garden of Mini Reaper, born from the ashes of the destroyed Hungry Ghost.

This one was a White Hungry Ghost.

Since it was created by the Garden of Mini Reaper, there were some differences from the one in my memory.

Just a little difference—like, instead of being made of clay, this guy was made of marshmallow.

Mmm… marshmallow. It looked so squishy and soft, I kind of wanted to take a bite.

I mean, it really looked delicious!

The White Hungry Ghost gave me this hopeful little look, so I couldn’t resist. I slowly walked up to it and patted its leg.

Then, without much thought, I tore off a tiny piece of its flesh and popped it into my mouth.

Om nom nom-!

Yup, just as I thought—it was a real marshmallow. Fluffy and sweet, just the way I like it.

The White Hungry Ghost let out a happy little laugh when it saw me munching on a piece of it. Then it glanced around and let out an adorable dolphin-like cry.

Gyuu-!!

Right after that cute little roar, its whole body burst into white flames, and it charged at the jellyfish-like it had a score to settle.

It zoomed around in the sky, burning those tentacles left and right.

Wow… It was putting up a much better fight than I expected!

At this rate, I figured it could handle protecting James and his group for now.

But defeating the Giant Jellyfish? Hmm, that might be a bit trickier.

The killing condition for the Giant jellyfish was super specific, after all.

< kill="" the="" talkative="" jellyfish="" that="" cannot="" speak,="" and="" crush="" the="" pearl="" of="" the="" night="" in="" the="" eye="" of="" the="" storm.="">

Um, okay, so what’s a‘talkative’jellyfish even supposed to mean?

I felt a bit puzzled as I stared at the swarm of mini jellyfish floating around in that sea of black slime.

Oh well, I guess I’d just have to try every method I could think of.

*******James was sitting comfortably on the marshmallow island, casually observing the White Hungry Ghost as it fought with everything it had against the Giant Jellyfish dominating the sky.

Now, the White Hungry Ghost was no small fry—quite large, in fact—but compared to that Giant Jellyfish? It was like pitting a newborn against an adult. And yet, despite the size difference, the white flames coating the Ghost’s body gave it a serious edge. Those giant tentacles? Reduced to ashes the moment they touched the Ghost’s searing white flames.

Whenever the White Hungry Ghost found an opening, it didn’t hesitate. It’d leap onto the Giant Jellyfish, tearing into its slimy body with extreme ferocity. But, of course, the jellyfish just shrugged off the attacks, regenerating almost as quickly as it was torn apart.

It was a battle of titans, a war of attrition that seemed like it could go on forever.

But in the midst of all this chaos, what was James doing? He was just lounging there, snacking like he was at a casual picnic. Not a care in the world, even though he was smack dab in the middle of a war zone.

Meanwhile, as the White Hungry Ghost duked it out with the jellyfish, the Golden Reapers were busy bringing food from who knows where and distributing it to the people.

The only problem was that it wasn’t exactly what you’d call normal—it was more like marshmallows, pudding, and candy, all tailored to the Golden Reaper’s own sweet tooth. Not that James minded.

And then there was this other Reaper, a new one. This Reaper was blue, translucent, and mini-sized. They were shy though, and never stuck around for long if anyone tried to look at it directly. It would turn invisible and bolt the moment it felt the sensation of being watched.

James found it amusing, especially since the snacks never seemed to run out, probably thanks to those skittish Blue Reapers.

But the star of the show, the Gray Reaper, was off doing something… strange. Really strange.

It kept pulling jellyfish out of the black slime, splitting them open, listening to them like they had secrets to tell, or just straight-up punching them.

It felt like it was torturing it? Maybe. But James couldn't quite figure out the method to the madness.

The Gray Reaper seemed frustrated, like it was searching for something but coming up empty-handed. Jellyfish corpses started piling up next to it, forming a grim mountain. But that didn’t seem to bother the Reaper. It just kicked the whole mess back into the slime, clapped its hands, and summoned a bunch of Golden Reapers for some kind of silent conference.

After what felt like an eternity of the Golden Reapers and the Gray Reaper exchanging glances, the Golden Reapers dispersed, diving into the black water with looks of pure disgust.

Splish-! Splash-! Splosh-!

The Golden Reapers' faces twisted with genuine disgust, but they seemed to have no other choice.

And finally, as the countless jellyfish corpses floated above the black sea, the Gray Reaper smiled in satisfaction.

*******Tap-! Tap-!

I was happily napping when something poked my eyelids.

Ugh, who dared to disturb my beauty sleep? When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of a very grumpy Golden Reaper glaring down at me.

Oh, shit… Did I promise to dive into the dark water with them?

Pow-! Pow-!

The Golden Reapers, clearly not happy at my conveniently selective memory, realized from the look on my face that I had zero intention of going in from the start. So, they just decided to take off their anger by pummeling me with their tiny fists.

As I argued with the Golden Reapers, the ground beneath us began to rumble, and a loud roar echoed thorugh the air. I looked up in surprise, and saw the black sea swirling like a giant whirpool on a sugar rush.

Water pillars shot up in every direction, and fierce winds whipped around, making my hair dance wildly.

< kill="" the="" talkative="" jellyfish="" that="" cannot="" speak,="" and="" crush="" the="" pearl="" of="" the="" night="" in="" the="" eye="" of="" the="" storm.="">

Oh, this is it—the storm mentioned in the killing condition for the Giant Jellyfish!