Chapter 18: Central Research Institute (9)

I continued running in the midst of hell.

The junior had thrown away the hammer she cherished somewhere and was running while gasping for breath, holding only the documents in her hand.

The town where we had been living our daily lives until recently had become the heart of hell, filled with blood and screams.

A dung beetle speeding down the road like a burning bowling ball was knocking people over like bowling pins, and rocks flying in the sky were spurting high-pressure water, tearing people to pieces.

Even I, who had thoroughly investigated Objects, saw unfamiliar Objects emerging and violating people.

Every second was a continuous tension.

If my Monocle quickly showed the characteristics of those Objects, I had to determine my response accordingly.

[It attacks moving objects.]

"Stop!"

An impressive giant eyeball tadpole was floating in the air, swiveling around.

However, people who didn't know what abilities that Object had were simply turning their backs and fleeing in terror at its dreadful appearance.

The stories of those who fled were horrifying.

The eyeball tadpole spurted tears from its eyes, and those who tried to flee slowly, but without stopping, melted away, writhing in agony before dying.

'Damn, was it a mistake to make that deal?'

Thanks to having diligently fled before the situation occurred, we had already arrived at the outskirts of Songpa-gu.

Looking back, I saw the exhausted junior and a path made of blood and corpses.

With a single choice, Songpa-gu had become hell.

As soon as the junior and I broke through the boundary, the military arrived, set up barricades, and began sealing it off.

We survived.

But the blood-stained road I had seen when I turned back seemed to cling to my eyes, refusing to leave.

***

The loud sound of a helicopter rang in my ears.

The area around Songpa-gu, where the Central Research Institute had been located, was already restricted, but that wasn't very important.

Rather, the attention and views that this footage would gain were much more important for 'Daily Object'.

People were screaming and fleeing, and the shattered roads here and there no longer seemed to serve their function.

On top of that, with the numerous Objects that had been isolated in the Central Research Institute now released, the area near Songpa-gu had become the descent of hell on earth.

What was even more dreadful was something else.

It was the fact that the government had virtually abandoned the residents of Songpa-gu.

At the barricade line encircling the outskirts of Songpa-gu, soldiers were desperately maintaining the front line while pouring in firepower.

After all, most of the Objects that had been transferred to the Central Research Institute were dangerous ones that private research institutes had deemed too difficult to isolate.

Protecting citizens who had fled to the outskirts? There was no way they could worry about that when a giant wart that could instantly regenerate even if blown to pieces was flying over.

However, the camera of 'Daily Object' was not interested in other Objects.

The fierce battle at the Songpa-gu outskirts front line? That was also not of interest.

The camera was simply capturing the two Objects fiercely fighting and clashing on the site of the former Central Research Institute.

Lophiomus, which had plunged Korea into shock and terror 30 years ago.

The gray Reaper, which had gained attention again due to the Seoul Forest Village Fire incident.

The match that had been inseparable from Internet 'vs. battle debate' was now unfolding for real.

***

On the monitor at Sehee Research Institute, the heart of Seoul was being shown in real-time, crumbling amidst the loud sounds of helicopters.

It was certain of its decisive victory.

The regeneration of that small thing clearly had its limits.

The small thing that had been endlessly absorbing power from its surroundings was rapidly losing strength as the humans around it disappeared.

All that was left was to thoroughly chew up and devour that small thing.

As the small thing stopped and stomped its feet, the ground began collapsing indiscriminately.

The sudden collapse of the ground seemed laughable to Lophiomus.

The crumbling earth was hardly a threat.

It would soon climb up the cliff and definitely devour it.

!

Then, as it fell to the ground, Lophiomus felt like it heard [the scream of the world].

A huge 'something' was reaching out toward Lophiomus from the other side of the world.

The 'something' that had been standing behind the small thing quickly disappeared, but Lophiomus still felt endless terror.

No, all Objects that could sense the magnitude of that 'something' felt the same.

Terrified, Lophiomus threw itself into the pit.

***

A massive collapse occurred.

A massive collapse so huge it should be called super disaster.

A sinkhole with a diameter spanning several kilometers and a depth where the bottom could not be seen had occurred.

Even the 'Daily Object' reporter who had been relentlessly chewing on Reaper opened his eyes wide and forgot to speak.

When Reaper suddenly stopped, clapped twice, and then stomped the ground three times with its small feet, the ground collapsed.

The process itself was dramatic.

A small vehicle overturned, and like a pinball, the fallen cars flowed into the clustered vehicles and exploded.

The tanker truck there also exploded.

The vibration then toppled the surrounding buildings in one direction like dominoes, and all the gas pipes exploded in succession.

It was like a scene from a movie.

Lophiomus was caught up in the collapse and fell into the bottomless pit-like sinkhole, making its position impossible to see.

"W...wow? the Reaper is really something, isn't it?"

"I-it...is?"

Even the people at the Sehee Research Institute watching the broadcast on TV could not close their mouths at the tremendous incident caused by the Reaper.

***

Three days after the disaster that came to be known as the Gray Collapse, the world seemed to be slowly recovering from the shock.

At first, everyone was trembling in fear.

There were many opinions that they should abandon and leave Seoul.

Among the Objects that fell into the sinkhole, there were many Objects with flight capabilities, and uncontrollable Objects like Lophiomus also fell in, so that's why.

A terrifying place where a monster that could destroy Seoul could emerge at any time!

People began to leave Seoul for other regions in droves.

However, no matter how much time passed, the Objects did not come up.

A few scraps were observed coming up, but such things could be easily eliminated with firearms.

In this way, Seoul gradually regained stability.