In my line of sight, I noticed the senior in the yellow suit and an overwhelming number of guards entering.

The path to the Director's office was heavily guarded, to the point where it was daunting just to look at.

I had succeeded in getting close to the passage leading to the Director's office with the senior, but now we were at a loss on how to actually sneak in.

I whispered softly to the senior.

"Senior, are you sure we can get through this?"

"..."

The senior, who was always so confident, was silent this time, clearly struggling to figure out a solution.

To be honest, getting this far already felt like a miracle.

If I had to come this far alone?

I could confidently say it would have been impossible.

The senior’s ability to locate the guards without even looking was uncanny, and the tools he pulled out of his pocket were anything but ordinary.

Among them, the lamp he called 'Watson' was the most extraordinary.

Although, I didn't like it much—there was something ominous about it, and it had this strange smell of blood.

And it wasn't just once or twice that I felt as if the shadow of 'Watson' disliked me.

But there was no denying its capabilities.

Even in the short time we’ve used it, ‘invisibility’—it was like magic.

"Senior, why don’t we use Watson again? If we use invisibility one more time, I think we can just barely make it through."

"We can’t use Watson anymore for this job."

"What?"

"Watson is kind, but it comes with a catch. If you use it more than three times, you'll dry up and die like a mummy."

The senior tapped his monocle a few times as he spoke.

Looking at the senior now, his face did seem a bit pale, as if he was low on blood—was Watson draining his blood?

Thinking back, the senior had already made three requests to Watson.

One to bring us through space.

One to reveal the cause of the spatial block.

And one to go invisible when passing through the guard post.

If the senior said Watson was dangerous, then it must be quite a perilous Object.

"So, what do we do now?"

"I'm thinking about that. Wait a bit, an opportunity will arise, don’t you think?"

Even in a very uncomfortable hiding position, the senior remained perfectly composed—it was impressive.

But where did the Gray Reaper go? It seemed like it was following us just a little while ago.

I felt the weight of the heavy gas lamp in my hand and looked towards the Deputy Director's office, blocking the entrance to the Director's office.

The opportunity would surely come.

I had a near-certain feeling.

But, as they say, crisis and opportunity are two sides of the same coin, and the opportunity I was waiting for was, conversely, a crisis.

As I continued to observe the Deputy Director's office while hiding, I sensed the moment I had been waiting for.

Commotion started spreading from the Deputy Director's office.

"Get ready."

The opportunity we were waiting for had arrived.

The people bustling around the Deputy Director's office suddenly rushed out and dashed off somewhere in a hurry.

"Run!"

We sprinted past the now empty Deputy Director's office and down the corridor leading to the Director's office.

"Senior? What's happening all of a sudden?"

My junior looked bewildered at the suddenly deserted corridor.

I smiled as I answered the puzzled look on her face.

"The final opportunity has come!"

The Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute pondered deeply.

How much longer should we wait?

Could it be that the Gray Reaper has already left the Institute?

Despite sending the staff on patrol and setting traps, the Gray Reaper hadn’t been found.

More than three days had already passed.

Considering its ability to become incorporeal, I ordered them to not overlook even the smallest detail, but the location of the Gray Reaper was still unknown.

"Deputy Director, the Gray Reaper has appeared in the isolation room!"

It was right at that moment that the Gray Reaper made its appearance.

Immediately, the staff who had been on standby began their evacuation.

The preparations had been completed from the start, so the evacuation proceeded rapidly.

Researchers waiting in other locations would also have started evacuating via the closest routes.

Since the Gray Reaper was spotted in the isolation room assigned to it, there was no need to worry about planning escape routes.

Just before leaving the Deputy Director's office, the Deputy Director glanced back at the Director's office.

The man who had sat in the Director's seat for 30 years.

The man who died 30 years ago, leaving only his family behind in Seoul Plaza.

And the cold man who continued his research even as he became an Object.

Thinking of that man, the Deputy Director began his escape.

I lay comfortably on the bed in the isolation room of the Central Research Institute, organizing my thoughts.

After spending time with the detective duo, I had discovered a few things.

Well, technically, I had secretly stolen and read their reports.

The atmosphere around them screamed, "Detectives infiltrating an evil organization for some critical mission!" So, naturally, I was curious to learn more.

The contents of the reports they were investigating were shocking even to me, someone who had worked at a different research institute.

The cover-up of Objects supposedly destroyed.

Even more so, the private concealment of a dangerous Object known as 'Agu.'

Misreporting deaths within the institute as resignations to distort the statistics.

They seemed to be using individuals with unclear identities as temporary employees, erasing their records if they died.

If the detective’s report were made public, it could lead to the dismantling of the Central Research Institute—this was a massive scandal.

So, I decided to lend a hand to these righteous detectives.

The root cause of the detectives’ troubles was the existence of ‘Agu.’

In other words, if I took care of Agu directly, most of the problems would be solved.

The detectives would have a safe escape route—good for them.

And if the Central Research Institute collapses, I can take the ghost cat and piano-playing lizard back to the Sehee Research Institute—good for me!

A perfect win-win world where everyone is happy.

So, here I was, lying comfortably on the bed provided by the Central Research Institute, waiting for them to summon Agu.

Judging by the commotion in the institute, it seemed like I would be facing Agu very soon.

Together with my junior, I crossed the corridor and kicked open the door to the Director's office.

There, I found a man quietly scribbling on a report.

No, there was an Object.

An Object in the shape of a man.

Panting, my junior followed me into the Director's office and gently closed the door behind her.

"Senior, is that man really an Object?"

"Yes, he's definitely an Object."

The man reflected in my monocle was undoubtedly an Object.

Officially, the Director's position at the Central Research Institute had been vacant for 30 years—so this was the reason?

[As long as he remains the Director, the Institute is indestructible.]

Indeed, if the Institute couldn’t be destroyed, it would be an ideal place to isolate troublesome Objects.

Honestly, a research institute in the heart of Seoul? If it were an ordinary private research institute, it would have been forced to relocate to the outskirts of Seoul after a few Object leak incidents.

But since the Institute itself had become an Object, it could operate in the center of Seoul without major accidents.

"I don't see any other Objects. So, it's probably the Director who's blocking our movement."

"But what do we do now? Should I just smash him with a hammer?"

My junior, now holding a sledgehammer in both hands, looked back at me with a big grin.

Where did she even get such a large sledgehammer?

"Finally, you've come. At last!"

Suddenly, the man’s voice startled us, and we turned to see the Director raising his head and shouting.

"You must be here because you need something, right? If you give me what I need, I'll gladly grant your request."

The Object, who resembled the Director, smiled at me with a meaningful expression.

The smile was so genuinely joyful that it made him seem all the more suspicious.

"Before that, who are you? I don't want to make a deal without knowing who I'm dealing with."

"Ah, I should clarify something first. I am not really here. No matter how much you speak to me, I cannot hear you. This puppet merely repeats pre-recorded actions."

Our conversation wasn't aligning.

Was this an act, or was it something else... I couldn't tell. His expression was unreadable.

"The only thing we need to do is make a deal. Place your cane in my right hand, and I will ensure you can escape from this Institute."

Then, the Object, resembling the Director, stopped moving.

"Uh, what should we do?"

"I don't know. There's too little information. I can't tell if making the deal is the right choice or not."

The heavy vibrations echoing through the entire Institute suggested that we didn’t have much time to deliberate.

I could hear the sound of Agu rampaging and destroying the Institute.

"In times like these, going with your gut is usually the right answer."

Overthinking in situations like this is a waste of time.

Tap, tap.

In my ghostly form, I walked quickly through the chaos-filled corridors of the Central Research Institute.

The emergency lights inside the Institute were flickering, and the staff, who had lost their way, were screaming as they ran.

Following the sound of the screams, I quickly found the cause.

An Object that had only been seen in old newspapers.

The very existence that had essentially revealed the presence of Objects to the public in Korea.

Even facing such a notorious Object, I felt fairly confident.

After all, I could see its weaknesses and was immune to physical damage.

But that confidence evaporated the moment I faced Agu directly.

Often, when facing an Object with overwhelming abilities, you could feel a certain intimidation.

The presence I felt from Agu before me now was on par with or even exceeded that of the Iron Tower.

Is this really an Object that can be killed?

What was I thinking, boldly planning to take down Agu and then take the lizard and cat back with me…

If the conditions for killing it were simple, it might have been worth a shot, but even those conditions betrayed me.

[A Stone Created by the First Object]

Ah, this is something that can’t be killed.

What exactly is the First Object?