In the middle of the city's ruins, a dark hole, like an abyss with no visible end, was gaping open.

In my mind, there was no other way to stop the countless Objects that had escaped from the Central Research Institute.

The Objects that had escaped from the institute were scattering in all directions, attacking every living thing indiscriminately. It was clear that something needed to be done quickly.

So, I came up with the idea of using ground collapse as a makeshift containment.

There might have been a better way, but this was the best choice I could think of in the urgent situation.

As I focused my senses, I could feel that the flame inside my chest had diminished significantly.

I had overused my regeneration ability to lure Agu to the center of the sinkhole.

If not for the overwhelming fear and despair around me, I might have given up long ago and tried to escape.

To be honest, it was a close call just before the sinkhole was completed.

Why was it so close?

Because at the last moment, all the humans around me had died, and I had to rely solely on my reserves to keep going.

Looking down into the pitch-black hole, I waited for the Objects to climb back up.

At the very least, I intended to buy enough time for the soldiers to build a barrier around the area.

One hour…

Two hours…

Three hours…

I sat on the edge of the sinkhole, dangling my feet and waiting, but no one came up.

As time passed, I noticed soldiers cautiously moving around, so I decided to leave.

But why aren’t they coming up?

Agu alone should have been able to buy some time, at most, with the sinkhole…

And there were plenty of flying Objects as well…

Did someone spread honey underground?

The government was in turmoil over the Gray Collapse incident.

A mourning procession?

That was something you’d hear about 30 years ago when Objects weren’t known to the public.

Instead, what followed was an exodus from Seoul.

Death was too close to grieve.

And those who remained in Seoul demanded many things from the government.

Block off Songpa District, punish those responsible.

Those were the main demands.

At that moment, the public was handed a timely distraction.

A report released by a detective agency.

It exposed numerous deaths that had been covered up by the Central Research Institute.

The abduction and human experimentation on unidentified individuals.

The manipulation of occupational injury statistics by treating deaths during experiments as job transfers.

The concealment of Agu, who had killed tens of thousands in Seoul Plaza.

The fact that the research institute in the heart of Seoul was itself an Object.

And countless other corruptions that the public had been unaware of were revealed.

The backlash and anger directed at the government and the National Object Management Association seemed endless.

There were even calls for a thorough investigation of all national research facilities and suggestions that all Objects should be researched in private labs.

No matter how much the government insisted that they knew nothing, no one believed them.

A man sat in a chair, smoking a pipe.

He had become a sudden star due to the Central Research Institute whistleblowing case, but his expression was oddly dark.

On the table in front of him were numerous bottles of alcohol, and across from him, a woman lay sprawled out, drunk.

The man who had been comforting the self-blaming woman earlier now looked deep in thought as she lay passed out.

In the quiet room, only the soft sound of the radio played.

There was no mention of the deceased on the radio.

Only concerns for personal safety, criticism, and blame.

It was so absurd that the man laughed cynically.

‘This world has truly gone mad.’

In the mirror that the tired man looked at, a black butterfly briefly appeared and then vanished.

The man, staring at the mirror where the butterfly had been, slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

As soon as the man drifted off, a chuckling sound came from the gas lamp in the room.

[Did you solve this case? Did you solve this case? Did you solve this case?]

[Solved it.]

[A lot of people died because of Holmes.]

[It’s okay. The path of a great detective is always paved with red blood.]

[A detective shouldn’t feel guilty. Shouldn’t feel guilty. Shouldn’t feel guilty.]

[A detective who regrets isn’t like Holmes.]

[So, did you fail?]

[It wasn’t a failed case, so it’s fine.]

[Then let’s fix it.]

[Even the junior?]

[Even the junior.]

Smoke billowed out of the gas lamp, filling the entire detective office.

And throughout the night, the sound of bones grinding and blood spurting echoed through the room.

At the break of dawn, with a faint blue light seeping in, I woke up feeling strangely refreshed.

When I opened my eyes, the detective office was a complete mess.

Aside from the scattered bottles of alcohol, the bloodstained floor and fragments of bones made the office look like a murder scene.

Where did all this blood come from?

“Watson, did you spray blood everywhere again? I told you not to do that.”

As I searched my memory, I recalled that there had been a time long ago when the office had become a bloody mess like this.

But the memories from that period were hazy, like fog, and I couldn’t quite remember them.

“When did I drink so much? Did my junior drink it all by herself?”

The detective grumbled, unable to remember anything, while Watson watched silently.

A new scar had appeared next to an old one on the detective’s temple.

The same peculiar scar had also appeared on the junior, who was still asleep.

On a night without moonlight, I finally returned to the Sehee Research Institute.

Except for the duty room and the security office, the place was quiet and dark, with no signs of people.

As I looked around the Sehee Research Institute, which seemed different from how it usually looked, I started walking inside.

I had finally returned to Sehee Research Institute. Finally back to my containment room!

There’s no place like home. The saying “There’s no place like home” applies even to Objects, it seems.

The cat was still fast asleep on my head, likely exhausted from all the commotion inside the sinkhole.

Despite all the intense activity, it didn’t wake up, probably because it relaxed once it met me again and just continued to sleep.

I brought back the blue lizard, but I’m not sure if it’s the right one.

Why am I unsure? Because I knocked it out and stole it from someone else, so I only have the lower half.

It should regenerate in about a day or so, so I figured it would come back to life soon.

Either here, or back in that Songpa District sinkhole—one of the two places.

The most surprising thing was that none of the Objects had died in that collapse.

How many monstrous Objects did the Central Research Institute have?

To avoid waking the cat, I turned on the TV at a low volume, and the news was filled with my face.

The world had named the recent events "The Gray Collapse."

As the name suggests, they were calling it that because it was a collapse caused by the Gray Reaper.

They also feared it as the most powerful Object, capable of easily defeating Agu.

There were even suggestions to create a separate “Beyond Standard” classification for Objects like me that could cause mass destruction.

This was good news for me.

With this level of infamy, even people who see me for the first time might contribute a bit to my flames.

In the end, my trip to the Central Research Institute earned me a notorious reputation and two Object friends.

I considered it a decent haul as I turned off the TV and lay down on the bed.

After all that exertion, I was really tired, and sleep quickly overtook me.

Goodnight, everyone.

With the return of the Reaper, the Sehee Research Institute began to come back to life.

The research complex where Sehee Research Institute was located was on the outskirts of Songpa District.

Because of that, many research labs in the area started relocating to avoid danger.

Some left, but Sehee Research Institute and a few others decided to stay put.

As I wandered through the now eerily quiet research complex, I couldn’t help but feel that Songpa District had utterly collapsed.

This was the second incident where Seoul had drastically shrunk, following the destruction of Dobong District about 10 years ago.

I remember that there was more talk about it back then.

The Object known as the Ice Throne had appeared in Dobong District.

It had turned around 100,000 people in Dobong District into ice statues overnight.

Back then, there had been mourning and grief.

Many people were sad, and society felt like it was in a state of depression.

But now, people had become too accustomed to sorrow.

Survival and self-preservation were more important than mourning.

Back then, there was also anger.

How many politicians had declared they would destroy the Ice Throne in Dobong District?

People were outraged, and there was talk of how to reclaim Dobong District.

But now, people had become too accustomed to loss.

The prevailing thought was that as long as it didn’t happen to them, they didn’t care.

As I looked around the now desolate research complex, I returned to the director’s office.