On a peaceful afternoon, I was enjoying a picnic in the courtyard of Sehee Research Institute, basking in the sunlight.

Lying comfortably in the shade of a tree, I sipped on a cold drink, enjoying some relaxation.

Nom nom nom.

I was munching on snacks that Yerin handed to me, enjoying a peaceful moment, when it was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected event.

The "cute puppy," who had been lying exhausted, suddenly started barking like crazy.

If it had been any other behavior, I might have thought, "What’s wrong with it? Has it gone mad?" But this was a familiar outburst from the "cute puppy," one I had seen even when I was human.

Yerin, who had been lying next to me, also changed her expression and quickly pulled out a small notebook, jotting down something furiously.

This erratic behavior was the reason people were willing to accommodate the "cute puppy’s" demanding nature.

The "cute puppy" had a "money-making" ability.

The "cute puppy" could sense events related to Objects happening nearby.

When it sensed something, it would bark wildly, providing information about the direction and angle of where the change was occurring.

Why is this valuable?

First, finding and containing an Object brings in money.

Even just reporting the discovery of an Object can earn a reward.

Since most Objects are difficult to blend in with humans, the quicker they are discovered and contained, the less damage they cause to the city.

To incentivize research institutes to act quickly, there are substantial bounties for discovering and containing Objects.

These bounties are set to protect cities and human lives.

As a result, many research institutes operate multiple investigation teams to proactively find and capture Objects.

Although the "cute puppy" doesn’t always provide a 100% accurate prediction, it can conduct this kind of investigation effortlessly from the institute’s floor, making its value sky-high.

Additionally, the "cute puppy’s" speed and accuracy far surpass that of humans, making it an indispensable Object for keeping Seoul safe.

At the Seoul Research Institute, whenever the puppy started barking suddenly, the staff would immediately stop their work and wait for a researcher to interpret the signals.

The "cute puppy’s" barking followed certain patterns, which could be learned with study, though it wasn’t easy.

Having attempted to learn it myself back when I was human, hoping for a salary increase, I found it incredibly difficult.

It wasn’t something an average person, unaccustomed to studying, could easily master.

Watching Yerin from behind as she worked, I still couldn’t figure out what she was doing!

After finishing her calculations, Yerin hurriedly said, “I’m going to check something out!” and dashed into the institute.

Busy, busy.

Holding the interpreted sheet of paper, I hurried to the office.

The results of the interpretation were quite significant.

It indicated that a large-scale Object-related phenomenon was occurring near Dobong-gu.

The problem was that Dobong-gu was currently considered one of the most dangerous areas in Seoul.

Upon reaching the office, I handed the interpreted sheet to Senior Kim Jung-roe.

After reading it, his expression hardened, and he began making a phone call.

“No, no, how can that make sense?! Just because we’re temporarily keeping the ‘cute puppy,’ they expect us to handle this task too?”

What started as a calm conversation soon escalated into shouts and raised voices as the call continued.

“They didn’t inform us of this in advance, and now they expect us to deal with it immediately?”

From what I overheard, it sounded like the Central Research Institute had been destroyed, leaving no department to handle tasks related to the "cute puppy."

Moreover, the current government was reportedly planning to dismantle all national research institutes and transfer all authority to private ones.

So the conclusion was that Sehee Research Institute was being asked to conduct the investigation and write the report.

What was initially just temporary custody of the "cute puppy" had suddenly turned into a full-fledged mission.

It was an unreasonable demand that exceeded our contract, but when the government orders something, a research institute has no choice but to comply.

No institute is free from government subsidies, after all.

Perhaps things are different for research institutes in the U.S. that manufacture and sell Object-handling equipment.

This situation reeked of additional, unwanted tasks.

Sure enough, after slamming the phone down, Senior Kim began gathering everyone in the office.

I tried to slip away discreetly, but, as expected, escaping right in front of him was impossible, and I got caught.

“Oh Yerin, you’ll go this route for the investigation. Prepare thoroughly since it’s near Dobong-gu.”

The map Senior Kim handed me was filled with routes and tasks that I needed to cover.

Sigh, I don’t want to go.

I headed to the supply room to gather the necessary equipment for the trip to Dobong-gu.

As I sighed deeply, resigned to the reality of the situation, a yellow beam of light suddenly shone on my face.

The Reaper, with a curious expression, was looking at me, his eyes glowing.

“Wanna come along?” I asked, extending my hand.

The Reaper grasped it firmly.

For some reason, this trip was starting to seem like it might be fun.

We arrived at the target point in Dobong-gu by car, driven by Yerin.

Upon reaching the boundary of Dobong-gu, I saw a tall concrete wall encircling the entire district.

That was the giant wall separating Dobong-gu from Gangbuk-gu.

It was my first time seeing it in person.

The wall, built to fight against Objects, conveyed both practicality and grandeur.

Given the rumors that the area beyond was a frozen hell of minus 100 degrees Celsius, it almost felt like the cold was seeping through the wall to reach us here.

Yerin parked the car, pulled out a camera, and casually set it up facing the wall before returning.

“Alright, Picnic Part 2!”

Yerin spread out a mat on a patch of grass and patted the spot next to her, inviting me to sit.

'...'

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t help but wonder if Yerin was going to get fired someday for being so lax.

Nom nom nom.

As I was eating snacks, Yerin’s phone rang.

She checked the call and then frowned as she answered.

“Yes, this is Oh Yerin.”

As Yerin spoke, the voice on the other end began to scold her non-stop.

[Are you seriously with the Gray Reaper right now? You need to submit proper reports. What on earth are you thinking…]

But the scolding didn’t last long.

As Yerin took the call, something unusual happened.

Boom!

A massive shockwave rippled through the ground.

The impact was strong enough to lift us off the mat.

Yerin, startled, jumped to her feet.

It seemed the shockwave had disconnected Yerin’s call.

Crash!

A second impact followed, and we saw the wall in the distance shatter into concrete debris, scattering everywhere.

Through the broken wall, a giant fist emerged.

The fist swung again, smashing the wall to pieces.

The things wielding those fists, thoroughly destroying the wall, were known as the soldiers of the Ice Throne.

They were soldiers encased in glass-like transparent ice, with their inner workings driven by gears and machinery.

The soldiers of the Ice Throne exuded a biting cold from their entire bodies.

Beyond the collapsed wall, an infinite army of ice soldiers could be seen, their numbers impossible to estimate.

These soldiers were clad in armor made of ice.

Startled by the sudden event, the nearby residents began to flee, but the ice soldiers paid no attention to the people.

They only swung their fists, smashing buildings and walls, just like they did during the Dobong-gu invasion 10 years ago.

Yerin grabbed my hand tightly, threw me into the car, and drove off at breakneck speed.

The robots moved incredibly slowly, but it seemed we needed to hurry.

“Hah… Hah…”

Yerin’s breath was visible in white puffs.

Even though it was summer, it felt like the temperature had already dropped to minus 10 degrees.

The monsters of Dobong-gu had started their advance.

Fortunately, there were hardly any vehicles on the road, likely because very few people wanted to live near the Dobong-gu wall.

As Yerin raced down the highway like it was a racetrack, her phone buzzed with a new message.

The message displayed briefly on the screen was simple:

Other investigation teams have begun their escape. You should flee quickly too.

It was a message of little use to Yerin, who was already in the process of fleeing.

Yerin’s face was pale.

At a glance, she didn’t seem okay.

A snowstorm was raging outside the car windows.

In the middle of summer.

They said the center of Dobong-gu was about minus 100 degrees—had the temperature dropped that much here too?

Given that Yerin was dressed in light clothing, she seemed to be struggling to endure it.

To make matters worse, the car suddenly emitted a strange sound I had never heard before and then came to a stop.

Yerin huddled into herself and sighed.

Shivering, she turned her head toward me with great difficulty, her lips moving but unable to form words.

It looked like she had something she wanted to say, but instead, she just closed her eyes, unable to speak.

I was brought back to consciousness by a gentle warmth.

I had lost consciousness in the cold, convinced I was going to die, but had I survived?

Or was this the afterlife?

Considering the existence of Objects and other supernatural phenomena, it seemed plausible that an afterlife could exist too.

But the intense warmth made it clear that this was reality.

I blinked slowly, then opened my eyes.

Right in front of me was the face of the Reaper, who had fallen asleep.

The blazing fire, so intense that it made his gray skin appear yellow, was driving away the cold from outside.

The Reaper had burrowed into my clothes, with only his head sticking out.

I raised my hand, gently stroking the Reaper’s head, and quietly spoke.

“Thank you.”

Then I hugged the Reaper tightly, savoring the warmth.