The inside of the expo was in chaos, largely due to the presence of soldiers.

After fainting and waking up, the scene felt even more disordered.

One moment I was at the expo, and then I suddenly lost consciousness. When I woke up, all hell had broken loose.

Now, soldiers were lining up expo staff and questioning them one by one.

Yerin had a dejected expression.

"Sehee, unnie, I guess this is the end of the expo, right?"

"Probably. Over there, I saw a bunch of body bags. Seems like there were quite a few casualties."

In one corner of the expo grounds, soldiers were packing bodies into bags and moving them away.

There’s no way the expo could continue after something like this happened.

Listening to the conversations around me, I gathered that not only were there fatalities, but the loss of Objects was also beyond imagination.

The line gradually shortened, and it was finally Sehee Research Institute’s turn.

The questioning was brief and straightforward.

They asked simple questions like whether any Objects were lost or if any of the institute's personnel had died.

There were also many questions about the golden tree.

“Have you seen the golden tree before, or have you encountered it at another institute?”

“Do you know anything about the rumors or news regarding the reconstruction of the Bucheon Research Institute?”

The investigators from the government seemed to believe that the golden tree was the cause of the expo incident.

It made sense that a previously unknown Object suddenly appearing at the expo would raise suspicion.

After the questioning of Sehee Research Institute was over, we were told to prepare for departure.

"When you’ve finished preparing to leave, please submit your paperwork at the desk over there. You’ll receive a departure number and leave in order."

As Yerin packed up the institute's booth for departure, she spoke in a disheartened voice.

"In the end, I never even got to take out the deer pajamas."

“Well, it’s not like we knew if the Reaper would have worn them anyway…”

As far as I know, the Reaper has never worn clothes.

Sehee Research Institute hadn’t lost any Objects.

The well-behaved "Cute Puppy" was still intact in the corner of the booth, and the ghostly cat was, of course, unharmed.

However, the blue lizard, which was prone to attracting attention, had its head bitten off by someone.

According to the old data from the Central Research Institute, as long as the tail remains, it can regenerate, so taking only the lower half should be fine.

The Gray Reaper?

The Reaper seemed to be wandering around nearby, but at some point, it disappeared.

It probably returned to the institute ahead of us.

We packed the Objects into the designated containment truck and sent them to Sehee Research Institute.

The truck driver, a man of trust and reliability, was Kim Jungroe.

The remaining researchers gathered their belongings and boarded the charter bus.

After loading everything necessary onto the vehicle, we left the expo grounds and headed back to the institute.

Inside the charter bus from Sehee Research Institute, driving along the road, Yerin, sitting next to me, was scrolling through the empty digital camera data.

"What are you looking for?"

"I had the feeling I took some photos, so I was checking."

"You must be mistaken. We never even took out the camera, right?"

“For some reason, I felt like I took a lot of pictures of the Reaper in the deer pajamas, but I guess it was just my imagination.”

Yerin put the camera back in her bag and muttered, "I suppose something like that could never happen in reality."

And so, Sehee Research Institute's first participation in the expo came to a brief end.

The expo incident ended up confirming the "Sad Zoo Jinx" once again.

Lying on my bed, I stretched my hand toward the ceiling.

Squeeze.

I opened and closed my fist.

The abilities I could use had increased.

This was because I had dealt with Objects at the expo.

But the biggest mystery was the change in the golden reaper.

The lifespan of the ephemeral golden reaper had significantly increased.

This was the first time I’d experienced an acquired ability growing on its own.

It seemed that the Objects the golden reaper killed became a source of power for it.

[How is it possible that the 'Maker' hasn’t been caught yet? They caused such a huge incident at the expo!]

[The terrorist suspect is still at large! What is the government doing?]

The TV was full of stories about the criminal who had struck the expo.

They were talking about the criminal known as the "Maker."

At first, there were all sorts of theories and conspiracy theories.

"The Gray Reaper massacred everyone at the expo."

"It was the work of a new Gray Reaper, the Golden Reaper."

These kinds of comments, especially from tabloids like Daily Object, spread like wildfire, but they vanished as soon as a certain piece of news came out.

That was the news that the "Unbreakable Cube" had disappeared.

Since it was literally unbreakable, it hadn’t been destroyed or moved; it had to have been stolen.

The value of the Unbreakable Cube was incalculable, so the prevailing theory became that this entire incident was orchestrated to steal it.

However, there was much debate about who could have pulled off such a feat.

The suspect became clear once the material of the golden tree was revealed.

"The golden tree was artificially created using the Golden Horn!"

It was discovered that the golden tree was an Object made from the Golden Horn.

Naturally, the suspect was identified as the "Maker."

"A criminal who creates Objects with an incomprehensible level of technology."

"A criminal who makes Objects using the Golden Horn."

"A criminal who has recently become active."

The "Maker," who created Objects using the Golden Horn, became the prime suspect.

In my opinion, though, there were a few more suspicious aspects of this incident, but they had already faded from public attention.

"Why were the soldiers, especially the commanding officer who led the lockdown, found dead at the expo?"

"Why were so many dangerous Objects displayed at this expo?"

These questions remained unanswered.

But the media was only focusing on the "Maker."

I turned off the TV, which was repeating the same things over and over, and stepped out of the isolation room.

It was time to test the new ability I had gained.

An abandoned research lab on the outskirts of Gangdong-gu.

The head of the lab had relocated here after escaping from the expo.

Since the incident had been attributed to Bucheon Research Institute, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.

In this new lab, the head of the lab began another experiment.

"Now then, let’s begin the experiment."

A loud signal sounded, and the countdown began.

It was an experiment similar to those conducted before.

"Place a kidnapped person inside a sealed chamber made of Golden Horn and force them to name the Object."

The only difference this time was that the "Unbreakable Cube" was placed inside the sealed chamber.

Soon, a loud noise, like a giant hammer striking a steel plate, echoed through the lab.

"No-Name" had appeared and was savagely pounding on the sealed chamber.

The chamber, reinforced by the Cube, demonstrated strength worthy of its "Unbreakable" title.

No matter how fast and hard No-Name struck, the chamber maintained its form.

The deafening noise of the steel plate being struck, which seemed like it would go on forever, suddenly stopped.

And then a completely different phenomenon began.

A sharp sound echoed throughout the lab.

It was a spine-chilling noise, like nails scraping against a chalkboard.

With that sharp sound, No-Name’s fingers slowly began to pierce through the walls of the chamber.

At first, just one finger.

Then the wrist.

And then the entire arm.

The arm kept extending through the wall, accompanied by the grating noise.

No-Name’s arm had pierced the "Unbreakable" chamber.

Even though No-Name's arm seemed to suffer damage, with powder scattering, it regenerated instantly.

Unfortunately, the chamber did not regenerate.

"Save me, save me! Please, save me!"

The man inside the chamber screamed, covering his ears as he saw the arm inching closer.

He kept screaming for help, just asking to be saved.

But, like the other victims of these experiments, his wish was not granted.

No-Name, having forced its entire upper body through, grabbed the man and slowly crushed him to death.

As expected with physical immunity, the man died slowly and painfully.

In the end, the man was crushed, leaving only a pool of his blood in the chamber.

"Even the Cube couldn’t stop it. There’s a way to break through physical immunity… We’ll have to stop all experiments involving No-Name. It’s a waste of time until we find another solution."

The lab head, with an angry expression, declared the end of the experiment.

"At this rate, I don’t even know if we’ll be able to start research on 'KR-897'."

No sooner had the lab head finished speaking than blood spurted from his chest.

"Oh, no."

A grotesque arm that had burst out from his chest slowly began to split the lab head's body in two.

Though blood poured from his mouth as he died, the lab head didn't seem too worried.

"Everyone, take a day off."

With those final words, the lab head was split in two and died.

The researchers, shedding tears, danced with joy over the corpse of the lab head, now a blood-soaked mess due to his slip of the tongue.