Seoul Object Story
Chapter 196: A Full Moon (5)

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In the dark alley between towering structures, where gray moonlight trickled through, a small but dependable Golden Object stood proudly, bathed in the moon’s spotlight like an actor on stage. Despite the moonlight that illuminated it, the Object emitted a scent reminiscent of sunlight.

The Object looked up at the student, proud and protected by the gray moonlight. The student recognized the Object immediately. It was the ‘Golden Reaper,’ a counterpart to the Gray Reaper.

The student stared at the Golden Reaper, entranced. A headache, which had always gnawed at him, seemed to ease in its presence.

“Ah!”

Now that he thought about it, he was sure his heart had been pierced. Yet, right now, there was no pain. Was it an illusion?

He reached to where the wound should have been, but all he felt was his torn school uniform and the ugly gaping wound beneath it, sticky with blood.

When he looked at his fingertips, which had touched the wound, they were coated in both blood and golden flames. The Golden Reaper, seeing the student’s distress, rushed over to him.

Pat-! Pat-!

The Golden Reaper patted the wound, looking shocked at the sight of the still-bleeding injury.

Hesitating for a moment, the Golden Reaper glared at the air with a serious expression and slowly swung its sword through the space. The sword, tracing a slow yet graceful arc, made contact.

Boom-!

Tears rippled across the space as if a stone had been thrown into a lake. When the space fully tore open, the alley was filled with the sweet scent of chocolate.

As the sword’s trajectory came to an end, a hole the size of the Golden Reaper appeared in the air. At almost the same time, the lights illuminating the alley faded, and the flame that had been emanating from the Golden Reaper’s chest dimmed to almost nothing.

The Golden Reaper, looking exhausted, smiled slightly at the student.

It’s okay now!

With an expression that seemed to say everything had been resolved, the Golden Reaper looked as if it might collapse at any moment. The student quickly reached out, pulling the Reaper into an embrace.

With the Golden Reaper in his arms, looking fragile and as if it would vanish at any second, the student couldn’t help but feel worried.

“Are you okay?”

The Golden Reaper didn’t respond but instead took the student’s finger and placed it on its head.

The student was puzzled by the action—was it asking for a head pat? But still, he complied, gently stroking the Golden Reaper’s head. The Golden Reaper closed its eyes in contentment, and slowly, its flames began to regain their brilliance.

As the flames regained their light, the Golden Reaper stood up from the student’s palm, cheering. The student smiled slightly, finding the innocent display of joy cute. As if he was shouting, ‘Golden Reaper is back!’ cute.

Without hesitation, the Golden Reaper dashed toward the tear in space, pulling out a Mini Reaper as transparent as blue water.

The Blue Reaper, with a bewildered expression, glanced at the student and began writing something in the air.

< Heal all the wounds! Please! >

The strange symbols transformed into mist as they were written, seeping into the student’s wounds. When he touched them again, the injury was gone, as if it had never existed.

To heal a fatal wound in an instant…

“Amazing!”

Still in awe of the experience, the student reached out to pat the Blue Reaper in the same way he had the Golden Reaper. But just before his hand could make contact, the Blue Reaper pulled its hat low, as if embarrassed, and vanished.

The Golden Reaper looked up at the student, its smile as if saying, ‘Your wounds are healed. You’re fine now.’ Then, as if sensing something, it turned and began glaring at the moonlight.

The student followed its gaze, looking up at the gray moon above.

The gray moonlight shone down steadily from the sky.

Yes, the moonlight was supposed to be that color.

So why, just a moment ago, had he thought the only moon in the world was the full one, casting ominous yellow light over everything?

At that moment, a throbbing headache suddenly assaulted him again, and the sky also began to be consumed by a yellow full moon.

Suddenly, a sharp headache surged again, and the sky above began to turn, consumed by a yellow full moon.

A full moon so large that it filled his entire field of vision. The simple alleys around him morphed into a complex maze with no end. Ominous yellow moonlight flooded the dark streets.

At the end of the alley, a familiar figure appeared, standing with her back to the moonlight.

“No matter how strong you are, you can’t beat me under this moonlight.”

A female student looked down at the student and the Golden Reaper with a strange smirk on her lips.

*********

I handed the lightsaber, which clearly needed repair, to the Golden Reaper. I had wanted to play with it, but I figured it would be more of a headache if it broke. It seemed safer to trust the Golden Reaper with the repairs.

I didn’t trust my own self-control, so it would be better to let the Golden Reaper handle it. I hoped the repair would be quick. If the lightsaber worked properly, I could probably defeat the Mini Reapers.

After all, the size difference between me and the Mini Reapers was massive!

From emotional absorption to firewood capacity, it was almost laughable to compare.

I glanced around at the other lightsaber wielders, curious.

What rank are you?

Everyone just answered “Hero!” without any ranking system, so I was suddenly very curious.

2nd place!

3rd place!

4th place!

5th place!

The Golden Reapers raised their hands in order, proudly announcing their rankings.

Huh, there’s no first place?

They were picking five heroes, but there was only one big sword and four small ones…

Could it be that I was in 1st place?

When I asked, “Could I be first?” the Golden Reapers gave me looks as if I had said something ridiculous.

Hing…

I’m hurt…

They didn’t need to look at me like that.

I was planning to have some fun with them when the lightsaber was repaired, but that was out of the question now. I would have to go full power from the first swing. I promised myself a gentleman’s revenge and asked more questions.

Then, who’s in 1st place? Where is it?

The Golden Reapers, bursting with pride for their champion, leapt up and shared various short stories.

Golden Reapr’s Best Swordsman!

Space Slicing!

Overwhelmingly Strongest!

The Golden Reapers’ boasts continued endlessly.

They were so great that I thought, ‘Is this an exaggeration’, or is it for real?’

There’s no way the Golden Reaper would lie to me, so the one who ranked first must truly be incredible.

I figured it would be fun to see them in action when I had the chance.

If they’re praising this person that much, surely they could give the Hungry Ghost Reaper a good challenge, right?

*********

A golden flash suddenly exploded.

“Wow…”

The student couldn’t help but be amazed at it.

Even when it held a sword, it seemed like it would be at a disadvantageous position due to its small body. But the Golden Reaper’s fighting power was overwhelming.

The Golden Reaper kicked off the wall of the narrow alley and fought in the air and the wall as if it were the ground.

It was truly a three-dimensional maneuver!

Even its short sword was not a weakness since it could shoot its body like a bullet so quickly.

The murderer who ran into it without thinking was not able to properly engage against the Golden Reaper and simply turned to dust and disappeared.

Every time the light flashed around the student, the Yellow Moon Murderer disappeared. However, even though the Golden Reaper was overwhelmingly strong, the situation did not look so good.

The murderer never died. Even when she was cut in half or chopped into small pieces, it was the same. She would reappear in perfect condition after turning to dust and disappearing.

And the situation started to get worse and worse.

“Amazing. Really great. But how long can you fight like that?”

The female student who had been running at the Golden Reaper until now was sitting on the rubble overlooking the alley, clapping her hands. And as soon as she finished speaking, many people started rushing into the alley.

Starting with students in the same class as him, his homeroom teacher, and even the principal. All kinds of people the student had met somewhere while walking around this street appeared.

Before he knew it, the murderers had appeared in such numbers that it was hard to count them, filling the alley and starting to rush at them.

*********

The Golden Reaper was bouncing around the alley like a pinball, slicing up bad Objects. But no matter how much it cut, no matter how much it killed, there was no end to the Objects.

They were objects that could not be killed with a sword. The Golden Reaper was so frustrated by that. Even if it focused its firewood on its eyes just like what its mother did, it couldn’t see anything. Even when it tried to call its Mom, its will was blocked by something and it couldn’t send it.

If it cut the space like before and made a passage to the Garden of the Mini Reaper, it could call its Mom, but it didn’t have any leeway to concentrate and cut the space.

Moreover, he couldn’t fight like this for long. The lightsaber that seemed like it could cut everything was blinking like a broken fluorescent light. A strange sound also came from inside the sword he had been cherishing. It sounded like his black sibling biting into a hard cookie.

I’m sorry.

The golden Reaper turned its head towards the precious human with a sad face and weakly expressed his will. If the sword was broken, he couldn’t protect the precious human anymore.

After all, those bad Objects had ‘physical immunity.’

I’m sorry.

The Golden Reaper apologized repeatedly and swung its final slash with maximum output with a serious face. With a flash of light, the lightsaber that had erased all enemies stopped radiating light together with the sound of something crumbling.

However, the bad Objects began to reappear endlessly.

Two arms, one leg, and one last life.

At most, it could only kill four more bad Objects.

Then the previous human would die.

The Golden Reaper tried hard to wipe away the tears that were falling down and glared at the enemies. Since its mom couldn’t come, it had to do something.

At that desperate moment, the Golden Reaper’s mind recalled the splendid flames of the Hungry Ghost Reaper. Swordsmanship that used formless flames into something sharp and tangible.

Recalling that, it had thoughts.

I have to make a sword!

However, it felt uneasy, thinking ‘Can I do it?’

The Golden Reaper shook its head violently and erased those thoughts.

It had to make it.

Else, the precious human would die.

The precious human would not come back to life.

Rather than seeing the precious human die, it rather dies here!

Even if it meant burning its entire soul!

At that moment, golden flames shot out from the Golden Reaper’s entire body. It was the most brilliant flame the Golden Reaper had ever emitted. At the same time, the Golden Reaper’s body began to fade.

It was the flame of life created by burning its own body.

And then, a beautiful sword that looked like brilliant starlight extended from its empty palm.

Looking at the sword, the Golden Reaper smiled with a delighted expression.

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