Seoul Object Story
Chapter 212: The Labyrinth (6)

Lying on the floor of the containment room which was covered with fluffy carpet, I looked up at the ceiling and saw a pudding inside bubbles flying in the air.

The bubbles surrounding the pudding reflected the scenery of the containment room in many patterns. They were scattered and showed a distorted shape of things inside the containment room, such as a bed, a pudding factory, and myself lying on the floor.

Warm air, a cozy bed, and the pudding factory where the Golden Reaper worked happily.

The containment room was peaceful and quiet, as always, but I lay on the floor with a gloomy expression.

One of the joys of my life, playing a prank on the Mini Reaper, had failed!

As I lay there with a sad expression, the Red Reaper, who had carefully roasted the white Hungry Ghost’s entire body and turned it into a Black Hungry Ghost, approached me and gave me the Black Hungry Ghost as a gift.

“Kyuuuu…”

The White Hungry Ghost, which had been roasted to the point that not a single white part of it remained, cried out in a sad voice. At the same time, the Red Reaper smiled brightly, exuding the will that told me to eat the Hungry Ghost and recover quickly.

Om nom nom-!

I was chewing the bite-sized Black Hungry Ghost in my mouth, and then I remembered the ability I had gained from dealing with the Yellow Moon. It wasn’t a very useful ability, so I didn’t pay much attention to it, but I decided to test it out now.

When I tried to use the ability, the Red Reaper who was watching from the side opened its mouth wide in surprise.

Red Mom!

Then, its surprised expression gradually changed to a joyful expression. It jumped up and down as if it was really excited.

The new ability I gained from dealing with the Yellow Moon was the ability to change skin color. It was purely an ability that changed my color without the help of mind corruption or giving me the ability to imitate the ability of other reapers like the ability of the Yellow Reaper.

Even though it wasn’t a practical ability, I thought the kids would like it. However, the Red Reaper showed a reaction several times more intense than I expected. It was like a puppy that was begging to go for a walk, tugging at my little finger which was laying on the floor.

It seemed like it wanted to go out to the courtyard where the other Mini Reapers were gathered to show off.

Mom is the same color as me!

I slowly got up, pretending not to be able to resist the Red Reaper’s tugging at my little finger, and put the Red Reaper on my head.

Plop-! Plop-!

Then, I slowly walked toward the courtyard, guided by the Red Reaper who looked very happy.

*********

An ominous labyrinth with green torches flickering.

In the middle of such a labyrinth, a girl was crouching in front of a burnt-out bonfire, waiting for someone.

“Where did they go?”

When the girl woke up, the campsite was empty.

The girl felt a little uneasy, but she wasn’t too worried. After all, the campsite was full of things the old men had left behind. There was no way they would abandon numerous things in the campsite, so she thought they would surely come back.

Because of that, the girl sat in front of the still-warm ashes, stroked the black sword, and decided to wait for the old men. But no matter how long she waited, the old men did not return.

Before long, the girl slowly stroked the black sword’s blade and raised it to eye level.

And as if she was communicating with it, she asked the sword.

“What should we do? The old men aren’t coming back. Should we just abandon the campsite and go through the labyrinth on our own?”

Biii-!

Then, a loud and lively answer came back from the black sword in the girl’s hand, as if agreeing to her suggestion.

The girl continued to open her mouth again after looking at the sword that was making a sound as if it was responding to her question.

“Should we go? Will that be fine? Someone might steal the things from the campsite.”

Biii-!

This time, a loud and lively answer came from the black sword.

Strangely, the girl heard it as if it was telling her to abandon the campsite and leave.

“But still… Let’s wait a little longer.”

The girl decided to wait a little longer for the men. After doing so, she spent the time by slowly stroking the beautifully patterned blade.

Biii-!

Then the sword made a purring sound that seemed pleasant.

The black sword’s blade was so soft that no matter how much she stroked it, she never got tired of it.

Moreover, the sword responded very well, so the girl tried to stroke it as often as possible.

While stroking the blade, she examined the sword carefully, as if she were examining and maintaining a treasure she cherished very much.

There was a reason why the girl did this. When she woke up in the morning, the pommel part of the sword had turned white even though It was definitely yellow before!

The color of the pommel didn’t really matter to the girl, but whenever she looked at the white pommel, she felt that the black sword was sad, and she became worried.

“It’s almost yellow now. You also liked yellow better than white, didn’t you?”

Biii-!

She continued to stroke the sad-looking sword diligently as if comforting it, and the color of the pommel finally returned to a considerably yellow color.

As the girl continued to stroke the black sword, the torch that had been burning green suddenly changed.

“!”

The torch that had been burning in an ominous green began to burn in a familiar red color again.

And when the girl looked up at the ceiling, she saw a familiar pattern of numbers.

The girl quickly opened the map book, compared the numbers, and jumped up from her seat and shouted.

“It’s back! I can go back now!”

Biii-!

When the girl shouted with a joyful expression, the black sword also cried with a joyful sound.

*********

The middle-aged man, who the girl called ‘Dog Meat Uncle’, was wiping his bloody hands with a rag while looking up at the sky.

The sky of the labyrinth city, which always had the same sunny weather 365 days a year, was reflected in his eyes.

The fake sky is sunny today too.

When he took his gaze off the sky and lowered his head to look down at the ground, two bloody men were lying sprawled on the gravel, groaning in pain.

“Sigh… How could someone scam a kid who doesn’t know the ways of the world?”

He crouched down on the gravel, made eye contact with the men, and sighed deeply. However, the two men who were questioned only made incomprehensible giggle as they were not in a state to give a proper answer.

Of course, the one who asked the question didn’t really want an answer, so he didn’t wait for an answer and just stood up, shaking his hands.

“You already found them? Is it because you’re an adventurer who has delved deep into the labyrinth? You’re fast as expected.”

At that moment, a woman wearing an apron approached him as he slowly stood up. She was the street vendor who had told the Dog Meat Uncle that the girl had been scammed. She was also the owner of the street vendor that the girl often visited.

Normally, the girl would buy snacks with a bright face when she entered the labyrinth, but this time around, the girl just looked around the street vendor before entering the labyrinth. Because of that, the woman looked around and asked around.

After finding out that there was a group that sold fake swords and glue to children at high prices, she told the Dog Meat Uncle.

“By the way, I have to return this money to the kid, but I don’t have any good method.”

The Dog Meat Uncle threw the heavy money bag into the air and caught it repeatedly with a worried expression.

While the man was thinking lightly, he heard something he couldn’t ignore.

“A change has occurred! A change has occurred! A change has occurred in the labyrinth! A green torch has appeared!”

It was news that made the uncle realize that the girl who had entered the labyrinth just a few hours ago was in danger.

*********

“Hmm. That’s strange.”

The girl was looking at the ceiling and looking at the map book alternately while worrying.

“I definitely took the right path. I went exactly as the map said.”

The girl was able to reach the last room by carefully checking the nameplate on the ceiling and the map book every time, but she became worried because she found something strange in the last room that should have allowed her to exit the labyrinth.

The nameplate on the ceiling of the current room was the nameplate that said ‘Exit’ in the map book. However, the labyrinth room that the girl had arrived at was clearly different from what the map book said.

There was no torch where the exit torch should be, there’s only a stone door made by roughly carving a stone.

“The Dog Meat Uncle said that I should never open a stone door like this….”

“But the Dog Meat Uncle also told me to trust and follow the map book….”

The girl looked like she didn’t know what to do.

“Will it be okay to just go in through this door?”

She asked while raising the black sword, and the black sword gave a simple answer.

It was a bright and light ‘biii-’.

“Okay, let’s go in!”

The girl’s expression hardened when she heard that sound and slowly began to push open the stone door.

Rumble-!

When she pushed the door completely open which was accompanied by the sound of the stone being dragged, the girl entered the room on the other side. And as soon as the girl entered the room, the stone door disappeared.

It was understandable that she would feel anxious since she was locked in a room, but the girl didn’t like that at all as she was completely absorbed in the mysterious atmosphere of the room.

The room was incomparably large compared to other rooms in the labyrinth. It was a room that was filled with shiny purple jewels that looked like mirrors, covering the walls, floor, and ceiling.

And at the far end of the room stood a shiny purple doll.

“Wow, so cool.”

The girl looked around with shining eyes, and when she turned her gaze toward the doll, she felt something strange.

Doesn’t the doll seem to be coming a little closer to me?

When she looked closer, the shiny surface of the doll was covered in uneven spots.

Feeling something suspicious, the girl began to look around the room again.

‘There’s no nameplate, so I don’t know where this is…’

The girl looked in the map book to see if there was anything written about this room, but even after looking at it, she found nothing.

Bii-!

While she was burying her face in the map book, the sword suddenly roared loudly.

The girl was startled by the sudden sound and raised her head. What she found out next was the fact that the purple doll had already crossed half of the room and was approaching the girl.

Moreover, the uneven spots on the surface of the purple doll had cracked open little by little.

This time, she was sure of it.

The doll was getting closer and closer to her.

The girl suddenly felt uneasy as she saw the approaching doll, so she raised her black sword and asked in a trembling voice.

“W-what should I do? Is it a monster?”

Biiii-!

The sword answered in a bright and high voice as if it agreed.

A quiet space where no sound resonated as if it was able to eat the echo of the sound itself.

The ominous structure of the room where everything was reflected as if all the walls were made of mirrors.

The doll that was slowly approached like a ghost.

The girl turned pale and took a deep breath.

And then, the moment she blinked her eyes, the purple doll suddenly appeared right in front of her nose.

The slits on the doll’s surface were wide open. Inside, there were disgusting and rolling eyes.

***

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