Seoul Object Story
Chapter 220: The Labyrinth (14)

I don’t know why, but the crack that appeared as the space tore right in front of me felt like it was inviting me to enter. However, I was still debating whether to enter or not.

After coming out of the fantasy, I started to feel like I had already enjoyed enough adventure. Plus, it seemed like there was no need for me to continue on in the labyrinth that had no Tyrannosaurus.

When I turned my head from the crack in space and looked at the Black Reapers, they just looked happy. They didn’t seem to be flustered by the sudden change in environment.

They seemed to have been in a fierce battle just a moment ago, but now, they were running around with bright expressions as if they had forgotten about it.

When the interior of the labyrinth turned into sand, the Black Reapers were just playing around, using the sandy field as if it were a ball pit. They were swimming in the sand like it was a swimming pool, and playing by picking up and throwing small grains of sand.

Well, I understood their action. Ball pit had unavoidable charm and fun. I thought that the reason ball pits weren’t fun when I got older was because of the size. If there was a ball pit that was big enough for adults to play in, everyone would like it, right?

As a former researcher, this was my opinion, so it’s definitely correct. Later, I should ask Sehee Research Institute to make a giant ball pit.

Hihihi!

While everyone was having fun playing with the sand, there was a Black Reaper who was sitting alone, looking depressed. It was the Black Reaper who had thrown a sledgehammer punch at me.

The Sinful Reaper had a crestfallen expression on its face, perhaps because it was worried about the human girl it was attached to, its body was slightly melted as well.

The Sinful Reaper sat near the girl’s face with a sullen look, waiting for the girl who was still asleep and not waking up.

At that moment, the SInful Reaper who was sitting with a sullen expression lifted its head as if it sensed something and started looking at the girl.

“U…uhm…”

It was the voice of its precious human. However, it was so small that it was barely audible, but as soon as the SInful Reaper heard it, it opened its eyes wide and got up from its seat, running to its precious human.

It ran on the sand and clung to its precious human’s cheek.

At the same time, emotions began to shoot out from the girl’s body. It was clear evidence that the girl, the SInful Reaper’s precious human, was gradually waking up.

The Sinful Reaper, who felt those emotions, was rubbing its cheek against the girl’s cheek with a happy expression.

Seeing that, I suddenly missed Yerin too.

I have to finish my business here quickly and go to Sehee Research Institute as soon as possible.

*********

As soon as the girl opened her eyes, what she saw was the sky with sand flowing like a river. Then, she felt a soft sensation on her cheek.

When she grabbed something that stuck to her cheek and pulled it off, she felt a vibration as if telling her not to do it. From the warm and soft touch and the moving reaction, the girl seemed to know what she was holding in her hand.

She blinked her eyes, which could barely see anything since she had just woken up, and looked at the small being in her hand. It was an Object which was staring at her with a bright expression.

Black skin.

Odd eyes that shone white and yellow.

An expression that did not hide its affection and exuded it straight.

It was the Black Sword, a guardian angel who protected her, a black fairy.

“You were waiting for me to wake up?”

The girl smiled slightly in delight and slowly tickled the black fairy’s cheek with her finger.

Then the black fairy smiled brightly and held the girl’s finger tightly with its small hand.

The girl who had played with her so much slowly got up from her seat and looked around, realizing that the environment was completely different from when she had lost consciousness in the labyrinth.

The snow falling upside down and the upside-down trees were nowhere to be found, and the chilling cold had changed to a temperature warm enough to make her sweat slightly.

“!”

But the most surprising thing was something else.

“Gray Reaper!”

A special-grade Object from Korea with gray skin and yellow-glowing eyes!

The girl looked back and forth between the Gray Reaper and the black fairy in her hands, and came to a realization.

The ‘black fairy’ turned out to be ‘Black Reaper’.

Now that she thought about it, it looked quite similar to the famous Gray Reaper, but why didn’t she notice it?

But for some reason, the Gray Reaper and the Black Reaper didn’t feel similar at all.

Ah, it’s because of their expressions.

The Gray Reaper had a blank expression that seemed to be full of discontent on its face. On the other hand, the Black Reaper had a bright expression that naturally brightened up the surroundings.

Moreover, the cute sharp teeth were the charm point of the Black Reaper!

Their atmosphere was so completely different that the girl couldn’t even think of comparing them until she saw the Gray Reaper in person.

Looking like this, the Object in the black armor must have been the Gray Reaper.

After all, the black armor had a similar texture to the black sword.

About 1m tall.

The black armor Object disappeared, and the Gray Reaper appeared in its place.

She wasn’t 100% certain, but there was enough evidence to make a reasonably plausible prediction.

In addition, on the sandy ground, there were numerous Black Reapers that seemed to be the material for the black armor swimming.

Black Reaper throwing sand grains and playing.

Black Reaper swimming in the sand.

And Black Reaper digging out a large person from the sand.

“Huh?”

The armor that the man who the Black Reaper dugout was the armor that the girl remembered seeing. It was an incredibly old-looking armor which was hanging in the corner of the Dog Meat Uncle’s store.

“Mister!”

The girl was surprised and checked, but the Dog Meat Uncle was just asleep. Realizing this, the girl let out a sigh of relief. The girl herself was trapped in a dream, so she could tell the old man’s condition right away.

He must have been trapped in the fantasy labyrinth.

The girl decided to put the Black Reaper on her shoulder and watch the other black reapers running around while waiting for the old man to wake up.

She believed that since she, a novice in labyrinths, had woken up, the old man, who was extremely knowledgeable about labyrinths, would wake up soon.

*********

I guess I should go in.

I finally decided to go into that crack.

This Object that created the labyrinth didn’t seem to be one that wanted to kill humans, but it seemed harmful enough to humans.

I was able to easily get through it with the Black Reaper armor automatic hunting function, yet the swallow that appeared on the first floor was too strong. It was definitely not at the level where an ordinary person could harm by just giving them a weapon.

And as soon as I decided to go in, I pushed my hand into the crack. It was an unstable crack that shook and tore the space. It was a rough passage that even a Mini Reaper would have a hard time passing through.

After checking the condition of the passage, I didn’t want to go in even more. But I thought that if I procrastinate more, I would hate going in even more, so I just pushed my whole body into the crack.

*********

Stab-! Stab-!

In the unstable space, my skin, which had physical immunity, was being cut and regenerated repeatedly.

Is this how a human caught in a whirlpool feels?

I moved through the space, bumping into and flipping over like a paper boat caught in a violent storm. When I reached the destination, the unstable flow of the space stopped and I was finally able to stand on solid ground again.

A solid ground made of sand.

A pitch-black night sky with no stars nor moon.

Under that night sky, a throne was placed on a short, nine-level platform.

On the throne, an old man, whose body was mixed with the sand on the throne and eroded by sand, sat. It was a throne of a kingdom of sand where everything was weathered away.

At that moment, I could immediately tell that the throne and the old man with that enormous presence were the core of the labyrinth.

[ You came. ]

Then, I felt a will that seemed extremely tired resounding throughout the space. It was a will that seemed to be filled with pain, as if they had been running for one goal for hundreds of years but had achieved nothing.

[ Then, let’s begin. ]

As that will was conveyed to me, the sands that filled the desert slowly gathered and turned into sharp spears. And then it slowly moved towards my direction before flying at a fairly fast speed.

Clench-!

I looked at the sand spear and grabbed the space tightly. However, my ability to control space was not working, and my hands were only grabbing the air.

Bang-!

As the large sand spear pierced my stomach, I had no choice but to roll on the floor like a skewer. As I rolled on the rough sand, numerous scars appeared on my body.

How?

The hole in my stomach and the wounds on my skin healed in an instant, but countless questions began to arise in my head.

Why can’t I cut through space?

Why isn’t my physical immunity working?

Was my ability sealed like when I fought against that cult leader?

But it felt different from the ability sealing I felt before.

Since I was facing  a dire situation, I habitually used my ‘eyes’ to check the old man’s killing condition.

< Climb the stairs and stand next to the throne. >

< Die in this world. >

Then, my eyes saw two killing conditions. The two conditions overlapped each other, almost like a glitched program , making it hard to read. Since something like this had never happened before, I could immediately tell that one of the two was fake.

And, the moment I saw those two conditions, I started running toward the stairs where the throne was. There was only one reason why I did so. It was because I didn’t know my own killing condition.

I had a guess that ‘Won’t I die if I run out of firewood,’ but I wasn’t sure. In addition, the sand spear was powerful, but it took a long time for the sand to gather. Even though I was short and not very athletic, it was enough time to climb up the 9 steps.

My body moved forward at a fast pace with the feeling of my small feet pushing the sand away. Even though I had already reached the front of the stairs, the slowly moving sand showed no sign of gathering.

I won.

Even if the sand spear flew at me right away, I could climb up easily at this rate!

The moment I stepped onto the first step, a burning pain began to consume my entire body. I felt a pressure that as if I was going to be crushed on the stairs. My two hands began to be black, and my firewood was burning red.

When I checked above my head, there was a ring of white light.

A halo had risen above my head.

As expected, a powerful Object couldn’t be defeated easily.

But this much was bearable.

I gritted my teeth and took another step up the stairs.

However, the moment I stepped onto the second stair,

Pang-!

I heard something burst.

Ah… AHHHHHH!!!!

My two eyes hurt as if they were torn apart.

I grabbed my eyes with both hands and opened my mouth wide as if screaming.

I see. My eyes exploded.

Then, two Halos appeared above my head. In the meantime, my whole body began to shake as if it would explode at any moment. At the same time, red firewood was continuously flowing out from my two eyes that had disappeared.

It hurts.

It hurts, it hurts!

I had only climbed two flights of stairs.

Yet, I already had two Halos above my head.

And there were nine stairs in total!

Ha… Hahahaha.

Nine Halos?

It was simply impossible for me to bear the pain of that much Halos.

As expected, < Die in this world. > was the correct answer.

The weight of the Halo pressing down on me only grew heavier. Now it was hard to even stand on the stairs.

If I pour out all the firewood I had, won’t I die?

I put my hand on my heart to forcefully pour all the firewood I had. Then I felt the firewood burning violently with pain.

And just as I was about to pour all of my firewood,

I heard a small sound from above my shoulder.

Biiii-!

It was the Sinful Reaper who should be playing with its precious human outside the crack.

Mom! Don’t give up!

The Sinful Reaper showed strong determination, quickly crawled up my head, and looked up at the two Halos above my head with an angry expression. Then it jumped up with all its might, grabbed one of the Halos above my head, and moved it above its own head.

Compared to the Black Reaper, the Halo was incredibly large, but as soon as the Sinful Reaper touched it, the Halo shrank to a size suitable for a Mini Reaper.

The Sinful Reaper with a small halo on its head had its whole body torn apart like me. Firewood was also pouring out of its eyes like blood. Yet, it still smiled brightly and exuded determinate will.

It’s fine now, Mom!

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.