Seoul Object Story
Chapter 8: Seoul Forest Story - Aftermath (1)

Ah, it was a dream.

I realized it intuitively.

After all, how could I suddenly find myself trudging through a heavy rain? Just moments before, I was lying comfortably on my bed inside my containment room at the Sehee Research Institute, having just returned from Seoul Forest?

But it was a scene that felt all too familiar.

It was a scene from a year ago, a scene of me walking aimlessly through the rainy forest in fear.

Despite having a body that was physically invulnerable, I found myself walking aimlessly, still haunted by the endless fear of death.

Death was approaching.

Even though I didn’t need to breathe, I was out of breath.

Even though I had acquired the phantom form that made me impervious to anything physical, I still couldn’t avoid death.

Unlike the death of other Objects, the conditions for my own death were not visible to me.

I instinctively knew that death was drawing near, but I had no idea what it was or how to prevent it.

The fist-sized flame, that now resided where my heart should be, was flickering, having dwindled to a mere speck.

Was it the intuition of an Object?

From the very moment I was reborn, I knew that if that flame were to disappear, so would I.

But the flame only died down little by little and did not flare up again.

Even when I tried to eat some fire or threw myself into a forest fire, the flame inside me remained unchanged.

Frustration gnawed at me, as if something were blocking my stomach. And so, I opened my mouth and let the rainwater pour into my mouth.

All of a sudden, a calm voice entered my ears.

“Oh my! Hey, you! The Object passing by! Can you please get me out of here?”

I turned toward the source of the voice and saw a woman looking at me through iron bars.

Arms crossed, she called me in a calm tone.

At that moment, I was truly desperate.

And so, since I would’ve died soon anyway, I thought it would be better to die after helping someone.

***

What had looked like an ordinary prison was, in truth, a fairly large Object.

The rescue, which initially seemed simple, took several days to finish. Yet, while I was with her—who was quite the chatterbox—I was able to forget about my fear of death.

But ultimately, even that long, dungeon-like cave had an end. And it was at that very moment, when I reached the end of that dungeon, that my life reached its conclusion as well.

As Sehee enjoyed her successful escape, I prepared for the embrace of death.

At least I die having saved one life.

The flame had reached its limit.

And so, I waited for my imminent death.

Leaning against the wall, covered by the shadow of the cave, I watched as Sehee cheered, stretching her hands towards the sunlight.

Ah, it’s really over now,

Just as I had that thought, Sehee returned to the cave and hugged me.

“Thank you so, so much!”

She said so with a bright smile, tears of joy dripping down her face.

At that moment, the ember inside my body began to burn fiercely.

At that moment, I couldn’t think of anything.

After all, It felt like a bomb had exploded inside my body.

Only then did I finally understand about the ember that was lurking within my body.

It was a flame which was fueled by both comedy and tragedy.