Seoul Object Story - Chapter 441 Oku

Yerin was having a dream.

It felt as if she were traveling upstream through the river of time, piecing together fragments of memories long forgotten.

It was like looking through an old film reel.

Faint and unclear, yet at the same time, intense and vivid emotions surged through her like a wave.

Scenes that didn’t exist in Yerin’s memories flowed by, but she instinctively knew that these scenes were part of her long-lost past.

‘…’

Yerin, with her sharp intellect and exceptional memory, couldn’t quite recall certain memories from her childhood, as if they had been completely severed from her mind.

The first scene was an unfamiliar one.

The people walking down the street were dressed in a way that could not be found anywhere else in the world.

The cold winter air brushed her cheek, and strange buildings filled her sight.

The buildings, decorated with multicolored glass, shone brightly.

As she gazed at the buildings, the young Yerin was smiling brightly.

Though the sound of her laughter couldn’t be heard, the expression on her face conveyed a sense of happiness.

It seemed as though she was having a conversation with someone.

That scene felt like a shot from an old silent film.

The reason Yerin was seeing such a forgotten memory in her dream was probably because of the conversation she had with the doll that looked exactly like her.

A past that she couldn’t remember.

The doll dressed in clothes similar to the ones she wore when she was found at the orphanage.

The object that introduced itself as a doll made in the likeness of the ‘Saintess.’

The Saintess Doll had asked Yerin many questions, but Yerin could answer none of them.

After all, she didn’t remember anything.

‘…’

The peaceful flow of the dream changed abruptly at some point.

It was as if a Christmas celebration that had been joyful and warm suddenly turned into something cold, as the warmth and comfort vanished and were replaced by endless darkness.

Now, Yerin was writhing in pain.

Surrounding her was a white flame that seemed to burn eternally.

The flames were burning her, but she didn’t turn to ash.

Only endless pain repeated itself.

“…!”

Young Yerin screamed, but her burnt lungs and tongue couldn’t produce any sound.

No one could hear her faint groans, and only pain came to her.

It was as though the surrounding environment had become a manifestation of hopelessness, filled with an endless abyss of darkness.

In that despair, little Yerin could only wish for one thing.

For someone to save her from this torment.

As she struggled in an inescapable pain.

Then, a miracle happened.

The darkness surrounding Yerin began to crack.

Like breaking glass, the darkness shattered into pieces.

And through the cracks, golden light began to seep in.

At first, it was just a faint beam of light, but gradually, the light grew stronger.

It was like the dawn breaking, as the golden light pushed away the darkness and began to illuminate everything.

A golden halo that resembled the sun.

After being burned by the flames for so long, it felt like Yerin was finally seeing the warmth of the sun after a long time.

If the darkness had symbolized despair, this golden light seemed to represent hope.

The golden halo gently touched Yerin’s scorched body, healing her in an instant.

At the same time, the white flames that had been burning brightly lost their power in the presence of the golden light and gradually faded away.

In their place, golden flames took over.

“Ah…”

Yerin, seeing the golden flames, flinched, thinking that more pain was coming, but the golden flames felt completely different.

They wrapped around her gently.

Warm and comforting.

The pain disappeared, replaced by a peace and comfort that words couldn’t describe.

In the golden light, Yerin could smell the fragrance of the sun.

It seemed to contain the first light of dawn, the scorching heat of a midsummer afternoon, and the soft warmth of an autumn sunset.

As she relished that feeling, something was suddenly nestled into her arms.

At first, it was a faint shape, but it gradually became clearer.

Looking down, Yerin saw the Gray Grim Reaper gazing up at her and grinning.

The moment she saw that, something deep inside Yerin stirred.

It was a feeling of relief and joy.

‘It doesn’t matter. As long as the Grim Reaper is here.’

A past she couldn’t remember?

A story related to the object?

An unfamiliar world that showed strange cultures and environments?

None of it mattered anymore.

In her world, only the Grim Reaper’s presence mattered.

With that thought, Yerin hugged the Gray Grim Reaper tightly.

At that moment, the traces of all the nightmares that had tormented her shattered and disappeared.

Like fog disappearing in the morning sunlight, all the anxiety and fear melted away.

‘…’

Slowly, very slowly, Yerin opened her eyes.

The familiar sight of her bedroom came into view.

As always, the space where she slept and woke up.

And in her arms, just like in the dream, the Gray Grim Reaper was nestled there.

Having hugged the Gray Grim Reaper so tightly, its soft face was a bit squished, and Yerin smiled.

‘As expected, my guardian angel, the Grim Reaper.’

The mischievous Grim Reaper, whose body was soft as though it had no bones, always protecting her.

Yerin gently relaxed her grip and petted the Grim Reaper’s soft hair.

Already, the content of the nightmare was fading from her memory.

It didn’t matter.

Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and all the days after that, she would spend joyful days with the Grim Reaper.

That was enough. Nothing else mattered but the Grim Reaper.

Yerin closed her eyes. This time, she felt like she could fall into a peaceful sleep, free from nightmares.

A small smile appeared on her lips.

After getting off the bus, Junior 2 (Hubae 2ho) felt a little excited as she walked along the desolate road.

She was returning to what could truly be called her ‘hometown’ after a long time.

Even the Golden Horn Grim Reaper seemed affected by her mood, rolling around on top of her head.

It felt a little ticklish, as something soft rolled around above her.

‘It’s been a while… the isolation zone.’

Unfortunately, there was no one left in the isolation zone she knew, but just passing by old restaurants and places from memories felt like it would be enjoyable.

In reality, Junior 2 hadn’t planned to return home, but because she played the most important role in solving the recent incident, her senior detective had forcefully given her time off.

Meanwhile, the other members of the detective office were busy preparing for the reopening of the Yellow Detective office.

‘The isolation zone is probably the same as before, right?’

The isolation zone in her memory had been slow to change, probably because only people with Golden Horn Syndrome could enter.

So, she hadn’t looked for any news about the small changes there and planned to experience them herself during the visit.

‘It would’ve been nice if the whole detective office had come together…’

Although the procedure to enter the isolation zone was complicated, Junior 2 would have gotten the permit easily because of her status.

However, her senior detective, Hammer senior, and Junior 2 herself had declined, as they needed to quickly prepare for the office opening.

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing to be done about it.

When they finally arrived at the isolation zone checkpoint, the security had become much stricter than before.

The procedures to enter, similar to those of other research facilities besides Sehee Institute, were complex and took a long time.

It took so long that even the Golden Horn Grim Reaper began to doze off in her pocket!

“Why have the checkpoint procedures gotten so complicated?”

Unable to hold back her curiosity, Junior 2 asked the question.

“There have been many people trying to get in lately.”

“?”

Not understanding, Junior 2 widened her eyes, and the checkpoint staff responded with a look of annoyance.

“Apparently, word got out that there are a lot of Golden Horn Grim Reapers here, and a huge crowd started gathering.”

The staff sighed as if imagining something horrible, continuing to explain.

“Just a few days ago, there was someone who tried to get in by making fake horns out of gold, weighing in kilograms.”

Kilograms? How much is that?

Junior 2 thought to herself that it was absurd.

There were already many Golden Horn Grim Reapers in Songpa-gu, so there was no reason for anyone to come all the way to the isolation zone for the checkpoint.

Finally, after the lengthy process, Junior 2 entered the isolation zone.

“Is it… done?”

Stretching, Junior 2 froze in disbelief as she entered the isolation zone.

???

As the staff had said, there were indeed many Golden Horn Grim Reapers.

But not just many—there were lots of them.

“Wow, there’s so many…”

It felt like the courtyard of Sehee Institute.

The slow-moving isolation zone was gone.

Perhaps because of the Golden Horn Grim Reapers’ aura that made everyone happy, the place was now filled with energy and vitality.

The depressing and somewhat gloomy atmosphere, as if people had resigned themselves like prisoners, had vanished, replaced by cheerful laughter and the sweet smell of snacks.

Junior 2 wandered around the now Golden Horn Grim Reaper theme park, feeling like a tourist.

She petted the wandering Golden Horn Grim Reapers.

She waved back at the Golden Horn Grim Reapers who were smiling brightly.

She even bought some soft cookies for Golden Horn Grim Reapers at a nearby shop and fed them.

‘It feels like I’ve come to Sehee Institute… I’m going to gain weight.’

Sharing cookies with the Golden Horn Grim Reaper, Junior 2 suddenly had this thought.

‘Ah!’

While wandering, the Golden Horn Grim Reaper in her arms suddenly sat up with a startled expression.

‘Horns!’

And it quickly started running somewhere.

When she turned her head, she saw a Golden Horn Grim Reaper with a huge deer antler, facing another Golden Horn Grim Reaper, both shouting “Hooray!”

‘It’s huge!’

The two started admiring each other’s horns.

After staring at each other’s horns for a long while, the two Golden Horn Grim Reapers lowered their heads and gently rubbed their soft horns together.

Then they giggled.

“Hehe, it’s ticklish.”

Beside the Deer Antler Grim Reaper stood someone with truly impressive deer antlers.

Though expected, the Golden Horn Grim Reaper’s horns really did resemble their attachment to humans…

Junior 2 thought absentmindedly.

The dusty detective office had returned to its original state after a cleaning.

All the ‘Holmes’ who had been busy solving cases had thrown out all the useless appliances and furniture that had piled up inside the office.

Of course, the heavy items were moved by Junior 1, who swung a hammer the size of a human head.

The Yellow Detective smiled as he looked around the now-clean office.

“Now, I can just take cases as I please, without being called ‘Holmes’ anymore.”

“I’m so glad.”

After saying that, Junior 3 placed a warm cup of coffee in front of the Yellow Detective, saying, “Thank you for your hard work with the cleaning.”