ALL NOVEL Junior 1 POV:
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The container from which the ninjas dressed in black outfits had withdrawn en masse was left with only the heat of the battle that had raged until recently.
Pausing to catch my breath, it felt like I was inhaling hot air with every breath.
The narrow space inside the container, now quiet unlike the heat of battle, was filled with the smell of blood.
As I began to realize the battle was over, I took a deep breath and shouted out.
"Ah! I survived!"
Raising my hammer triumphantly with that joyous exclamation.
Honestly, I didn't know why the ninjas suddenly fled.
Nor did I know why the ninjas suddenly appeared in the first place.
But in any case, I was glad to have survived.
Looking back, Hyejin seemed relatively unscathed.
Whether it was her natural personality or because of the Golden Horn, I couldn't tell.
The client seemed quite shaken up.
It would be shocking if ninjas suddenly appeared trying to kill you.
Knock knock.
Suddenly hearing knocking on the container wall, I turned to see the familiar figure of the senior in his yellow suit standing there.
"Seems there was a bigger incident than I expected."
The senior returned with his familiar expression, smiling as if nothing had happened.
***
Yellow Detective POV:
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Surveying inside the container, it was a mess with blood splattered everywhere.
There were a total of 3 ninja corpses strewn about inside.
One died from a gunshot, likely killed by junior 2.
Two were crushed corpses, done by junior 1 no doubt.
As expected, the strength of those transcending humanity.
The ninjas were targeting just the camp residents, and the juniors ended up fighting because of the client.
As I expected, the client and camp residents are of the same kind.
Likely victims of Object or byproducts of it, one of the two.
"Senior! Why did you come so late! You didn't even contact us!"
"I came as fast as I could. And it seems those ninjas were jamming or something, my phone wasn't working."
I shook my phone as I spoke.
"So these black-clothed fiends were after the client?"
"Yes, they just suddenly went after the client out of nowhere. Can you imagine how shocked we were when ninjas appeared?"
Junior 1 seemed to have had a tough time, though fortunately no major injuries.
Looking around, junior 2 appeared fine, and the client was a bit shaken...
Hmm.
The client shrunk?
It's almost certain now that the client isn't human.
Well, whether the client is human, Object, or an alien doesn't really matter.
Clap clap.
I clapped twice to get everyone's attention.
"Alright, now we know where we need to go next. The underground waterway in the northern part of the camp. The client's younger brother that we were asked to find is likely there."
I urged the juniors and client onward.
This request has already reached the final stage.
Hopefully we can find the client's younger brother in the underground waterway...
***
??? POV:
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Beyond the underground waterway was a massive underground structure.
A basement filled with blood.
Piles of ninja corpses filled the basement like mountains.
And there were even more piles of researcher corpses, numbering in the hundreds.
Kekekeke.
The director was coughing up blood as he laughed.
With several ninja blades piercing his torso, he just kept laughing.
"Slowly, it seems I must abandon this camp as well. With even these strange ones interfering, I should relocate."
Where the director looked, the basement's sole human survivor was bound.
A man unable to regain his senses from the severe torture.
"Still, I'm fortunate. There is at least one successful experiment."
The director paced around the lone survivor, endlessly muttering.
"Who would have thought Object would arise from humanity's hopes and dreams? But with only one success case, it may be too early to call it a success."
After circling to check the survivor's condition, the director turned and said
"He should be able to withstand long-distance transport in this state."
The director raised both hands and shouted:
"Begin relocating the Research Institute!"
At the director's cry echoing through the basement, the fallen researchers began to stir like corpses.
With bulging eyes, severed limbs, and spilling entrails, the moving researchers' expressions seemed gloomy.
***
Yellow Detective POV:
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Arriving at the northern part of the camp, a large sewer entrance gaped wide, contrasting the desolate landscape.
"This must be the place."
"Senior, are you sure this is it?"
Junior 1 asked with a disgusted expression.
The sewer, spewing blood and littered with corpses from the entrance, was indeed disgusting.
Looking at the fallen ninja corpses at the sewer entrance, it was clear this was where the ninjas had headed en masse.
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With each step further in, countless corpses lay lifeless, soaked in blood.
The underground waterway was full of ninja corpses.
The deeper we went, the more their numbers increased.
There were so many corpses that instead of water, the sewer was gushing blood.
Looking back, our party seemed extremely tense.
Junior 1 gripped her hammer, vigilantly following close behind me.
Junior 2 held a revolver freshly reloaded with bullets in both hands, sticking right by the client's side.
The client seemed off for some reason.
Dazed, you could say?
As we went so deep the sewer entrance was no longer visible, an unfamiliar sound began.
Thump thump.
The sound of a heartbeat was rising up from the depths underground.
The thick blood flowing through the sewer combined with the heartbeat created an eerie atmosphere.
We went deeper following the sewer path.
And the deeper we went, the more the number of corpses increased.
But strangely, they were only ninja corpses.
Just what were the ninjas fighting?
The heartbeat sound also grew louder.
It was now loud enough to echo off the walls and floor.
At the end of the sewer, an unexpectedly clean open space welcomed us.
A large heartbeat sound echoed, while unidentified blood flowed down the walls of this unidentifiable space.
Around the perimeter were piles of ninja corpses, and in the center, figures in white lab coats welcomed us.
"Long time no see! Yellow detective."
The distorted laughter came from the director standing in the center, calling out loudly.
It was the same director from the Central Research Institute, with a lively face speaking.
But it was a completely different being from the director at the Central Institute.
That was my feeling, and the text displayed on my monocle also indicated it was a different entity.
At the Central Institute, it had said [As long as the director remains, the Research Institute cannot be destroyed]. But now it showed completely different text,
[As long as the director exists, it possesses the researchers.]
[As long as the research is not complete, the director will regenerate.]
[As long as the wish is not fulfilled, the research never ends.]
My monocle sometimes omitted or didn't show information, but it always displayed the same text for the same Object.
So this meant the director before me and the Central Institute's director were completely different Object.
'I found him.'
The person I was looking for was indeed here.
I spotted a youth with the same appearance as the photo in the personnel records - the client's younger brother she asked me to find.
Covered in blood and tied to a chair with rope, but it was him.
"That's my brother!!"
The client then shouted loudly.
As expected, the finger pointed at the blood-soaked youth.
A younger brother who looked much older than the client?
Junior 1 and 2, who had thought the younger brother was around elementary school age, had perplexed expressions.
Upon hearing the client's words, the research director glared menacingly and said,
"So you were thieves trying to steal the test subject."
With the director's low, grating voice, the researchers lined up around us all rushed at us at once.
***
Reaper (MC) POV:
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Omyonyon~
I was happy eating the mountain of pudding piled up.
No matter how much I ate, the pudding didn't decrease!
As I was stacking and eating the pudding like that, a small sound came.
A faint, small sound coming from underground.
It was so quiet that I tried to ignore it and eat the pudding, but then it came a bit more clearly.
Aeooooooong-!
It was the desperate cry of a ghost cat.
Ah, the ghost cat!
I had completely forgotten about it...
Because of the fun ninja pyramid, I had completely forgotten.
Could there be some problem?
To track the sound coming from underground, I dug straight through the ground with ghostification.
Under the ground I dug into, there was a room full of the smell of blood.
While searching for the cat underground, I found the source of malice.
It was the place I had originally tried to find.
The place where malicious energy burst out.
Blood spurting from people was scattered everywhere.
It stained the gray concrete a deep red, and the pooled blood on the floor gave off an eerie glow.
The stench of blood was so thick, it felt like licking metal.
In the center of that room was a tied up, headless corpse on a chair.
I could faintly but definitely sense the lingering malice I had felt from it before.
But whatever 'thing' had been emanating that malice was no longer there.
Hmm, I wonder what it was?
Aeooooooong!
Then the cat's cry came again from not too far away.
The cry sounded quite urgent.