A container made of golden horn alloy lay miserably broken, with thick blood dripping from it.
Once again, the experiment had failed.
“It seems that just adjusting the ratio of the alloy won’t suffice. Given that we are dealing with a Special Object, I believe we will need to prepare some special materials as well.”
The director tapped his fingers on the desk, lost in thought. He thought about the countless Objects he had seen through the cracks of time. He sifted through his memories, trying to remember every useful Object from the past or from the future that he had observed.
An Object that was excellent at preventing entry and could be obtained as soon as possible.
After considering many possibilities, his thoughts settled on one event.
The Object Exhibition
He knew that a highly useful Object would appear there.
With that in mind, the director ordered his researchers to prepare to participate in the exhibition under the name of the Bucheon Research Institute.
It was the preparation to secure an Object that was essential for humanity.
As I looked up at the sky, I realized that today’s weather was sunny—a rare event.
The warm sunlight caressed my skin, while the gentle breeze that brushed against it felt really good.
The ghostly cat in my arms seemed to be in a good mood as well.
Meanwhile, a school of Cloud Fishes swam through the sky, accompanied by a rare Cloud Whale.
After everyone was done unpacking the luggage from the Sehee Research Institute, I planned to grab a cold, carbonated drink with some Cloud Whale on the side.
This place was the Object exhibition, a place Yerin told me she had been looking forward to for ages.
It was a large-scale festival that involved numerous research institutes from Korea as well as some from abroad.
I had heard that many rare Objects would be showcased in this exhibition, so I was also looking forward to it.
I was finally able to come to a place I’d always wanted to visit—the ‘Object Zoo.’
Though the ‘Object Zoo’ had been held more times than one would expect, it was unfortunately plagued by a tragic curse.
It would always be canceled due to some tragic accident on the opening day, resulting in the death of many people.
After a few repetitions, it was decided that no further permits would be granted to the organizers of the Object Zoo.
I hoped that this event would overcome the curse and end well without any incident.
If this exhibition concluded successfully, I held hope that permission would be granted for the establishment of another Object zoo.
I was also hoping it would be a fun Object exhibition.
As soon as we entered the exhibition grounds, a massive golden tree caught our attention in the distance.
“Unnie! What kind of tree is that? Was there a research institute that contained such a huge tree Object?”
In response, I opened the brochure and read through it. It had a lot of information regarding the tree.
“The brochure said it was brought by the Bucheon Research Institute. But didn’t the Institute go bankrupt?”
Did someone else take over and revive it?
The question of whether there really was a need to take over a failed research institute briefly crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it.
As we made our way to the exhibition space allocated to Sehee Research Institute, we passed by the booth of the Bucheon Research Institute.
Its employees wore tired expressions as they greeted the visitors.
Is that research institute not letting its employees sleep? Why does everyone look like that?
Nevertheless, the massive shining tree was undeniably impressive.
Although it was peculiar that such a remarkable Object had remained unknown until now.
“Hello, nice to meet you. Do you happen to have a request for us?”
As I was catching my breath, my senior started to say strange stuff.
If you say it like that, the client will run away!
“Yes! I have a request!”
“Please help me find my sister!”
Why does his strange bullshit work so often?
Since discussing the request in the pouring rain would be difficult, we decided to return to the detective agency first and listen to the story there.
In the middle of the night, we took a taxi and arrived at the detective agency.
Upon entering, I sensed a different atmosphere from usual.
The large windows, which always let sunlight trickle into the room, now felt gloomy in the middle of the night, with the faint sound of raindrops against the glass resembling a scene from a horror movie.
Even though Watson on the shelf appeared unchanged, I felt something ominous about it
It felt as if the gas lamp had been turned on only moments ago.
My senior, seemingly familiar with this atmosphere of the office, naturally guided the client to her seat while turning the light on.
He even handed a large towel to the drenched client.
There’s a towel in this detective agency? This is my first time seeing it!
Skillfully, my senior brewed a warm cup of coffee and offered it to the client.
After listening to the client’s story, I found out the reason why the senior’s absurd question worked on her.
It was because she recognized him from seeing him on TV.
Well, the image of him wearing a yellow suit and holding a pipe would remain in one’s mind for a long time even if they just saw it once on the TV.
“I need to find my sister. She was heading to… to Seoul. But suddenly, I couldn’t reach her.”
The client rambled, struggling to gather her thoughts.
“Ah! Now that I think about it, the broker who tried to kidnap me said that he also kidnapped my sister.”
“Y-you… can find her, right?”
Upon hearing her story and receiving the request, it seemed to be a fairly difficult request.
Although it was fortunate that not much time had passed since the client’s sister was kidnapped, her chances of survival were slim. After all, most victims of Golden Horn-related disappearances were murdered within 10 hours.
It was a trend that emerged after the sentences for the ever-increasing number of crimes were significantly increased.
If someone committed a crime related to the Golden Horns, they would receive a sentence equivalent to murder. So, rather than just cutting off the horns, they opted to kill the victims.
Since getting caught while cutting off horns would ruin their lives anyway, it had become a trend to just kill the victim and bury their body somewhere as the chance of getting caught was lower.
Perhaps the law would soon change again?
If someone cuts off the horns and commits murder at the same time, they should be sentenced to a hefty sentence.
“Then, let’s start by looking for that broker!”
My senior, however, accepted the request without dwelling on such matters.
Wait a sec… What about the fees, though?
Agent Black remained in China.
While investigating the research institute where the golden horns were found, he had discovered something strange. As a result, he remained in China and continued the investigation.
“Ahjussi, why do you keep looking at that?”
“There are many parts where statements about the research institutes do not match up, so I am cross-checking them.”
Just from a glance at the transcripts of the ‘Research Institute Professional Delivery Service who transported the golden horn here, he could feel something was out of place.
There was something that caught his attention.
< Driver 1: ”The lab we visited during the delivery was neatly maintained and there didn’t seem to be any problems.” >
< Driver 2: ”The building seemed to be as good as new.” >
< Driver 3: ”Actually, it was a research institute that I had been delivering products from before it went bankrupt, but when I went there after it was reopened, I was so surprised because the building was completely different. ”>
< Driver 4: ”I don’t know how often they cleaned the place, but there wasn’t a single speck of dust in that place.” >
The first recurring theme among the drivers’ statements was that the buildings were neat and spotless.
< Driver 1: ”The employees seemed a bit off.” >
< Driver 2: ”I felt bad because the staff was so unfriendly.”>
< Driver 3: ”All the employees looked tired and depressed.”>
< Driver 4: ”Even the security staff showed no interest in vehicles entering or leaving the institute.” >
< Driver 5: “From my perspective, quite a few employees appeared extremely frustrated.” >
The second recurring theme was that the employees seemed unfriendly and depressed.
While Agent Black couldn’t personally make a judgment about the second observation because he’d never met the staff, the appearance of the lab— at least when he saw it—was far from clean.
It was a dilapidated building on the verge of collapse.
Something, clearly lacking proper maintenance.
As he delved deeper into his investigation, Agent Black uncovered even stranger details.
The acquisition and establishment of the research institute itself raised eyebrows.
The civil servant who granted permission for the acquisition and establishment did not remember the institute.
The landowner who sold the property also didn’t receive any payment, despite signing the contract.
In fact, he didn’t even remember selling the land at all.
Both the civil servant and the landowner seemed to suffer from hazy memories.
Agent Black jotted down his questions in his notebook, trying to make sense of it all.
#Hypnotic Object? Object that can manipulate reality? Either way, it’s an annoying Object.
#Even if the use is limited to crime, there should be something better it could be used at…
#Why the Golden Horns, then?
#The gain is too small compared to the risk. Korean criminals have to come all the way to China to use it.
#Golden Horns Syndrome occurs only in Korea. ⇒ Highly likely to be mainly active in Korea.
##Need to investigate Research Institutes in Korea that were suddenly acquired or reopened.
Closing his notebook, Agent Black stood up.
Seeing him, the blonde girl followed suit.
“Ahjussi, you’ve come to a conclusion, right? Your expression tells me you have decided on something.”
Agent Black, his face still devoid of emotion, nodded slightly and replied.
“Yes, young miss. I believe I’ve gathered all the necessary information here. The rest must be carried out in Korea.”
Finally, Agent Black began to see the faint outline of the culprit behind the Golden Horns Incident.