I had to do a double take at the ceiling but, yup. Floating puddings! Floating puddings were indeed floating above our heads.
“Floating… puddings?” I muttered, blinking in disbelief.
It didn’t fit in with the current atmosphere of the factory at all!
The Golden Reapers sprawled out everywhere bawling their eyes out.
Human flesh and entrails scattered all across the cold concrete floor.
A pool of dark, coagulated blood sticking to the floor and glistening under the dim light,
And let’s not forget the decorations and flesh puddings made from humans, that could only be described as having piss poor taste.
And in the middle of that kind of horrible and scary atmosphere, there they were. Floating puddings!
Under the factory’s dim lights, the puddings shimmered with a creamy, custardy glow.
Was it the utterly strange cheerfulness amidst the dark and gloom?
I couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity of it all.
The bubbles encasing the puddings reflected light, sparkling in rainbow colors. At the same time, they twisted and distorted the grim scenes around us, like a cursed funhouse mirror.
As the Gray Reaper and I gawked at the floating desserts, James wandered over and also raised his head following us.
“So there’s still some pudding we couldn’t retrieve, huh?” James spoke in a calm tone as if it was just another day at the pudding factory.
Huh? Really? Are floating puddings normal to him? How?
I stared at him, waiting for my deserved explanation and soon enough he provided one.
“Oh, right! This is your first time seeing it! So, all the puddings produced at this factory come out wrapped in bubbles like that.”
Is there even a need to produce it like that? Try as I might, I couldn’t see the point of producing puddings like that. I mean, who does that?
“Ah! It wasn’t my intention to make the puddings pop out like that. It’s because of the Object that makes the puddings. Well, one of the charms of Objects is the autonomy after all, so losing some control is a necessary sacrifice.”
If an Object decides to behave in a particular way, there’s not really much we can do.
Creating a machine just by inserting intent into an Object was already mind-blowing.
Considering Korea was always quick to either contain or eliminate Objects, it was clear we had a lot to catch up on compared to the United States.
“Well, since they come out in bubbles like that, a bunch of factory workers have to use nets to fish the puddings from the air.”
…Huh. Was it because it was run by Objects? James’ pudding factory was definitely not your run-of-the-mill operation. It was in its own category of weird.
Even after our chat, Reaper hadn’t taken its eyes off the floating puddings.
Does it want to eat that badly?
I noticed the Reaper was clutching a Golden Reaper in its hand, but the way it was holding it made me a tad uneasy.
The Golden Reaper, however, seemed thrilled to be there, grinning up at the Gray Reaper.
Still, the way Reaper was eyeing the puddings and the way it was holding onto the Golden Reaper… Why did it seem like it was about to throw a ball?
Nah… That can’t be it, right?
The Ninja Puddings were floating in the air!
But they were so high up, it seemed impossible to grab one.
Hmm, what if I transformed into my phantom form and climbed the wall or hung from the ceiling…
Nah, that was way too much work.
What if I threw a Golden Reaper? Would it reach? It didn’t seem possible with my strength…
Sigh… I placed the Golden Reaper, who was beaming at me with a bright smile, on my shoulder.
The number of remaining rabbit Objects was a lot less than I expected.
There should have been at least ten times the number of rabbit dolls I’d killed the first time, but the numbers still looked the same…
The plan to mass-produce the Golden Reaper Pudding was a bust. Now, my only hope left was the pudding machine.
I gave up on the floating puddings and headed towards where the machine. I continued to walk through the dark, blood-splattered hallway.
After walking for what felt like forever, I finally saw the exit of the creepy, dark building.
Just beyond the exit was a vacant lot, and then I’d reach the building where that bootleg ‘Hungry Ghost’ was.
But the closer I got, the more irritated I became. Was it because the horrible stench was getting stronger and stronger? Maybe. The smell was way, way worse than the monster I encountered in the desert last time.
The Golden Reapers who had been following me had already fled to the Garden of Golden Reapers.
In the large vacant lot next to the exit, there was a shiny, expensive-looking sports car.
Wha? It looks so out of place in this lot covered in the bite marks of the Hungry Ghost.
James looked amazed at the sight, while the timid man was overjoyed.
“It’s still fine! I thought for sure the Hungry Ghost would have destroyed it. God above! This humble subject of yours, thanks you from the very depths of his heart!” The timid man thanked the gods while shedding tears of gratitude.
“You’re lucky that the sports car you bought with all of the advanced salary I paid you is still intact,” James congratulated the man, patting him on the shoulder.
“You spent your entire yearly salary on a sports car? That too the salary you received in advance?!” Yerin asked, her face scrunching up in utter disbelief.
“Haha! It’s not just his annual salary. If you consider his original salary as a baseline, the amount I paid him is worth about ten years of his salary.”
Yerin’s expression shifted from incomprehension to utter bewilderment.
Yet, the relaxed atmosphere vanished soon enough as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the lot.
Loud, heavy footsteps rang out in an ominous tone.
The Hungry Ghost was here.
Everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on the clearing.
Hmm, but the footsteps sounded different from the Hungry Ghost I remembered, they were far too heavy.
Even though the subspecies of the ‘Hungry Ghost’ was on the other side of the steel door, I could feel its weight and power. It was so strong, it made the thick steel door seem like a flimsy piece of glass.
With a deafening crash, the steel door exploded, revealing a massive monster.
It had a glossy, shining red eyeball and a body with shredded muscles, like the Hungry Ghost had been hitting the gym hard.
Its body was twice the size of the Hungry Ghost at the Central Research Institute, and black ooze covered its skin.
Can I even really call this the Hungry Ghost?
Each step the subspecies took sent ripples through its muscles, scattering black slime everywhere.
It showed off its strength, letting out a screech that honestly sounded like a piece of metal being ripped apart by brute force.
Well, it sounded like a big metal thing getting ripped apart like tofu! Hehe!
Oh… it was one… The sports car in front of me was shredded to pieces.
As if to show off its power, the Hungry Ghost offshoot ripped it apart and chewed it up like it was going to turn all the metal into powder.
“No. No! My ten years! My dream car!”
The timid man, overcome with despair, collapsed, tears streaming down his face. Wasn’t he overreacting? He acted like he witnessed his parents being torn apart by the Hungry Ghost. Unable to overcome the extreme mental shock, he fainted soon after.
Hehe! I walked to the center of the lot and finally stood face-to-face with the Hungry Ghost subspecies.
It was definitely big.
I never liked the original Hungry Ghost because it looked gross, but this one was worse. Plus it had a serious odor problem too.
Hmm, the bastard seemed to be sneering at me. It’s been a while since an Object looked down on me like that.
Hmph! Maybe it appeared intimidating to everyone because of its size and strength (and maybe also its absolutely shredded pecs), but to me, it looked weak.
Although it seemed to be quite strong physically, its presence was nowhere near that of the Steel Tower or the original Hungry Ghost.
Usually, when an Object’s presence is lacking, its killing conditions are also simple.
The Hungry Ghost’s killing condition was < Stone made by Object of beginning >.
So, what’s this guy’s condition?
< Deplete the regenerative power. >
Well, that’s easy enough.
With a smirk, I rushed towards the Hungry Ghost offshoot.
The Hungry Ghost was chasing, and the Gray Reaper was running away.
There I was, watching a real-life replay of the epic Gray Reaper versus Hungry Ghost showdown that everyone only ever saw on TV.
And, man was it a totally different experience! I mean an Object was fighting for the hard for the sake of humans! Or at least it appeared so.
Although a lot of Objects seemed to be beneficial to humans, it was common sense that it was not the case.
The Korean TV stations who broadcasted the fight tried their hardest to severely downplay it as a petty turf war between special-grade Objects. Hilarious, right? What a joke.
But it was clear that the Gray Reaper was just guiding the Hungry Ghost to a deserted area in order to avoid casualties.
Just like the broadcasted fight, the Gray Reaper fought the Hungry Ghost subspecies all the while skillfully guiding it away from us.
Still, I was quite worried.
Will the Gray Reaper be able to win? This subspecies was reported to be far stronger than the Hungry Ghost, though…
From the broadcast of the infamous Songpa-gu battle, I knew that the Gray Reaper had excellent regenerative ability and impressive speed, while the Hungry Ghost had the advantage of its large size and strength.
“This is worrying. Hmm… It’s going to be harder for the Gray Rapper to win than I thought.”
The Hungry Ghost subspecies wasn’t just strong; it had a regeneration speed that put the original Hungry Ghost to shame. It was even several times faster than the Gray Reaper.
But, the researcher, Ms. Yerin if I remember correctly, calmly watched the battle next to me. She didn’t seem worried at all.
Why though? I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
“Why didn’t the Reaper summon the Golden Reaper?” I wondered aloud. “Is it because they’re useless against something this strong?”
Yerin, who seemed to be completely enthralled by the battle, replied.
“Nope. It’s probably just one of its whims? Seeing the happy expression on its face, it seems like the Reaper is doing it deliberately.”
Happy? The Reaper? But to me, it looked as stoic as ever…
Then, out of nowhere, the Gray Reaper stopped dead in its tracks.
Suddenly, golden flames burst from all over its body.
Wait, what? A sinkhole?
The brightly blazing Gray Reaper casually clapped its hands twice and tapped the floor with its little feet three times.