LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 144: The Burning Drug (3)
Inside, right in the middle, stood a sturdy containment unit made of tempered glass—the special room built just for the bud.
And sure enough, my hunch was right. Ever since it was moved to the sleeping room, the bud had been looking fresher and livelier every day.
I was grinning at the sight of it when I noticed something odd.
What is that?
I opened the tempered glass and pulled out the flowerpot to check. Next to the bud’s leaves, a small blue fruit had started to form.
As I stared at the fruit, as pretty as a sapphire, I got that prickly feeling—like someone, or something, was watching me.
Blink-! Blink-!
“!”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I realized the bud had opened its eyes and was staring right at me.
With a big yawn, it let out a tiny giggle, its face all cute and smug, then plucked the fruit and handed it to me.“You want me to eat it?”
When I took the fruit, the sprout kept miming the motion of putting it in its mouth. Then it shut its eyes again and went back to sleep.
Now, since this was a fruit given by an Object…
Obviously, I shouldn’t eat it. But then again, this was the Mini Reaper variant, so… maybe it’d be okay?
I shook my head furiously, trying to clear away those Oh Yerin-esque thoughts.
But seriously, what was I supposed to do with this fruit?
*********As I walked through the gate, the vast airport spread out before me, sparkling under the soft glow of modern lights. Ooh, shiny!
The terminal was all sophisticated and fancy—minimalist and elegant, like something right out of a brochure. Wide, clean corridors led to several gates.
Even the check-in area was all neat and organized, with kiosks everywhere, making sure no one would get lost.
It wasn’t too crowded, which was nice. Mostly, I just saw people who looked like government officials, all busy-busy. Probably because this airport was brand new, built just for the research institute nearby. Fancy stuff.
It was a cool sight and all, but… I wasn’t exactly feeling cheerful.
And the reason…?
Ugh, that smell of coal—ugh, that all-too-familiar scent from the burning Seoul Forest. It was faint, just a little whisper of smoke in the air, but still! It was delicious enough to make me curious. Totally not because I messed up a prank on the Golden Reapers. Nope, not at all.
Maybe my sulking was obvious, because the Golden Reaper, who would usually be bouncing around on my head and playing with my antenna, was now perched on my shoulder, gently stroking my cheek with a worried look.
It was… kinda sweet. I picked it up with my hand, and it reached out to me, beaming like it had just won a prize.
Hmph, how could I stay grumpy after that? I patted the little Golden Reaper on its head and trailed after Yerin, who was already making her way out of the airport.
Outside, a sleek, fancy limousine with the James Research Institute logo was waiting for us. Oooooh, a limo!
When I hopped in with Yerin, I found the inside was just as impressive as the outside—spacious and shiny.
“Wow, the chair is nice and soft.”
Yerin said, shaking my hand like she was closing a big business deal or something. Cute.
“Then, we will be leaving.”
I was busy admiring the sparkly car interior when the secretary sitting across from me spoke up. The car glided forward, smooth and soft, like a cat padding across a plush carpet.
As we rolled out of the nearly empty parking lot, I spotted a crowd gathered near the airport exit.
They were waving papers and shouting at the top of their lungs, all excited about something. The signs were in English, but I could still catch the gist.
< dismantle="" that="" cursed="" barrier!="">
< embrace="" your="" fate!="">
< the="" end="" awaits="" us!="">
Yerin seemed curious too; she pointed at the crowd with a little frown and asked, “Who are they?”
“They’re believers in destruction. You know, the kind who think Objects are divine punishment for human sins.”
Yerin tilted her head, clearly puzzled.
We didn’t see folks like this much in Korea. Maybe it was because Objects—like, real-deal ‘God’s Apostles’—were pretty easy to find if you just ventured a bit away from the big cities.
Yup, Korea sure had a front-row seat to the Object show.
It was kind of funny to see such groups here in the United States, with all their strict Object management rules. Guess it’s a culture thing?
Yerin seemed to have the same thought, and she asked with a bit of suspicion, “Are there a lot of people with such strange beliefs?”
“Oh, not that many,” the secretary replied. “But compared to Korea, where you hardly see any groups like this, yes, it’s a lot.”
“So, it’s not that America is special,” Yerin mused. “Korea’s just weird because we don’t have these groups?”
“That’s right. Even if you factor in the Korean Object Association feeding ‘apocalypticists’ to the Hungry Ghost, these groups are still pretty rare in Korea.”
Oh, right, the whole bit about feeding ‘apocalypticists’ to the Hungry Ghost.
Yerin seemed surprised at first, but then just shrugged it off, like, “Eh, sounds like something they’d do.”
Well, yeah, our country’s Object Association was a bit… unique like that.
I glanced at the protesters, still yelling their hearts out as they watched our limo go by.
The secretary called them ‘apocalypticists,’ but I wasn’t so sure.
I just thought they all smelled kinda delicious—like charcoal and just a hint of a barbecue.
*********Maybe because they were always swapping Objects with other research institutes, the accommodations they gave us were super fancy.
I mean, they even had a ball pool! A ball pool!
The Reaper seemed to love it just as much as I did. The pouty expression it had worn for days vanished as it happily swam around, splashing through the colorful balls.
And when it took the plunge, the Golden Reapers would join in too, their little antics totally melting my heart.
But then morning came (ugh), and the secretary showed up to drag us out of our cozy room and up to the helicopter landing pad on the hotel rooftop.
The helicopter there looked… kinda weird. It was wooden? Like, seriously, it looked like someone had decided to craft a helicopter out of wood. So odd!
“Did you layer the helicopter with wood? That’s, uh, interesting.”
“It’s a special kind of wood that can block attacks from ghostly Objects,” the secretary explained all calm and collected. “It’s essential for where we’re headed.”
Oh, so it was that super famous spirit barrier wood?!
I took a closer peek and, wow, they really went all out with it. The wooden armor was so meticulously attached that I half-expected the person who installed it had major paranoia issues. Like, whoa, chill much?
So, where on earth were we going, anyway?
“We’re heading to see a must-see sight in the Rocky Mountains. It’s something every researcher here gets shown at least once.”
The helicopter began to rumble and slowly lifted us up, me and Reaper squeezed inside. Up, up, up we went, until finally, a massive wall known as the spirit barrier came into view.
Reaper, ever curious, was peeking down from the window.
But instead of stopping at the barrier, the helicopter kept going, flying past it and deeper into a restricted area.
When we got there, the sight that greeted me was… strange. Like, really strange.
From the dizzying height, I saw this huge pit in the ground. It was so big that I couldn’t even see where it ended, and the edges looked like someone had ripped them apart, leaving scars all around.
It was dark and ominous, almost like it was sucking in the light. I couldn’t see the bottom or the end, no matter how hard I squinted.
I know America is massive, but this? This was just ridiculous. How could a hole that huge even exist?
“So, you noticed,” the secretary said, noticing my staring. “That hole constantly distorts space. The closer you get to the center, the worse the distortion. It’s so severe that we haven’t been able to reach the center yet.”
I’d heard about the mysterious tree that could twist time, but this hole? This was on a whole different level.
“Researchers assigned to the Rocky Mountains are shown this sight to humble them. It’s a reminder of just how precarious Earth’s situation is, despite the current peace.”
“That’s… true…” I replied, my voice sounding a bit tired even to my own ears.
The scale of the Object below was so massive it made me feel how small and weak humans really are. I couldn’t help but wonder—will humans really be okay?
But then I glanced over at Reaper, who was sitting beside me, looking so bored. My worries instantly melted away.
Well, the Reaper was invincible, so it’d take care of things, right?
“Aside from the danger from the Objects that live here, it’s actually quite a beautiful sight. It’s also pretty popular.”
I kept my eyes on the swirling pit below. It felt like it was trying to pull me in, and I could catch a whiff of something oily and unpleasant. Yuck.
*********In the shadowy underbelly of the city, where the streets twisted and turned like a labyrinth, a man crept through the darkness.
He had been working undercover for months, unraveling the secrets behind the ‘Object drug’ that was seeping its way through the United States, tainting everything it touched.
And now, at last, the real source of that poison lay before him.
< burning="" steel="" pig="" statue.="">
An Object once unearthed in Korea, now hidden deep beneath American soil.
His heart thundered in his chest, each beat a reminder of the urgency.
He only needed to get out of this place, to bring the truth back to his superiors.
Just one more step, and his mission would be complete. All he had to do was endure the meeting of these doomsday zealots, trapped in their underground sanctuary.
The group’s prayer, laced with sinister devotion, finally ended. The man allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief.
Phew! I can go back safely now.
But fate had no intention of being kind.
A seemingly harmless, middle-aged woman approached him, her smile deceptively warm, as she extended a glass of whiskey toward him.
“How about a drink with me?”
The man hesitated, the unexpected gesture sending a chill down his spine.
The whiskey flickered with a peculiar glow, its surface shimmering like liquid fire.
He raised the glass, and a sweet, intoxicating aroma filled his senses—a scent that had no place in any ordinary liquor. It was unmistakable.
The whiskey was tainted, clearly a product of an Object.
As if to confirm his worst suspicions, the Object detector on his wrist began to blink, the red light flashing a dire warning: Level 1 mind corruption—a perfect brainwash, impossible to resist.
Time seemed to stretch, every second dragging on as the reality of his situation clawed at him.
When did I get caught?
“Did you really think you could fool us?”
The words hit him like a hammer. In a desperate act, he hurled the glass against the wall and spun on his heel, ready to flee.
But he didn’t get far. A gunshot echoed through the room, and pain exploded in his side, driving him to the ground.
His vision swam, the world around him fading as the burning pain spread.
“You should have been more careful, Agent.”
“It’s okay. You won’t die. Not yet, at least. After all, you’ve got to live… To join us, to become one of us.”
Through the encroaching darkness, he saw it—the burning whiskey glass, inching closer, its malevolent glow lighting up the sinister grins of his captors.