Chapter 343

Late night, Seodaemun District submerged in darkness.

The night sky of Seodaemun District where I arrived to chase the missing Golden Reaper was covered with clouds.

It was supposed to be the time when colorful moons floated like Mini Reapers, but the moons were blocked by pitch-black clouds and couldn’t be seen.

Strangely, the street was unbearably dark, and even the streetlights flickered faintly.

If only my eyes didn’t emit light, I wouldn’t have been able to examine the streets so meticulously.

As soon as I saw the TV, I abandoned making Swirling White Hungry Ghost Roast and rushed all the way to Seodaemun District, but there was no trace of the missing Golden Reaper anywhere.

‘Where on earth did it go?’

The presence of the Golden Reaper here was unmistakable.

It wasn’t just any Golden Reaper—it was the distinct aura of a Golden Reaper brimming with firewood.

An aura that had never been felt at the Mini Reaper Garden.

‘Did it avoid me? Or did we just narrowly miss each other?’

While pondering various thoughts, I continued walking, chasing the aura of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper.

And finally, when I reached the last place where the Golden Reaper’s presence vanished, all I was greeted with was emptiness.

A single old park bench.

On top of it sat a solitary paper cup.

A cup of coffee as black and deep as the current night sky—something the Golden Reaper would never touch.

The faintly lingering bitter aroma of coffee brushed against my nose before dissipating into the night air.

In the corner of the bench where the coffee cup lay, cookie crumbs were scattered.

‘It was definitely here.’

Organizing my thoughts, I shifted my gaze away from the traces of coffee and cookies.

Looking back at Seodaemun District, it resembled a slumbering ruin.

Empty buildings everywhere, and people still hurriedly evacuating.

Even though it was late at night, the streets were bustling.

Cars lined up and exited Seodaemun District, and people carried their luggage in haste.

Occasionally, vehicles marked with the James Research Institute logo could be seen, indicating that they were providing evacuation support.

The sound of car engines echoed through the quiet city.

The atmosphere was markedly different from before.

Previously, even when accidents happened daily, only a small number of people evacuated.

It was only during incidents like the Hungry Ghosts’ destruction that buildings crumbled in real-time, prompting escape.

With fewer Object-related accidents due to the Golden Reaper, it seemed people began fearing them more instead.

After all, if they ran and feared every time an accident happened back then, they’d have been running around 365 days a year.

Thus, there were hardly any human traces left near Seodaemun District.

‘It must still be nearby somewhere.’

I looked around once more.

My glowing eyes scanned the street like a flashlight in the darkness.

But there was no trace of the Firewood Pig Golden Reaper anywhere.

Feeling restless for no reason, I clenched the space with both hands and tore the sky apart.

Spatial Cuts shredded the clouds and sky, leaving ten intersecting scars in the heavens.

‘Hmm.’

Then the multicolored moonlight began shining down from the sky.

‘Wait. I’ll rescue you soon.’

Looking up at the moonlight, I turned my resolve into words and spoke aloud.

***

‘It hurts…’

Still, I won’t give up.

The Golden Armored Reaper crawled slowly on the ground with its severed arm.

‘There’s no way to win.’

Still, I will never give up.

The wound continuously bled firewood like blood.

I could see the Attached Human who had been crying suddenly shouting something at me with a startled expression.

But the broken ears of the Golden Armored Reaper couldn’t hear it.

I wanted to hear the Attached Human’s voice…

Up ahead, the Man with a Halo looked down and said something, but the damaged ears of the Golden Armored Reaper couldn’t pick it up.

He must be mocking me.

Calling me stupid, accusing me of not knowing how to quit.

But the Golden Armored Reaper could never give up.

‘I can never give up.’

The Golden Armored Reaper fought worse than the 1st Sword.

It couldn’t do many things like other Mini Reapers.

Its ability usage was clumsy, it wasn’t smart, it wasn’t fast, and its senses weren’t sharp.

That’s why…

I won’t give up.

‘It’s the one thing I can do best.’

Then, as if responding to this sentiment, the firewood blazed intensely.

The severed arms and legs regenerated, and the figure slowly began to rise and dash forward.

One step.

Another step.

Slowly but surely moving forward without stopping.

And eventually, like a comet of light!

The struggling steps of the Golden Armored Reaper across the shattered ruins gradually sped up. Eventually, it emitted a brilliant light from its entire body and transformed into a comet.

Because the most untalented Golden Reaper knew only one thing:

A strong and fast headbutt.

Just gripping determination in its fist and charging straight at the enemy.

BOOM!

But it missed.

Still, it repeated endlessly.

Faster and faster, stronger and stronger.

Even if the body immune to physical attacks shattered, it kept going.

***

Under a grid-patterned sky that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

A golden comet dived toward the man.

[Not giving up, huh? That resemblance is strikingly similar to her.]

But the luminous trajectory of light couldn’t break through the barrier surrounding the man and bounced off.

Simultaneously, the armor encasing the Golden Reaper shattered and scattered into the air.

Still gritting his teeth, the Golden Reaper stabilized itself mid-air.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Watching the relentless charges and flights of the Golden Reaper, the man spoke.

[This transparent wall is a barrier created by infinitely overlapping spaces.]

[Even if you keep trying, you’ll never break through a barrier made by compressing infinite space.]

These words slipped out unconsciously, trusting that someone knowledgeable wouldn’t make such foolish attempts.

And believing that explaining would suffice for those who failed to grasp the gap due to recklessness.

But the Golden Armored Reaper didn’t reply.

It simply flew in like a comet with its mouth tightly shut.

[I shouldn’t have talked too much, knowing it’s not her.]

Muttering while recalling the blue-haired girl who relentlessly sought solutions despite knowing impossibility,

[Then.]

Snap.

As the man flicked his finger, space began distorting around the Golden Reaper.

Ruins of Seodaemun District emerged as pillars, and a mirror-like reflection of the ruins appeared in the sky.

They began surrounding the Golden Reaper in a cubic shape.

An endless prison formed by connecting spaces.

[Let him witness the grand achievement from there.]

As the man extended his palm toward the sky, the space shattered, revealing a new world behind it.

A world illuminated by a massive Light Ring.

Beneath that Halo, a towering temple designed to enshrine a new god stretched toward the heavens.

A world engineered like an antlion trap to consume everything.

As this world appeared, luminous orbs began gathering toward the man from the sky.

“Ahh!”

The orb cherished by the short-haired girl was no exception.

***

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The Golden Armored Reaper kept throwing punches at the prison enclosing it.

But it was futile.

A prison far beyond the capabilities of the Golden Armored Reaper to break.

‘It won’t break.’

Looking outside, the giant world was twisting into a funnel shape.

Streams of wishes flowing out of the orbs gathered and coalesced into a massive flow above the funnel.

This enormous flow of wishes poured into the Harmful Object, gradually filling its interior.

‘This is bad.’

Although the Golden Armored Reaper didn’t fully understand what was happening, it sensed that letting this continue would lead to a major disaster.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

But even the blazing fists of the Golden Armored Reaper couldn’t shatter the space imprisoning it.

‘I can break space, yet I can’t.’

If it were a regular isolation space, it could have broken free easily, like when rescuing the Attached Human.

‘There’s no time.’

The Golden Armored Reaper looked over anxiously.

Not because the firewood inside its body was gradually disappearing.

Rather, it worriedly glanced at the Attached Human lying unconscious nearby, whose white threads were being slowly sucked out.

‘The Attached Human will die.’

Suppressing his restlessness, the Golden Armored Reaper closed its eyes tightly.

‘All I can do is gather my strength and swing my fist.’

The Golden Armored Reaper started channeling all the firewood within its body into its fist.

Then the fist began glowing like the sun.

Its armor started disintegrating into firewood and gathering into the fist.

‘It hurts.’

Holding onto an immense amount of firewood forcibly, it felt like exploding at any moment.

‘Still, it’s fine. Not giving up is my strength.’

As all the firewood condensed into the small fist of the Golden Armored Reaper, a dazzling light gathered so intense that it obscured the surroundings.

Slowly raising the fist towards the sky, grinding its teeth as if the fist weighed a thousand pounds.

All I can do is…

Gather my strength and…

Swing my fist.

Thus, the Golden Armored Reaper extended its fist as high as possible toward the sky, as if striking it.

It was already exhausted to the point of collapsing.

On the verge of falling, the Golden Armored Reaper whispered its final resolve.

‘Tush.’

Then the firewood gathered in the fist shot upward like a bolt of lightning.

The sudden flash startled the Man with a Halo, but it didn’t significantly affect his consciousness.

The Golden Armored Reaper’s ultimate punch merely pierced a tiny hole shaped like a golden reaper’s fist in the space, which quickly restored itself.

However, the moment that tiny hole closed, a thunderous roar shook the world.

The previously stable space violently trembled, and the sky tore open, flooding the area with multicolored moonlight.

Through that roughly torn gap, the Gray Reaper leaped in.

Watching this, the collapsed Golden Armored Reaper whispered softly before closing its eyes.

‘Ultimate Mom Punch.’

[!– Slider main container –]