Chapter 226

“Why the heck is the Golden Reaper here?”

The man, who suddenly encountered the Golden Reaper, stiffened with tension and began carefully opening the car door.

Quietly, without making a sound.

‘Now that I think about it, there was a warm scent inside the car that reminded me of sunlight. How could I have just ignored it?’

The man regretted ignoring the scent in the car as he found himself face-to-face with an ultra-rare object.

Hoo… hoo…

Breathing slowly through his nose to avoid heavy breathing, he gently gripped the door handle.

‘Done!’

As the car door was about to open, the man gave himself a triumphant smirk in his mind.

But at that moment, the Golden Reaper, happily laughing from the glove box, leaped straight at the man.

“Kyaaah!”

The man, already on edge, reacted as if a venomous snake had lunged at him and bolted out of the car.

“Bro?”

Seeing this, the man’s junior, who was already outside the car, turned back with a puzzled look.

And before the Golden Reaper could pounce like a flea from the passenger seat, the junior swiftly caught it mid-air with one hand.

Held firmly in the junior’s massive hand, the Golden Reaper looked amazed by how quickly and accurately it had been caught, and smiled approvingly.

‘Wow, impressive human!’

Though almost entirely caught by the junior’s large hand, leaving only its head free, the Golden Reaper seemed delighted by this unusual situation and kept grinning cheerfully.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. As expected, this guy is quite tame. Really.”

The man, who had rolled around in the gravel patch while fleeing in panic from the Golden Reaper, looked flabbergasted.

How could anyone react so casually to encountering such a top-tier object?

“Apparently, these days the younger generation loves the Golden Reaper. There are even fan sites for them. Didn’t you know?”

Of course, the man knew that much.

He just never thought they were actually popular or safe.

‘The government and association are suppressing social unrest caused by poor object management by deliberately downplaying the dangers of objects through public opinion manipulation.’

That’s what he believed.

Even now, seeing the Golden Reaper so docilely held, the man still couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was dangerous.

His reasoning came from a single photo.

A photo showing numerous corpses with holes shaped exactly like the Golden Reaper.

This was proof that the cheerful-looking Golden Reaper could tear humans apart at any time.

“Besides, these days, even parenting forums talk about how the Golden Reaper protects babies.”

The man watched his junior, who continued chatting about how popular and safe the Golden Reaper was, with a sympathetic expression.

“So, let’s say it’s safe. But wasn’t this the same Golden Reaper we heard was successfully isolated?”

At those words, the junior stopped praising the Golden Reaper and began carefully examining it right in front of him.

“Hmm… All Golden Reapers look alike, so I’m not sure.”

“If so, maybe we’ll find out during the next inspection. Anyway, release it quickly. We need to go see Elder Snake.”

With that, the junior trudged into the forest and tossed the Golden Reaper into a soft patch of grass like releasing a sparrow.

Plop!

After landing in the grass, the Golden Reaper leapt high again and landed neatly on the junior’s palm.

Hehe~

Sitting on the junior’s palm, the Golden Reaper grinned playfully up at him.

“We need to go see Elder Snake, so you’d better leave now.”

Despite repeated attempts to toss the Golden Reaper back into the grass, it kept jumping back.

Doodly-doodly~

Shaking its head vigorously, it clearly refused to leave.

Throwing, jumping back, throwing again…

After repeating this struggle a few times, an idea suddenly struck the junior.

Believing it was a brilliant plan, the junior tightly grabbed the Golden Reaper and shouted towards the man.

“Bro! Elder Snake said he needed an object in isolation. Wouldn’t this guy work?”

The junior held the Golden Reaper high as he spoke.

The Golden Reaper gleefully waved its hands in the air, giving the junior a high-five while still trapped in his grip.

***

In front of the large mirror tucked in the corner of the isolation room, I squinted my eyes, trying hard to see something.

The full-length mirror reflected my image.

Soft grayish skin that looks squishy.

The glow of firewood visible beneath the skin.

Long hair that reached the floor.

Two glowing eyes like burning logs.

‘I can’t see it.’

Although the mirror showed the same image of myself, what I was looking for remained invisible.

What I sought was my destruction condition.

Repeatedly using “eyes” to try to uncover my destruction condition had driven all the mini reapers out of my isolation room.

Each time I consumed their eyeballs, I felt my power grow significantly, leading me to wonder if I’d become strong enough to finally see it—but I still couldn’t.

It wasn’t the mirror’s fault.

I could clearly see the destruction conditions of the mini reapers through the mirror.

So I was pondering several reasons why my destruction condition might remain hidden.

First, I might simply be indestructible.

Perhaps because I can always resurrect or survive in some other way after consuming all my firewood, my destruction condition doesn’t appear—a hypothesis.

It’s a comforting theory, but there’s no evidence to support it.

Moreover, I’ve never encountered an object without a destruction condition, which makes it strange if only I am exempt.

Second, my ability might inherently be unable to target myself.

This seems plausible but remains unprovable.

Third, my ability might only work on targets of lower “rank” than myself.

Should we call it “rank” or “presence”? It’s that unique sense of pressure.

I’ve never encountered an object with a presence greater than mine.

Ever since I awakened in Seoul Forest, when my skin split against the grass and my feet pierced through tree branches, it’s been the same.

Since I have the same rank as myself, my abilities don’t work—a conclusion that feels like wordplay but is quite plausible given my consistently high rank as an object, separate from combat strength.

Additionally, this hypothesis could be tested if I ever encounter an object of higher rank than myself.

Still, nothing is certain.

Just as I was thinking this, something unusual caught my eye.

‘?’

Something existed within my body that I had never noticed before.

Could this be the Light Ring?

Though perfectly assimilated into my flesh and hard to detect, there was definitely something there.

It resembled a Halo almost entirely.

***

No matter how many times the Golden Reaper was forcibly left behind, it cheerfully chased after them, so the men decided to bring it to Elder Snake.

While the junior considered this good behavior akin to successful containment, the man absolutely disagreed.

How many dangerous objects smile and laugh innocently like that?

But since they couldn’t shake it off anyway, it was a necessary choice.

Better to say they brought it intentionally than admit it followed them relentlessly.

The two men carried the Golden Reaper, who grinned innocently, and slowly walked toward the valley.

Upon arrival, they saw Elder Snake lounging on a large canopy, tilted back to rest.

As the men approached, somehow sensing their presence, Elder Snake lazily raised his hand without turning around.

“Hey, you’re here?”

“Bro!”

Walking forward to the canopy, the men simultaneously shouted and respectfully greeted him.

Before the junior could report business updates and mention the Golden Reaper as usual, an unexpected situation unfolded.

“!”

Detecting something ominous, Elder Snake looked terrified.

And the Golden Reaper, standing on the canopy, glared fiercely.

“Bad Object!”

Standing under the bright sunlight, the Golden Reaper raised both hands to bask in the sun.

Though it faintly emitted light originally, as the Golden Reaper celebrated the sunlight, its glow grew stronger and stronger.

Eventually, the light became dazzling like a flashbang, filling their vision completely.

Despite its incredible intensity, it was a mysterious light that didn’t hurt the eyes.

When the blinding light faded, all that remained on the canopy was a blackened burn mark.

Elder Snake and the Golden Reaper were nowhere to be seen.

“Bro?”

Where Elder Snake once stood, only a scorched mark remained, devoid of anything else.

***

As twilight descended over the quiet valley, empty of people,

the red sky, like flames, dyed the rippling water of the valley stream.

Nearby stood a large canopy with a suspicious-looking black scorch mark.

Amidst the serene evening twilight, the sound of grinding stones echoed through the valley.

Grind-grind. Grind-grind.

The pebbles lining the water’s edge moved as if alive, forming circles, colliding, grinding against each other, and creating noise.

As time passed, the pebbles that ground themselves into pieces created perfect concentric circles.

Simultaneously, the sun setting below the horizon painted the valley in deep twilight.

With the arrival of thick darkness and silence,

a human figure abruptly emerged.

At the center of the concentric circles stood an eerie green jade person.

“…”

The jade-clad man, wearing a tattered cloak, silently stared at the remaining traces on the canopy.

Gazing endlessly, tears streamed down his face as he muttered emotionally.

“Finally.”

“Finally, I’ve found the detestable traces of the god.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, the man continuously repeated this, believing the long-awaited moment of fulfilling his wish had arrived.