Chapter 227

Along the narrow valley, the stream water flowed gently, reflecting the warm sunlight of the late afternoon on the western mountain and shimmering with a golden light.

Though the heat of midday had passed, the lingering warmth still filled the peaceful valley. Yet, two men were fleeing with ghostly pale faces as if they’d seen something truly horrifying.

‘Crazy… Crazy… CRAZY!’

The man was sprinting alongside his junior toward the car they’d parked, reacting to the sudden unexpected chaos.

“I knew we shouldn’t have left the Golden Reaper behind!”

The man muttered furiously under his breath.

Even though the Korean Object Association was often criticized for being disorganized, there was a reason why the Golden Reaper was classified as an extremely dangerous object.

Laughing innocently one moment and then suddenly killing someone—objects really couldn’t be trusted, could they?

Why had they ignored the fact that both dialogue and apparent friendliness could still pose danger?

And then there was that flash—it had erased a person from existence!

They hadn’t heard anywhere that the Golden Reaper possessed such abilities.

But the bigger issue wasn’t the Golden Reaper at all.

Because the Golden Reaper had simply vanished after erasing someone, like a ghost in a horror movie.

The real problem was that Elder Snake had disappeared.

If it came out that Elder Snake had gone missing right after meeting them, their organization wouldn’t let this slide.

Even if Elder Snake had been somewhat estranged from the group, no organization worth its salt would ignore retaliation—and theirs certainly wouldn’t.

They needed to flee, whether to China or Japan.

“Was it really ‘the Golden Reaper’ who did this?”

“What?”

His junior, running beside him, started spouting nonsense.

Such absurd gibberish!

What difference did it make now?

The man urged him not to waste time and climbed into the car.

But the junior didn’t follow, instead standing firm and saying,

“Boss, you go ahead. I’ll check on the Golden Reaper before I get in.”

The man tried to shout at him to stop talking nonsense but froze when he saw the faint glimmer of madness in his junior’s eyes.

“Fine, do as you wish.”

In the end, the man abandoned his junior and fled alone.

***

The courtyard of Sehee Research Institute lay soft and marshmallow-like.

Many Mini Reapers lounged around, resting their heads on small white pillows.

The identity of these mini-sized pillows? The White Hungry Ghosts that had split into smaller forms.

The Mini Reapers, usually playing around in the Gray Reaper’s isolation room, had evacuated to the courtyard. Now, they leaned on each other, chatting quietly.

“Mommy is scary!”

A chilling gaze swept over the Mini Reapers, one that seemed ready to guide them to death!

That was why the Mini Reapers had fled here.

“Mommy is weird!”

What disturbed the Mini Reapers most was Mommy’s behavior.

She would periodically stare at them through her “eyes,” which felt terrifying to the Mini Reapers.

It was akin to a human:

Staring into a mirror while holding a sharp knife, poised to stab themselves—or worse, looking meaningfully at children through the reflection.

Wouldn’t any child feel frightened by such a mother?

Moreover, according to the Blue Reaper and Golden Reaper who had gone to spy, Mommy had completely lost her mind, tearing flesh and giggling madly.

“Scary!”

Rolling about on the Marshmallow Garden, the Mini Reapers clutched their round hungry ghosts tightly.

But as time passed, the Mini Reapers began to miss Mommy and wanted to return to the isolation room to play with her.

Even though she always ignored them, just having her nearby brought joy!

When their boredom reached its limit, the Mini Reapers, hugging their White Hungry Ghost cushions, began rolling around the courtyard at high speed.

Rolling, bumping into each other, flying off several times.

Among the chaos, the Orange Reaper, also bored, rose from its spot and floated away somewhere.

Was it going to check on the scary Mommy?

“Brave little brother?”

The Gold Reapers, who had been rolling around, stopped and looked at the Orange Reaper with hopeful eyes.

But instead of heading toward the isolation room, the Orange Reaper floated toward where a Large White Hungry Ghost rested momentarily.

Knock. Knock.

Reaching out orange fingers from the cottony cloud, it poked the side of the hungry ghost.

“Grrr.”

The tired-looking hungry ghost slightly bent its body and glanced at the Orange Reaper.

“You, go check.”

With a smile, the Orange Reaper ordered the hungry ghost to head to the Gray Reaper’s isolation room.

“Hiiiing.”

Upon hearing this, the White Hungry Ghost cried pitifully.

It knew it would be bullied by the Gray Reaper—but it couldn’t refuse. If it did, the Orange Reaper would sic the Cloud Fishes and the Red Reaper on it!

***

With all the Mini Reapers having fled, even the Pudding Factory run by the Golden Reaper had ceased operations, leaving an eerie silence in the isolation room.

I stood in front of a mirror tucked away in a corner of the isolation room, examining the halo discovered within my body.

Following what I’d done in the labyrinth of illusions, I tried plunging my hand into my body to grab the halo inside.

But no matter how hard I tried, the halo remained intangible, like a mirage.

“Hmph.”

Pulling my hand away, I stared back into the mirror, where a ring of light surrounded the firewood, spinning calmly.

As if mocking me, it rotated steadily without a care in the world.

Seized by sudden irritation, I tore apart the space around me.

Ripping open my chest entirely, it hurt—a lot.

The pain made me regret my impulsive action.

From the wound, pieces of firewood dripped like blood.

Despite enduring this agony and inflicting injury, I still couldn’t touch the halo.

Haha.

The mix of intense pain and futility caused an involuntary laugh of despair.

At that moment, the Blue Reaper, who had been secretly observing the room, widened its eyes in shock and promptly fainted.

The trailing Golden Reaper quickly covered the Blue Reaper’s eyes and quietly carried it away from the isolation room.

Although rumors might spread among the Mini Reapers, they’d likely forget everything after a few days of play, so it wasn’t much of an issue.

“Give up!”

I gave up trying to remove the halo from my chest.

On second thought, keeping it might actually be more beneficial.

If the halo’s power was to reveal destruction conditions, using it painlessly while it stayed inside me seemed like the better option!

Considering the immense power of the halo, it was truly astonishing.

So, I began my second experiment.

Inserting another halo into my abdomen!

If I could insert other halos into my body, I could use their powers freely without pain—like the “eye that sees destruction conditions.”

Summoning a halo to eat it…

Trying to shove a halo into my chest…

Hanging a halo around my neck like a necklace…

I tried every foolish method possible, but failed to ingest the halo.

Hm.

Feeling dejected because nothing worked, I slumped onto the floor when I heard an odd sound.

“Grumble… Grr!”

A White Hungry Ghost hiding under the blanket had been laughing softly at my strange actions, wearing an expression that said, “Why are you doing such stupid things?”

Realizing I was watching, the hungry ghost quickly clamped its mouth shut—”Grr!”—but it was too late.

Hehe, too late!

Thump-thump.

Fuelled by anger from my failed halo experiments, I slowly approached the White Hungry Ghost.

“This is also an experiment. Can a White Hungry Ghost use a halo?”

And with a mischievous grin, I placed the halo atop the hungry ghost’s head.

“!!!!!”

The poor hungry ghost didn’t even have time to scream before turning into ashes with a look of agony.

Unfortunately, another failed experiment.

While contemplating the demise of the hungry ghost, I noticed Mini Reapers peeking at me from every corner, only showing their heads.

When I turned my head, they panicked and scattered in all directions.

‘Huh?’

Even though I hadn’t done anything, they ran away!

This fueled the mischievous streak growing in my heart.

Halo in hand, I began chasing after the Mini Reapers.

‘Scape!’

Sensing their urgent will to escape, I smirked inwardly at their desperation.

***

Deep within the earth lay an enormous cave of incredible scale.

Its walls, floor, and ceiling bore patterns that resembled masterpieces painted by some great artist, impossible to imagine as naturally formed.

Fiery red jade stones burned alongside green jade stones swirling like stormy seas, creating a fantastical space.

Yet this beautiful place was now tainted with a thick scent of blood.

In the center of the mysterious cave, entirely composed of jade, lay a natural depression filled with countless corpses.

Among them was the man who had sought to flee abroad after meeting “Elder Snake.”

The bodies lay unnaturally, spurting blood profusely.

As the rising pool of blood began to flow through the winding cracks in the floor,

it eventually filled them, forming a sinister pattern among the green jade.

“Finally! Finally!”

At that moment, a man cloaked in green jade emerged from the shadows of the cave’s corner.

“The era of detestable gods has ended! The age of endless ‘chaos’ has arrived!”

As the man shouted loudly, crimson light erupted from the pool of blood.

“Now arise!”

As the man knelt down and proclaimed, a red form began to crawl out of the blood puddle.

Its shape was grotesque and alien, yet the man in green jade merely gazed upon it with rapturous joy.