Chapter 228

In a beautiful cave made of various colored jades, something horrific began to rise. A red figure that looked like it was formed from congealed blood stood tall. The red human that emerged from the pit resembled a horrifying creature stitched together from corpses.

[It’s insufficient.]

[Vastly insufficient.]

A message came from the red monster with emaciated limbs, resembling someone who had starved for an incredibly long time before dying. Without opening its mouth or causing any air vibrations, the willful wave reached directly into one’s mind.

Upon hearing this intent, the green jade person shouted loudly: “Bring them here!”

Following the green jade person’s command, prepared objects started to be brought in one after another. People with stakes driven into their heart areas carried large green jade-fixed objects and moved them around.

The men with jade stakes were high-ranking members of an organization who sacrificed all their subordinates as offerings to the red monster. Despite having called each other brothers until recently, they crushed their comrades like insects without any change in expression—instead, their eyes gleamed greedily, almost madly.

Having devoured all the prepared objects, the red monster had transformed slightly. Its skin, which felt like ground-up corpses, now revealed glimpses of sparkling red jade here and there. And on top of the red jade, red flesh resembling veins wriggled strangely.

[It’s insufficient.]

[Vastly insufficient.]

At the same time, the red figure extended its hand toward the man who brought the object, grabbing him tightly and starting to devour his brain alive.

“Aaaaaaah!”

The terrible scream of the man whose brain was being ripped out echoed through the area. As the scream spread, the men gathered in the open lot suddenly broke free from their trance-like state and began fleeing outside in panic.

“Stop.”

But at the single word of the green jade person, their bodies froze mid-motion. And while frozen, one by one, their brains were devoured.

“No!”

“Save me!”

Despite countless pleas, threats, and cries of agony echoing throughout the cave, the act did not stop until every person’s brain had been consumed. The once cacophonous cave fell silent again, now filled only with the stench of filth and blood.

[It’s insufficient.]

[Vastly insufficient.]

Even after devouring countless humans and objects, the chest of the red jade person felt hollow, as if pierced by a gaping hole.

“The blood and flesh of a god are needed.”

Upon hearing these words, the green jade person smiled contentedly and shouted: “Go find it! Somewhere on this land, find traces of a god. Descendants of gods. Apostles of gods. Anything!”

As the cry echoed through the cave, the corpse-brain-eaten bodies began to twitch. They rose as if alive and sprinted off toward some unknown destination.

Countless corpses exited the deep place within Seoul Forest and advanced toward Seoul.

***

As twilight painted the sky, it seeped gently into the tranquil Seoul Forest. Whenever the wind tickled the leaves, the trees harmonized in quiet chorus, their sound akin to the forest’s breathing.

However, amidst the cool fragrance of leaves and damp earth carried by the breeze, there lay something else—an essence of mystery. To the tattooed woman alchemist, it was the familiar scent of alchemy.

‘This is taking longer than expected.’

Though she had already been inside Seoul Forest for two days, she still hadn’t collected all the ingredients.

‘Going deeper would be dangerous…’

While Seoul Forest reminded her of her hometown forest, she could confidently navigate its depths alone—but bringing her younger sister along wouldn’t guarantee safety. Of course, things might go smoothly, but unexpected situations could arise.

“Hmph.”

The alchemist sighed deeply while gazing up at the giant tree, worrying about her younger sister who trailed behind slowly.

Her sister always chased after her despite constant warnings of danger, and as someone who used others’ bodies, the alchemist found it difficult to strongly dissuade her.

‘At least we’ve managed to gather most of the materials; that’s fortunate.’

This time, she needed ingredients both for her suppressant pills and to repair the gray reaper’s lightsaber.

She’d almost gathered everything required for the lightsaber repairs, but the suppressant ingredients were nowhere to be seen.

‘This is bad.’

The alchemist pulled out her remaining suppressants and counted them, wearing a troubled expression. There weren’t many left.

To avoid becoming a monster that naturally drives people to death like during the theme park incident, suppressants were absolutely necessary. Without them, her perception and self would gradually twist, eventually turning her into a harmful entity to humanity.

No matter how much she claimed to act for humanity’s sake, such beings ultimately caused harm. That was what happened when humans became magical books or objects.

Though changes could be suppressed by strong willpower or suppressants, no human could maintain this forever. Eventually, those turned into objects either committed suicide before losing themselves completely or abandoned their selves entirely, becoming mere machines.

“Sister, have you found all the necessary ingredients?”

Her sister’s sudden voice interrupted the alchemist’s endless musings. Awakening from her thoughts, the alchemist noticed the ominous aura permeating the forest and grew alarmed.

‘How foolish of me to lose focus in such an unsafe forest!’

It was too late to escape.

“Quickly, come behind me! Hurry!”

Shouting at her sister who was trailing slightly behind, the alchemist drew her sword and began scanning her surroundings warily. Just as her sister ran over looking bewildered, grotesque monsters emerged from the shadows of the forest.

Monsters with giant jade stakes piercing their hearts and brains completely eaten away.

“Eek.”

Terrified by the sight, her sister clutched onto her sister’s clothes.

“Jade stakes? But that technique disappeared ages ago…”

The alchemist muttered tensely while gripping her sword.

***

The orange reaper, caught scamming the golden reaper, flew through the skies somewhat sulking. During this flight, numerous cloud fish soaring across the sky caught his attention.

These cloud fish carried the golden reaper and the black reaper to various parts of the world. Watching them fly smoothly, an amusing ‘mistake’ popped into the orange reaper’s mind.

What would happen if the mini reapers searching for attached humans were dropped into an empty Seoul Forest?

Spotting a cloud fish carrying the golden reaper toward Seoul Forest, the orange reaper grinned wider.

Approaching like the gray reaper with a small laugh, he ordered the cloud fish: ‘Drop.’

Thus, the cloud fish lost its physical properties like ordinary clouds.

‘!’

Startled by the sudden disappearance of his foothold, the golden reaper flailed wildly as he began plummeting.

Why?

Looking up, the golden reaper saw the orange reaper smiling similarly to the gray reaper.

‘!!!’

Betrayal by his usually well-behaved sibling shocked the golden reaper, who ended up crashing into Seoul Forest.

Hehehe.

Curious about the fallen golden reaper’s fate, the orange reaper began descending slowly.

As the tall trees of Seoul Forest drew near, the orange reaper witnessed an urgent scene.

Human corpses desecrated into harmful objects surrounded a lone human.

“Sunlight-like white flowers, blood-soaked red stems, roots falling upon magical books. Shield of the alchemist!”

An object protecting the human fought valiantly, emitting white flames, though victory seemed unlikely.

“Sister!”

Hearing the human’s desperate cry, the orange reaper quickly began twisting probabilities due to the urgency of the situation.

***

Giggling happily while running around holding a halo, I sensed a plea.

‘Mom!’

A desperate cry for help.

A plea from a distressed mini reaper.

The scream of a white fur ball trapped in my grasp.

Hehe.

Having given up on the agile golden reaper and black reaper early on, I targeted the slow-moving orange reaper and managed to catch him instantly.

Initially, I didn’t plan to truly capture him, but his annoying behavior pushed me over the edge.

Suddenly slippery floors.

Falling objects hitting my head.

Although tweaking probabilities to interfere annoyed me slightly, his persistent teasing grin drove me even crazier.

So, in a fit of rage, I combined time acceleration with spatial control to finally catch him.

The problem was I hadn’t thought about what to do after catching him.

By now, the halo had shrunk to mini reaper size.

Bringing it closer, the orange reaper shut his eyes tightly and began trembling like a scared puppy.

Other mini reapers stopped fleeing and peeked cautiously, their expressions saying, ‘Surely he won’t really put it on, right?’

Just as I was about to place the halo on the orange reaper’s head, the air warped and rippled with a strange sensation.

‘!’

Startled by the sudden occurrence, the mini reapers who had only stuck their heads out hiding quickly stood up and looked around nervously. I also released the orange reaper and began checking my surroundings.

A feeling of malice different from any object I’d encountered so far was surging toward Sehee Research Institute.

Sensing something odd, I looked up to see a massive wall forming in the sky.

A red wall decorating the heavens like auroras.

But it didn’t feel like an aurora at all.

Instead, it felt tangible, like a giant red wall made of jade.

Thud-thud.

Simultaneously, brain-eaten corpses began appearing around Sehee Research Institute.

Creatures with jade stakes driven into their chests and completely hollowed-out brains.

But I paid no attention to these monsters, focusing solely on the great red jade wall.

Dangerous.

It felt like an object, yet something else was targeting me.