Chapter 229

The tattooed alchemist stood protectively, as if guarding her younger sister, and reached into her sample pouch.

‘Sun-like white flowers. Oil containing the essence of earth. The swirling blend creating purple leaves.’

As the alchemist picked up the alchemical samples with a heartfelt wish, the three ingredients wildly mixed together to create waves of white flame.

The brainless monsters were swept away by the wall of flames that surged like a giant wave, tumbling helplessly on the ground against its power.

And as if karma had twisted, trees fell for no reason, crushing the monsters beneath them.

At this absurd phenomenon, the alchemist glanced upward at the sky.

High above, a mini reaper with orange skin and a mass of white fur was smiling innocently while helping her.

Though it seemed as if the orange reaper floated idly in the sky doing nothing, they were actually providing great assistance.

‘Even though I don’t understand the principle, it feels like the world itself is coming to my aid.’

Trees collapsed, rocks tripped legs, and suddenly the ground became slippery.

Unnatural events continued to unfold.

If not for the orange reaper, she would have become a corpse already.

Just then, monster hands began bursting forth from the pile of fallen trees.

‘The flames burning the magical book seem to have no effect. Could it really not be a magical book?’

Despite the presence of the orange reaper, the situation remained extremely unfavorable.

The white flower flames, which should have been fatal to most objects, weren’t working at all.

With her primary weapon of alchemy ineffective, time was merely dragging on fruitlessly.

Her supply of reagents wasn’t infinite either.

At this rate, there’s no solution.

What should I do?

The alchemist’s brow furrowed deeper with worry.

***

Clang.

A sound resounded from high in the air, unimaginable for something falling from such a height, as the golden reaper landed on a solid rock.

‘!’

Lying sprawled atop a large flat rock, the golden reaper gazed up at the sky.

My sibling dropped me on purpose!

Did I do something wrong?

Rather than blaming the orange reaper, the golden reaper was pondering if there was an issue with themselves.

Like the blue reaper who dislikes being disturbed when approached, there could be countless misunderstandings the golden reaper hadn’t realized.

‘I don’t know.’

There was no common ground between the golden reaper, endlessly running across the ground, and the orange reaper flying through the sky, making it difficult to discern the reason.

While there were golden reapers who often played with the orange reaper, at least this one wasn’t among them.

With a slightly downcast expression, the golden reaper kept thinking until suddenly sensing a presence, lifting the corner of their mouth.

‘Harmful objects!’

The presence of harmful objects spreading throughout the forest.

Upon sensing this presence, the golden reaper regained their energy and sprang up from their seat.

There must have been a reason my sibling dropped me!

***

As if a bomb had exploded, amidst the forest where numerous trees had fallen and the ground was torn apart, heavy breathing could be heard.

“Haa. Haa.”

The tattooed alchemist clutched her now nearly empty sample pouch and struggled to catch her breath.

‘It’s certain. This is ancient alchemy that disappeared long ago.’

It resembled the tools of ancient alchemy like the ‘jade stake,’ but due to its horrifying appearance, she thought it might not even be alchemy.

She suspected it might be a magical book mimicking alchemy, but the more she fought, the more convinced she became it was indeed alchemy.

The fact that the flames lethal to magical books didn’t work was secondary.

The problem was the distinct feeling characteristic of alchemy.

It seemed to be ancient alchemy, not based on ‘desire’ like the alchemy she used, but rather one that sought solutions outside the world.

However, she only knew about ancient alchemy from history books and couldn’t figure out how to deal with it.

‘How much longer can I hold out?’

As the alchemist fidgeted with her sample pouch and looked around, she saw her younger sister watching her worriedly.

In the midst of this desperate situation, a golden flash emanated from the deep, dark forest.

A strangely familiar light.

The alchemist narrowed her brows, trying to figure out what kind of light it was, when suddenly her younger sister’s face lit up with joy and exclaimed,

“The golden reaper!”

“Ah!”

Only then did she recall the identity of the familiar light.

The glow of a lightsaber powered by the golden reaper’s energy source!

With the powerful golden reaper lightsaber, these monsters could surely be repelled.

The alchemist finally felt a glimmer of hope.

But oddly, the orange reaper started to naturally ascend higher, moving away as if fleeing for some unknown reason.

***

At the entrance of the still-under-construction James Tower, chaotic sounds echoed.

Loud shouts.

The heavy thud of sturdy riot shields absorbing impacts.

The thunderous crash of harpoons fired by gunpowder embedding deeply into the ground.

The approach to James Tower was blocked by many people, resembling a battlefield.

The security team from James Research Institute stood high, shooting white flames like flamethrowers, but to no avail.

“Large object flamethrower is ineffective!”

“All types of anti-object weapons appear useless. Use physical impact weapons.”

“Yes, sir!”

James observed the situation calmly.

Brain-eaten monsters.

Though they were undoubtedly objects, strangely, the white flames lethal to objects had no effect.

Moreover, physical force only temporarily incapacitated them, dragging the battle on tediously.

‘This is strange.’

Looking at the new measuring device being developed to gauge mental pollution spreading throughout Sehee Research Institute, James sensed something odd.

‘These objects show signs of considerable mental pollution.’

Though the objects appeared unrelated to mental pollution, signs of contamination were detected.

Not values indicating emission of mental pollution, but readings showing infiltration by it.

‘Some testing seems necessary.’

After making his decision, James moved forward, causing the security personnel to panic and try to stop him.

“Mr. Boss, it’s dangerous!”

James told them to wait briefly and pulled out his electric shock device.

A weapon designed to subdue mentally polluted individuals whose approach was difficult.

A simple function allowing remote delivery of electric shocks to remove mental pollution via wires.

Calmly aiming at the monster, James fired the electric shock device.

***

The massive jade stake grown from the heart.

Empty brains.

Terrifying creatures were surging toward Sehee Research Institute.

Just within my perception range, there are an overwhelming number!

If this is just my detection area, I can roughly guess how dire the situation in Seoul must be.

Actually, just checking the news briefly reveals the city is in complete chaos.

[A red wall has suddenly appeared in the sky, and monsters are attacking.]

[Reports indicate those attacked by these monsters also turn into the same creatures, so please exercise extreme caution.]

Seoul was in utter disarray.

Monsters eating brains and turning victims into allies were highly threatening in densely populated Seoul.

But the bigger problem was elsewhere.

The fact that these creatures clearly began encircling and targeting ‘Sehee Research Institute’ at some point.

‘Dare they!’

I stepped forward, ready to sweep away the mounting horde with spatial cuts, but at that moment, the monsters began retreating in unison.

The orderly retreat of these seemingly mindless monsters.

Through their actions, I sensed a controlling entity.

Sure enough, a distinctly different existence emerged from among the monsters.

Something humanoid, entirely made of green jade.

Yet peculiarly, it couldn’t definitively be called an ‘object,’ radiating a strange aura.

Rationally, given the surreal and bizarre phenomena, it should naturally be classified as an ‘object,’ but…

My intuition insisted this was absolutely not an ‘object.’

Moreover, the closer I looked at this muscular green jade person, the worse I felt.

As if connected to something endlessly distant and alien.

The mini reapers, sensing this presence, wore expressions of extreme irritation.

Reading the emotions emitted by the mini reapers revealed they were experiencing annoyance far beyond mine.

I merely thought, ‘This guy gives off a weird vibe,’ but for the mini reapers, the mere existence of this green jade person on Earth seemed unbearably painful.

Unable to endure the discomfort, the mini reapers all rushed at the green jade person.

The hungry ghost reaper swung a glowing white sword, the golden reaper warriors wielded their lightsabers, fiery balls were hurled by the red reaper, and water needles shot out by the blue reaper.

Even while continuously staring at me, the green jade person shouted,

“Even though you’re fake, to see beings called gods fall to such a state!”

With an expression of profound sorrow, the green jade person raised both hands.

The moment a massive green jade wall appeared and began emitting intense energy.

Boom!

The instant the green jade wall appeared,

It felt as if something had fallen upon the world.

“Return to your original form, lead dolls created by counterfeit alchemy.”

At the green jade person’s cry, the hungry ghost reaper and mini reapers collapsed like marionettes with their strings cut, losing consciousness and rolling on the ground.

[!– Slider main container –]