Chapter 251

When they first entered, the boss room was incredibly bright with torches blazing everywhere. But now, all those torches had vanished without a trace.

Only one torch remained.

In that darkness, The Golden Reapers were engaged in fierce battle.

The shield carried by The Golden Reaper was already shattered into pieces.

Moreover, the green health bar floating above The Golden Reaper’s head, indicating remaining stamina, was down to half.

The Red Reaper sat dejectedly in the corner holding a broken spear, watching as other Mini Reapers fought on.

The green health bar hovering over the crestfallen Red Reaper’s head was completely empty.

The Blue Reaper appeared to be chanting some grand spell, muttering incantations for what felt like an eternity.

“Not much longer!”

Clutching his one-handed sword, The Golden Reaper expressed determination.

The dungeon’s final boss operated under a system where each hit would extinguish one of the torches.

As the number of torches dwindled, the darkness thickened within the boss room, empowering the boss who manipulated shadows.

Looking down at The Golden Reaper brimming with resolve, The Purple Reaper sneered disdainfully.

Then leaping high into the sky, he unleashed a barrage of shadow spears at rapid speed.

Aiming for none other than The Blue Reaper preparing his spell!

With dazzling flair, The Golden Reaper began deflecting the shadow spears using only his small one-handed sword.

But without a shield and armed with just a tiny blade, it proved too much—until a massive spear struck him square in the chest.

“KWAANG!”

Having depleted all his health, The Golden Reaper emitted a cry of defeat according to the rules of the Mini Reaper Labyrinth, spinning around dramatically before collapsing.

And there, sprawled out flat on the floor, The Golden Reaper gazed upward with hopeful eyes toward The Blue Reaper.

At that moment, The Blue Reaper raised his staff high into the air.

But nothing happened.

It seemed the spell had failed, prompting The Purple Reaper to grin smugly as he charged toward The Blue Reaper.

Summoning a shadow sword, he swung it fiercely at The Blue Reaper.

“KWAANG!”

Though letting out the mandated death cry upon being slashed by the shadow sword, The Blue Reaper wore a meaningful smile.

Behind where The Blue Reaper fell lay a String Made of Water inscribed with these words:

[Resurrection].

The spell had already been completed.

Startled by this string, The Purple Reaper turned around.

There stood The Red Reaper, partially restored in health and resurrected. His broken spear extended forward, his body engulfed in flames.

“Take this!”

The ultimate spear technique executed at high speed.

This fatal strike embedded itself deep into The Purple Reaper’s heart.

“!!!”

All shadows scattered across the boss room surged toward The Purple Reaper, swirling violently before exploding with a “POOF!” and dispersing spectacularly.

Simultaneously, the darkness shrouding the boss room dissipated entirely, and the extinguished torches returned to their original state.

It was a magnificent demise until the very end.

Raising his spear triumphantly, The Red Reaper celebrated victory.

Upon the conclusion of the battle, The Golden Reaper and The Blue Reaper, revived per the rules, hurried over to join in the celebration.

BOING BOING.

They jumped joyously, rolling around together in pure bliss.

As the door at the end of the boss room slowly opened, revealing the treasure box chamber, a truly delicious aroma wafted through the air.

TOOT TOOT.

Thus, The Golden Reaper group clasped hands tightly, waving them enthusiastically as they marched cheerfully toward the treasure box room.

“We won!”

“You all did great!”

Unmistakable smiles graced the faces of The Golden Reaper group.

***

Lying in the deepest part of the dungeon, where I could observe everything, I watched as the children played.

I thought the mini reapers might quickly tire of the labyrinth game, but surprisingly, it continued to thrive.

Near the maze, numerous mini hungry ghosts carrying numbers on their backs gathered around mini reapers.

When their turn came, the numbered white hungry ghosts would wail ‘DHYEONGHYEONGHYEONG.’

At the entrance to the labyrinth, butler hungry ghosts distributed various doll outfits crafted by The Yellow Reaper.

Golden Reaper doll outfits equipped with swords and shields.

Red Reaper doll outfits wielding spears.

Blue Reaper doll outfits holding staves.

Orange Reaper doll outfits bearing bows.

Black Reaper doll outfits brandishing greatswords.

And so on—rows of outfits in every color and with every kind of equipment lined up neatly.

After all, only The Blue Reaper and The Purple Reaper could use magic, and their numbers were far too few.

Had we let everyone enter as is, parties consisting solely of golden reapers would have dominated.

Moreover, these doll outfits imposed stat limitations considering physical differences.

Turning my gaze, I spotted several purple reapers fervently bickering in the boss waiting room.

These were the purple reapers who created monsters from shadows and took on the role of bosses.

Bickering while creating monsters, then arguing again as they entered the boss room.

Even though their roles kept them extremely busy, they looked inexplicably happy.

Is it because taking on the boss role gave them a sense of importance?

If it were me, I’d have assigned hungry ghosts to do it, but they insisted on handling the tedious monster-related duties themselves.

Shifting my focus, inside the treasure box room, the golden reapers happily munched on candy.

In the corner lay discarded reaper doll outfits.

Those children clutched supermassive star candies many times larger than their own bodies, savoring them with immense delight.

Just like how friends discuss a movie after watching it together over dinner.

They eagerly shared stories about who performed impressively against which monster and whose moments were most remarkable.

Truthfully, the supermassive star candy as dungeon rewards weren’t anything special.

Yet, because they adventured together and shared the clear reward, when eating it, their expressions made it seem like they were tasting the most delicious thing in the world.

Seeing such joyful mini reapers made me suddenly want to enter the labyrinth myself.

If someone built a tyrannosaurus labyrinth, that’d be great…

***

Sehee Research Institute Conference Room No. 3.

Though rarely used even under normal circumstances, today two individuals occupied this conference room: Seoah and another person.

This was an interview conducted to alleviate Seoah’s workload.

Things were fine when elite researcher Yerin Oh, who slacked off frequently yet accomplished three times more work than other employees, was around.

However, researcher Yerin Oh has since become utterly useless aside from her role as a gray reaper babysitter, making this selection unavoidable.

Seoah carefully flipped through the resume while observing the helmet researcher sitting before her.

Surprisingly, during the interview, the researcher donned a mental pollution blocking helmet emblazoned with the James company logo.

‘This person is more peculiar than expected.’

While the Object Association reportedly favored frequent helmet usage, this individual certainly seemed thoroughly committed to preventing mental pollution.

Though originally someone she wouldn’t consider hiring due to eccentricity, given the current situation, this trait was viewed favorably.

Due to prolonged exposure to the faint mental pollution spread by The Golden Reaper, currently, there were almost no personnel left in Sehee Research Institute capable of properly managing the mini reapers.

‘Impressive. Truly thorough.’

That’s what crossed her mind.

With excellent credentials and reports praising their efficiency at the Object Association, there was no reason not to hire them.

Normally, notification via email would suffice, but overcome with excitement, Seoah directly announced the successful application.

“We sincerely welcome your joining us. Your values align well with our company vision, and I believe we can achieve great results together.”

After delivering the official acceptance message in a formal tone, Seoah shook hands with the researcher.

“Am I hired?”

“Of course, you’re hired. I’ll send detailed information via email later; please check it when you get the chance.”

As Seoah spoke with a warm smile, the helmet researcher bowed slightly in acknowledgment.

Then, somewhat awkwardly, exited the interview room.

Once the applicant left, Seoah turned to Sprout Reaper perched on her shoulder with a relieved expression.

“Seems like they’ll be alright, right? Given their thoroughness against mental pollution, they might rival senior researcher Kim Jungrwi.”

However, Sprout Reaper merely chuckled mischievously in response.

“?”

Confused by Sprout Reaper’s incomprehensible reaction, Seoah shrugged it off.

***

After returning the visitor pass at the front gate of Sehee Research Institute, the helmet researcher began walking briskly toward the parking lot.

“Finally got accepted into the notoriously hard-to-enter Sehee Research Institute!”

As the helmet researcher exclaimed with evident joy, the golden reaper inside the helmet patted their cheek in shared happiness.

The helmet researcher removed the golden reaper from inside the helmet, placing it gently on their palm, and said,

“Now the mini reapers can play with their friends, right?”

To which the golden reaper dismissively waved its hand, indicating it wasn’t particularly necessary.

“But wouldn’t it still be good to have another golden reaper around?”

Expressing slight concern, the helmet researcher questioned, prompting the golden reaper to nod slightly in agreement.

“Right?”

Contemplating the rumors about Sehee Research Institute being a place where mini reapers simply play all day, the helmet researcher smiled happily.

***

TOOT TOOT.

While the mini reapers were fully immersed in the labyrinth I created, I wandered around exploring the newly formed terrain.

Could this be a result of defeating the purple moon?

An endless expanse of snowfields stretching beyond the candy mountain and mini reaper garden.

“Wow.”

Perched atop the mountain, I marveled at the snowfield spread out beneath me.

Cloudless skies, yet fluffy snowflakes drifted down onto the pristine snowfield.

Clusters of trees laden with all sorts of fruits and rice cakes stood scattered across the snowfield.

And at its edge, chunks of ice formed from compacted snow flowed like glaciers, eventually merging into the sea of hot chocolate.

I scooped up some snow falling onto my palm and brought it to my lips for a taste.

CHOMP CHOMP.

A delightful sweetness spread throughout my mouth.

“Tasty.”

It tasted like milk frozen after adding sugar to it.

Additionally, this snowfield resembling milk shaved ice even featured fruit-bearing trees perfect as toppings.

Perfect.

Lying down on the ground, I indulged in the snow and plucked fruits to eat while enjoying the snowfield to my heart’s content.

When my stomach grew full, something resembling a white mouse-like object caught my eye, scurrying around in the corner of my vision. It was a hamster covered in soft, fluffy white fur, its tail adorned with skewered fruits coated in sugar.

Using time acceleration to chase after and catch it, I discovered the fruits on its tail were all candied.

“Hmm. This feels like some crucial object I shouldn’t forget.”

Snowfield.

Skewer.

This combination triggered a vague memory.

Holding the hamster firmly, I pondered deeply.