Chapter 255

Under the starlight at the pier, the Purple Reaper was hiding in the shadows of a large container, cloaked in darkness.

Hidden within the shadows, the Purple Reaper was staring somewhere with glittering eyes.

There, a man could be seen pulling out a cigarette and placing it in his mouth before making a phone call to somewhere.

“Cool.”

Though the Purple Reaper’s limited vocabulary couldn’t properly express it, they felt something cool about the scene.

It wasn’t admiration for how the man, who was essentially human except for the cybernetic eye embedded in one socket, triumphed despite being at an absolute disadvantage in battle.

Nor was it awe for the way he unraveled situations calmly.

Even when slightly wounded by an opponent’s attack during combat, the man didn’t scream once and remained cold-blooded—this wasn’t what the Purple Reaper found cool either.

“I don’t get it.”

Trying to create some kind of condition like the Golden Reaper would have only left their mind in utter chaos.

From the Purple Reaper’s perspective, they just instinctively felt this man was someone to attach to.

That was all.

“Items recovered. I’ll place them where they always go.”

The man, after saying what he needed to say into the phone, hung up instantly and casually scanned his surroundings.

As if sensing someone’s gaze from somewhere.

“!”

The Purple Reaper, noticing the man turning his head, burrowed deeper into the shadows.

When the man finally turned away and slowly walked off, the Purple Reaper began trailing behind him quietly.

***

The man entered a house that felt cold, dark, and devoid of life, hung his coat on a rack, and slumped onto the sofa in the living room.

While drinking a can of beer he bought on the way home, he used the barren room as his side dish.

A dim, lifeless scene with no proper furniture except for the lone sofa doubling as a bed.

“Hmph.”

Exhaling deeply, the man leaned his head back on the sofa.

“When will I be able to approach you confidently?”

Living because he couldn’t die, the man felt as though he was walking through an endless tunnel filled with darkness ever since the day his younger sister passed away.

“…”

With his breathing gradually calming down after running around and sustaining minor injuries, the man started drifting into light sleep.

In the corner of his fading vision, a small purple figure appeared, gently wiping away his tears.

“Yeah, my sister also looked great in purple…”

Because of the purple hue in front of him, the man dreamt of old memories.

Dreams of the days when he believed the curse of the stars was a blessing.

Dreams of the times when his younger sister was still alive.

***

During a rare stroll through Sehee Research Institute, I experienced something quite unusual.

“Mom!”

“Mom!”

As I was clomping along the corridor, golden reapers suddenly swarmed toward me from all directions.

The golden reapers were clinging to me as if I were their beloved attachment human, begging me to play outside in the courtyard.

Although it wasn’t uncommon for golden reapers to ask me to play, their current enthusiasm matched only the first time I summoned a golden reaper.

“Something feels off.”

But my brilliant mind quickly deduced that this situation wasn’t due to my magnetic charm.

I was heading toward the sleeping quarters when I sensed an unfamiliar presence emanating from that direction.

Ignoring the golden reapers’ protests, which included hair-pulling and tantrums, I quickened my pace toward the sleeping room.

What could it be?

Could they have hidden a Mecha Tyrannosaurus in there?

Fueled by determination, I flung open the door to the sleeping room.

But nothing extraordinary greeted my eyes.

People were sound asleep while playing with sprout reapers in their dreams.

The soft glow of twilight streamed through a small window.

Anxious golden reapers pacing nervously.

And a mini reaper cradling an even tinier mini-mini reaper.

“?!”

Something seemed amiss, but no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, the sight remained unchanged.

Approaching the sprout reaper, I noticed them teasingly offering me the mini-mini reaper.

Was this a baby sprout reaper?

After seeing them multiply unnoticed during our last snowfield encounter, it seemed sprout reapers had been reproducing steadily.

How fascinating.

Curiously poking the mini sprout reaper, who hadn’t even opened its eyes yet, made it squirm and try to grab my finger.

Its tiny movements felt oddly endearing.

Come to think of it, golden reapers also seem to reproduce… so are there baby golden reapers too?

As I glanced at the golden reapers with this question in mind, they stared back at me without blinking, tense as if preparing for battle.

Could they be worried I might hurt the little one?

They’ve been treating me like a mother lately!

Do they really think I have such a low credit rating?

When I held out my palm, the sprout reaper proudly handed over the mini sprout reaper.

Gently caressing the mini sprout reaper resting in my palm, I glanced at the golden reapers.

Their anxious fidgeting amused me somewhat.

“Plop.”

As I chuckled silently inside, I felt something snap under my fingertips.

“!”

Looking down in surprise, I saw one of the mini sprout reaper’s leaves cleanly broken off in my hand.

The mini sprout reaper now lay limp and motionless.

“Uh… is it dead?!”

Attempting to fix it by piling firewood and pressing the leaf back on, golden reapers suddenly swarmed me, delivering relentless punches.

Their emotion-fueled blows were fiercer than expected and continued until the leaf was properly reattached and the mini sprout reaper returned to the sprout reaper.

“Hmph.”

I just wanted to play…

***

Yerin left the Sehee Research Institute with a small concern.

“The reaper was acting a bit strange today.”

Seeing the gray reaper cuddling, feeding snacks, and petting golden reapers and sprout reapers in the sleeping room was peculiar.

This level of service usually only happened when the gray reaper had done something majorly wrong.

Had they done something bad?

Still, since the golden reapers and sprout reapers seemed happy, it must be fine.

As Yerin sorted her thoughts, she headed toward the parking lot and then toward the shuttle bus stop.

On the way, she spotted an incredibly rare sight.

A line of golden reapers marching together.

Though golden reapers often wandered around Mapo District these days, seeing them march in formation was quite uncommon.

Pulling out her phone to capture the scene, the golden reapers turned toward her and cheerfully dashed over.

Golden reapers clung all over Yerin.

Picking one up on her palm, she asked,

“Are we going somewhere together?”

The golden reaper smiled brightly and nodded.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

Feeling as if she’d won the lottery, Yerin set off with renewed energy.

Thinking about it, golden reapers seemed to understand human speech remarkably well these days.

Sometimes they communicated better than the gray reaper, who probably understood everything but chose to ignore it.

At this rate, how long would the gray reaper pretend not to understand language?

***

Upon arriving home, Yerin let the golden reapers loose inside.

Listening to their adorable footsteps, Yerin finished freshening up and began retrieving items prepared for the mini reapers.

Out of a large box emerged a water deer pajama set for the gray reaper, followed by smaller versions for the mini reapers.

“Okay, let’s change. It’s pajama party time!”

Though the golden reapers didn’t fully understand Yerin’s words, they mimicked her positive emotions by jumping around happily.

These water deer pajamas were specially crafted to celebrate bringing golden reapers into her home.

“Good thing I made these.”

Watching the golden reapers laugh and frolic in identical outfits filled Yerin with satisfaction for her efforts.

Fortunately, there were plenty of mini-sized pajamas, enough for every golden reaper visiting her home.

Sharing delicious snacks, rolling around on the bed together.

Jumping from high bookshelves onto the bed.

Among the various ways golden reapers played, one was exploring the seemingly endless box of water deer pajamas.

“!”

The golden reaper rummaging through the box suddenly popped out, looking startled.

In its hands was an extremely worn-out piece of clothing.

“Oh, that? I wore it when I was younger, but I don’t remember much about it.”

Yerin spoke nonchalantly.

The garment in the golden reaper’s hands was old, tattered, and very small.

Though faded, it was a unique outfit blending black and white.