Chapter 280

I was lying in the Mini Reaper Garden, drowning in despair.

“Why isn’t it working?!”

As if to show the magnitude of my despair, a mountain of White Hungry Ghosts was piled up beside me.

“Hiiing… hiiing…”

From the heap of White Hungry Ghosts came the pitiful cries of those who had been stripped of all their limbs.

And next to that pile of White Hungry Ghosts was a stack of Mecha Tyrannosauruses.

But each one of these Mecha T-Rexes had some sort of defect.

My memory and imagination just couldn’t fully reconstruct the perfect Mecha Tyrannosaurus.

Even though I could summon the soul of a dead T-Rex into a Blue Giant’s body, without a perfect vessel, it was all meaningless.

Once again, I donned the halo on my head and conjured up a Mecha Tyrannosaurus.

Despite focusing hard, what emerged was a Mecha T-Rex lacking in detail.

“This isn’t right!”

The Mecha Tyrannosaurus I created looked like a cheap, illegally produced knock-off figure.

Should I outsource the T-Rex design to James after all?

I wanted to create a purely super Mecha Tyrannosaurus myself…

“Hiiing… hiiing…”

As I lay there feeling sad, the Mini Reapers began to cautiously approach.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

The children tapped my fallen cheek gently.

When I still didn’t respond, the Golden Reapers took out their hidden star candies and pushed them into my mouth one by one.

The Black Reapers gathered together silently, slowly forming a massive shape.

“Pi-yeee!”

When the Black Reapers combined, a giant Mecha Tyrannosaurus appeared, chirping like a sparrow.

Oh.

Its appearance was incredibly detailed, so I quietly opened my eyes to watch.

When I opened my eyes, the Blue Reapers gathered in a corner, whispering before etching strings into the air.

“[Star-like shining fusion T-Rex!]”

“[Fusion T-Rex!]”

Then water materialized in midair, gradually taking the form of a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“Kraaaooow!”

As the silent roar of the T-Rex echoed, an armor of water appeared and flew toward it.

“Chh-pang! Chh-pang!”

The armor interlocked like precise parts, and a glowing-in-the-dark Mecha T-Rex Golem was completed.

Ohh!

Encouraged by the Mini Reapers, I regained my energy and stood up.

I hugged the Mini Reapers who cheered for me and conveyed my gratitude with all my heart.

Then, giggling happily, they smiled at me.

I embraced them and gave them a mission with a mischievous laugh: every hour, stick a Mecha T-Rex request onto James’s back using glue.

Hehe.

***

The Golden Reaper was watching its mom curiously with eyes full of wonder.

Om…

Mom was nestled in the arms of her Attached Human, eating pudding nonstop while staring at something.

[The Chinese government has designated the area affected by Object erosion within the Free City Alliance as a higher-risk zone and decided to strengthen existing quarantine measures.]

[In the Free City Alliance, unpredictable events are occurring where concrete buildings turn into marshmallows and Objects dissolve into star candies.]

[Additionally, there have been reports of sightings of Golden Reapers roaming the city.]

[A government official stated, “We find the emergence of ‘Golden Reapers’ more threatening than the erosion of reality itself, and we will maintain the lockdown even more strictly for the safety of citizens.”]

An emotionless square box continuously emitted incomprehensible words.

However, the Golden Reaper’s interest wasn’t in such things but in Mom.

“Mom is getting rounder.”

The Golden Reaper was fascinated by how Mom was growing slightly rounder, wondering if it was because of her Attached Human.

Stealthily spying, when Yerin stepped out of the Isolation Room, the Golden Reaper quietly followed behind.

***

Yerin slowly walked toward the bus stop, glancing slightly backward.

A small golden figure startled and quickly darted into an alley.

Though extremely agile and difficult to see clearly, a golden antenna was still sticking out at the end of the alley, swaying.

“What on earth is going on?”

Yerin thought with a warm smile at the adorable situation of the Golden Reaper following her.

Squeak.

She closed her eyes as if sleeping once she sat on the shuttle bus that had arrived at Sehee Research Institute.

Then the Golden Reaper sneaked closer and started crawling into Yerin’s bag.

It zipped the bag shut to hide completely.

But the antennae were still sticking out above the zipper, swaying.

Yerin pretended not to notice and stroked the antennae while gazing out the window at the scenery heading home.

“Today, what should I do with the Golden Reaper? Puzzle time?”

Her mind was filled with happy thoughts as always.

***

The Free City Alliance—now called the “Mini Reaper Special City.”

Cheong sat by the window of the hideout tucked away in a corner of the city, looking out at the streets.

The street, once filled with dirty and sinister vibes, now radiated a fluffy white canvas-like atmosphere.

Instead of concrete floors, soft marshmallows cushioned the ground.

Old neon signs flickering with age transformed into delicious-looking lollipops.

There were no longer any rats scurrying around; instead, Jelly-helmeted Golden Reapers patrolled every nook and cranny.

People who had collapsed from eating too much poisoned food were nowhere to be seen.

In their place were people carrying Golden Reapers on their shoulders, smiling happily.

Cheong opened the window, letting fresh air flow into the room.

“Haaa…”

Though slightly sugary, the air was refreshingly clean.

Who would’ve guessed that the city’s air, once dangerous just to breathe, could transform this way?

Having lived in this city for so long, Cheong never imagined such a day would come.

“It must be thanks to this child, huh?”

Cheong poked the Orange Reaper asleep in her pocket.

Smiling at the deeply sleeping Orange Reaper who showed no intention of waking up, Cheong jumped out of the fifth-floor window.

The fluffy marshmallow bounced like a trampoline, catching her softly.

It felt like an enormous playground, making her smile involuntarily.

Pure magic!

But one needed to pay attention while playing.

If caught leaping off a building by a Golden Reaper, you’d endure an hour of “tsch-tsch” scolding.

Cheong enjoyed the softness of the marshmallow as she walked toward the main road.

What used to function as the veins of the Free City Alliance, connecting city to city, was completely different now.

Gone were the cars speeding through red lights, blaring horns, and choking exhaust fumes.

Had it not been for the asphalt-shaped cola-flavored jelly laid down, one might not recognize it as the “Central Road” anymore.

Instead of cars, huge White Hungry Ghosts occupied the jelly road.

These Ghosts had hollowed-out insides to create seats, resembling car-sized creatures.

The Ghosts on the road came in various shapes and sizes.

Already customizing their own Ghosts, the White Hungry Ghosts sported accessories and were painted in vibrant colors.

Instead of honking horns, cute “hiiing” sounds echoed.

Replacing exhaust fumes was the sweet scent of marshmallows.

Cheong chuckled at the sight and headed toward the meeting spot—the barbecue restaurant she always visited after completing requests.

Walking inside, a somewhat unusual scene greeted her.

“Ah, you’re finally here.”

PIG sister, with a large rib in her mouth, waved to Cheong.

In the kitchen, Blue Reapers gathered, casting spells on jelly.

“[Become barbecue flavored!]”

“[Take on the texture of meat!]”

With magic cast upon cartoonishly shaped jelly meats, delectable barbecues were being born.

Except for the slightly translucent quality, it was excellent barbecue.

As Cheong slowly approached the table, her colleagues welcomed her.

“Come on, try this. It’s our new menu item. And like everything else, it’s free!”

Though outwardly unchanged, her colleagues had a subtle difference.

The materials replacing their object-based body parts had changed.

Into roll cakes.

Why roll cakes? Nobody knew exactly, but they were roll cakes.

Of course, you couldn’t tell until cutting them open, and their functions remained unaffected.

Though stabilized now, quite a commotion occurred initially.

After all, it was strange that bodies suddenly turned into roll cakes without causing chaos.

Many died during the Roll Cake Incident.

Scavengers consumed by the “Red Voice” or those who replaced parts of their brains with objects turned entirely into roll cakes—not Roll Cake Humans, just plain roll cakes.

Fortunately, none of Cheong’s colleagues were overly dependent on objects.

Still, many people perished.

Nevertheless, Cheong considered this city the closest thing to heaven.

Delicious food, cute Mini Reapers, and people softened by the influence of Mini Reapers.

As Cheong thought about all this, a cool bell sound rang from her shoulder.

Ting.

Perched on her shoulder, the Orange Reaper held a bell almost as big as its body.

As Cheong playfully tapped its head, a woman smoking a candy cigarette instead of tobacco asked,

“Cheong, are you really leaving?”

“Yeah.”

Cheong had achieved her goal.

Now that she’d retrieved the Object bell relic belonging to her parents, all that was left was to leave.

“Are you going back to your hometown then?”

“Someday, sure. But not immediately.”

Cheong, gazing at the Orange Reaper, continued,

“I want to travel a bit first. Living here in the ‘Free City Alliance,’ I feel like I’ve been rushing forward blindly.”

“Really? Where will you go?”

Cheong smiled happily and said,

“Korea.”

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