Yerin was riding the Sehee Research Institute shuttle bus, gazing out at the scenery outside.
“Huh, it’s changing much faster than I thought.”
The landscape of Songpa District, which once looked like ruins, had begun to return to normal.
With the disappearance of the hungry ghosts that had been hiding in sinkholes and the emergence of James Tower, changes were occurring.
Newly constructed buildings and newly opened restaurants dotted the area.
It was common to see wobbly balloons enticing customers.
While enjoying the view through the window, Yerin noticed something faintly reflected on the glass and smiled softly.
The Golden Reaper was trying to slowly unzip a bag when one of its antennae got caught in the zipper.
Unaware that Yerin had turned her head and was staring down at it, the Golden Reaper was busy trying to free its antenna.
Pushing the zipper with both hands and shaking its head from side to side…
“If only I could use ghosting, this would be simple!”
For some reason, the Golden Reapers seemed to only use ghosting when absolutely necessary.
Based on Yerin’s thoughts as someone who claimed expertise in mini reapers, she could guess why they avoided using ghosting.
It wasn’t due to any special belief unique to mini reapers, but rather because the Golden Reapers valued tactile sensations.
Just look at their tendency to cling to humans.
They’d stick to them like glue.
Compared to other mini reapers who liked humans, their behavior was somewhat peculiar.
Was it similar to how the Gray Reaper didn’t wear clothes because it “saw” through its skin?
Ah, eye contact!
Having finally freed its antenna from the zipper, the Golden Reaper made eye contact with Yerin.
The Golden Reaper gasped loudly in surprise, its expression clearly screaming, “I’ve been caught following you!”
“Looks like you were following me.”
Smiling slightly, Yerin slowly petted the Golden Reaper.
Hehe.
Like a child whose prank had been discovered, the Golden Reaper shyly clung to Yerin’s hand.
Clack clack.
After getting off the shuttle bus, they slowly walked to a nearby studio apartment.
Yerin placed the Golden Reaper on the table and turned on the TV.
[Due to past incidents of civilian abductions, falsified death statistics, and embezzlement, the Central Research Institute was disbanded. However, its successor, the Association Research Institute, has just announced astonishing news.]
[A humanoid object doll capable of accurately following commands has been developed by the Association Research Institute.]
[This achievement is expected to elevate our country’s standing in the object technology field, which had previously been considered underdeveloped.]
[However, there are concerns. The American Object Association warns that utilizing non-passive objects poses significant risks and calls for caution.]
[Conversely, the Korean Object Association emphasizes that sufficient safety measures have been implemented in the newly developed object dolls.]
The TV broadcast detailed the recent announcement from the Object Association about these dolls.
“Dolls? Was there even a department developing those?”
Even Yerin, who knew people at the Association Research Institute, hadn’t heard about this project.
Though it might have been classified, given the corrupt and inefficient nature of the institute, maintaining secrecy seemed unlikely.
“Well, any accidents related to objects will be handled by the reaper.”
Somehow, a major incident felt imminent, but Yerin trusted the Gray Reaper completely.
Meanwhile, the Golden Reaper visiting Yerin’s home showed no interest in the TV. Instead, it tilted its head curiously while observing Yerin’s prized possession.
“Mom?”
It was a lead doll wearing an elaborate dress covered in frills.
Complete with a fancy parasol, it exuded an atmosphere entirely unlike the Gray Reaper.
Yet strangely, despite being hollow, it faintly evoked the feeling of a mother.
Watching this, Yerin came up with today’s play idea.
A game of house using the Gray Reaper doll!
In this game, a transcendently kind mother figure appeared, filling the playtime with happiness.
The Golden Reaper enjoyed snacks with the kindly mother doll and played puzzles together.
But all good things must come to an end.
As it approached 10 PM, the Golden Reaper started to feel drowsy.
Eventually, it collapsed during play, smacking its head on the table with a thud.
Seeing this, Yerin smiled softly, picked up the Golden Reaper, and went to bed.
I sat in the Mini Reaper Garden Marshmallow Plains, examining a halo in my hand.
Ability nullification halo, perfect avoidance halo, illusion materialization halo.
All identical in appearance.
Like angelic rings, they emitted light—white and circular.
And each caused excruciating pain when worn, causing the body to split and crumble.
Since the halo I pulled from my heart caused no pain, there must be a solution.
First, consider the number of halos.
When I used two halos in the labyrinth’s illusion, the pain increased. So, it’s reasonable to assume more halos equal more pain.
Given I already have one in my heart, the hypothesis is: using additional halos causes pain.
If true, the solution is simple.
Just remove the halo from my heart and hang it in the sky.
The problem is, I don’t know how to extract it.
Another hypothesis involves the halo’s color.
The halo that reveals death not only had a different shape but also a familiar golden hue.
Golden, the exact color of the firewood burning in my heart.
Perhaps coloring other halos with the firewood’s color would allow easy usage.
Thus, I experimented extensively with the halo.
I tried inserting it into my heart and even roasted it over the firewood like meat on a stick.
But no matter what I did, the color wouldn’t change.
“Ahhh, forget it!”
I need the halo to fight the nasty guys in the Color Universe, but if the time comes, I’m sure it’ll sort itself out.
Sending all the halos back to the sky, I lay down on the ground.
Then I noticed worms glowing brightly.
These were the three worm-shaped jelly brothers I acquired after visiting the Free City Alliance.
I fused them together into a wind-up attraction-like balloon.
One worm formed the torso, the others the arms.
Hehe.
Setting it on fire made it wriggle toward the sky like a real attraction balloon.
“Hehe.”
White hungry ghosts gathered around, laughing at the sight of the worms.
They seemed to think I’d forgotten about the Ice Palace Incident.
But I was merely waiting for the perfect opportunity to eliminate all the white hungry ghosts.
Still, their numbers seemed unusually low.
At this point, countless white hungry ghosts should have gathered, yet there were too few.
Turning my gaze, I spotted four-legged Golden Reapers leisurely running across the plains.
Why are Golden Reapers so trendy lately?
A suspicious feeling began to grow within me.
The Golden Reaper was endlessly fleeing through a chaotic, frenzied space.
‘!!!’
Behind the Golden Reaper, a pregnant mother pursued with a terrifying expression.
“I need to catch that plump Golden Reaper and eat it!”
Though the mother could easily catch up, for some reason, her body felt heavy, preventing her from doing so.
Near the Golden Reaper, other Golden Reapers ran alongside, also fleeing.
They were round and chubby, resembling the pursuing mother.
Looking down at itself, the Golden Reaper noticed its own belly had grown slightly round.
‘Got it!’
Beside it, another Golden Reaper was caught in the mother’s grasp and dragged away.
Startled, the Golden Reaper turned around to find the mother right behind it.
‘!’
A massive hand slowly approached and grabbed the Golden Reaper.
‘Aaaah!’
Struggling not to be eaten, the Golden Reaper was ultimately sucked into a large mouth.
‘!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’
In the pale dawn light,
The Golden Reaper woke up from the nightmare with a start.
Crawling out of Yerin’s embrace, it let out a sigh of relief.
Though unsure exactly what dreams were, the Golden Reaper was greatly reassured that it wasn’t reality.
Still feeling uneasy,
The Golden Reaper began carefully inspecting its limbs.
Looking down at its stomach, the Golden Reaper was shocked.
‘Fats!’
Pinching its belly fat, the Golden Reaper clutched its cheeks in despair, resembling Munch’s scream.
“Reaper, let’s play.”
Suddenly hearing Yerin’s sleep-talking, the Golden Reaper turned its head.
There, enormous amounts of firewood were being absorbed by the lead doll and the Golden Reaper from Yerin.
*
At the harbor where a large cruise ship was docked.
Although flying directly back to Korea on a cloud fish would have been fine, Cheong had flown to the port to experience a cruise.
Looking up at the building-sized cruise ship, Cheong couldn’t hide her excitement.
Having lived only in China, the prospect of traveling abroad made her slightly giddy.
Especially since their destination was Orange Reaper’s homeland, Korea!
Of course, Korea was classified as a somewhat dangerous country during the Object Era, but surely it couldn’t be as perilous as the Free City Alliance.
As the wheels of her luggage clicked across the deck, a refreshing sea breeze tickled her nose.
Taking a deep breath of the ocean-scented air, she slowly walked toward the cruise ship railing.
Soft music played subtly as the cruise ship prepared to depart.
Seagulls flew around the ship as if bidding farewell, and far beyond the horizon, dazzling sunlight shimmered on the sea surface.
In the lazy afternoon ambiance enhanced by sparkling waves, the Orange Reaper began poking Cheong’s cheek.
From the direction the Orange Reaper pointed, unfamiliar foreign languages reached her ears.
“Brother, is our destination Korea?”
“Hmm.”
There stood a handsome Western man in a stylish coat and a very young-looking woman.
They resembled each other significantly and seemed to have an age gap, giving the impression of a father-daughter relationship.
But those details weren’t important.
What immediately caught the eye was one thing:
The purple reaper perched on the woman’s head!
The bandaged Purple Reaper and crowned Orange Reaper exchanged glances.
Upon seeing this, the woman approached Cheong with a delighted expression.
“Wow, is that an Orange Reaper?”
Considering Cheong, the woman greeted her in simple English.
At that moment, the loud horn of the cruise ship signaled the start of the journey to Korea.
Cutting across the sea, the cruise ship began its voyage toward Korea.
Against the backdrop of white seagulls and the endless blue horizon, Cheong somehow felt that her connection with these people might last longer than expected.
