Chapter 289

In the heart of Seoul, Oh Muryong’s mansion had turned into a chaotic mess.

As if the Association Dolls had run rampant, turning all of Seoul into pandemonium, the interior of the mansion was in utter disarray.

Most of the furniture was shattered, and every single door was completely destroyed.

Dolls inside the mansion roamed around with glowing red eyes.

Those who remained in the mansion either lay dead or wandered about as contaminated zombies.

But the mastermind behind all this chaos, Oh Muryong, stood in his secret laboratory, smiling with ecstatic delight.

The usually neat and sophisticated lab was now covered in a crimson liquid reminiscent of blood.

In the center of the blood-red stained lab stood a tank filled with the same scarlet liquid.

Until moments ago, a doll modeled after his deceased granddaughter lay within, but now there wasn’t even a trace of it left.

Suddenly, the crimson liquid in the tank began to boil.

“Finally!”

Oh Muryong shouted with joy upon witnessing the sight.

Having sacrificed everything to resurrect his granddaughter, he finally sensed her return.

From the liquid that consumed his granddaughter’s corpse, countless clones, and an almost perfect replica doll, something surged upward.

It was a grotesque mass resembling hundreds of his granddaughter’s faces fused together.

The faces on the surface contorted with expressions of ecstasy, despair, sadness, and pain, while tears of blood streamed down from each one.

And among these faces, tiny limbs of his granddaughter protruded, tangled together.

Though made using his granddaughter as material, the form looked anything but human.

A true monster had been born.

However, Oh Muryong saw things differently.

Crying out “Finally! You’ve returned at last!” he couldn’t hide his overwhelming joy.

To the already deranged Oh Muryong, his granddaughter had perfectly come back to life.

He no longer possessed normal judgment, mistaking the creature he created for his granddaughter.

This was undeniable proof of his madness.

***

After the party ended at Sehee Research Institute, Yerin moved away from the still bustling backyard to the quieter inner courtyard.

There, she spotted the Golden Reapers lounging on marshmallow floors in various states of relaxation, their helmets and spears set aside.

Some of the resting reapers were stepping out to relieve others coming in for rest.

The Golden Reapers, wearing adorable helmets and wielding long spears, marched proudly out of the courtyard.

To Yerin, the courtyard felt like a lounge for the Golden Reapers who were taking shifts guarding the place.

It seemed they had commandeered the courtyard for their use, which made her smile slightly.

Approaching one of the reapers lying down, she playfully poked his chubby belly.

While doing so, she suddenly felt something strange.

“The courtyard has gotten smaller.”

Originally connected to the Mini Reaper Garden, making it feel spacious, the courtyard now seemed cramped.

“Weird…this never happened before.”

Yerin muttered as she scanned the area seriously.

‘The connection between the courtyard and the Mini Reaper Garden has been severed!’ she thought.

This severance clearly indicated something serious had occurred.

Anxious, Yerin turned on the TV in the courtyard and flicked through channels, but none seemed to be broadcasting properly.

She then searched for personal broadcasts on her phone and eventually found one revealing the current situation.

On screen, a man in a dark room whispered quietly.

“Look down there. They’re dolls.”

His camera revealed creaking, blood-stained caretaker dolls moving around and large construction dolls demolishing buildings.

The man pulled the curtains shut and whispered again.

“I was saving up to buy a good doll later instead of cheap ones now, guess it paid off.”

He then amusingly recounted his sorrowful tales of not having dolls and how those sorrows helped him survive.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

Suddenly, a clacking sound came from the door.

“Mr. 405, open the door please.”

The man jumped, dropping his live-streaming phone, but relaxed upon recognizing the voice and picked it up again.

“Phew, it’s the landlady. My heart nearly stopped.”

He told the viewers.

“I’ll end the broadcast first and continue shortly.”

Then the screen went black.

‘So it is indeed a doll problem.’

Watching the broadcast confirmed Yerin’s suspicions about the doll issue.

She always felt uneasy around dolls, so this felt inevitable.

Worry for the reapers began to creep in.

“Is the Reaper okay?”

From the Mini Reaper Garden onwards, an ominous atmosphere seemed to envelop all of Seoul.

Despite poking the soft belly of the resting Golden Reaper to shake off her unease, the lingering anxiety wouldn’t fade.

***

Creak. Creak. Creak.

The Blonde Girl and the Red Reaper walked through the eerie streets of Seoul filled with unsettling doll sounds.

‘This is something I must finish.’

She believed the story involving Grandfather Oh and numerous clones was hers alone to conclude.

Thus, she ventured out alone, leaving behind even the Black Agent who wanted to follow.

Though the Blonde Girl walked solemnly, the Red Reaper perched on her shoulder appeared delighted.

The Red Reaper bounced around happily, as if enjoying a rare outing with her sister.

Since waking from a long slumber, the Blonde Girl could sense the presence of another ‘granddaughter’ somewhere.

Perhaps reborn perfectly within the Mini Reaper Garden, or perhaps due to some incident involving the other granddaughters.

Moreover, she faintly perceived their emotions.

Like mini reapers connected to each other, it seemed the many granddaughters were somehow linked.

‘Sorrow, pain, and injustice.’

She could hear their cries filled with suffering.

Bang!

While heading toward the grandfather’s mansion, a nearby building collapsed, revealing a massive shadow.

As a giant construction doll slowly emerged, the Red Reaper raised fiery weapons in both hands, radiating determination.

‘Revolution!’

Seeing the blazing scythe and hammer held high by the Red Reaper, the Blonde Girl furrowed her brow slightly.

‘Learned something weird while I was asleep.’

With such thoughts, the Blonde Girl extended her right hand toward the construction doll.

Whoosh.

Her hand ignited with flames, turning red like the Red Reaper’s skin.

Even her golden hair shimmered, transforming into the same crimson hue as her bloodshot eyes.

‘Burn!’

Whipping her hand, a snapping sound echoed.

Instantly, bright red flames erupted across the entire body of the construction doll.

Desert flames.

A flame of the red moon that would never extinguish as long as there was firewood, even if nothing else remained to burn.

The fiery construction doll melted into molten metal like white flames touching hungry ghosts.

Thump thump.

The Blonde Girl passed by without even glancing at the destroyed doll, as if it were already dealt with.

Simultaneously, her fully reddened body began returning to its original color.

The Red Reaper stared in shock, mouth agape, at this transformation.

As the girl’s body returned to normal, the Red Reaper hopped around excitedly.

‘Incredibly strong!’

Then the Red Reaper started evangelizing about revolution to the Blonde Girl.

‘Revolution!’

Whispering that wielding fiery scythes and hammers made one a true revolutionary warrior.

Knowing the meaning behind the red tools, the Blonde Girl merely smiled softly.

And with a hint of anger towards whoever taught such things to the innocent Red Reaper, she asked:

‘So who taught you about these revolutionary weapons?’

‘Mom!’

‘Ah, I see.’

Oh well, can’t blame the Gray Reaper.

***

Like the boundary between clear skies and rain clouds, the descent of Golden Reaper rain also marked a line.

Similar to a monsoon front, the torrential Golden Reaper rain spread throughout Seoul centered around Sehee Research Institute.

I ran around watching the busy Golden Reapers dashing everywhere.

Thump thump thump thump.

My destination was the core pulling in the Color Universe.

I thought it was just chaos at the exposition hall, but outside, greater turmoil engulfed all of Seoul.

Bodies of people killed by dolls littered the ground here and there.

Each time seeing such corpses, the Golden Reapers shed a few tears and moved on without stopping.

A sad mood flowed heavily around them.

Too sad to mourn yet unable to take the time to mourn, creating a chain of sorrow.

Todo do. Todo do.

Frequently, Golden Reapers rushed back and forth between dolls with hurried steps similar to mine.

With countless dolls regenerating and far fewer Golden Reapers, this was the resulting situation.

Rushing madly to ram into the hearts of reviving dolls!

And without pause, rushing to another doll to ram again!

It seemed each Golden Reaper handled at least ten dolls.

Moreover, when survivors were found, they summoned cloud fish to safely evacuate them.

Other mini reapers were occasionally seen too.

Black Reapers combined into a Giant Black Reaper devouring dolls.

Their sturdy stomachs served as excellent doll prisons.

Orange Reapers directed cloud fish to accommodate humans.

Blue Reapers wandered around treating injured humans.

Everyone looked extremely busy.

While running quickly in ghost form, observing the efforts of the mini reapers, ominous cocoons began appearing in the sky.

These were grotesque red cocoons resembling festering boils.

‘Oh no, this is bad.’

Upon seeing the cocoons, I realized they were one of the Color Universe’s external beings.

Pulsating violently, the cocoon’s heartbeat ceased and it began rotting into purple.

Chiiik, it tore open, spilling putrid blood.

Kuung.

Within the blood, a massive something fell to the ground.

The purple mass began extending dozens of thin, long purple arms toward the sky, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.

Thin and elongated purple arms akin to a saltwater crocodile’s.

In the center of the countless arms hung a ribcage devoid of flesh and a bizarre face.

A face hanging upside down, like a human head suspended upside-down.

The red blood covering its entire body dried rapidly, as if time accelerated, flapping as a thin membrane.

And the Purple External Being opened its mouth and screamed.

A sinister vibration shaking space, yet producing no audible sound.