Chapter 317

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Near Sehee Research Institute, the apartment complex had turned into ruins.

The helmet researcher had come out on a business trip to supervise the mini reapers.

“Wow, the sky is really clear today.”

While muttering, the helmet researcher gave a tiny snack to the golden reaper as if feeding it.

The sky looked unusually clear and blue, almost blinding to look at.

It was transparent and deep like a freshly cleaned glass window.

The sunlight shattered in sharp detail, and fluffy white clouds drifted lazily, adding a refreshing touch.

But there was a strange mark left across that serene sky.

A trace slicing the sky into five parts still lingered, distorting the passing clouds into odd shapes.

As the helmet researcher gazed at the scar, the golden reaper made a smug expression and slashed the air toward the sky.

“Mom’s so cool!”

Though unable to understand the golden reaper’s intentions, the helmet researcher instantly got the gist of what it wanted to say.

Probably boasting about how impressive the gray reaper was.

Well, it truly was amazing, and everyone was talking about it.

This time, the scar would last for quite a while, leaving no one who hadn’t seen it.

Holding the golden reaper on their palm and looking up again, dazzling sunlight poured through the scars carved by the gray reaper into the sky.

Beautiful beams of light in various colors filled the horizon.

The space distortion from the scar bent the light like a prism, separating the sunlight into different hues as it touched the ground.

Lowering the gaze to where the sunlight hit the ground, several mini reapers were seen basking under their favorite colored rays.

“Red!”

[Blue…]

There was the cheerful red reaper and orange reaper, with the reluctant blue reaper dragged along, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Other mini reapers also played joyfully under the colorful lights.

Despite their antics feeling delightfully clumsy, turning the head slightly revealed an entirely different scene.

The walls of buildings stained black like soot.

Bare skeletal remains of apartments.

Shattered windows.

And beyond those broken panes, the devastated interiors of the apartments.

Furthermore, the sunlight cast eerie shadows, making the ruins resemble the bones of some monstrous creature, exuding an unsettling atmosphere.

However, this chilling environment could only be felt around the lonely standing apartments.

Most of the apartment complex had transformed into an area that didn’t fit either the concept of ruins or Seoul itself.

A pure white sand field softly glowing with light.

Once famous for being the site where many missing persons were found, now the tranquil sandy beach hosted numerous golden reapers sprawled everywhere.

Golden reapers who had become slightly plump.

“Huh…?”

For some reason, all the golden reapers captured by the gray reaper had ended up like this.

“I wonder what happened?”

As the helmet researcher asked the golden reaper, it had already disappeared somewhere.

“Ahhh!”

Looking around, the gray reaper had appeared nearby, holding onto the helmet researcher’s attached reaper.

After a moment, the gray reaper silently placed the golden reaper back on the researcher’s palm before vanishing again.

“Huh… turned into a pudding…”

The golden reaper lay flat on its back, wearing a dejected expression.

***

The ashen girl was dreaming.

In her dream, she crawled endlessly down a long path.

Her destination unknown, but she clutched a small doll tightly in her right hand and kept moving forward.

Realizing she herself was a plaster doll, she felt no pain even as her limbs cracked and broke off.

Yet with every fragment breaking away, her consciousness faded further.

“At this rate, I might lose consciousness any second…”

But she had something she must accomplish.

Rescuing her mini reaper friend, the yellow reaper.

With that single resolve, the girl stubbornly held onto her consciousness.

Every time she tried to cling to her fading awareness, waves of splitting headaches assaulted her, yet she refused to give up.

Finally, the girl spotted the gray reaper.

“Thank goodness…”

Before dying, she could pass on the doll…

Although her mind was a jumble and she forgot why passing the doll was important, she knew without doubt it was crucial.

Thus, the girl accepted death with peace of mind.

“…”

Thinking it was the end, the ashen girl slowly woke up from her dream.

Her vision blurred but gradually became clearer.

She saw the ceiling of a hospital room.

“Am I alive?”

At that moment, something soft and small leaped into her face.

“Human…!”

The ashen girl’s attached reaper, the yellow reaper!

With teary eyes, the yellow reaper clung to her face.

“I’m alive,” the ashen girl whispered faintly.

Moving her barely responsive hand, she patted the yellow reaper.

The yellow reaper grabbed her bony fingers tightly, rubbing its face against them.

Everything seemed okay now.

Smiling faintly, the ashen girl slowly drifted back to sleep.

Just before falling asleep, she thought she saw her older sister smiling at her.

***

Deep Inside Sehee Research Institute, Comfortable Isolation Room.

I lay on a soft bed, rolling around aimlessly.

Stretching my arms toward the ceiling…

But nothing happened.

“Guess I didn’t gain any new abilities.”

I had high hopes since the white hungry ghost I caught was pretty strong, but there was no sign of new powers emerging.

Were the white ghost’s abilities all inferior to mine?

I wished I could directly use the red flames from my hands or time reversal, but oh well, it was a bit disappointing.

That flash from the black halo at the end was incredible!

Sure, it wasn’t comparable to a real halo, but without using the nullifying effect of the halo, stopping it would’ve been tough.

This incident taught me a lot.

It made me reflect deeply on so-called “Harmful Objects.”

There was a gap in detecting harmful objects.

Objects that kidnapped humans without killing them felt suspicious but didn’t register as “harmful.”

It became clear that I only sensed danger when dealing with external beings causing mental pollution, killing humans, or intending harm.

Moreover, this event confirmed that golden reapers aren’t human.

Apartment complexes where foot-dragging plaster dolls with no facial features wandered around.

Buildings reduced to skeletons covered in black mold-like powder swirling everywhere—wasn’t that suspicious?

Honestly, just filming it and posting would make a convincing horror movie scene.

Anyway, since I turned the golden reapers into “pudding,” they’ll probably improve soon.

On my bed, pudgy golden reapers lay scattered, their adorable bellies facing the sky.

Poke poke.

I enjoyed poking their squishy bellies one by one.

“Done!”

Just as I thought about gathering the squishy golden reapers to make a bed, the yellow reaper informed me the tyrannosaurus doll costume was ready.

The yellow reaper appeared wearing the tyrannosaurus doll costume as if modeling it, and the golden reapers began jumping up excitedly.

“Cute!”

“Awesome!”

“Me too!”

Total hit among the golden reapers!

But it wasn’t what I expected.

I wanted a realistic tyrannosaurus costume!

Seeing my disappointed face, the yellow reaper laughed “Hehehe” and shoved the dinosaur head down hard.

“!!!”

Then the costume emitted mental pollution, starting to resemble a real tyrannosaurus.

A palm-sized realistic tyrannosaurus rex!

Now, if I capture lots of white hungry ghosts and shave them into triceratops shapes to release here, we can have a dinosaur age playtime!

Hehe.

I smiled happily imagining mini reapers running around eating white hungry ghosts and the sad cries of said ghosts.

***

Deep within the Mini Reaper Garden, Milk Bingsu Snowfield.

Though fewer golden reapers sought the legendary pudding, a rumor began circulating in the snowfield always bustling with mini reapers thanks to delicious shaved ice and sugary fruits.

“There’s a ghost dressed all in white!”

“It has blood-red patterns!”

“It disappears when you chase it!”

“A ghost that looks like a white sheet!”

The terrifying ghost story spread around the milk bingsu snowfield.

Curious golden reapers were once again drawn back to the milk bingsu snowfield.

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