Chapter 327

A night so dark, not even moonlight dared to grace it.

The gaze of the Black Hungry Ghost, faintly glowing with white light, crossed with that of the Blue Reaper.

Even though the Blue Reaper should’ve turned away and hidden beneath the window at any moment, they couldn’t tear their eyes away.

‘It doesn’t seem dangerous for some reason. Is it because this ghost isn’t like the White Hungry Ghost and lacks teeth?’

While pondering this, the Blue Reaper continued to stare into the bright white eyes of the Black Hungry Ghost.

Then, the round shape of the Black Hungry Ghost began to distort slightly and squirm.

As it wriggled, it weakly turned its head before slowly starting to walk away somewhere.

KUHNG. KUHNG. KUHNG.

“I’m aliveeeee!”

The Pink Girl, who had stiffened up upon seeing the Black Hungry Ghost looking this way, collapsed in place as if all her tension had been released.

But the Blue Reaper kept staring at the giant Black Hungry Ghost as it slowly moved farther away.

“?”

Question marks filled the Blue Reaper’s mind.

‘Why does it look so exhausted while wandering around?’

To the Blue Reaper, the final gaze sent by the Black Hungry Ghost appeared incredibly weary.

As if it could collapse at any moment… as if it could fall over right there.

‘And why did it keep staring at me?’

Until just before turning its head, the Black Hungry Ghost had stared intently at the Blue Reaper—just like how the Blue Reaper had done.

‘Did the Black Hungry Ghost feel something while looking at me?’

With various thoughts swirling in their mind, the Blue Reaper continued to gaze endlessly in the direction where the Black Hungry Ghost had disappeared.

“Now, let’s sleep already!”

At that moment, perhaps due to all the tension dissipating, the Pink Girl returned to her usual expression and clung onto the Blue Reaper.

Seeing the affectionate human’s behavior, the Blue Reaper gave a small nod.

Then, they pressed their cheek against the flushed cheek of the affectionate human who had collapsed on the floor.

‘I hope tomorrow morning will be just as joyful as today.’

While rubbing their cheek against the affectionate human’s cheek, the Blue Reaper closed their eyes.

***

Outskirts of Songpa District, James Tower.

I lay helplessly in the middle of the enormous warehouse prepared within James Tower.

‘No…’

‘This can’t be happening.’

At the end of my line of sight, which was lying there powerless, was the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor, its head gruesomely torn off.

No matter how much I closed my eyes, covered them, or turned my head, I couldn’t drive the pitiful sight of the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor out of my vision.

Who would have thought seeing something through the skin could be such a heart-wrenching experience?

Upon closely examining the Tyrannosaurus armor, I noticed sharp cuts, as if made by Spatial Cut.

It was one of those frequent space loss phenomena occurring these days.

No matter how hard we tried to find the cause, there was no object responsible—it felt more like a “natural phenomenon,” a disaster beyond comprehension.

‘There’s no way to avenge myself…’

After all, nothing is as laughable as seeking revenge on a natural phenomenon.

‘Mom, are you okay?’

Just then, one of the Black Reapers who had come along with me to James Tower worriedly approached, radiating concern.

‘Mom, hang in there!’

Following that, the Golden Reapers and other Mini Reapers rushed in one after another to console me.

But their consolations weren’t enough to fill the endless sorrow I felt.

When the Mini Reapers continued to comfort and pat me but I still looked downcast, one of the Golden Reapers boldly approached.

That Golden Reaper arrived right in front of my nose, tightly shut their eyes, hesitated greatly, and then protruded their belly.

What could it be?

‘I… I can turn into a DDanggi!’

At this, the other Golden Reapers were utterly astonished and started looking back at that Golden Reaper.

‘!’

‘!!!!’

And then, the other Golden Reapers hesitantly followed suit, one by one protruding their bellies.

‘I… It’s fine to become a DDanggi!’

The Golden Reapers, looking as if they might cry.

So, they didn’t want to become DDanggis?

Watching this, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

Then, I grabbed all the Golden Reapers who had protruded their bellies and transformed them into DDanggis.

‘Waaaaah!’

‘Ang Dae!’

The heroic Golden Reapers all became DDanggis and collapsed onto the floor.

And when they saw this, the hesitant Golden Reapers who had been inching closer suddenly panicked and began running away.

‘Mom has regained her energy!’

‘We must escape!’

‘Run!’

I charged toward the remaining Golden Reapers, using the ones I had sacrificed as offerings.

Hehe.

***

Tower at the End, Academy Model City.

The Pink Girl had somehow climbed atop a high hill and was now overlooking the city below.

Even upon revisiting it, the city model was diverse and brimming with vitality.

“No matter how many times I see it, it really looks like a city copied from an actual existing one.”

“If I keep climbing the tower, will I eventually see the real Academy?”

The Pink Girl giggled as she glanced down at the metal fragment clutched in her hand.

That metal fragment was a small badge with intricate patterns drawn on it.

A meticulously crafted imitation carved from a pipe.

This badge was worn by all the Academy student statues.

“Someday, I’d like to see the original of this badge.”

[You will definitely get to see it!]

Buoyed with renewed enthusiasm from the Academy Model City, the Pink Girl turned her head toward the Layer Tower with a spirited expression.

“Who built this model city?”

“Why was it made?”

“It’s almost like the city is nestled in a basin. It seems like this city was created by carving into the layered discs.”

While chatting about things that probably didn’t matter, the Pink Girl and the Blue Reaper ascended the stairs leading to the Layer Tower.

***

Passing through the increasingly crude layers of the tower, the Pink Girl stepped into a new layer.

“Here we are!”

Even for the girl skilled at navigating pipes, the crude tower seemed challenging, judging by how satisfied she looked.

[Tiredness, please vanish!]

The Blue Reaper held a towel made of water and wiped the Pink Girl’s sweat while relieving her fatigue with magic.

The newly arrived layer had a different atmosphere altogether.

Far off in the distance stood a white cylindrical building.

And leading to that building was a grand, ornate road.

Taking deep breaths, the Pink Girl slowly walked down the straight road toward the building.

On either side of the road, there were piles of something colorful and round, creating a unique ambiance.

Like a flower field, colors ranging from red to purple painted the landscape.

“What on earth is this?”

Curious, the Pink Girl picked up one of the objects stacked by the roadside for inspection.

Round body.

Short arms, legs, and tail.

Eyes that looked somewhat insignificant.

And inside its mouth, densely packed human white teeth.

The stacks lining the road were the corpses of Tooth Hungry Ghosts.

“!!!!”

[Tooth Hungry Ghosts!]

Startled by the eerie-looking teeth, the Pink Girl dropped the hungry ghost in surprise.

“Ah, that was a shock. But don’t these guys resemble those tall black ones in some way?”

The Blue Reaper vigorously nodded in agreement.

What had appeared as mere decorations on the road turned out to be magical book corpses.

Feeling an eerie sensation, the Pink Girl quickly strode toward the building.

The massive entrance was wide open without any doors, and where the building’s name should have been, only claw marks remained.

The Pink Girl gazed upward at those marks before slowly stepping inside the building.

“Hmm?”

Once inside, the Pink Girl felt a sense of déjà vu.

White walls lined with countless frames stretched endlessly.

It resembled the exhibition room at the Academy so much that it felt like she had been here before.

Though there were no chairs placed like in the Academy’s exhibition room, this was undoubtedly an exhibition room.

Unlike the academy’s mirror-laden exhibition room, this one displayed journals framed within the cases.

[First attempt failed. Cause unknown.]

[Second attempt failed. Insufficient output.]

<...>

[Twenty-fifth attempt failed. Counting the numbers has grown tiresome.]

[Five hundred thirty-first attempt. There was some progress. The moments without the sun rising proved most effective.]

More similar, incomprehensible frames hung afterward.

The Pink Girl skimmed through some of the journals and tilted her head.

“Is this some kind of alchemy experiment? I don’t know…”

Ignoring the confusing journals, the Pink Girl continued moving forward.

“!”

Continuing onward, she reached a slightly strange space.

The structure itself was ordinary.

A large, round room requiring descent via steps.

White walls designed for exhibiting items.

Stone pillars installed to prevent access to the walls.

An identical staircase and door on the opposite side of the pink girl.

However, the floor shimmered with black liquid, and the walls displayed nothing.

Instead of frames, the walls were covered with scratches left by sharp claws.

[Where am I?]

[Cold.] [Hungry.]

[Lonely.] [Why only us?]

[When will you come?] [When are you coming?]

[Miss you.]

The walls were filled with desperate messages.

Every inch of the ceiling was scrawled with [Miss you.].

“What on earth is this place?”

<...>

The Blue Reaper also tilted their head, seemingly unaware of what was going on.

The Pink Girl avoided stepping into the black liquid, instead walking across slightly elevated stone pillars outside the liquid.

Following the curved wall lined with stone pillars.

Crossing the sea of black liquid, she opened the door at the end of the staircase and stepped out.

On the other side of the door stood someone.

Neat uniform resembling the Alchemist Academy uniform.

A sharp sword strapped to their waist.

A sharply angled large hat on their head.

And in their hand, a glowing white orb.

[Ah, we have a visitor.]

That figure, implanting intent directly into the mind like a magical book, turned their head.

As they did, their face gradually came into view.

Trivial dot eyes and a large mouth.

The face revealed after the head turned was exactly the same as the ‘Hungry Ghosts’ that lay dead in heaps outside the building.