Chapter 351

Mini Reaper Garden, the end of the spiral.

The place I went to hear the will of the Golden Reapers was filled with endless darkness.

The light shining down from the ceiling had completely vanished, and even the light emanating from my eyes was greedily swallowed by the darkness.

The darkness wrapped around like it was alive, wriggling unsettlingly.

This didn’t feel like the Mini Reaper Garden at all.

The floor was slightly flooded with “wishes,” enough to make a squelching sound, and from the gray liquid, faint water sounds slowly spread out.

Squelch. Squelch.

Subtle but distinct water sounds.

And in sync with those sounds, a shadowy silhouette shrouded in darkness was slowly approaching.

“Maaaah.”

The shape in the dark emitted some sort of will while staggering forward, moving as if someone clumsily controlled the strings of a puppet.

Water sounds, eerie darkness, and a silhouette walking like a zombie.

It was straight out of a horror movie scene!

Even though I no longer had a heart, I felt its phantom thump as I waited for the silhouette to come closer.

A monster born from wishes?

Or something related to the Old God?

I prepared to fire off ‘…’ at high speed while waiting.

But the moment that shadow entered the range illuminated by the light from my eyes, it collapsed as if its strength had run out.

Huh?

When I waded through the water to check, the silhouette turned out to be a White Mini Reaper that looked melted somewhere.

“Maaaah…”

The figure, unable to open its eyes properly, struggled to lift its head toward me and let out a faint will.

Poor thing; it looked like it was in pain.

It wasn’t originally white—it seemed discolored by the wishes.

I wiped off the “wishes” clinging to the Discolored Reaper’s body and headed toward the outside of the spiral with the Golden Reapers.

Together with the Golden Reapers who hadn’t yet reached the end of the spiral, I brought everyone out.

Once outside, the first thing I did was seal the hole of the spiral.

Since this space was incomprehensible and dangerous, blocking it off seemed like the best course of action.

So I simply used ‘…’ to cut off the entrance entirely.

After laying the unconscious Golden Reapers on the ground, the other Golden Reapers started panicking in shock.

“!”

“It’s hurt!”

“White!”

They hovered helplessly around the Golden Reapers, whose bodies were partially bleached white.

“Should we try feeding them firewood?”

If the Evolution Liquid couldn’t restore them, then what was happening?

This was the first time I’d ever seen Golden Reapers lose their color.

Though I was slightly worried whether firewood would work, when I fed it into them, the white patches disappeared instantly.

“Mom, you’re amazing!”

“Amazing!”

Seeing this, the surrounding Golden Reapers who had been looking worried now cheered and looked up at me in awe.

“Resurrection!”

“They’re alive!”

The reapers whose discoloration had been cured jumped up from their lying positions and joined the celebration with the others.

They moved so energetically after being fed firewood that it was hard to believe they were the same ones who had just collapsed.

After healing all the Golden Reapers, I turned my head and noticed the Discolored Reaper lying lifeless nearby.

“New younger sibling?”

“Is it dead?”

The Golden Reapers carefully poked the Discolored Reaper with their fingertips, but there was no response.

I picked up the Discolored Reaper among the Golden Reapers and examined it closely.

“It’s empty.”

Unlike the other reapers, this one was completely hollow inside—not physically, but in an Object-like sense.

With nothing inside, it was obvious it wouldn’t be able to use its original abilities.

Its appearance, which looked melted, suggested it had been swept away by the torrent of wishes.

And the Discolored Reaper was dying.

Because there was no firewood.

Moreover, since there was nowhere inside to hold firewood, even if I tried feeding it, it probably wouldn’t revive.

“Younger sibling dying?”

As I thought it was hopeless and considered placing it next to the Blue Girl, the Golden Reapers suddenly gathered at my feet, tears streaming down their faces.

Their pitiful sight made me reconsider.

“Let’s try feeding it firewood anyway.”

But when I shoved the firewood in wildly, it just slipped right out without settling properly inside.

Guess it won’t work.

Just as I was about to give up…

Whoosh.

The firewood stuck to the Discolored Reaper.

Not where other Mini Reapers had hearts, but on top of its head, the firewood took hold.

The Discolored Reaper was now standing upright on my palm.

“Maaaah.”

Unable to emit proper will, it released a meaningless one.

Upon hearing this, the Golden Reapers, overjoyed that their sibling had revived, happily jumped around with cheerful expressions.

***

Near Songpa District, James Tower.

James was relaxing in his private room within the tower, basking in the sunlight.

While resting and gazing out the window, James could feel how much the area near Songpa had changed since the Hungry Ghost incident.

What was once a desolate wasteland was now bustling with newly built buildings and people moving about.

Turning his gaze from the window to the Golden Reaper, he saw it sitting by his feet, drawing pictures with a giant-sized crayon almost as big as its torso.

Despite the awkward size, the Golden Reaper skillfully drew with smooth strokes, concentrating deeply.

“What are you drawing?”

Curious, James leaned in to take a closer look.

“!!!”

On the canvas was a bizarre picture James hadn’t expected.

There was a Gray Reaper collapsed on the ground, and a strangely shaped Golden Reaper with horns, wearing armor and wielding a firewood sword, raising both hands triumphantly and smiling brightly.

It was hard to imagine this came from a Golden Reaper that loved its mom so much.

“What is this supposed to be?”

James asked while extending the communication button to the Golden Reaper.

In response, the Golden Reaper waved the crayon enthusiastically and emitted its will.

“It’s a trendy play these days!”

“The Yellow Sibling performs it ten times a day!”

“It’s fun!”

Trying to understand what the picture meant, James repeatedly questioned the Golden Reaper.

After putting in the effort, James finally grasped the general idea of what the Golden Reaper had drawn.

“This picture represents a play created by the Yellow Reaper.”

“The protagonist is a horned, armored Golden Reaper with a firewood sword.”

“The antagonist is an evil Gray Reaper.”

Why the Yellow Reaper made such a play was unclear, but James understood why the Golden Reaper drew it.

Is there some kind of feud between the Yellow Reaper and the Gray Reaper?

Or does the Gray Reaper just allow such plays?

At the moment James finished jotting down the notes, a call came in from the secretary’s office.

It was from the Asian regional officer of the American Object Association.

Telling them to bring him in, an elderly-looking East Asian man entered the room, lightly greeting James.

“James, it’s been a long time.”

“Old Man, it’s been a while. When did you return from Japan?”

The old man replied that he’d only been back in Korea for a short while, casually brewed himself a cup of instant coffee, and took a sip.

“What is this?”

Surprisingly, the old man stopped drinking and asked.

“Oh, I forgot to mention. All the coffee in this room has been replaced with extremely sweet cocoa.”

James added that it seemed the Golden Reaper had swapped everything while he was working.

“Ugh, it tastes like it’ll give me diabetes.”

The old man placed the cup on the table and checked the snacks provided for guests, but they were all incredibly sugary treats.

“Can you eat these kinds of things without issue?”

The old man asked, watching James eat a slice of cream cake.

“Well, I get regular health checkups, but there haven’t been any problems.”

“Must be your constitution. I envy you.”

After saying this, the old man handed James a USB drive with a somewhat envious expression.

“The data on the USB contains information about missing persons cases that occurred in Europe.”

“The incidents themselves happened quite a long time ago. The Europeans tried to handle it themselves and kept the info hidden.”

“This might also be related to the butterfly incident that occurred here in Korea, so I’ve brought it for you to review.”

“For more details, check the USB.”

After briefly explaining the contents to James, the old man gulped down the remaining cocoa.

“Alright, I’ll take a look.”

Hearing James’ reply, the old man nodded and slowly exited the room.

***

In the peaceful courtyard of Sehee Research Institute, a woman with golden horns visited.

She was Junior No. 2 from the Yellow Detective Office.

Carrying an elegant cane, Junior No. 2 appeared, and the Golden Horn Reaper ran up happily.

“HUMAN!!!”

The Golden Horn Reaper clung to the long-lost Attached Human and rubbed its cheek against theirs.

Then, looking up at Junior No. 2’s face, it giggled.

Junior No. 2 smiled faintly at the Golden Horn Reaper and said,

“Now, let’s go back to the Seam Research Institute.”

“There’s still a lot of preparation left to do.”

At this, the Golden Horn Reaper nodded and leapt out of Junior No. 2’s arms.

It then bid farewell to the Mini Reapers in the courtyard.

“Goodbye!”

“Come back soon!”

The Golden Reapers, reluctant to let go, hugged the Golden Horn Reaper tightly and repeated the process multiple times.

After saying goodbye to the Mini Reapers in the courtyard, the Golden Horn Reaper waved from Junior No. 2’s arms.

“Bye bye.”

The Mini Reapers in the courtyard also waved, saying “Bye bye.”

As they left Sehee Research Institute, they arrived at a quiet spot where Junior No. 2 tapped the ground twice with her cane.

Tap. Tap.

Suddenly, an entirely different location appeared.

A corridor resembling a research facility stretched endlessly on both sides.

On either side were numerous isolation rooms.

Junior No. 2 and the Golden Horn Reaper had arrived at the Seam Research Institute.

Clomp. Clomp.

Walking down the corridor, vague shapes could be seen in the isolation rooms on either side.

Each isolation room displayed scenes of the past where the Gray Reaper was doing something.

When they reached the end of the corridor and opened the door, a familiar voice greeted them.

“You’re here?”

At the end of the last room in the corridor stood a man in a yellow coat welcoming Junior No. 2.