Chapter 364

At the entrance of an endless dark room, a Golden Reaper was sitting on the floor, tears streaming down their face.

The faint glow emanating from the Golden Reaper’s body was like a lone candle burning in the darkness.

But the thick darkness of the room was far too deep to be illuminated by just one little flame, leaving no trace of walls or ceiling visible.

“Mommy…”

Inside the room was a truly pitiful-looking Golden Reaper.

Seeing the usually cheerful Golden Reaper like this made me suddenly feel an urge to mess with them just a bit.

Dofudofu.

Unable to resist that playful impulse, I slowly approached the crying Golden Reaper and poked their cheek.

When I teased them like that, they started sobbing even harder, their expression resembling what a “Pyaaoon!” sound might look like.

Their reaction was much sadder than I expected.

The Golden Reaper was so sad they couldn’t even play along.

“What could have possibly made you cry like this?”

This curiosity quickly turned into a small worry, and I decided to carefully examine the surroundings.

So I looked up, using the light from my eyes to illuminate the inside of the room.

“!”

What I saw was shocking.

A space structured like an ordinary butcher shop, only several times larger.

In that massive area, humans were hanging like pieces of meat.

This sight stirred up complicated emotions within me.

Even in a world where humans and firewood perish easily, slaughtering people like this is unforgivable.

And it’s even worse that such a cruel act has brought the Golden Reaper to tears.

“The saddest thing for a Golden Reaper should be when I turn them into ‘Jjimjji.'”

With anger and compassion swirling together in my heart, any lingering apathy was swept away.

I picked up the crying Golden Reaper and cradled them in my arms.

“It’s okay. Everything will be fine.”

As I held the Golden Reaper close and gently stroked them, I sent them a comforting wave of energy.

“Still, there’s no way to bring back those who have already died.”

“Unless they’ve become Objects, at least.”

At this, the Golden Reaper cried even more, burrowing deeper into my embrace.

Hm.

I’ll need to clean this up before the others see.

I spread my hands wide, firmly grasping the entire room.

Snap.

Then I clapped my hands together, extending them forward.

The entire room began to crumble and vanish.

The vast room…

The hooks holding the meat…

And all the corpses hanging there…

Everything disappeared.

The Golden Reaper watched silently.

Once everything was gone, the Golden Reaper closed their eyes tightly and let out a wishful thought.

“May there be Valhalla for humans.”

“So that we may meet again someday.”

It was something akin to a prayer from a Golden Reaper who didn’t know how to pray.

I gave the top of the Golden Reaper’s head a gentle pat with my finger.

***

Deep within the Mini Reaper Garden, in the Marshmallow Plains.

“Mommy, no!”

The evolved Mini Sprout Reaper, Mini Flower Reaper, urgently sent an empathic pulse toward their mother.

But the Mini Flower Reaper’s desperate pulse merely floated through the air, ignored.

Mother acted as if she hadn’t heard it at all, dismissing it and sending the Mini Flower Reaper off to the Mini Reaper Garden.

“Mommy… no…”

A shadow of concern crossed the Mini Flower Reaper’s eyes.

They anxiously pondered the danger that might befall their mother.

But no matter how hard they imagined, they couldn’t picture their mother losing.

“Mommy will be fine.”

“Mommy is invincible!”

Having found peace of mind, the Mini Flower Reaper looked around.

Their gaze stopped on two girls lying nearby.

The Attached Human with Silver Hair and her friend, the Attached Human with Brown Hair.

The two girls lay deeply asleep, as if they had just finished a long journey.

Their faces bore the marks of fatigue and the trials they had endured.

“Thank goodness they seem okay!”

After carefully checking the two girls’ conditions and confirming they were alright, the Mini Flower Reaper attached itself to the cheek of the Attached Human and settled down for a peaceful moment.

But this peace was short-lived, as the tranquility of the Marshmallow Plains was shattered by golden light spreading everywhere.

“There’s an injured human.”

“Call the Blue Younger Brother!”

“We need the White Hungry Ghosts too!”

These were the Golden Reapers who had appeared to observe the two unconscious girls.

Initially watching with cheerful expressions, the Golden Reapers were startled upon noticing the brown-haired girl with broken bones despite her outwardly normal appearance, and immediately summoned the Blue Reaper and the White Hungry Ghosts.

While examining the silver-haired girl with numerous scars, the Golden Reapers suddenly fixed their gaze on something.

“A new younger sibling?”

“An evolved sibling!”

Spotting the Mini Flower Reaper, the Golden Reapers broke into cheerful laughter and rushed over.

“Your head is fascinating!”

“Cool!”

The Golden Reapers’ enthusiastic interest was like a storm.

As the Golden Reapers swarmed closer, nearly pressing against the Mini Flower Reaper’s cheeks, they left the poor Mini Flower Reaper flustered and tossed about.

Once the Golden Reaper storm passed, the Mini Flower Reaper finally got a chance to breathe.

[Please don’t hurt me!]

Then the Blue Reaper arrived, treating the silver-haired and brown-haired girls while the White Hungry Ghost carried the latter away.

Now, with significantly fewer Golden Reapers surrounding the Mini Flower Reaper…

Some remaining Golden Reapers enviously stared at the sprout growing on the Mini Flower Reaper’s head.

“…”

The Mini Flower Reaper pointed a finger straight up at the Golden Reapers and shouted, “Eiiit!”

Suddenly, a blue-colored, adorable sprout popped out of the Golden Reaper’s head.

“!!!”

The Golden Reaper touched the new sprout on their head, then giggled and jumped happily.

“Thank you!”

The Golden Reaper smiled brightly.

Of course, the other Golden Reapers, who witnessed this, looked on with envy but hesitated to ask for the same, not wanting to burden their younger sibling.

“Eiiit!”

Seeing this, the Mini Flower Reaper stretched out both hands and emitted light from their flower, causing sprouts to grow on the heads of all nearby Golden Reapers.

Thus began the great trend of sprouted Golden Reapers!

***

An island that rose abruptly in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

As James followed the research institute employees onto the island, mini Reapers peeked out like meerkats to get a better look.

“A new human?”

“One who gives lots of snacks!”

“Snacks!”

On top of James’ head stood a Tiny Golden Reaper, waving enthusiastically at the curious mini Reapers.

“Hi!”

“Hi!”

James slowly descended the ship’s gangway while reviewing a report.

The report was filled with mental pollution indices, patterns, and comparative analyses of anomalies near the Pacific Ocean versus the island.

“Hmm, based on this, it seems reasonable to conclude there’s no connection between this island and the anomalies in the Pacific.”

“Yes, I agree.”

A woman with a Purple Reaper atop her head replied in a stiff tone.

As they continued their conversation, it was interrupted when they passed through a cave at the center of the island.

“This is quite impressive.”

James muttered while gazing upward at a starry-like ceiling.

It was an environment that could only exist due to an Object.

Object-level scale.

Air as clear as outside.

Mysterious sparkling dust particles.

James’ group quietly admired the scenery as they walked toward their destination.

The destination resembled an Object Research Institute.

“Almost identical.”

Upon reaching the facility’s entrance, James flipped through the report, marveling.

“To think it would be discovered in such a remote place after 36 years…”

The old-looking photos inside James’ report depicted a research facility in England that vanished suddenly decades ago.

A secretive facility established before Objects became widely known, aimed at creating superhumans through the fusion of Objects and humans.

Of course, information this confidential would only be known to someone of James’ level.

“I heard they succeeded just before… creating a ‘superhuman’ who gained power by eating humans?”

James slowly stroked his chin, muttering softly to himself.

“This incident can clearly be attributed to a disaster caused by humans.”

After all, plenty of evidence of consumed humans was found in the underground areas of this facility.

Additionally, the concentration of kidnappings in the UK and Europe reinforced this belief.

“The revenge of the Objectified test subjects, perhaps. Though it’s unlikely an Objectified human could maintain sanity for 30 years.”

Having finished his thoughts, James closed the report and observed the boy and girl being guided back to the boat, their expressions heavy with various emotions.

***

In the Mini Reaper Garden, the Sea of Hot Chocolate.

“Hyeeeng!”

A White Hungry Ghost floated across the Sea of Hot Chocolate, wailing sorrowfully.

Its tail was on fire, and its back was roasted golden brown.

Attempting to extinguish the flames, the White Hungry Ghost dove into the Sea of Hot Chocolate, but the fire wouldn’t go out.

“Hyyyyeeeng!”

Between the Candy Mountain and the Marshmallow Plains, the last paradise of the Hungry Ghosts had been lost.

Many White Hungry Ghosts wandered the Mini Reaper Garden searching for a new paradise, but most ended up burning inside the Incinerator Golem.

This White Hungry Ghost floating in the Sea of Hot Chocolate was also dreaming of finding a new paradise.

While wandering deep into the sea and walking along the bottom, it was suddenly sucked into a hidden hole.

A trap concealed beneath the opaque surface of the hot chocolate.

Being abruptly pulled in, the White Hungry Ghost tumbled across a bed of fine sand.

“!!!”

Looking up, the White Hungry Ghost was amazed.

A vast underground cavern located beneath the Sea of Hot Chocolate.

The ceiling sparkled with Star Candies, and the floor was covered in fine blue-sugared powder.

At the end of the rolling slope, buildings made of crispy wafers could be seen.

“Hyee.”

“Hyheehee.”

“Hyheeheeheeheehee.”

The White Hungry Ghost lifted its tiny feet and laughed joyfully, ignoring the sugar powder clinging to its body.

Finally found it!

The White Hungry Ghost’s new paradise!

Hope shone brightly in the White Hungry Ghost’s eyes.