Chapter 368

I was submerged in the sea of Blue Mist.

My vision was filled entirely with a hazy, pale blue hue, and the sun hid its face within that mist.

Surrounded by all this, everything blurred into the fog except for the faint outline of the ship, which floated alone like wisps of smoke rising from the mist.

Looking down beneath the deck, there swirled an even denser fog, so thick it looked almost liquid.

Like waves crashing on a beach, these deep mists surged onto the deck.

The fog flowed in and out repeatedly, as if breathing rhythmically across the deck.

Staring at the mist made me feel as though the boundary between reality and fantasy was becoming blurred.

In that dreamlike atmosphere, the whiny wills of the Mini Reapers began to echo faintly.

“Uuung…”

“I’m dizzy…”

“There are too many moms!”

The Mini Reapers were staggering around like drunkards.

To me, the cold mist felt piercingly icy, but for the Mini Reapers, it seemed different.

Humans, knowing how dangerous this Blue Mist was, quickly hid inside the ship as soon as the fog appeared.

Most Mini Reapers followed their Attached Humans into the interior of the ship, except for those who insisted on staying with their “moms.”

One such wobbly Mini Reaper I picked up with my palm, placing it gently on my hand.

I then poked its chubby cheeks, making it tumble off.

“Who poked me?!”

It tilted its head in thought before suddenly biting my finger with a cry of “Aaaang!”

Not recognizing its own mom…

This mist must be incredibly harmful to Mini Reapers!

If this much fog surrounded them, the Mini Reapers wouldn’t be much help…

Without hesitation, I opened the entrance to the Mini Reaper Garden and shoved the entire James Explorer Ship inside.

As the ship vanished, my body sank further into the mist, feeling as though I were being pulled into the depths of a dark ocean.

The fog was so thick it felt like sinking endlessly into the deep sea.

With no sense of direction in the fog, I continued to fall into its abyss.

Even though it was just the height of the ship, it felt like an endless descent.

Suddenly, a chilling sensation enveloped my whole body—cold enough to freeze a human instantly.

Had I finally reached the surface of the sea?

But the surroundings were still cloaked in darkness.

Leaning back against nothingness, I floated upward, gazing at a sky completely covered in Blue Mist.

“What should I do now?”

As I pondered, the fog around me started to thin out gradually.

Like a curtain rising on a stage, the mist cleared, revealing a new scene before my eyes.

There I was, floating atop the Dark Blue Sea with my plump little boat bobbing gently beside me.

Looking up at the sunless sky, I saw distorted clouds writhing as though alive, filling the heavens.

The intense blue light seeping through the gaps in those strange clouds made me feel dizzy just looking at them.

So this is why the Mini Reapers were so disoriented…

“Moreover, two worlds seem to overlap…”

One world was the ominous blue sea under tangled clouds blocking the sun.

The other had no sea at all but instead was filled with grotesque organic matter resembling spider webs and mold.

These two worlds overlapped before my eyes.

Consciously pushing away the twisted world of organic matter, things began to normalize.

The eerie sea and the bizarre clouds remained.

And when I fully expelled the organic matter world, a large island came into view in the distance.

An Ominous Island wrapped in an odd bluish glow.

Its distorted silhouette resembled clay twisted by someone’s hand.

At first glance, it looked like the nest of some External Being.

Plodding step by step, I walked across the water’s surface using Ghosting, heading toward the ominous island.

***

The late afternoon twilight bathed the construction site of the theme park located on the outskirts of Songpa District.

“Hmm, no one here?”

Even though the theme park was nearing completion, this time of day should have been bustling with workers’ activity…

“Something feels off.”

Seoah entered the construction site entrance, slightly uneasy. She needed to catch Director Lee Sehee of the Research Institute urgently because three months of paperwork had piled up, and she had disappeared somewhere.

If she didn’t find her today, there was no telling when Sehee would show up again.

Crunch crunch.

The sound of pebbles crunching underfoot echoed with every step.

Following this sound, a Golden Reaper leapt playfully over the pebbles behind Seoah.

Plop plop.

[Chuckle chuckle]

On her shoulder, the Sprout Reaper giggled softly at the sight.

Passing the theme park entrance, a massive mascot greeted Seoah.

“Wow, it’s pretty big…”

It was a giant Gray Reaper statue. Though shrouded in cloth, its shape showed one hand resting on its waist while the other pointed dramatically toward the sky.

Walking past the mascot, a heavy sound began to resonate.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Deep within the construction zone, sounds fitting the setting emerged—a mix of noise and vibrations.

Turning a corner, a massive steel structure slowly moved forward without anyone touching it.

Only one worker stood nearby, carefully ensuring the steel structure didn’t topple.

“? Who’s moving that thing?”

Thud!

Having reached its destination, the steel structure settled onto the ground.

At that moment, a worker observing nearby crouched down and said,

“Good job, well done.”

From beneath the steel structure, a Black Reaper wriggled out happily and replied with a cheerful chirp:

Peeeeeep!

Seeing this, visions of future Korean construction sites filled with Mini Reapers popped into Seoah’s mind.

Strong Black Reapers would eventually replace human laborers entirely since they don’t need wages—just good food!

“…”

Passing the Black Reaper and its attached human companion, Seoah arrived where people gathered to eat lunch in an open lot.

Oddly, there were far more Mini Reapers than humans.

“Why are there so many Mini Reapers?”

Her question was quickly answered when, from afar, Director Lee Sehee handed out cookies tied with Mini Reapers as sets.

As Sehee noticed Seoah’s gaze, she turned pale, screamed, and bolted away frantically.

“Exaaaact!”

Thinking it was a game, the Mini Reapers in cookie boxes chased after her gleefully.

“Woooh!”

“Catch me if you can!”

Watching Sehee lead the Mini Reaper parade in flight, Seoah could only stand there dumbfounded.

“Why is she running?”

Though signing documents was annoying, it wasn’t worth fleeing like this…

“!!!”

Then Seoah snapped back to reality.

“What have you done???”

Realizing something was amiss, Seoah hurriedly gave chase to Sehee.

***

Walking step by step onto the warped island’s beach.

Even from afar, the island exuded an ominous aura, but upon arrival, it felt even darker.

A pale blue sand beach.

Mountains rising high enough to touch the clouds, grotesquely shaped.

Periodic tremors shaking the entire island.

Dark, twisted trees growing near the shore.

Thick blue mist occasionally rising from the sand.

Moreover, the presence of the island’s owner—an External Being—was nowhere to be found.

Instead, the island was saturated with its lingering essence.

Sarcast sarastic.

Walking across the glowing blue sand, a faint golden light caught my eye.

A small light, resembling the sun.

Rushing toward it, I found the Golden Reaper collapsed, having lost all its firewood.

“?????”

“The Golden Reaper is injured. Why didn’t I notice?”

I felt extremely confused.

“So this is why I felt uneasy?”

Despite no visible issues with the Mini Reapers, an inexplicable unease had lingered ominously.

Clearly, the Pacific Ocean had already been corrupted by the External Being, unnoticed by humans.

The fallen Golden Reaper clutched a Golden Orb tightly.

It held the orb so firmly that even tugging wouldn’t budge it. Moreover, despite the Golden Reaper losing all its firewood, the orb still emitted a soft glow, retaining traces of energy.

I placed both the Golden Reaper and the orb on my palm and began infusing firewood into them.

As I did, the Golden Orb’s faint light grew stronger, and the remnants of the Golden Reaper’s will began to seep out.

[To the yet-unmet Attach Human.]

[Every Mini Reaper has a designated Attach Human, so I guess we haven’t met yet?]

[What do you look like? What kind of voice do you have?]

[I really wanted to meet you.]

[There are so many things I want to do together.]

[Eat cookies together, share fun stories.]

[And… and… I wanted to stare into your eyes.]

[Dying isn’t that scary, but not meeting you is terrifying.]

[If I die here, I won’t be able to return to Mom, I think.]

<...>

[I’m getting sleepy.]

[Trying to keep my eyes open, but they keep closing.]

[Mom… it’s so cold.]

[Mom, where are you?]

[I miss you.]

<...>

[!– Slider main container –]