Chapter 369

The coastline of the grotesquely twisted island.

Rough waves crashed against the abnormally jutting rocks, and the sky was dyed an ominous shade of blue.

Everything about this island felt like it was deliberately irritating my mind.

I placed the Golden Reaper on the palm of my hand and sent a small pulse of willpower to it.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Seeing its form, devoid of all warm light after losing every last bit of firewood, made my chest ache.

The Golden Reaper, which now looked utterly exhausted and slumped over—save for the orb it clutched tightly—was unrecognizable as the same entity that always wore a smile bright as the sun.

I gently blew firewood back into it, like watering a sprout or breathing life into a flickering flame.

Slowly, like a wilted flower blooming anew, the Golden Reaper’s luster began to return.

The golden glow grew brighter and brighter until it transformed into a dazzling burst of light, then melted into the air as if dissolving into nothingness.

Back to the Mini Reaper Garden…

To the Valhalla of the Mini Reapers…

Guidance returned to the Golden Reaper, who had been lost without a place to return, and it started flowing toward where it belonged.

This was the proper cycle for the eternally living Golden Reapers.

As I watched this, I furrowed my brow slightly—a mix of anger and frustration swirling in my chest.

“Why couldn’t the Golden Reaper return to the Mini Reaper Garden?”

With a hint of irritation, I spat out my willpower into the void.

There didn’t seem to be any blockage preventing connection to the Mini Reaper Garden, nor did it appear that sending spiritual energy was impossible.

Moreover, it wasn’t as though the Golden Reaper had burned through its firewood fiercely while fighting to protect or eliminate someone…

So why did this happen?

“…”

Carrying with me a mixture of anger and confusion, I stepped toward the center of the island.

***

When the Golden Reaper opened its eyes, feeling the soft texture of plush grass beneath it, a beautiful night sky filled with glowing galaxies greeted it.

Luxurious, carpet-like grass and a stunning night sky—it was a familiar sight for the Golden Reaper.

“I’m back…!”

Hugging the golden orb tightly, the awakened Golden Reaper looked up at the sky and let out a cheerful “Hehe!”

It discarded the now-useless orb and slowly walked toward the direction of the Mini Reaper Garden.

Thump-thump.

As it arrived there, other Golden Reapers were bustling around, heading somewhere en masse.

“There’s tons of snacks!”

“Pudding!”

The Golden Reaper tilted its head in curiosity before sneaking into the crowd and joining them.

Once outside the Mini Reaper Garden, the scene before the Golden Reaper’s eyes was truly spectacular.

Candy windmills spinning endlessly, spitting out Mini Reapers left and right.

A massive statue of Mom stretching her hands boldly toward the sky.

Tents filled with humans enjoying themselves.

Piles upon piles of snacks.

It was undoubtedly a festival for the Golden Reapers!

Above the sky floated ghost-shaped balloons in various colors, with banners fluttering beneath them bearing human-written words.

[Gray Reaper Theme Park Opening D-17 Festival.]

Though unclear what it meant, the text radiated joy.

“Wah!”

The festive emotions filled the air in every direction.

Under the shade of tents, big humans, little humans, and Mini Reapers gathered in clusters. Golden Reapers balanced pudding on their heads as they ran around to eat with humans, while humans prepared and waited eagerly to share snacks with the Mini Reapers.

Laughter and the fragrant smell of food permeated the atmosphere.

Guided by some instinct, the Golden Reaper strolled leisurely through the festival.

Then, amidst the festival’s clamor, a faint sob reached the Golden Reaper’s ears.

Turning its head toward the sound, it spotted a small girl crying in a corner—likely lost, streaming tears of sadness.

“Human!”

Without hesitation, the Golden Reaper approached and gently patted the girl’s cheek.

Startled, the girl looked up and stopped crying at the sight of the Golden Reaper’s innocent smile.

Soon, a tiny smile resembling the Golden Reaper spread across the girl’s face.

After stopping her tears, the girl placed the Golden Reaper on her palm and began pouring out stories nonstop—about the fascinating Mini Reapers, delicious foods, and grand parades.

“Human voice…”

The Golden Reaper listened intently to the beloved voice of its attached human.

When the story finally ended, the girl grinned brightly.

Her shining eyes and playful smile…

“Human appearance…”

The Golden Reaper observed everything it longed to see and hear, smiling happily alongside the girl.

“Finally met you!”

***

Outskirts of Songpa District, James Tower.

James was busy handling various cases—mainly processing victims from kidnapping incidents in Europe and analyzing mountains of data sent from the *James Explorer*.

“Huff, this is exhausting.”

After uploading verified data to the research institute’s secure cloud storage, James stood up from his chair.

Finishing his tasks for the moment, James stretched, arching his back.

Even though he wasn’t particularly old yet, perhaps due to too much desk work since arriving in Korea, his lower back ached slightly.

While stretching, he noticed the Golden Reaper sitting on his desk mimicking his expression and attempting to follow suit.

Seeing this, James couldn’t help but laugh, making it hard to continue his stretches.

“You shouldn’t make people laugh during exercise.”

James tapped the Golden Reaper’s head lightly with his finger.

“Human, are you hurt anywhere?”

The Golden Reaper looked worriedly at James, gripping his finger gently.

“No, I’m fine.”

Smiling reassuringly, James placed the Golden Reaper atop his own head.

At that moment, the phone on the desk rang loudly.

“Oh no, the machine that makes humans work is ringing!”

Apparently displeased with the phone, the Golden Reaper clenched its tiny fists and tapped the surface irritably.

Picking up the receiver, James heard the familiar voice of his secretary.

“This is the regular check-in from the James Explorer.”

“Alright, patch it through here.”

The line connected with some static noise.

Geeek. Geeek.

It sounded like creaking wood but also seemed like a ‘normal’ ship sound.

“Director James. This is our regular check-in. No unusual occurrences so far.”

Their conversation continued smoothly, discussing the ship’s current location, progress, and whether anything related to the Blue Mist had occurred.

In the middle of the exchange, James casually threw out an odd remark.

“Hey, if things go well this time, maybe we can promote you to JamesSS.”

An old trick when communicating with object-handling exploration teams: mix in strange information occasionally to gauge their reactions.

Of course, the American Object Association preferred using drones or mental pollution sensors for gathering info.

“Thank you, Director James!”

An extremely grateful voice came through the receiver.

But James’ expression stiffened immediately.

That’s because…

JamesSS was the name of a space station that had already been destroyed.

***

After sending the Golden Reaper back, I kept climbing deeper into the bizarre island.

It didn’t look that large from the outside, but walking through it revealed its considerable size.

Geeek.

Occasionally, strange noises and hallucinations would appear as I ascended toward the island’s core.

Illusions of spiderwebs covered in mold filled my vision.

“Dizzy…”

Each time, my head spun as if caught in vertigo.

Maybe these hallucinations and dizziness caused the Golden Reaper to lose its way and fail to contact anyone.

Continuing upward, I eventually stumbled upon scattered objects that once were human.

Geeek. Geeek.

Their forms alone were grotesque enough, but their actions were even stranger.

“Kiki. Kikikik.”

Clutching their heads in apparent agony, they laughed maniacally.

How could such joyful laughter emerge from faces contorted in pain?

Or should this even be called laughter?

Some of them muttered phrases that vaguely resembled language.

“Don’t come closer!”

“I don’t want you to approach!”

“The light, the darkness, the colors!”

One object, having gouged out both eyes, revealed empty sockets yet still clawed at them while muttering incomprehensibly.

Their words weren’t in any earthly tongue.

Perhaps they had transformed into pure madness—curses born from terminal despair.

Strangely, despite screaming warnings and expressing fear, they all moved inexorably toward the island’s center.

Those with legs walked slowly.

Those with arms crawled forward.

Those without limbs wriggled along.

As they advanced, their bodies twisted further into bizarre shapes, merging with tendrils of blue voids.

Feeling intensely disturbed just by witnessing and hearing them, I crushed every single one of those harmful objects into oblivion.

Having dealt with the warped entities, I resumed my journey toward the island’s center, likely the location of the external being.

“…”

Following the spiraling, twisted path upward, I gradually saw the silhouette of a man emerge from behind a dark rock.

The eerie blue light from above illuminated half his face, revealing an object embedded in one eye that gleamed faintly.

As the man approached, the long tails of his coat fluttered slightly.

His weathered face bore countless experiences etched deeply into it.

I recognized him—a man I’d seen in Italy.

He must have been the attached human of the Purple Reaper wearing an eyepatch…

But strangely, the Purple Reaper wasn’t in sight.

“Where’s the Purple Reaper?”