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Somehow, I had a feeling I could make a blue mini reaper, so I gave it a try…

And a real Blue Reaper appeared.

The Golden Reapers seemed just as curious, staring intently at it sitting on my palm.

It had the expression of looking at an infant sibling.

The appearance was just like mine, the same as the Golden Reaper.

But the Blue Reaper lying on my palm, as if it were asleep, had a few noticeable differences compared to the Golden Reaper.

The most striking feature was that it was wearing a hat, perhaps?

A large witch’s hat made of water.

Aside from its body having a blue tint, it was much more transparent.

Like clear water.

Inside its transparent body, a faint glow pulsed like a heart.

The edges of the Blue Reaper’s hair seemed to blend into a fog, giving it a dreamy aura.

The Blue Reaper blinked awake, its eyes wide as it looked around.

The Golden Reapers were nearby, watching with keen interest.

Feeling their gazes, the Blue Reaper pulled its hat down snugly with both hands and sat crouched.

Could it be that it was feeling shy?

Then it began to scribble something in the air with one hand.

An incomprehensible sequence of characters.

But to my eyes, I could understand it effortlessly.

[Please sleep soundly while standing.]

Letters made of water appeared in the air and transformed into light, rushing toward me.

Something like a magician just popped out.

The Blue Reaper cautiously lifted its hat to check on me.

Seeing that I was still awake, it fidgeted and then pulled its hat down snugly again.

When I poked it with my finger, it poofed into mist and disappeared.

*

In the middle of Seoul Forest, a brick house nestled among ancient trees stood out as completely out of place with the modern world.

The brick, covered in weathering and moss, blended perfectly with the surrounding environment as if it had sprouted from nature.

Inside that oddly charming brick house, a rather different scene unfolded.

Tools and furniture that made it feel like stepping into a fantasy novel.

A large fireplace radiated warm heat, casting shadows on the walls.

The flickering light from the fireplace danced across shelves filled with curious objects and books bound in leather embossed with strange symbols.

On a sturdy wooden table, cluttered with scrolls and parchment, sat a peculiar bottle.

A bottle containing an unknown liquid that emitted a soft glow.

The bottle held pulsing liquid with an unexplained energy, certainly a rare item.

Exotic herbs, found only in Seoul Forest, hung from the ceiling, while a mortar stained with herb residue sat below.

A girl, sprawled out in this house that seemed to have been cut and pasted from a fantasy world, spoke up.

“Sister, can we go to Yangcheon Lake?”

“No.”

The ‘Yangcheon Lake’ I had briefly seen in Seoul while looking to buy food seemed like a stunning tourist spot that would turn one’s heart a shade of blue just by looking at it.

“Why can’t we go? Everyone seems to be having fun there without any issues.”

“Absolutely not. I should explain to you how dangerous that place is.”

The tall woman nonchalantly pulled out some white grass from a cabinet as she spoke.

“When it comes to magical books, or rather, objects, they fundamentally don’t make sense to humans, but they have some common characteristics.”

As she lit the white grass, milky flames erupted.

The white grass that blazed on the wooden table turned to ash in no time.

When I swept the ashes away with my palm, the table left no traces behind.

“Just like this white grass, objects tend to minimize environmental impacts. You could view Yangcheon Lake as an amplified version of that.”

She rattled off many examples.

Like how a pyre object can burn humans while leaving everything else intact, and so on.

Of course, she added a disclaimer not to take everything at face value, as there are exceptions.

Then, she looked down at her younger sister with a serious expression.

“Over there, people die without any sadness, and strange things happen without it being odd. And we’re not going there ‘right now.’ We will go soon, so just wait quietly.”

“Really? We will go for sure?”

Seeing her younger sister’s cheerful demeanor, the woman felt a slight pang of guilt inside.

It was clear that it wouldn’t be the exciting lake trip they were hoping for.

*

After defeating the old woman, the return trip of the cruise ship was eerily quiet.

The Sehee Research Institute’s people could not wake from their slumber.

Worried about them, the Golden Reapers clung to every fallen person, providing care.

The Golden Reapers wore gloomy expressions.

Even with the fog cleared and the bright sky and beautiful lake back, people remained asleep.

Even after eliminating the old woman, they still wouldn’t awaken.

Since I’d offered to share the ‘power of the blue moon.’

Would I have to shatter the blue moon for them to wake up?

But looking up at the sky, only the red moon and the ordinary moon remained.

Suddenly, an awful stench began emanating from the lake.

The Golden Reapers jumped in surprise and began staring intently at me.

?

Why are they looking at me?

Thump thump.

As I moved, the Golden Reapers scattered in all directions to flee.

Could it be they were avoiding me right now?

It would be hurtful if they were upset over a few mistakes I made….

*

Inside a truck with windows so painted over that sunlight couldn’t come through, two men were grumbling.

“Isn’t this the kind of thing we should outsource? Why the sudden need for us to supervise directly?”

“Probably due to the failure at James’ factory last time. The ‘perfect’ director must be furious after what happened.”

The two men giggled, recalling their rarely seen angry director.

“Honestly, that last incident was a bit strange. The director was someone who seemed to know virtually everything about objects, but to fail like that?”

“I never liked him from the start. Regardless of data or experiment results presented, he insists on his version being the only truth.”

“True, he was more of a seer than a research director. He was stubborn, but in time, he’d often end up being right, which was infuriating. But perhaps this time he got it wrong, so that could be a relief.”

The truck arrived at the shores of a vast lake.

Transparent and expansive.

It was Yangcheon Lake.

“Finally here. Let’s wrap this up quickly and head back.”

Once they reached their destination, the men donned leather gloves and boots, then started rolling large barrels out of the truck and into the lake.

The barrels emitted a foul smell of petroleum.

The men grimaced at the wretched odor while transporting the barrels.

“What in the world is causing this smell?”

“I don’t know. It feels like only the senior researchers understand; here we are, stuck not even having become seniors yet.”

Every time they rolled a barrel into the lake, the temperature around it seemed to drop.

From the deepest part of the lake, thick fog began to creep in.

The mist started as a thin veil over the surface but gradually thickened into an impenetrable curtain.

As the fog thickened, sounds became muffled, creating an otherworldly atmosphere.

“Is this really okay?”

Muttering under the oppressive silence that felt as though he was alone in the world, he received no reply.

“….”

A faint wailing seemed to echo from a far distance.

A sound so tiny it would never be heard in a normal state of extreme tension.

“Are you okay? What’s going on?”

Panicking, he raised his voice, but only a muffled sound came back, as if the fog absorbed all sound.

From within the mist, footsteps could be heard.

The crisp sound of gravel being stepped on.

Following that sound, the man found himself facing a skull dripping with fresh blood.

“AAAH!”

The freshly bloodied skull, still fresh as if just recently collected, was clutched in the grip of some monster.

[You dare, you dare to play these games?]

The monster revealed in the mist did not look good.

Half of its body was melting into black slime.

The black slime had repulsive eyes stuck all over, with veins protruding out, wriggling in all directions.

“What… what the hell.”

The director had said that the object in Yangcheon that came into contact with the black liquid would be neutralized, so it would be safe!

[You will suffer forever as your skin melts away.]

Skin melted away like butter.

Even when I tried to scream, no sound came from my melted mouth.

Desperately crawling across the uneven gravel floor to escape, my melted limbs were unresponsive.

As the mist cleared, only a red lump remained by the lakeshore.

That lump writhed in endless pain, constantly cursing the director who had deceived it.

*

I sat on the railing, looking sadly as if the Golden Reaper had fled, my expression full of sorrow.

With the most melancholic expression I could muster.

The Golden Reapers that had been avoiding me looked toward me, hesitatingly approaching.

In the end, one Golden Reaper hopped onto my thigh and shook my body, expressing an apology.

And then, at that moment!

I flicked the Golden Reaper on my thigh with my finger.

The startled Golden Reaper made a surprised face.

I looked down at the Golden Reaper with a meaningful expression and smiled.

Hehe.

The Golden Reaper, realizing it had been betrayed, flailed its arms and legs in despair as it got sucked into the water.

Splash.

When I summoned the Golden Reaper that had fallen into the lake, it was slumped over on my palm.

It had the expression of realizing that there was no one to trust in this harsh reality.

Sorry.

Was that too much?

I gently patted the head of the Golden Reaper, pouring my emotions into it.

I continued until the Golden Reaper’s mood improved.

*

While I was pondering how to wake the people put to sleep by the old woman, I suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Sitting on the railing and gazing down at the lake’s water, I noticed the lake reflected the sky above, tinted slightly black.

And above it, a blue moon rose.

The moon reflected on the water was not two but just one.

I’ve found it. The blue moon!

I smiled wide and used my ‘eyes’ to focus on the blue moon.

[Destroy the Blue Witch's mirror.]

Fortunately, the conditions required to destroy the blue moon were quite clear.

Perhaps this time, the process would go more smoothly?