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I looked down at the people who had fallen asleep while sitting on the deck railing under the bright moonlight.

What should I do with the people from the Sehee Research Institute who have dozed off?

It seemed that they wouldn’t wake up just by leaving them alone as they had fallen asleep due to the object’s trickery.

Should I just move them all to the Golden Reaper’s garden?

Or should I leave them with the Golden Reaper and head off to look for the Blue Witch?

But either choice would mean cancelling Sehee’s joyous travel plans, which made me a bit hesitant.

While I struggled with this impossible dilemma, I suddenly remembered the Blue Reaper I summoned today.

It seemed to wield some kind of magical power, so could it wake up the employees the old woman had put to sleep?

I called the Blue Reaper onto my palm, and it startled, pulling its hat down and weaving strings in the air.

<"I can't see you. Becoming transparent.">

At that moment, the Blue Reaper gradually became hazy and then completely transparent.

Of course, I could still find the location of the mini versions derived from me, so it wasn’t really useful.

Now that it had turned transparent and seemed a bit relieved, it properly adjusted its hat and stood up on my palm.

Speaking of which, this blue creature is dressing itself alone.

Small shoes, a dress, and a giant hat.

It looked incredibly uncomfortable; I should advise it to dress like me later.

Well, I guess I should deal with the sleeping people first.

Feeling the Blue Reaper on my palm, I transmitted my will.

“Please wake up the people who are unnaturally asleep on this ship.”

The Blue Reaper surveyed the deck once, then conveyed that it understood.

The Blue Reaper jumped off my palm, created a broom made of water, and began flying around the cruise ship while spinning.

<"Please wake up. Break free from the curse.">

The water-made letters burst forth, drizzling down like mist onto the people.

The Golden Reapers looked at the sparkling mist with curious eyes and jumped joyfully.

‘….’

But no one woke up.

I thought the situation would resolve easily, but there was no effect.

Hmm, so it seems like it’s a downgraded version and can’t break the original curse?

The Blue Reaper stood on my palm, looked around, and conveyed its thoughts while adjusting its hat tightly.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t wake them up.”

It seemed to be a bit disheartened, so I patted its hat to comfort it.

The Golden Reapers came up to my palm and hugged it tightly, saying it was okay.

The Blue Reaper, perhaps feeling burdened by their attention, didn’t know what to do and fled to the Golden Reaper’s garden.

Sadly, Sehee’s delightful party ends today.

Considering the giant skeleton that appeared in the red moon’s desert, the lake under the blue moon might be dangerous.

I guess I have to evacuate the Sehee Research Institute people to the Golden Reaper’s garden.

I summoned the entire cruise ship to the Golden Reaper’s garden.

Thus was born a giant passenger ship floating on the Sea of Hot Chocolate.

I moved the sleeping people onto the Sea of Hot Chocolate and descended back onto the lake.

Alright then, I need to quickly find something called the ‘Blue Witch’s Mirror.’

*

The desolate Sehee Research Institute was mostly empty as everyone had gone on holiday.

To manage the remaining objects, the unfortunate security room employees had stayed behind.

Normally, they would be wasting time watching movies or dramas on their phones, but today, they wore extremely gloomy expressions without even distracting themselves.

One of the employees, staring blankly at the CCTV, suddenly spoke up.

“Ah, the lake. I wanted to go, but it’s a shame.”

“I wanted to go too. Should I just quit and go to the lake?”

The senior employee stretched while responding.

From the vacant expression, they looked almost like a zombie.

“Maybe it’s because I can’t go to the lake, but I feel oddly tired and unmotivated. Movies haven’t been interesting these days either.”

“Yeah? I feel the same. Until we see that vast lake, I somehow feel like I’ll keep feeling this way.”

The responding employee looked at the empty pudding bowls with an even more depressed expression.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for the night shift, I wouldn’t feel this bad. It would be really nice if the Golden Reaper fed me pudding during times like this… Why does the Golden Reaper sleep at night?”

“Who knows? I sometimes see it wandering at night, but I’m not sure. Don’t the researchers know?”

And thus, time continued to pass without any significant events in the Sehee security room.

Then, at 6 AM.

As the sky began to faintly turn blue, the shift team arrived.

After a brief handover, returning to the accommodations welcomed them with a messy room.

Trash piled up like a mountain.

Dishes piled in the sink.

Clothes strewn carelessly on the floor.

They knew they had to organize it at some point, but they just lacked the motivation.

Hah, organize?

I might as well just eat the convenience store meal I bought and collapse into sleep.

With that thought, I tossed my clothes on the floor and headed to the bathroom to start the shower.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Pulling myself out of the shower, a strange sight unfolded before the employee’s eyes.

The trash that had piled up like a mountain was gone.

The dishes in the sink were neatly cleaned and arranged.

The clothes on the floor were folded neatly and organized on the desk.

It was typically a shocking situation, but the employee, enchanted by the blue moon, felt oddly calm.

What is this?

Did a diligent spirit come and go?

Maybe because the room was clean, the air in it felt unusually humid.

*

The deep night when the full moon had risen passed, and the morning light began to bloom.

The sun cast golden rays over the calm lake, lighting up the sky.

The wave-pounding lake distorted the light like wave patterns, creating a unique atmosphere.

It reminded me of the time I wandered aimlessly through the red desert.

Perhaps it’s because the sand resembles waves and water?

Well, it was just sand turned into water, after all.

Galump galump.

I walked on the surface of the lake, ghosting.

Without deciding on a direction, I meandered wherever my steps led me.

The ‘Blue Witch’ seemed to be an object that targeted humans, so I focused on areas where humans might be.

But the result was dire.

There were numerous boats floating on the lake, but they all floated alone, having lost their owners.

This is too much, right?

Who on earth made this place a tourist spot?

The search operation that started in the morning continued until the late night with the full moon rising.

Neither the Blue Witch nor any living humans were found.

The Blue Witch…

Where on earth could it be?

Just then, an awful stench started rising from the lake surface again.

Ah!

I stopped wandering aimlessly and set a direction, continuing to walk without rest.

The direction I aimed for was where the ‘stench’ was stronger.

For some reason, stinky places often turn out to be the source of problems.

And luckily, that guess seemed to be correct once again.

As I got closer to the stench, the fog thickened.

As I drew closer to the stench, I heard a loud noise.

[You will all burn, piece by piece!]

And the curse used by the old woman was spilling out.

Arriving at the lakeshore through the fog.

There, unpleasant things were biting and cursing each other in a tangle.

Monstrous old women, treating humans like toys and killing them.

Twisted monsters made by desecrating humans seen in the desert.

Two kinds of harmful monsters were killing each other.

Galump galump.

I slowly walked between those two groups.

As I approached more, a distinct change began among the battling groups.

“Gray Reaper?”

“Why is the Gray Reaper here?”

Confused and fearful gazes filled the air.

As I checked the destruction conditions with my ‘eyes’, the phenomenon accelerated.

The monsters that entered my ‘eyes’ looked startled and stared where I stood.

The noisy lakeshore gradually quieted down.

The old women spitting curses and the monsters oozing black liquid halted their actions and focused on me.

The destruction conditions were all clichéd and weak.

Heart destruction, exhaustion of regeneration ability, brain destruction, and so on.

In fact, the old women had to be buried in the ground, making it a little more troublesome.

There were no high-ranking or remarkable objects here.

Could the ‘Blue Witch’ be missing from here?

Tap tap.

The soft sounds of small footprints on the gravel echoed in the unexpectedly quiet surroundings.

Only the sound of my footsteps became audible among the quiet lakeshore.

*

Late night, the night shift employees entered the security room.

The night employees, who always looked exhausted, appeared to be markedly better today.

When they fell asleep, they were consumed with thoughts like, ‘Ah, I should have gone to Yangcheon Lake.’ and couldn’t sleep properly, but today, thanks to sleeping well, they felt refreshed.

“Hey, I think we’ve got a spirit in my house. When I came out of the shower, everything was neatly tidied up.”

“Huh? You experienced that too? I did as well.”

“Maybe because my house is clean, I felt like I could sleep nicely. It feels like I slept deeply for the first time in a while.”

Despite the refreshing mood, the senior employee spotted the junior staring intently at something.

A camera aimed at a room that looked like a mess, as if a thief had ransacked it.

Was it a pet cam? Why are they watching it so intently?

“What on earth are you watching?”

“I’m trying to figure out what that spirit is. So I purposely made a mess before I left.”

“Do you think you could capture something like that?”

But as something small and blue began to show up in the pet cam, both the senior and junior employees started to focus intently on it.

Every time the blue color flashed, the messy room returned to its original state.

“The quality isn’t good, so it’s hard to see.”

“Yeah, it really is. The spirit is much smaller than I expected.”

The blue object that cleaned the room in an instant stood in front of the pet cam, looking proud as it began to survey the surroundings.

“A Reaper? Was there a blue one?”

“No? I’m seeing it for the first time too. An offspring of the golden type, perhaps?”

As the blue Reaper observed the room, it discovered the pet cam, leaning in with a puzzled face and observing the lens.

Then, with a completely confused expression as if unable to comprehend its identity, it tilted its head and disappeared like mist.

“Huh, I never thought the spirit would be a Blue Reaper.”

“Wow, all the Reapers are cute.”

While the senior and junior shared thoughts about the Reapers, the Blue Reaper, startled, entered the security room and looked at the screen showing the room.

A human was watching me!

The Blue Reaper pulled its hat down and fled to the Golden Reaper’s garden.