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Sehee Research Institute employees in lab coats were guiding people.

“Alright, please move slowly this way!”

Sehee Research Institute was bustling with suddenly appearing people.

Leading them were the Golden Reapers.

Doo-bang doo-bang.

With a cute and confident gait, the Golden Reapers appeared, followed by a large number of people.

These were individuals who had been imprisoned in the Trinity Research Institute and were rescued.

The words of the rescued individuals contained shocking truths.

[The Trinity Research Institute forcibly detained people.]

[Researchers have turned into monsters.]

[The Blue Reaper saved us.]

[The Gray Reaper sent us here.]

Hearing this, we felt something was amiss and contacted the Association and the police.

As the rescued individuals arrived in the courtyard of Sehee Research Institute, perhaps relieved from their tension, they plopped down and burst into tears.

The Golden Reapers rushed over to those individuals, wiped their tears, and patted their cheeks.

Of course, that was the adults’ story.

The children, arriving at the unfamiliar Sehee Research Institute, played joyfully with their Golden Reapers in hand.

When the children laughed brightly and raised their hands high, the Golden Reapers mirrored their smiles and did the same.

Listening to the children’s conversations, they mentioned that if the Blue Reaper got caught, it would run away in pain, while the Golden Reaper didn’t do that, which pleased them even more.

Well, the Golden Reaper is a bit sturdier, after all.

It seems like even if an elephant stepped on it, it would be fine, but for the little kids’ grip…

“Unnie Sehee, the Hungry Ghost has already broken through the third defense line.”

Yerin, with a rare serious expression, pointed at the TV.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just leave the predicted route empty? It seems like a Reaper won’t be able to stop it…”

The TV was broadcasting emergency news as if a war had broken out.

[Currently, the Hungry Ghost is rampaging in the middle of Seoul. The third defense line has also fallen.]

The Hungry Ghost was ignoring all the obstacles prepared by humans and was racing forward.

Even explosions didn’t leave a single scratch, and steel barricades tore apart like paper.

Especially the barricades produced and provided by Trinity were powerless against it.

The catchphrase [Hungry Ghost Level Physical Resistance Blocked!] had become meaningless.

[Currently, the fourth defense line is being established, but the possibility of stopping it is slim.]

[Recently, there have been many research results suggesting that the danger level of the Hungry Ghost should be lowered, but its rampage seems to deny all those findings.]

In fact, just a few minutes before the Hungry Ghost escaped, there had been mayhem.

A giant scar that ripped the sky.

It was enough to be a significant issue, but it got overshadowed by the much more direct and shocking Hungry Ghost escape incident.

Perhaps it would only be highlighted after the Hungry Ghost situation was resolved.

[The Hungry Ghost has now exited the sinkhole in Songpa District and continues moving west.]

The news was displaying a predicted trajectory as if forecasting a typhoon, and right in the middle of that trajectory was ‘Trinity Research Institute.’

“Isn’t it likely that the Hungry Ghost’s destination is the ‘Trinity Research Institute’? It might be running earnestly to challenge the Reaper to a revenge match!”

Yerin, who believed that the world revolved around the Reaper, proposed yet again the theory of the Reaper of all things.

As we sat in the disordered courtyard, a Sehee Research Institute employee approached us with a report.

“Sehee Research Institute Director. The Object Association has arrived at the main gate.”

Upon hearing that report, I moved my feet toward the main gate.

Ugh, thinking about how the Association would be a nuisance again gave me a headache.

*

A tattooed woman looked up at the sky and saw clouds splitting into five streams.

Even a woman who had experienced the ‘Magical Book’ since ancient times had never seen such a phenomenon.

Perhaps because this world dealt with objects differently, it felt like the flow of the world was also a bit different.

This world had a soft approach towards objects.

Endlessly soft, but somehow these days, it made me think that this might be the correct answer.

At least it seemed like a place where people lived.

“Sister, what are we doing today?”

“Now that all the materials are gathered, we need to create the guardian that will protect us.”

“Guardian?”

Hearing that unfamiliar term, my younger sister tilted her head in curiosity.

“It will be completed soon, so just watch.”

The woman chuckled, patting her sister’s head.

She placed multicolored rocks, all mixed up, on finely ground soil.

“This rock is the core of the guardian. If it were a better material and a skilled alchemist, the colors would come out more simply, but this is my limit.”

As she poured various reagents over the soil and stones, a faint light began to emanate from the rock.

“Wow!”

Her sister exclaimed in awe as she saw it.

As colorful as the stone, it emitted a rainbow of colors.

And the soil touched by the light clumped together to form a cute shape.

It was an unidentified creature with a glorious splash of colors.

About the size of a large dog.

Short legs like a frog.

A huge mouth.

A glowing lure stuck to its head.

“Here, this is the guardian, the eternal companion of an alchemist. Compared to a monochromatic guardian or a white guardian, it’s a bit embarrassing, though.”

“Sister, this looks familiar, but what is it?”

Her sister made a sound of confusion.

After deep in thought, she concluded with a sigh, “I don’t know!”

“The guardian will protect us now, as long as this rock isn’t destroyed.”

At first, the guardian wobbled while walking, but soon it adapted and happily ran around Seoul Forest.

The woman crouched down and gently patted the guardian’s head.

“Hungry Ghost!”

Her sister suddenly shouted.

“No, it’s a bit different. A mini Hungry Ghost without tentacles?”

The woman had a blank look, unable to understand her sister’s words.

*

It feels heavy.

Not that it’s really heavy, but it feels heavier.

Right now, both the Blue Reaper and the Golden Reapers were clinging all over my body.

All over my head, on my shoulders, even inside my hair, I was completely covered in mini Reapers.

The Golden Reapers giggled, sticking to me while saying, [Mom, it’s warm!]

Since calling just the Blue Reaper felt dangerous, I had called the Golden Reapers as bodyguards, leading to this chaos.

Well, anyway, all the people who looked dangerous were sent to Sehee Research Institute, so rolling around a bit shouldn’t be an issue.

The Golden Reapers were gathered to comfort the injured Blue Reaper, hugging it tightly.

The Blue Reaper wanted to pull down its hat and run away, but perhaps because of the cheerful expressions of the Golden Reapers, it couldn’t escape.

It seems like these guys aren’t quite compatible with each other.

I grabbed one Golden Reaper that was laughing while sticking to the Blue Reaper and lifted it up.

It looked at me with a big smile while struggling to catch the Blue Reaper.

Since it was so happy, I felt like I wanted to tease it.

However, unfortunately, I didn’t see any black liquid to make a mistake with.

Sadly, the Golden Reaper didn’t mind being thrown, so I just gently placed it back on my shoulder.

Lying down to relax and looking up at the sky, I saw the clouds split into five streams.

Those were the clouds I had torn apart.

Honestly, I didn’t know how to make such a large-scale attack, but I must’ve done it out of anger without realizing it.

Of course, now that I know how to do it, I can do it anytime, but the wood consumption is too heavy, so I really don’t want to use that technique.

While enjoying a moment of leisure, the Golden Reapers began to show meerkat-like reactions.

They stared intently in the direction of the research institute.

Is something there?

Since the senses of the Golden Reapers are much sharper than mine, there must be something.

I stood up and walked towards the research institute.

*

Deep within the Trinity Research Institute.

The director of Research Institute No. 3 woke up to the blaring alarm.

As he opened his eyes, he saw only darkness and red light.

It seemed the power system of the research institute had malfunctioned, with only the emergency lights glowing in red and spinning.

[Currently, all object opening procedures are underway.]

[All personnel remaining inside the research institute must evacuate.]

A mechanical voice loudly announced that the object opening procedures were being initiated.

“Opening the objects? I don’t remember permitting such a thing…”

The director sat up from his bed.

Checking his physical condition after getting up, he smiled.

It was perfect.

The absorption was complete.

An infinite power was bubbling up from inside.

And he felt a confidence that no one could physically harm him.

“Indeed. Physical immunity. I didn’t know such a power existed.”

Overwhelmed with a sense of omnipotence, words escaped his lips.

With this strength, he could easily tear apart not only the Gray Reaper but also the Hungry Ghost.

The director, smiling with anticipation, put on his lab coat and stepped outside the recovery room.

Unluckily, shadows that could not be erased loomed over the path he had taken.

Eternal shadows that swallowed even light.

And within those shadows, hideous tentacles were writhing.

*

Walking towards where the Golden Reapers were looking, I arrived at the interior of the Trinity Research Institute, which was in chaos.

Ruins, disorder, and the sights of shadows.

From the outside, it looked fine, but inside it was severely destroyed, and the once neat walls and floors were shattered, indicating that something had happened.

The floor was heavily decorated with a darkness like a black hole swallowing light.

Even if light fell onto it, the shadows defying the laws of nature remained, instead swallowing the light and expanding the darkness.

From this ominous pit of darkness, bizarre tentacles sprung forth.

The tentacles writhed with malicious intent and grabbed hold of what appeared to be objects freed from the isolation room.

The tentacles dragged the captured prey into the abyss of shadows and swallowed them.

The sounds of bones and flesh cracking and breaking.

Even more horrific than that ghastly sight was the stench.

From those shadows, an unprecedented weight of malice towards humanity could be felt.

The presence of tentacles filled the interior of the research institute, twisting and distorting the space.

It felt as if reality was struggling to accommodate the existence that should not be able to exist.

A Hungry Ghost level object!

Was Trinity Research Institute hiding a Hungry Ghost level object?

With the aura of a formidable opponent returning after a long time, I wore a faint smile.