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After guiding the victims of the Trinity Research Institute No. 3 kidnapping incident to the Object Association, tranquility finally returned to the Sehee Research Institute.

“Ha. Now I can finally rest.”

Sehee Unnie, who had just returned after grappling with the Object Association people for quite some time, slumped down in her chair across the table.

At that moment, a Golden Reaper jumped onto Sehee Unnie’s cheek, as if to console her exhaustion.

The Golden Reaper, in its comforting gesture, patted Sehee Unnie, who quickly perked up and grabbed the little Golden Reaper, placing it on her palm and began to pet it wildly.

The Golden Reaper, curled up on my palm, looked up at me with a hopeful expression, so I gently stroked it with my finger as well.

Ah, this is comfortable.

Under the warm sunlight, there’s a parasol in the courtyard.

And under it, there are chairs and a table set up.

Sitting there sipping on a drink and playing with the Golden Reapers feels like pure paradise.

Each Golden Reaper had its preferred way of being petted, and this one seemed to enjoy being petted on the head.

That little one sprawled out under the sunlight, basking in it, loved having its belly scratched.

When I reached out to tickle its belly, as expected, it laughed and wriggled joyfully.

In the past, I found it hard to distinguish the Golden Reapers as they all looked the same, but now I’m slowly starting to tell them apart.

Every time I do, I feel a bit proud, like I’ve become more of an expert on Reapers!

After all, the most important task at the Sehee Research Institute is to play with the Reapers!

Of course, Senior Kim Jungloe and Unnie Seoah would vehemently disagree, but still!

A Golden Reaper was squatting in front of the cell phone I had set on the table, intently staring at the screen.

When I moved my phone, its head followed the motion in an almost comical way, showing remarkable focus.

It was a bit unexpected since most Golden Reapers didn’t seem to show any interest in the screen.

What the Golden Reaper was watching was a news segment covering the escaped Hungry Ghost.

Helicopters operated by a network specializing in Object news were capturing footage of the Hungry Ghost from a distance.

“Huh?”

Then, an odd scene appeared on the camera.

The Trinity Research Institute was a complete wreck and the nearby city was vacant, devoid of any people.

On the nearby road, corpses lay scattered, charred black.

“Sehee Unnie, I can see the Trinity Research Institute. But the situation looks worse than we were told?”

“Yeah, it seems much more serious than what the escaped people said.”

It appeared there had been a major incident at Trinity, but neither Sehee Unnie nor I worried much about the Reapers.

Reapers are invincible!

The announcer, who had been flustered by the sudden Gwanak-gu incident, began to calmly report on the current situation, having received new information.

[We have just received breaking news.]

It seemed they had obtained information from the Object Association, detailing the kidnapping and confinement situation at the Trinity Research Institute.

A sudden kidnapping, confinement.

And countless testimonies stating that the researchers had transformed into Objects.

The gist of the broadcast was: “Trinity Research Institute looks suspicious.”

The Hungry Ghost, which had been dashing around, leaped directly into the now-ruined Trinity building.

At that moment, the Golden Reaper watching the TV shot up from its seat and waved at me.

Simultaneously, the Golden Reaper melted away into thin air.

*

The man, filled with baseless confidence, turned out to be easier to handle than I expected.

His presence was ‘Hungry Ghost level,’ and I anticipated ridiculous conditions for destruction, but surprisingly, it was simple.

<Destroys the human form.>

For something at a Hungry Ghost level, this was a rather disappointing condition, but it was probably because he had too many unnecessary things weighing him down, causing an imbalance.

As soon as the man was cut in half, numerous Objects sprang out of the shadows and melted into black slime.

Splat.

As his severed upper body dropped to the floor, people entered the research institute.

Wait, are there still people in this dangerous place?

The new arrivals were the foreign Uncle from the Pudding Factory and his party.

James from the Pudding Factory, the Timid Uncle, and four men who looked like bodyguards.

They wore black suits and earpieces, their expressions tense as they surveyed their surroundings.

I had heard they returned to America, but it seems they came back to Korea.

The sudden appearance of humans made the Golden Reapers burst into smiles as they dashed towards James and his group.

The men protecting James tried to block the advancing Golden Reapers, but James stopped them with a gesture and embraced the rushing Golden Reapers.

“Hahaha, my little cuties! How have you been?”

James was looking much more skilled and friendly towards the Golden Reapers than before.

The bodyguards ignored the Golden Reapers clinging to them and remained focused on their duties around James.

The Golden Reapers crawled up to the shoulders of the bodyguards, but as they were ignored, they plopped down, looking dejected.

Then, one Golden Reaper slowly approached the Timid Man.

As the Golden Reaper, previously abandoned, cautiously approached the Timid Man, he squeezed his eyes shut and reached out his hand toward the Golden Reaper.

Seeing this, the Golden Reaper beamed with sunlight-like joy and clung to his palm.

“Ha, haha.”

The Timid Man smiled with a mix of cute and scared expressions.

The Golden Reaper stuck to his palm, grinning at him.

Having defeated the “source of the black slime hidden in Trinity,” I began to think, ‘Is there nothing left for me to do at the Trinity Research Institute?’ when suddenly, I heard the sound of a helicopter from above.

And then, a loud rumbling followed.

Thud. Thud.

The sound of massive footsteps and the approaching presence of an Object.

The Golden Reapers stood up and began to be on guard against the rapidly approaching Object.

Breaking through the walls appeared an Object I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Not that I missed it, but rather the creature I never wanted to see again emerged.

With glistening eyes, the Hungry Ghost gazed at us.

As the Hungry Ghost moved, the Golden Reapers glared back, their expressions fierce.

<Please protect the humans!>

The Blue Reapers soared high into the sky and covered the heads of the people with a Water Droplet Shield.

The Hungry Ghost left deep claw marks on the ground, just wandering around.

Its behavior of merely inspecting without attacking was a bit odd.

Why was it acting like that?

I thought it had been more aggressive the last time we met…

What could be the cause?

*

The Reapers and the Hungry Ghost were glaring at each other, creating a tense atmosphere.

“Ah, it’s all over now. If the Hungry Ghost and Gray Reaper fight here, it’ll be the end for us all.”

The interpreter cried out despairingly at the current situation, while the Golden Reaper comforted him by patting his cheek.

The bodyguards were tightly wound, raising their torches high.

A situation thick with tension.

But James felt something different as he looked at the scene.

A feeling that the Hungry Ghost was staring directly at him.

Could it be?

James lifted the document bag containing the No. 0 relic in his hand.

The Hungry Ghost’s gaze subtly moved along with the bag.

What’s going on?

How should I interpret this?

Was the No. 0 relic not related to the Gray Reaper?

Should I take out the No. 0 relic and check its reaction?

James’s thoughts continued until they were interrupted by a sudden turn of events.

From the body of the Director of Research Institute No. 3, shadows and tentacles began to burst out as if exploding.

The violent wave of tentacles shot upwards, tearing the roof off the Trinity building, revealing a grimly glowing sky.

“The color of the sky?”

James gasped as he looked up at the sky.

The sky was turning black and melting like liquid.

The shadows that had emerged from the body of the Director of Research Institute No. 3 filled the ground with black liquid.

The black slime melted everything it touched, pulling it into the darkness.

Should I be grateful? The ground we stood on was replaced by soft marshmallows.

A bizarrely patchwork landscape of marshmallows unfolded around the Gray Reaper.

The black slime couldn’t invade the land of marshmallows.

The dark and ominous shadow was greedily devouring the surrounding buildings one by one.

The once-bustling streets were now transformed into an ink-black wasteland, where twisted and monstrous tentacles began to fill the empty spaces left by the buildings.

The blackened, melting sky resembled a sticky black sea turned upside down.

From that black sea, a colossal entity slowly emerged, so huge it was hard to take in with just the eyes.

It had morphed into something even more grotesque and dark, but it was undeniably that.

The object that had devastated a city in China.

Giant Jellyfish.

Its massive dome fluttered like a bizarre canopy hanging in the sky, raining down black slime like rain.

Beneath it, colossal tentacles writhed, sharp and ready, closing in on us.

<Please protect the people!>

<Please protect the people!>

<Don’t get hurt!>

The Blue Reapers were startled and hurriedly etched incomprehensible strings into the air.

The Golden Reapers, with fierce expressions, leaped into the sky to confront the tentacles.

Just before the tentacles and Reapers collided, the massive Object emerged from the black water, enveloping James’s group.

It was the Hungry Ghost, slowly decaying in the black water.