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The Trinity Research Institute had vanished without a trace, and Gwanak-gu had transformed into a hellish landscape.

Tentacles were thrashing in all directions.

Black liquid swallowed everything.

Neither the sky nor the ground were safe in James’ view.

Tentacles rising from the overturned Black Sea, which had taken the place of the sky, were seen grasping helicopters and dragging them into the black waters.

These were the broadcast helicopters that had secured a safe distance and were filming from afar.

Perhaps they thought they were safe at this distance, but the entire Gwanak-gu was a dangerous area filled with tentacles.

The only safe place in Gwanak-gu was probably here.

The white land created by the Gray Reaper was safe in Gwanak-gu.

James bowed his head and stroked the soft white ground.

Is this… marshmallow?

A marshmallow island shielding him from the tentacles that came up from hell.

It felt like a fairy tale.

While giant tentacles continuously crashed down from the sky, none of them reached James and his group.

Thanks to the Artifact Number 0, which was burning brightly above the Gray Reaper’s head.

The sun-like light emitted from the Artifact Number 0 was incinerating all the approaching tentacles without leaving a trace.

“Huh, I never knew Artifact Number 0 had such abilities…”

James muttered to himself, discovering a new aspect of the Artifact Number 0 he had studied for a long time.

The white light felt somehow sacred and mysterious, so much so that even the normally panicked interpreter was silent and quietly watching.

Under the white source of light, there was a Hungry Ghost lying on the ground, staring blankly at the Gray Reaper.

Standing in front of it were the Gray Reaper and the Golden Reapers, gazing at the Hungry Ghost.

The Gray Reaper, exchanging glances with the Hungry Ghost, slowly reached out a hand.

A white orb was gradually approaching his hand.

The moment the orb touched the Gray Reaper’s hand, a brilliant light burst forth.

So intense was the light that James had to close his eyes, unable to keep them open.

When James opened his eyes again to check the situation, the white orb had already vanished, and instead, the Gray Reaper’s body was glowing white.

The shining Gray Reaper took a slow step forward and placed his hand on the head of the fallen Hungry Ghost.

Then, the Hungry Ghost began to turn to ash and scatter.

Though it had a fearsome appearance, the sight of it transforming into ash looked surprisingly peaceful.

As the Hungry Ghost turned to ash, the sun-like shining of the Gray Reaper ceased.

Had the Gray Reaper consumed the Artifact Number 0?

Given the circumstances, that would indeed be correct.

The Hungry Ghost had turned to ash, and the shining Artifact Number 0 had also disappeared.

Yet the Gray Reaper’s actions did not stop.

As the Gray Reaper crouched down and placed his hand on the marshmallow, something sprang up from the marshmallow ground.

A large, round marshmallow mound.

From that mound, limbs and a tail sprouted.

And as eyes and a mouth appeared, it began to take on the shape of an object.

It became cute.

It had no tentacles.

A giant White Hungry Ghost had grown immensely.

The newly grown Hungry Ghost, twice the size of the original, opened its big mouth and made a dolphin-like sound.

Kyu!

Then, white flames erupted from its marshmallow-like skin.

And it dashed straight toward the jellyfish.

In an instant, it was clad in an armored flame that burned the tentacles!

*

The Hungry Ghost lay sprawled on the marshmallow ground, its body pierced by the jellyfish’s tentacles.

It was gazing at me with a pitiful look in its eyes.

Somehow, I felt that look was a plea for me to kill it.

The condition for destroying the Hungry Ghost was [The stone created by the Object of Beginning.]

Suddenly, the Hungry Ghost’s attitude changed.

It flew directly above my head, where a white stone was ablaze.

If I put these two pieces together, the sphere floating above my head must be the ‘stone created by the Object of Beginning.’

I looked up at the stone, and a feeling of what to do came over me.

Though I had never done it before, it felt familiar.

With a deft motion, I reached one hand toward the stone.

The moment the stone touched my hand, ‘memories I didn’t know’ resurfaced.

In my memory, I was facing something large and white.

An enormous frog?

Or a smooth Hungry Ghost?

Either way, I was placing my hand on the head of a much larger white creature compared to the current Hungry Ghost.

In my memory, I was saying something.

Though the words were inaudible, they felt warm and sad.

A pleading tone.

And when I regained my senses, the very same frog I had seen in the ‘unknown memory’ was right before my eyes.

The Hungry Ghost had been destroyed, and what emerged in the newly created Mini Reaper Garden was an object.

A White Hungry Ghost.

Perhaps because of the Mini Reaper Garden, there was a slight difference from the white creature I had seen in my memory.

A minor difference: it was made of marshmallow instead of dirt.

For some reason, it looked delicious.

It looked so soft and inviting that I wanted to take a bite.

It seemed tasty.

As it looked down at me with an expectant expression, I slowly approached it and gently tapped its legs.

Then, I ripped off a small piece and munched on it.

Om nom nom.

Just as I expected, it was wonderfully fluffy and tasted just like real marshmallow.

The White Hungry Ghost that watched me eat smiled joyfully and, after glancing around, let out a cute sound in a dolphin-like voice.

Kyu!

Then it charged toward the jellyfish, clad in white flames.

The White Hungry Ghost dashed around, burning the tentacles.

Wow, it’s fighting better than I thought.

At this rate, I felt it could handle the protection of James and his group.

But that alone wouldn’t be enough to defeat the giant jellyfish.

The conditions for destroying the jellyfish were quite complex.

[Kill the jellyfish that cannot speak but is very talkative, and shatter the night pearl in the eye of the storm.]

Hmm, what could “the very talkative jellyfish” possibly mean?

I gazed at the mini jellyfish that filled the sea of black liquid, feeling a sense of despair.

I suppose I should try every method that comes to mind.

*

James was comfortably seated on the marshmallow, watching the efforts of the White Hungry Ghost.

The giant White Hungry Ghost was battling the colossal jellyfish that dominated the sky.

It was a rather large White Hungry Ghost, but compared to the giant jellyfish, the size difference was akin to that of an adult and a newborn.

Despite that massive size difference, the white flames surrounding the White Hungry Ghost gave it an advantage against the giant jellyfish.

The giant jellyfish’s immense tentacles ignited immediately upon touching the White Hungry Ghost.

Whenever there was an opportunity, the White Hungry Ghost leapt onto the giant jellyfish, ruthlessly biting and tearing at its body.

However, the jellyfish quickly regenerated its wounds and shook off the Hungry Ghost.

It was a truly endless war between gigantic monsters.

In the midst of such a fierce battle, James sat back, munching on snacks.

It was a bizarre situation.

Even though it was clearly a dangerous place, there was a strange sense of comfort amidst the chaos.

While the White Hungry Ghost was struggling, the Golden Reapers appeared from somewhere, bringing food to share with the people.

The problem was that the food they offered was all things catered to their own tastes—marshmallows, pudding, and candy.

And a new kind of Gray Reaper had also emerged.

A mini Reaper that glowed blue and was semi-transparent.

The Blue Reaper seemed to feel burdened by the gaze of the people and moved out of sight, but if given attention, it would disappear in transparency.

In many cases, when snacks didn’t decrease no matter how much one consumed, that was the work of the Blue Reaper.

The most important Gray Reaper was repeatedly engaging in peculiar behavior.

It was frequently pulling jellyfish out from the black liquid, chopping them up, bringing them close to its ear, or punching them, displaying nonsensical actions.

Sometimes it even seemed to be torturing the jellyfish, but I couldn’t understand the reason behind it.

It appeared to be aiming for something, but the Gray Reaper had an expression that showed it was yielding no results.

Next to the Gray Reaper, a pile of jellyfish corpses had accumulated like a mountain.

The Gray Reaper kicked the mound of corpses into the liquid and then clapped to summon the Golden Reapers.

And then, an exchange of glances took place between the Golden Reapers and the Gray Reaper.

After a lengthy exchange of gazes, the Golden Reapers dispersed in all directions and began to dive into the black water.

Splash, splash.

The Golden Reaper’s expression was one of sheer disgust, but it seemed they had no choice but to comply.

And as numerous jellyfish corpses began to float to the surface of the Black Sea, the Gray Reaper smiled with satisfaction.

*

Slap, slap.

I had been napping, but someone was slapping my eyelids relentlessly.

When I came to my senses, I found very angry Golden Reapers before me.

Oh, did I mention that I was supposed to enter the black water too?

Dushi, dushi.

Seeing my expression, as if realizing I hadn’t planned to enter, the Golden Reapers rushed in and began to punch me with their tiny fists.

While I was tussling with the Golden Reapers, a loud sound and tremor rippled through the air.

Startled, I looked around, and the Black Sea began to churn violently.

Whirlpools erupted from all directions, and fierce winds began to blow.

[Kill the jellyfish that cannot speak but is very talkative, and shatter the night pearl in the eye of the storm.]

The appearance of the storm was what the destruction conditions had been referring to.