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The Sehee Research Institute is in an uproar.

They were making something next to my isolation room.

As I approached to check it out, Yerin rushed over and hugged me, blocking my view.

Did she say she would show it to me later?

I could sneak in to see it, but that felt like too much trouble, and since it seemed like some surprise party, I decided to wait with anticipation.

The construction noise was too loud; it wasn’t a situation where I could even watch TV.

So I thought about going out to the backyard to play, but I noticed the Golden Reapers engaging in some bizarre gameplay.

Bouncing around.

The Golden Reapers were darting around in all directions.

Everyone was running around with their hands covering their ears—bounce, bounce.

It all started when one of the Golden Reapers mimicked Yerin, who was covering her ears because of the construction noise, and it turned into a trend.

The Golden Reapers were happily laughing while bouncing around with their ears covered.

Maybe it was because they couldn’t use their hands; they kept bumping into each other and tumbling down, rolling around.

Then, seemingly having so much fun, the fallen Golden Reapers looked at each other and laughed.

They really seem to find joy in anything they do.

So I gave a light push to the head of the Golden Reaper running around excitedly inside the isolation room.

The Golden Reaper covering its ears lost its balance because of my finger and tumbled down.

Then it sprawled on the floor and chuckled as if it were having a grand time.

As I continued playing this game of knocking down the Golden Reapers whenever I felt bored in the noisy isolation room, it soon quieted down.

Has the construction finally finished?

Just as I was thinking that, Yerin came in through the isolation room door, beaming.

“Reaper, it’s finally done!”

With a huge grin, Yerin slipped her hand under my armpit and started lifting me up.

*

After arriving to find the client, we were in a city that seemed quite developed.

According to my research, this place was nothing but ruins just a few years ago, but now it was a city bursting with vibrant energy.

The man who created this city was quite a famous figure.

Years ago, he turned a barren wasteland into something extraordinary, holding a vintage gas lamp in his hand—a true father of this city.

Looking around, tall buildings still covered in scaffolding pierced the sky, and the sound of construction echoed everywhere.

The streets were lively, and the restaurants scattered throughout the buildings were packed with people.

“This place is nicer than I expected, right?”

As I tickled the Golden Horn Reaper sitting on my palm, it squirmed and laughed, finding it ticklish.

A bustling city more lively than I anticipated.

I thought it would be completely barren since it had been ruins just a few years ago, but there were surprisingly many people and big, tall buildings.

Yet, it was undeniable that the city was still under development, evident from the sights of construction occurring all around.

There were many sections surrounded by the common construction barriers, and construction noise occasionally rang out.

It was noisy, but it felt like a glimpse of a city growing.

“Now, where could our client be?”

As I opened my phone to check the map, the Golden Horn Reaper looked curiously at the screen.

“Since we’re here, we’ll need to go in a bit more. Got it?”

The Reaper paid attention to my explanation and looked at the map, but seemingly having a hard time understanding it, it turned to me with a bright smile.

Really, these Reapers are too cute.

As I stroked it with my finger, the Reaper beamed back at me.

I sometimes thought there was quite a strong mental pollution aura stemming from it, but if it wasn’t causing harm, then wasn’t that okay?

Happiness is what’s important!

Seeing the Reaper rubbing its cheek against my finger made me feel happy, so it was fine.

As I walked with the Golden Reaper in my arms to meet the client, the city’s impression changed.

The vibrant atmosphere seemed to fade away, and the city began to feel darker.

The bright atmosphere and lively sounds faded, replaced by a gloomy, dark atmosphere filling the streets.

Instead of newly built buildings that were commonly seen, there were skeletal concrete structures and hastily reinforced temporary buildings.

A dark mood was heavily infused in the air, clinging to the buildings like weeds protruding chaotically through rough concrete.

The haphazardly constructed temporary buildings cast shadows in broad daylight.

The alley walls covered in graffiti and windows boarded up with planks clearly indicated what kind of place this was.

A slum?

Does it make sense for a newly-established city to have a slum?

It felt a bit strange.

The atmosphere of the people passing by also changed.

Tired, vigilant gazes.

Filled with doubt and resignation, a man sat in the corner of the alley, casting his eyes around.

As I got closer to my destination, my anxiety grew, but seeing the warm presence of the Reaper in my hands, I slowly moved forward.

Upon arriving at the location specified by the client, there stood a boy with his hat pulled down, standing quietly at the edge.

Is this the client?

I approached the boy standing in the narrow alleyway dimly lit, filled with a foul smell of smoke.

The client turned his head, seemingly a bit surprised.

Though hidden in the lamplight, his face was obscured, but he appeared startled at the sight of my Golden Horn.

His eyes, seen peeking through the rim of his old hat, were cautious yet filled with anticipation.

To confirm our identities, I posed a pre-agreed question, and after hearing the answer, he nodded slightly.

That was the signal indicating we confirmed each other.

Of course, our office rarely uses such passcodes, but it couldn’t be helped due to the client’s strong request.

Why on earth does he want this?

Can’t we just check with the phone?

“I’m from the Yellow Detective Office.”

As I spoke, the boy took off his old hat.

Half of his face was covered in a black hexagon, a sticking substance that at first glance gave an inexplicable feeling of cockroaches swarming over without any reason.

The boy, slightly trembling, pulled out a photograph.

“Please find my family. Please find my sister. Everyone’s disappearing these days.”

The situation seemed more serious than I had anticipated.

“Then we should first look for lodging and start the investigation. How should we report the progress?”

I asked, and the boy seemed a bit flustered and gave me his home address.

After receiving the boy’s address, I exited the dark alleyway.

Thus began the case resolution with the Golden Horn Reaper.

*

Arriving cradled in Yerin’s arms landed me in an empty isolation room.

Nothing special could be seen anywhere.

If having nothing at all was special, I suppose one could say it was special in that sense.

When I turned to look at Yerin, she wore a confident expression.

Seeing Sehee and Seoah beside Yerin, it definitely felt like something was up…

But with my senses, I couldn’t find any objects hidden inside this isolation room, nor did it seem like a human was lurking here.

What on earth is going on?

“Reaper, then I’ll begin!”

Yerin with a deep smile began manipulating something outside the isolation room.

Immediately, I felt something special wrap around my body.

A force lifting me evenly throughout.

Floooat.

My body began to rise gently in the air.

It felt far more comfortable than lying on a soft bed or floating atop a calm sea.

As if gravity had vanished, I calmly floated in the air.

Could it be that they laid down an electromagnet on the isolation room floor?

When I took down the Dobong-gu frog and obtained superconducting abilities, I had been thinking about this electromagnetic isolation room.

I had intended to create it someday, but I kept forgetting because the incidents occurred too frequently!

Before I knew it, the Golden Reapers, catching on to the fun atmosphere, were joyfully soaring in the air.

Ah, this is so comfortable.

I closed my eyes and savored the sensation of being suspended in the air.

Someday, I have to acquire the ability to fly.

Such frivolous promises in my mind.

*

The boy dreamt.

A dream of reuniting with his family.

Though they had all disappeared, it was a happy dream of retrieving them again.

Having commissioned the famous ‘Yellow Detective Office’, his family would surely be found soon.

A happy dream stemming from such faith.

“Sister!”

The boy laughed brightly in his dream.

His sister reached out to him, gently caressing his cheek.

Sticky, like blood draining down.

Then suddenly, a heavy metallic smell filled the air.

“Sister?”

And the boy awoke to the sensation of someone striking his cheek.

What on earth is going on?

Annoyed at his pleasant dream being interrupted, the boy rubbed his cheek.

When he checked his hand, it was full of blood.

And the smell of blood.

As his drowsiness cleared and he opened his eyes, he was not in the shabby house of the slum where he had fallen asleep.

But in a prison with no windows, barred by sturdy iron bars.

And before the boy’s eyes hung a grotesquely disfigured corpse.

From that corpse, drops of blood fell onto the boy’s face.

The body, with all the flesh stripped away from its bones except for the face.

Suddenly, a horrifying thought struck the boy—one that he should never have.

In a sudden panic, he looked at the corpse’s face.

“AAAAHHHHHH!”

It was his sister.

The face of the corpse he confirmed, filled with a foreboding intuition, belonged to his sister.

At the sight of the horrific scene, the boy screamed and lost consciousness.

*

Passing through the dark alley, I made my way to the boy’s house.

Even if I managed to secure lodging and started searching, I didn’t even know who the client’s ‘sister’ was, so it would be impossible to find her.

I should have gathered at least some brief information before we parted!

It felt like my face was burning from such an amateurish mistake.

“Will it be okay?”

I steadied myself while looking at the wriggling Reaper in my hand.

As I neared the boy’s home, a strange smell hit me.

The scent of something burnt and ashy.

Feeling something was off, I rushed to the boy’s house only to find a total mess.

A door cut through by a sharp object.

Claw marks covering the walls.

Signs of a large beast attacking filled the boy’s house.

And there was no trace of the boy anywhere.