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I arrived at the place called by the delinquent reaper, and sure enough, a uniquely-shaped creature was waving its hand excitedly.

A golden reaper with two adorably cute little horns sticking out.

How did something like this even grow?

Curious, I grabbed the golden-horn reaper and pressed down on the horns atop its head.

Oh, it’s squishy!

It definitely looked like these horns were influenced by that woman over there.

She was the one who was called Junior No. 2 by the yellow detective.

I’ve never seen a golden reaper transformed this way due to someone else’s influence.

Is it a golden horn synergy?

Or maybe it originally had the ability to gradually resemble its attached human?

The golden reaper’s horns had a magical quality that made you want to keep pressing them.

When pressed, they crumpled, but when released, they bounced back.

The golden reaper giggled softly, rolling around as if it tickled.

As it played around with a smile, objects nearby rushed towards it.

These little things were probably the reason it called out to me, right?

Each of them was pretty weak but armed with sharp sickles that posed a threat to humans.

There were too many objects for the golden reaper to protect a human all by itself.

It’d be a hassle to take them out one by one, so I decided to erode the space and deal with them all at once.

I spread my hand and grabbed the space around the objects, squeezing tightly.

The objects rolled up like a ball along with the space.

As the objects that filled the narrow attic vanished, it felt like the space had opened up remarkably.

“Wow.”

Seeing this, Junior No. 2 let out a natural gasp, visibly impressed.

It seemed as if she was witnessing space compression for the first time.

Looking down at my grasp, I saw the golden-horn reaper smiling broadly.

Even with the horns, its personality seemed similar.

When I spread my palm and set it on top, the golden-horn reaper opened its arms wide to share all the joyful things it had experienced.

‘It was fun.’
‘It felt soft and squishy.’
‘I had a great time.’
‘I visited many places.’

The intentions conveyed by the golden reapers were always fragmented stories focused on personal feelings, making them hard to understand.

Yet, the brightness and joy of those emotions felt distinctly palpable.

The golden-horn reaper bounced around, smiling widely while trying to share its experiences.

It mentioned something about the attached human looking troubled.

Is it asking for help?

But seeing the golden-horn reaper smile innocently without a clue makes it seem like that’s not the case.

After listening to the golden-horn reaper’s thoughts, I looked around and noticed large claw marks everywhere.

Although the traces didn’t look like they could even properly break concrete, they felt like remnants of a powerful presence.

They concealed wicked intentions so twisted that they made me frown.

Strangely enough, I was the only one feeling this way; the golden-horn reaper showed no particular reaction.

Could it be that the entity leaving these traces is of higher status than the golden reaper?

Even though this isn’t Seoul, it seems better to deal with it.

And somehow, it also seems like it would be interesting.

*

The gray reaper, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, felt oddly familiar this time.

Maybe it was because I had been hanging out with reapers continuously, but it seemed way cuter and more intimate.

Standing on the gray reaper’s palm, the bouncing reaper wore an excited expression, radiating the joy of reuniting with long-lost family.

Watching this made me feel a bit guilty.

I should have visited Sehee Research Institute sooner and let them meet the golden reapers!

What’s odd is that neither the gray reaper nor the reaper spoke a word, yet there was an atmosphere of conversation between them.

I had heard that the gray reaper couldn’t speak, but it was strange.

Still, it was probably right that the gray reaper couldn’t talk.

Of course, the opinion of an elite researcher from Sehee Research Institute is surely the correct one over Junior No. 2 from the yellow detective office.

Having finished its playful antics, the reaper jumped off the gray reaper’s palm and landed on my chest.

Then it wiggled its way under my clothes, looking up and beaming.

‘Warm!’
‘Comfortable!’

Feeling like the reaper was trying to talk to me, I picked up the diary that had fallen to the floor.

Even after reviewing its contents, it was still horrific.

And based on the situation, it seemed like the owner of the diary was the client boy.

If the diary’s owner is a boy, then why?

If he is the perpetrator mentioned in the diary, why would he even request the detective agency’s assistance?

I don’t know.

My head was a mess.

Should I continue the request, give up, or have I missed something?

To clear my complex thoughts, I decided to come down from the attic and step outside the boy’s house.

*

While following Junior No. 2’s puzzled expression, a thought suddenly struck me.

If the golden-horn reaper has already left home with Junior No. 2, then it must have been a long time ago?

In that case, it probably hasn’t seen the black liquid…

Hehe.

What kind of prank, or rather, punishment should I give that delinquent who left home?

He’d definitely be surprised if it’s his first time.

Since he probably didn’t get any updates from the other golden reapers, he’d also enjoy the fresh reaction of encountering the black liquid for the first time.

I chuckled to myself, watching the reaper waving its arms excitedly as it nestled against Junior No. 2’s chest.

*

As I stepped outside the boy’s house, I saw a dark, gloomy alley.

Despite the sunlight not reaching this dark street, the airflow made me feel a bit better.

When I turned my head, the indifferent gray reaper was trailing behind me.

Different from the always smiling reaper, the gray reaper seemed to have slightly puffed cheeks, as if it was holding its mouth shut.

Squeeze. Squeeze.

And before I knew it, I found myself hugging the gray reaper, poking its cheeks.

Y-yeah, it really seems like I’ve got mental pollution going on!

I was startled and checked the gray reaper’s expression.

It wouldn’t be rolling into a ball out of anger, would it?

Looking at the gray reaper, it had a blank expression, but seeing its swaying hair in front of me didn’t look too displeased.

Thank goodness.

As my tension eased, I felt an urge to bite the swaying hair in front of me but held back.

No matter how much mental pollution there is, there are lines one must not cross as a human.

Omnomnom.

From somewhere, the gray reaper pulled out a cookie, took a small bite, and started munching.

The reaper also received a cookie from the gray reaper, cut it up, and fed it into my mouth.

Yum yum.

It was a bit too sweet, but a delicious cookie.

Sitting there, munching the cookie that the reaper fed me while feeling the warm presence of the gray reaper was more comfortable than being home.

Meanwhile, the gray reaper’s gaze drifted toward the end of the alley.

A faint silhouette was approaching from the edge of the alley.

Even in the daytime, with no sunlight reaching the dark alley, an unsettling shadow was slowly coming closer.

Though he looked tired, the boy walking normally elicited a sense of foreboding in me.

This feeling was undoubtedly because of the horrific diary I had read.

While the boy’s face looked a bit haggard, he wore a welcoming expression.

“!”

The moment light from the dark alley illuminated the boy’s hand, I couldn’t help but gulp.

His bloody hands, still fresh and un-dried.

The faint scent of blood, which had felt distant, seemed to fill the alley the instant I saw that hand.

“Detective Noona. You…”

As I watched the boy approaching with a sorrowful look on his face, an instinctive repulsion surged through me, making me step back involuntarily.

In response to my expression of rejection, the boy’s face hardened, freezing him in place as if he was nailed down.

“Detective Noona?”

The boy looked shocked.

Thud, thud.

Then, the gray reaper with shining yellow eyes approached the boy.

*

A boy drenched in blood appeared.

The boy, who was wounded by seeing Junior No. 2’s rejection, seemed perfectly fine on the outside.

But to me, the boy was already dead.

His body wasn’t moving, but he was destined to die already.

It felt like I had met the conditions for destruction with my ‘eyes.’

This boy had already boarded the irreversible rail of death.

The boy’s mind was a chaotic mess, and madness had filled the void left behind.

It felt so much like a confirmed death that I almost felt that I had seen it die with my own ‘eyes.’

The boy wouldn’t last more than 10 seconds.

Upon seeing me, the boy hesitated, slowly backing away in fear, then abruptly stopped.

His movement came to a halt unnaturally, as if a machine had switched off.

Then, he collapsed like a doll with its string cut.

With the boy’s death, bright light began to pour into the alley.

An explosive burst of light began to erupt from my antennas.

What’s happening? This is terrifying.