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In a rarely visited emergency stairwell with few users, a Security Room Employee sat, waiting for someone.

The employee, looking slightly anxious as if in a drug deal, held a ‘Gray Reaper Pudding’ in his hand.

He glanced around and, upon spotting something, broke into a bright smile.

A blue hat peeked out from behind the railing of the stairs leading up.

As he watched the approaching Blue Reaper, shy yet eagerly, the employee felt a surge of emotion.

He had successfully arranged to meet the Blue Reaper on a regular basis.

Since the moment he first saw the Blue Reaper, who tidied up like a diligent housekeeper, he had worked hard for this.

It was quite challenging to feed the pudding to the elusive Blue Reaper.

Now, it felt like all the efforts to grab the Blue Reaper’s attention were finally paying off.

Nibble, nibble.

The Blue Reaper slowly munched the pudding with tiny bites taken by a small mouth, lifted by a spoon.

He placed the Blue Reaper in his palm, scooping out the pudding bit by bit to feed him.

Seeing the Blue Reaper’s chubby cheeks, nearly obscured by a slouched hat, it gave him a warm feeling in his belly.

There was still a slight distance, but just being able to meet the Blue Reaper regularly was a significant achievement.

One day, he vowed, he would rest in the studio with the Blue Reaper, feeding him pudding.

As the Blue Reaper slowly ate the pudding, consuming it with a casual demeanor, the red emergency lights began to flicker.

Beeep. Beeep.

A loud sound echoed, and an ominous red light illuminated the stairway.

What on earth is going on?

Of all times for an emergency!

Sehee Research Institute had exceptionally high standards for emergencies, and if the emergency alarm rang, it likely indicated a genuine crisis.

A piano-playing blue lizard getting angry and bludgeoning someone to death wouldn’t trigger the alarm…

The Blue Reaper, who had been munching on the pudding, also looked around with a surprised expression.

Swoosh.

At that moment, a sharp slicing sound began to emanate from the steel door at the emergency landing.

A clear beak, resembling glass, pierced through the steel door.

Emerging from the steel door was the [Glass Flamingo].

The flamingo was made of a transparent material that beautifully refracted and reflected light.

This was a newly introduced object.

When it stood still, it had such an air of elegance that one might mistake it for a finely crafted statue.

It was clearly classified as a safe object due to its non-aggressive disposition and calm demeanor, right?

But now the Glass Flamingo looked wild and aggressive.

The Blue Reaper stood in front of the Security Room Employee and began weaving incomprehensible strings of text.

[Please protect us!]

A Water Droplet Shield enveloped the Blue Reaper and the Security Room Employee.

However, the Glass Flamingo, undeterred by the shield, began to advance slowly with footsteps ringing like glass.

The employee took a slow step forward, preparing for the worst.

Its beak could slice through steel, and the flamingo’s proud stance made the employee uneasy.

The Blue Reaper glanced around, seemingly frightened, and began to back away slowly as the flamingo approached.

[Ten needles made of water!]

Water began to coalesce in the air, sharp and honed, shooting towards the flamingo, but it appeared to have no effect.

Then, pulling its head slightly back, the flamingo’s beak shot out like a bullet, easily ripping through the water droplets and targeting the Blue Reaper.

The employee cradled the Blue Reaper, rolling to evade the beak.

Thanks to his prior preparations to dodge, he successfully shielded the Blue Reaper from the beak.

But he didn’t completely escape.

Just barely grazing him, the beak sliced deeply into his thigh.

With a feeling of blood draining away, a hot pain flared.

Looking down at his hands, he saw the Blue Reaper’s shocked expression, eyes wide open.

[Please don’t hurt!]

[Please don’t hurt!]

[Please don’t hurt!]

[Somebody help!]

With strings of incomprehensible text, the pain gradually began to fade.

Must be the Blue Reaper’s magic.

The employee tried to lower the Blue Reaper down to the bottom of the stairs with his palm, but the Blue Reaper resisted, tensing up as if saying he didn’t want to go.

The Blue Reaper shook his head frantically and stood before the flamingo with a frightened expression.

The Blue Reaper’s brave act was met with the flamingo’s annoyance as it swung its foot, smashing him apart.

The kicked Blue Reaper rolled over, clutching his stomach as if in pain and collapsed.

At that moment, something shot up from the floor of the stair landing.

A golden head.

Golden Reapers peeked from the stair rails and all over the steps, looking on.

Rarely did they appear angry, but their expressions were hard to come by.

The flamingo, seeing this scene, walked with a proud gait, but something felt off.

It looked as if it was walking forward, yet the flamingo was gradually distancing itself.

As soon as it passed the steel door from which it had entered, it turned around and bolted away at full speed.

Behind it followed a wave of angry Golden Reapers, rushing in like a tsunami.

*

Unlike the giant exterior of the [Unchanging Black Sphere], the inside was a space so narrow it could induce claustrophobia.

A space barely large enough for a circular table in the center.

Inside, made of black stone, there was a single ordinary round table made of wood, standing alone.

The table stood out like an island adrift in a dark sea of void.

The seemingly ordinary wooden table exuded an elegant aura, as if each ring of the wood carried intention.

On the table sat a bunch of very tiny chairs.

Curious, I picked one of the chairs up to inspect it.

It was small enough to believe it was made for Mini Reapers, with just the right dimensions.

The antique table and the tiny chairs.

On the black walls surrounding this strange furniture were countless unknown inscriptions.

They resembled no alphabets on Earth, feeling like some sort of symbol instead.

Those letters seemed etched in with madness and despair.

Traces of madness dug into the solid stone by fingers.

The grooves forming the letters were stained with remnants of ancient blood.

[I must eradicate the Book that Killed God.]

[I must eradicate the Book that Killed God.]

[I must eradicate the Book that Killed God.]

The walls were densely covered with the same sentence, scribbled obsessively as if by a lunatic.

It filled the walls, ceiling, and floor.

Even the spot where I had moved the mini chair revealed bloodstains; checking it showed letters carved into the wooden table.

Letters deeply soaked with blood.

[My wish may reach the god.]

The moment I touched those letters with my hand, an overwhelming quantity of firewood surged in.

Despair, sorrow, and hope.

It was a tidal wave of mixed emotions.

At the moment all emotions were sucked into my firewood, the space seemed to lose power and folded in, swallowing me whole.

And before I knew it, I had returned to the James Research Institute.

*

The [Unchanging Black Sphere] undulated like water and swallowed the Reaper.

Startled, I looked around only to find James opening his mouth in amazement.

“Just as I thought.”

“Is it okay that the Reaper disappeared like this?”

Hearing my question, James calmly retorted.

“So, do you think there’s a problem?”

“Uh, well…”

Thinking it over, I couldn’t quite picture any situation where something might go wrong with the Reaper.

“And I was thinking the [Unchanging Black Sphere] and the Gray Reaper might interact somehow.”

As James spoke, the [Unchanging Black Sphere] vanished in the blink of an eye, and right there, the Reaper appeared.

Standing blankly, the Reaper stared at the spot where the sphere had been.

Wobble, wobble.

Then it slowly turned its head and began walking toward me, looking somewhat puzzled.

It repeatedly tilted its head, clenching and unclenching its fist.

“The [Unchanging Black Sphere] appears to have succeeded. Since the other Artifact Number 0s are in transit, let’s start the ‘James Research Institute’ tour in the meantime.”

Saying, ‘Isn’t it a pity to come all the way to America without sightseeing?’ James began to leave the open lot where the [Unchanging Black Sphere] had been.

I tightly held the Reaper’s hand and slowly followed him.

And in that void left behind, researchers with various equipment began to investigate where the [Unchanging Black Sphere] had disappeared from.

By the way, something felt off.

Why is James feeding Artifact Number 0 to the Reaper?