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For security reasons, the Sehee Research Institute Security Room had no windows connected to the outside, creating a dreary atmosphere.

Inside, numerous surveillance camera feeds were displayed, and the security room employees were engaged in conversation while staring at one screen.

“Come on, there’s no way someone so quietly asleep could do that. You’re just joking that I didn’t see it, right?”

“No way, do you not trust your senior? I’m serious.”

On the zoomed-in screen that the employees were staring at, a sprout reaper with indigo skin was sound asleep.

The peaceful and cozy appearance looked like something out of a sleeping angel story.

“Seriously, how could a kid with such a sweet expression provoke a camera?”

“I’m telling you, it’s true. Why would I lie about something like this?”

As if a light bulb went off in the senior employee’s head, he pulled up the saved footage on the screen.

“Now that I think about it, I’m not sure why I’m trying to convince you. We could just replay the video….”

However, no matter how much they scoured through the footage, only the sleeping sprout could be seen, without any unusual behavior.

“Ugh, what the… Is this really happening? Was I mistaken?”

“See? The sprout that appeared this time is harmless and quiet.”

The junior employee smiled brightly and got up to walk over to where he’d hidden some instant noodles in the security room.

“I’m hungry. Want a cup of ramen, senior?”

“Sure.”

As the junior prepared two cups of ramen that he’d brought from the lounge, he continued, “These days, it feels like the blue reapers have been acting a bit differently. They seem a little closer, maybe?”

“Really? I don’t have much contact with blue reapers, so I wouldn’t know.”

“It’s definitely different. It’s not just me; I’ve heard that they even cut apples more often when they get home.”

Carrying the two cups of ramen filled with hot water, the junior employee returned to his seat.

The senior employee accepted the ramen handed over by the junior and commented,

“This familiar instant noodle smell. I heard the research institute has been making a lot of money lately, yet this cheap cup ramen remains unchanged.”

While eating the ramen, the security room employees chatted about various topics.

The story of a blue reaper giving chocolate as a gift.

Rumors that there is a giant gray reaper statue made of gold in the basement of the Sehee Research Institute.

It wasn’t exactly nutritious gossip.

“Well then, I’m off to throw away some garbage.”

The junior employee gathered the remnants of the ramen and stuffed them into a plastic bag before stepping out of the security room.

Left behind in the security room was only the senior employee, who was slowly dozing off due to a post-lunch drowsiness.

With the scent of ramen filling the air, the senior employee rested his chin on his hand, staring blankly at the CCTV footage.

A perfect display of a dedicated Sehee Research Institute employee just waiting for the workday to end.

At that moment, something changed on the sprout reaper’s screen.

The half-closed eyes of the sprout reaper met those of the senior employee.

“Whoa!”

In an instant, the senior employee sprang from his chair, and the sprout reaper widened its eyes a bit more, adopting a teasing expression.

Bleh-.

And it stuck its tongue out, going “Neh.”

I wasn’t mistaken after all!

Just then, the security room door opened, and the junior employee walked in.

“Senior? What are you doing suddenly jumping up?”

But by the time the junior employee returned after taking care of the trash, the mischievous look of the sprout reaper was already gone.

*

Looking down from an extremely high vantage point, an endless expanse of black slime land stretched out to the horizon.

The glossy surface rippled with a slow and ominous rhythm, reminiscent of a sleeping beast’s breath.

In the midst of this dark, sticky sea, a herd of pigs wrapped in flames slowly crossed the sludge, burning the black goo with each step.

Ahead of the pigs was a swirling giant hole, deep and dark, swallowing light like the mouth of an abyss.

The entrance to the abyss that the pigs were heading toward looked identical to the one seen from a helicopter but appeared much blacker and more polluted.

The sight of the flaming pig legion continuously moving toward the unreachable pit felt like a scene from an apocalyptic vision of doom.

The pigs marched with clear intent filled with malice and hatred towards humans.

The hotel where Yerin was staying was near that ground hole; it couldn’t be left alone.

The target was the leading pig.

The biggest one.

Though I tried to grasp the space with both hands to tear it apart, an unexpected phenomenon began to occur.

It was as if the universe was alive; sensing my will, the space started to twist and contort.

A black sphere, endlessly swallowing light, emerged from thin air, tearing through the fabric of space.

The pigs, once filling the open fields, couldn’t even resist and were sucked into the black sphere amidst blood and pain.

The giant pig, too, couldn’t withstand the power of the black sphere and shattered into pieces.

However, the outcome between the objects was anything but straightforward.

The attacks that didn’t meet the destruction criteria couldn’t kill the pigs, and the torn flesh began to coalesce, reviving the pigs.

The massive pig, having lost most of its body, looked up at me, oozing lava instead of blood.

Even the small pigs that had filled the ground began to revive and stared at me intently.

[!!!!!]

And the giant pig opened its mouth wide and shouted, but I couldn’t understand what it was saying.

It was an alien language I’d heard a few times back on Earth.

Before, I could understand it, but why couldn’t I now?

Confused, I looked down at my body, which welcomed me in a form different from usual.

A body stained black.

Firewood burning white in the void.

A vaguely blurred physical form.

A giant stature that seemed to reach the sky.

And a vessel for a body and soul that had died long ago.

My shadow cast on the ground merged with the black slime, looking down at the herd of pigs.

What’s happening? What on Earth is this?

The moment I recognized the change in my body, my senses rapidly stretched out in all directions.

Across the continent, planet, and beyond the universe.

Omnipotence.

Yes, I felt omnipotence.

That almost intoxicating feeling suddenly dissipated with the arrival of a very small voice.

“Mama, hurry…”

The golden reaper’s pained voice!

The voices of the waiting children echoed in my ears.

*

Flames surged up suddenly, and the golden reaper lifted its head to gaze at the steel pig statue.

The sturdy steel pig statue was losing its shape and melting away.

“I won, Mama!”

With a smile on its face, the golden reaper awaited the return of the gray reaper from within the melting steel pig statue.

But what appeared before the golden reaper was the gray reaper, now in a state of unconsciousness.

A body devoid of will collapsed within the melting steel pig statue, rolling to the ground.

“!”

The golden reaper, taken aback, rushed to the gray reaper, but the gray reaper kept its eyes closed and was completely still.

Slap, slap.

The golden reaper slapped the gray reaper’s cheek with its palm, but there was no reaction.

It wasn’t just asleep.

What was here was merely a shell.

Essentially, it was no different from a corpse.

“Mama is not here.”

The golden reaper looked down at the immobile gray reaper with a worried expression.

But it wasn’t a major concern.

In the golden reaper’s thoughts, the gray reaper, the mother, the creator was invincible.

It was really just a small worry that it hoped she wouldn’t be too late.

However, as flames began to erupt from the gray reaper’s body, that small worry began to grow larger.

A tremendous amount of firewood began to be sucked into the air from the gray reaper’s body.

So rapidly was it happening that the once brightly lit gray reaper’s body was losing its shine in an instant.

The gray reaper’s skin became dry and crumbly like parched clay.

Just by the golden reaper’s slap to urge it to wake up, flesh began to scatter like sand.

“Mama!”

The gray reaper was dying.

“Mama is in danger!”

The golden reaper left a desperate message for its companions and transferred all of its firewood to the gray reaper.

“Mama…”

In the fading vision of the golden reaper, it could feel other golden reapers arriving frantically.

Without saying a word, the arriving golden reapers placed their hands on the gray reaper’s body, pouring their life-giving firewood into her.

Golden reapers collapsed, losing their light.

“Mama, hurry…”

The small wishes of the golden reapers, who were dying without their firewood, began to flow away, carried by their small firewood.

*

In the deep night, a curtain of light draped over the research institute cluster near the Rocky Mountains.

A red glowing curtain filled the horizon.

From one end to the other, the horizon was ablaze.

A gigantic barrier engulfing the Rocky Mountains.

The spirit barrier protecting the United States blazed brightly.

Smoke filled the sky due to the fire, and a giant shadow loomed against that backdrop.

A massive pig shadow, large enough to cover the mountains, gazed down at the human world.

And a late alarm began to sound.

Rocky Mountains Spirit Barrier Management Center.

An emergency alert was issued from the management center overseeing the spirit barrier and the object “Abyss Whirlpool” existing within it.