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The giant pig was bounding through the Rocky Mountains like it owned the place, constantly on the lookout for opportunities.

I placed the Sprout Reaper and the Blue Reaper on my palm to convey my intention.

“Alright, there’s only one chance. Get ready!”

The Golden Reaper, who had been sidelined in this operation, was sitting on Yerin’s palm with a look like a puppy that had its food bowl taken away.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Yerin, feeling sorry for it, continued to soothe the Golden Reaper by petting its head.

I gathered the leftover firewood to prepare for a huge black hole.

There was no backup firewood.

This was the last attack, leaving only the firewood to flee with Yerin into the Mini Reaper Garden if this operation failed!

As I pushed the remaining firewood into the black hole with both hands, they darkened, creating a haze around me.

And on my shoulder, the Sprout Reaper and the Blue Reaper prepared with tense expressions.

Realizing something big was about to happen, the giant pig stared at me intently, waiting for its chance.

[Please block the line of sight!]
[Please cover it with thick fog!]
[Please obscure the sense of direction!]

With my senses scattered and fog covering the area, I reached my hands forward.

Then the giant pig started charging in, engulfing itself in flames, synchronizing with the fog.

I clenched my hands, watching this spectacle.

Crack.

*

The King of Pigs, master of the mountains, continued to ponder amidst a foggy mind.

He had to eliminate all his enemies.

That was the promise made with ■■.

For my mountains, my people, my ■■.

The distortions in space were creating visible signs in the pig’s eyes once more.

The space contracted again, mercilessly tearing flesh and bone apart.

Although I barely escaped, such wounds wouldn’t kill me.

Amidst the painful reconstruction of my bones and flesh, I could make out the presence of the enemy.

In my almost blind gaze, the enemy’s presence was the only thing I could vaguely perceive.

And that presence was steadily diminishing.

I can win.

The enemy was strong, but not strong enough to defeat me.

The enemy’s might wasn’t limitless.

If things continued this way, the enemy would either exhaust all their strength or become careless.

The King of Pigs was waiting for that moment.

Surely, the enemy would become reckless to overturn this situation, placing everything on the line.

[Please block the line of sight!]
[Please cover it with thick fog!]
[Please obscure the sense of direction!]

And that moment came sooner than expected.

Fog began to spread around, obscuring vision and dulling senses.

As the fog expanded, I felt the enemy’s presence rapidly diminishing.

That level of exhaustion seemed enough to make follow-up attacks impossible.

It was the opportunity the King of Pigs had been waiting for.

And the more the enemy’s presence faded, the more horrifying the pressure felt.

The space screamed.

An attack of unprecedented scale was coming!

The King of Pigs charged headfirst, flames engulfing his entire body.

It was the ultimate performance of the King of Pigs.

He ran as fast as he could, as if rushing to dive in before the enemy’s attack completed.

But the King of Pigs was prepared to evade at any moment.

In the fog-filled space, a transparent but distorted boundary emerged.

Part of the fog began to physically interlock wrongly.

The fog flowing over the boundary fractured like layers, and the sideways current became a jumbled mess against the boundary.

Infinitely transparent glass orbs filled the surroundings, and the outside scenery was distorted as if viewed through a fish-eye lens.

The boundary of this transparent yet opaque space trapped the King of Pigs.

And then, darkness fell.

A massive area enveloped the King of Pigs, preventing light from escaping.

A low, ominous sound resonated from the space itself.

The space warped, producing a melancholy symphony that signaled the arrival awaited by the King of Pigs.

The very last moment he could evade, and the moment the enemy could no longer withdraw their attack.

As the black sphere formed, the pig transcended the space.

Right behind the enemy.

It was the perfect evasive counterattack.

The pig opened its mouth wide, ready to bite; just when it was about to close its jaw, everything froze.

The fog that once surrounded seemed to vanish.

And a giant tree took the place of the sky.

A bizarre tree that shimmered in gold and indigo.

Although not present in the memory of the King of Pigs, it felt familiar.

I can’t move!

Why?

And in this world where everything was frozen, only one being could still move.

The gray-skinned, brightly burning adversary.

The enemy slowly approached, flying through the air, and gently tapped the pig’s jaw with its fingertip, causing the King of Pigs to start moving slowly.

It was movement that had nothing to do with his own will.

Leaving behind an indigo afterimage, he began to retract slowly, slowly.

No!

His steps forward began to rewind.

The dimension gate that had already disappeared resurrected as time rewound, and the fragments of the shattered ground returned to their places as the King of Pigs landed.

It looked like only the time related to his position was being rewound.

Despite putting all his strength into resistance, it had no effect.

And at the moment he was about to be engulfed completely by the all-consuming black sphere, time began to flow once more.

The black sphere, which had been grinding through the space with all its might, instantly crushed his body too.

In the final moments, as his entire form shattered, the King of Pigs caught a glimpse of an old memory.

A forgotten, hazy memory.

The memory of birth.

The White Guardian looking down at the King of Pigs and the enormous being standing behind, staring at him with an expressionless gaze.

With that memory, the King of Pigs closed his eyes.

*

I won!

Finally, it’s over.

The agile giant pig is dead.

As the ground whirlpool that distorted the surrounding space vanished, the massive open lot where the pig had been frolicking began to shrink rapidly.

The Sprout Reaper looked exhausted, having fallen asleep and was now cradled in the arms of the Golden Reapers.

And the Golden Reapers, with cheerful smiles, tossed the Sprout into the air.

It was a celebratory cheer for the youngest’s achievement.

Seeing the sleeping Sprout Reaper’s brows furrow slightly, it was clear it didn’t seem to enjoy it much.

“Finally, it’s over!”

Yerin shouted brightly, seeing the pig’s disappearance, and ran towards me.

“Reaper! We won, right?”

Then with a carefree expression, she rushed over to me, grabbed my hands, and was struck with shock.

Puff.

The moment Yerin held my hands, they crumbled into powder and shattered, shocking her.

It was due to the Sprout Reaper’s ability of ‘reversing the target’s position’ requiring more firewood than expected.

“Are you okay? It’s really okay, right?”

Seeing Yerin in a panic, a funny thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Hehe.

I suppressed the firewood’s light as much as I could and pretended to fall back as if unconscious.

And though it hurt a bit, I started breaking the firewood with my feet, turning it to ash.

“No! No, Reaper!”

Yerin wailed, shaking my shoulders wildly as if I were dying.

Then she collapsed, burying her face in my chest.

As I thought it was time to reveal it was just a joke and opened my eyes, Yerin was completely still.

‘Huh?’

It seemed Yerin had fainted from severe mental shock.

And the Mini Reapers looked down at me with expressions as if I were garbage.

What, why!

I laid Yerin down properly and shook her, but she showed no signs of waking.

Yerin, wake up quickly.

It was a joke!

It couldn’t be anything serious, right?

*

Early in the morning at Sehee Research Institute, Seoah rushed to work after hearing reports of an unidentified woman appearing.

The woman’s identity had been revealed as James’ personal secretary.

Why did James’ personal secretary suddenly come to Sehee Research Institute?

Surely it had to be related to the Gray Reaper or Yerin Oh, but it was hard to obtain relevant information from Korea.

Even the breaking news about the Spirit Barrier being on fire had been cut off.

I couldn’t even reach James, and I sent an email with the details about the secretary instead.

The Korean Object Association would sometimes try to control information this way, but I didn’t know why.

I felt a bit anxious, but with the Gray Reaper nearby, it should be fine.

If it were a real problem, the Gray Reaper would return with Yerin.

Having sorted out what needed to be done, Seoah discovered something very suspicious during her morning walk.

She found a suspicious underground staircase through the slightly opened door of Sehee’s office.

At that moment, Seoah recalled a ridiculous rumor that had been circulating about the Sehee Research Institute.

The rumor claimed that no matter how much they earn, the institute’s financial situation won’t improve because there is a massive golden statue underground.

Seoah had usually ignored such nonsense rumors, but seeing the passage made her start to feel a bit suspicious.

With a secret underground staircase not even shown on the map, she slowly began to descend, relying only on the light from her cell phone.

Director Lee Sehee had always managed the budget transparently and honestly to avoid attracting attention; who knew she was building such a facility?

With each step down the long staircase, her regret for not checking the budget periodically grew.

Finally arriving at the underground space, it was wide, pleasant, and glimmering with light.

The first thing that caught her eye was the gigantic golden statue filling her vision.

The golden statue dazzlingly reflected the light, being the centerpiece of this space.

A massive golden statue of a Gray Reaper shining in gold.

The blank face indicated that this golden figure was not the Golden Reaper but the Gray Reaper.

“How much did all this cost?”

Only admiration escaped Seoah’s lips.

Just the sight indicated an enormous amount of money had gone into this golden statue and the underground space.

While wandering around the underground, feeling the pleasantly perfect air as if the air conditioning was functioning perfectly, a voice reached Seoah’s ears.

“You saw it, Seoah.”

Seoah felt her heart race as she turned around.

There stood Sehee, looking at her from the shadows of the dark underground passage.