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In the serene backyard of the Sehee Research Institute, warm sunlight poured down during midday.

The tranquil scene in the spacious, peaceful courtyard looked as if it had been cut straight from a beautifully arranged photograph.

Lying on a fluffy mat, I was comfortably gazing up at the sky with Yerin’s knees as my pillow.

Golden Reapers frolicked around the backyard in pairs with Black Reapers, and a cute puppy was seen diligently running around, riding a Golden Reaper.

So relaxing.

Even though the facilities at the James Research Institute were impressive, nothing felt as comforting as the Sehee Research Institute.

Indeed, one cannot overlook the differences between people.

I preferred the casually loose, free atmosphere of the Sehee Research Institute over the suffocating vibe of the James Research Institute.

When a gentle breeze blew, the soft rustling of leaves created a pleasant background sound.

The fresh wind carried a subtle fragrance of flowers.

Om nom nom.

As I looked up at the sky while munching on the snacks Yerin was feeding me, I saw Cloud Fish swimming in the deep blue canvas above.

These Cloud Fish, seemingly made by clumping clouds into fish shapes, elegantly sailed through the sky, moving like schools of fish.

Looking at the vividly blue sky and the gracefully flowing Cloud Fish felt as if I were submerged underwater, gazing up at the water’s surface.

The Cloud Fish flying freely in the sky always made me envious.

I heard they infrequently came down to the ground, and if I had a chance, I wanted to see them properly.

They seemed to be plentiful enough to swarm; perhaps if I stealthily caught one, no one would notice?

Then I would gain the ability to fly, and the Cloud Fish would…

Well, I’m sure there would be some upside to it.

With the excessive density of fish, the Cloud Fish might also be struggling with job scarcity.

The Black Reaper, who had been looking enviously at Yerin, crawled over, pulling out a potato chip and pushing it into my mouth.

Crunch crunch.

As the potato chip crumbled in my mouth, the Black Reaper revealed its sharp teeth and let out a giggle.

While blankly snacking on the treats from Yerin and the Black Reaper, Yerin suddenly started talking as if she just remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, I met James’s secretary sister at the hospital. She seemed to be in a bit of a tricky situation.”

Was there any reason for it to be tricky?

Yerin continued, as if anticipating my curiosity.

“There’s no entry record, so she just popped up out of nowhere and was treated as an illegal immigrant. Because of that, it seems her return to the U.S. might be delayed a little.”

As Yerin shared the conversation with her secretary, she handed me a piece of an appealing-looking apple.

“Oh, and the secretary sister asked me to tell you since she can’t speak directly while she’s being detained. She said, ‘Thank you for saving me.'”

Then, with her hands on my cheeks, Yerin looked into my eyes and said,

“I’m also grateful for you saving me!”

Gratitude so profound that it was hard to maintain eye contact sparkled in Yerin’s eyes.

Feeling somewhat burdened, I closed my eyes.

*

In the late afternoon at the Sehee Research Institute.

In the quiet Deputy Director’s Office, I was diligently doing paperwork.

From the outside, it looked calm, but I felt it was anything but quiet.

Hee hee hee.

It was the sprout that sat on the monitor, laughing every time I made a mistake.

“Finally done!”

As I finished my work, the sprout stood up and clapped its hands to congratulate me.

Even though it usually wore an annoying expression, during moments like this, it transformed into a look of genuine praise…

I picked the sprout up from the monitor and plopped it onto my palm, starting to squeeze its chubby cheeks.

Those cheeks were like glutinous rice cakes, melting away the exhaustion of work.

The sprout presented its cheeks as if inviting me to squeeze as hard as I wanted.

Still, it was clearly an annoying little creature.

It was nothing like the innocent, kind-hearted Golden Reaper; given how often the original Gray Reaper played pranks, the sprout might be closer to the original.

Nonetheless, it had a strange charm that made it hard to hate.

While it didn’t tease me to the point of genuine anger, having the sprout around somehow seemed to enhance my productivity.

The problem was that since the sprout was visible only to me, playing with it led to strange looks from those around me, so recently I’d only been entertaining the sprout in private spaces.

It was nice that the mini reaper was meant only for me and gazed solely at me, but occasionally I worried that it might just be an illusion of what I desired.

Still, I needed to record new information about the sprout.

As I opened my notebook, the sprout sat nearby, watching me write.

[Indigo Sprout Reaper.]

[Unlike other mini reapers, it has two colors.]

[Golden and indigo. What could it mean? ]

[I sometimes see the indigo tree and golden tree behind the sprout; it feels related.]

[After eating the fruit, I began to see sprout reapers I could touch.]

[Could it be a fruit that causes hallucinations? ]

[Or perhaps a fruit that lets me see the materialized sprout reaper? ]

[I wish we had a spirit camera in our institute, but we don’t, so there’s no way to prove it.]

[After eating the fruit given by the sprout, my fatigue decreased, and the quality of my sleep improved. I need to measure if that’s really true.]

I closed the notebook and placed the sprout back on my palm, starting various conversations.

If the Golden Reaper’s gaze resembled that of a child, the sprout’s gaze felt more intelligent, giving me a sense of dialogue.

Though the sprout didn’t utter a single word.

*

Nearby the Rocky Mountains, a village near the burned spirit barrier was bustling with people.

It stood in stark contrast to how the village had once exuded a tranquil atmosphere even in broad daylight.

It was all thanks to the association staff members walking around with the Object Association logos.

Association staff, holding strange equipment with serious expressions, were enough to catch the attention of boys playing basketball in front of their houses.

“Hey, what the heck is going on?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like anything dangerous. If it were a real threat, there would’ve been an evacuation order by now.”

Some staff roamed around with peculiar devices, while others handed out flyers to people, asking them to take one.

Approaching boys watching and holding a basketball, a staff member came close with a friendly expression, holding out a flyer.

“There’s a dangerous object moving around, so if you see it, please contact the number here immediately.”

The young boys, looking like elementary school students, received the flyers with ease and asked the staff.

“What exactly is going on?”

“A dangerous object has shown up and is currently being pursued. It’s truly hazardous, so even if you spot it, don’t approach it and contact us instead.”

Upon hearing that, a boy squinted suspiciously.

It was as if he were looking at a fake Object Association employee.

“If it’s that dangerous of an object, shouldn’t an evacuation order have arrived by now?”

“Hmm, how should I put this? It’s dangerous, but it doesn’t threaten lives, and the object is moving so fast that issuing an evacuation order is difficult.”

The staff member replied with a somewhat awkward expression in light of the boy’s sharp observation.

“Anyway, make sure to contact us if you find it!”

With a wave, the staff member hurried off.

Once the staff were gone, the boys were left with just the flyers in their hands.

“What the heck is so dangerous about it?”

The boy crumpled the flyer nervously and muttered.

Inside the crumpled flyer were a number and a photo along with a warning message.

[Warning for an Extreme Mental Pollution Object!]

[If spotted, do NOT enter within 10 meters of the target.]

[Please contact the number below immediately upon spotting.]

The boy threw the crumpled flyer and kicked it away as he spoke.

“The ‘Golden Reaper’ is just cute, you know.”

On the flyer flying into the sky was a picture of the smiling ‘Golden Reaper’.

*

Under the guidance of the Director of Trinity Research Institute No. 1, the Deputy Director found something truly astonishing.

The resurrection of the dead.

Upon placing a human corpse into the ‘Evolution Liquid,’ the cells began to regenerate.

Such phenomena hadn’t occurred with animal corpses and only responded to human remains.

“Remarkable indeed.”

The Deputy Director couldn’t help but marvel.

On the monitor the Deputy Director was watching, a person who had died in a traffic accident was being resurrected in the evolution liquid.

“Yes, isn’t it astonishing? Truly remarkable.”

But the next video that played brought forth numerous issues.

<5 out of 10 do not resurrect and are dissolved instead.>

[Resurrected individuals show increased aggression.]

[Significant decrease in intelligence.]

[Unjustified hatred towards humans.]

[And irreversible grotesque physical transformations.]

“While it’s fascinating, there are still many problems. To directly inject such a liquid into a human being without any moderations, has the Director of Research Institute No. 3 gone mad?”

Then the Director of Research Institute No. 1 showed an old note to the Deputy Director.

“The method for producing Evolution Liquid is also a problem. It requires incomprehensible methods and materials whose identities are unknown.”

The Deputy Director was left dumbfounded as he looked at the notes that the Director had shown him.

“Is this for real?”

The notes contained strange phrases that were written all over them.

[Boil the dried frog legs and 'baby head flower' under the full moon in a cauldron for three days.]

The densely packed instructions for making the evolution liquid were full of such suspicious sentences.

What astonished the Deputy Director even more was that those ridiculous methods actually worked.

“Such nonsensical methods would make mass production impossible. The yield is astonishingly poor. Especially, the issue of including ‘humans’ as a material is problematic.”

“Ah, then we must establish a modern method of production. This will be a tremendously time-consuming task.”

The Deputy Director sighed helplessly, contemplating how to improve that witch-like alchemical recipe.

“Luckily, the Director of Research Institute No. 3 has also noted methods for mass production.”

The Director of Research Institute No. 1 flashed a significant smile and handed one note to the Deputy Director.

Encouraged by the Director to read it quickly, the Deputy Director skimmed the note.

It was the diary of the Director of Research Institute No. 3.

Being a diary, various stories were jumbled together, but among them were several noteworthy anecdotes.

From the tale of how an object resembling a blue moon was necessary for mass production of the evolution liquid.

To how the Gray Reaper had become a major obstacle.

The Deputy Director closed the diary and spoke.

“Presently, both the blue moon and red moon have lost their powers; we will have to wait for another moon or conduct experiments with a different object that can serve as a substitute.”

As the Deputy Director pondered a list of powerful, domain-holding objects, the Director interrupted his thoughts.

“We need not wait. There is already a moon object that lies with us.”

“Are you talking about the moon of the snowfield? It says here in the diary that it can no longer be used.”

“No, I’m not referring to the purple moon.”

The Director of Research Institute No. 1 shook his head and spread out the map widely.

“Right here. There is a moon that is hidden, undiscovered by the world. In this place, you can launch an attack on the moon without interference from the Gray Reaper or anyone else.”

The spot where the Director of Research Institute No. 1 pointed on the map was a village deep within Odaesan.

*

As the sun began to set lower in the late afternoon, the weather started to grow chilly.

The fiery red sky of dusk indicated that it was nearly time to return to the isolation room.

Yerin had vanished somewhere, claiming she had remaining tasks to handle.

The sky was bustling with Cloud Fish, stained red by the twilight.

It seemed the sheer number of Cloud Fish was unprecedented.

As I stood up, the news report began relaying information about Songpa District.

[Reports are coming in that the harmless object known as ‘Cloud Fish’ is flying en masse over the skies of Songpa District.]

A video of Cloud Fish shot from a helicopter appeared, showcasing a giant Cloud Whale and a massive quantity of Cloud Fish swarming together.

After watching the news, I looked up at the sky to see blood-red Cloud Fish still swimming above.