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[Are you an Alchemist?]

An object wearing a doll head made of spirit asked me if I was an ‘Alchemist’.

In a language that no one understood.

Yerin appeared to be just as clueless about this language, as if it was the first time she had heard it.

The girl hiding behind the doll-headed object also wore a confused expression.

“Sis, why the sudden question?”

The girl quietly poked the back of the doll head but it didn’t budge, still staring intently at me.

Whenever situations like this arose, there was only one action I took.

Ignore it!

Not only could it not speak, but it also couldn’t communicate properly, so ignoring it was my only option.

Hehe.

By the way, the doll-headed individual gave off a friendly vibe towards humans, which was rather intriguing.

While the blue lizard and ghost cat were also quite friendly towards humans, the doll head seemed even more so.

Especially with a human girl receiving the protection of the object behind it.

Perhaps that’s why, even the mini reapers filling the isolation room had wide eyes sparkling with curiosity.

After that, the doll-headed object continued to utter strange words towards me.

[Eyes of the fog salamander and wings of the frog.]

[Heart of the sea and breath of the air.]

[White flower and roots of darkness.]

[Moonlight contained in crystal and tail of an undying lizard.]

It sounded like a list of ingredients fit for alchemy in a novel.

Or wait. Since it asked if I was an Alchemist, could they be actual alchemy ingredients?

In this chaotic world filled with objects, the presence of an Alchemist seemed plausible enough to pique my interest.

Alchemy, magic, swords, and adventure!

Even though my heart was gone, it felt like a word infused with enough magic to make a lost heart beat again.

[Is that so? Am I not being understood?]

The girl wearing the doll head murmured in a slightly sulking voice.

The doll head muttered, “Lastly…” while pulling something large out of its bag.

It was so heavy that when it set it down, the ground thumped with a loud “thud.”

And that heavy object made its way in front of me, revealing a large white hungry ghost, splattered with colorful hues.

Oh.

Ooooh.

It looked like a colorful cotton candy ghost!

Somehow feeling an urge to taste it, I jumped to my feet.

I sprinted towards the colorful ghost, attempting to embrace it, but it was too heavy to even lift.

Wow, this is really heavy.

The slowly swaying antennas looked strangely appetizing, so I tried to nibble on one, but it was just a hard rock.

Had I not had physical immunity, my teeth would have been hurt by that solid rock.

What a disappointment.

In an effort to heal my disappointment, I brought the large white hungry ghost into my arms and bit into it without mercy.

Nyuuh.

As I chewed on the soft and fluffy white hungry ghost, warmth and comfort filled my heart.

Indeed, the white hungry ghost is delicious.

I threw the white hungry ghost onto the floor and returned to Yerin’s embrace.

The doll-headed woman looked visibly disappointed.

Did she hope I was an Alchemist?

The girl who seemed to be her sister held a golden reaper in one hand, yet her face was lit up with excitement unlike her sister.

“Look at this, sis. It’s so cute!”

The doll-headed figure, seeing her sister teasing the golden reaper with her finger, wore a worried look.

“You should chew on this one more.”

Then, the doll-headed woman handed a potion resembling a thick medicine swarming with a strong medicinal scent to her sister. Though it appeared to be a human-made medicine, it was, in fact, an object.

That potion seemed to have even more object-like qualities than high-tech items made in America.

Could it have been made because it was an object?

Or was it because she was an Alchemist?

“If you get a headache, you need to take it again, so make sure to tell me immediately, got it?”

“Okay.”

I became slightly more interested in alchemy.

*

What on earth could it mean?

The language the tattooed woman spoke towards the reaper was intricate enough to not just be a made-up language.

Its intonation was unique, and it didn’t mimic the structure of any other language.

Could it be one of those obscure languages I didn’t know?

No matter how I compared it to every language I remembered, I couldn’t glean anything from it.

However, the reaper clearly understood this language.

Because, outside of English and Korean, the antenna in my mouth raised suddenly in surprise.

Omnyomnyom.

Lost in thoughts, I nestled the reaper in my arms and fed it some pudding bit by bit.

Thud.

While feeding the reaper, a loud noise caught my attention, as the tattooed woman had pulled out a color ghost that was stomping around the isolation room.

It looked so much like a ghost, even the mini reapers approached it with wonder reflected in their expressions.

Doozi doozi.

With tiny fists, they knocked against it, appearing delighted as they giggled.

It was as if they were saying, “It’s hard!”

But oddly enough, it seemed to receive better treatment than the white hungry ghost.

The red reaper had spewed fire upon seeing the white hungry ghost, but now only tilted its head in curiosity at the color ghost.

And as the roaming white hungry ghost faced the color ghost, both opened their mouths in astonishment.

When one opened its mouth, the other mirrored it; when one moved its feet, the other did the same.

Like reflections in a mirror, the ghosts were identical in appearance.

The surprised ghosts waddled like mirror images.

Watching that, the golden reapers also began to play mirror games with one another.

Joyfully laughing with the same expressions, they waved their arms and legs.

An incredibly simple game, yet the mini reapers looked genuinely thrilled by it.

Ah, what would happen to the odd-numbered mini reapers?

Just as I thought, the red reaper without a matching twin sulked and sprawled on the table.

The pouting red reaper was lifted up by a golden reaper with twin-tailed hair, who giggled while helping the sprawled red reaper.

Despite having her hair in twin-tails and her skin painted red, just by looking at her expression, she was undeniably a golden reaper.

The disguised golden reaper and the red reaper happily played their mirror game, beaming smiles.

I wondered if the reaper might want to join, but when I turned to check, the reaper showed zero interest, looking indifferent.

Somehow, that expression annoyed me, and I couldn’t help but pinch its cheeks roughly.

*

The tattooed woman and her sister, hiding their exploration behind the guise of visiting Sehee Research Institute, were slowly making their way home, gazing at the setting sun.

“Sis, did you find what you wanted?”

Her sister looked satisfied after playing with the golden reaper.

“I’m not so sure. Initially, I thought it was a failure, but after a while, it felt like it was pretending not to understand on purpose.”

The gray reaper was noted to be incapable of understanding text and speech in any data, meaning if the gray reaper was indeed an Alchemist, it was deliberately concealing its language skills.

If it were an Alchemist, it’d truly be an impressive act.

An Alchemist trying to bite through a guardian’s antenna, how absurd!

If the opponent were that committed to tricking, revealing their identity would require a great deal of preparation.

“I’ll need to go a few more times to figure it out accurately. If I set up a more elaborate trap, I might catch them.”

“Really?”

Her sister was beaming at the thought of meeting the golden reaper again.

“Then let’s make some snack treats like pudding to bring with us. The golden reaper loves even the tiniest gifts!!”

Seeing how delighted her sister was, the woman couldn’t help but show a slight hint of concern.

‘That’s strange. I fed her tons of mental pollution prevention medicine, and yet it seems like she’s been affected.’

Looking at her cheerful sister, the woman decided she would need to enhance the antidote when they returned.

*

Late in the evening when the golden reaper was asleep.

The ‘Cute Puppy’ seized the opportunity, sneaking out of its isolation room, and wandered the dark research institute corridor leisurely.

The cute puppy went on this ‘late-night stroll’ fairly often, made possible by the security team employee who thought it sad and left the door slightly ajar.

Arriving in the backyard, the cute puppy wore a woeful expression, gazing up at the cold moonlight overhead.

Kkiih.

With a heavy sigh, the cute puppy began its slow trek back towards its doghouse.

To its ‘plastic’ doghouse.

While on its way back to the isolation room, the cute puppy spotted a newly opened underground passage, stirring a curious feeling within.

For some reason, it felt like it absolutely had to go check it out.

After descending the dimly lit stairs, a large resort facility revealed itself.

The construction of that massive resort facility seemed to be nearly at its end.

Occasional workers were still laboring late into the night, wrapping up the final touches.

However, neither the people nor the facilities caught the cute puppy’s eye.

It couldn’t take its eyes off the giant golden statue adorning the center of the resort.

Tears began to fall from the cute puppy’s eyes.

‘My… my doghouse was here all along.’

And that very tear turned crimson, like blood.

Grr.

The cute puppy’s body began to grow larger and larger.

Now as big as a house, the cute puppy leapt with all its might, pounding the earth.

“Hey? What’s that?”

The surprised voices of the workers echoed as they spotted the puppy, now the size of a house.

Engulfed in deep sorrow, the puppy’s eyes blazed with rage, filled with a desperate resolve of “If I can’t have it, then I’ll destroy it.”

As the cute puppy began to charge to destroy everything in sight, numerous golden reapers that had been helping the workers sprang out and glared at the puppy.

Though a rare angry expression crossed the faces of the golden reapers, the puppy, engulfed in its own world of fury, paid no mind to their ire.

In the end, the puppy bared its teeth towards the nearest worker.

But that reckless charge came to naught, becoming the end as the golden reaper shapes were riddled with numerous holes.

Thud.

Proving the futility of its rebellion, the cute puppy collapsed in tatters.

As the cute puppy gazed at the blood seeping from its body, it slowly closed its eyes.

Wishing to be reborn as a truly cute puppy in its next life.

*

In the Mini Reaper Garden always filled with sweet scents.

The cute puppy, now fluffy and white, opened its eyes once more in the beautiful garden of soft marshmallow ground and warm hot chocolate sea, undulating peacefully.

Though it was an object, it felt like it had transcended the life and death of the flesh.

A round body made of fluffy cotton candy, with hardened chocolate chips forming its eyes and nose.

It had been reborn as an adorable cotton candy puppy.

An incredibly cute and absolutely immortal object!

As the cute puppy surveyed its new body, it smiled in satisfaction.

But regrettably, ominous shadows began to loom menacingly around the resurrected puppy.

Golden reapers with mischievous expressions were tightly gathering around the puppy.