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When I woke up in the morning, strange sounds were echoing from the isolation room.

Kiiihing.

It was the sound made by a Cotton Candy Puppy being nibbled on by Mini Reapers.

A round body made entirely of pure white cotton candy.

Eyes and nose crafted from shiny, solid chocolate chips.

It was a well-groomed Cotton Candy Puppy, like a carefully maintained pet.

For reasons unclear to me, the Mini Reapers seemed a bit angry while mercilessly munching on the puppy.

I picked up the Golden Reapers who were aggressively tearing into the puppy and held them tightly.

‘What on earth is going on?’

When I asked, numerous answers came flooding in.

Bad puppy!

Attacked a human!

Tried to break Mom’s golden statue!

Hearing all the fragmentary explanations from the Golden Reapers, I realized.

Ah, that little guy is a cute puppy….

In an instant, I understood why this was happening.

A “cute puppy” with anger management issues might have gotten mad at some point.

As I watched the puppy being pitifully eaten by the Golden Reapers, a humorous thought struck me.

Hehe.

Just nibbling?

They were such good kids that their mischief seemed a bit clumsy.

Such a boring punishment wouldn’t be fun, right?

I stood up and looked down at the Mini Reapers, transmitting my will.

‘There’s a suitable punishment for the Cotton Candy Puppy.’

Although the Mini Reapers tilted their heads in confusion, they received my message and quickly backed off from the cute puppy.

I picked up the Cotton Candy Puppy and smiled cheerfully, but the puppy trembled all over as if scared.

Then, I plopped the Cotton Candy Puppy into a large water container.

Startled, the Cotton Candy Puppy flailed desperately to get out, but its limbs melted away instantly, making it impossible to escape.

Kiiih.

Its front paw barely managed to grab the edge of the container, but it melted away and crumbled.

As the Cotton Candy Puppy looked at its disintegrating paw with a sad expression, it sank back into the water.

Although it was continuously regenerating, the speed at which the cotton candy melted was far too fast for regeneration to keep up.

Just melting in water, the half-melted, zombie-like puppy flailed around inside.

Kiiihing.

Then, the Cotton Candy Puppy that barely managed to get outside the water was left with just its head, making a pitiful sound.

Chocolate chips that had melted slightly dripped down, resembling tears.

‘How is it? Fun, right?’ I turned around, but strangely, the Golden Reapers were looking at the puppy with expressions of pity.

Huh?

*

In the conference room of the Sehee Research Institute, people gathered for a meeting after a long time.

On the whiteboard set up in the conference room, this was written.

[Crisis Management Meeting for the Cute Puppy.]

It was a place to discuss how to handle the disastrous situation where the cute puppy had turned into a Cotton Candy Puppy.

Kim Jungrwi was the first to speak.

“Fortunately, there were no damages caused by the escaped ‘cute puppy’. And we got the workers to sign a confidentiality agreement.”

The workers, who must have been shocked, wore smiles and quickly signed, which was a relief.

Kim Jungrwi had thought getting the signatures wouldn’t be easy, but the workers were surprisingly friendly.

“That’s a relief. If word got out, the public outrage would have been far worse than during the Seoul Research Institute incident.”

Feeling relieved, Sehee nodded in agreement.

Kim Jungrwi turned the page of the report and continued speaking.

“First, we must prioritize punishing the employees who opened the isolation room to prevent future occurrences.”

Upon hearing that, Sehee wore a somewhat uneasy expression.

“Hmm, but I don’t think a severe punishment is necessary. There weren’t any casualties after all.”

Perhaps Sehee herself was lax in her work; she seemed negative about punishment.

Was she worried that she could be one of those punished?

“Then how about just a pay cut….”

As Kim Jungrwi nodded with a look of resignation, Seoah interjected.

“Absolutely not!”

Seoah rubbed her temples as if she had a headache and said.

“We can’t simply gloss over this with a pay cut. Let’s first redo overall security training. And we can discuss the level of punishment later.”

Then Seoah, with a serious expression, brought up a more urgent agenda.

“In fact, the bigger problem is that the ‘cute puppy’ has disappeared.”

With a somber expression, Seoah calmly stated the facts.

“The cute puppy averages about five objects found per month, and if this number drops, the association will surely come to audit us.”

Although the cute puppy was managed by a private research institute, it was an essential pillar for securing objects in Seoul, so it was only natural.

As the impossibly challenging issue was brought up, silence enveloped the conference room.

“Ah!”

Sehee, who had been frowning as if annoyed, suddenly exclaimed in realization.

“Of course, we have to use that method again.”

“Director, do you have some method in mind?”

Kim Jungrwi looked at Sehee with anticipation, while Seoah noticed a strange point in Sehee’s words.

A method used before?

Had there been a similar incident before?

While Seoah pondered various thoughts, Sehee expressed confidently.

“Let’s bring in the Cotton Candy Dog and paint it red!”

“Huh?”

Both Jungrwi and Seoah looked at her as if questioning what nonsense she was talking about, causing Sehee to hunch down in the corner of the meeting room, looking dejected.

“But Yerin agreed with this!”

“I’ve succeeded with this before!”

Countless utterances rose in Sehee’s mind, but the matter regarding the Gray Reaper was a secret, so she clenched her teeth in frustration.

The meeting continued, but ultimately no peculiar solution emerged.

Knock, knock.

When everyone gathered around the idea of honestly reporting the facts as quickly as possible, a knock echoed through the meeting room.

And upon receiving permission and entering, Yerin said with a bright expression.

“The Cotton Candy Puppy can also track object locations!”

It was news that the Cotton Candy Puppy had barked toward an object like the cute puppy.

And at the same time, it heralded the end of the meeting.

*

After I relayed the news that resolved the ‘Cute Puppy’ incident, life in the institute continued to be leisurely.

The Reaper wasn’t running away and was behaving well, and other objects in the Sehee Research Institute were isolated without issue.

How peaceful.

I was comfortably lying in the Reaper’s isolation room, holding its small hand.

Squeeze.

As I pressed the soft palm of the Reaper, its tiny hand curled slightly.

Watching the little fingers wiggle was amusing, making me habitually press down on that entrancing palm.

There were a few other visitors in the Reaper’s isolation room besides me.

“Now, who should I give it to?”

Surrounded by Golden Reapers and Black Reapers, a girl held a spoonful of pudding.

The girl, looking back at the Mini Reapers with her mouth wide open like a baby bird, smiled and appeared to contemplate whom to choose.

As she pondered with her finger on whom to pick, she selected a Golden Reaper and held out the spoon.

Nom nom.

The Golden Reaper happily munched on the pudding with a gleeful expression.

It seemed to be homemade pudding, given how much the Golden Reaper enjoyed it.

And the death row inmate, who appeared to be the girl’s older sister, poked the fluffy white Hungry Ghost with her finger while scribbling something in a notebook.

Lately, that death row inmate had frequently visited to see the Reaper.

At first, she had spoken to the Gray Reaper, but nowadays she was observing and analyzing the Mini Reapers, Gray Reaper, and White Hungry Ghost.

By the way, there was something a bit strange.

The Mini Reapers liked nearly all kinds of humans, but oddly showed little interest in that death row inmate.

Especially, the Golden Reapers would run up with bright smiles to anyone they saw for the first time.

Could it be because she was a death row inmate?

However, I had heard that she was not someone who had intentionally repeated murders to the extent that even Reapers would avoid her.

And for some reason, the Reapers’ behavior seemed reminiscent of how they treated objects.

Could it be that death row inmate isn’t human?

Considering how the Mini Reapers displayed almost unconditional affection, it didn’t seem impossible.

*

I was staring blankly at the TV while nestled in Yerin’s warm and comfortable embrace.

There was nothing particularly eventful, so I was feeling a bit bored.

Lately, with incidents occurring frequently, the absence of anything happening felt a little dull.

Just a little while ago, I could have lain around in the isolation room all day and felt blissful…

Perhaps those days in the isolation room were a kind of burnout?

After working myself to death at the Seoul Research Institute and desperately collecting abilities in Seoul Forest, I had sunk into lethargy as a rebound.

But surely incidents would happen again, so if I just waited a bit, something fun would surely come.

By the way, the Golden Reaper who was badly injured in the US was still on the run.

What kind of Attached Human could possess such a strong bond that they hadn’t returned yet?

Well, surely it would come back when it gets tired of running.

I occasionally checked the firewood of the runaway Golden Reapers, keeping an eye on any risks.

Suddenly, the TV, which I had been mindlessly watching, switched to breaking news, showing footage that seemed hastily captured and shaking all over.

A rather famous park appeared on the screen.

And it was a park I could never forget even if I tried.

The park where the Seoul Research Institute bombing incident took place.

And the place where I had died because of that incident.

The footage, seemingly shot by a drone, showed a large pit where the big memorial stone honoring the victims had crumbled.

A large hole had formed beneath it.

And there were massive objects that gleamed white like marble, moving around.

Objects resembling marble statues intricately depicting muscular men.

But their faces looked so pathetic, they somewhat resembled a White Hungry Ghost.

[Guardian?]

The doll-like woman looking at the TV gasped, muttering “Guardian” in surprise.

Did she recognize what those pathetic-looking marble statues were?

Could it be related to alchemy?

Sounds interesting.

Perhaps because it was an incident that took place in a park that had a deep connection with me, it oddly piqued my interest.