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The bright yellow full moon shone so brilliantly that it was hard to face directly.

Just looking at it felt like it would drown me in madness with its ominous yellow hue.

The figure of the female student standing against the backdrop of that yellow full moon grew a bit blurry.

“Why didn’t you return quickly?”

“Why didn’t you return quickly?”

And the sounds coming from my mouth overlapped with a familiar voice of the female student I often heard during library duty and a strange adult male voice.

It was like the noise of a broken speaker; sounds and images jumbled together like the static on an old, tangled TV screen.

And then, my head began to throb as if it were going to burst.

The ringing in my ears and dizziness intensified, making it hard to even stand properly.

From the student’s perspective, it felt like the female student was aiming some kind of headache-inducing ray directly at him.

“Really, what a nice night.”

At that moment, a quiet mumble caused the female student to vanish right before the student’s eyes.

“!”

The student was startled in that instant, but strangely, he could sense where the female student had vanished to and what she was doing.

The source of the splitting headache moved to the back of his head.

‘She’s holding a dagger, aiming to stab my heart.’

At that moment, the student rolled forward.

Whoosh.

With a gruesome sound that sliced through the air, the student’s school uniform was torn down the middle.

If he had been even a moment slower, he would have ended up with wounds exposing his bones.

“Impressive, how did you dodge that?”

A voice of admiration came, and he could see someone clapping their hands in appreciation with the hand gripping the dagger.

No, rather, he felt it.

With his heart racing with tension, the student pushed off the ground while still in a rolling position and dashed into the alley.

*

Softly glowing lights that wouldn’t hurt his eyes, warm air enveloping him.

As I stepped out from the moist bathhouse and lay in the jjimjilbang, a Golden Reaper approached and began tugging at my pinky finger.

“Mom! Come quickly!”

The Golden Reaper was calling me with an excited expression, saying it had something to show me.

They didn’t look anxious at all; in fact, they seemed very cheerful.

Had they discovered something fun?

Lately, the Golden Reapers were mostly engaged in sword fights, so the chance of making such a discovery was slim…

I followed the bouncy Golden Reaper.

What I reached was the backyard where the Golden Reapers always gathered to play.

It had always been a noisy place filled with their rowdy play, but now every Reaper stood silently gathered in a circle.

How surprisingly quiet!

This was rare for a Golden Reaper, who found joy in everything.

And in the center of the Golden Reapers stood four of them, proudly.

In their hands, they held slightly short sticks resembling swords, but they looked too short to be swords.

As soon as I arrived, they announced that the contest to choose five warriors among the Golden Reapers was over, and all the Reapers clapped joyfully.

So that’s why they were suddenly engaging in sword play?

I was watching their award ceremony with a sense of disinterest, but the Golden Reaper’s ceremony turned out to be shorter and more intense than I expected.

They raised their short sticks high, and the Golden Reapers simultaneously emanated their will.

“Light!”

Then, just like when they released beams of light with the sun’s rays, firewood flowed into the sticks and began to shine brilliantly.

“Wow!”

I let out a small gasp in admiration.

A lightsaber!

Even though it was the same lightsaber, each Golden Reaper displayed their unique personality through the different shapes of their blades.

Although they each held different shapes of swords, the emotions they contained were all the same.

The happy feelings of the Golden Reapers and their infinite affection for humans.

I bet if those sword-wielding Golden Reapers swung their blades at a human, the human wouldn’t be harmed at all.

By the way, I’m so envious.

I want one too.

Did the Golden Reapers even know how to create such things?

While I was pondering what kind of scheme I could come up with to steal just one lightsaber, a Golden Reaper handed me something wrapped in cloth.

It felt as if handing this to me had been the goal all along, as the other Golden Reapers looked at me with bright, sparkling eyes.

‘No way?’

When I touched it, it seemed like the hidden object was a short stick that fit in my one hand.

‘No way, no way!’

As I unwrapped the cloth, I found a sword hilt that looked like it had been puffed up significantly by the Golden Reaper.

“Wow, is this a gift?”

I was so moved by the Golden Reaper’s surprise gift that I started hugging and petting all the Golden Reapers gathered in the backyard.

Actually, part of me felt a bit guilty for having intended to steal a sword.

But well, I hadn’t stolen it yet, so it should be safe.

Hehe.

As I rolled around with the Golden Reapers in the backyard, an unsettling feeling suddenly washed over me.

‘I can’t shoot a beam; I wonder if I can’t make a sword either?’

Suddenly sensing a wave of ominous energy, I jumped up and took out the lightsaber.

And like the Golden Reapers had done, I focused my will.

“Light!”

Nothing happened.

But there was something a bit strange.

“What does my will of ‘Light!’ have to do with moving firewood?”

Maybe that ‘Light!’ line is just the Golden Reapers’ preference?

I began to push the firewood into the hilt as if I were healing a Mini Reaper.

“Oh!”

Then, the yellow-flaming blade shot up toward the sky.

So high that it could touch the heavens.

“Wow, you’re amazing, Mom!”

“Mom, you’re strong!”

The Golden Reapers opened their eyes wide and repeatedly exclaimed, “Incredible!” at the sight.

Hehe, I’ve got a lightsaber.

In comparison to something like a spatial cut, it may not be all that special, but just the fact that it was a ‘lightsaber’ made it valuable.

So cool!

However, just as I was thrilled at the thought of swinging a fantastic lightsaber, a foul sound began to emanate from the hilt.

Creeeak.

It sounded like something wooden was twisting.

I jumped in surprise and retrieved the firewood.

Upon checking, I realized that there were numerous small cracks on what had been a smooth hilt.

I could probably still use it carefully, but it was clearly in need of repair.

“Can this be fixed?”

I asked the Golden Reapers, but they just tilted their heads and shrugged, saying, “I don’t know! You should ask.”

Looks like it wasn’t a sword made by the Golden Reapers after all.

*

I ran, ran, and kept on running.

Whoosh.

The student dodged a sharp dagger that was thrust down vertically and rolled across the floor without mercy.

The dagger scraped the concrete floor with a horrible sound, burrowing deep into it.

This was not a strength a human could wield.

While the student continued to flee, his mind was in turmoil.

What on earth is happening? Was the female student I worked with in the library a serial killer?

But somehow, it didn’t seem that simple.

It must be something associated with the object.

Perhaps the headache that kept him evading attacks could also be connected.

Haah. Haah.

Though he was running hard enough to feel breathless, the pursuer’s breathing remained steady.

As the student stumbled forward, a sharp dagger flew toward him again.

He swung a trash can placed in the alley to block the dagger.

Crash!

There was a sound of thin metal puncturing through, as the dagger made a hole in the steel trash can.

Seeing this, the killer couldn’t hide their astonishment.

“Blocked it again? How do you keep doing that?”

It was certainly an attack with a force and speed that a human could neither see nor block.

If the headache hadn’t indicated the direction and position, he never would have been able to block it.

“But you can’t keep running like that.”

The student struggled through the winding alley, striving to survive.

The killer moved in a straight line at an unnatural speed, making it crucial to escape along the most complicated path possible.

And then, he recalled the golden presence he had seen in the morning and evening.

For reasons unknown, it felt like that friendly feeling was his last hope.

Though it could also be that it was an object luring him into an even more dangerous situation, it was all he had left to cling to.

“Could it be that I’m searching for a Golden Reaper?”

The killer, who had been laughing mockingly, suddenly wiped the smile from his face and spoke in a growling voice.

“No matter how great, no matter how strong, you can’t escape under the mad moonlight!”

It was as if the killer was caressing the moonlight with their fingers, their expression rapturous.

Gasp. Gasp.

It felt as though my chest was burning.

After running for so long, my knees buckled without warning.

My muscles had no strength left.

Trying to force myself forward, my legs gave way and I fell to the ground.

Trash and glass bottles scattered all over the alley, creating a clamor.

‘I need to get up quickly.’

In that moment, a soft voice rang in the student’s ear.

“Now just die.”

Swoosh.

He felt a cold, yet scorching blade slide into his back as he lay on the ground.

Warm liquid started flowing incessantly from his back.

The killer flipped the student over, lifting the knife to behead him.

In such a spurt of blood, not a single drop touched the female student’s body.

Through his hazy vision, he could clearly see the trajectory of the blade.

And as if overlaying that trajectory, golden sunlight poured down from the sky.

*

A beautiful golden trajectory enveloped my vision.

The bright light shone so intensely that I could barely keep my eyes open, and in the moment it faded away.

The long, labyrinthine alley transformed into a short one less than 30 meters long.

The ominous yellow moonlight disappeared, replaced by a soft grayish hue shining down on the alley.

And it smelled of something delicious and warm like the sun.

As I propped myself up from the fallen position, there it was.

A brilliantly shining golden sword was clutched in the hands of a golden object looking up at the student.

The golden object was scanning its surroundings with a stern expression, as if something was bothering it.

But as soon as its gaze met the student’s, it flashed a bright smile, as if to say not to worry.