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In the middle of Mapo District, bathed in ominous moonlight, there was a cozy little one-room that radiated warmth.

Though it wasn’t large, the softly glowing lighting and the cozy furniture created a contrasting atmosphere against the eerie streets outside.

The lights emitted a calming glow, and the wallpaper reflected the lamp’s light in gentle hues.

Even with warmth circulating in the room, a woman was seated on a fluffy sofa, wrapped up snugly in blankets.

Having made a fortress of blankets around herself, the woman sat tucked in, slowly sipping a warm drink in front of the noisy TV.

Despite the racket coming from the TV, the woman paid it no mind, focusing solely on the snacks placed on the table and the golden object.

“Isn’t it warm?”

While dressing the knitted Golden Reaper in a tiny outfit, the woman wore a joyful expression.

The Golden Reaper, in turn, returned her smile with a happy face, enjoying watching the woman.

The TV was blaring warnings about the Golden Reaper exhibiting strange behaviors, advising viewers to pay extra attention.

[Reports of dangerous actions by the Golden Reaper continue to come in.]

[Many cases involve it melting in an unsettling manner or glaring with a menacing gaze.]

[The fact that a friendly object is showing unusual behavior is a very dangerous sign, so please exercise maximum caution.]

As always, the broadcast was stimulating fears that the Golden Reaper could be dangerous.

Even though the woman thought the Golden Reaper was safe, such broadcasts made her heart race and left her feeling anxious.

Noticing her unease, the Golden Reaper tightly held her finger and looked up with a worried expression.

Feeling her anxiety fade as she stroked the concerned Golden Reaper, the woman said, “Why do they seem so desperate to catch such cute little ones?”

She placed the Golden Reaper on her palm and started feeding it snacks one by one.

Fascinated by the sight of the tiny creature on her palm devouring the snacks, she continued to feed it when suddenly a sound came from the table.

Bump, bump.

A little expressionless, another Golden Reaper that looked identical to the knitted one approached slowly.

Startled by the appearance of another Golden Reaper, the knitted one jumped down from the table and faced off against it.

Cocking its head.

Filled with curiosity, the knitted Golden Reaper tilted its head as if a question mark had appeared above it.

‘Who is that?’
‘I’ve never seen this one in the Mini Reaper Garden.’

Every time the knitted Golden Reaper moved, the new Golden Reaper mirrored its actions like a reflection.

“Wow, they look exactly alike.”

Watching the two identical Golden Reapers moving in sync, the woman could only marvel.

While the knitted Golden Reaper continued to exude curiosity asking ‘who?’, the newly appeared Golden Reaper seemed to ignore its thoughts and simply copied its actions.

The newly arrived Golden Reaper began to take slow steps toward the woman.

However, the knitted Golden Reaper blocked its path, shaking its head.

It looked like it was saying, ‘You can’t go!’

Seeing this, the woman thought the Golden Reaper had quite a strong possessive streak.

“You two should befriend each other as Golden Reapers!”

She placed the blocking knitted Golden Reaper back on her palm and spoke to it as if scolding.

Though the Golden Reaper couldn’t understand her words, it drooped its head in a sulky expression, as if feeling reprimanded.

“Come here!”

Clapping her hands while sitting on the sofa, the woman opened her arms wide, waiting for the new Golden Reaper to waddle over.

The Golden Reaper, which had been looking up at her, bowed its head and smiled happily.

Its bizarre smile stretched wide enough to reach its ears.

‘Something feels off!’ Just as she had that thought, the Golden Reaper with the bizarre smile dashed swiftly towards the woman.

In its hand was a lightsaber that scattered an ominous yellow light.

“!”

But in that moment, the knitted Golden Reaper jumped up and took the stab in place of the lightsaber.

Whoosh.

The knitted fabric instantly ignited from the high heat of the lightsaber, and the Golden Reaper, pierced through the heart, looked at the woman with a frantic expression as if to say, ‘Run!’

It began to emit a light so strong it was hard to open one’s eyes.

It shone with a warmth that could be seen from anywhere in Mapo District, infused with a desire to protect humans.

Thud.

The Golden Reaper, bursting forth with radiant light, fell to the floor like a lifeless body.

The fake Golden Reaper, realizing its ambush failed, pouted like a walnut and expressed its fury.

“Oh… no, Reaper.”

The woman, with a bewildered expression, tried to lift the limp Golden Reaper, but it lay still with eyes tightly shut as if dead.

*

Was it a rebellion by the Golden Reaper?

As I kept my eyes shut tight like a corpse to confirm what was happening, the Blue Reaper unexpectedly grew more flustered and started to scatter strings everywhere.

[Please heal my wounds quickly.]
[Please protect us.]

As the strings vanished, a healing mist began to descend upon my body, pushing away the Golden Reaper that had stabbed me.

‘If successful, a revolution!’

The Red Reaper echoed my usual whisperings in my ear, radiating confidence with its proud expression.

However, its expression was so innocent that it hardly seemed to understand what it meant.

Still, instinctively realizing I wouldn’t die like this, it began to confront the Golden Reaper wielding a red hammer and sickle.

Checking out the Golden Reaper closely during that pause, I noticed some oddities.

While the flames from its heart radiated warmth similar to firewood, they were devoid of emotion.

And I felt no connection to that Golden Reaper at all.

It’s a fake.

But it was such an intricately crafted fake that the Golden Reapers might easily be deceived.

If it was fake, there was nothing to hold back.

I swiftly healed the wound I sustained and opened my eyes, slowly rising from my position.

As I stood up, the Mini Reapers stuck to my face with incredibly joyful expressions.

The fake Golden Reaper wore a very puzzled expression, swiftly wiping that away as it lifted its lightsaber.

Its expression was one of confidence, as if to assert that it was stronger than me.

Could it be that it thought I had held back while sparring with the Golden Reapers?

Martial arts, sword fighting, running, hide and seek.

Though I had played various games to pass the time in Mapo District, I could count the times I’d won on one hand.

So did I seem weak?

Then I had to show them otherwise.

That I had been holding back when fighting the children!

I stained my hands black and thrust them forth, unleashing a ‘bang’.

A huge black sphere made from burning firewood appeared in the air, beginning to consume everything in its path.

The fake Golden Reaper, deftly wielding techniques reminiscent of the 1st Sword, attempted to block the black sphere with graceful swordsmanship, but it was futile.

No matter how space-cutting the swordsmanship was, it couldn’t overcome the burning firewood consumed by the black sphere.

‘It’s like an ant learning boxing can’t defeat an elephant!’

With a confident smile, I shredded the fake Golden Reaper to pieces.

[Mom is strong!]

The Red Reaper jumped in delight on spot, while the Blue Reaper clapped its fingertips softly.

That was easy.

‘By the way, I wonder if the other Golden Reapers are okay?’

Thinking that the fake Golden Reaper was crafted more intricately than expected, I worried, ‘What if the other Golden Reapers were tricked?’

As if my fears materialized, golden light began to burst forth from various places in Mapo District, piercing the sky.

It was a call for help from the Golden Reapers, pleading, ‘Humans are in danger!’

With the light spreading from all directions as if multiple suns had fallen to the ground, a giant silhouette began to rise slowly from the shadows of the street.

Unlike the warm-golden light, the black shadow exuded an ominous vibe.

The massive shadow seemed to rise abruptly, blocking my view as if to prevent me from paying attention to the other Golden Reapers.

The enormous shadow exhibited a resemblance to the fake Golden Reaper, emerging suddenly from the surrounding buildings.

Only the size was immense like a building, with the distinct feature of a foreboding black hue.

Golden light erupted from its face, shaped like a sleek silhouette.

The golden eyes shone with the same color as the Golden Reapers, yet unlike them, exuding a fierce and ominous vibe.

The only golden part gleamed in its eyes, as the fake Reaper began to slowly look down at me.

*

Bang.

As I clenched my blackened fist towards the gigantic fake Reaper, the black sphere emerged, swallowing its upper body without a trace.

The gigantic fake Reaper’s attempt to swing its fist toward the buildings failed miserably.

This is dangerous.

If that massive Reaper swung its fist toward the buildings, countless people would perish, making it extremely perilous.

The moment even one person perished, I’d have to start counting to seven days all over again.

If that horrible fake Reaper appeared right from the first day, I certainly wouldn’t be able to last the following seven days.

Creeeak!

The gigantic fake Reaper instantly regenerated its upper body and roared with a horrific sound akin to nails scraping against metal.

The kind of sound that would set my nerves on edge.

Moreover, that sound was mixed with mental pollution that made people uneasy.

It was highly effective mental pollution.

Each time that scream boomed, fear and despair flooded into me from the people.

And the more terrified the people became, the more horrifying the fake Reapers transformed.

What once looked like a spitting image of the Golden Reaper now had only faint traces of that resemblance remaining.

A grotesquely gaping mouth.
Teeth that jutted out irregularly.
Skin rotting away with ribs protruding.

And as they became more monstrous, they grew faster, stronger, and tougher.

Now, it was clear.

The power of the yellow moon was an object that fed on people’s fears, manifesting them.

What to do?

Should I move everyone to the Mini Reaper Garden?

But I felt intuitively that it shouldn’t come to that.

If there were no sacrifices to be made, the yellow moon would move to another place just like the moon in the snowfield.

I had used ‘bang’ far too much, burning up the firewood.

And the Golden Reapers were nearing their limits.

Though the Golden Reapers were wiping out the fake ones in swarms, it was quite vast for them to redeploy right after dying.

Desperate-faced Golden Reapers popped out from under my feet, but regardless of how fast they were, it would take time to spread across Mapo District.

Filling that gap were the Hero Golden Reapers led by the 1st Sword.

Yet the lightsaber, having been overused, flickered as if it would break at any moment, and there was only one 1st Sword, which didn’t require a lightsaber.

Honestly, it was almost miraculous that not a single one of Mapo District’s humans had died up until now.

Should I give up?

Just as that thought flickered through my mind, I felt a familiar voice and emotion.

“Reaper, hang in there!”

A silhouette clad in a familiar lab coat.

It was Yerin, who had secretly snuck into the quarantined Mapo District.

‘You’ve come, my battery!’

I beamed at the sight of Yerin.