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The Blue Reaper, draped in a Golden Reaper’s wrap, was sitting atop the security room console, staring intently at the Security Room Employee.

The employees seemed completely oblivious to the fact that it was a Blue Reaper due to the mental pollution emanating from the Golden Reaper’s wrap.

They merely thought, “That’s a rather strange Golden Reaper,” and moved along.

The Blue Reaper, with its face hidden beneath the wrap, smiled happily.

To be able to gaze at the attached human from such a close distance!

Sneaking into the security room had been excruciatingly difficult, to the point where I wouldn’t want to do it again, but now, staring at the attached human, all the hardships felt rewarding.

I had to avoid researchers wandering around the Sehee Research Institute corridors, chattering joyfully.

And I also had to evade the gaze of cameras, those instruments that humans use to observe from afar.

In truth, avoiding those two things wasn’t all that hard.

The camera was fixed in place, and humans tended to emit emotions, so as long as I hid in the shadows beforehand, it was manageable.

However, avoiding my mother’s gaze was exceedingly difficult.

I looked just like an ordinary Golden Reaper, yet whenever I came into view, my mother would stare as if she saw something odd, making it hard to move stealthily.

I absolutely had to avoid being discovered by her, even if being found out by a human wasn’t so bad.

If she found me in the security room dressed as a Golden Reaper, she would undoubtedly pull a prank!

Thinking about my mother suddenly made the Blue Reaper nervous, and it began to look around.

‘Since Mom can ghost, she might just pop out of the wall.’

But there was no sign of her anywhere.

Phew, what a relief.

The Blue Reaper smiled in relief and resumed staring intently at the Security Room Employee.

So happy.

Just being able to look at the attached human from so close made the Blue Reaper feel incredibly blissful.

For the Blue Reaper, the most precious thing was “gaze.”

The reason most Blue Reapers chose the Security Room Employee as the attached human was because of the gaze.

They always felt the eyes watching them through the camera.

But the Blue Reaper, who loved the attention, felt embarrassed whether giving gaze or receiving it, like a sad object.

Right now, disguised as a Golden Reaper, it was only able to give gaze unilaterally, but one day.

One day, it imagined a happy future where they could both gaze into each other’s eyes in the Blue Reaper’s original form.

Yet, a foreboding gray flickered in the security room where the happy Blue Reaper dreamed of its future.

From the wall of the security room, where the Blue Reaper’s gaze did not reach, a gray face suddenly popped out.

It was the gray Reaper, grinning with a “Hehe.”

*

Under the flickering green torch, reminiscent of a monster flicking its tongue, the shadow of a miserably chopped swallow danced.

The girl, staring blankly at the wretchedly quartered swallow, raised the black sword in her hand high with admiration.

“Impressive!”

Who knew the items from the labyrinth could be this extraordinary!

The performance of the black sword obtained on the first floor of the labyrinth was astonishing.

The girl reflected that instead of buying snacks, she should’ve gotten a proper weapon sooner.

If this was the quality of first-floor weapons, how incredible must be the items from deeper within?

She had heard tales of terrifying monsters and peculiar traps in the labyrinth, but with such items, it seemed completely doable.

“Could this be that famed ‘Ego Sword’ that attacks enemies on its own?”

The Black Reaper didn’t understand the girl’s words, but could keenly feel the overwhelming emotions of joy, elation, anticipation, and hope.

And somehow, it felt like making a sound wouldn’t be deemed strange, so the Black Reaper made a small sound filled with its feelings.

Beep-.

“Wow, that’s such a cute sound! Did you respond to me?”

A small and clear sound, reminiscent of a little bird chirping.

The girl, already feeling attached to the “black sword” as her first item from the labyrinth, began to like it even more upon hearing its voice.

An Ego Sword, huh!

To the still young girl, it felt exceptionally special.

She was so excited that she even forgot that the sound had been heard outside the labyrinth today.

With her eyes sparkling, admiring the intricately patterned sword blade, her fingertips unknowingly brushed against the sharp edge.

However, as she brought her finger closer, the blade curved around her fingertip, avoiding her touch.

The girl, startled by how close she had come to the sharp blade, snapped back to reality.

“Did you avoid hurting me? Thank you.”

She stroked the blade of the black sword gently, just as one would handle a pet.

Beep-.

In response, the Black Reaper made a pleased sound.

After thoroughly enjoying the skinship with the black sword, the girl set off deeper into the labyrinth with a determined expression.

*

The unsettling green flames of the torch flickered ominously.

Whenever the green light danced in the wind, shadows in the corners of the labyrinth flickered in sinister shapes.

From the cramped space of the first floor of the labyrinth, raspy breaths and shouts could be heard.

“Damn it!”

A man clad in metallic armor, covered in dust, exhaled heavily and cursed.

Though he was part of a party experienced with the first floor of the labyrinth, everything had begun to go awry when the labyrinth’s torches turned green.

The nameplate of the labyrinth room changed to an unfamiliar string of characters.

Monsters, unseen before, began to appear.

Though they had packed enough food in preparation for emergencies, now that the map was useless, they had no idea how lost they would get.

Moreover, the new monsters that appeared became an issue.

Swallows branded with blades.

The man’s party, used to easily roaming the first floor of the labyrinth, was struggling against a single swallow.

It looked weak, but it was a fast and powerful monster.

Even while keeping an eye on the swallow, there were numerous instances where they missed its quick movements.

“!”

As the swallow swooped in at high speed, the heavy-armored man tossed aside his shield and rolled on the ground.

Clang.

The metal shield was sliced cleanly and fell in two pieces to the labyrinth floor.

“Get it together! Focus! We just need to land one hit!”

Breathing heavily, the armored man spoke words of encouragement to his comrades.

But resignation already shone on their faces.

One of their comrades had been killed, chopped apart while still in armor.

This swallow was both fast and agile enough to avoid blades mid-air.

The prospects of survival looked bleak.

Of course, the armored leader was well aware of their grim situation, having muttered curses internally.

“Damn it!”

In that moment of despair, one side of the wall trembled and a young girl was spewed into the room.

She gave off a vibe that was completely out of place in the strange labyrinth.

She seemed to have gotten lucky, radiating a relaxed aura as if she hadn’t encountered any monsters.

“Be careful!”

The armored man warned her in a concerned tone, but the warning fell on deaf ears.

“Hey!”

With a disheartened shout, she swung the sword awkwardly.

But what followed was astonishing.

The black sword moved as if it were alive and swiftly sliced the fast-moving swallow into pieces.

The man could only watch in shock as the swallow fell, chopped apart onto the floor.

“Is everyone okay?”

A voice filled with a bright smile, completely out of place in the labyrinth city, broke the moment, pulling him back to his senses.

To have subdued such a speedy and powerful swallow from a distance.

It didn’t seem like something a little girl could accomplish.

It was surely the ability of the sword, with its blackened blade.

Given that it had cut down the agile swallow, those unique and exotic patterns etched onto the blade seemed exceptionally special.

“What an incredible item. I’ve never heard of something like that before.”

The armored man’s gaze remained glued to the black sword.

*

Once the battle ended, the people the girl met in the labyrinth quickly began to tidy up.

Seeing it wasn’t something a little girl should watch, they guided her to a corner and cleaned up in the blink of an eye.

Then, they pulled out neatly dried firewood from their backpacks and started to light a campfire.

“Can we really make a fire inside the labyrinth?”

Curious, the girl asked, and a man with a tired but kind expression pointed to the ceiling.

Looking up, she saw the smoke rising from the campfire being pulled into the ceiling.

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“That’s why there’s no problem lighting fires in the labyrinth.”

While the girl watched the campfire grow larger, the men spread cloth on the floor and finished setting up their camp.

The delicious aroma of soup and the warm ambience.

The men came over to the girl with warm smiles, inviting her to sit by the campfire and share a meal.

‘They’re good people!’

The Dog Meat Man had warned her that everyone wandering around the labyrinth was bad, but these people seemed kind.

With her stomach grumbling, the girl happily began to eat the soup.

Just as they finished their meal and were about to settle in for the night, the man who seemed to be the leader asked her in a gentle voice.

“Where did you get that black sword?”

“Oh, this? I picked it up in the labyrinth.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Hearing her words, the man grinned unpleasantly, but the girl, who was dozing off after all the excitement, didn’t notice.

*

As the flames of the old campfire gradually dwindled, the men who had appeared to be sleeping began to stir and whisper.

“That’s unfortunate. She looks like she’s barely in elementary school…”

A man in light leather armor looked at the girl with pity.

But contrary to his words, his gaze and expression were filled with greed.

“She’s definitely got no backing, right?”

The man who appeared to be the leader asked in a low voice.

“Definitely none. She’s got no significant backing. The clothes and tools she has are all mass-produced. Well, they aren’t things a kid could easily acquire, though.”

The man, who looked unscrupulous, continued while licking his lips.

“Still, there are quite a few fools in the village who help kids brought in at such a young age, so it could be that.”

It was clear that this wasn’t their first time engaging in such deeds, as their actions were prompt and devoid of hesitation.

Drawing a sharp blade, the man began to approach the girl slowly.

Seeing those men, the Black Reaper let out a soft wail.

Biii-iiiii-.

It was a low, somber sound, akin to that of a reaper.