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The tattooed alchemist stood protectively over her younger sister as she plunged her hand into the sample pouch.

‘White flower resembling the sun. Oil that contains the earth. Purple leaves swelling from the mix.’

As the alchemist grasped the alchemical sample filled with her desires, the three ingredients wildly combined to create waves of white flames.

The brainless monsters engulfed by the immense wave of flames couldn’t withstand its force and rolled across the ground.

As if twisted by causality, trees fell on their own, crushing the monsters beneath them.

The absurd phenomenon made the alchemist glance up at the sky.

High above, a mini reaper with orange skin and a fluffy white body smiled at her with a calm face, lending her assistance.

Floating in the sky, the orange reaper seemed to be doing nothing, yet in reality, was of great help.

‘I don’t know the principle, but it feels like the world is helping me out.’

Trees were falling, stones were tripping her legs, and suddenly the ground was slippery.

Unnatural events continued to unfold.

Without the orange reaper, she would have already become a corpse.

Just then, hands from the fallen tree pile began to surge up, coming from the monsters.

‘As expected, the flames that burn the magical book are having no effect. Could it be that it isn’t a magical book after all?’

However, even with the orange reaper, the situation was extremely unfavorable.

The flames of the white flower, which should be lethal to most objects, were having no effect at all.

With the alchemist’s primary weapon ineffective, all that was left was a sluggish dragging of time.

The potions she had were not infinite.

If things continued like this, there would be no solution.

What should I do?

The alchemist’s forehead furrowed deeply with concern.

*

Thunk.

Imagining it was hard to believe that it fell from a high altitude, the golden reaper landed heavily on a solid rock.

‘!’

Lying on the flat, large rock, the golden reaper stared up at the sky.

My younger sister dropped me on purpose!

Is there something wrong?

Rather than blaming the orange reaper, the golden reaper was more worried that the issue might be with herself.

Just like the blue reaper, who dislikes ruckus, there were countless mistakes the golden reaper could make without comprehension.

‘I don’t get it.’

Her constantly hopping on the ground and the orange reaper flying in the sky had no points of contact, making it hard to find a reason.

There might be a golden reaper that plays frequently with the orange reaper, but at least it wasn’t her.

With a slightly sulky expression, as she kept thinking, the golden reaper suddenly perked up at a feeling she sensed.

‘Harmful Object!’

The presence of harmful objects spread throughout the forest.

Upon sensing that presence, the golden reaper regained her energy and shot up from her spot.

Indeed, there was a reason why her sister had dropped her!

*

Like a bomb exploding, trees fell by the dozens, and rough breathing echoed through the forest where the ground was dug up here and there.

“Haah. Haah.”

The tattooed alchemist, clutching her now skinny sample pouch, gasped for breath.

‘It’s certain. This is the alchemy that vanished long ago.’

It looked like an ‘jade stake,’ a tool of the long-lost alchemy, but its horrid appearance made her think it was unlikely to be actual alchemy.

Thinking it might be a magical book imitating alchemy, the more she fought, the more certain she became that it was indeed alchemy.

The flame meant to be fatal to magical books had no effect for secondary reasons.

The problem was that it seemed to carry the unique feel of alchemy.

It resembled ancient alchemy that wasn’t based on ‘wish,’ like her own.

The ancient alchemy sought solutions from outside the world without relying on ‘wish,’ the foundation of the world.

However, she only knew about ancient alchemy from the history books, and thus had no way to come up with countermeasures.

‘How much longer can I hold out?’

While fiddling with her sample pouch and looking around, she saw her younger sister gazing at her with a worried expression.

In that desperate situation, a flash of golden light shone from deep within the dark forest.

A strangely familiar feeling to that light.

The alchemist squinted slightly, contemplating what kind of light it could be, when her sister suddenly lit up and shouted.

“The Golden Reaper!”

“Ah!”

Only then did she recall the source of the familiar light.

The brilliance of the lightsaber powered by the golden reaper!

With the powerful golden reaper lightsaber, they could surely defeat those monsters.

The alchemist finally felt alive.

However, strangely, the orange reaper began to rise higher and higher with a nonchalant expression.

For some reason, it looked like it was escaping.

*

From the entrance of the still-under-construction James Tower, sounds of chaos were erupting.

Loud shouts echoed around.

The sound of a solid riot shield taking a heavy blow.

The thunderous noise of harpoons propelled by gunpowder embedding themselves firmly in the ground.

The entrance to James Tower was blocked by numerous people, depicting a scenario close to a battlefield.

The security team from the James Research Institute stood high, wildly firing white flames like a flamethrower, but it had no effect at all.

“Flamethrowers against large objects are ineffective!”

“All kinds of large object weaponry seem to be useless. Use weapons that cause physical shock.”

“Yes!”

James observed the situation calmly, maintaining a composed expression.

Monsters with their brains eaten away.

They could certainly only be regarded as objects, yet strangely, the white flames that should be lethal to objects were wholly ineffective.

Moreover, mere physical force could only briefly immobilize them, dragging the battle on endlessly.

‘This is strange.’

Looking at the newly constructed measuring device meant to gauge the mental pollution rampant in the Sehee Research Institute, James felt something odd.

‘A significant mental pollution is detected from those objects.’

Those objects, which seemed entirely unrelated to mental pollution, were nonetheless showing signs of it.

It wasn’t just a measure indicating they were emanating mental pollution, but rather, it displayed they were eroded by it.

‘I guess I need to test it out.’

Having made his decision, as James stepped forward past the security agents, they gasped in surprise and tried to stop him.

“Boss, it’s dangerous!”

James told them to wait a moment and pulled out the electric shock device he had with him.

It was a weapon made to subdue the mentally polluted individuals who were causing chaos.

With a simple function to shoot wires that deliver an electric shock to eliminate mental pollution from a distance.

James calmly aimed at a monster and triggered the electric shock device.

*

A massive jade stake that seemed to have grown from a heart.

A hollowed-out brain.

Horrifyingly disfigured monsters were surging toward the Sehee Research Institute.

Even estimating based on what I could sense, it was an unbelievable number!

Just considering what I was detecting, I could roughly predict just how serious the situation in Seoul must be.

In fact, there was no need to anticipate; just checking the news briefly revealed the chaotic state.

[A red wall suddenly appeared in the sky, and the assault of monsters has begun.]

[It has been reported that people attacked by those monsters also turn into the same kind of creature, so please be especially cautious.]

Seoul was turning into a total mess.

Monsters that eat brains and turn people into comrades appeared to be a severe threat, especially in the populous Seoul.

However, there was an even bigger issue.

The fact that they had purposefully begun to surround the ‘Sehee Research Institute’ from a certain point was more alarming.

‘How dare they!’

I stepped forward, thinking to sweep away the mounting monsters with a spatial cut, but at that moment, the monsters began to retreat in unison.

Orderly behavior from apparently brainless monsters.

It was within that behavior that I sensed a controlling presence.

As expected, among the monsters, something that looked completely out of place emerged.

It was a humanoid figure made entirely of green jade.

But strangely, it bore an odd energy that couldn’t categorically be labeled as an ‘object.’

By rational judgment, it was only logical to categorize it as a surreal and bizarre phenomenon, but of course, it must be labeled as an ‘object.’

Nonetheless, my instinct asserted that it was definitely NOT an ‘object.’

Moreover, the more I looked at that muscular green jade person, the more unsettling energy it emitted.

It felt as if it were connected to something endless and foreign.

The mini reapers, perhaps sensing that energy, made faces that radiated frustration.

Reading the emotions emanating from the mini reapers, they experienced an unsettling discomfort that far exceeded mine.

I merely thought, ‘What an uncomfortably unpleasant character.’

But for the mini reapers, the very presence of that green jade person on Earth seemed to invoke unbearable suffering.

Ultimately, unable to bear the discomfort, the mini reapers charged towards the green jade figure all at once.

The hungry ghost reaper swung his brilliantly shining sword, and the golden reaper warriors wielded their lightsabers.

In addition, the red reaper hurled fireballs, while the blue reaper showered a flurry of water needles.

At that moment, the green jade person, who had been staring at me intensely, shouted.

“Even if it’s a fake, to think that a being called a god could fall so low!”

The green jade figure lamented with a deeply sorrowful expression, raising both hands.

In that instant, a massive green jade wall appeared, beginning to radiate intense energy.

Boom!

The moment the green jade wall emerged, it felt as if something fell onto the world.

“Return to your true form, lead doll made from fake alchemy.”

In that moment, the hungry ghost reaper and mini reapers lost their minds, collapsing to the ground like puppets with their strings cut.