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When I first entered, the boss room was brightly lit with flickering torches, but now they had all vanished.

Now, only one torch remained.

In that dark place, the Golden Reaper and company were embroiled in a fierce battle.

The shield held by the Golden Reaper was already shattered.

Moreover, the green bar above the Golden Reaper’s head, indicating remaining health, was barely halfway full.

The Red Reaper, holding a broken spear, sat sulking in a corner, watching the other Mini Reapers fight.

The green bar above the sulking Red Reaper’s head was completely empty.

The Blue Reaper, nearly out of health, seemed to be attempting a big spell, chanting for an extraordinarily long time.

‘Not much longer!’

The Golden Reaper gripped a one-handed sword, expressing their will to fight.

In this dungeon, the final boss was designed so that a torch went out with every hit it took.

As the torches dwindled, the darkness in the boss room deepened, making the shadow-wielding boss stronger.

Looking down at the determined Golden Reaper, the Purple Reaper wore a mocking expression.

Then, leaping into the sky, they launched a barrage of shadow spears at high speed.

The target? The Blue Reaper, who was preparing a spell!

The Golden Reaper began to elegantly deflect all the shadow spears with just a small one-handed sword.

However, without a shield and relying solely on the small sword, it seemed overambitious, as a massive spear struck the Golden Reaper’s torso.

‘Ugh.’

With health completely depleted, the Golden Reaper let out a desperate cry, “Ugh!” and spun in place before collapsing.

As the Golden Reaper lay sprawled on the floor, they looked up at the Blue Reaper with hopeful eyes.

At that moment, the Blue Reaper raised their staff high.

But nothing happened.

Seeing the spell fail, the Purple Reaper charged at the Blue Reaper with an air of triumph.

Creating a sword from shadows, they swung it down towards the Blue Reaper.

‘Ugh!’

The Blue Reaper, struck by the shadow sword, let out a death scream according to the rules but wore a meaningful smile.

And behind the collapsed Blue Reaper, a string made of water was engraved.

[Resurrection.]

The spell was already complete.

The Purple Reaper turned around, startled by the string.

What they saw was the Red Reaper, who had revived with some health restored.

With the broken spear stretched forward, the Red Reaper was enveloped in flames.

‘Take this!’

The spear-wielding attack from the rushing warrior.

And that finishing move pierced deep into the Purple Reaper’s heart.

‘!!!’

Then, all the shadows in the boss room began to swell and poured towards the Purple Reaper.

The amassed shadows suddenly burst forth, dazzlingly scattering.

Simultaneously, the shadows that had shrouded the boss room disappeared, and the extinguished torches returned to their former light.

It was a glorious death until the end.

The Red Reaper raised the spear high, shouting in victory.

As the battle concluded, the revived Golden Reaper and Blue Reaper hurried over to join in the celebration.

Jumping up and down, they looked truly happy, colliding with each other in their joy.

And as the door at the end of the boss room slowly opened, a treasure room began to reveal itself.

It was a room filled with a truly delicious aroma.

With a joyful bounce, the Golden Reaper and friends clasped hands, excitedly waving them as they made their way to the treasure room.

‘We won!’

‘Great job, everyone!’

The faces of the Golden Reaper group were adorned with smiles they couldn’t hide.

*

I was lying at the very center of the dungeon, observing the children at play.

I had thought the Mini Reapers would quickly get bored of the labyrinth game, but it was thriving far better than expected.

Near the labyrinth, several Mini Reapers gathered, holding Mini Hungry Ghosts with numbers on their backs.

When their turn came, a number ticket White Hungry Ghost would cry, ‘Kyu-hiing!’

At the entrance of the labyrinth, Butler Hungry Ghosts were distributing various doll outfits made by the Yellow Reaper.

Golden Reaper doll outfit equipped with sword and shield.

Red Reaper doll outfit holding a spear.

Blue Reaper doll outfit with a staff.

Orange Reaper doll outfit holding a bow.

Black Reaper doll outfit equipped with a large sword.

And other doll outfits of all kinds and colors were lined up.

It made sense, since only the Blue and Purple Reapers had the ability to use magic, yet their numbers were incredibly insufficient.

If allowed to enter as they were, there would only be parties comprised of Golden Reapers.

Moreover, considering physical ability differences, there was also the effect of limiting stats with doll outfits.

Turning my gaze, I saw the Purple Reapers busily bickering in the boss waiting room.

They were creating monsters from shadows and even playing the boss roles.

They were quite busy in their roles, but seemed remarkably happy.

Perhaps because they could take charge while playing the boss?

If it were me, I would have made them handle the Hungry Ghosts, but they chose the troublesome role of monsters themselves.

Shifting my gaze again, in the treasure room, the Golden Reapers were happily munching on candies.

And in a corner, the discarded doll outfits of the Golden Reapers were scattered about.

Those kids were happily consuming gigantic star-shaped candies that were several times larger than their bodies.

It was like discussing the contents of a movie after watching it with friends over a meal.

They shared joyous stories about who performed excellently when tackling which monster, exchanging their excitement over different scenes.

In fact, the gigantic star candies given as dungeon rewards weren’t specially crafted.

But maybe because they enjoyed them together as adventure and clearing rewards, they looked like they were eating the most delicious treat in the world.

Seeing those happy Mini Reapers made me suddenly want to enter the labyrinth as well.

I wondered if someone could create a Tyrannosaurus labyrinth for me…

*

In the third meeting room of Sehee Research Institute.

Though it wasn’t often used, now Seoah was occupying it along with someone else.

This interview was held to ease Seoah’s workload.

Originally, everything was fine when the elite Researcher Yerin Oh was around, who would slack off yet still work three times harder than other employees.

However, currently, Researcher Oh was rendered completely useless aside from her role as a Gray Reaper nanny, forcing a choice with no other options.

As Seoah leisurely flipped through the resume, she examined the Helmet Researcher before her.

To her surprise, the researcher was wearing a Mental Pollution Blocking Helmet boldly emblazoned with the James Corporation logo during the interview.

‘Quite an unusual character, more than expected.’

I heard that even at the Object Association, they often wore helmets; they really seemed thorough about mental pollution.

While they looked like a weirdo who ordinarily wouldn’t be hired, they surprisingly appeared favorable in this situation.

Perhaps due to persistent exposure to the mild mental pollution from the Golden Reapers, there were hardly any candidates left in the Sehee Research Institute to responsibly manage the Mini Reapers.

‘Incredible. Truly thorough.’

That idea crossed her mind.

With excellent specs and having been praised for handling tasks well at the Object Association, there was no reason not to hire them.

Normally, she would have notified them via email, but in her excitement, Seoah personally announced their acceptance.

“Welcome aboard! I think your values align well with our company vision. I believe we can achieve great things together.”

After delivering the acceptance in a professional tone, Seoah shook hands with the researcher.

“Did I really get in?”

“Of course you did! I’ll send the detailed information via email. Check it later.”

As Seoah smiled and spoke, the Helmet Researcher bowed their head and thanked her with a slight air of disarray as they exited the interview room.

Once the interviewer left, Seoah, wearing a relieved expression, turned to the Sprout Reaper.

“Shouldn’t be a problem, right? Since they’re so thorough about mental pollution, they’ll likely rival Senior Researcher Kim Jungrwi.”

However, the Sprout Reaper perched on Seoah’s shoulder merely chuckled silently.

‘What?’

Seoah was puzzled by the uncomprehending response from the Sprout Reaper but shrugged it off.

*

After returning the visitor badge at the front gate of Sehee Research Institute, the Helmet Researcher started walking briskly through the parking lot.

“Finally getting accepted into Sehee Research Institute, which is so hard to enter!”

As they expressed their joy exuberantly, the Golden Reaper inside the helmet patted the researcher’s cheek and rejoiced along.

The Helmet Researcher took the Golden Reaper out of the helmet, placing it on their hand.

“Now other Mini Reapers can play with their friends, right?”

The Golden Reaper shook its head as if to say it wasn’t necessary.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have more Golden Reapers around?”

When the Helmet Researcher spoke with a slightly worried expression, the Golden Reaper nodded slightly in agreement.

“Isn’t that right?”

Thinking of the rumor that the Sehee Research Institute was a place where only Mini Reapers played together, the Helmet Researcher smiled happily.

*

With a joyful bounce, while the Mini Reapers were utterly absorbed in the labyrinth I had created, I was wandering through the newly formed terrain.

Could it have been created by defeating the Purple Moon?

There, beyond the Candy Mountain, lay an endless snowfield.

‘Oooh.’

I gazed down at the snowfield from atop the mountain, amazed.

Not a single cloud in the sky, yet the snow was falling like crazy.

On one side of the snowfield, various types of fruits and rice cakes grew on trees, forming a delightful grove.

And at the end of that grove, clumps of snow formed into ice, flowing like glaciers into the Sea of Hot Chocolate.

I cupped my hands under the falling snow, bringing it to my mouth to taste a bit.

Nom nom.

A sweet flavor spread throughout my mouth.

‘Delicious.’

It tasted like milk with a hint of sweetness that had been frozen.

Moreover, this snowfield, reminiscent of milk shavings, had trees that produced toppings to accompany the shaved ice!

Perfect!

Lying on the ground, I started enjoying the snow, munching on fruits and indulging in the snowfield.

As I stuffed myself to my heart’s content, I noticed something white and mouse-like moving in the corner of my sight.

It was a cute white fluffball hamster, with its tail skewered with all kinds of fruits.

Using time acceleration, I dashed after it and caught it; the fruits on its tail were all coated in sugar.

‘Hmmm. This feels like an object I must absolutely not forget.’

Snowfield.

Skewers.

It seemed like a combination that would spark a memory.

Holding the hamster tightly, I pondered deeply.