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Everyone living in this land is blessed.

No, everyone living in this land is cursed.

Over twenty years ago, the blessing of the stars descended upon Southern Italy.

The stars, shining a deep blue light that seemed to cover the night sky, fell to the ground, and all objects touched by that light hurriedly fled.

While the entire world was being smashed to bits by objects, no objects have appeared in Southern Italy since that moment of blessing.

So, it’s the blessing of the stars.

However, anyone who entered the land blessed by the stars, even for a moment, became unable to leave.

The moment they stepped outside the territory, they turned to ashes.

Like a vampire touched by sunlight.

So, it’s the curse of the stars.

But the true curse that descended upon this land was something else.

It was those chosen by the stars, the humans.

*

In the deep of night, at a dock where beautiful starlight was visible.

A man in a black coat, looking like he could merge with the night sky, stood atop a building at the dock, looking down.

The man was examining an empty warehouse with a special telescope that reflected no light.

‘Two guards outside. One inside. Just as the information I received suggested.’

While the number of guards seemed too low for protecting something important, if one of them included a chosen one, the situation changed.

In fact, it could even be considered an excessive number.

The chosen ones possessed at least the combat power of ten regular people.

Unless it was a surprise, penetrating the ‘reverse barrier’ that protected a chosen one with firearms would be quite difficult, hence such an exchange rate was established.

However, with the situation now presenting a chance to snipe the chosen one inside, it became a meaningless assumption.

The man carefully aimed with a silenced gun and pulled the trigger.

Three dull sounds echoed as the bullets fired sequentially from the man’s hand, each one piercing the head of the target without missing.

It was truly unbelievable marksmanship.

Then, the man descended from his concealed rooftop and cautiously approached the warehouse he aimed for.

‘Once I recover the target item and deliver it, this mission will be over.’

Just as he was making his way carefully toward the warehouse, he noticed a long, translucent trajectory extending toward him from a nearby wall.

‘!’

Seeing a swirling trace like rushing water, he swiftly twisted his body away from the trajectory.

In an instant, everything the trace passed began to twist.

Something was forcefully twisting the steel wall in a spiral, and the concrete wall beyond it crumbled as it passed.

And as the trajectory flew by, numerous additional trajectories began to erupt in all directions.

The man rolled to avoid the trajectories and dove behind the opposite container.

“Did he dodge all that? Lucky shooter.”

Hearing a voice from beyond the wall, the man resumed his thoughts.

A power that allows something to be shot based on the line of sight.

Automatic firing capability. Can target unseen areas.

Given that this was a skill he’d never even heard of, it was likely the chosen one had only recently received it.

By the way, did they deploy two chosen ones?

“I honestly don’t understand it.”

Step by step.

Hearing the bold footsteps that showed no caution, he gauged the opponent’s position.

Then, he began to scale the building slowly.

“Why is a weakling who can only use a gun useful for ambush getting such high praise?”

No sooner had the man finished that thought than he dropped down from a stack of containers, aiming his gun at the enemy.

Had the opponent anticipated this ambush? In an instant, he turned his head.

But the man needed just a brief moment to turn his head.

Thanks to the ‘reverse barrier’ guarding him, the cocky expression on the young man’s face was visible.

Numerous trajectories originating from that young man’s eyes targeted the man’s entire body.

But before those trajectories could take shape, a single bullet fired by the man pierced through the gap in the ‘reverse barrier’ and threaded through the young man’s brow.

*

Near the sleeping room of the Sehee Research Institute.

“Okay, I’m going. Stop rushing me.”

Past working hours, Seoah was slowly walking to the sleeping room, pulled along by the Mini Sprout Reaper’s insistence.

The Mini Sprout Reaper, seemingly worried about something urgent, was tugging at Seoah’s hair, urging her to hurry.

As she carefully opened the door to the sleeping room and entered, the first thing that caught her eye was the flowerpot of the Mini Sprout Reaper deep inside the room.

The gentle moonlight falling on the small pot created an incredibly mystical atmosphere.

Feeling as though she were enchanted by that mystical ambiance, Seoah slowly approached the pot, where the Mini Sprout Reaper stood, looking up at her.

It was a highly rare occurrence for the usually sleeping Mini Sprout Reaper to be awake.

“Were you trying to tell me that the flowerpot Mini Sprout Reaper is awake?”

Seoah whispered to the Mini Sprout Reaper sitting on her shoulder, but the sprout vehemently shook its head in denial.

Huh?

As Seoah examined more closely, she noticed a tiny fruit budding on the sprout of the flowerpot Mini Sprout Reaper.

She had heard that the fruit had been shared with a few others besides herself, but witnessing such a tiny fruit growing was a sight Seoah had never seen before.

“So, you wanted to show me this fruit?”

But even this time, the sprout shook its head.

Then the sprout leaped down from Seoah’s shoulder and tapped on the Spirit Camera.

‘?’

With a puzzled expression, Seoah began to gaze at the flowerpot Mini Sprout Reaper through the Spirit Camera.

“Oh?”

Then, a voice filled with bewilderment slipped from Seoah’s lips.

In the view through the Spirit Camera, the Mini Sprout Reaper held something small in its arms.

It was a Mini Sprout Reaper that looked significantly smaller than the Mini Sprout Reaper itself.

The already small and adorable Mini Reapers were now accompanied by an even smaller and cuter one!

It evoked a protective feeling similar to that of a newborn animal.

“So, you wanted to show me this?”

When Seoah asked that, the sprout smiled and nodded.

Noticing that Seoah was looking through the Spirit Camera, the flowerpot Mini Sprout Reaper also raised the Mini Sprout Reaper toward the camera.

It felt like it was saying, ‘Isn’t our little sibling adorable?’ which made her smile naturally.

Seoah opened her notebook and began to jot down notes about the Mini Sprout Reaper.

[The Mini Sprout Reaper body visible after consuming the fruit seems to develop from the moment the fruit appears.]

[This result is different from the previous prediction that it would generate the moment it eats the fruit.]

[Currently, it appears to be much smaller than the regular Mini Sprout Reaper body, likely changing size as the fruit grows.]

[Continuous observation is required going forward.]

As she closed her notebook with a snap, the flowerpot Mini Sprout Reaper extended its arms as if urging her to hold the Mini Sprout Reaper.

When she placed the tiny Mini Sprout Reaper on her palm, it waved its little hands in the air.

As she brought her finger closer to the mini sprout, it hugged it tightly like a doll.

“Warm.”

Then, gazing at the Mini Sprout Reaper, Seoah smiled happily.

*

A few days after the Purple Reaper left to find the Attached Human.

I was playing with the repaired Light Sword in the courtyard of Sehee Research Institute under the warm sunlight.

To avoid breaking it like last time, I was playing as cautiously as if wielding a child’s plastic sword.

Well, a toy sword would obviously break if swung with full force by an adult.

Playing with me was the 5th Sword of the Golden Reaper.

Despite the huge difference in reach and build, a reasonably decent combat match was taking place.

Whenever I swung my sword hard, the 5th Sword would spin wildly in mid-air, deflecting my strikes.

Like a spinning baseball.

Every time I saw the golden blade of the sword spinning rapidly, it looked quite impressive.

So I tried to imitate it, but with this body lacking athletic talent, it was an impossible task.

Instead of spinning fast, I often ended up crashing into the ground without even completing a full rotation.

When I was human, I knew how to exercise, so it was definitely this ‘Gray Reaper’ body that was the problem.

The alchemist who repaired this sword was seated in a corner of the courtyard, chatting with James.

When James first saw the alchemist, he seemed quite suspicious, but the moment he laid eyes on the stone-made Color Hungry Ghost, his demeanor shifted to one of friendly familiarity.

Now he was flipping through a book titled ‘Volume 0’ and sharing various stories.

He seemed particularly excited by the fact that the alchemist could interpret the language written in ‘Volume 0’.

I had some expectations regarding these two’s collaboration.

James, who can create large-scale projects because he has plenty of money.

The alchemist, who can only make small items due to lack of funds but creates objects that resemble those of the classified category.

Given the combination of those two, wouldn’t it be possible to create a Mecha-Tyrannosaurus?

I was already in the middle of conducting operations utilizing the Golden Reapers.

Hehe.

*

One of the Purple Reapers scattered throughout the world arrived at a land filled with an unsettling energy.

Under normal circumstances, an object would not have dared to approach, but the high-ranking Purple Reaper could enter simply by enduring a little.

And by resisting the energy that tried to expel it, the Purple Reaper’s energy was replenished, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

There, the Purple Reaper discovered a man.

He had a stiff expression that suggested he had his own story.

There was something in that rigid expression that piqued the Purple Reaper’s interest.

The Purple Reaper spread its small palm and began applying the criteria for the Attached Human given by the Golden Reaper.

The Golden Reaper’s conditions were only two.

Be at least 50% human.

Not be an evil human.

That man, being a pure human, passed.

Moreover, he showed no signs of malicious intent toward humanity, so he passed again.

Passed?

But it felt too simple, and the Purple Reaper tilted its head, displaying a puzzled expression.

Strange.

So, the Purple Reaper decided to follow the man secretly and began its observation.