---

At the harbor where starlight shone down, the Purple Reaper hid in the shadow of a large container, wrapped in darkness.

The Purple Reaper, hidden in the shadows, sparkled its eyes and gazed at something.

There, a man was seen smoking a cigarette while making a phone call.

‘Cool.’

Though it couldn’t properly express it with its limited vocabulary, the Purple Reaper felt that it was something cool.

It wasn’t because it thought it was impressive that a man, who was merely a pure human except for the ocular prosthetic in one eye, was overcoming an absolutely disadvantageous fight.

It also didn’t feel that it was cool when he calmly resolved situations.

Even when he was slightly grazed by an opponent’s attack, remaining composed without letting out a scream wasn’t what it found cool either.

‘I don’t understand.’

Trying to create some conditions like the Golden Reapers only turned its mind into a mess.

From the Purple Reaper’s perspective, it just felt that upon first glance, he was the Attached Human.

That was all.

“I retrieved the items. Place the retrieved items where they usually go.”

The man, having said only what he had to on the phone, swiftly hung up and casually swept his gaze around.

As if he felt a stare from somewhere.

‘!’

Sensing the man turning his head, the Purple Reaper dove deeper into the shadows.

And as the man slowly walked away, it began to follow him silently.

*

The man opened the door to a cold, dark, and lifeless house, hung his coat on the rack, and slumped onto the sofa in the living room.

He drank a can of beer he bought on the way in, using the desolate room as his snack.

It was dark without the lights on, with not a single proper piece of furniture, just a sofa used as a bed sitting alone.

“Phew.”

The man let out a long breath and reclined back on the sofa.

‘When can I approach you confidently?’

A man who couldn’t die and was living felt like he was walking through an endless tunnel filled with darkness.

Since the day his younger sister died, this continued.

“….”

The breath of the man, who had been running around fiercely, and even received some cuts, slowly began to calm down.

He started to drift into shallow sleep, and in the corner of his eye, he felt a small purple figure approach, wiping away his tears.

‘Right, my sister was one who looked great in purple…’

Perhaps because of the purple that danced before his eyes, the man had long forgotten dreams.

Dreams of the time when his sister was alive.

Dreams from the time when he believed the curse of the stars was a blessing.

*

While wandering around the Sehee Research Institute after a long time, he had a very rare experience.

“Mom!”

“Mom!”

As he was walking down the corridor with a hop, he was swarmed from all sides by Golden Reapers who clung to him like mad.

The Golden Reapers were clamoring to go play in the courtyard as if he were the Attached Human himself.

Of course, it wasn’t unusual for the Golden Reapers to call him to play, but this level of enthusiasm was reminiscent of when he first summoned a Golden Reaper.

‘Something’s weird.’

However, his outstanding brain quickly realized that the cause of this situation wasn’t due to ‘my charming allure.’

The direction he was hopping towards was toward the Sleeping Room, and there was a presence he had never felt before coming from that direction.

As he began to approach the Sleeping Room while ignoring the Golden Reapers, they started pulling at his hair and causing a ruckus.

What on earth is going on?

Could it be that Mecha Tyranno is being hidden there?

With the Golden Reapers reacting violently, he began to walk faster toward the Sleeping Room.

‘Mecha Tyranno!’

He burst with energy as he flung open the door to the Sleeping Room.

However, the scene that met his eyes held not a single special thing.

People sleeping soundly while playing with Sprout Reapers in their dreams.

The twilight light coming in through a small window.

An anxious Golden Reaper.

And a Mini Reaper holding onto a tiny Mini Mini Reaper.

‘?’

Did I see something strange?

I rubbed my eyes habitually as I could see nothing though, yet what I saw remained unchanged.

I walked quickly toward the Sprout Reaper.

Seeing me approach, the Sprout Reaper playfully smiled and presented the Mini Mini Reaper to me.

Is it a Baby Sprout Reaper?

I noticed that the Sprout Reapers slightly multiplied while I wasn’t looking back in the snowfield, and it seemed to have increased in this way.

How interesting.

As I poked at the Mini Sprout Reaper, which was closing its eyes curiously, I felt it wriggling around trying to grab my finger.

Something small was wriggling, which I found quite intriguing.

Come to think of it, even the Golden Reapers multiplied on their own; could it be that they also have Baby Golden Reapers?

As I pondered this, I looked back at the Golden Reapers, who were staring at me intently without blinking an eye.

Moreover, they were all tensed up like before a battle.

Are they doing this because they’re afraid I’ll hurt that small child?

I’m being treated too much like a mom these days!

There’s no way I’m on some kind of credit rating scale, right?

As I extended my palm, the Sprout Reaper happily handed me the Mini Sprout Reaper like a proud display.

I gently caressed the Sprout Reaper resting on my palm while looking at the Golden Reapers.

The sight of the Golden Reapers, flustered and anxious, somehow struck me as a bit funny.

Snap.

At that moment, as I chuckled internally, I felt something break at my fingertips.

‘!’

The Golden Reapers displayed expressions of horror.

Startled, I turned my gaze and discovered that one leaf of the Mini Sprout Reaper had been cleanly severed and was now held in my hand.

The Mini Sprout Reaper, now with one leaf plucked, no longer moved and was drooping.

‘Uh… what should I do? It’s not dead, is it?’

As I scrambled to put the fallen leaf back on, pouring firewood all over the place to try and fix it, the Golden Reapers rushed at me and started throwing punches.

The emotionally charged punches, fiercer than expected, continued until the leaf was reattached, and I returned the Mini Sprout Reaper to the Sprout Reaper.

Sigh.

I just wanted to play around…

*

Yerin was leaving the Sehee Research Institute while contemplating a small worry.

‘The Reapers were a bit strange today.’

A Gray Reaper was playing with the Golden Reapers and Sprout Reapers in the Sleeping Room.

Hugging, feeding snacks, and petting them.

It seemed like a service only done when the Gray Reaper had made a big mistake.

Did something go wrong?

Well, still, the Golden and Sprout Reapers looked happy, so it should be fine.

As Yerin arranged her thoughts, she exited the parking lot of the Sehee Research Institute and began walking slowly towards the shuttle bus stop.

As she did so, she noticed a very rare procession.

It was a parade of Golden Reapers hopping along in a line.

Thanks to the Golden Reapers spreading through Mapo District lately, they had been seen outside often, but it was rare to see them parading like this.

As Yerin pulled out her phone to take a picture of the procession, the Golden Reapers turned their heads, smiles lighting up their faces as they rushed toward Yerin.

A clump of Golden Reapers crowded onto Yerin’s body.

One Golden Reaper, who looked like it was inviting to play, was placed in her palm and spoke.

“Come play with us?”

The Golden Reaper nodded with a big smile.

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

Yerin began walking with a vigorous spirit, as if she had won the lottery.

Come to think of it, the Golden Reapers had reached a level where they understood human speech quite well lately.

At times, it felt like they communicated even better than the Gray Reapers.

Of course, the Gray Reapers understood everything but ignored it.

Now almost no one thought the Gray Reapers didn’t understand them; how long will they keep pretending not to understand?

*

Upon arriving home, Yerin released the Golden Reapers into the house.

Hearing their cute little footsteps, Yerin finished getting ready and began pulling out what she had prepared for the Mini Reapers.

From a large box emerged water deer pajamas for Gray Reapers, followed by pajamas in sizes fit for Mini Reapers.

“Okay, let’s change! It’s a pajama party!”

Though the Golden Reapers didn’t understand what Yerin was saying, they shared in her positive emotions, cheering and jumping with glee.

Since the day she first invited Golden Reapers into her home, she had continuously crafted handmade water deer pajamas in anticipation of moments like this.

‘Glad I made these.’

Seeing the Golden Reapers, dressed in the same outfits, giggling happily, filled her heart with joy for the efforts she had put in.

Fortunately, there were enough Mini water deer pajamas that she could dress all the Golden Reapers visiting her house.

Sharing tasty snacks, rolling around on the bed together.

Jumping from a high bookshelf onto the bed.

Among the Golden Reapers enjoying in each of their fun ways, one Golden Reaper was rummaging through a box where pajamas kept pouring out endlessly.

‘!’

As that Golden Reaper explored inside, it suddenly popped out with a very surprised expression.

In the hands of the Golden Reaper was a very old piece of clothing.

“Oh, that? I wore that when I was little, but I don’t remember it well.”

Yerin spoke nonchalantly.

The clothing held by the Golden Reaper was very worn out, tattered, and quite small.

Though faded, it was a peculiarly designed outfit in a mix of black and white.