---

I stepped out of Yerin’s embrace and faced the Hungry Ghost Reaper who was looking at me desperately.

Clutching a Harmful Object, the Hungry Ghost Reaper gazed at me with pleading eyes, asking for treatment.

And in its arms lay a small, harmful object.

I carefully examined the Harmful Object that the Hungry Ghost Reaper was holding.

The golden object was in such a harmful state that it could be torn apart on the spot without a second thought.

There was just one peculiar thing.

It looked like it could attack the surrounding humans indiscriminately at any moment, yet it was simply nestled in the arms of the Hungry Ghost Reaper, remaining still; a bit odd.

But wanting treatment from me felt a bit strange.

Was it asking for me to throw in firewood to heal it?

The firewood I had was beneficial to my kind and humans, but it would be extremely harmful to other objects, right?

With such a desperate expression, it didn’t seem it meant for me to burn it painfully to death.

Ah!

It was a more difficult riddle than I had anticipated, but my brilliant mind accurately deciphered the intent of the Hungry Ghost Reaper.

Since this object is broken, it wants me to create a new object!

Beaming with confidence, I picked up the Halo of the Labyrinth with one hand.

This was my special service of sorts.

Using the Halo would be incredibly painful, but creating “Objects” with the Halo of the Labyrinth required a huge amount of firewood.

It was a technique I wouldn’t use unless it was something as significant as a ‘Glowing Tyranno’.

“I’m a bit late with this, but I’ll make you a new one!”

I had boldly declared that I would even use the Halo; surely, it would be moved, right?

However, the expression of the Hungry Ghost Reaper, which I thought would be joyful, was completely different from what I expected.

Sniff.

*

In an alley completely wrecked by metal balls, a man looked down at the fallen Wrecking Ball while smoking a cigarette.

After briefly enjoying the smoke, the man stomped out the cigarette and turned to the nearby shop.

‘….’

Then, the man expressed a short tribute to the old man who had been taking care of him before hastily exiting the alley.

His destination was a personal hideout he had prepared for emergencies.

The hideout provided by the organization was no longer usable.

The sudden death of the old man and the attack by the Wrecking Ball.

It was only natural that the “organization” would start targeting him.

Staying in one place for too long was a no-go.

Among the “selectors” in the organization, there had to be someone with tracking abilities.

He had enough money he had prepared beforehand for situations like this, but a harsh lifestyle awaited him.

He needed to evade the organization’s hidden agents while figuring out why the organization was targeting him and the reason his younger sister died.

‘….’

However, contrary to expectations that he wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep properly, the man was living quite comfortably.

Waking up early in the morning, the delicious smell wafted through the hideout.

When he turned his head to see the kitchen, there was a Purple Object beaming at him with a broad smile.

The Purple Object, which had started to follow him around for some time, was toasting bread while skillfully manipulating shadows like its own hands and feet.

Next to it, a video of the cooking process was playing.

That Purple fellow handled various necessary tasks like preparations for meals and keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Thanks to that, he could maintain a much better condition than during his time as a fixer, even while on the run.

A palm-sized object that looked stronger than most “selectors,” and friendly towards humans?

Could it be that such objects were wandering around the land outside of the star’s blessings nowadays?

Curious about its identity, I began to investigate, and I was able to easily figure out what this object was.

It was a rather famous object hailing from a place called ‘Korea’.

A derivative object of the high-class “Gray Reaper,” the Purple Reaper.

That purple object was frightening enough to be classified as “high-class.”

But to the man, it merely looked like an adorably beaming fellow whenever he glanced at it.

*

Late afternoon, after lunch hours.

The weather that had been bright until just now had turned gloomy, with dark clouds covering the sky, drizzling rain at the Sehee Research Institute.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper was running through the rain.

Simply running for the sake of the small object trembling painfully in its embrace.

The Gray Reaper couldn’t fulfill the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s request.

Even with the Halo capable of material creation, it was impossible to treat mental pollution.

It could only create new objects.

Moreover, this small object had such a weak presence that even if the Gray Reaper directly destroyed it, its chances of resurrecting in the Mini Reaper Garden would be remarkably low.

“It’s okay. There’s still a way.”

The Hungry Ghost Reaper repeated the words as if speaking to itself, looking down at the object in its arms.

On top of the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s head sat the Halo borrowed from the Gray Reaper that negated abilities.

It was because the mental pollution of the golden object had grown so severe that it couldn’t maintain its sanity any longer.

The Halo that blocked all abilities not derived from the Gray Reaper thankfully slowed down the progression of the mental pollution significantly.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

The Hungry Ghost Reaper gently stroked the object in its arms, continuously reassuring it.

“It’ll be fine.”

“There must be a way.”

But the last hope of the Hungry Ghost Reaper also crumbled.

Above the giant Jelly Pig hospital, the Black Reaper shook its head gloomily.

The Black Reaper said that the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper was too weak to undergo the resurrection ceremony at the hospital.

Even the much stronger blonde girl was in a precarious condition, so it was absolutely impossible for the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper.

Furthermore, the degree of contamination was so severe that it would die the moment the ceremony was performed.

Thus, all means of the Hungry Ghost Reaper failed.

‘….’

The Hungry Ghost Reaper sat in the courtyard of the Sehee Research Institute, cradling the object in its arms.

A very thin raindrop danced in the wind, drizzling down a tranquil courtyard.

It was an empty courtyard since no one was around, with the sound of rain barely audible in the silence.

Perhaps because of the rain, the golden reapers who loved the sun had all vanished somewhere.

Only the blue reaper, who enjoyed the rain, was huddled in a corner of the garden, looking at the Hungry Ghost Reaper with a worried expression.

“Thank you.”

A small sense of will snuck into the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s heart.

The golden object, wrapped in the white flame of the Halo, looked up at the Hungry Ghost Reaper with its red flashing eyes.

And with an expression that seemed to dream, it closed its eyes.

“I wish I could make more memories with the human….”

The golden Hungry Ghost Reaper smiled a little, feeling slightly regretful.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper firmly grasped the hand of the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper and said, “It’s okay. There’s still time. Let’s take our attached human to the Mini Reaper Garden for a visit.”

“There’s still so much you haven’t seen, right? The Mini Reaper Garden is filled with beautiful scenery.”

The Hungry Ghost Reaper looked down at its embrace and started to share the sights of the Mini Reaper Garden, one by one, that humans have yet to visit.

The endless Marshmallow Plains.

The sea of hot chocolate filled with sweet fragrance.

The fun labyrinth in the Black Sugar Desert.

A mountain range layered with candy of various colors.

And beyond that, even the snowfield of shaved ice.

The Hungry Ghost Reaper vividly described the scenery of the Mini Reaper Garden to the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper.

A small light flickered in the eyes of the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper.

“I want to visit the snowfield of shaved ice once.”

The golden Hungry Ghost Reaper added with a tiny laugh, saying that humans seemed to have enjoyed ice cream.

Then, with a small exhale, it suddenly became motionless.

As if it were a doll with its batteries drained, wearing the same laughing expression.

The white flame that kept burning the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper’s mental pollution also dwindled away.

As if the flame of life had extinguished.

In the rain-drenched courtyard, the Hungry Ghost Reaper uttered no words of despair.

Simply embracing the cold body of the golden Hungry Ghost Reaper, it remained still.

Raindrops trickled down the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s cheek.

And after some time had passed, the Hungry Ghost Reaper rose from its place and slowly began to walk towards the snowfield of shaved ice.

Only the footsteps of the Hungry Ghost Reaper were lonely imprinted in the rainy courtyard.

*

In the corner of the snowfield located in the Mini Reaper Garden, a small grave had freshly appeared.

A grave without the corpse of any object.

It was the grave of a small, weak object that had been disassembled due to meeting its destruction conditions.

Though the snowfield was always bathed in bright light, it felt as if shadows loomed over just this grave.

And in front of that grave, there was the Hungry Ghost Reaper, burying its head between its knees with a melancholy expression.

“It was my fault for letting you go outside the garden.”

“I’m sorry.”

Around the grieving Hungry Ghost Reaper, the golden reapers left behind sugar-coated fruits, encouraging it, but the Hungry Ghost Reaper did not eat any.

*

In a small one-room located in Southern Italy, darkness settled in.

The Purple Reaper was looking down at a man who was shallowly asleep, his eyes glimmering in that darkness.

Hehe.

The Purple Reaper quietly laughed with a hand covering its mouth as if happy.

All the numerous events experienced recently filled the Purple Reaper with joy.

The battle with the Wrecking Ball was thrilling, but the process of purchasing the spent bullets was also quite enjoyable.

Sitting on a park bench with an old newspaper spread out, a shady figure suddenly appeared on the opposite bench.

As the man mumbled something resembling a code in a low voice, the suspicious person left the rolled-up newspaper and departed the bench.

And inside that rolled newspaper, there were bullets.

“Awesome!”

As the Purple Reaper had been enjoying itself, a bit of worry crept onto its face.

When the Purple Reaper looked outside through the window, a gigantic blue starlight giant was moving about.

An existence so big that not even humans nor ordinary objects could see it.

This giant of blue starlight, which was growing bigger every day, appeared each night as if searching for something.

The Purple Reaper gazed at its tiny fist, wearing a worried expression.

“Can I defeat that monster?”

At that moment, the face of the giant began to descend towards the place where the Purple Reaper was.

‘!’

Spreading ominous blue starlight all around, it seemed to be looking down at the ground, searching for something.