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I sat on a chair in the isolation room, decorated like a concert hall, listening to the softly echoing piano sound while I contemplated a certain matter.

The subject of my thoughts was the Hungry Ghost Reaper and the Golden Harmful Object.

To be precise, I was pondering, “Where does mental pollution come from?”

It was about the phenomenon of transforming into a so-called “harmful” object.

In fact, I didn’t care much about the mini reapers or firewood, as they seemed immune to that pollution, but the mental pollution that affects objects had something unique about it.

Firstly, the “harmful” mental pollution could never be reversed.

No matter how much time you rewind, mental pollution was already in an “infected state,” as if the past had been altered.

If you didn’t take care to remember how things were before being infected, your perception would twist, making it feel like it had always been that way.

Secondly, the cause-and-effect relationship was also unclear.

It seemed to emerge like a result born without a cause, appearing out of nowhere.

When I checked with the Orange Reaper’s ability, there were times when something occurred that should have had no chance of happening, and cases where something that seemed 100% likely did not happen at all.

A tangle of mixed cause and effect and the flow of time.

I was aware of one such phenomenon.

Reality erosion triggered by the Color Universe and the Red Monster that came from there.

It felt just like the reality erosion caused by beings like gods from outside, the external beings.

“Hmmm.”

As I thought this, I began to closely examine the blue lizard that was frolicking atop the piano in the center of the isolation room.

A very faint “harmful” aura emanated from it.

It felt like a small amount of pollution that even the Golden Reaper would treat as just a harmless object.

Was the lizard strong enough that it wasn’t easily polluted?

In fact, the lizard might lack offensive abilities, but it was a quite powerful object that could infinitely resurrect and even use cloning techniques.

Well, that just meant it was quite formidable at a point where destruction conditions were complicated.

I lowered my gaze and looked down at the ghost cat nestled in my arms.

I hadn’t checked the cat’s destruction conditions, but I could roughly feel that it was a rather weak object.

If I could just overcome the ghosting, it should be as easy to destroy as a kitten, right?

But even the ghost cat wasn’t too heavily polluted like the blue lizard.

“Why are you perfectly fine?”

The cat seemed to think I was provoking it, and upon hearing my words, it instantly delivered a cat punch to my cheek.

Certainly, the more I examined mental pollution, the more it felt like that Color Universe.

If that’s the case, couldn’t there be a way to revive the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s attachment object in the Color Universe?

No, I definitely had a gut feeling that it could be done.

As my thoughts reached that point, a small hint surfaced in my hazy memory.

“Come to think of it, there was a mini reaper that had observed an aura related to the ‘Color Universe’ somewhere?”

I closed my eyes and began to ponder to remember who that was.

*

A giant Light Giant, massive enough to cover the sky, was overlooking the buildings.

The Purple Reaper curled up, minimizing its presence, trying not to be found by that giant.

“Huff.”

It covered its eyes with its little palms and puffed its cheeks as if holding its breath.

In the Purple Reaper’s mind, that blue starlit giant surely seemed like it was searching for it.

It was emitting an aura to expel all objects that weren’t under its dominion, so it must be.

Thanks to that expelling aura, the Purple Reaper’s power kept building up, but perhaps because of that, the giant seemed to sense the Purple Reaper’s existence as well.

Should I call Mom?

The Purple Reaper started to ponder with its eyes still covered.

Wanting to travel closely and intimately with the Attached Human, yet feeling a strong urgency to call Mom because the Attached Human could be in danger.

The energy that had always been lacking was currently surging, making it feel like it might be worth trying to fight.

Those three conflicting thoughts were mixing together, making it hard to reach a conclusion.

Just then, the giant searching for the Purple Reaper vanished with the rising morning sun.

The giant’s pursuit was getting closer and closer.

What should I do?

The Purple Reaper was preparing breakfast for the Attached Human, who seemed like it was about to awaken, lost in an endless cycle of worries.

*

The man enjoyed simple bread and ham along with a strong espresso for breakfast, deciphering a file that had been left at storage location 41 by the old man.

It was an encrypted USB, so it took quite a while to decode.

But seeing as it was made for the purpose of leaving it for the man, it wasn’t impossible to decode or overly time-consuming.

Beep.

When the decoding on the computer finished, a light sound rang out.

And the contents began to display on the screen.

“If this file has reached you, I will have already died.”

The document that started with such a sentence contained a short story.

The old man had once been a member of an “organization,” and just as he had done for the man, he had taken care of his younger sister.

What his younger sister had been investigating.

Along with a map, where his sister had last headed was written.

“I’m truly sorry in the end.”

“I should have told you sooner, but I couldn’t.”

And at the end of the text, there was an apology for the young man’s life being wasted for no reason and a warning about that location.

“Finally…!”

The man exclaimed joyfully as he tapped the location marked on the map, realizing he’d uncovered his sister’s final destination.

However, perhaps because he was too focused on the map, he didn’t notice the horrified expression of the Purple Reaper watching from his shoulder.

“The place where the blue starlit giant appears!”

The location marked on the map pointed to an ominous place where the blue starlit giant rose every night.

*

During lunchtime at Sehee Research Institute, a researcher was wandering around with a small photo.

“Have you seen this object?”

The picture contained the image of the Golden Hungry Ghost Reaper, sleeping on a tiny cushion.

The researcher was asking various people as if searching for a lost puppy.

But no one knew the whereabouts of the Golden Hungry Ghost Reaper.

Worrying about an object.

It seemed entirely unnecessary; however, for some reason, the researcher couldn’t shake off the anxiety.

The reason was simple.

Even though only a single day had passed, memories were becoming fuzzy.

While they hadn’t forgotten its existence, the cute and kind appearance was growing hazy.

It had been so adorable.

It had been so delightful.

There were still many things I wanted to do together in the future.

“It doesn’t feel right.”

Eventually, the researcher even started asking the mini reapers lounging in the courtyard of Sehee Research Institute.

Nod nod.

However, the many Black Reapers and Golden Reapers in the courtyard merely shook their heads with blank faces, signifying they had no idea.

“Have you seen this child?”

In response to the researcher’s question, one Black Reaper slightly sullenly shook its head.

And that Black Reaper gazed at the researcher’s back, walking towards another mini reaper, with a slightly pitying expression.

*

Deep inside the Mini Reaper Garden, in the Marshmallow Hut.

A gloomy Hungry Ghost Reaper visited the hut where the Blue Girl was lying down and looked down at her.

Poke poke.

The sad Hungry Ghost Reaper, mourning the death of the Golden Hungry Ghost Reaper, poked the cheek of the Blue Girl, reminiscing about old memories.

It was a memory related to the dead puppy that had touched a liquid of evolution along with a boy.

Back then, the owner had ground the corpse to create a guardian.

A bizarre guardian with the rotten face of the deceased puppy instead of the face of the Hungry Ghost Reaper, ensuring the boy wouldn’t be sad anymore.

Seeing that, it seemed clear that what was currently inside the Lead Doll was the former owner.

Though I had thought this for a long time, I wish they would just say they can’t do what they can’t.

As I was indulging in memories beside the Blue Girl, suddenly the door of the hut swung open.

“Here you are!”

The owner, smiling brightly.

“I found a solution, so let’s hurry!”

Watching the Gray Reaper, who was dragging the Hungry Ghost Reaper’s hand with an extremely excited expression, the Hungry Ghost Reaper followed along, harboring a large anxiety and a small hope.

*

As the man approached the location marked on the map, he was greeted by an incredibly thick, blue mist.

The moment he passed among the buildings, the mist suddenly appeared, thick enough that he could barely see his feet.

It was a scene hard to imagine being in the center of a city.

Probably due to the mist, the Purple Reaper was anxiously scanning all around with a tense expression.

As the man made his cautious steps deeper into the mist, a note left by his sister came to mind.

“You have to go to ‘the place where the stars fall.’” That simple note.

Of course, the man had immediately gone to the place known as “the place where the stars fall.”

Naturally, he aimed for the park square, famous for marking the start of the star’s blessings.

But there, he found no trace of his sister at all.

“It’s clear. This is the real ‘place where the stars fall.’”

The further he ventured into the thick mist, the more he felt that this truly was the “place where the stars fall.”

A star that expelled objects from this land and created beings close to an object known as “the Selector.”

That place where the star had fallen couldn’t possibly be as ordinary as the park.

The deeper he entered the blue-hued mist, peculiar phenomena began to occur.

A butterfly glowing in blue suddenly appeared, retreating into a decayed chrysalis and dying.

The footprints the man left were only in front of him, gone behind him.

“….”

Occurrences that made him want to turn back at once were happening in abundance.

As the man slowly moved forward, he halted and turned around.

[Brother.]

It was as if the voice of his sister was ringing in his ear, vivid and clear.

And deep within the blue mist, a silhouette resembling his sister could be faintly seen.