Chapter 264


The morning arrived in Southern Italy, where the enormous giants that pierced the sky had disappeared, restoring tranquility.

And, losing their place, many people began to migrate north.

These refugees became clear evidence, causing numerous news outlets and newspapers to make a fuss over the same story.

[The blessing of the stars has ended!]

Before this news was publicly known, many reporters began crossing the border between the south and the north.

The place where premium objects fought, creating tremendous noise and light.

Although space was twisted and proper observation was impossible, it could be considered the most dangerous site of the modern era.

However, for a reporter specializing in objects, it was merely the risk that came with choosing their profession from the moment they signed up.

Thus, when reporters from the north crossed into the south, what they saw was truly a rusted, crumbled ruin.

Like a city bombarded in destruction, all the buildings and roads had collapsed.

Like the ashes piled up from a volcanic eruption, a soft layer of rust was heaped everywhere.

With nothing but passion and a camera, the first reporter to rush into the south let out a sorrowful sigh.

‘If it has become this much of a ruin, will recovery even be possible?’

The situation looked several times worse than a bombed city.

Click click.

The ground was gouged like it had been scooped out with a giant spoon.

The red rusted metal and cement were chaotically mixed together like marbling in beef.

Even now, as the wind blew, buildings transformed slowly into dust and scattered.

The desperate situation in Southern Italy was piling up in front of the camera.

Is this truly all there is to see?

Feeling frustrated, I wandered around but found only ruins when I turned my head.

Even from atop a building that seemed ready to crumble at any moment, looking down, there were just ruins.

It was nothing but ruins.

How long would it take to restore all of this?

It certainly looked like it would take much longer than the 20 years of the star’s blessing.

The only consolation was that not a single object could be seen on this vast land.

‘!’

While taking pictures of the ruins, the reporter spotted something curious moving before their eyes.

Flop flop.

It was a golden object slowly walking somewhere, cradling a small rusted metal piece.

The reporter lifted their camera as if entranced and captured the golden object in the frame.

Click.

With dust sticking to its cheeks, the golden reaper was seen carrying a debris piece as large as itself.

The picture of the small object working for Italy amidst the ruins became a news article, spreading worldwide.

The title of the photograph was [Hope in the Ruins.]

*

About 20 years of division in Italy.

Now, 20 years after the stars fell, Southern and Northern Italy had become one again.

Like a city that was bombed, much land and many cities had rusted away and vanished.

Still, many people were celebrating and blessing the end of the division.

Almost no one had died in the battles against the giants.

While it was possible to confirm life through communication, the meetings of those who hadn’t seen each other in 20 years created a slightly festive atmosphere in Italy.

Of course, there were some Southerners trembling in fear of the returning objects.

However, as materials hidden by the temporary government of Southern Italy were released, that too was overturned.

From after the blessing of the stars, the dramatically increased number of dead and missing.

The rise in prices due to disconnects and the decrease in jobs.

Worsening public safety and thriving crime organizations.

The ‘Selectors’ that kill people more than the objects.

The ‘blessing of the stars’ began to be referred to as the ‘curse of the stars.’

And the opinion that ‘objects’ were better than ‘selectors’ began to gain popularity.

In such a favorable perception, beings wandering around Southern Italy played a role.

Using a giant white hungry ghost to tidy up the ruins, coming close to people with smiles: it was thanks to the golden reaper.

Perhaps it’s because many Italians loved the golden reaper.

In the center of the ruined south, a giant candy pinwheel emerged.

And beneath it, many mini reapers were waiting for their own attached humans.

Golden reapers wearing long coats like purple reapers, holding lollipops.

Purple reapers dreaming of fateful encounters like rusty purple reapers.

And mini reapers who wanted to find their attached humans.

As mini reapers gathered, the area near the giant candy pinwheel gradually began to bustle.

Italy had established a mini reaper special zone, like Mapo District.

*

In the snowfield located in the mini reaper garden.

Having returned from Italy, I lay in the gently falling snow, mouth wide open.

As the snow melted in my mouth, the sweet taste of milk shaved ice spread in my mouth.

‘It’s delicious.’

And beside me, a rather annoyed hungry ghost was biting one of my arms with a gentle ‘nom’.

It seemed to be because I hadn’t kept my promise to resurrect its attached object.

Though it didn’t hurt due to physical immunity, it was a bit annoying.

‘How strange.’

Surely my keen sixth sense whispered, ‘If you kill the blue giant, you could resurrect it.’

Yet even after killing the blue giant, I gained no abilities.

Instead, what emerged was a glowing blue sphere floating in the sky of the snowfield.

Moreover, there was nothing inside that glowing blue sphere.

I expected the blue giant would be lying there as a corpse, but it was merely a space filled with rippling water.

There was only one unusual aspect.

The water inside the blue sphere was emitting a brilliant blue light, reminiscent of the Cherenkov radiation seen with radioactive materials.

As I continued lying there, other mini reapers began to approach, tilting their heads in curiosity.

The approaching mini reapers wore expressions like, ‘Why is mom being bitten?’

And perhaps finding the hungry ghost’s nibbles amusing, the mini reapers began to bite me, saying ‘nom’ in reply.

As more mini reapers drifted by and stuck to me like a whale covered in remora fish, I was overwhelmed.

Annoying.

I wanted to tear them off and throw them away immediately, but since it was still ‘Gentle Mom Week,’ I had no choice but to endure it.

Eek eeek.

While I was being bitten by the mini reapers, I suddenly thought about the blue sphere.

Could it be that even without a body inside, I could transfer my consciousness?

Since it resembled the Unchanging Sphere in size and shape, it might just work.

So, as I lightly connected my consciousness to the blue sphere, I finally realized something.

The blue sphere contained part of the blue giant’s abilities.

That ability wasn’t the light that rusted things, the fog that eroded space, or the power that manipulated space.

It was the ability to resurrect!

The ability to summon the souls of dead objects.

Since a body could be created with a halo, simply calling the soul could be considered a resurrection.

‘Resurrection!’

Suddenly standing up, I let out my will, surprising the mini reapers who had been looking bewildered.

*

Soon, the mini reapers that filled the snowfield were unleashing their will.

‘Resurrection!’

‘Resurrection!’

The hungry ghost seemed extra sorrowful, and the story of the hungry ghost’s attached object became famous among the mini reapers.

Thus, the news that mom would resurrect the golden hungry ghost spread rapidly among the mini reapers.

And the vast snowfield filled up with mini reapers eager to watch the resurrection.

I stood beneath the blue sphere, beaming confidently at the crowd of mini reapers gathered.

Mini reapers filled with expectation.

Anxiously glancing hungry ghost.

As I took in that sight, I breathed my consciousness into the blue sphere.

‘?!’

Suddenly, a massive body was felt within the blue sphere.

Just as I pushed in a bit too much will, another body inside the blue sphere opened its eyes like a black corpse.

Slowly, a blue body ripped through the blue sphere.

Boom!

And the new body that completely tore through the blue sphere was a giant, almost as large as the black corpse.

‘So big!’

‘Giant mom!’

However, that appearance was entirely different from the black corpse.

Excluding the blue glow reminiscent of a giant of blue starlight, it was exactly the same as ‘my gray body.’

‘Glowing giant mom!’

‘Blue mom!’

Kraaang!

The super giant blue gray reaper howled silently.