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In the depths of the Sehee Research Institute, near the seldom-used emergency stairs.

Sehee looked around cautiously and stepped into the secret space connected there.

It was a space made secretly to avoid being discovered by Seoah, just like the previous underground passage.

“It’s been a while.”

Sehee murmured softly as she entered the room.

Perhaps because it was a space created to avoid being detected, it was quite narrow, but everything necessary was packed inside.

The floor was soft like a bed, and along the walls, essentials like a refrigerator and bathroom were lined up neatly.

And scattered around the room were small statues made of gold.

Mini Reapers of various colors and Gray Reapers.

The meticulously crafted golden statues were striking dynamic poses.

Perhaps because of the numerous statues Sehee had placed, or maybe there was something in this space that lured Golden Reapers in—

Since the completion of Sehee’s secret room, Golden Reapers had always been rolling around inside.

‘Roll!’

‘Roll!’

When Sehee suddenly looked around, she locked eyes with one of the Golden Reapers that was rolling around on the floor.

‘Ah!’

The Golden Reaper, realizing Sehee was there, had a surprised expression but soon smiled warmly and waved at her.

It was as if it was expressing how happy it was to see her after a long time.

Seeing that, Sehee dramatically shouted and threw herself into the midst of the Golden Reapers.

“Hiya!”

The Golden Reapers that were suddenly dove upon giggled happily beneath Sehee.

Sehee lay there looking at the ceiling, surrounded by the Golden Reapers.

Maybe because there were so many Golden Reapers, lying on the fluffy bed felt more like diving into a pool of golden lights that gently enveloped her.

Sehee lay there among the Golden Reapers, gazing at the ceiling, muttering to herself.

As if to make sure the Golden Reapers could hear her.

“I was trying to avoid using this room, but starting today, I’ll be relying on it a bit.”

At her words, the Golden Reapers that were happily rolling around all turned their heads toward Sehee.

The child that was rolling around.

The child that was nibbling on the belly of a napping Golden Reaper.

The children who had been wrestling on Sehee’s belly.

‘!’

They all had surprised expressions.

Then, as if to verify her words, they rushed toward Sehee.

“Lately, there are way too many dolls. I don’t want to go outside the research institute.”

Sehee added, “It’s because I get kidnapped often.”

Then she mimicked the doll’s walking with her fingers, continuing her speech.

“Have you seen how your dolls walk? It looks really weird.”

“They all have the same rhythm, and their leg angles are exactly the same.”

“Clack. Clack. Clack.”

“Some of the cheaper models even make sounds, which feels a bit creepy.”

As if reading a scary story to the children, Sehee put on a frightening expression.

“Those dolls are so scary, but everyone just thinks it’s fine.”

“Somehow, the more I’m close to the Mini Reapers, the scarier they feel. I wonder why?”

Sehee was holding one of the Golden Reapers in her hand and asked, but the Golden Reaper just tilted its head, looking clueless.

So Sehee shared various stories about what had happened until she ran out of topics and turned on the TV mounted on the ceiling.

An advertisement for the upcoming ‘Doll Fair’ was flowing from the TV.

*

Near James Tower in Songpa District, in a temporary isolation room.

In the early dawn, when the blue light was barely visible.

Inside the isolation room, Alex, who had recently been the leader of the security team, was trapped.

“Boss! Please get me out of here.”

Alex paced around nervously inside the isolation room.

“Hmm.”

James made a humming sound while watching him.

“Boss, no mental pollution index has been detected.”

A researcher handed James some data with a worried expression.

James had captured Alex after administering an electric shock due to suspicious behavior the previous night.

But he hadn’t discovered anything odd about the captured Alex.

‘Is it my misunderstanding?’

Another document was delivered to the frowning James.

“Boss, the precise test results show no similarities to the dolls.”

To avoid mismeasurement, they performed the same tests multiple times, but all results were clear.

‘Did I mistake something after watching CCTV for too long?’

James preferred to trust rational judgment over instincts, but this time, he wanted to believe his intuition.

As the researchers all looked at him, James crossed his arms and pondered repeatedly.

With his eyes closed in deep thought, James finally opened them and said with resignation.

“The temporary isolation of Alex…”

Just as James was about to say “is terminated,” he felt a sudden sensation behind him.

Turning around, he saw a Golden Reaper with a Mecha Tyrannosaurus blueprint stuck to its back.

The Golden Reaper was peeling off the sticky adhesive from its palm, ghosting it away.

‘!’

In that moment, James felt a thunderbolt strike in his mind.

Carefully holding the Golden Reaper in his grasp, it happily giggled as if amused.

The Golden Reaper tilted its head as if asking, “Are we playing now?”

Maybe because James had been too busy lately to play with it, the Golden Reaper’s expression was filled with anticipation.

James slowly brought the Golden Reaper closer to Alex’s isolation room.

‘!’

The Golden Reaper, with its joyful expression, turned fierce the moment it saw Alex.

Well, even if a small and cute Golden Reaper turns fierce, it was still cute, but the fact that it made a fierce expression was important.

“Alex will now enter special object isolation! No objections will be entertained.”

James raised the Golden Reaper high and shouted loudly.

The Golden Reaper looked bewildered at James’s sudden loud voice.

*

Deep inside the Sehee Research Institute, in the always cozy isolation room.

I was lying on the isolation room bed, unable to hide my racing heart.

The Doll Fair!

It felt like my heart was pounding at the news that a long-awaited game was about to be released.

Well, I don’t have a heart, but still.

The TV was playing an advertisement for the Doll Fair.

The screen displayed a large hall filled with various dolls and people interacting with friendly-looking dolls.

[Are you looking for a companion to share your life in the perilous age of objects?]

[That’s why many entrust their lives to objects like Golden Reapers.]

Then scenes of Golden Reapers started appearing, all wearing sinister expressions.

I pointed at the screen, projecting my resolve onto the Golden Reapers.

“That’s how humans see you.”

Perhaps because they weren’t very interested in the TV, the Golden Reapers looked confused.

But eventually, upon understanding the ‘evil Golden Reaper image,’ their feelers shot up like exclamation points.

“Evil Golden Reapers!”

The Golden Reapers seemed to realize that humans thought of them like that and sank into dejection.

Oh no.

And as if completely losing all their motivation, they melted and collapsed on my body.

I wanted to lift the droopy Golden Reaper to tease it further, but it looked like it was about to cry, so I refrained.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just an advertisement made by evil humans, so it’s fine.”

“Really?”

I continually reassured the gloomy-looking Golden Reaper while rewriting my plans for the fair.

I thought about bringing the Mini Reapers to the fair too, but it looks like I’ll have to go alone.

If the advertisement is like this, it seems there will be plenty of ‘evil Mini Reapers’ at the fair too.

As I patted the Golden Reaper, the lengthy advertisement for the fair was finally wrapping up.

[However, unfortunately, Golden Reapers are objects! They carry dangers.]

[But don’t worry! We have Association Dolls. You can meet them tomorrow at the Association Doll Fair!]

The advertisement concluded with the Doll Fair logo and information on the date and location.

The fair is tomorrow!

*

In a mansion located in the heart of Seoul, Oh Muryong’s private room.

Oh Muryong slowly raised his body from the dark liquid, wearing a satisfied smile.

“It feels like I’m coming back to life.”

Though he appeared as if he would die at any moment from old age, Oh Muryong had been regaining health and vitality over the past few months.

Carefully wiping away the liquid with a strong petroleum smell, Oh Muryong dressed and began to stroll through the mansion.

As he enjoyed a short walk, a girl suddenly dashed toward him at high speed.

“Grandfather!”

With beautiful golden hair and blue eyes, she was Oh Muryong’s granddaughter.

“Yes, my grandchild has come.”

And Oh Muryong and his granddaughter exchanged warm conversations like a loving grandparent and grandchild.

“This old man has a lot of work, so I need to get going.”

“Yes, Grandfather!”

As his granddaughter distanced herself, Oh Muryong’s expression hardened as if he hadn’t smiled at all.

‘No, this isn’t right.’

Oh Muryong quickly entered a room and began playing some video.

[Grandfather!]

On the screen was a blonde girl.

“Something’s different. Still lacking.”

The girl on the screen looked just like the one he had just met and was doing the same actions, yet—

Oh Muryong kept murmuring that something was different.

“What’s missing?”

“I don’t know.”

“But it’s lacking.”

“Is it the evolution liquid?”

“Something so grotesque? Absolutely not.”

Oh Muryong muttered as if he were paranoid, repeatedly insisting that something was off.

“Yes, that’s it.”

After mumbling for a while, Oh Muryong raised his head as if he had realized something.

“That was what was lacking.”

In his eyes, which gleamed with madness, a hint of red seemed to flicker.

[Grandfather!]

In the room replaying his granddaughter before she died, two antique lamps flickered gently.

From the lamps came the soft sounds of laughter, as if they were tiny giggles.