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Mini Reaper Garden, Marshmallow Plains.

In the middle of it all, the Red Reaper was carving the White Hungry Ghost with a serious expression.

It felt distinctly different from the time when I first carved the White Hungry Ghost while showing off.

Slurp. Slurp.

The Red Reaper began to skillfully carve the skin of the White Hungry Ghost.

As sharp horns and frills gradually emerged from the White Hungry Ghost, its appearance started to resemble a Triceratops.

After a little while, the Red Reaper successfully carved two White Hungry Ghosts.

And he made those two White Hungry Ghosts strike what he considered a decent pose.

‘Complete!’

A Triceratops White Hungry Ghost emerged, raising its chin high.

The Red Reaper looked at the two three-horned White Hungry Ghosts and smiled with satisfaction.

The Golden Reapers and the Black Reaper wandering around the Marshmallow Plains noticed and applauded.

‘Awesome!’

‘Well done!’

Curiously, some Golden Reapers, intrigued by the Red Reaper’s sculpture, began capturing a few wild White Hungry Ghosts from the Marshmallow Plains and started to chop them up.

Hehe.

The Red Reaper beamed with pride at the Mini Reapers’ praise as he created a fiery seal with both hands and stamped it firmly on the body of the White Hungry Ghost.

‘Revolution!’

Then, a blackened scythe and hammer symbol were engraved onto the body of the White Hungry Ghost.

Kyu-hing-hing.

From behind the three-horned Hungry Ghost, the sorrowful cries of the White Hungry Ghost could be heard.

It was the sound coming from a deep pit near where the Red Reaper was carving.

That place was where discarded White Hungry Ghosts piled up due to the excessive carving by the Red Reaper.

Though the White Hungry Ghosts couldn’t feel pain, they were expressing their wretched situation through sound.

Kyu-hing-hing.

While the Red Reaper boasted about his sculpture, a tiny sound of footsteps approached right behind him.

Before long, the footsteps came right up to the Red Reaper.

Then a hand came down and gently started to pet the Red Reaper.

“Great job on the carving.”

A familiar voice.

And a voice the Red Reaper had long awaited.

‘!’

With that heart-stopping thought, the Red Reaper swiftly turned his head, eyes widened in surprise.

A girl squatting behind the Red Reaper reached out and stroked his head.

The blonde girl, who had been sleeping for a very long time, opened her eyes and looked down at the Red Reaper.

“It’s been a while.”

At the blonde girl’s words, the Red Reaper’s eyes welled up with tears as he stuck to her cheek.

*

Songpa District of Seoul, James Tower.

James was standing at the entrance connecting the parking lot to James Tower.

He was pinning a sheet of paper onto a rigid clipboard, checking supplies as they passed through the entrance.

“Finally, we can properly move these supplies.”

Beside him, a green-haired researcher, also holding a clipboard, interjected.

“Yeah, really a relief. I thought manpower support wouldn’t arrive on time.”

James replied with a look that suggested he’d been holding his breath for a decade.

As James had said, the area around James Tower was bustling with more people than before.

It was no longer just James and a few researchers and security teams struggling around James Tower.

Though the personnel was already small, with Alex’s departure, the remaining staff was under increasing work pressure.

In fact, there had been plans to hire local labor in Korea, and quite a few people had already been recruited.

However, the appearance of ‘Association Dolls’ posed a major problem.

James intended to select people who didn’t use ‘Dolls’, but such individuals were hard to find in Seoul.

Even those he had hired started using the Association Dolls, leading to a dead end.

Amid this labor shortage, the American Object Association had provided a large number of staff to tackle the ‘Association Doll’ situation.

The supplies being transported from the parking lot into James Tower were varied and incredibly abundant, resembling preparations for a war or an apocalyptic event.

Large quantities of food and clean water.

Weapons for countering objects and all kinds of materials.

James was trying to make the tower resemble a sort of shelter.

‘It seems like I’ve prepared everything I could.’

As he thought this, a crowd of people began to approach James as he compiled his list.

It was the security team, with the highest number of personnel sent from the mainland USA.

“Boss, it has been confirmed that Alex purchased an ‘Association Doll.’”

“I figured as much….”

James looked at the picture the security team handed over, a bitter expression spreading across his face.

In that photo was an image of a doll found inside the apartment where Alex had been living.

It was an expensive doll that nearly resembled a beautiful woman, almost indistinguishable from a human.

However, due to its unrealistically proportioned body, one could immediately tell it was a doll, not a human.

Upon verifying the photo, James firmly instructed the security team.

“Make sure to remind all staff again: never make prolonged contact with ‘Association Dolls.’”

Thus, a large photo of Alex’s doll with big breasts was plastered on the corkboard of the James Tower security room.

*

As the sky darkened and stars began to twinkle, the Doll Fair kicked off.

The sky was decorated with splendid fireworks marking the start of the opening ceremony, filling people’s faces with excitement and anticipation.

Using ghosting to arrive alone at the entrance of the fair, I gazed up at the fireworks, soaking in the festive atmosphere.

Since Mini Reapers disliked Association Dolls, I couldn’t bring them along, and Yerin seemed wary of them too, so I came alone.

Truth be told, I thought if I invited Yerin, she would have come with me, but I refrained from calling her, fearing a ruckus would ensue if I wandered around without using ghosting.

As I slowly walked towards the entrance against the backdrop of the bursting fireworks, uniquely designed Association Dolls greeted the crowd.

The dolls adorned on either side of the entrance smiled charmingly and said, “Hello! Welcome to the fair!”

The doll on the opposite side of the entrance gestured inside the fair with both hands, kindly leading the way, saying, “Truly amazing Association Dolls are waiting for you!”

Beyond the entrance, unusual dolls that I had never seen around the Songpa District fair were displayed.

There were dolls that appeared to be made of crystal, dolls dressed in extravagant dresses decorated with a variety of flowers, and even scholar-like dolls holding books in one hand.

I admired the diverse appearances of the dolls as objects and slowly moved further into the fair.

Among them, there were a few dolls that gave off a slightly eerie vibe.

One such doll resembled a baby.

Resembling a cheap baby model, the doll crawled around while making ‘Squeak, squeak’ sounds, opening its mouth.

However, the inside of its mouth was painted black, giving off a very unsettling feeling.

Who on earth would buy such a doll?

Several other varieties of dolls caught my eye.

There was a giant doll about 5 meters tall demonstrating the lifting of a hefty steel structure.

It was labeled as a [Construction Doll], claiming it could replace cranes used on construction sites.

And there were dolls with multiple arms that could handle experimental devices all at once, along with long, snake-like dolls.

‘Unlike the TV ads, there are a lot of creepy-looking dolls.’

For a doll that was advertised as [A Companion Doll to Replace the Golden Reaper!], this was looking way too bizarre.

As I wandered around admiring the dolls, an eye-catching exhibition room caught my attention.

It was an exhibition room not at all introduced in any external TV advertisements or flyers, and the name was inscribed above it.

[Doll Exhibition Hall for Defense Objects]

‘Oh!’

I was quite interested in the combat capabilities of the dolls, so I hurriedly stepped into the exhibition hall.

The defense dolls were classified from level 5 to special grade and were stationed accordingly.

Naturally, I headed towards the special grade exhibition hall, where the strongest dolls were displayed.

Perhaps many had the same thought as me, as the exhibition hall for special grade defense dolls had noticeably more people than the other defense doll exhibition halls.

In the center, on an elevated display stand, I noticed a doll standing proudly.

It was a large doll painted to resemble a black suit like a bodyguard.

Its height was approximately 5 meters.

However, its upper body looked grotesquely large and heavy.

And unlike other dolls that were quite similar to humans, this one had mechanical joints and protruding parts that stood out.

At this point, was I looking at a doll or a ‘robot’?

The nameplate boldly displayed its combat capabilities.

[Demon Level Defense Doll]

Demon level!

As I gazed up at the Demon Level Defense Doll with intrigue, it suddenly rolled its eyes around and began to stare at me.

‘!’

Could it see me while I was ghosting?

*

In the depths of the Oh Muryong mansion in downtown Seoul.

In the laboratory located deep within, two antique lamps were blazing fiercely.

Beside them, Oh Muryong was laughing maniacally.

His body was already stained black, rotting in parts, and a sinister red light flickered in his eyes.

“Just a little more, just a little more….”

In the central pit of the laboratory lay a viscous, unidentifiable liquid, and in the center of that liquid was his granddaughter, her eyes covered.

“Grandfather?”

The voice of the anxious girl.

But Oh Muryong ignored her voice, continuously pouring in the ground-up bodies of humans into the liquid.

It was made from the clones of his granddaughter under preservation.

Tiny fingers of a small girl floated atop the liquid before gradually melting away.

While the liquid easily dissolved humans, it seemed to have no effect on the ‘granddaughter doll’ located centrally.

However, even after grinding all the clones, the liquid was still incomplete.

“Not enough. Not enough. Not enough.”

Oh Muryong’s crazed red eyes scanned the surroundings.

And then he found it.

The body of the real granddaughter preserved in the freezing pod.

Though something he would never have done if he were sane, driven mad, he began to grind his granddaughter’s corpse and put it into the liquid.

At that moment, the liquid began to bubble and emit a luminous glow.

“Hahaha. It’s completed!”

The surface of the liquid was smooth as glass, and it shimmered in various colors.

Unlike the ominous feeling and foul smell of the evolution liquid, this vividly colored liquid exuded a truly beautiful and mysterious atmosphere.

It seemed like a pathway leading to another world.

A passage to the Color Universe filled with vibrant colors.

“Ha… Grandfather, I hear a strange voice.”

The granddaughter doll looked around as if anxious, but Oh Muryong merely gazed at the liquid with glistening eyes.