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Just past noon at the James Tower.

The blazing sunlight poured through the windows, but the atmosphere in the ‘Temporary Situation Room’ where James was located was quite different.

A state-of-the-art air conditioner was installed in the ceiling of the situation room, emitting a quiet operating noise like white noise, driving away the heat.

The cold air from the air conditioner spread throughout the room, making it feel somewhat chilly.

The temporary situation room was quite spacious.

Large monitors lined the walls, and several computers were placed nearby.

On the wall-sized screens, a map of the Korean Peninsula shone brightly.

Red dots were blinking on the map, indicating cities that had become ruins due to recent inexplicable disasters.

James, with a fatigued expression, sat in a chair meticulously examining the collected information.

“There’s no clue.”

The document in James’s hand was a report of the results compiled so far, but it stated that no suspicious points could be found.

The absence of clues like this must mean it’s an object beyond human comprehension.

It seems I’ll have to inform the Gray Reaper about the existence of that apartment complex.

“Should we plan a joint picnic with the Sehee Research Institute and James Research Institute instead?”

“Or should I arrange to drop a hint about the suspicious apartment complex on TV again?”

Just as he made up his mind and was about to call back the agents sent for field investigation, the phone in the situation room started ringing wildly.

A James Research Institute employee answered the phone and reported in a loud voice.

“Anomalies have been discovered in the target apartment complex!”

Then, pictures taken by field agents began to print out on the monitor.

It was a photo of an apartment that looked like a mere skeleton, hardly resembling a completed building, along with a swirl of unidentified black dust scattered around.

From that call, all sorts of reports began pouring in.

“Observations of a mass movement of Mini Reapers!”

“Residents of the target apartment are transforming into objects, stopping all movement and beginning to crumble!”

And finally.

“A huge crack across the sky has been discovered! It appears to be due to the Gray Reaper’s abilities!”

James had already been looking up at the sky through the spacious windows of the situation room before hearing that report.

From one horizon to the other.

Five cracks were tearing through the sky.

The scale of those cracks was significantly larger than before.

The trajectory looked strangely rough and violent, as if it were in a rage.

“Order the field agents to evacuate that location as quickly as possible. The Gray Reaper has appeared.”

James turned his eyes from the violently torn sky and commanded the staff.

And when he turned on the TV, the news was finally starting to broadcast breaking news.

—

In my hand lay a small doll delivered by a plaster doll.

Given the familiarity emanating from the doll, it was undoubtedly made by the Yellow Reaper.

But there was something quite different about this doll compared to the others made by the Yellow Reaper.

First of all, it strangely did not feel like an object at all.

Even as I examined it closely, it didn’t seem like an object whatsoever.

And unlike the things made by the Yellow Reaper before, it seemed to lack any special abilities.

Instead, this doll had a faint connection felt.

That connection seemed like it was linked by an invisible thread, allowing the Yellow Reaper to locate this doll anywhere, at any time.

And fortunately, the opposite was also possible.

It was really fortunate to have obtained such a doll in a situation where the whereabouts of the Yellow Reaper were uncertain.

“I’m lucky.”

I gently clutched the soft doll and began to extend my senses in the direction where the Yellow Reaper was.

Had they been kidnapped or were they simply running away?

Whichever it was, I should be able to figure out the Yellow Reaper’s location through this doll.

If they were kidnapped, it would be good because I could rescue them quickly.

And if they had run away?

Then I could play a delightful “prank” fitting for that, which would be really, really fun.

“I found them.”

Finally, after tracing the connection linked to the Yellow Reaper, I was able to confirm their location.

In a gap filled with emptiness, the Yellow Reaper was there.

Even if the Yellow Reaper wears the 1st Sword Doll Outfit, they can’t reach the void, so it’s certainly a kidnapping.

I slowly began to push firewood into my right hand.

As a result, my grip gradually began to turn black.

“How dare they kidnap our child!”

Filled with such rage, I swung my right hand, which was pushed to its limit.

Swoosh.

From one horizon to the other.

Five finger-like scars were etched into the sky.

Beyond the torn space, black void rippled, and the veil of lies that had covered the apartment complex was torn away by the massive spatial cut.

Countless plaster dolls disguised as pedestrians all stopped their actions and fell over.

Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of plaster crumbling on the floor echoed loudly.

The once neat and stylish apartment complex had completely turned into ruins.

The beautiful pond and fountain were filled with rotten water, and trash took the place of the fragrant flowers.

And as people screamed at that horrifying change, the sound spread from here and there.

Ignoring all those trivial events, I reached beyond space to grab the Yellow Reaper.

The Yellow Reaper, eyes closed as if asleep.

Unlike the usual Yellow Reaper, the sleeping Yellow Reaper bore a natural smile.

“With their eyes closed, they kind of look like the Golden Reaper.”

Except for the chubby belly.

I checked with my eyes for any wounds while poking the belly with my finger.

From the softness of the belly, it looked like there were no injuries.

I tossed the seemingly fine Yellow Reaper into the Mini Reaper Garden and instantly teleported to the place where the mastermind behind the Yellow Reaper’s kidnapping was located.

It felt like a closed space resembling a Mini Reaper Garden.

In that place, there was an object radiating an alien atmosphere.

It was reminiscent of a Green Jade Person.

An ancient human, one who had become an object.

However, unlike the jade person, this one was still about 10% human.

A halo stained black.

A white robe.

The red that trickles beneath the robe.

Skin darkened.

And flowing black like the ‘Old God.’

Despite not resembling me at all, the more I looked, the more it gave off an oddly similar vibe that made me feel uncomfortable.

—

The moment the Old One stuffed the white sandy beach into his insides, the very fabric of space began to collapse.

The central building, which could be considered part of his physical body, split in half, and through the gap, a violent trajectory slicing the sky was revealed.

That trajectory felt very reminiscent of the traces left by the ‘God’ he had seen long ago.

Blinking.

Because of that, the very space became unstable, and the Old One’s awareness began to flicker erratically.

Like a broken fluorescent light.

And at the last moment of darkness before light returned, as the split building rejoined, the ‘Gray Reaper,’ resembling a ghost, appeared before him as if it had been there since long ago.

[Is that so? Have I failed?]

The man looked at the suddenly appearing Gray Reaper and let out an alien voice.

If there had been even one more minute, he could have erased his traces and escaped.

Strange.

From his calculations, even if the Gray Reaper were searching for him with all its might, it shouldn’t have been able to arrive this quickly.

But upon noticing the doll in the Gray Reaper’s hand, he understood everything.

“I was too excited. I was not thorough.”

Now, the Gray Reaper’s yellow flames were clearly capturing the man.

With those eyes focused on him, he could no longer escape.

No matter how hard he tried to flee, it would be of no use.

In that case.

Even if he couldn’t reach the divine, may he collide and see how close he had gotten to the gods.

How far his imitation of the gods’ abilities had advanced.

And whether he could surpass the ‘degenerate god,’ he would find out.

—

As the Old One waved his hand, flames resembling those once wielded by the ‘Old God’ erupted from his hands.

The blood-red flames that began from his hands started to engulf the entire space.

And the body of the ‘Gray Reaper,’ who was blankly watching the blazing fire, also caught fire.

Crunch.

At that moment, one of the Gray Reaper’s arms turned to dry clay and fell off, turning to ash.

The Gray Reaper smiled as if witnessing a wondrous spectacle, quickly regenerated its arm, and clapped once.

“Revolution!”

With the sound of applause, the red Reapers started to burst forth into the air and began to devour all the flames created by the man.

The moment he witnessed that scene, the Old One extended his hand forward and tightly grasped it.

As a result, the space warped, creating a black dot.

A black dot that sucked in everything.

The Gray Reaper looked at the black dot, showing a slightly surprised expression, and also reached to grasp the void.

Snap.

At that moment, the space distorted as a large black sphere emerged, beginning to swallow everything.

The ceiling, floor, and whatever constituted the space, including the black dot he created, were all consumed.

And the Old One began to unleash all of his powers.

Probability manipulation.

Time reversal.

Spatial cuts.

Space domination.

But none of it reached the Gray Reaper.

The only possibility left was time reversal, but it was rendered ineffective by the appearance of the Sprout Reaper.

[Indeed, I could not reach it. Then….]

The Old One began to pour all his energy into the unfinished halo.

Then, the broken halo began to shine in a foreboding black.

As the light grew stronger, it began to take on the shape of a complete halo.

At the moment the halo formed into its full shape, a black flash filled the space.

It was a black flash that annihilated everything like the ‘eyes’ of the Gray Reaper.

The instant that flash filled the space, amid the swirling black light, a speck of white light twinkled faintly.

And that white light started to grow larger by devouring the black flash, as if it were flames burning paper.

The white flames danced like petals, consuming the blackness.

As the flash completely vanished, the brilliant white flames began to envelop the entire space.

Like a pure white blizzard covering the vast universe, the white flames swayed endlessly while illuminating the surroundings.

In that overwhelming radiance, the flames moved dynamically, squirming like living creatures.

And in the center of that dazzling white flame whirlpool, the Gray Reaper stood, showing his presence.

Blackened skin.

Red cracks splitting apart.

A halo shining brightly above his head.

To him, that appearance seemed extremely unstable, yet it felt very similar to the ‘Old God.’

However, where the Old One had been, there was nothing left.

[Ah, yes. That power. I wanted that kind of divine power.]

Instead, a voice filled with a strange sense of longing lingered there for a moment before vanishing.