---

Mini Reaper Garden. Milk Bingsu Snowfield.

A Ghost Object that had become a hot topic among the Golden Reapers was wandering around there.

‘Where is this?’

‘Who am I?’

‘I don’t know.’

The Ghost Object felt everything was unfamiliar, as if it had just been born.

So, to properly understand itself and the world, it began to roam the Mini Reaper Garden.

The first thing that caught its eye was the Golden Reapers.

‘Ghost!’

‘Find it!’

The Golden Reapers were stomping around on the cold snowfield, leaving tiny footprints behind.

‘I feel a faint connection to that golden object.’

The Ghost Object sensed a dim connection and kinship between itself and the Golden Reapers.

And in the Golden Reaper, it saw a blazing flame of endless affection, shining like a warm sun.

‘Then am I also a golden object?’

With that question in mind, the Ghost Object left the Milk Bingsu Snowfield.

Dodging the Golden Reapers combing through the snowfield, it entered the Sea of Hot Chocolate and discovered a Candy House floating on top of the water.

Peeking out from that tiny Candy House was a Blue Reaper.

Since there was no cover in the Sea of Hot Chocolate, the Blue Reaper and the Ghost Object’s eyes met directly.

“U… Ghost!”

Looking incredibly startled, the Blue Reaper quickly left behind the words, “P… please let me escape!” and vanished in an instant.

‘I can feel a weak connection with that blue object as well.’

With that connection to the Blue Reaper, the Ghost Object saw a faint but undeniably present spark of kindness.

‘Am I a golden object? Or a blue object?’

After seeing the Blue Reaper, the Ghost Object felt even more confused about its identity.

‘I wish I could be a warm object like the golden or blue objects.’

Vaguely thinking this, the Ghost Object started flying towards the Jelly Jungle.

‘!’

And the Ghost Object spotted an Orange Reaper lazily floating in the sky with a gentle expression in the shade of the forest.

However, contrary to that gentle expression, a dark desire to torment was swirling within the Orange Reaper.

[Today, I must secretly steal the Pudding Reaper’s pudding.]

Lacking experience, the Ghost Object couldn’t interpret the Orange Reaper’s feelings properly, but could grasp the general meaning.

[I’ll steal the precious belongings of the weak!] What a terrible object, indeed, to bully the weak.

Even more horrifying was the realization that it felt a connection and kinship with the Orange Reaper.

The Ghost Object began to feel a bit scared about confirming its identity but shook its head and set off again.

Upon arriving at a plain filled with marshmallows, it could sense an object that drew it in strongly.

Lying comfortably on the ground, sleeping, was the Gray Reaper.

‘Master? Creator?’

‘No. Mom!’

Strangely enough, the moment the Ghost Object saw the Gray Reaper, it became aware of its own identity.

As it floated closer, around ‘Mom’ were various Mini Reapers sleeping together.

‘Mom’ seemed to be having a nightmare, slightly furrowing her brow and murmuring a faint will.

‘I don’t want to work.’

‘I wish the Mini Reapers would take care of the external beings for me…’

Hearing that will, the Ghost Object realized what it had to do.

‘Mom is struggling!’

‘I have to help Mom!’

[I must bear the weight of the divine seat!]

With its yellow eyes burning bright, the Ghost Object slowly began to approach the Gray Reaper.

*

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, I felt a poking sensation on my forehead, and when I woke up, a suspicious-looking object was stabbing my forehead with a knife.

And it wasn’t just any object; it was a Mini Reaper holding firewood.

Moreover, it was a creature I’d never seen before.

Even if it wasn’t a ‘moon’, could a Mini Reaper be born if it was about that level?

Or could it be that the white thing used a similar ability as me?

With my eyes closed, quietly observing, the overly excited Mini Reaper began making weird noises.

‘I… am succeeding the throne, Mom!’

Not only was it suspicious that it was stabbing me, but it was also making such remarks…

In that moment, I opened my eyes and seized the new Deviant Reaper, snatching the knife away.

‘No! My filial piety!’

As I took the knife, the new Deviant Reaper squirmed and let out a wronged will.

It was so pitiful that it was about to shed tears.

‘Filial piety? Does that mean it’s a knife for doing good deeds?’

Why on earth is this about ‘filial piety’?

And upon closely observing the squirming Mini Reaper, it had a familiar appearance.

A pure white ghost.

Red stains like blood.

A ghost that looked like a rag.

‘Ah, is this that? The ghost of the snowfield?’

It seemed to be the ‘Ghost’ that was the new exploration target of the Golden Reaper.

‘This knife is seized.’

I confiscated the soft, rubbery knife that the Ghost Reaper was holding.

It wasn’t painful since it was soft, but oddly enough, it felt unpleasant to be stabbed with that knife.

I should later take it to the courtyard as a gift for the Mini Hippo.

Hehe.

‘No!’

Seeing the Deviant Ghost Reaper crying sadly made me even happier.

*

Near Songpa District, James Tower.

Days had passed since the Gray Reaper had split the sky.

Finally freed up, James lounged in the chair of his private quarters, taking a break.

“Finally done.”

Hearing James’s voice filled with deep fatigue, the Golden Reaper climbed onto James’s shoulder and patted him as if to say, “Good job.”

Then, James attempted to take a sip of his warm coffee but found it was something entirely different.

It was rich, smooth, and incredibly sweet ‘Hot Chocolate’.

The taste of hot chocolate, coating his mouth just right, was quite familiar to James.

Since it was the Hot Chocolate from the Mini Reaper Garden.

Surprised, James set down the cup and turned to the Golden Reaper, who was just giggling away.

It felt as though the Golden Reaper was saying, ‘I swapped out the poison for something delicious!’ which made him chuckle.

“Yeah, I guess hot chocolate is fine for this.”

James chuckled and slowly took another sip of hot chocolate.

With the softly echoing sound of the TV as background noise, James began to think slowly.

‘As mentioned in Artifact Number 0, the Gray Reaper gathered all seven-colored moons.’

James recalled memories from quite some time ago.

James and America had two choices, in fact.

Whether to choose the Gray Reaper along with Artifact Number 0 as a way to overcome the Object Crisis.

Or to side with the ‘Black Maskers’, who claimed to possess the ‘only solution’ to the Object Crisis, known as ‘Ninjas’.

The crossroads of that choice lay in their stance on the ‘Unchanging Black Sphere’.

The Maskers said to never let the Unchanging Sphere come in contact with the Gray Reaper.

And Artifact Number 0 depicted a future where contact would happen.

In the end, James chose the suspicious Black Maskers instead of the Gray Reaper.

‘By the way, I wonder where they are now. What are they doing?’

The Maskers vanished the moment James and America chose a different path.

And the periodic communications with their leader had also ceased.

That seemed ominous, like they were waiting for something, which made him uneasy.

At that moment, the TV broadcast began to report that another incident had occurred.

[Recently, strange objects and ruined buildings have been discovered across the country.]

[They are being reported as having suddenly appeared, as if time-displaced objects from a medieval or fantasy world had fallen from the sky.]

[The Korean Object Association deemed this phenomenon as “Object Phenomenon” through an official announcement.]

[As the exact cause and nature are yet to be clarified, citizens are advised not to approach discovered objects or buildings recklessly.]

[The government and relevant agencies have begun investigating the Object Phenomenon and are formulating measures with citizen safety as a priority.]

[The Korean Object News will quickly report additional information related to the Object Phenomenon as it becomes available. We request viewers’ attention and reports.]

“There’s no time to rest.”

James glanced at the noisy communication device and gulped down all the hot chocolate in one go.

Part of the message content was displayed on the device.

[Current spatial integration crisis appears to be related to the phenomenon described in Artifact Number 0. Rapid response needed.]

*

Late at night, deep within Seoul Forest.

Near the Steel Tower, which the Gray Reaper had left to the Mini Reapers.

Stomp stomp.

The Black Reapers were holding elongated spears made of water and were spinning around the Steel Tower.

They were the Black Reapers on guard duty for the Steel Tower.

Originally, it was the task assigned to the Golden Reapers to watch over the Steel Tower, but they fell asleep at night, leaving the Black Reapers to take over night watch.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Making a beeping noise as if coordinating like in the military, they stomped around.

At that moment, a giant metal mass fell from the sky.

Beep?!

As a Black Reaper trapped beneath the metal mass crawled out and looked up, the Steel Tower was slowly twisting and shattering into pieces.

At the same time, the entire Seoul Forest began to shake.

The imposing presence of the Steel Tower, which loomed over Seoul Forest, gradually began to lose its form and collapse.

Like a giant kneeling down, the Steel Tower slowly but completely crumbled.

‘!!!’

The Black Reapers were extremely startled, creating exclamation marks above their heads as a reaction.

At that moment, from the fallen debris, black light surged towards the sky, and a black star with an ominous aura appeared.

This black star seemed to herald the arrival of a new era.

‘I need to call Mom!’

The Black Reaper, filled with a sense of urgency, started to dash around the vicinity of the Steel Tower frantically.