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On a dark night where even the moonlight wouldn’t shine.

The gaze of the Black Hungry Ghost, softly radiating white light, crossed with that of the Blue Reaper.

I should have immediately taken my eyes away and hidden beneath the window, but the Blue Reaper couldn’t tear its gaze away.

‘It strangely doesn’t look dangerous. Is it because it’s a hungry ghost without teeth like the White Hungry Ghost?’

The Blue Reaper thought this as it continued to gaze at the Black Hungry Ghost’s glowing white eyes.

Then, the round shape of the Black Hungry Ghost slightly distorted and twitched.

As it twitched, the Black Hungry Ghost weakly turned its head and began to walk slowly away.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“I’m alive!”

Seeing the Black Hungry Ghost look this way, the Pink Girl, who had been frozen in fear, seemed to relax and crumpled at the spot.

However, the Blue Reaper continued to watch the gigantic Black Hungry Ghost as it grew more distant.

‘?’

The Blue Reaper’s head was filled with question marks.

‘What was it doing, looking so worn out while wandering around?’

To the Blue Reaper, the glance the Black Hungry Ghost gave at the end appeared extremely exhausted.

As if it could collapse at any moment, as if it could fall over right then.

‘And why did it keep staring at me?’

Until the moment it turned its head, the Black Hungry Ghost had been staring intently at the Blue Reaper.

Just like the Blue Reaper had done.

‘Did the Black Hungry Ghost feel something while looking at me?’

The Blue Reaper was lost in these thoughts, staring blankly in the direction the Black Hungry Ghost had disappeared.

“Now, let’s go to sleep!”

At that moment, perhaps because all the tension had melted away, the Pink Girl, now back to her usual face, clung to the Blue Reaper.

Seeing the attached human like this, the Blue Reaper nodded slightly.

Then it snuggled its cheek against the cheek of the collapsed attached human.

‘I hope tomorrow morning will be just as joyful as today.’

The Blue Reaper rubbed its cheek against the attached human’s cheek and closed its eyes.

*

On the outskirts of Songpa District, James Tower.

I was helplessly collapsed in the center of the enormous warehouse set up in James Tower.

‘No way…’

‘I can’t accept this.’

At the end of my fallen gaze was the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor, horrifyingly decapitated.

No matter how much I closed my eyes, shielded them, or turned my head, I could not chase away the gruesome sight of the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Armor.

How sad it was to see such a thing with my skin!

Upon closer inspection of the Tyranno armor, I could see the sharp marks as if it had been cut by a spatial cut.

It was a phenomenon of spatial loss that had been occurring frequently lately.

No matter how much one searched for the cause, there was no object at fault; it felt like a mere “natural phenomenon.”

‘I can’t even find an enemy…’

Nothing was as ridiculous as seeking revenge against a natural phenomenon.

‘Mama, are you okay?’

Just then, a Black Reaper that had followed me to James Tower appeared, exuding concern.

‘Hang in there, Mama!’

Then, a bunch of Golden Reapers and other Mini Reapers flocked to me to offer comfort.

However, such consolation could not fill my endless sorrow.

Even when the Mini Reapers kept comforting and patting me, seeing that I still looked gloomy, one of the Golden Reapers approached me with hesitation.

When the Golden Reaper got close enough to my face, it tightly closed its eyes and, very hesitantly, protruded its belly.

What could this be?

‘I… can I become a doppelgänger!’

At that, the other Golden Reapers gasped in shock and began to look back at that Golden Reaper.

‘!’

‘!!!!’

And the other Golden Reapers hesitated too, one by one pushing out their bellies.

‘Yay… doppelgänger is okay!’

Golden Reapers with near-tearful expressions.

So, do they not want to become ‘doppelgängers’?

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

And I grabbed all the Golden Reapers who pushed out their bellies and turned them into doppelgängers.

‘Waaah!’

‘Noo!’

The proud Golden Reapers became doppelgängers and sprawled out on the floor.

Seeing that, the hesitant Golden Reapers, startled, began to flee.

‘Mama got her strength back!’

‘We have to run!’

‘Run away!’

I offered the other Golden Reapers as sacrifices and charged at the remaining Golden Reapers.

Hehe.

*

At the Tower at the End, in the Academy Model City.

The Pink Girl had climbed to a high hill and was gazing down at the city.

It was a diverse and vibrant model city, no matter how one looked at it.

“No matter how you see it, it really looks like a city modeled after one that existed.”

“If we keep climbing the tower, we might see the real academy, right?”

The Pink Girl giggled, glancing down at the metal piece in her hand.

This metal piece was a small badge with a complex design.

An intricate imitation crafted from pipe sections.

This badge was worn by all the statues of academy students made of pipes.

“I’d love to see the original of this badge one day.”

< You will be able to see it! >

Motivated by the Academy Model City, the Pink Girl turned her head toward the tiered tower with a determined expression.

“I wonder who made this model city?”

“Why did they make it?”

“It’s like the city is nestled down into the basin. It probably seems like that city dug into the layered disc.”

The Pink Girl and the Blue Reaper chatted about things not related to each other as they climbed the stairs toward the tiered tower.

*

Passing through the increasingly rickety tiered tower, the Pink Girl stepped into a new tier.

“Arrived!”

The rickety tower appeared a bit challenging even for the girl adept at navigating pipes, and she looked pretty proud.

< Please let fatigue disappear! >

The Blue Reaper held a towel made of water to wipe the Pink Girl’s sweat, magically alleviating her fatigue.

The new tier they arrived at felt notably different.

In the distance stood the White Cylindrical Building.

And the brilliantly adorned road leading to that building.

The Pink Girl took a deep breath and began to walk slowly along the straight path toward the building.

On either side of that road were stacks of colorful, round something, creating a unique atmosphere.

Like a flowerbed, starting from red to violet, all hues blended beautifully.

“What on earth could this be?”

With a curious expression, the Pink Girl picked one of the piled-up things by the road and examined it.

A round body.

Short limbs and a tail.

Eyes that seemed somewhat trivial.

And human white teeth densely filling its mouth.

What filled the surroundings of the road were the corpses of the Tooth Hungry Ghosts.

“!!!!”
< Tooth Hungry Ghost! >

The Pink Girl was startled by the eerily appearing teeth and hastily threw the ghost away.

“Oh, wow, that scared me. But don’t these guys somewhat resemble that long black one?”

The Blue Reaper nodded vigorously in agreement.

What had looked like a decoration of the road turned out to be the corpse of a magical book.

The Pink Girl felt an uneasy chill and walked quickly toward the building.

The enormous entrance was wide open without a door, and in the place where the building’s name should be, there were only scratches as if made by sharp claws.

The Pink Girl looked up at those scratches and slowly stepped into the building.

“Uh?”

Once inside the building, the Pink Girl felt déjà vu.

A space lined with white walls adorned with numerous frames.

Perhaps resembling the exhibition room in the academy, it felt like she had been in this place before.

Though there weren’t chairs to sit like in an exhibition room, it was clearly an exhibition room.

However, unlike the exhibition room in the academy that displayed mirrors, this place exhibited some diaries contained within frames.

SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1Zmh3VXJzcEV6dzRUUXlBZW8rQ0lQbC9mMHBMV1YvVGhWTTNGMHVvL216RQ

< First attempt failed. Cause unknown. >

< Second attempt failed. Insufficient output. >

<….>

< One hundred twenty-fifth attempt failed. Counting numbers is getting dull. >

< Five hundred thirty-first attempt. There was slight progress. The moment before dawn is the most effective. >

Beyond that, there were numerous similar, incomprehensible frames hanging.

The Pink Girl read a bit of those diaries and tilted her head.

“Is this some sort of alchemy experiment? I can’t tell.”

Ignoring the hard-to-understand diaries, the Pink Girl continued to move forward.

“!”

As she continued, she arrived in a somewhat strange space.

The composition of the space itself was ordinary.

A deep, large round room where one had to descend the stairs.

White walls adorned to showcase exhibits.

Protruding pillars installed to prevent approach to that wall.

And identical stairs and doors on the opposite side of the Pink Girl.

However, the floor was splashed with black liquid, and nothing was exhibited on the walls.

Instead of frames, the walls were filled with marks like they had been scratched wildly with sharp claws.

< Where is this? >

< It’s cold. > < I’m hungry. >

< I’m lonely. > < Why only us? >

< When are you coming? > < When will you come? >

< I want to see you. >

The walls were filled with desperate phrases searching for something.

It was densely written with < I want to see you. > all the way up to the ceiling.

“What on earth is this place?”

<….>

The Blue Reaper also seemed puzzled, tilting its head.

Feeling as if she shouldn’t step on the black liquid, the Pink Girl carefully stepped on the slightly raised pillars and began to pass through.

Following the edges of the wall, rounded.

As she crossed the sea of black liquid and opened the door at the end of the stairs, someone was seen standing on the other side.

A neat uniform resembling that of the Alchemist Academy.

A sharp sword hung at the waist.

A large, angular hat on the head.

And in hand, a round orb radiating white light.

[Ah, a guest has arrived.]

The figure turned its head, implanting its will directly into its brain like a magical book.

Slowly, its face began to reveal itself.

A trivial dot for an eye and a huge mouth.

Upon turning its head revealed a face identical to the ‘Hungry Ghosts’ that had been piled up dead outside the building.