---

“….”

Silence descended upon the courtyard of Sehee Research Institute.

It all started when the lead doll suddenly emitted a glow and opened its mouth.

“It sounds similar to the language used by alchemists.”

“Do objects learn language? Or is that ‘alchemist’s language’ something special?”

James wore a rather intrigued expression.

“The lead doll spoke!”

Yerin’s face lit up with excitement, and she started looking at me with an expectant gaze.

I slowly turned my head to avoid Yerin’s stare.

No matter how much Yerin, it wouldn’t say anything.

And to be honest, I had no idea how to talk without a mouth.

By the way, how on earth did that lead doll manage to speak?

“Senior researcher Kim Jungrwi. First, let’s secure the CCTV. The security room might not preserve it properly.”

Seoah ordered Kim Jungrwi to immediately secure the CCTV that recorded the courtyard.

I mean, it’s not surprising if the security room of Sehee Research Institute deletes all footage while eating instant noodles.

Jotting something down in her notebook.

Leaving her seat to secure the CCTV.

Hugging me tightly and trying to control my lips.

The people gathered in the courtyard each reacted to the lead doll’s anomaly in their own way.

At that moment, the lead doll opened its mouth again.

[Has that wish been granted?]

The lead doll, looking ten times more expressionless and sleepy than me, tilted its head in wonder.

Did nothing happen?

Well, I didn’t feel any surge of power indicating something grand was unfolding.

The other mini reapers had excited expressions, but when I glanced down, the black reapers looked like they expected this.

I grabbed one of the black reapers by the hand and tapped its head, asking,
‘Do you know what’s going on?’

The black reaper nodded vigorously.

‘It’s not mom!’

‘?’

I had that look of not understanding yet, while the black reaper seemed a bit frustrated and insisted,
‘It’s not mom!’

‘….’

Hmm.

I definitely got it now.

It’s a complicated kind of issue that I could never hear from a mini reaper.

Looking at the cheerful black reaper on the ground, I saw Yerin conducting various experiments.

Of course, it looked more like she was playing with a pet than actually experimenting.

“Okay, right hand!”

As Yerin stretched out her hand and said ‘right hand!’, the lead doll plopped its tiny right hand on Yerin’s palm.

The lead doll readily complied with commands to place its left hand or either cheek.

“Good job!”

Yerin smiled proudly and patted the lead doll’s head.

‘….’

I found that a bit annoying.

I turned my gaze to the side in irritation, where Seoah and James were having a serious conversation.

“That ‘lead doll’ object seems to act mainly based on human commands.”

Seoah nodded, pointing at Yerin and the lead doll.

“Right now, it could be said it’s only listening to ‘Yerin Oh’s’ commands.”

James suggested performing a simple experiment and approached the lead doll, opening his mouth.

“Can you hand over your right hand?”

The lead doll placed its right hand onto James’ hand with a blank expression.

“Ah!”

Seeing this, Yerin had a shock on her face.

Hehe.

*

In the Sehee Research Institute researcher’s office.

Yerin Oh sat down with a slightly sullen expression, preparing to write a report.

‘It’s playtime with the reapers!’

The report concerning the newly discovered lead doll and countless overdue tasks had returned.

Yerin turned on her computer, brewing a cup of warm black tea.

And instead of milk or sugar, she dropped a little white hungry ghost into the tea.

Kyuheehee.

Thus, the white hungry ghost’s laughter echoed faintly in the office as it swam around in the teacup.

Yerin chuckled at the sight.

Every time she drank black tea, she would drop a tiny hungry ghost into the cup.

She didn’t need to eat the ghost; just watching it swim in the hot tea was sweet enough.

The mini hungry ghost enjoyed swimming, and Yerin enjoyed her sweet tea, a win-win situation.

Tap. Tap.

While seated in the office typing the report, I noticed a bewildered black reaper wandering around in the corner of my vision.

‘Ah, this must be a new black reaper the reaper brought along?’

Yerin remembered every black reaper’s face and traits, quickly realizing it was a new one.

‘So many people!’

The black reaper seemed startled every time it saw a person in the spacious Sehee Research Institute office.

Unlike the previous black reaper, it didn’t seem accustomed to people.

It would hide behind the mouse in surprise or peek out, staring at people with curiosity.

Yerin cautiously approached and gently patted the black reaper’s head.

Punk.

The black reaper looked up at Yerin and giggled.

‘Mom attached human!’

“I’m glad to see you too.”

Yerin waved at the smiling black reaper and carefully lifted it onto her palm.

Then, she returned to her seat, patting the black reaper’s head.

Returning to her desk, Yerin completely forgot the tasks she had to do and started goofing around with the black reaper.

‘Ah!’

‘Hihi. Tickles.’

She knocked the black reaper’s head gently or tickled its side before pulling out a cookie.

“Let’s eat snacks!”

It was one of the ‘mini reaper guest cookies’ that filled two drawers of Yerin’s desk.

Omnomnom.

The black reaper, not used to cookies, began to furiously devour the cookie when Yerin offered it.

Yerin observed this, straightening the black reaper’s hair nicely.

The black reaper, having polished off a cookie much larger than itself in no time, looked up in surprise and exclaimed,
‘Oh no! I ate it all!’

And then it looked at Yerin with a slightly apologetic expression.

“Do you want pudding too?”

Yerin said with a laugh.

But the black reaper just tilted its head, seemingly clueless about what pudding was.

“Feel free to play on my desk. I’ll get some pudding!”

As Yerin stood up to leave, the black reaper grinned widely, revealing sharp teeth, waving farewell to her.

‘….’

When Yerin returned from the lounge with ‘Gray Reaper Pudding,’ the black reaper was nowhere to be found.

It wasn’t in the drawer filled with cookies at all.

Nor was it in the slime that the mini reapers loved to play with.

“Where did it go?”

At that moment, a tiny crying sound reached Yerin’s ears.

Kyuheehee.

It was the sorrowful voice of the mini hungry ghost meant for the tea.

“Oh, there you are.”

The vanished black reaper was in Yerin’s teacup, holding a white hungry ghost.

Kyuheehee.

*

In the Criminal Division of the Central Police Station of Seoul.

Late at night, only the man’s desk shone brightly in the dark room.

He held a thick file in his hands, focused intently on its contents.

Inside the file were several pasted photos.

People with various appearances, ages, genders, and occupations.

Yet, their gaze was the same.

Empty eyes staring blankly into space, devoid of life.

According to testimonies from surrounding people, it was as if their souls had left their bodies.

The man sighed and took a drag of his cigarette.

The lighter’s flame flickered in the darkness and then vanished.

As he exhaled the deeply inhaled smoke, it slowly rose, wrapping around him like fog.

It seemed to represent the complexity of his emotions.

“Still working?”

Startled by the sudden voice, the man jerked.

Looking up, he saw his senior looking at him with a concerned expression.

“Oh, yes. It’s just been on my mind.”

The senior nodded silently and sat beside the man’s desk.

“Just leave it be.”

The senior advised quietly, his voice carrying the weight of experience.

“That’s definitely related to ‘objects.'”

Hearing this, the man forced a smile and replied.

“But I want to confirm as much as possible before it goes to the council. We might have overlooked something.”

The senior regarded the man for a moment and nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, I get it. Just be careful. Don’t dig too deep.”

With that, the senior stood up to prepare to leave.

Before departing, he turned back to the man and waved.

“Don’t overdo it. See you tomorrow.”

Once the senior left, the office returned to silence.

The man let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze back to the report.

He picked up a pen and started writing down the commonalities among the victims.

‘Bizarre behaviors observed starting a few weeks before losing their cognitive faculties.’

He paused, pen in hand, lost in thought.

Flashes of the victims’ faces surfaced one by one. They looked different, but the emptiness in their eyes was identical.

‘No distinct commonalities among the victims. No age, gender, or occupation restrictions.’

‘The only commonality is that they were all once very active individuals.’

As he wrote that line, a sense of frustration washed over him.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no clear connection.

He took a sip of the coffee cup on his desk.

The bitter taste of the cold coffee lingered on his tongue.

He continued flipping through the file, examining the photos of the victims one by one.

Believing there must be a clue somewhere, he stayed late into the night, continuing his investigation.

As the darkness outside deepened, so did the questions in his heart.