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The center of the island, shrouded in thick blue mist.

The sky was covered in ominous clouds that looked like hundreds of snakes twisted together.

The mountains below looked bizarre, as if a giant monster had squashed clay.

This place was rife with madness, mental pollution, and object mutation.

I encountered a man on the slope of that twisted mountain.

To find a ‘human’ in a place like this?

Amidst the gently glowing blue landscape, a man slowly walked out.

He was the same human I had seen in Italy.

The man still looked like he had just stepped out of a movie.

Perfectly tailored suit, polished shoes, and a stylish coat.

He resembled a dapper mafia character that a Purple Reaper would probably adore.

The man paused momentarily, looked at me with sharp eyes.

Then surprise flickered in his eyes for a moment, and he relaxed his expression to speak.

“I’m so glad to meet the Gray Reaper in such a despairing place.”

His voice was smooth and low, yet distinctly audible amidst the eerie atmosphere.

‘…’

Though he spoke fluent Korean, I ignored his words.

‘Where is the Purple Reaper?’

I scanned around in search of the Purple Reaper.

If the environment was fine enough for this man to be alive, the Purple Reaper should definitely be here.

Yet, the Purple Reaper was nowhere to be found.

‘It’s inconvenient not being able to pinpoint the location of the Mini Reapers…’

Since I got swept away by the blue mist, I couldn’t sense the locations of the Mini Reapers, and had to verify with my eyes.

It wasn’t a problem to open the Mini Reaper Garden or move to the garden, but the Mini Reaper Network connection was a mess.

“I’ll guide you to where I’m staying first.”

The man, seemingly unfazed by my disregard, turned around and began moving towards somewhere.

‘Hmm…’

I couldn’t quite recall if he’d spoken fluent Korean.

No, did he ever say it in front of me?

I wasn’t sure.

I looked at the man’s back, repeatedly clenching and unclenching my right hand.

‘Should I smash that man with ‘Kkyek’? Or not?’

He looked foreign enough, yet spoke Korean so well; it raised suspicions.

But I lowered the hand I had lifted.

If he was even a true Attached Human of the Purple Reaper, it would be a catastrophe.

That said, I felt uneasy about opening the Mini Reaper Garden and moving the man there.

The guy looked human enough but also a bit strange.

I thought it might be better to observe him a bit longer.

‘…’

I continued to walk slowly, keeping my gaze on the man’s back.

The winding path seemed to rise endlessly, but strangely felt like it was delving deeper.

“The blue light here….”

“This island has a considerable number of objects….”

The man continued to engage me in conversation.

I wondered if he was this talkative of a person.

‘It’s dizzying.’

As I moved forward, I occasionally felt disoriented.

Whether it was because the man kept talking to me to the point of dizziness or because I was moving deeper into the island, I wasn’t sure.

Eventually, we arrived at a village where people were gathered.

The entire village was enveloped in a blue light.

That light was anything but natural.

It stained everything in bizarre and ominous hues, as if it were not of this world.

People scattered in the streets.

They sat on the ground like statues writhing in agony.

Their posture, resembling a scream towards the sky, seemed painful, yet also bore an ecstasy as if they were possessed by something.

The mist wafting through the village writhed as if alive, and perhaps due to the darkness of the mist, the windows morphed into black holes, gazing into a deep abyss.

In the alleys, something stirred in the darkness.

It felt like something was hidden within.

[….]

[….]

Incomprehensible murmurs echoed in my ears, resembling whispers that sowed seeds of madness.

As if the boundaries between reality and fantasy were collapsing, a decayed world, like a spider’s web, filled my vision before vanishing.

‘I feel dizzy.’

It was somewhat reminiscent of the sensation of being mentally polluted.

*

Late at night, on the outskirts of Songpa District.

In a room of a detached house where the Alchemist Sisters lived, the voice of the younger sister rang out.

“Sister, hurry up!”

“Just wait a little longer.”

After hearing the repeatedly uttered ‘just wait a little longer,’ the younger sister sighed softly and rushed to cuddle the Pink Girl lying nearby.

Since her sister wasn’t coming, she meant to comfort the pajama-clad Pink Girl, whose heart was heavy with disappointment.

This startled the Pink Girl, who had been playing clapping games with the Blue Idol Reaper using two fingers.

The Pink Girl was staying at the Alchemist Sisters’ house to prepare for school entry and study alchemy.

The alchemy practiced by the Alchemists was centuries old compared to the Pink Girl’s era, but it was proper alchemy nonetheless.

Of course, the Alchemists were also advancing their alchemy by learning about the ‘future’ alchemy information the Pink Girl provided.

The younger sister, with a smile on her lips, said as she stepped away from the Pink Girl.

“I’m happy it feels like I have a little sister.”

Just then, the delightful cries of a Color Hungry Ghost echoed in the younger sister’s ears.

Kkyuhihi.

When the younger sister turned her head, Color Hungry Ghosts lying at her pillow came into view.

Brightly colored Color Hungry Ghosts and a tiny Pink Hungry Ghost.

The Pink Hungry Ghost was something the Pink Girl created after attending her sister’s lessons, and her sister had been quite surprised to see it.

“If a monochromatic ghost exists!” she seemed to have been taken aback, but to the younger sister, there didn’t seem to be much difference.

On the contrary, the younger sister found the vividly colored Color Hungry Ghosts cuter.

Moreover, these days, Color Hungry Ghosts felt as soft as cushions.

Like the touch of marshmallows.

It must have changed after her sister regained consciousness, so it was probably related to her sister becoming a roll cake.

The younger sister pressed down on the soft Color Hungry Ghost with her finger and handed a flyer to the Pink Girl.

“Let’s go together once it officially opens!”

The Pink Girl tilted her head, unsure of what was being said, and unfolded the flyer.

[Welcome to the Gray Reaper Theme Park, opening soon!]

Not yet accustomed to Hangul, the Pink Girl slowly started to read down the flyer.

‘Gray Reaper Theme Park?’

The Gray Reaper was an object she was well aware of.

It was the source of the ‘Blue Idol Reaper’ she truly loved.

“Sister, when will it be finished?”

The younger sister called out to her sister, who still made no move to come, but the answer remained the same: ‘Just wait a little longer.’

‘…’

The Alchemist looked up at the stars and was dropping reagents onto a large plate.

Then miraculously, the reagents began to spread effortlessly across the surface of the water, replicating the starry sky.

Aside from a few stars differing in brightness or shape, it was truly identical.

“Same result again.”

Next to the Alchemist lay a stack of plates depicting the same starry sky.

The alchemy the Alchemist practiced stemmed from the Artifact Number 0 found by James, a form of alchemy akin to astrology for fortune-telling.

‘There’s something in the east, but I can’t grasp what it signifies. I can check with James regarding Artifact Number 0 tomorrow.’

As the Alchemist contemplated this, they took a picture of the starry sky on the plate with their phone to save it.

*

The sound of waves echoed in my ears.

At first, it seemed peaceful, but soon an ominous energy began to creep in.

Noise layered over the sound of the waves.

An unpleasant sound reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard mixed with the crashing waves.

The man awoke due to that noise.

‘!’

As soon as he opened his eyes, he shot up from the bed.

Surveying his surroundings, he saw a shabby shack that looked like it might crumble at any moment.

Through the cracks in the wall, he caught a glimpse of a beach engulfed in blue mist.

It was an unfamiliar and foreboding scene.

However, looking elsewhere, his vision was obscured as if shrouded in mist.

He shut his eyes tightly, rubbing his temples as he searched for memories.

‘Right… on the cruise ship headed for America, the blue mist had rolled in.’

Bits of memory returned.

He opened his eyes again and examined his surroundings.

Initially blurry, his sight gradually sharpened.

He saw his younger sister, Cheong, and the Mini Reapers all lying on the same bed.

He hurried toward his younger sister and shook her shoulder, but there was no response.

Creeeak.

At that moment, with a loud noise, the door of the shack swung open.

A woman appeared against the backdrop of the crashing waves.

The man’s eyes widened in surprise.

“You… weren’t you dead?”

The woman answered with a slight smile.

“No, I’m not dead. I just went missing because I didn’t want to do the contract work.”

“Is that so…”

The man let out a sigh of relief, but he remained cautious.

His instincts honed from years of contract work were blaring alarms of danger.

Slowly, the man continued to speak.

“But why, of all times, are you showing up here?”

The woman took another step inside.

With eyes warm as if seeing an old friend, she looked at the man and opened her mouth.

“Maybe it’s the same for you guys? I was headed for America, but suddenly I woke up on this suspicious beach.”

“….”

Tension filled the shack.

The sound of the waves continued, but now that sound felt even more menacing.