---

Misty rain scattering like the water droplets from a humidifier.

My clothes were already soaked through, and it was so hard to keep my eyes open due to the swirling raindrops, but I forced them open and looked beyond the alley.

The dark alley felt ominous, like the gaping mouth of a monster.

“Hyejin, Hyejin, Hyejin. Where did you go?”

The cold, calm voice of a hateful man.

The sound of footsteps running around, searching for me, echoed throughout the silent alley.

“See? You should’ve sold your horns when I told you to. Now it’s a hassle for us, and you’ll be sad because you won’t get any money.”

I took a breath, trying to steady myself and wait for an opportunity.

“If you got caught there, you should just stay put. Escape from there? You’ll get punished. Punished.”

I can’t let that guy catch me.

I have to find my sister who was heading to Seoul.

“Hyejin, you don’t even know where you are, do you? Do you think you can run away? Walk all the way to Seoul from here?”

He always spoke in a cowardly, small voice, but was it all just a performance?

I couldn’t sense any trace of that cowardice.

He was laughing, genuinely enjoying himself, as if he found it amusing.

“Yeah, you need to hear this. That girl who committed suicide? She went to the hospital I introduced you to and got her horns cut off. Isn’t it funny? That girl who was so proud ended up so deflated just because her horns were cut.”

Crunch. I clenched my teeth.

‘He’s just trying to provoke me. Ignore him.’ I kept repeating it in my mind.

“Isn’t it strange? Just because she got her horns cut off, her mind went crazy. You’ll soon experience it for yourself, so look forward to it.”

I was sneaking in the alley, waiting for an opportunity.

The moment he turns around, I’ll run the other way.

I didn’t even know where I was, but it was better to escape first and think later.

The man passed right in front of the entrance of the alley where I was hiding.

I just needed to hide a little longer before I could escape!

“Ah! Actually, I’ve known where you’re hiding since a moment ago.”

I heard rustling noise right behind me.

I froze in surprise and turned my head.

Clank.

But before I could turn my head completely, a metallic sound echoed in my head.

Suddenly, all my strength drained away, and I fell powerless onto the ground.

“Oh, speaking of your sister, she was caught by us just like you are now. Looks like being sisters makes you both fools.”

Struggling to look up, all I could see was a baseball bat swinging down towards my head.

*

Bucheon Research Institute.

A research institute built in a corner of Bucheon City.

An institute long since abandoned, with no one around.

But the abandoned place began to stir back to life.

The shabby appearance became neat, and employees started to show up.

Overnight, it became normal again, causing some to wonder, but most passed it off with the thought, ‘Construction these days is incredibly fast.’

If I had to pick out one strange thing, it was that the employees all wore gloomy expressions.

In the underground of the research institute, filled with that somber atmosphere, the institute director was cheerfully tapping his cane and humming a tune.

As he wandered around, checking each isolation room, he genuinely looked happy.

Golden hearts hung on the walls like trophies, and one of them erupted with a sound and began to melt away.

The director checked it with a dry expression.

“The discovery of the institute was much quicker than expected. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

The isolation room that the director turned to was filled with people.

Humans with golden horns protruding from their heads.

“I’ve already gathered enough materials. Now, let’s prepare for the next experiment.”

At the director’s command, researchers emerging from the shadows began forcibly dragging out a human with golden horns to take him somewhere.

“Let’s start research for our beloved humanity.”

But all I could see on the director’s face as he spoke those words was sadistic glee.

*

Yerin was broken.

“Reaper~”

She showed no intention of letting go at all.

“Our Reaper won’t disappear, right?”

What on earth happened?

When sitting still, she would always hug me from behind, burying her face deep into my hair.

When moving, she would either carry me or lift me by my underarms.

Honestly, it was uncomfortable, but the emotional weight being supplied was so heavy that I had just left it be.

I thought maybe the golden dolls I dumped on her had done something.

But it was troublesome; I decided to provide a special service until Yerin returned to normal.

I flipped over and hugged her close.

This was a special service only until Yerin returned to normal.

*

Sehee Research Institute, Director’s office.

Jungloi and Sehee sat facing each other across the desk.

Sehee tapped her fingers on the documents and said, “The costs for taking care of the cute puppy aren’t nearly as high, right? At this rate, it seems better to formally take over the puppy even if it’s a stretch, what do you think?”

“The gray reaper has ‘trained’ the cute puppy, and ever since, it has been behaving well. It’s hard to believe it was the infamous cute puppy we knew. Given this, even a slightly stretched budget for taking over the cute puppy should work out well.”

Jungloi laid out the information with his usual stoic face.

“Even without the reaper, it’s obedient?”

“Yes, it seems to be cooperative even without the reaper around, maybe out of fear. However…”

“However?”

“The data measured during the time the reaper left the institute.”

Jungloi passed a report with simple numbers and photos to Sehee.

“The cute puppy’s body length data?”

“Yes, ever since the gray reaper completely left the institute, the puppy’s body length started to increase.”

“What’s the problem with that? The cute puppy’s original body length was around 50 cm, right?”

“Yes, when we first took over the cute puppy, it was 50 cm long. After the gray reaper trained it, it shrank to 20 cm. And now, ever since the gray reaper left completely, it’s grown about 1 cm a day.”

“The size increasing became an issue?”

“Yes, we confirmed that its aggression increased proportionally with its size. It did shrink back to 20 cm the moment the gray reaper returned, but I think this is something that must be considered for taking over the cute puppy.”

“Well, there was the case of the lizard that the reaper brought. It seems like it got forgotten and abandoned three days after bringing it, so it’s not guaranteed the cute puppy won’t meet the same fate.”

“Fortunately, it still maintains some interest. I’ve seen the cute puppy wake up forcibly from its doghouse or walk on its hind legs for no reason.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen the reaper bother an object like that. Most lose interest in no time, so is there a particular reason for the dislike? It seems the reaper has always hated objects that look like dogs.”

Sehee gathered the papers and placed them into a binder before standing up.

“It’s not something we need to decide right now, so let’s keep an eye on how long the gray reaper maintains interest.”

And thus, the conversation between Jungloi and Sehee came to an end.

*

I was following my senior, who was merely walking aimlessly.

“Senior~ Can we stop and go back now?”

“If you’re tired, go back first. I’ll be looking for requests.”

Instead of looking for requests, they just seemed to be wandering around, making strange remarks while just walking.

Is wandering around without a purpose really more likely to catch a request than standing by the office phone, waiting for one?

But my senior just kept walking silently.

Whether the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a sunset, or it was fully dark, they continued to walk.

There seemed to be no destination.

Forward, forward. Just kept moving ahead.

It had long been since we’d left Seoul.

What kind of request would we possibly receive out here in the dead of night, with hardly anyone around?

Moreover, with the drizzling rain, the number of passersby had dwindled even more.

“It’s a case.”

My senior said as they looked somewhere.

I witnessed a woman being struck by a baseball bat in a dark alley, collapsing.

“I’ll take care of it, so film some evidence for me!”

While my senior’s voice reached me, the heat in my head made it hard to hear.

I pulled out a familiar tool from my back.

Hammer.

I swung the hammer, feeling the familiar grip as I dashed out.

I think I heard a sigh from my senior behind me.

*

My junior sometimes went completely wild during violent situations.

When my junior went wild, they fought better than I did.

Sometimes I wondered if it was the influence of the object.

I leisurely filmed my junior rampaging from the back.

The video captured the three men who were startled while trying to kidnap a woman.

Seeing the insane person swinging a hammer and crashing into the walls, the men all took off in a hurry.

It’s scary; my angry junior is terrifying.

Panting, I left my junior behind and shook the unconscious girl awake.

I handed a business card to the girl, who woke up with a dazed expression.

“Hello. Do you happen to have something to request?”

The girl took the card, looking completely bewildered.