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It has been quite some time since the rough waves of the Object Incident that began in the Pacific swallowed parts of San Francisco.

San Francisco was still scarred, but the city remained standing, and daily life resumed once more.

Restoration work was ongoing throughout the streets.

In an apartment in an area that barely escaped the Object Incident, there was a man.

“It’s okay. No one will know.”

Despite the building miraculously surviving the Object Incident, the interior reflected the man’s anxious mental state.

Thick blackout curtains were drawn on every window as if something terrible would happen if anyone were to see inside.

“It’s okay. Really, it’s okay.”

The man continued to mutter, trying to convince himself, but his voice was filled with fear.

He paced around the dark room, on guard as if walls had eyes and ears.

From time to time, he cautiously lifted a corner of the curtain with trembling hands.

Each time he glanced outside, his heart raced like crazy.

Just a few weeks prior, his life had been peaceful.

He took pride in working at the medical facility of the ‘Alexander Group’ headquarters.

Though he wasn’t a full-time employee, merely being associated with a company that had the reputation of a ‘good corporation’ was enough for him.

But everything changed overnight.

The man gathered his courage again to check outside.

He spotted a little café across the street.

That was the place where he was supposed to meet the reporter.

That usually quiet café still had no one inside.

“Will the reporter believe me?”

The man eyed the café suspiciously.

What he intended to expose was that ‘Alexander Group’.

What he had discovered was merely the suspicious missing medical supplies.

Common minor oversights that could occur in human operations.

But the man stumbled upon a dark secret hidden behind that oversight.

Missing persons and human experimentation.

He tried to pretend he hadn’t seen anything, but he was overwhelmed by guilt.

The timid man ultimately decided to reveal the truth to the world.

He contacted a reporter and set up a meeting.

“Phew. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

The man thought there was no need to be this scared.

So far, no one knew anything, and nothing unusual had happened.

But no matter what, the timid man’s heart refused to calm.

It felt like he was always being watched, and he suffered from nightmares every night.

Yet, he did not give up.

He checked the time.

“30 minutes until the meeting.”

He let out a deep sigh and gathered his thoughts.

The man opened the curtains again for a peek, but the reporter had yet to arrive.

As he nervously shook his legs, his gaze suddenly turned to the street.

At that moment, he spotted the Hero of the Superhuman Association, Prism Sentinel.

“Phew.”

A sigh of relief escaped the man’s lips.

Prism Sentinel was a symbol of trust in and of itself.

The entire Superhuman Association was like that.

Since the emergence of the huge black planet in the sky, the number of Object incidents had grown.

And the number of ‘superhumans’ surpassing human limits had increased as well.

That was when the Superhuman Association appeared.

A group of volunteers roaming the places where law and order had shattered due to superhuman criminals and Objects.

Dressing up as heroes in comic books for the anxious people troubled by the black planet.

Though they had their regular jobs, they generously offered their abilities to make the world a better place.

It was also because of those heroes that the timid man resolved to become a whistleblower.

For a moment, he forgot about reality and gazed at Prism Sentinel.

The flashy costume and confident stride.

Everything seemed to symbolize hope.

Then, something unexpected happened.

He locked eyes with Prism Sentinel.

As he watched Prism Sentinel slowly approach, the man’s heart started racing for a different reason.

“Is it really coming towards me?”

The man froze at the unbelievable sight.

In no time, Prism Sentinel was right in front of the man’s apartment.

His idol was just before him.

Prism Sentinel floated near the window and gave the man a trademark confident smile.

*

Deep within the Mini Reaper Garden, the Marshmallow Plains.

I had captured an orange reaper that was flying in the sky of the Mini Reaper Garden.

The orange reaper, caught by me, desperately struggled to break free from my grasp.

Its hands, like cotton puffs, flailed towards the air.

Ignoring its meaningless flail, I fell into deep contemplation.

“Should I try fusing?”

It was an idea that had randomly popped into my head during a fashion show not long ago.

“What would happen if the orange reaper and I fused?”

That little curiosity now consumed me.

After a moment of hesitation, I finally made up my mind.

“Sure, let’s just do it!”

I flipped the Halo of Fusion over my head and used the fusion.

And with a flash of light, the orange reaper that was in my hand disappeared without a trace.

No, it hadn’t really disappeared.

I could hear the will of the orange reaper inside me.

It was saying something strange about being devoured by mom.

“Did I succeed?”

My heart raced with anticipation as I hurried to inspect my body.

But contrary to my expectations, there were no changes at all.

Still smooth gray skin, familiar shape.

I even checked the fingers that had been holding the orange reaper, but everything remained the same.

Disappointment washed over me.

“No way….”

Was the Halo of Fusion completely useless for me?

I fell onto the Marshmallow Plains in despair.

Thunk.

At that moment, unexpected softness supported my body.

“Wow, that’s fluffy?”

I looked back in confusion and was astonished to see my hair had transformed into cloud-like gray cotton puffs.

It resembled the orange reaper’s hair perfectly.

“Oh….”

The result of the fusion had been a change in my hair.

“Sigh.”

I sighed silently, lowering my head.

Just then, laughter echoed from somewhere.

Kyuhehehe.

A white hungry ghost was hiding in the distance, laughing at me.

I used my time acceleration ability to zoom over and grab that white hungry ghost in an instant.

At that moment, the whispers of the orange reaper reached my ears.

“It’d be fun to make the white hungry ghosts fight against each other….”

“It’d be fun to order the white hungry ghost to eat hot chocolate until it bursts….”

“It’d really be fun to make the white hungry ghost attack the pudding reaper….”

Those were whimsically devilish ideas.

In that moment, I thought I might have quite a few ideas that seemed ‘fun’.

What a devil’s whisper!

Perhaps the orange reaper wished to command the Objects from the garden, just like me.

While I pondered a fitting punishment to present to the white hungry ghost, the urgent will of the golden reaper reached me.

“Mom, it’s a disaster!”

The will projected a vibe of danger rather than excitement.

Had it only been a short time since the frog incident, and already there was a new problem?

I freed the white hungry ghost and instantly teleported to where the golden reaper was.

Then, an unfamiliar space welcomed me.

A dark and narrow space like a cave.

Walls filled with carvings made from jade.

The faint scent of the Color Universe lingered in the air.

And James’ pained voice echoed.

“Ugh!”

That was the scream of James being pulled by the eyelids by the golden reaper.

“That must hurt….”

I grabbed the poor James’ space and transferred it outside the room.

Then I slowly surveyed the room.

What caught my eye first was a suspicious orb.

An opaque orb that revealed nothing within.

But it seemed like it had the scent of the Color Universe.

I knocked on it, but it didn’t respond at all.

While I pondered what to do with the orb, James’ golden reaper returned to the room.

“Brother!”

It sent out a will while pointing to the floor with its finger.

I followed its finger with my gaze and finally noticed.

“Wait a minute, this is a black reaper….”

Scattering firewood around, the calm black liquid began to bubble.

“Uh!”

“It’s asleep!”

“It shouldn’t be sleeping….”

Perhaps due to the large gathering of black reapers, a noisy will began to spill out.

Then numerous Black Reapers in the Form of the Old God rose up and began to surround the orb.

“Sealing!”

“It must be hidden!”

Something feels a bit off.

These guys aren’t opening their eyes.

They couldn’t possibly not have seen me open my eyes.

The black reapers are the kind that show their firewood color when they open their eyes.

I pulled one of the Black Reapers in the Form of the Old God that was hugging the orb and placed it on my palm.

“Who? Who are you? We have to seal this….”

And prodding the confused black reaper’s face, I poked it repeatedly.

The black reaper brushed my finger away irritably, then suddenly grabbed my finger and froze.

Then, slowly opening its eyes, it melted as if it were liquid slime.

The black reaper, turned into slime, bounced around excitedly on my palm.

Then it turned into a rather strange form in the blink of an eye, as if surrounded by cotton puffs like the orange reaper.

“Mom!”

The black reaper looked up at me with a delighted expression, smiling brightly.

“Mom!” Did its will shout that?

Bright yellow eyes began to rise over the black liquid that was surrounding the orb.

“Mom?”

“Mommy.”

“Why?”

Then in an instant, it took on the form of the black reaper and started charging at me.

Yikes, it’s an attack from the black cotton puffs!

Just like that, I was attacked by the black cotton puffs and became a gray cotton puff among them.

*

The reporter walked down the street and arrived at the café, the meeting place.

Looking at his watch, he saw there were approximately 10 minutes left until the meeting time.

“Hm. Is the informant still not here?”

With a bit of free time, the reporter sat at the café and began surfing the internet on his phone.

While browsing, he stumbled upon an intriguing post.

It was about the peculiar phenomena of golden reapers roaming San Francisco.

The post was written by someone introducing themselves as a researcher of golden reapers, claiming that if one went near San Francisco, the golden reaper would complain about severe dizziness.

And the post concluded that this might be why there are very few mini reapers in San Francisco.

“Well, that’s true….”

San Francisco was nice, but there just weren’t enough golden reapers.

Of course, if there had been many golden reapers, there wouldn’t be the city’s iconic hero.

Tap. Tap.

Hearing the sound of a small animal stepping on wood, he turned to see a golden reaper sprawled out on the table.

Perhaps because he had just read that post, it really looked as if it were dizzy.

“By the way, it’s really small.”

Maybe because the rare golden reaper was nearby, the reporter curiously rounded his finger to measure the golden reaper’s face size.

Then, the golden reaper peeked its face between his fingers.

“Is this why everyone likes golden reapers?”

It was a behavior that made him involuntarily smile.

While sharing cookies with the golden reaper, the reporter checked the time.

“Time’s already passed.”

Another bust this time.

Perhaps because the Alexander Group was so popular, there were many cases where people said they would inform but didn’t show up.

Is this a timid revenge by the fanatics of the Alexander Group?

Looking outside, he saw a crowd of police officers.

The police were cordoning off the area around the apartment that was directly visible from the café window.

“Oh.”

Among the police, fighting hero, Prism Sentinel, stained with blood, was visible.

“Looks like a superhuman criminal case has erupted.”

The reporter brushed it off nonchalantly.