---

Mini Reaper Garden, Marshmallow Plains.

Kyu-hing-hing.

I was lost in thought, listening to the sweet Kyu-hing-hing flowing from the gigantic structure made of White Hungry Ghosts.

‘Something’s strange…’

It’s just too fun to torment the White Hungry Ghosts.

It was quite entertaining to begin with, but it didn’t used to be torture-worthy enough to skip watching TV.

‘Could it be the cause is the fusion with the Orange Reaper?’

Hmm.

However, there were no signs of separating from the Orange Reaper no matter how long I waited.

It seemed like waiting would result in eternal fusion, so I decided to try using the Halo of Fusion to separate us.

As soon as I put the halo on my head and focused on separating, the Orange Reaper swiftly popped out from inside me.

‘Huh.’

Was it the aftereffects of the fusion? I felt my entire body drain of strength.

I lay sprawled on the floor and looked up at the sky.

The Orange Reaper had already run far away and was nowhere to be seen.

As I lay on the ground, the fluffy Golden Reapers began to dash toward me.

“Mom, are you hurt?”

“Mom, do you hurt?”

And seeing my collapsed form, they all expressed shock with ‘!!!’ faces.

Checking the Golden Reapers’ gazes, they seemed surprised by my hair.

“Oh, right. It turned non-fluffy.”

Seeing my hairstyle, the Golden Reapers hurriedly began to revert their own hair back to normal.

It looked as if they thought someone would come and take them away if they didn’t change their hair.

They all seemed to like the fluffiness, so why were they acting like that?

The Golden Reapers, having returned to their original forms, clustered around me, patting with worried expressions.

“Mom, are you okay?”

“You look hurt.”

While I was blankly gazing at the Golden Reapers, a curious thought crossed my mind.

“What happens if I fuse with a Golden Reaper?”

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I grabbed one of the worried Golden Reapers and fused with it using the Halo of Fusion.

As soon as I became one with the Golden Reaper, a surge of energy coursed through my body.

I got up and examined myself closely, but nothing had changed.

Not much has changed, huh.

Since Golden Reapers look nearly identical to me, I guess that makes sense.

“One with Mom!”

“Hehe.”

Except for the happy voice of the Golden Reaper ringing in my head, that was it.

“This fusion seems like nothing special….”

Just as I was thinking about that, I suddenly felt like I wanted to see Yerin.

“Is Yerin working around now?”

I recalled places where Yerin might be and started running towards Sehee Research Institute.

*

The Sehee Research Institute Lounge, always bustling with people.

Om-nom-nom.

I snuggled into Yerin’s arms, munching on the snacks she was feeding me.

And each time, I made sure to feed her some snacks too.

“Today, the Reaper is being quite affectionate.”

Yerin said that while patting my head.

Hehe.

While we were snacking, the employees sitting next to us were chatting about their Attached Reapers.

They were a man endlessly feeding his Golden Reaper stick-shaped snacks and a woman flopped over beside him.

The female employee watching the Golden Reaper munching snacks had a slightly envious expression.

“I wish the Blue Reaper could come hang out in the lounge too….”

“Was your Attached Reaper the Blue Reaper?”

The employee feeding the Golden Reaper continued speaking.

“But the Blue Reaper tidies up the room and is smart. I kind of envy that.”

At that, the Golden Reaper, cradled in the employee’s arms and munching on snacks, looked up at its Attached Human with a shocked expression.

Seeing that expression, the employee looked apologetic and began to pat the Golden Reaper’s head frantically.

At that moment, the Attached Human of the Blue Reaper proudly pulled out a phone.

“So I wanted to be able to supplement Blue Reaper components any time, so I set up a huge pet cam in the middle of the living room!”

Then, a video started streaming from the phone, showing the entire room.

After a moment, a splashing sound indicated the Blue Reaper appeared in the corner of the phone’s screen.

Confirming that no one was home, the Blue Reaper began to roam around the house with a happy expression.

As it wove strings in the air, dust and trash vanished, and the room became neatly organized.

Seeming to enjoy cleaning, the Blue Reaper had a gentle smile on its face.

“What a capable little helper.”

The man watching the phone screen murmured as he observed this.

At that moment, the Blue Reaper tilted its head, noticing the camera and began to approach the lens.

Instantly realizing it was being filmed, the Blue Reaper made an angry expression.

The Blue Reaper touched the camera, making it look up at it, glaring down with intensity.

And as the Blue Reaper tapped the screen, the camera’s signal got cut off.

“Ugh, the Blue Reaper is mad….”

The Attached Human of the Blue Reaper muttered with a gloomy voice.

*

Suddenly regaining consciousness, with my cheek on the cold concrete floor.

The reporter blinked and dazedly scanned the surroundings.

Under the hazy moonlight that appeared blurry before my dizzy eyes, what lay ahead looked like a nightmare.

“Wh-what is this…?”

Muttering with a trembling voice, I gazed at the soldier corpses scattered a few meters in front of me.

Shattered night vision goggles and high-tech equipment torn like paper were strewn about chaotically.

I felt a throbbing in my head and barely managed to get up.

My hand instinctively fumbled along my body.

I flinched in surprise at discovering bloodstained and tattered clothes.

“I definitely got hit… but why don’t I feel any pain?”

I hesitantly examined my body, but astonishingly, there were no injuries to be found.

“What on earth happened…?”

I struggled to recall, but my head felt foggy, as if trapped in a mist.

The last memory that barely came to me was the smoke rising from the muzzle of a silenced weapon…

And something black covering my body.

“It felt exactly like the dream I had at the landfill….”

I shook my head vigorously to dispel my confusing thoughts.

“I need to get out of here…. Quickly….”

In a panic, I thought of needing to escape the scene and stood up, staggering as I hurriedly moved.

And while walking along the dark alley, I remained alert to my surroundings.

Thinking someone might be following me sent a chill of sweat down my spine.

After walking for about an hour, I spotted an old motel sandwiched alongside the road.

The man at the front desk lazily handed me the keys without even looking my way, engrossed in the TV at the time.

It was a rather fortunate circumstance for someone like me who was still smeared in blood.

‘….’

As soon as I entered the room, I immediately took a shower.

While warm water drenched my body, I tried to calm my mind and organize the situation.

‘The soldiers shot at me the instant they saw me.’

‘And I felt like I was wearing something like the monster in my dream…’

The next part… nothing came to mind.

After finishing my shower, I stood in front of the mirror.

Gazing blankly at my reflection, suddenly, a voice came from behind me.

Not really a voice, but something closer to thoughts or emotions.

[Human….]

At that moment, something black began to show up in the mirror.

An image of a palm-sized black monster sprouted on my shoulder.

Seeing that, I nearly screamed in surprise.

Though small, it had elongated arms and resembled the dream monster with nine eyes.

“You… who are you?”

I asked the creature with a trembling voice while slowly reaching my hand out to grab it.

A soft, squishy mass that was hard to associate with a monster that tore soldiers apart.

Oddly, it felt somewhat kindred, so I placed the creature on my palm.

[I don’t know.]

[I feel dizzy.]

[Where is this?]

With the whispers flooding in, clusters the size of a palm began to sprout all over my body.

Then they began to stare at each other and started a conversation.

[I think I received some command….]

[I can’t remember.]

[Must protect.]

[What?]

[I don’t know. So dizzy.]

[Very dizzy.]

Like the reporter lacking a week’s worth of memories, it seemed the monsters had forgotten something too.

Squeak.

Late at night, the sound of a vehicle quietly parking came from the motel parking lot far away.

What unbelievable hearing.

“Did you grant me this hearing as well?”

I asked the monsters a question I was a bit curious about, but I couldn’t hear their response.

[Harmful human!]

The black masses spread out and began to cling to me.

And just like the time they tore the soldiers apart, they started to take on a larger form.

“Stop, stop it!”

I yelled loudly, tearing at the black masses trying to engulf my face.

[?]

Then the black masses sent a puzzled vibe my way and immediately halted.

Though they seemed reckless, thankfully, they appeared to heed my words.

“Why this sudden change?”

[An evil human is approaching.]

[Very evil human.]

Hearing the words of the black masses, I quickly checked outside the window.

An unidentifiable black car was parked in front of the motel, and from it, men in black suits and a man in fancy clothes were stepping out.

“Prism Sentinel…?”

I mumbled in confusion as I gazed down at the scene.