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The reporter with red hair was dreaming an infinitely repeating dream.

It was a dream of infiltrating the Alexander Group while investigating it.

The same scene unfolded every time.

Inside a dark building, in a bright isolation room.

People in a pitiful state.

The giant steel door at the end.

And every time she opened that door, an ominous orb caught her gaze.

At that moment, a frantic whisper from the darkness drew her back to reality.

[Human, wake up!]

[It’s a big deal!]

As her consciousness returned, the reporter realized she was lying on the cold concrete floor.

Though the surroundings were shrouded in darkness, she could feel the presence of black masses enveloping her skin.

The unease and anxiety of those masses coursed through her body like an electric current.

And behind the reporter, she sensed a rough presence flowing ceaselessly like a current.

She unconsciously tried to turn her head to confirm, but the black masses covering her prevented her from doing so.

[Don’t look!]

[You’ll get dizzy.]

Heeding their warnings, the reporter froze in place.

In that moment, memories just before losing consciousness flashed like lightning.

“Right…. A worm suddenly jumped out and I lost consciousness….”

The sight of multicolored worms pouring out and that moment when she fainted just from seeing them.

[The seal has failed….]

The whispers of the black masses echoed in her heart.

Their voices mixed with fear, sorrow, and longing.

[Mom….]

[I miss Mom.]

[Mom isn’t here either.]

[I feel dizzy.]

Then she noticed the whispers of the black masses had multiplied.

When she turned her gaze, new black masses were squirming and constantly emerging from where the worms were.

As the reporter slowly rose, the black masses began to whisper in unison, gazing at her.

[Help us.]

[Humans, it’s dangerous.]

[I feel dizzy.]

[Human, help us.]

[I can’t fight, I feel dizzy.]

[Human, lend us your senses.]

Moved by the black masses’ desperate pleas, the reporter nodded.

“Okay, let’s fight together.”

Those worms looked incredibly harmful to her as well.

As she agreed, the surrounding black masses surged towards her.

At the same time, memories that had been blank for a week slowly began to return.

With every black mass that rushed at her, piece by piece.

The secret laboratory of the Alexander Group, the horrific scenes she witnessed, and the black liquid and ominous orb discovered beyond the steel door.

The moment she regained all the memories of the week, she transformed into one massive black mass, standing at its center.

[Humans are in danger.]

[We have to seal it again.]

[It’s impossible.]

[I need Mom.]

[Where is Mom?]

[Let’s go up to the surface.]

[Upwards.]

With the whispers of the black mass, they began to rush out of the underground facility at high speed.

They swept the stairs and climbed the walls like a giant black wave.

*

Once outside the narrow building, the black masses began to take on familiar shapes.

Figures with elongated arms and root-like legs.

The reporter was now part of a black mass that had grown as large as a building, looking down at the city.

Having gathered so much, an immense power surged that was incomparably greater than before.

Even when there were only a few, they were an exceptional object; how much stronger had they become now?

Her gaze turned toward the ominous sky.

Perhaps because she had grown stronger, the masses didn’t stop her from looking up at the sky.

But she soon regretted glancing upwards.

What unfolded before her was more horrifying than any horror movie.

The sky was covered in multicolored worms.

The wriggling sight of them turned her stomach.

‘Indeed, any ordinary human would faint at such a sight.’

Disgust. Ominousness. Revulsion. Unpleasantness. Horribleness.

No matter what negative words one could assign to those worms, they felt perfectly in place.

Yet, astonishingly, the people passing by seemed utterly oblivious to this horrifying scene.

Instead, their gazes were fixed on the reporter, who had transformed into a giant black mass.

“Object?”

“Run away!”

“Why isn’t the emergency alarm ringing?”

“Is this some kind of filming?”

The reactions of the people varied.

Some fled in terror, while others took out their phones to snap pictures, eyes wide with curiosity.

[This place is dangerous.]

[Run quickly!]

[There are so many humans.]

The black mass whispered to the people, but no one could hear.

Before the black mass’s whispers could even finish, a mass of worms fell from the sky.

The moment it touched the ground, the world began to warp.

The worm drilled into the ground like a plant’s root, starting to implant small worms into the bodies of the people passing by.

[Human!]

With the cries of the black masses, the reporter’s body moved reflexively.

In the blink of an eye, they rushed toward the spot where the worm had fallen.

[Enemy of humanity!]

[Die!]

[Attack!]

Sharp black claws shredded the worm into pieces.

They uprooted everything, digging deep into the ground.

After smashing all the worms and looking around, she saw people screaming and fleeing.

‘Yes, run quickly. This place is dangerous.’

Then she chased after the falling worms around the city and smashed them.

A few tall skyscrapers, the Golden Gate Bridge, and so forth.

In the process, many buildings were destroyed.

But even that wasn’t enough to stop the worms.

It was akin to trying to stop all the rain falling from the sky with just an umbrella.

[Human….]

Despair was evident in the voices of the black masses.

The number of infected people was increasing, and the contaminated land was spreading.

‘It’s impossible to do this alone….’

A sense of hopelessness began to seep into the reporter’s heart.

Then it happened.

Suddenly, white flames spread through the air.

As if the fog was clearing, the world became vivid.

A refreshing feeling enveloped her whole body.

‘Mom!!’

‘Mom!’

‘When did Mom arrive?’

Cute voices chimed in.

And from across the city, she felt a powerful presence and a clear connection.

[Mom??]

Joy and confusion mingled with the whispers of the black masses.

In the distance, at the edge of the city, a small gray reaper appeared.

Even though it was so small, it felt as if the city was filled with gray reapers to the reporter’s senses.

*

I looked up at the night sky of San Francisco.

The sky was no longer black.

Multicolored worms covered the sky like a living rainbow.

The sight was horrific yet seemed precariously balanced.

‘Now I just need to solve this situation.’

Having recently adopted many black reapers, I murmured in my heart.

‘With my ‘eyes,’ I carefully examined the worms in the sky, but indeed, no conditions for destruction were visible.’

<■ ■ ■>

I let out a silent sigh.

As an external being, it would probably take quite some time to handle this.

‘First, I need to secure the battlefield.’

I slowly surveyed the surroundings.

Even the people who had been frightened by the continued destruction of the city stopped running once I transformed the monster of the old god into a black reaper.

Some people even seemed pleased to see the giant black reaper or me.

‘How bothersome….’

Perhaps because my reputation had risen, people didn’t flee.

It was urgent to clear the city to prevent people from getting hurt or infected by the worms.

Especially since being an external being, increasing the number of infected people could lead to multiplied headaches.

Once I organized my thoughts, the crux of the problem became apparent.

The reason people couldn’t avoid the worms was that they were invisible.

‘If I use the Halo of Conspicuousness to mark the positions of the worms, that should work.’

However, I soon faced another problem.

Above my head was already a Halo that nullified abilities emitting white flames.

‘Hmm.’

Using two halos was almost impossible.

As I pondered briefly, a sudden idea struck me.

‘The Blue Idol Reaper could use the Halo of Conspicuousness.’

But I quickly realized that this idea also had its limitations.

It probably wouldn’t be enough for the Blue Idol Reaper to influence this wide range of ‘external substances.’

While I was contemplating, a massive black reaper smiling brightly came into my sight.

‘Ah!’

A brilliant idea flashed.

‘If using a mini reaper was hard, then maybe a non-mini reaper could do it!’ Such a simple thought.

The moment the idea popped into my head, I summoned the Hug Reaper and blue reapers.

The blue reapers appeared in the air, looking a bit worried as I called everyone.

‘Hug!’

And the Hug Reaper immediately wrapped around my ankle the moment it was summoned.

I placed the Halo of Fusion upon the Hug Reaper and issued my command.

‘Combine the blue reapers to make a blue reaper as massive as that black reaper.’

‘Hug!!!’

The Hug Reaper nodded and merged ten blue reapers into one.

To my unexpected delight, a tremendous amount of firewood burned away in an instant, completing a giant blue reaper.

‘Woooh.’

The giant blue reaper seemed startled by its own size.

It awkwardly shrank and attempted to hide between the buildings, but its slightly smaller stature than the giant black reaper made it easily visible.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but chuckle and commanded the giant blue reaper.

‘Make the positions of the worms visible to the humans so they can avoid them.’

The blue reaper cautiously raised its finger and began to write in the sky.

[Please project the terrifying form of the worms!]

At that moment, something amazing happened.

Everywhere there were worms, translucent mirror images of the worms appeared.

The ground and even the horrifying sight of the worms in the sky became visible.

Though it wouldn’t make anyone faint or feel dizzy, it was a grotesque sight of wriggling worms.

People’s responses were immediate.

Panic struck as the sudden appearance of the giant worm illusions sent people scattering in all directions.

Anyone would react that way upon seeing worms writhing to burrow into them.

However, the miraculous giant blue reaper wielding external-grade magic didn’t last long.

Having probably exhausted all its power needed for the fusion, the giant blue reaper broke down back into ten.

‘It was just one magic, but it had a tremendous effect.’

I was in awe.

Who would have thought a mini reaper could gain enough strength to exert a semi-permanent and wide-ranging impact on external substances?

‘The dream of automatic hunting feels ever closer.’

I smiled as I envisioned a happy future.

With the Hug Reaper perched on my shoulder, I began contemplating my next plan.

‘For the next automatic hunting, I need to create mini reapers that can cut down the stature of the worm external beings.’

In that moment, two visions of the most powerful mini reapers appeared in my mind.

What if I combined the two?

Hehe.