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I arrived on the desolate land, cradling the wounded Golden Reapers in my arms and blowing heaps of firewood into their bodies.

As I watched the restored children sleep peacefully, I softly conveyed my will.

“It’s okay, you’ll get better soon.”

After carefully placing the children on the floor, I struggled to grasp the chaotic situation.

While I was pondering how to deal with the suddenly crazed Golden Reaper, it rampaged and attacked nearby Golden Reapers, exhausting its arms.

Then, like a machine that lost power, it fell with a thud, and another Golden Reaper began to wreak havoc, engulfed in madness.

“?”

“Could it be contagious, like rabies?” I wondered, but it seemed a stretch to call such a phenomenon a “traitor.”

The Golden Reapers, as if familiar with this scenario, skillfully kept their distance and began to respond.

After a brief observation, I faintly detected the rancid stench of a harmful object.

Opening my eyes wide and scanning the surroundings, I found the trace of the harmful object wasn’t felt elsewhere.

It was masked by the scent of the sun, but the foul odor was emanating from the rampaging Golden Reaper.

“A possessed object?”

The Golden Reapers are resilient to mental pollution, so if it was possessing them, it must be a top-tier object specialized in possession…

I pondered this as I cautiously approached the deranged Golden Reaper.

At that moment, our eyes met.

The crazed Golden Reaper widened its eyes, as if faced with unimaginable terror, then collapsed.

And with it, the harmful sign vanished.

After a short while, the fallen Golden Reaper rubbed its eyes and got up.

Its expression was bewildered.

It was a Golden Reaper with a cheerful smile untainted by madness.

Maybe because the children were hurt, I felt anger slowly building up inside me.

Suppressing my anger, I smiled and conveyed my will to the Golden Reapers.

“Who sent the message about finding a traitor?”

A few Golden Reapers approached, grinning as if seeking praise.

Once they got close enough, I unleashed my strong will.

“It’s not a traitor!”

Then I swiftly turned all the children who had miscommunicated into meatballs.

“No way!”

The Golden Reapers, now plumped up, sprawled on the floor.

After punishing the offending Golden Reapers, I clenched my teeth with a fierce expression.

How dare they touch my children…

And to top it off, they attempted to run away?

My gaze turned icy.

And the space, now partly my domain, reacted to my emotions and began to faintly tremble.

“Mom is angry!”

“This is bad!”

Ignoring the commotion of the Golden Reapers, I spread my will across the Earth.

“Everyone gather! It’s search time from now on!”

And with an added warning, I remarked,

“Anyone who doesn’t show up for no special reason gets three times the meatball treatment!”

Instantly, numerous Mini Reapers began to gather around me.

The first to arrive was the Orange Crowned Reaper.

They rarely showed up otherwise, but here they were, right on time…

Once enough Mini Reapers had assembled, I released the children into the vicinity.

“Okay, spread out and find the harmful object!”

*

In the sky over Texas, the Green Reaper’s face was filled with sadness.

Their eyes were directed at the ground, but their heart was somewhere far away.

“I should be playing with humans…”

The Green Reaper sighed.

Just when the Attached Human was preparing a feast and about to start a party.

The savory scent of barbecue brushed past their nose, and laughter echoed in their ears.

Realizing they were missing out on joyful memories with the Attached Human tugged painfully at their heart.

“Bing…”

But there was nothing to be done.

Mom was inexplicably angry, and that rage could be felt from the opposite side of the Earth.

“I need to find it quickly and get to the human.”

Unlike usual, the Green Reaper focused deeply, searching every corner.

Their gaze sharpened like a cat’s, and their movements became even more agile.

The ground had transformed into a literal hell of objects.

Golden Reapers swarmed over the land like a plague of locusts.

The torrent of gold moved incessantly, crushing harmful objects in its path.

Moreover, they were so dedicated that even when humans waved snacks with delighted expressions at the Golden Reapers, they showed no reaction.

Under normal circumstances, many would stray from the group, but only a handful dared to wander off.

The Green Reaper kept soaring through the sky.

And with their senses fully extended, they did their best not to miss anything on the ground.

After some time of flitting about, suddenly, the Green Reaper’s antenna twitched.

“This is…”

The buildings already swept past by the Golden Reapers.

The Golden Reapers didn’t seem to notice, but there was undoubtedly a suspicious presence inside.

Without substance or flesh, it was an odd living entity that merely existed.

The Green Reaper slowly approached the source of that presence.

There lined glowing streetlights around, but there was one building that seemed to be shrouded in darkness.

Peering through the window, the Green Reaper’s eyes widened.

Found it!

Without hesitation, the Green Reaper called out for Mom.

“Mom! There’s a strange object here!”

*

There was a man.

Living life while lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.

Barely able to move, it felt more like existing than living.

In that space, a man held a small wish.

He wished to walk freely on two legs, a desire that could be normal for some but felt like a dream to him.

One cloudy day, an unidentified presence appeared in his room.

Though obscured by smoke, it was undoubtedly an object resembling a human form.

This being, bringing many lamps and pungent smoke, whispered into the man’s ear.

It promised to fulfill the man’s small wish.

At that moment, the man’s reason screamed not to accept.

It was a suspiciously enticing offer.

A suggestion like a poisonous apple from an object that could communicate with humans.

But desperation overwhelmed his rational mind.

With trembling hands, the man nodded.

“I’ll accept it.”

The entity that could only be called ‘Man of the Lamp’ smiled with satisfaction.

Then it vanished like smoke, leaving behind only an antique lamp.

The room was once again engulfed in silence.

An empty room, and a firmly closed door.

It felt like a dream in the daylight, but the lamp sitting beside the bed confirmed its reality.

The lamp whispered.

[I’ll make you free.]

In that moment, the man turned into transparent smoke, able to switch into someone else’s flesh.

At first, he suffered from guilt.

After just an hour of walking in the borrowed body.

But the happiness felt during that short time was beyond words.

The warm sunlight, the breeze, and the sense of freedom.

Yet upon returning to his own body, the sense of powerlessness and pain became exponentially stronger.

The man realized.

This was no different from drugs.

A cunning trap laid out by the object.

And.

The scariest part was that he could never quit it.

He had already become a prisoner of that freedom.

As time passed, the instances of possession increased.

The initial guilt faded, replaced by a relentless search for stronger stimulation.

And the more he possessed, the more his original body deteriorated.

Every time he lingered in his own body, an excruciating pain surged through him as if his body were being torn apart.

Though that too was likely a trap set by the object, the man could not entertain such thoughts.

“I need stronger stimulation.”

His rationality slowly crumbled.

To feel once again the sensation of liberation he had first experienced, he would do anything.

And when, in the end, the thirst for exhilaration drove him to kill, his original body perished too.

“Oh, so it came to this after all.”

But oddly enough, he felt relieved.

A painful prison, a liberation from death.

He thought he had now obtained complete freedom.

But now, the man was enveloped by extreme fear.

“Why is the Gray Reaper appearing?”

He had expended great efforts to avoid suspicion following the object incidents.

Knowing well how capable the Object Association in America was, he left no hint of suspicion.

Yet he only wanted to instill fear in the arriving Golden Reapers to make them flee…

“It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. It’s really going to be fine.”

Continuously repeating this, he now lingered over his body, now a mummy.

At that moment, something flickered beyond the bright glass window.

The man’s heart no longer existed, yet fear wrapped around his entire body.

That shadow resembled a reaper coming to greet the dead.