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As I shifted my gaze along the road, the endlessly stretching asphalt vanished beyond the horizon.

On either side of the road lay a desolate plain, and occasionally, short shrubs swayed in the breeze.

The distant hills formed a blurred silhouette against the night sky, creating a strange sensation, as if I were gazing at the edge of the world.

‘It’s chillier than I thought.’

Feeling the coldness radiating from the asphalt, I murmured to myself.

They say desert nights can be cold, so maybe it’s similar in this desolate plain?

An empty road, devoid of passing cars.

Occasionally, a strong wind would whip up dust, racing across the vacant road.

If it were daytime, this would truly look like a scene from a Western movie….

It felt a bit disappointing.

Plip plop.

Only the sound of my footsteps echoed through the stillness.

As I walked, waiting for the Mini Reapers’ contact, a rusty road sign caught my eye by the roadside.

The only man-made object popping up in this desolate landscape.

I paused for a moment, looking up at the sign.

Since it was written in English, I couldn’t make out what it said at all.

Judging by the location of the Mini Reapers, it seemed likely to be somewhere in America…

Shifting my gaze upwards to the sky, the twinkling starlight and colorful moonlight showered down upon me.

Waiting for a message from the Mini Reapers while looking at the night sky that provided enough light, even if not as much as during the day.

‘When will they find me…?’

Having sent all the idle Mini Reapers to search, they should be able to locate me soon.

‘This time, I must use snacks to torment that object by any means possible.’

Just as I was expanding my imagination on how to torment it…

I felt the call of a Green Reaper in the distance.

‘Mom! There’s a strange object here!’

Finally!

Given it was a call from the Green Reaper, it was clear that something had been discovered.

Though I had received a few calls from the Golden Reapers before, they always reported on bizarre things, making them seem suspicious.

Like the time one said while looking at a magic mirror, ‘It can be seen from this side, but not from this side!’—useless reports were frequent.

Of course, all the Golden Reapers who babbled such nonsense turned into dust.

I teleported with great anticipation to where the Green Reaper was.

‘….’

Upon arrival, a particularly dark-looking building stood before me, and the Green Reaper was waiting for me in front of it.

Though bright streetlights lined the surrounding area, that building appeared to be enshrouded in darkness, as if it devoured the light.

‘Mama! There’s a strange creature!’

The Green Reaper informed me of a being that only existed without any physical substance or form.

Indeed, upon hearing the Green Reaper’s words, the sensation I had felt of a harmful object matched that vibe.

‘Well done.’

With feelings of gratitude, I gently patted the head of the Green Reaper.

In response, the Green Reaper smiled brightly as if it had completed its duty and waved goodbye to me.

Then, as if busy with something, it returned to the Mini Reaper Garden.

After waving goodbye to the Green Reaper, I slowly made my way toward the problematic building.

‘….’

As soon as I stepped inside the building, a pungent smoke stung my nostrils.

It was a peculiar blend of iron and the volatile scent of a murky gas.

That was the smell of a gas lamp.

I was sure I remembered smelling this somewhere before.

Squeak! Squeak!

A small sound broke the silence.

As my feet touched the floor, the wooden floorboards creaked inside the building.

Passing through the entryway into the living room, my eyes fell upon two forms hanging limply.

The corpses of people who had hung themselves.

Perhaps due to some object’s action, the bodies had dried like mummies without decaying.

A bizarre suicide scene devoid of any traces.

No note, no signs of struggle, nothing unusual at all.

It felt as if they had simply hung themselves after getting up for breakfast.

I sensed the faint odor of lamp oil and the stench of the harmful object lingering around the corpses.

‘It must have been a possession-type object that led these people to commit suicide.’

Leaving behind the bodies that seemed to belong to the owners of this house, I slowly made my way into the depths of the building.

As I did, the darkness thickened like an evil lurking dungeon.

And from somewhere came the disturbing scent of lamp oil.

At the end of the darkness was a door swallowed whole by shadows.

<■ ■ ■ ■’s Room.>

Every room in the house had nameplates that matched the furniture well, but this door’s nameplate was scratched as if someone clawed at it.

As I grabbed the doorknob, a chill spread throughout my body.

It felt as if a breeze wafted by, and the darkness clung to me, brushing past my body.

Ignoring those ominous signals, I swung the door open.

[Graaar!]

At that moment, a mass of smoke resembling a desiccated human shape lunged at me.

I quickly grasped the space and pinned the smoke in mid-air.

‘This is…’

It was a puff of smoke that looked like a ghost.

However, it wasn’t a human ghost.

It might have once been human, but the smoke held no traces of humanity.

‘You’re the one who tormented our children.’

With a fierce expression, I slowly, oh so slowly, began to constrict the space.

[!!!!]

The smoky mass writhed in pain, but it couldn’t move an inch within the space I held.

It could only suffer and slowly perish.

After tormenting the mass for a long time, just before its disappearance, I used all my strength to crush it down.

[Graaar….]

Toward the disappearing smoky mass, which seemed to finally be liberated, I sent my will.

‘You won’t escape through death.’

For I had yet to exact the full toll for tormenting the Golden Reapers.

*

The man opened his eyes.

It felt as if the cold chains wrapping around his body had vanished.

Like a bird freed from heavy shackles, he inhaled deeply.

However, the air felt hollow and empty somewhere.

Looking around, he was enveloped in endless darkness.

There was nothing beneath his feet, and when he looked up, only the deep night sky devoid of stars stretched above.

Yet in this serene darkness, the man felt a sense of comfort for the first time in a long while.

But in that moment, horrific memories flooded his mind.

Now freed from the lamp’s shackles, he was confronted with the myriad sins he had committed.

The days when he enjoyed freedom by borrowing others’ bodies and the innocent lives he had snatched away in return.

“How… could I have done such a thing….”

His voice scattered into the void like an echo.

Regret and self-reproach weighed heavily upon his heart.

He realized.

The lamp’s power was not simply a drug that gnawed at people.

From the moment he accepted the lamp, he had ceased to be human.

Kneeling, he cupped his face in both hands.

Hot tears streamed down his cheeks.

He spent what felt like an eternity in the endless darkness, berating himself.

“Ah, this is hell….”

Would he have to wallow in self-blame forever like this?

Yet the man thought that this was better.

He thought that this was a penance for the people he had killed, including his parents.

In that moment, a warm presence enveloped him, and bright light slowly began to spread before his eyes.

At first dim, it grew more intense, pushing back the darkness.

Looking up, he saw light seeping through the gap of a rectangular space, like a door.

The light appeared so beautiful and peaceful.

Curious, he gazed at the world visible through that gap.

There, beneath a pastel sky, sweet aromas filled the land with houses made of snacks lining the streets.

Sugar-crafted birds soared through the sky alongside cloud fish, and jelly flowers swayed in the breeze.

It was a scene that could only belong in a fairy tale.

‘Is that… heaven?’

He could instinctively sense it.

If he crossed that gap, he would become a part of a peaceful world and live forever.

The moment he felt that, something seemingly harmless appeared before him.

Kkyu.

The creature, with white skin and a round, cute appearance, looked as if it were a messenger from a fairyland.

The white herald kept calling, as if urging him to come quickly, going “kkyu” repeatedly.

The man hesitated for a moment.

That world looked so beautiful, and a desire to enter it surged within him.

But he shook his head.

‘No, I don’t deserve to go there.’

Recalling the innumerable sins smeared upon his hands, he made a resolve.

And slowly turned his body, stepping back into the darkness.

‘I must live here, forever in atonement.’

His voice was resolute, but a tinge of bitterness seeped into his heart.

Yet he thought that this was the fate he deserved.

At that moment, something pulled him forcefully from behind.

Startled, he turned around to find a pair of ominous yellow eyes burning in the darkness, glaring at him.

Those eyes did not belong to a human.

They were the gaze of something vast and terrible, like a god.

‘!’

The man tried to move, seized by terror, but he was already entrapped by those eyes.

Strangely, at that moment, the fairyland no longer looked like paradise to him.

‘No…!’

He shouted loudly, but no sound escaped his lips.

Even when he tried to resist, his body refused to obey, and extreme fear flooded his heart.

As he was forcefully dragged out of the gap, he realized something was amiss.

Kkyuhihi.

In the fading consciousness, a laugh that didn’t belong to the fairy’s messenger faintly echoed in his mind.

*

The blackened sky was covered in infinite darkness.

The moon was absent, leaving only colorful starlight faintly illuminating the heavens.

That starlight twinkled vaguely like remnants of an ancient being, spreading an ominous aura.

With each breath, a noxious petroleum smell provoked his lungs, prickling at his nose.

The stench thickened in the air, making him feel dizzy.

Junior No. 2 covered her nose and mouth with her hand, surveying her surroundings.

The ground beneath her was dry and cracked, with pools of black liquid dotting the landscape.

Standing at the edge of a cliff, she peered down.

The rippling black liquid twitched as if alive, ready to surge up the cliff.

That liquid was not just water, but the ‘Evolution Liquid’ that had consumed this planet.

Junior No. 2 had arrived on this doomed black planet to grant the Saintess’s wish, reaching the peak of the tallest mountain.

A cold wind brushed against her skin, and somewhere in the air, faint whispers lingered.

It sounded like the murmurs of starlight cascading from the sky.

The bleak landscape of a world where sky, land, and air were all engulfed by darkness weighed heavily on her heart.

‘Can I find the jade plate here?’

She sighed deeply and pressed on.

With each step, the dry ground crunched beneath her feet, the horizon stretching endlessly with the black liquid.