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I destroyed the lamp with firewood as if I were on a repetitive task and complimented the Black Reaper who indicated its location, gently patting its head.

“You found the lamp. Well done!”

The Black Reaper responded with a happy “Hehe” smile.

“How many lamps did you scatter across Earth?”

On the contrary, I was somewhat exhausted from the never-ending task of lamp destruction.

After rubbing the Black Reaper’s head a bit more, I shifted to the next Mini Reaper with a teleportation.

The place I arrived at was a vape shop in downtown Korea.

There, a Baby Golden Reaper was waving at me.

“Mommy!”

Is there a lamp in a place like this?

I had that question in mind, but I asked the Golden Reaper for the lamp’s location.

“This one!”

The Golden Reaper pointed to a regular vaping device.

“?!”

This Golden Reaper insisted that the smoking, toxic habit of people was the reason for calling it a lamp.

Of course, I turned this oddly logical Baby Golden Reaper into a Lead Doll.

“No way!!”

While there were plenty of lamps in the Calls of the Mini Reapers, there were also many unreasonable kids like this.

It wasn’t a discrimination against the Reaper species, but mostly aimed at the Golden Reapers.

Though I noticed that other Mini Reapers did it occasionally, it seemed unavoidable.

Since it was something I couldn’t avoid anyway, I decided to take it as a break while tormenting the Mini Reapers.

I gave the now Lead Doll Golden Reaper a good pat on its fat belly before moving on to the next Mini Reaper.

*

The place I arrived at was a whimsically decorated and quite spacious room.

From the decor, it looked like a child’s room.

“Is there a lamp in a place like this?”

As I turned my gaze, I saw the Black Reaper sitting with a gloomy expression, tugging at a lamp.

Next to the Black Reaper was a bed, on which a girl was holding an ornate lamp tightly.

“I don’t want to… No…”

Despite looking almost unconscious, the girl kept mumbling as if she couldn’t let the Black Reaper take the lamp away.

Even though it was a language I didn’t understand, the strong emotion behind her words was clear.

The Black Reaper looked up at me with a sad expression.

“Mom, the human is sick…”

Hmm.

Looking down, I noticed the girl was slowly dying.

She had no healthy organs left in her body, as if everything had been eaten away, resembling a long-term organ transplant.

Yet, there were no surgery scars, so it must be the lamp’s doing.

Plus, seeing the traces of powerful mental pollution, even a hospital exam wouldn’t detect any issues.

“If I don’t have this, Dad will die…”

Hearing the girl’s intense will, I traced the flow of power emanating from the lamp.

Thump thump.

A big, nice house.

Moreover, the staff wandering inside were numerous, indicating the house was being meticulously maintained.

However, because it was a house where a lamp dwelled, it exuded a somewhat desolate vibe.

The place I arrived at looked like a messy study, with papers and books scattered everywhere.

One wall was covered with newspaper clippings in English.

Connecting the words I could read, I deduced they were articles related to objects around the world.

All of them were about objects, like lamps, that could twist human wishes.

“Were they researching the lamp?”

In a corner of that room sat a man on a chair.

He looked ragged like a terminal cancer patient whose body had been ravaged by cancer cells.

But instead of cancer cells, objects had settled in the man’s body.

[Contract object, contract demon, Man of the Lamp….]

[I lost. I lost, so please….]

The man was mumbling in the language of objects while gripping his head with both hands.

Seemingly out of his mind, he didn’t even notice me walking right up to him.

Before him, crumpled papers coated with the object language were strewn about, and I picked one up to read.

[Was it wrong to neglect my only daughter while researching?]

[Or was it a mistake not to contract with the Man of the Lamp?]

[No, it must've been a mistake to decide to research the Man of the Lamp.]

As I collected and read the papers one by one, they were filled with tales of regret from the man.

[While examining an object-related incident, I discovered a fascinating and powerful object.]

The story began about how the man learned of the lamp that grants wishes and began his research.

[As soon as I concluded, 'The Man of the Lamp is bound by contract,' he came to me.]

Suddenly, one day, the Man of the Lamp appeared and offered a contract saying he would grant a reward if I stopped the research.

[Not long after refusing the contract proposed by the Man of the Lamp, my health began to improve.]

[At that time, why did I think my research was going well and I was healthy? Why?]

A tale of how his body, damaged by an irregular lifestyle, suddenly became healthy.

[The lamp was using my daughter. I should have suspected something was wrong from the moment my healthy daughter started falling ill....]

The story full of repeated regret ended with him discovering that his daughter was using the lamp to heal him.

[And no matter how much I called, no matter how much I shouted, no matter how much I cried, the Man of the Lamp never appeared again.]

That was the last of the papers hastily scribbled in the language of objects.

I put down the read papers back on the floor and looked at the man.

Despite his daughter’s sacrifice, the man was dying.

Though his daughter’s wish for her father to not be sick had healed him from his tiny ailments, was it still the lamp’s wish?

The man whose body had mostly transformed into an object was slowly dying, listening to the whisper of the crimson external being.

Like the Pudding Reaper resisting the whispers.

“Hmm.”

I poured the firewood over both the man and his daughter, turning all lost organs into roll cakes.

Then, the father and daughter looked a little pale but fell asleep with peaceful expressions, as if freed from a curse.

And at that moment, I also burned the lamp that was in the girl’s arms to get rid of it.

Seeing how far the Man of the Lamp went, did that mean he was a threat?

<'The Man of the Lamp is bound by contract.'>

That thought crossed my mind, and I committed the man’s research notes to memory.

*

James Tower located on the outskirts of Songpa District.

Clomp clomp.

James slowly walked through the corridors inside the tower.

“….”

The atmosphere in the James Research Institute was overall downcast.

Everyone was working just as hard as before, but a heavy mood hung in the tower.

The absence of the Golden Reapers was having quite a serious impact.

Even employees with other colored Attached Reapers were walking around cautiously.

“The Golden Reapers need to return soon….”

Considering the long-term consequences, it wouldn’t bode well, James thought as he opened the door to his office.

Although it was just a small Golden Reaper that went missing, the office felt strangely empty to James.

With those thoughts in mind, he sat down, and new reports had come in.

[Abnormal phenomena observed on the surface of the Black Planet.]

[New behavior patterns of Mini Reapers discovered.]

Opening the report on the Black Planet, he saw a photo of a massive black planet’s surface with red rings spreading out across it.

The report stated that the phenomenon appeared to be burning the surface of the black planet like a wildfire.

There seemed to be traces of life forms or objects from the black planet.

Though too tiny to be seen by the naked eye, it was definitely a trace that needed to be addressed.

If you plugged in the size of the Black Planet, that tiny flame ring was a trace of a massive blaze that could engulf Seoul.

“Could it be related to the disappearance of the Red Reaper?”

James wondered as he opened the next report.

The Mini Reaper observation report introduced the new habits of the Mini Reapers.

It discussed how they appeared whenever something was burned.

There had been an increase in cases where Mini Reapers were discovered smoking or burning something in internet sightings.

Thus, the institute conducted experiments to actually summon Mini Reapers, and the results were noted in the report.

When they conducted an experiment burning plastic that emitted thick smoke in the isolation room, the Black Reaper suddenly popped out.

Even after several repetitions, they kept appearing; however, after over ten times, the Black Reaper began to hit the tester, and that’s how the report ended.

“Is the Gray Reaper up to something?”

James thought it unlikely that the sudden preference for smoke was a possibility.

However, perhaps because there were no Golden Reapers, James’s mind wasn’t working clearly.

As James turned his tired face, he saw a tiny Hungry Ghost sitting in the spot where the Golden Reaper always sat.

A white Hungry Ghost left behind by the Golden Reaper.

Whenever people sighed at the sight of the white Hungry Ghost, it seemed the Hungry Ghosts painted themselves gold, but it didn’t do much good.

And James sipped his hot chocolate slowly, wishing for the Golden Reapers to return soon.

*

I truly wandered around to various places due to the Calls of the Mini Reapers.

There were indeed many places with lamps.

And wherever there was a lamp, there was always a plethora of misfortune and death.

As if what the lamp desired was the extinction of humanity.

I sat in the Marshmallow Plains, killing time while waiting for a call.

I summoned extra Lead Dolls to hop around the Marshmallow Plains.

It was both practice for my newly acquired possession ability and a way to stave off boredom.

“I’m not getting any calls.”

Had I found all the lamps that the Mini Reapers might discover? It had been several hours without any calls.

As the Lead Dolls hopped around, the Mini Reapers, filled with joy, followed them with bright smiles.

“Mommy!”

“Mom!”

“Running mom!”

While spending my time in the Marshmallow Plains, I started to feel a strange sensation.

“The Marshmallow Plains look a bit desolate….”

It seemed odd that it was because there were no Golden Reapers.

“Hmm.”

Just as I was pondering that, a blinding flash pierced the sky.

[Mommy!!]

A powerful cry of will echoed, piercing through Earth, the Mini Reaper Garden, and even the Void.