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As I burned the magical book of the contract that had become an external being, an overwhelming fatigue suddenly washed over me.

It was as though a colossal wave was crashing over my entire body— the Blue Girl’s physique was swiftly engulfed by extreme exhaustion.

My stomach was incredibly hungry, my eyelids felt glued shut, and I felt as though I might die from the overwhelming fatigue.

“Ugh….”

A groan escaped my lips involuntarily.

My entire body was suffused with muscle pain as if I had the flu, and I felt so dizzy that I could barely keep myself upright.

The world seemed to spin, and I felt like I might vomit at any moment.

‘I think I’m going to throw up….’

I covered my mouth with my palm and staggered toward where the Mini Reapers had been.

‘Why is this happening to me?’

Was there something wrong with the Blue Girl’s body?

From what I had examined, there didn’t appear to be any special issues with the physique.

From the brief feeling I gathered, it was actually much sturdier than an ordinary human.

‘…’

I wanted to escape this painful Blue Girl’s body immediately, but it wouldn’t be that easy to just toss it away.

Even if I managed to escape, I needed to understand the cause.

After all, just like with the Man of the Lamp, I might need the ‘Blue Girl’ again, and there could come a moment when I would need alchemy.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t use alchemy with the Gray Reaper’s body.

Since becoming the Gray Reaper, my intelligence, which had started using the body instead of my head, remembered that alchemy was far too complex and difficult.

On the other hand, by using the Blue Girl’s body, I would be able to use alchemy.

The faintly flowing memories of the Blue Girl also helped, but the most important factor was the unique characteristics inherent to the Blue Girl’s flesh.

After all, the Blue Girl was an “Object” whose origin was to ‘save humanity through alchemy.’

Perhaps because of that, I could use alchemy as effortlessly as breathing while I was in the Blue Girl’s form.

So, I began retracing the path I had taken while following the Man of the Lamp, occasionally touching the trees with my hands.

I hadn’t noticed it when I was following the Man of the Lamp, but looking back now, the scenery of the path was quite pleasant, enough to slightly suppress the dizziness.

Golden sunlight spilled from the sky, shattering on the leaves and adorning the winding forest path.

The way little pieces of light danced upon the dark earthen road in the wind gave off a strangely divine feeling, much like light streaming through stained glass.

‘The scenery isn’t bad at all.’

Had I grown accustomed to the pain?

Or was it simply due to the satisfying surroundings?

As I stepped on the rustling leaves, walking along, the pain began to wane, and my mood slightly improved.

At the same time, I started to vaguely grasp why I was feeling this way.

It was due to the enhancement of the possession ability.

The manipulation ability I used to have felt a little like remote-controlling a game character, but the upgraded ability was decidedly different.

A feeling of being much more integrated with the body than before.

Moreover, the gap between the ‘Gray Reaper’ and the ‘Blue Girl’s’ physique was significant.

It was no longer a body that was unaware of hunger and fullness; it wasn’t one that could only indulge in delicious foods.

Nor was it a body that enjoyed the soft drowsiness and deep comfort of sleep while being oblivious to the pain of sleep deprivation.

‘How is it that after only a short time as a Gray Reaper, I’m feeling like this already…?’

In the brief duration I’ve spent as a Gray Reaper, I had grown unable to endure even ordinary fatigue and hunger— all compared to when I was human.

‘Perhaps periodically possessing the Blue Girl’s body will help me adapt to the exhaustion?’

It was a vow that seemed just as fleeting as one made at the New Year to work out.

And when I emerged from the forest path into an open lot littered with the ruins of buildings, the Mini Reapers poked their heads out.

‘Mama!’

‘Mama!’

‘Mamaaa!’

Their faces were bright, yet they still looked somewhat worn out and tired.

Just what had they been up to while I was in Valhalla for them to look so exhausted?

“Let’s go, kids.”

I conveyed my resolution and slowly walked toward the center of the open lot.

“Ah!”

“Mama, let’s go together!”

The Mini Reapers staggered towards me, sometimes collapsing or giving up on walking and instead crawling across the ground.

As if they felt that if they arrived late, their Mama might leave them behind.

“All the kids look incredibly tired.”

Maybe because my own body was feeling drained, I also felt like collapsing onto the ground and resting like the Mini Reapers.

“I don’t know what’s going on. I guess I’ll rest too.”

I felt it would be better to rest at the Sehee Research Institute, but being weak to temptation, I tossed off my uncomfortable shoes right there.

And just like I always used to curl up in Yerin’s embrace to fall asleep, I naturally snuggled into the arms of the Yerin doll.

At that moment, the Yerin doll seemed surprised by my sudden action, opening its eyes wide and stiffening its body.

It was as if it instinctively sensed that I was a powerful object.

[!!!]

Although the reaction was slightly different from Yerin, the warmth was remarkably similar.

Just like the warmth felt from the firewood, akin to a Golden Reaper.

Letting my body sink into that coziness, I slowly closed my eyes.

As tension melted away, fatigue rush in all at once, and before I knew it, I was in a deep sleep.

*

As the Gray Reaper in the Blue Girl’s form fell asleep, the Mini Reapers quietly approached and gathered around.

As the Mini Reapers came together looking for their Mama, the Saintess Doll, initially tensed up, began to relax and gently stroke the Blue Girl’s head.

It was certainly a face I had never seen before, yet there was a strangely familiar feeling to it.

The Saintess Doll wiped away its startled expression and smiled softly as it looked down at the Blue Girl.

And lastly, like it was its rightful place, the Hungry Ghost Reaper cuddled up to the Blue Girl.

A sense of relief and happiness.

In that moment, the atmosphere felt peaceful, as if one had returned home after a long journey.

The cool breeze blowing through the forest, warm sunlight, and the faint beeping of the Black Reapers.

All of it harmonized together, balming the Blue Girl into a lullaby.

*

James Tower stood tall on the outskirts of Songpa District.

Even in the middle of the day, there was an oddly dark atmosphere surrounding James’s office on the top floor.

In stark contrast to the large window showcasing the cityscape of Seoul and the warm sunlight pouring in, the interior felt like a droopy gloom.

All of this was due to the absence of the Golden Reapers.

James sat in that oddly dark office, checking the monitors.

The monitors were lined with reports from the James Research Institute that spread across the globe.

From a TV placed in one corner of the office, the news was quietly streaming out.

[Anomalies occurring on the Black Planet continue to unfold.]

[Currently, the Red Ring has expanded enough to be visible to the naked eye, and experts are speculating about this phenomenon….]

James half-ignored the sound from the TV as he continued to check the reports on the monitors.

[The correlation between the disappearance of the Red Reaper and the occurrence of the Red Ring.]

[The projected size of the Red Ring based on the estimated size of the Black Planet.]

[The possibility that the Red Ring is an optical phenomenon due to energy emission.]

[Photos of the Red Ring captured from various countries.]

As James read through the endless reports, he took a moment to sigh and lifted the cup of hot chocolate beside him.

Kyu!

At that moment, with a small sound, the golden white Hungry Ghost on the plate let out a tiny whine.

James smiled as he gently stroked the head of the Hungry Ghost.

“…”

Every time he glanced at the white Hungry Ghost, he had been gently patting it.

It was unfortunate that the Golden Reapers were gone, but it wasn’t the white Hungry Ghost’s fault.

Of course, if you looked on social media, there were quite a few rumors claiming that the white Hungry Ghost had eaten the Golden Reapers, but James knew very well that the white Hungry Ghost couldn’t do such a thing.

After sipping his hot chocolate, James looked out the window.

A single white cloud floating in the clear sky passed over the sun, casting a shadow in the office.

In that moment, the interior became even darker.

So in that shadowed office, James shifted his gaze back to the monitor.

However, at that instant, something changed.

The darkness that had enveloped the office vanished in an instant, and warm light filled the space.

The cloud’s shadow that had hung in the office disappeared, and a gentle scent of sunlight pervaded the room.

‘Human!’

As James turned his head, the Golden Reaper he had longed for was hanging at the edge of his desk, giggling.

‘You’re back!’

James’s eyes widened in disbelief, then a smile spread across his face.

This wasn’t simply something happening in James’s office.

It was an event that occurred throughout the entire James Tower, indeed, across all places where the Golden Reapers had once been.

Perhaps because of that, it felt as though I could hear cheers faintly resonating from outside the window.

The Golden Reaper beamed with a bright expression, relishing James’s touch.

It seemed that the Golden Reaper also missed James as much as James missed them, as it climbed onto his hand and rubbed its face against him.

Hehe.

James couldn’t shake the feeling that the office had truly brightened significantly.

*

Deep within the Mini Reaper Garden.

Most of the Mini Reapers were wandering outside the garden, and the white Hungry Ghosts had also disappeared somewhere on the empty Marshmallow Plains.

Suddenly, an antique lamp surged forth from the ground.

From that lamp, it felt as though mischievous laughter could somehow be heard.

Hehe.