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The garden of dreams, where a soft light filtered in, was a place untouched by the worries of any world.

Cloud-like cozy beds filled the endlessly sprawling floor, and every time mini reapers dashed about, gentle waves rippled forth.

Each step became a small crest, as if walking on a tranquil lake by moonlight.

“Soft.”

“Warm!”

The mini reapers dashed around the bed with joyful expressions, leaving trails of will.

Those mini reapers, caught up in the softness of the bed, lay around for hours, rolling about.

Lying atop that fluffy bed, mini reapers craned their necks to lick up the hot chocolate flowing nearby.

A softly swaying canopy hung above them in the sky.

The light pouring from above filtered through the canopy, warming and cozying the whole space in a gentle glow.

A light breeze whispering through the canopy sounded like a lullaby, wrapping all the beings of this garden in comfort.

Beyond the canopy, there were the flames of firewood, shining like starlight, and a tree so enormous it was almost surreal.

Was it perhaps the starlight glimmering from the firewood, giving this place a sense of time suspended in an everlasting slumber?

This serene garden of dreams was filled with mini reapers and white hungry ghosts.

To the white hungry ghosts, this was a paradise untouched by the gaze of the gray reaper, and to the mini reapers, it was a secret hideout unknown to mom.

Using the characteristic of being a dream space, the mini reapers transformed this place into their own amusement park.

The most popular attraction was, of course, the giant trampoline of their mom.

If it were to be built in the mini reaper garden, it would require a halo, but in a dream, anything was possible just by imagining it.

Moreover, the moment it was made in the mini reaper garden, mom would turn it into a super trampoline, but here, that was okay.

Because it was a secret garden that mom didn’t know about!

Hehe.

The mini reapers bounced around on the trampoline, laughing with joy.

Besides that, there were all sorts of absurd rides created by the mini reapers’ imaginations.

A seatbelt-less Viking that launches mini reapers high into the sky.

A roller coaster speeding so fast it leaves the tracks.

A carousel spinning at high speeds like a helicopter, soaring into the sky.

It was chaotic enough to be a disaster, but even that kind of confusion was a source of joy.

It was truly an amusement park, mini reaper-style.

Not far from that mini reaper amusement park, the white hungry ghosts enjoyed a quieter rest.

The white hungry ghosts were scattered here and there, looking like a flock peacefully resting on a small hill.

Each reclined in their own serene posture on the beds.

Some sprawled out with limbs extended, others assumed positions like baking bread as cats do.

Some lay on their backs with bellies facing the sky, legs stretched in the air.

Some curled up tightly with one cheek resting on the soft bed, fast asleep.

Though everyone was resting in their own way, they shared one commonality.

They all had calm expressions, as if having set down their worries and anxieties for a moment.

Occasionally, mini reapers would come to check out how the hungry ghosts were doing, but they didn’t disturb their rest.

Enjoying the gentle light permeating the shadows cast by the canopy, the white hungry ghosts rested comfortably.

Lined up on the white beds, the curves formed by the white hungry ghosts resembled small waves gently rolling over a warm sea.

But no peaceful moment could last forever.

A dark shadow began to loom over the sea of tranquility.

It looked like dark clouds gathering in the distance, bringing storms.

Resting white hungry ghosts suddenly looked up at the shadow that cast itself upon the sky.

Kyu?

The startled cries of the white hungry ghosts echoed through the quiet garden.

A gigantic eye filled the sky, gazing down at the dream garden.

It seemed to say, “Finally found you!” with a playful glint.

Seeing that eye, the white hungry ghosts and mini reapers were startled and began to flee in all directions.

“Ah!”

“Mom’s here!”

“We’re caught!”

“Run away!”

In an instant, the peaceful garden was thrown into chaos.

The mini reapers and white hungry ghosts tried desperately to escape, but it was already too late.

The dream garden was perfectly sealed off by the gray reaper’s spatial barrier.

And as the intense will of the gray reaper surged into the dream garden, everything began to crumble.

The cozy canopy ignited like dry paper, and the proudly standing rides collapsed like a sandcastle.

The fluffy bed turned into a cold stone, and the hot chocolate flowing between the beds bubbled up and vanished in steam.

Everything in the dream garden collapsed.

Flames spontaneously clung to the bodies of the white hungry ghosts, and the mini reapers all transformed into their unlikable forms.

“No way!”

“No way!!”

Kyu-hing-hing.

The sad wills of the mini reapers echoed, followed by the frustrated cries of the white hungry ghosts.

Once a paradise, this place had now turned into hell.

Thus, the dream paradise of the mini reapers and white hungry ghosts came to an end.

*

The Yellow Detective Office, filled with the subtle scent of coffee.

Warm sunlight filtering through the blinds sculpted stripes across the floor.

Normally a buzz of activity, the office was especially quiet today.

There were no sounds of the TV or laughter to be heard.

The yellow detective sighed deeply, holding a freshly retrieved coffee cup from the cupboard.

Deep wrinkles marred his face.

He thought he’d finally escaped the restraints of the lamp that had tied him down for so long, only to find it was now a lamp reaper.

On one side, Junior No. 1 had set down a hammer and was cradling the lamp reaper in his arms.

The sorrowful-looking lamp reaper inside its transparent lamp appeared deflated and heavy-hearted.

Junior No. 1 offered a stick-shaped snack with a pained heart, but the lamp reaper just turned its head away.

“What to do….”

A small sigh escaped.

Normally, mini reapers wouldn’t refuse treats from humans….

Even poking its soft cheeks with a snack or bringing it to its mouth had no effect.

Seeing its eyes follow the snack casually, it didn’t seem like it disliked it.

Was the wound of rejection by its attached human that deep?

As those thoughts crossed his mind, Junior No. 1 glanced at Detective Sunbae but couldn’t bring himself to force the lamp reaper on the detective who had suffered long under the lamp.

Instead, Junior No. 1 gently patted the lamp to comfort it.

“Yeah, the lamp is dead now….”

Amidst that atmosphere, the detective turned his head toward the lamp reaper, as if making a decision.

The lamp reaper wore an expression that seemed to have lost all hope.

“No way….”

What kind of situation would make a human wear such an expression?

It had a sad look that prompted such questions.

With a determined air, the yellow detective finally stood up.

He cautiously approached Junior No. 1 and carefully lifted the lamp reaper.

In that moment, the tiny reaper in the lamp slightly lifted its head.

In its eyes, glimmered a hint of hope.

The detective’s expression was more tense than when he broke into the Central Research Institute as he slowly inserted his finger into the lamp.

At that instant, the lamp reaper, tears brimming in its eyes, reach out toward his finger with a shaky hand.

And with a grip that seemed to say it would never let go, it clasped his finger tightly.

The yellow detective stroked the lamp reaper with his finger, breathing a sigh of relief.

Although the atmosphere around the lamp reaper and “Watson” felt utterly different, it was rather burdensome for the detective who had suffered under the lamp.

The yellow detective lifted the lamp reaper carefully and returned to his seat, burying himself in the chair.

“Sigh… This feels tougher than any regular request.”

Placing the lamp reaper on the desk, he sank back into his chair.

Leaning against the backrest, he closed his eyes for a moment.

“Maybe I should rest for a bit and take on a simple request….”

Reflecting on everything that had happened, from breaking into the Central Research Institute to infiltrating national facilities, then facing the extraordinary “Grimoire of Contracts.”

It had been a continuous chain of exhausting events.

As he lay with his eyes closed, he suddenly felt something strange.

When he opened his eyes a crack, a shocking sight unfolded before him.

A thin metal chain had emerged from the ring of the lamp, slowly winding itself around his wrist.

“!!!”

The detective jumped up in surprise.

At that, the lamp reaper looked up at him with a gloomy expression.

It bore a look that seemed to imply that it ought to be connected to its attached human by the chain.

In the moment where the lamp reaper wanted to establish the chain and the yellow detective firmly rejected it, the office phone suddenly rang.

“Yes, Yellow Detective Office.”

The calm voice of Junior No. 3, which felt out of place in the chaos between the lamp reaper and the yellow detective, resonated.

“Are you referring to the James Research Institute?”

As Junior No. 3 looked up at the yellow detective during the call, the yellow detective signaled that it was okay by drawing a circle with his finger.

“Yes, understood.”

Then Junior No. 3 hung up the phone and scribbled something on the empty reservation whiteboard.

[Meeting with James Research Institute.]

The yellow detective nodded slightly as he looked at the meeting appointment.

Clink.

At that moment, there was a sound as if something had locked.

“!!!”

When he looked down, he found that, unbeknownst to him, the lamp reaper had fastened a sturdy chain around the yellow detective’s wrist.

‘Human, always together!’

*

In the dream garden filled with the mini reaper’s “No way!” and the white hungry ghost’s “Kyu-hing-hing.”

I was looking at the blazing garden while reminiscing about memories in my own way.

It really has been a while.

The first mini reaper, no, the golden reaper garden.

I thought it had vanished as it turned into the mini reaper garden, but it had simply been shoved into a corner.

It was a revelation I hadn’t even anticipated.

With maintenance requiring firewood and it not being reality, discovering this place turned out to be quite the happy occasion.

“If only I’d known that a place like this existed earlier….”

I lamented softly while draping a halo over my head.

Since this was a dream, it wouldn’t hurt wearing the halo, making it a perfect place for testing my abilities.

I lifted one of the mini reapers gathered in a spot, a mini flower reaper.

An exceptional entity of the sprout reaper related to time.

Raising the halo of time, I chuckled softly.