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Late in the morning, deep inside Sehee Research Institute.

I was lying on my isolation room bed, throwing the Golden Reapers crawling up on my bed and passing the time.

Some of the Golden Reapers grabbed my fingers tightly, but after shaking my hand a few times, they all flew over the bed.

‘Ugh!’

I blankly stared at the ceiling, hearing the little scream of a Golden Reaper.

“I’m so bored….”

Lately, Yerin hasn’t played truant to come visit, which made it feel even more so.

Of course, she clung to me after work since she couldn’t skip it, but it was true that I got more bored during her work hours.

By the way, it was surprising that Yerin had suddenly started working so hard….

Of course, she must be trying to play truant using the Saintess Doll, but I didn’t expect her to be this consistent.

It would take quite a long time for the Saintess Doll to acquire abilities to handle Korean, English, and work-related tasks; I wondered if she’d continue to put in this much effort until then?

I couldn’t imagine myself going through that hassle.

I figured I’d probably act like usual and be diligent only the day after the Saintess training ended, and then sneakily replace myself with the Saintess Doll afterward.

As I continued to think along those lines, I suddenly felt like visiting Yerin’s apartment.

I was bored, and there wasn’t even any interesting news on TV.

‘….’

As I arrived at Yerin’s apartment through teleportation, the late morning sunlight was shining on the potted plants lined by the window.

“Mommy!”

“Mom!”

Under that sunlight, as the Mini Reapers happily ran towards me, I was faced with an unexpected sight.

The Lead Doll, which should have been in the isolation room, was positioned in the living room.

“When on earth did it escape? How did it manage to escape before that?”

Looking at the Lead Doll, which had naturally taken a spot next to the Saintess Doll, a question led to more questions.

The Lead Doll shouldn’t have had any special ability to escape from the isolation room….

After a moment of thought, something suddenly dawned on me.

“Maybe, like how I occasionally take out the Lead Doll to play, the Mini Reapers brought it out….”

Thinking back to when I arrived at the apartment, Mini Reapers were swarming around the Lead Doll, so it seemed like a pretty reasonable deduction.

The Mini Reapers had been strangely popular, perhaps thinking of the Lead Doll as a ‘Mommy Doll.’

Moreover, with the Purple Reaper’s ability, they could easily bring it out.

Well, security levels would probably be similar whether it was in Sehee Research Institute or Yerin’s apartment, so it didn’t really matter.

Even though there were many Mini Reapers, it didn’t have much significance, but one could argue that the area with the guard roaming more frequently, like Yerin’s apartment, had a higher security level.

The Lead Doll was simply stroking the White Hungry Ghost and Mini Reapers alternately with a blank expression on its face.

‘!’

And when I shifted my gaze from the Lead Doll to the Saintess Doll, an even more astonishing sight unfolded.

On the surface, the Saintess Doll appeared to be studying normally, but upon closer inspection, there were distinctly different aspects.

“Could that be a textbook regarding Objects?”

Not long ago, it had been looking at a Korean children’s workbook, and now it was reading an English textbook.

How long had it been since it started mastering both Korean and English and began reading such dizzying texts?

Seeing it read a book I couldn’t comprehend at all was truly shocking.

“Is it because Yerin is smart? The doll imitating Yerin is super capable.”

Compared to that… my doll…

[?]

Perhaps sensing my gaze, the Lead Doll looked up at me with a questioning tilt of its head.

While the Saintess Doll was breezily reading difficult books, the Lead Doll was just dazedly petting the White Hungry Ghost.

“Is it that it’s just my doll….”

When I compared it with the Saintess Doll, it definitely felt a bit brainless.

Sigh.

I turned my eyes away from the Saintess and Lead Doll duo, entered Yerin’s room, and threw myself onto the fluffy bed.

Lying there in the bed that had Yerin’s vibe, I was met with a very strange sight.

“What is this?”

On the table, which was usually empty and prepared for the sketching Golden Reapers, they were all perched.

The seated Golden Reapers were reading books with serious expressions—something rare for Golden Reapers.

The book appeared to be made of droplets, so it seemed as though the Blue Reaper had made it….

That sight was so intriguing that I lifted one of the seated Golden Reapers onto my palm.

“Why are you suddenly reading books?”

The Golden Reaper smiled with its usual bright expression and replied.

“Mom said smart Mini Reapers are good!”

Could it be that when praising the Purple Reaper, saying it was smart led to this situation?

It was plausible, but…

As I heard the Golden Reaper’s response, the image of the gigantic Orange Reaper appeared in my mind, filling me with an uneasy feeling.

I mean, logically thinking, it’s good for a Golden Reaper to be on the smarter side, but I felt anxious just like when I observed the Golden Reapers getting smarter before.

So, I tried my best to smile kindly and gathered the studying Golden Reapers into my embrace.

“Now, let’s stop reading and eat pudding together!”

“Pudding!”

“Mom is nice!”

Then I began a small pudding party with the Golden Reapers.

Though I already felt like the average intelligence of the Golden Reapers was gradually rising, if a trend of reading books emerged…

There was a possibility I’d be called ‘Mom Fool’ instead of ‘Mommy’!

That was an utterly dreadful future I didn’t even want to imagine!

But if I issued a command forbidding them from studying altogether, it would really cause serious problems, so I couldn’t bring myself to give such an order.

Sigh.

*

Late at night, as darkness enveloped Seoul Forest.

Not a single star was visible in the silent night sky.

Instead, a massive black planet filled the sky.

The red rings wrapping around the black surface undulated as if alive, more vividly than the city’s neon signs.

Under that sky, a Golden Reaper stood alone.

Hoooh.

A silent little yawn slipped out.

The Golden Reaper rubbed its eyes with tiny hands and barely opened them.

Its head drooped forward repeatedly before suddenly snapping back up.

It was quite late for the Golden Reaper to be awake, yet its gaze never wavered from the black planet.

“Human….”

The Golden Reaper, too sleepy to keep its eyes open, kept its head bobbing, but still glanced up at the sky.

In the ears of the drowsy Golden Reaper, a faint will continued to drift on the night air.

It sounded like someone’s sigh or a sob.

That will was mixed in with the blurry dreams of the drowsy Golden Reaper, fragments filled with loneliness.

The fragments were faint, yet they kept resonating.

Just like a distant cry or a sigh carried by the wind.

Whenever it looked up at the black planet, that will grew clearer, but when it looked down, it became vague once again.

“The human is lonely… Where are you, human?”

The Golden Reaper wore a sorrowful expression.

Finding a sad human was almost instinctual for the Golden Reaper.

Whether it was crying deep underground or a fallen human in the bustling streets, it would run to relieve that sadness.

But this time was different.

No matter how much it looked around, it couldn’t find the owner of that lonely feeling.

A dim emotion of a little girl, lonely but not truly aware of it.

To trace that faint trace, the Golden Reaper was wandering through Seoul Forest with its sleepy eyes wide open.

As the night deepened, the black planet grew larger and more inflated, and the glow of the red rings became sharper.

It looked like a gigantic eye or a passage to somewhere, and the Golden Reaper continued to fixate on it.

“Where are you? Where are you…?”

Just like a werewolf from ancient tales howled at the full moon, the Golden Reaper directed its will towards the black planet.

But not a single human was sensed.

And thus, the night only deepened, while the lonely will continued to drift across the night sky of Seoul Forest.

*

‘???’

After wandering around Seoul Forest and dozing off, when the Golden Reaper opened its eyes again, a completely new scenery filled its sight.

A field of sparkling blue grass, glistening as if soaked in the morning dew, stretched endlessly.

Mysterious trees never seen anywhere on Earth reached their branches high into the sky, their leaves glimmering with rainbow colors.

Every time the wind blew, a sweet fragrance wafted through, and amidst it, colorful Hungry Ghosts busily moved about, tending to the garden.

“A new place!”

The Golden Reaper’s eyes sparkled.

The heavy eyelids that had been weighing down just moments before had vanished.

With curious eyes, the Golden Reaper gazed around and fixed its sight on the White Hungry Ghosts tending the garden.

“New snack Hungry Ghosts!”

All the White Hungry Ghosts looked identical, but the Golden Reaper remembered them all.

So, it could tell.

All the White Hungry Ghosts here were entirely new ones.

With excitement swelling in its heart, the Golden Reaper dashed toward the nearest White Hungry Ghost.

It cautiously nibbled with its tiny teeth, but….

“Ah! It’s hard!”

Contrary to its expectations, the White Hungry Ghost felt as hard as stone when bitten.

Failing to find the sweet taste it usually enjoyed, only bitterness filled its mouth.

Sigh.

The Golden Reaper sat down in disappointment.

At that moment, a distant lonely feeling began to resonate.

The will that the Golden Reaper had continuously chased, which had even led it all the way to Seoul Forest.

The Golden Reaper’s eyes sparkled with light.

“Finally found you!”

With a bright smile, the Golden Reaper began to run following that emotion.

Dashing between the fluffy rainbow-colored garden trees, it finally found a girl.

The girl’s purple hair softly swayed in the gentle breeze as she sat alone at the table, drawing.

With a cheerful smile, the Golden Reaper dashed towards the girl.

“Finally found you. Finally met you!”

The Golden Reaper beamed with joy at meeting the Attached Human.