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The Golden Reaper dashed towards the Attached Human with delighted steps.

A sense of relief and excitement swelled in its little chest as it thought it had finally found what it was looking for.

But at that moment, an unexpected barrier blocked its way.

Kkyururu.

The hungry ghosts, tending to the garden, surged forward and formed a wall in front of the Golden Reaper.

The sight of the densely packed hungry ghosts startled the Golden Reaper for a brief moment.

It slightly pulled its small body back and surveyed the surroundings.

‘So many…’

To the Golden Reaper, the Color Hungry Ghosts weren’t an issue thanks to its physical immunity.

However, the ‘Object Burning Flames’ possessed by some of the powerful White Hungry Ghosts posed a real problem.

The Golden Reaper believed those White Hungry Ghosts seemed too weak to utilize the Object Burning Flames, but it couldn’t afford to trust such uncertain probabilities when it had no idea how to return to the Attached Human’s side.

Even if it were to be resurrected in Mini Reaper Valhalla, if it couldn’t reach this garden again, it wouldn’t mean anything to the Golden Reaper.

How many nights would it have to wander through Seoul Forest to meet the Attached Human again after finally finding them?

Every Golden Reaper believed in the fate that said they would find happiness with the Attached Human, yet it had no choice but to be passive.

The happy fate of the Golden Reapers was only granted to those good Golden Reapers who did their utmost.

Moreover, there was no harmful energy coming from these Hungry Ghosts.

They seemed just like faithful subordinates of the Attached Human, diligently carrying out their duties.

The Golden Reaper hesitated, while the vividly colored Hungry Ghosts assumed a stance as if they were ready to pounce at any moment with watchful eyes.

Just then, a clear voice echoed through the garden.

“Wait.”

And the Purple Girl stood up from her chair and began to walk slowly toward them.

Her hair glimmered with a purple hue in the morning sunlight.

Kkyu!

The White Hungry Ghosts let out worried cries, trying to block her path, but the girl reassured them with a gentle smile.

“It’s okay.”

The girl crouched down in front of the Golden Reaper.

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and warmth.

“I’ve never seen a Magical Book before.”

The girl looked at the Golden Reaper as if she had discovered a treasure she had been searching for a long time.

“I haven’t seen it even in the mansion’s books. Is it a Magical Book that was born after the world collapsed?”

And the Purple Girl cautiously reached out her hand as if meeting a wild rabbit for the first time, gently patting the Golden Reaper’s head.

The soft texture and warm sensation traveled through her fingertips.

“It’s so soft and warm.”

The Golden Reaper remained frozen, trying not to startle the Attached Human, merely gazing up at the Purple Girl.

Finally, as a smile spread across the girl’s face, the Golden Reaper cautiously moved its small hand to hold her finger, returning her sunny smile.

It was a smile fitting for a Golden Reaper, one that brought happiness just by looking at it.

The Purple Girl carefully placed the Golden Reaper on her palm and returned to her chair.

The anxious Hungry Ghosts still followed behind them, but now they showed a slightly less cautious demeanor.

Sitting in her chair, the girl playfully poked the Golden Reaper’s chubby cheeks.

“How did you get here, crossing the Black Sea?”

‘I don’t know!’

The Golden Reaper waved its arms excitedly, but the girl couldn’t hear its enthusiasm.

But that didn’t matter.

The Golden Reaper was filled with joy, having finally met the Attached Human, and the Purple Girl felt happiness from having obtained a ‘friend’ she had long waited for.

*

On an afternoon where the sweet wind of hot chocolate blew across the Marshmallow Plains, I was moving my tired feet.

‘Finally getting out…’

The pudding party I started with the Golden Reapers had lasted for a whole hour.

Having mingled with the Golden Reapers, who possessed endless energy and vitality, I found myself wandering through the Marshmallow Plains to refresh my mood.

The canopy faintly visible against the high sky.

The endlessly spread white marshmallow earth.

And the familiar sound that helped lighten the mood.

It was the heavy footsteps of the Incinerator Golem shaking the ground as it walked.

And the subsequent screams of the White Hungry Ghosts rang sweetly in my ears like a symphony.

Although it was quieter than usual with the Red Reapers still not back, there was nothing that calmed my heart like this sound.

Hehe.

However, that pastoral and peaceful moment was short-lived as a strange scene caught my eye in the distance.

A tremendous number of Golden Reapers were gathered together.

At first, I thought the tired Golden Reapers, defeated from a vote, had set up their own little meeting, so I approached cautiously.

If it truly was a new meeting, I was considering scattering Black Reapers over it.

But what I confronted at the end of my approach was far more horrifying than I had imagined.

‘What is this…’

The Golden Reapers were spread out with books laid before them, studying.

And there were so many of them that I couldn’t even count on my fingers!

An even more shocking fact was that other Golden Reapers playing in the plains joined the studying Golden Reapers with each encounter.

The academic craze spreading like an epidemic sent a chill down my spine.

Could it be that all the Golden Reapers suddenly found joy in studying?

‘W-why is this happening?’

To understand why such a tragic event was occurring, I cautiously approached in a ghosting state, sharpening my senses.

Then, I overheard a conversation between a newly arrived Golden Reaper and one that was studying.

‘Is the book fun?’

‘It’s not fun!’

The new Golden Reaper tilted its head at the response.

It seemed to convey a question of why it was doing something that was not fun.

The studying Golden Reaper giggled at that expression and whispered a tremendous secret with a knowing look.

‘If you study…, mom will throw a pudding party!’

‘!!!!’

At that moment, the eyes of the new Golden Reaper sparkled like stars.

And making a face similar to discovering the golden land of Eldorado, it settled down and opened the book.

Having overheard that conversation between the Golden Reapers, I realized I had made a huge mistake.

‘I’ve incentivized studying!’

I had given the Golden Reapers the sweet reward of a pudding party for their studying.

The moment I realized that, a calamity of dgs fell upon the Golden Reapers.

‘No way!’

‘No way!!’

One by one, all the diligently studying Golden Reapers began to transform into dgs.

Despite doing something their mom loved, the golden-eyed Golden Reapers, now filled with confusion, could only shout ‘No way!’ with dumbfounded expressions.

*

In a garden where rainbow-colored trees sparkled.

A girl and a Golden Reaper were continuing to communicate with smiles on their faces.

The Purple Girl couldn’t hear the intentions of the Golden Reaper, but she could roughly understand what she wanted to say by watching its behavior as it hopped around, moving its hands and feet.

The Purple Girl felt joyful, as if she had made a new friend just from that.

A smile settled on her face that wouldn’t go away.

Of course, there were numerous colorful Guardians beside her, but she simply couldn’t consider them friends.

They were completely obedient to commands and showed no interest in her except for their missions.

Was it because she wasn’t the creator who made the Guardians?

But the girl couldn’t create them.

This mansion had a variety of books, but there weren’t any alchemical texts.

After playing around on the table for a while, the Purple Girl stood up.

“From now on, I’ll guide you through the mansion!”

Carefully lifting the Golden Reaper as if handling fragile pottery, the Purple Girl placed it on her shoulder and began to walk toward the mansion.

‘!’

The Golden Reaper looked around the mansion’s interior as if witnessing something marvelous from the Attached Human’s shoulder.

The interior of the mansion was as clean as the countless number of Hungry Ghosts.

The floor reflected the little face of the Golden Reaper, and even the extinguished chandelier hanging from the ceiling gleamed without a speck of dust.

In all the places the girl guided them to, there was always a Hungry Ghost stationed.

Cooking Hungry Ghosts.

Cleaning Hungry Ghosts.

Hungry Ghosts following around to serve.

Hundreds of Hungry Ghosts roamed the mansion.

‘Something’s strange…’

But every time the Golden Reaper encountered a Hungry Ghost, it felt a little odd.

These Hungry Ghosts seemed to lack the vitality of ordinary Hungry Ghosts.

The Purple Girl introduced all the various facilities and rooms on the first floor to her new friend, the Golden Reaper, and then began to ascend the grand staircase in the center of the mansion.

“Ta-da! This is my room!”

Upon arriving at the largest room on the mansion’s second floor, the girl introduced her room with a bright smile.

The Attached Human’s room was adorned with numerous drawings she had made herself, resembling an art gallery.

‘Human…’

The Golden Reaper stood on the table, glancing up at the drawings with a slight frown on its face.

It seemed to reflect the Attached Human’s loneliness, forever bound to continue creating art.

“This concludes the mansion tour.”

Breathing a little heavily from wandering through the spacious mansion, the girl looked at the Golden Reaper and said this.

‘?’

However, the Golden Reaper tilted its head with a puzzled expression.

Wasn’t there another room at the end of the second floor…?

But the Purple Girl didn’t seem to notice that and placed the Golden Reaper atop her head.

“Now that we’re hungry, let’s go eat!”

With her belly grumbling from all the wandering, the Purple Girl excitedly headed toward the dining area on the first floor.

‘…’

As the Golden Reaper glanced back from the girl’s head, it caught sight of a corridor that the Purple Girl had not guided them to.

Dusty and shrouded in darkness.

A corridor that didn’t seem to fit this mansion stood there.