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The Golden Reaper, walking along the dust-covered corridor, finally reached the slightly opened door.

Though the gap was too narrow for a human to pass through, it was a spacious enough passage for the Golden Reaper, who was only the size of a palm.

Carefully slipping through the crack, the Golden Reaper was greeted by a scene filled with shadows.

The room was packed with a darkness that seemed to breathe, much like the landscape outside the mansion.

As the black ink spread through the air, the tangible darkness filled the space, making it hard to judge the room’s borders or size.

However, seeing the bookshelves revealed in the areas not consumed by shadows, the Golden Reaper could surmise the identity of this place.

‘A room full of books!’

The Golden Reaper had often seen such rooms in human houses.

Humans referred to these places as ‘studies.’

Drawn by curiosity, the Golden Reaper slowly approached the undulating shadows.

Reaching out a small hand to touch the darkness, an ominous feeling made them retract their hand.

‘I shouldn’t touch it…’

Instead, the Golden Reaper turned its gaze to the space untouched by the shadows.

Books tightly packed on shelves came into view.

Normally, the Golden Reaper didn’t enjoy reading books, but now it was different.

For the sake of the Attached Human, it was prepared to examine each of these books one by one.

‘There has to be a way to solve the problems of this mansion here!’

The moment the Golden Reaper entered this mansion, the connection with the Mini Reaper Network had been severed, leaving it unable to call upon other Mini Reapers or Mom for help.

To resolve the issues, the Golden Reaper had no choice but to find the answers itself.

Though its small size prevented it from seeing the entire bookshelf at once, the Golden Reaper persevered and began to closely investigate each book.

‘Books are difficult…’

The Golden Reaper’s vision blurred slightly as it sifted through the shelves.

It tried to rub its temples with its small hand to clear its mind, but the complicated contents of the books were still overwhelming to understand.

Books filled with specialized terminology lined each shelf, written in a language the Golden Reaper could recognize, yet the inability to comprehend their meaning made them feel as unfamiliar as an unknown script.

[The Completeness of the Guardian Core and Its Relationship with Guardian Color]

[Beyond the Cycle of Life and Death]

[Encyclopedia of Magical Books and Rare Materials]

Research on the Guardian Core, thesis on the essence of life and death, and an encyclopedia on rare materials.

Seeing the books densely packed with difficult words, the Golden Reaper shook its head as if trying to regain its senses.

Although it couldn’t understand anything, there was one thing it could grasp.

‘Alchemy…?’

But that was peculiar.

The Attached Human had said that there were no alchemy books in this mansion, yet before the Golden Reaper’s eyes, there were clearly alchemy books lined up.

While examining the matter with curiosity, something caught its eye.

On a table half-devoured by darkness, lay a single book.

Unlike the other books, it was made of rough-textured paper and had no title, appearing quite crude.

Drawn by curiosity, the Golden Reaper hopped onto the table and carefully opened the book.

It was the diary of a novice caregiver, who meticulously raised a girl mourning for her mother, who had passed away in a tragic accident.

Pages were filled with tender records of the caregiver caring for the gloomy girl.

Stories about running around the mansion all day carrying the girl to lift her spirits.

An account of multiple cooking failures to prepare the girl’s favorite food.

Eventually giving up on cooking and creating a Guardian to cook in her stead.

And how, like her mother who had died in an accident, the girl was also exceptionally good at drawing.

Every sentence in the diary brimmed with warmth towards the girl.

In particular, the parts where the caregiver expressed pride in the girl’s exceptional drawing skills conveyed the caregiver’s deep fondness, reminiscent of the girl’s mother who had tragically passed away.

However, as the diary progressed, the handwriting became more erratic.

For the Golden Reaper, who could feel emotions, it seemed as though the caregiver was painstakingly trying to write through the torment.

Then, the diary abruptly ended after a streak of a black liquid, resembling Evolution Liquid, had been spilled across the pages.

In the back of the diary, numerous drawings were slipped in.

The Golden Reaper pulled out one of the drawings and examined it closely.

A picture depicting numerous hungry ghosts performing various roles.

On the back of the drawing, there was a phrase written in the neat handwriting of the Purple Girl.

[The food wasn't tasty, but thank you always!]

Although it was filled with gratitude from the Purple Girl, oddly enough, there was an inexplicable sense of loneliness accompanying it.

The moment the Golden Reaper checked the drawing,

Boom—.

A heavy vibration shook the entire mansion.

At that moment, the dense darkness in the study heaved like a wave.

The small feet of the Golden Reaper felt the table shake, and the books on the shelves clattered.

However, that was just the beginning.

The darkness that filled the room began to slowly expand its territory.

Like water rising in a cup, it started to approach the Golden Reaper.

Simultaneously, the door leading to the corridor began to creak shut with a ‘squeak—.’

‘No way!’

In an instant, the Golden Reaper realized that if the door were to close completely, it wouldn’t be able to escape until the next night arrived.

The Golden Reaper poured all its strength into the effort.

Ghosting, time acceleration, and strength enhancement using firewood.

This was a full-speed sprint employing every ability the Golden Reaper possessed.

As it rushed towards the closing door, time seemed to flow slowly as if a ticking clock had stopped.

The hands of darkness were closing in from behind.

In the final moment, the Golden Reaper barely threw itself through the narrowing gap of the door and successfully escaped.

Boom—.

With a heavy sound, the study door closed completely.

‘?’

As the Golden Reaper was about to return to the Purple Girl, it suddenly stopped and turned to look at the closed door.

Just before exiting the room, it had definitely sensed something.

In the depths of the thick darkness, there was a gaze watching it.

An imposing presence, a powerful object.

That great entity conveyed a faint will just before the Golden Reaper left.

[Again, a bit closer.]

It wasn’t articulated language but rather a vague and blurry emotion, yet the Golden Reaper could feel its meaning.

*

The Sehee Research Institute always seemed joyful.

I was hidden in the Sehee Research Institute Office, using my ghosting to watch Yerin’s dot strategy in action.

A Saintess Doll, blindfolded and with a scarf around its neck, entered the office, greeting everyone with an expression resembling Yerin’s.

[Hello!]

Except for the fact that it spoke through magic, it truly felt like Yerin’s cheerful smile and bubbly atmosphere every morning.

How much practice would it take to mimic it so perfectly?

Furthermore, Mini Reapers rushed around waving their hands, resembling Yerin as well.

Though less so than Yerin, the Mini Reapers liked the Saintess Doll too.

Thus, the Saintess Doll seamlessly blended into the office without causing any discomfort.

‘This is terrible…’

My dream of automated hunting crumbled in an instant, while Yerin’s automated hunting was a success!

Sigh.

As I made that gloomy expression, a helmeted researcher glanced suspiciously.

“Yerin-senpai, doesn’t something seem off today?”

Good job!

Though a mad researcher wearing a helmet indoors, I silently cheered for that researcher.

“I’m not sure? Well, it’s not like Yerin-senpai hasn’t done anything weird before.”

But unfortunately, no one supported the helmeted researcher’s疑惑.

The helmeted researcher briefly gazed skeptically at the Saintess Doll before sitting down to start working.

‘No way!’

I felt annoyed and released my ghosting just to punch down on the helmet of the helmeted researcher.

Consequently, the Golden Reaper inside the helmet popped out with an angry expression, and I let out a soft laugh as I made my escape.

*

As the Golden Reaper quietly returned to the room, it spotted the Purple Girl looking around with an incredibly flustered expression.

And when their eyes met, she let out a deep sigh of relief, then murmured softly.

“Really, where have you been…?”

With a slightly teary expression, the Purple Girl approached the Golden Reaper and pressed their cheeks together.

“Please don’t just disappear like that next time.”

The Golden Reaper patted the girl’s cheek, acknowledging her.

After a while, the Purple Girl muttered softly.

“I didn’t know. My little friend smelled like the sun.”

Then she let out a small smile, saying it was a calming scent.

And then, with a relaxed expression, the Purple Girl placed the Golden Reaper on her palm.

While sitting on the bed, she played with her fingers and tickled the Golden Reaper.

However, no matter how long she waited, there were no signs of the hungry ghosts appearing.

“That’s strange. Why isn’t anyone showing up?”

The Golden Reaper also felt a suspicious unease and turned its gaze towards the window.

‘!!!’

Outside the window, the sunset was being painted in orange hues.

It was supposed to be morning!

Jumping off the palm and rushing to check, the garden was filled with hungry ghosts with sharp teeth, all clustered, staring up at the window.