Chapter 455
The Purple Girl was observing a certain memory.
The memory left behind by the Giant White Guardian for the girl who had forgotten everything.
It was a memory too painful for her that she had erased from her mind.
In her dreams, the Purple Girl saw her mother, the world’s greatest alchemist, dreaming of a safe future with innocent eyes.
Like the green moon that abandoned humanity, she believed that humanity would be safe if it left the land behind.
But that attempt ended in terrible failure.
The airborne city using the ‘Halo of Circulation’ lost its power when it was too far from the ground and crashed into the sea of Evolution Liquid in a sorry state.
Mother’s city was shattered, and many people died.
The only one who survived in the Evolution Liquid was the Purple Girl, protected by numerous Guardians.
A small shelter so cramped that a young girl could hardly keep her balance.
The dead friends and people.
And the sudden death of her mother.
Unable to endure such harsh truths, the girl fled from reality and fell into a deep sleep.
The White Guardian made a paradise to wait for the girl to awaken.
A dream-like paradise woven with the caliber and spirit of the Guardians for the dream of the Purple Girl.
The Guardians hoped that in this dream paradise, the girl would heal her emotional wounds and once again confront her memories.
The White Guardian wished to fill the void left by the memory-lost girl’s parents, while the colorful Guardians aimed to take the place of her friends.
They even cooked together.
The White Guardian was not skilled in cooking, so it wasn’t very tasty, but that only made it more enjoyable.
They looked up at the night sky and learned the names of the constellations.
All sorts of constellation names and the stories tied to them…
The White Guardian truly knew a lot.
They played hide and seek in the mansion.
The White Guardian could never hide due to its massive size.
“Yeah, this happened.”
The memory of herself that the Purple Girl looked at seemed truly happy.
The Guardians were her friends and also her parents and teachers.
As the Purple Girl grew attached to the Guardians, she gradually regained her emotional stability.
She was still sensitive and precarious, but at this rate, the day the Guardians’ dream would come true was not far off.
However, paradise was bound to have an end.
‘….’
In the middle of a garden in a mansion filled with beautiful constellations, a huge campfire blazed.
It was their little party to celebrate the girl’s birthday.
Kyu! Kyu!
The colorful Guardians danced around the campfire, and the girl sat on a chair, smiling as she watched.
“Master! Why does the yellow Guardian’s bottom look so big?”
The dream girl pointed at the yellow Guardian with her finger and giggled, while the White Guardian smiled and gazed at her.
It was truly a peaceful and joyful moment.
Thunk.
At that moment, a catastrophe occurred.
The beautiful sky shattered into pieces, and the enormous campfire that was warmly burning flickered like a candle in the wind.
And the Guardians began to melt away.
“What’s happening? Why?”
The Guardians, who had been joyfully dancing just a moment ago, melted in a horrid state and crawled toward her.
Crunch. Crack.
From the mouth of a toothless Guardian, sharp teeth sprouted, clashing against each other with a terrible sound.
The once warm eyes that had gazed at the girl turned black and melted, ominously glistening.
“M-Master. They’re acting strange. What should I do?”
The girl gasped and took a step back, looking at the White Guardian she trusted the most.
But even her most trusted Master was half-melted, gazing at her with a grotesque expression.
Thus, paradise crumbled.
The invasion of the External Beings began in the sea filled with Evolution Liquid.
The dream paradise swiftly returned to normal due to the efforts of the White Guardian.
But the damaged Guardians could no longer approach the girl warmly.
And the already precarious girl closed her heart once more.
This time, the memories related to the Guardians were lost.
The girl’s state became even more serious than before, but the remaining Guardians waited.
They believed the girl would awaken someday.
Inside the shelter, which had been battered by the invasion of the External Beings.
Pushing her body through the broken gaps where Evolution Liquid was seeping in.
Enduring the pain of melting in the Evolution Liquid.
They continued to wait.
*
With that memory, the girl awoke from her sleep.
Cough, cough.
What she saw upon waking was hell.
The smell of oil filling the space so much it was hard to breathe.
Squeak, squeak.
The narrow space, made of brass like machine parts, made an ominous sound as if it would collapse at any moment.
And around the spot where the girl lay, there were countless corpses of Guardians.
The outer wall of the shelter had holes as if it had been scratched by a giant monster, but the Guardians were blocking those holes with their bodies.
It must hurt terribly to be melting, yet until the moment of death, the Guardians smiled with satisfied expressions.
“Don’t… don’t.”
The girl murmured as she staggered to her feet.
But her body, unused for centuries, could not comply with her words.
“I just came to my senses now…, I finally met you for real….”
The girl, spitting blood, kept walking forward, falling several times.
“I’m so sorry, everyone. It’s too late.”
Though her life was being forcibly extended like frozen sleep by the Halo, her life was running out.
And so was the shelter’s lifespan.
Slowly, the girl approached the side of the Giant Guardian.
The Guardian, blocking the biggest hole, was half-melted in a dreadful state, but the girl paid it no mind.
And tightly embracing the melting body, she muttered.
“Master, I’m sorry. Is it too late?”
The girl discovered that the Master was holding something in its mouth.
It was the alchemical reagents that allowed dreams to interfere with reality.
Had it been prepared for emergencies?
“You always prepare everything. Just like you, Master.”
With tears in her eyes, the girl sent her last life beside her forgotten friend.
Crash!
And at that moment, the shelter lost its life and crumbled to dust.
The girl closed her eyes watching it.
“I’m sorry. To my cute friend who flowed in from the dream.”
Maybe it was because it was the final moment.
The last memory that flashed in the girl’s mind was of a tiny golden friend.
*
On a peaceful afternoon in Seoul Forest, the gentle sunlight of late autumn filtered through the leaves.
Uncharacteristically, an unusually large number of Golden Reapers gathered in one place, all their gazes directed at one spot.
They were looking at a Golden Reaper, blissfully sleeping in my palm.
I smiled slightly as I gazed at the Golden Reaper resting on my hand.
Strangely enough, I felt an overwhelming desire to play a prank.
‘Should I turn it into an idiot?’
Of course, this Golden Reaper hadn’t done anything wrong in particular.
But sometimes, one just wants to play tricks for no reason.
Besides, if it gets mad later, I can always pacify it with a bowl of pudding, right?
As I thought about various things, my playful spirit further surged.
Eventually, I chuckled and used all my abilities and firewood to turn that Golden Reaper into a Super Idiot.
It became so round that, at a glance, it looked more like a Hungry Ghost than a Golden Reaper.
And still sleeping peacefully, it looked like a doll, so I began to manipulate the Super Idiot Golden Reaper with my space control ability, like a puppet.
I had a delightful time controlling the Super Idiot Golden Reaper around.
I threw Super Idiot punches at the surrounding Golden Reapers.
Sometimes, I laid it down and drummed its round belly like a drum to create a cheerful rhythm.
Of course, some Golden Reapers were angry at this kind of prank.
But those kids all turned into round, chubby idiots and became part of the puppet show.
Soon, Seoul Forest was filled with rolling round Golden Reapers.
Hehe.
*
As the girl vanished, the mansion appeared on the verge of collapse.
The entire space swayed precariously, and objects that had been intact disappeared or transformed into completely different items.
In that chaotic mansion, a Golden Reaper watched the dying Hungry Ghost with a tense expression.
‘Can I win if I fight?’
That enormous Hungry Ghost was half a good one, but half a bad one.
As they faced each other, with faces frozen in tension.
A massive amount of firewood began to flow into the Golden Reaper.
‘!!!’
Startled, the Golden Reaper looked up in surprise.
Though the Network was undetectable, it felt as if it could sense its mother’s touch.
‘Mom is helping me!’
So much firewood flowed in, it was as though the Golden Reaper had turned into a blazing flame, fire bursting from all over its body.
With thoughts of being helped by its mother, the Golden Reaper gazed confidently at the Hungry Ghost.