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In an instant, it felt as if the world had come to a halt.

The ritual of the Golden Reaper expanded into a new dimension, and sensations unlike any before surged in like a tidal wave.

It was as if a door that had been closed for a long time swung open, and existence itself began to reconstruct into a new form.

‘Did the 1st Sword experience something like this too?’

The sensation was quite peculiar, leaving the Golden Reaper feeling a little fascinated.

Thus, the Golden Reaper awakened in a new form.

The abundant firewood infused by Mom.

A mental body that acted separately from the physical body.

And the Halo of Circulation.

Perhaps due to these three variables, the evolution of the Golden Reaper was adorned with a unique shape and special abilities.

The first noticeable change was the mental body.

A new mental body that moved independently from the physical body had manifested.

However, it wasn’t painful or uncomfortable.

On the contrary, it felt natural, as if moving limbs that had always been there.

In other words, the current Golden Reaper could freely manipulate not just their original body but the mental body too.

It felt as if they had two bodies!

The second change felt was the doubled energy of firewood.

The firewood that Mom had pushed beyond its limit was quite substantial, but now they could hold twice that amount.

Perhaps it was because the separated mental body could also store firewood?

As that warm energy enveloped them, a surge of confidence blossomed within, making them feel capable of anything.

Finally, the Halo of Circulation was completely under the control of the Golden Reaper.

It was the ability the Golden Reaper desperately craved until the last moment.

Like the Halo of Command wielded by the Blue Idol Reaper.

With this, the Golden Reaper could now absorb anything under Mom’s Halo into their mental body and use it freely.

The Golden Reaper, now appearing rather unique on the outside, had their original body at the center with the mental body following behind like a shadow.

However, one odd thing stood out.

The form of the mental body resembled that of a ‘댖지’.

As if someone had deliberately shaped it that way.

‘Why…?’

The Golden Reaper looked up at their mental body, feeling confused.

Unaware that Mom had been continuously creating it in that form, the Golden Reaper was simply bewildered.

‘It seems like it’s not a proper awakening…’

The Golden Reaper concluded to themselves.

In truth, it wasn’t something the Golden Reaper needed to dwell on too much.

They were pleased with their new appearance.

And more importantly, it was the fact that they could now protect the Attached Human that truly mattered.

No matter how round the mental body looked like a Hungry Ghost, it was no longer important.

Feeling the new power enveloping their body, the Golden Reaper began to expand the area of circulation in all directions.

As if Mom was summoning the Marshmallow Garden.

As if the External Beings were eroding the rules of reality.

Then, the cheeks of the Purple Girl, who had initially appeared as a withered corpse, began to round out.

Though her life force had been forcibly augmented by alchemy, it was now starting to swell once again after its complete exhaustion.

‘It’s okay now…!’

The Golden Reaper smiled gently as they looked down at the peacefully sleeping Attached Human.

Following that, the once vaguely resurrected Hungry Ghosts, resembling puppet zombies, began to fully integrate into the Mini Reaper Garden and move.

Kyu!

The multicolored Stone Hungry Ghosts were resurrected just as they once were.

And the Alchemist Hungry Ghost, who had been powerful enough to manipulate the Halo, opened their eyes once again.

It wasn’t in a half-melted state, but the pristine and pure appearance of a White Stone Hungry Ghost as remembered by the Attached Human.

Finally, the sky, once full of dark clouds, transformed into a star-filled night, and the Black Sea was replaced by a verdant Green Lawn.

It was the Mini Reaper Valhalla descended upon the current world.

‘!’

Seeing this, the Red Reapers changed their actions.

With more aggressiveness.

As if they too had become the Golden Reaper, flames igniting all over their bodies as they began to charge.

‘Valhalla is close!’

‘Charge!’

‘Revolution!’

It truly felt like a wave of Golden Reapers ceaselessly resurrecting and relentlessly pressing alongside the Gray Reaper.

The Shark External Being began to fall into a more passive stance.

The flames engulfing the space created by the Red Sun Reaper blocked their escape, while Mini Reaper Valhalla stealthily expanded its territory, poised to swallow the Shark External Being.

With each attack, the Shark External Being seemed to lose stature, its size gradually shrinking.

It was evident that the stature of the Shark External Being was crumbling.

Under the relentless assaults of the Red Reapers and the pressure of Mini Reaper Valhalla, the once-majestic huge shark that had swum elegantly with the Evolution Liquid was growing smaller.

The Golden Reaper sensed the moment had come.

Now was the time for the decisive blow.

They gathered every scrap of firewood still lingering in their being.

Softly glowing golden flames erupted from the Golden Reaper’s body and mental body.

And as the Golden Reaper reached out to touch the Alchemist Hungry Ghost, its stone body became even more solid and heavy.

It felt as sturdy as the body of the Black Reaper, and as weighty as the future belly of the endlessly plump Mom.

Then the Golden Reaper soared into the sky with the Stone Hungry Ghost, plummeting down rapidly.

It was truly a comet wrapped in deadly golden firewood destined to strike the harmful object.

‘It’s a Stone Hungry Ghost!’

Kyu!

The will of the Golden Reaper and the wail of the Stone Hungry Ghost echoed out.

Bang!

With a thunderous roar, the Stone Hungry Ghost slammed down on the Shark External Being.

The shockwave rippled outward, shaking the Green Lawn of Valhalla.

Before that tremendous blow, the form of the Shark External Being shattered like pieces of glass.

That once formidable figure that had leisurely contended with the Red Sun Reaper and Golden Reaper was now dismembered flesh, scattered to fall into the sea of Evolution Liquid.

A brief silence fell over the battlefield.

‘I won!’

‘Revolution’s victory!’

And soon, the victorious will of the Red Reapers erupted forth.

In the midst of that discord, the Golden Reaper quietly smiled while gazing at the peacefully sleeping Attached Human.

*

The last peak remaining on the black planet that had melted away.

I, in a ghosted state, was clapping my hands while watching the Mini Reapers’ struggles.

‘To defeat an External Being all on their own!’

It was truly the dawn of auto-hunting!

Of course, that shark external being was an eccentric one with no erosion territory.

Why exactly did it have no territory despite being touched by an External Being?

That was a bit of a mystery.

It seemed that being in contact with the Evolution Liquid for too long had twisted it, yet the Shark External Being didn’t appear affected by the Evolution Liquid…

Upon deep reflection, the Worm External Being also had a somewhat ambiguous territory.

Especially when it came to the erosion caused by other external beings, it genuinely felt like the rules of the world were utterly chaotic.

‘Everyone looks so happy.’

I began to take note of the noteworthy points as I gazed at the Mini Reapers celebrating their victory by hugging and rubbing cheeks together.

There were three noteworthy points in this auto-hunt.

The first was the Halo of Circulation that had suddenly manifested without any prior action!

Seeing it in use, it seemed to relate to death and resurrection, as well as the Mini Reaper Valhalla, so I was quite hopeful.

Especially if resurrection of humans was possible, it would also solve Yerin’s lifespan issue.

The second was the Red Sun Reaper, who proved they could use the Halo of Ability Nullification without experimentation!

Lastly, the most important highlight of this auto-hunt was the new Golden Halo Reaper.

I hadn’t conducted any experiments to see if they could handle other halos, but my instincts suggested they should be able to, so it was a fitting name, right?

Hehe.

The most crucial point was that the Golden Halo Reaper was a unique entity of the Golden Reaper.

The Golden Reaper had a diverse array of derivatives, making it suitable for fusion, but the only downside was that they had no usable halos.

But now, that downside had become a thing of the past.

The Golden Halo Reaper had been born!

1st Sword of the Golden Reaper.

Golden Cloaked Reaper.

Golden Horn Reaper.

And the Golden Halo Reaper.

Just imagining uniting these guys into one brought a smile of happiness to my face.

Hehe.

‘By the way, it seems the Hug Reaper might lack some stature. Should I toss it out before an External Being and induce growth?’

Thud.

Just then, as I was thinking startled thoughts about what Hug Reaper might think if it heard me, something fell before me.

A piece of the Shark External Being, shattered and disassembled.

Now that I think about it, how strange.

Objects or External Beings typically turn to powder when destroyed, so why did the Shark External Being break into flesh?

‘!’

As I lowered my gaze to check, the flesh was twitching rapidly.

That wasn’t just any piece of the Shark External Being.

‘Sardine?’

It looked less like a torn piece of flesh and more like a grotesque object resembling a twisted oceanic sardine.

At that moment, the sea filled with black Evolution Liquid began to ripple.

At first, it was a tiny disturbance.

But that vibration grew stronger and soon showed a boiling sea.

Somewhere in the black sea, something was approaching from the deep abyss.

The first thing to emerge was a sardine.

An object identical to the twisted oceanic sardine that had sprung from the Shark External Being.

And following that came the second, the third… Thousands, tens of thousands of sardines slicing through the black sea, shooting up to the surface.

The sardines soaring towards the sky resembled living pillars.

They began to gather in midair.

A myriad of tiny pieces fitting together like a giant puzzle.

The first to take shape was a colossal gill.

The gills formed by the sardines stacked upon each other inhaled and spat out seawater, sending the black Evolution Liquid swirling.

Next up were the sharp teeth.

Thousands of sardines created each tooth, and Evolution Liquid flowed between them.

Finally, the last to be completed were the eyes.

The darkest sardines that had climbed up from the deep sea came together to form the eyes.

The completed pupils appeared cloudy and decayed as if they were already dead.

At long last, it had formed a complete shape.

A massive shark formed by thousands of sardines.

It was the true form of the Shark External Being, having collected every piece it had consumed from the objects it continuously devoured in the depths of the black planet’s sea.

The sardines forming the shark’s surface were in a constant motion.

Like a living armor, each sardine moving with independent will, while perfectly maintaining harmony.

Though the shape they formed was constantly changing, its essential form remained intact.

Well, since it was a shoal of sardines, I guess I should refer to it as the Sardine External Being now…

‘Somehow, that looks like something the kids might struggle to defeat?’

Once it regained its true appearance, the twisted oceanic sardine External Being looked stronger than the Worm External Being.

As I thought that, I began to approach the children step by step.