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The sudden appearance of the employee interrupted the emergency meeting of the Gray Reaper abruptly.

According to the employee’s guidance, we arrived at the “Isolation Room of the Theme Park Invitation Doll.”

Inside the isolation room, the doll was sobbing pitifully, trying to stitch up its severed arm with its foot.

Outside the isolation room, researchers crowded and buzzed from all directions.

I demanded an explanation from the employee who brought us here.

“Then, can you explain what happened?”

“Yes, Director.”

Upon hearing the explanation, it didn’t seem like a big deal.

The doll had lost its arms while provoking the Gray Reaper, which was its own fault.

The Reaper is merciless towards objects, so objects should have been more careful.

Instead, it was puzzling that the Reaper had disappeared.

“Are you saying it really vanished?”

“Yes, the Gray Reaper glanced at the stolen invitation and then disappeared.”

We couldn’t confirm it with CCTV.

We had to discard everything as there was a possibility that the content of the invitation was recorded.

Just a glimpse of the invitation on CCTV could lead to disappearance.

“Definitely ferocious, isn’t it?”

I said this while glancing at Seoah and grinned.

“So what shall we do moving forward, Director?”

Kim Jungrwi asked in a deep voice.

“First, send a warning to the researchers. ‘It’s highly likely you will be kidnapped merely by looking at the invitation, even without reading it.’ Also, completely block access to the isolation room and order the cessation of CCTV filming.”

Seeing that objects can also be kidnapped, a broader response was needed.

“And the Gray Reaper should be fine. It’s curious that the one who got sucked in was the one who looked at the invitation. Usually, it’s more common for the kidnapped object to be spat out again, so let’s wait a bit.”

Until now, the Reaper had been almost immune to such kidnapping-type objects.

It seemed more plausible that the Reaper intentionally allowed it to happen due to boredom.

Or perhaps that ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’ was a hungry ghost-type object…

Judging by the sight of it sobbing with a severed arm, it didn’t look that way at all.

“The fact that the Gray Reaper was sucked into such an invitation shouldn’t cause a problem. However, just in case any unforeseen variables arise, let’s accelerate the experiment we had planned.”

To expedite the already scheduled entry test for the ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll,’ the staff began bustling about.

*

The Reaper has disappeared!

After hearing that news, I periodically left my seat to roam around in search of the Reaper.

“Yerin, are you going out again?”

“Yeah, I’ll just step out for a bit to get some fresh air, and I’ll be right back~.”

Even knowing that the Reaper couldn’t possibly be gone, I felt uneasily anxious.

However, despite wandering around every nook and cranny of the research institute, not even a shadow of the Reaper could be found.

I visited places where the Reaper might go, but there was no sign of it.

I crouched in front of the Reaper’s isolation room bed, hugging my knees.

Perhaps because I had been darting around all day for my work, drowsiness began to overwhelm me.

While dozing off, I thought to myself.

“Reaper, please come back soon.”

*

I found myself in the middle of an extremely long dream.

A dream spanning a whopping 30 years.

I observed it from a distance, as if I had become a ghost.

In the midst of hazy awareness, I opened my eyes in that dream.

It was the Reaper’s room, old yet well-maintained.

It was the isolation room I always saw in my dreams.

In the dream, I got up, moving my uncomfortable body, and started dusting and cleaning.

Just in case the Reaper returned.

I wiped the TV, removed dust from the old game console, table, and bed.

It was a habit I had kept for an astonishing 30 years.

It had been 30 years since the Reaper had disappeared.

In that dream, I often glanced at the table and smiled contentedly.

As if I were watching the Golden Reapers frolicking.

In those moments, it felt as if that scene appeared right before my eyes.

Cough cough.

In the dream, I was growing increasingly unwell.

I used to prepare for picnics, excited to play with the Reaper, but now I had stopped.

I instinctively understood that my body wasn’t in a condition to frolic with the Reaper anymore.

In the dream, I whispered softly to myself.

“Reaper, hurry and come back.”

“The Reaper is invincible.”

“Someday, it will definitely return.”

In that dream, I muttered to myself and firmly closed my eyes.

The quietly sleeping me in the dream wore a satisfied smile.

As if the Reaper were right in front of me.

As I closed my eyes, I could almost hear the sound of small footsteps.

Pat pat.

The Reaper’s small footsteps.

“Finally, you’ve come.”

I spoke those words in the dream.

And just like that, I met my end within the dream.

*

“Reaper!”

Upon opening my eyes, I found myself in the Reaper’s isolation room.

Not even ten minutes had passed.

My entire body was drenched in sweat.

Had I merely dozed off?

I had the most long and meaningful dream.

It felt as if I had truly lived without the Reaper for 30 years.

Seoul without the Reaper was genuinely terrifying.

In the dream, the first to die was Senior Kim Jungrwi.

Because of the objects that emerged from the sinkhole.

Then Unnie Park Seoah also died.

It was the time when the government declared abandonment of Seoul, unable to control the objects that appeared there anymore.

On the day Unnie Park Seoah died, Unnie Sehee also changed in some way.

She seemed completely different, consumed by something, and moved the research institute to a safe area in New Seoul.

Seoul was officially dismantled, but I remained in the building that had once been the Sehee Research Institute.

I believed that the Reaper would return.

No place in the Korean Peninsula could be considered safe.

In a world without the Reaper, I lived just waiting for the Reaper to return.

The world crumbled away without the Reaper.

Wait, did the world crumble because there was no Reaper?

Thank goodness it was just a dream.

*

I opened my eyes in a lavishly decorated guest room.

The soft bed gently enveloped my back, and the dim lighting created a cozy atmosphere with a warm glow.

As I got out of bed, a well-dressed mannequin, resembling a hotel staff member, welcomed me.

“Welcome! Guest! Thank you for coming to Smile Theme Park!”

Its round face had stitched eyes and mouth.

Dressed sharply in a suit.

With a tall cylindrical hat atop its head.

“Hey there, before you enjoy the theme park, please take this.”

What the mannequin handed over was a piece of paper.

It had nine round faces printed on it.

“Smile Theme Park is currently hosting a stamp event. After enjoying all nine rides placed in the theme park and collecting the stamps, it’s a simple event that’s completed!”

Nine?

Not ten?

The destruction condition I saw was, [Collect 10 stamps from the theme park.] what was going on here?

Well, I would probably understand why this discrepancy occurred as I wandered around.

“Of course, rewards are necessary for events. If you collect all nine stamps, you can ride the shuttle bus home for free! So please work hard to collect those stamps.”

Clap clap clap, the mannequin exaggeratedly applauded.

“That said, you don’t need to rush to ride the attractions. Smile Theme Park operates 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, so you can enjoy it at a leisurely pace.”

Pointing around the guest room with its hands, the mannequin continued speaking.

“You can also relax and have fun in your room. For more details, please refer to the booklet available in your room. If you need anything, just ring this bell!”

The mannequin exaggeratedly bowed and backed out of the room.

From what I had seen thus far, it looked like a pretty fun object.

Except for the fact that there were no humans around at all.

It would have been great if there were plenty of humans like in a typical theme park…

*

A day had passed since the Gray Reaper went to the theme park.

A bus, dispatched on an urgent request from Sehee Research Institute, was now entering the institute.

It was a specially secured bus surrounded by iron bars—quite ominous.

It was a means of transport for criminals who had committed heinous crimes and received death sentences.

The death row inmate to be used in the experiment of the ‘Theme Park Invitation Doll’ had arrived.

While many death row inmates are consumed merely as scapegoats, these were somewhat special individuals.

Death row inmates trained to enter trap-type objects.

These inmates were utilized in experiments requiring solving quizzes or bypassing traps.

They were trained under the bait that they would receive clemency if they escaped the objects, boosting their motivation to flee.

However, despite the most rigorous training, the acquittal rate for these inmates remained a mere 1%.

Still, it was better than the 100% mortality rate of ordinary inmates consumed as food by cannibalistic objects.

The death row inmates set foot on the grounds of Sehee Research Institute.

With their hands cuffed behind them and multiple sets of handcuffs locked, they couldn’t even run properly.

While most of the death row inmates wore dark expressions, only the tall woman at the front had a confident grin.

A tall woman covered in tattoos, appearing to be around 190 cm, looked down at the police and asked,

“So, where do we go?”

The woman asked, grinning fiercely.