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A woman in everyday clothes that completely clashed with the desert was spotted.

She was wandering through the desert with a child in her arms.

The child’s face was flushed red, and their breathing was weak and shallow, indicating heatstroke.

A desert with not a single shade in sight.

The sudden disaster that struck Gangseo District forced many residents into desperate situations.

She walked barefoot on the scorching sand as if it were burning, struggling to find even a shade or a cup of water.

In front of her, giant tents unfolded like mirages.

The magnificent structure of the tent, with tall columns and a wide canopy, formed a silhouette that starkly contrasted with the wavy sand dunes.

With the gentle fluttering of the fabric in the wind, the shadows of the tent seemed to dance quietly.

And beneath the shadows of the tent, a plethora of fruit was laid out.

Fruits that were juicy and full of water, just like watermelons, were displayed abundantly.

The woman in casual attire hurriedly began to run towards the tent.

She prayed that it wasn’t a mirage or an illusion born from her suffering.

As she approached the tent, the shape became clearer, suggesting it was not a mirage after all.

But the closer she got, the more uneasy she felt.

Beneath the tent, people sat in chairs, resting without moving, just sitting still.

As the woman entered the tent, a cool temperature, far removed from the desert, soothed her scorched skin.

“Looks like a guest has arrived.”

Upon entering the tent, an old man who was closest to her spoke up.

He was an elderly man with deep wrinkles, sitting in a chair and holding a large staff in both hands.

The old man’s attire was decorated with gems all over, making it look overly extravagant.

“Oh! Um, my child is suffering from heatstroke. May I feed them some of the fruit here?”

“Of course, you should. If this old man was feeling lonely, I’d be more than willing to give you fruit, as long as you promise to answer a simple quiz in return.”

Though he smiled kindly, there was something awkward about his expression.

However, the woman was too desperate to care about such oddities.

“Yes, yes! I promise!”

She hastily declared her promise and began to hastily feed a watermelon to the child.

Thanks to the cool temperature of the tent, the child’s condition seemed to improve significantly.

Seeing that her child seemed better, the woman let out a sigh of relief and took a bite of the watermelon herself.

The juice was abundant, and it had a refreshing taste.

After eating, it left a mysterious aftertaste that lingered.

As she tasted a flavor that seemed impossible to come from a watermelon, her senses sharpened.

Only then did she start to take note of the suspicious old man and the tent.

Object!

[Oh dear, has she already figured it out? This world is certainly peculiar. The worms are quick to catch on.]

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Looking up at the old man, she saw his wrinkled skin turning to sand and crumbling away.

The old man’s voice was now inaudible, replaced by the sound of a skeleton laughing, its teeth clinking together.

In no time, skeletons wielding swords stood around the old man’s skeleton like a backdrop.

[Now, as promised, I’ll give you a quiz.]

The voice of the old skeleton echoed directly in her head, dark and filled with malice.

The swords held by the skeletons reeked of thick blood.

As this gruesome atmosphere enveloped the area, something emerged.

Thud, thud.

A small golden object.

Having never seen such a creature before, it must be an object.

A small object glaring at the old skeleton with its hands on its hips.

It looked weak at a glance, yet the old skeleton’s reaction was rather strange.

[Hmm.]

The old skeleton sighed and began to slink backward.

At that moment, a golden face poked out from the fluttering fabric above the tent.

And amidst the fruit as well.

Small faces peeked out from under the table, behind pillars, and the backs of chairs.

The scene of cute little faces sticking out was somewhat adorable, yet the old skeleton’s response was the complete opposite.

He threw away his staff and started to flee.

And the result was unexpected.

The golden objects bounced out and smashed the skeletons and the old skeleton to bits.

All the skeletons that were hit by the golden objects turned to sand and scattered.

The objects that dealt with the old skeleton gathered around her, as if seeking praise.

I stiffened with the sudden approach of the objects.

In a sense, they could be called saviors, but I felt uneasy.

These cute-looking objects formed a combination that a modern person would find scary.

The objects bore downcast expressions.

They glimmered in pretty golden light, giving off a strangely pleasant scent.

As I observed them closely, an unfounded feeling arose that they might not cause harm.

As I cautiously reached my hand out, one of the objects crawled up onto my palm.

Oh, this looks…

Wait a minute—it’s identical to the Gray Reaper!

I was startled and threw the golden Reaper away.

The golden Reaper, sprawled on the ground, looked dejected as if it had lost its world.

“Uh… I’m sorry?”

Seeing its expression, so sadly downtrodden, I inadvertently apologized.

When I reached my hand out again, the golden Reaper glanced at me and carefully climbed back onto my palm.

It held onto one of my fingers tightly as if vowing not to fall again.

“I’m sorry. I won’t throw you again!”

As the golden Reaper clung to my cheek, the multitude of golden Reapers that had appeared scattered in all directions.

Left with only one golden Reaper, I felt strangely reassured.

*

In the cave, where a sudden death had created a somber atmosphere.

Researchers from Trinity were trying to grab people’s attention.

“Everyone! Please pay attention!”

‘Could it be that they’ve figured something out?’ With this hope, people began to focus on the voice of the Trinity Research Institute’s researcher.

There was also an expectation that the finest researchers in Korea wouldn’t say something foolish.

Believing they had gathered enough attention, the researcher raised their voice to speak.

“We have deciphered some of the structure of this object. Let’s move a bit so I can explain it.”

The Trinity researchers led the people deep into the cave.

Crossing a great lake, they arrived at a place with large statues and an altar, and the Trinity researcher began their explanation.

“Here, you can see that there are characters inscribed like this. We’ve been studying these letters at the Trinity Research Institute for a considerable time, so we’re able to interpret them. It’s fortunate for us.”

The researcher mixed stories of praise for the Trinity Institute with explanations of the interpreted characters.

And the characters interpreted by the researcher held the same ending predicted by the Black Agent.

[If there are more than 100 people in the cave, the statues will kill everyone inside.]

[If you try to exit the cave, you will be killed.]

Upon hearing this, people nodded, finding it quite reasonable.

It would be stranger if such traps didn’t exist in an oasis like this.

“So what we need to do is simple. We must drive away new entrants without leaving the cave.”

And then a series of questions and answers began, fueled by curiosity.

As the researchers from the Magpie Mountain Conference were numerous within the cave, the questions varied.

[Why has the Trinity Research Institute been hiding this information?]

Questions ranged from that to inquiring about the interpretation methods.

“Ah, since we’re just junior researchers, please understand that we can’t talk freely.”

Of course, it was rare for the Trinity researchers to provide clear answers.

As people gathered around the wall inscribed with characters, a blonde girl was peering toward the altar.

“Excuse me, sir, there are a lot of bats drawn on the altar! What does it mean?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps it would be better to ask someone from the Trinity Institute?”

The blonde girl asked the researcher eagerly, but the response she got was a simple, “I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s unfortunate that the interpretation isn’t complete yet.”

“I’m not disappointed about not getting an interpretation, sir. The researchers’ interpretation doesn’t mention the altar, but it seems to be more important than the statues or the walls that have the letters inscribed, don’t you think?”

Indeed, just as the blonde girl said, the altar seemed more significant in terms of size, scale, and grandeur than the statues or the walls inscribed with letters.

*

Based on the Trinity researchers’ interpretation of the objects, people began to drive away those trying to enter the cave.

“Get lost!”

They gathered tools that could be used as weapons and handed them to the guards to threaten and drive away those trying to enter.

However, many were seeking the cave, which could be called a landmark of the desert.

People exhausted by the heat and dying of thirst.

They couldn’t enter the cave because they were threatened with blades, but they began to gather in the shade near the cave.

The blonde girl asked with a worried expression.

“Do you think those people will suddenly rush in?”

“That is likely. We need a solution. They don’t dare enter now due to our numerical advantage, but this gap will close quite quickly.”

And the Trinity researchers watched those confronting each other with meaningful glances.

*

Thud, thud.

I walked through the desert.

[Place the red skull in the center of the desert, light a fire, and dance over it.]

It’s still a ridiculous condition.

If one can’t see the conditions like I can, how in the world am I supposed to figure out a way to kill it?

The journey to find the red skull continued.

I decided to spread the golden Reapers throughout the desert to find the red skull.

The central point where the golden Reapers are evenly distributed in the desert must be the center of the desert.

Despite the fact that the golden Reapers rarely acted according to my will, they were currently spreading evenly across the desert as planned.

I was wandering to find the red skull, but while there were other skulls around, the red skull was nowhere to be found.

Instead, there was a pile of firewood stacked up.

I didn’t see the red skull, but I frequently encountered people carrying golden Reapers on their shoulders.

“Wow, a Gray Reaper!”

Those people looked terrified when they saw me, but eventually, they approached.

“Golden Reaper! You sent them, right? Thank you.”

A mix of fear and gratitude filled the air.

As I stood there blankly observing while they collected firewood, a few of them timidly approached to give me a hug.

It was annoying, but there was no helping it for the firewood.

With this, I had no idea when I would find the red skull.

*

While gathering firewood and searching for skulls, I spotted a very suspicious place in the distance.

A massive cave made of red rock.

From afar, it looked like an open-mouthed skull; could that be the red skull?