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Late in the evening, the Golden Reaper quietly snuck into the research institute through a slightly open door and began to stealthily move down the dim corridor, where few people roamed.

Carefully, one step at a time, on the neatly tiled floor of the research institute.

In the middle of the dark corridor, intermittently lit by sparse lights, there was a brightly lit space.

It was the 24-hour management office.

Inside, there was a night manager, his tired face nodding off in sleep.

Every time he saw the Golden Reaper, the grandfather would greet him with a warm smile and offer him some sweet rice cake.

The sweet rice cake wasn’t delicious, but the warmth behind it made him fond of the grandfather.

Every time, he would bounce up and down on the grandfather’s shoulder and give him a massage in return, but passing by like this secretly made his heart ache.

Next time, I’ll give you double the massage!

With that small promise, he passed by the management office with a bouncing gait.

Fortunately, the dozing grandfather didn’t notice the small shadow passing across the floor.

However, an even bigger obstacle appeared in front of the Golden Reaper.

It was a large room filled with Attached Humans, which he had to pass through to reach them.

Big objects making a humming sound.

In front of them sat humans with weary expressions all around.

Ugh, there are so many humans who look exhausted and tired.

I’ll play with you all next time, so hang in there!

I’m not quite sure what the objects piled up in the room were.

But judging by how the humans fidgeted whenever we got close, they must be significant objects, right?

He began to hide behind the objects and slowly make his way past.

Moving slowly so as not to be caught.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute, check this out.”

“What is it?”

Voices! If this goes on, I’ll get caught!

I have to freeze and wait until they stop talking.

“Just come over for a sec. Do you see that?”

“Could it be hiding?”

The humans whispered in low voices.

From the playful tone, it seems like humans also mess around when they’re bored, just like us!

“I’ve never seen a Reaper hiding before.”

“Should we pretend not to know?”

The humans were gathering closer.

I can’t get caught!

“Let’s take a picture one by one and spread out! The Reaper can’t move right now.”

Click, click.

As strange sounds rang out, the humans began to scatter.

Phew, thank goodness.

I almost got discovered.

But after hearing that ‘click, click’ sound, the humans seemed to have gained some energy; I wonder what that was about?

I’ll have to find out next time!

*

The home of the director of Trinity Research Institute No. 3 always exuded a gloomy atmosphere.

Late at night, the director was listening to a report from the butler.

“It seems that both members of the Night Crow organization we had assigned have died. It appears further operations will be impossible.”

“Oh, is that so? How far did the Night Crows progress?”

“They managed to close the factory and steal the bags, but they were suddenly ambushed by the Gray Reaper and lost the bags, so for now, they only successfully closed the factory.”

Calmly setting down the wine glass he was holding, the director got up and gazed at the decorated horn.

“At least there’s some silver lining. They did manage to close the factory. James’ factory must never be established in Korea. We can’t allow ‘alchemy’ to spread in Korea.”

“….”

“You seem to think the factory closure will also be in vain due to the Gray Reaper.”

He chuckled softly.

“There’s no reason to worry; I’ve hidden an object in this factory that even the Gray Reaper can’t handle—it’s a replica of the object that the Gray Reaper couldn’t dispose of.”

With a satisfied smile, the director sat back down and enjoyed his wine.

*

Deep inside the pudding factory.

Once a lively place, the factory was now only occasionally filled with the sharp ring of emergency bells, engulfed in an eerie silence.

Moreover, the rhythm of the emergency bells was somehow fractured, ringing irregularly, amplifying the confusion and chaos.

Along with the emergency bells, a red emergency light started operating, casting long, distorted shadows and staining cold steel structures with ominous crimson hues.

In the center of this ominous steel structure, a gigantic and bizarre object was wandering.

The Hungry Ghost was oozing black liquid.

It resembled the Hungry Ghost that had vanished into the sinkhole in Songpa District, its whereabouts unknown.

With grotesque, writhing tentacles and a smooth, shiny skin, it looked similar to the Hungry Ghost, but black liquid was dripping out, exuding a foul odor.

The black oil that flowed from the object’s skin seeped into the factory floor, spreading the stench and polluting the surrounding ground.

This object, resembling the Hungry Ghost, occasionally opened its mouth, filled with sharp and threatening teeth, and bit into the surrounding metal structures indiscriminately.

In this desolate space, with neither humans nor prey, there seemed to be no reason for this object to hang around, yet it was fixated on the machines located deep inside the factory as if guarding a precious treasure.

*

After witnessing the bear’s magnificent entrance and exit, the suddenly vanishing Reaper handed me a strange briefcase.

It was an antique and stylish briefcase.

It looked expensive; I wonder where it was picked up from?

It doesn’t seem like the Reaper brought it properly, so I’ll have to return it if the owner shows up later.

Bouncing along.

The Reaper, walking slightly ahead of me, seemed a bit bored, playing by itself on the asphalt inside the factory.

Jumping on the white lines drawn on the asphalt.

It looked like it wasn’t paying attention at all and casually moved its feet, but the little Reaper only stepped on the white lines.

Hehe.

If I let it know that I noticed, it would sulk, so I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.

I quietly cheered for how far the Reaper’s asphalt adventure would go.

*

I walked on the asphalt covering the factory’s interior together with Yerin.

Walking in the direction where I felt human emotions led us to a certain building.

A large building marked with <7> on the wall.

As I entered that building, I felt an overwhelming number of objects surrounding Yerin and me.

Pink rabbit-shaped dolls.

They were objects wearing chef hats and holding cooking utensils.

[Pudding!]

[Pudding!]

Objects wearing chef hats, holding cooking tools, and shouting [Pudding!].

There was no doubt they were objects for making pudding.

I finally found them.

Objects that make pudding.

Now, if I return those objects to their duties, delicious ‘Ninja Pudding’ will be made.

But there were a few problems.

The rabbits’ eyes looked quite menacing.

If I wasn’t there, it seemed they would pounce at any moment.

They gave off a vibe closer to that of murderous dolls than pastry dolls.

Another issue was the putrid smell emanating from the rabbit dolls.

The scent of black liquid.

If those dolls made pudding, it would be so stinky that the scent would permeate the pudding.

Should I destroy them, even risking degradation of their abilities?

Or should I tame them like a ‘Cute Puppy’?

While I was deep in thought, a desperate voice echoed.

“Is anyone there? Please save me!”

It was the voice of a scrawny man who sounded like he might pass out at any moment.

There doesn’t seem to be time to tame them; I guess I’ll have to go for degradation of abilities.

*

The interpreter was nearing his limit.

“Please save me! Please save me!”

It was hard to breathe, and it felt like he might pass out at any moment.

And the ominous sound of the murderous rabbits wielding cooking tools was right behind him.

“Run faster! At that rate, you’ll get stabbed in the butt in five seconds!”

Meanwhile, James, who was running ahead, seemed quite relaxed as he turned around.

When I looked back at his words, a giant whisk came stabbing toward me.

‘Oh, this is really the end. I shouldn’t take on such ridiculous requests again.’

A golden light sparkled before the interpreter’s eyes.

A tiny golden light.

Even under that ominous red illumination, the brilliant golden waves began to shred the rabbits.

‘Finally alive.’

The interpreter was overwhelmed with relief and sobbed, lying flat on the ground.

*

Leaving the people rejoicing over survival behind, I quickly began to observe the Golden Reaper’s garden.

“Reaper? What’s wrong?”

Suddenly, seeing me with my eyes closed, Yerin looked puzzled and pinched my cheek.

But I had something much more important to do.

Pudding!

In the center of the Golden Reaper’s garden was a facility I had never seen before.

Golden shimmering cooking hats.

Cooking tools for the Golden Reaper scale.

And a cooking station to match.

I thought about how under the worst circumstances, there might be a rabbit-shaped pudding, but I’m so glad that’s not the case.

As the Golden Reaper approached the suddenly appeared cooking facility with curious expressions,

They each grabbed a cooking hat and put them on. The Golden Reaper donned the hat, and rabbit ears popped out before they began skillfully preparing pudding.

However, the Golden Reaper’s cooking process was a bit unusual.

It wasn’t the typical pudding preparation; it was a production process with assigned roles.

One Golden Reaper poured a bunch of sugar and melted it, then took a little taste with a finger.

Then, seemingly to check if it tasted good, they flapped the newly sprouted rabbit ears.

Another Reaper was happily laughing while mixing eggs, and yet another Golden Reaper was moving ingredients around while secretly sneaking bites of sugar.

The tasks were different for each, but there was a sense of unity.

The sounds of boiling water, whisking eggs, and glasses placed down lightly.

All these various sounds combined felt like a performance.

The cooking work progressed with a steady pace and rhythm as if they were dancing in unison; it had a captivating magic that made me keep watching.

Success!

I could feel it without tasting it.

Surely, Ninja Pudding would be completed.

Hehe, I have to try it once the pudding is done.

Perhaps because I achieved my goal, I felt a strangely happy feeling.