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An old man walked slowly down the corridor of the research institute, making rhythmic sounds with his cane.

Behind the old man, a group of men dressed in suits and wearing association badges lined up.

The Object Association’s president, Oh Muryong, suddenly appeared at the Sehee Research Institute.

Yerin, seeing the crowd gathering with the president, whispered to Sehee in a small voice.

“Unnie Sehee, what on earth is going on?”

“Well, I don’t know either. It might be related to the sudden appearance of the Golden Reaper in Mapo District?”

Even Sehee, usually so optimistic, looked a bit worried today.

From the snack pinwheel that appeared in Mapo District to the Golden Reaper spreading mental pollution, it was indeed something to be concerned about.

Although Sehee and the rest of the staff at the Sehee Research Institute greeted Oh Muryong as he approached, he ignored them and walked past without a glance.

At that moment, Sehee wore a flustered expression as a man claiming to be the president’s secretary approached her.

“Hello, Director Lee Sehee.”

The polite man handed over a business card and, as soon as Sehee accepted it, he began to speak.

He talked about matters related to Mapo District and the Golden Reaper.

These were all naturally expected topics, but something felt strange.

It was usually the norm to receive official notices requiring attendance at the association for explanations regarding various issues.

If the matter was serious enough, there might even be a search and seizure.

But this so-called secretary of the association was not holding anyone responsible; instead, he offered kind words.

For reasons unknown, it felt like he was just stalling by listing meaningless sayings.

Moreover, the president appeared to have nothing to do with the formalities, leaving everything to the secretary and casually admiring the courtyard.

If that was the case, why did he come in person?

Sehee thought she could understand if he’d come to see the cute mini reapers.

However, seeing the sensitive mini reapers react unusually ferociously, it didn’t seem like he came to see them.

An unexpected visit by the president and a secretary wasting time with empty chatter…

Somehow, it felt like they had ulterior motives.

After staring at the courtyard for a while, Oh Muryong finally slammed his cane down on the marble floor with a loud sound and began to turn around slowly.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Director Lee Sehee, despite the sudden visit.”

Now discussing taxes and association support funds, the secretary hastily wrapped up his speech as Oh Muryong turned around and began to follow him.

What on earth just happened?

Sehee, filled with curiosity, turned her gaze towards the courtyard that Oh Muryong had been looking at, but all she saw were mini reapers hopping around.

*

In the car returning from the Sehee Research Institute.

Oh Muryong sat in his seat, resting his eyes while leaning on his cane.

“Hmm…”

Then he let out a soft humming sound.

Seeing this, the secretary cautiously asked.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Hearing that, Oh Muryong slowly opened his eyes, took out a rocket pendant from his pocket, and said,

“I don’t know. But make sure to prepare it.”

“Yes, understood.”

The secretary replied, bowing his head deeply at Oh Muryong’s instructions.

Inside the pendant that Oh Muryong was looking at was a picture of a blonde girl with a bright smile.

*

Hoppity hop.

I wandered slowly around the mini reaper garden, looking for something to play with.

The target was the yellow reaper.

But it was harder to find than I expected.

When I first spotted it, I should have grabbed it immediately instead of just enjoying the show…

Now there were too many mini reapers dressed in doll outfits, making it hard to seek one out.

I couldn’t just catch each one and check them either.

As I was strolling through the mini reaper garden without a suitable method, I stumbled upon a curious group of golden reapers.

It was a mix of button-eyed golden reapers and real golden reapers playing together.

Hoppity hop.

The golden reapers, including the button-eyed ones, were slowly walking across the marshmallow ground.

Just holding hands and hopping together seemed to bring them joy, as they exchanged shy smiles with one another.

Then, as their pace picked up, they started to run at a considerably fast speed.

The button-eyed golden reapers and the real golden reapers ran with such exhilarated expressions, lifting their hands high.

Since the button-eyed golden reaper acted just like the real golden reaper, they blended in perfectly without any awkwardness.

A golden reaper wouldn’t be wearing a golden reaper doll outfit, would they? It felt more like a golden reaper dressed as one.

So I was sure of it.

‘Within that button-eyed golden reaper entranced by golden reaper play, there must be a ‘yellow reaper’ inside!’

As I slowly approached and grasped the button-eyed golden reaper, it joyfully raised both hands, shouting, “Wow, Mom!”

It truly acted just like a golden reaper.

Smirking meaningfully, I unzipped the back of its outfit.

It was a prank I’d thought up since it wouldn’t reveal its true form.

Since it had the ability to shape-shift, I would need to peel it several times, but the ability couldn’t be infinite.

Eventually, it should show its true self.

Hehe.

While I chuckled and lifted the mini reaper from within the doll outfit, something unexpected happened.

Instead of the yellow reaper struggling to get out, as I had anticipated, it simply emerged with no resistance whatsoever, showing a vague smile.

Despite its friendliness, it felt like it was unfamiliar with the very act of smiling.

‘Mom…!’

Unlike the other mini reapers, this one had dark circles under its eyes and a curled-up body.

Its eyes were black and devoid of shine.

A mini reaper with an unexplainably gloomy aura popped out.

The gaze of those unshining eyes didn’t seem to want to leave my face.

I tried to hide my failure of a prank and projected my determination toward the yellow reaper.

‘I just wanted to take a look at your face. You can wear the doll outfit now.’

At that, the yellow reaper clasped both hands in front of its mouth and chuckled, and with a “pop,” it instantly transformed into the doll outfit.

Yellow button eyes.

Skin made from gray cloth.

An expression that seemed somewhat sulky.

The yellow reaper was now wearing a gray reaper doll outfit.

It created many tiny mini reaper doll outfits and began to hop away.

It was like a mother duck leading her ducklings, and I found it a bit amusing as it resembled myself.

But I couldn’t leave it at that; I had to pull another prank.

I gazed meaningfully at the retreating yellow reaper.

*

Upon stepping out into the courtyard for fresh prank ideas, I found the black reaper and golden reapers gazing up at the sky with longing.

‘What are they doing?’

As I approached the mini reapers to ask, they were still staring up at the sky and answered.

“Wait!”

“Cloud fish!”

“A new adventure!”

Feeling the throbbing emotions and piecing together the story, it seemed like they were waiting for the cloud fish to embark on a new adventure.

It seemed the first sword play had an influence.

Wanting an encounter like the first sword and attached human story, it appeared that the mini reapers without attached humans were preparing to set off on their journey.

Watching the mini reapers getting ready to spread out across the nation, memories of my past life working at the research institute surfaced, as if whispering.

‘Is it really okay to do this?’

Although it felt a bit strange, as if I were aiding in the scattering of objects, it didn’t seem harmful.

They would save people like the first sword did after all.

In fact, one could think of it as guardian angels spreading across the nation.

And as the mini reapers riding on the cloud fish waved their hands energetically, spreading out in all directions.

“Mom!”

I waved back a little to the kids who were looking at me with bright smiles.

*

The black reaper riding the cloud fish looked down at the ground under the bright sun.

The mini reapers who had set out with him had scattered in all directions and disappeared from sight.

It made sense; the black reaper was continually relaying directives to the cloud fish.

“Go further!”

Just as he urged to go further, the black reaper found himself crossing a sea that rippled like hot chocolate and arriving near a completely different land.

In the middle of the rippling sea, land floated solitary, as if lonely.

It was the place the black reaper had longed for.

The presence of a strong bad object that could be felt even from above the sky.

And the countless emotions of humans wandering around that land.

It truly seemed like a land of adventure.

Just as the black reaper, expecting new adventures, urged the cloud fish towards the land, a red flash flickered.

A red lightning that turned everything attempting to enter the island into dust.

The cloud fish disintegrated into dust the moment it came in contact with the red lightning, but the sturdy black reaper remained unscathed unlike the cloud fish.

Beep—.

The wingless black reaper, shocked, appeared startled and fell from the sky with a beep.

Crash!

With a loud collision, the black reaper smashed into something and got embedded in a flowerpot.

As his upper body was stuck deep in the dirt, the black reaper began to feel anxious.

‘Humans, won’t they hate me?’

They’d surely dislike it if I ruined something made by humans.

Sure enough, the cries of humans echoed through.

“No!”

Though I couldn’t understand the words, I felt the desperate emotion behind them.

The despair of a human whose precious thing had shattered.

As a human approached and pulled him from the ground, the black reaper smiled bashfully, hoping for their forgiveness.

“What… what is this?”

The black reaper, meeting the gaze of a perplexed woman, felt it.

This human is my ‘attached human’!

However, the human’s reaction was somewhat different.

“Ah! An object!”

The human, startled at the sight of the black reaper, threw him out the door.

Beep—.

With a sad expression, the black reaper made a sorrowful sound as he flew away.

 

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