As the smoke screen created by Watson began to fade, something unexpected occurred.

It started with Watson.

['The "eye" has arrived.']

['What’s going on with the "eye"?']

['I don’t like the "eye". It’s scary.']

Watson uttered these phrases before abruptly shutting down.

Splash, splash.

The sound of small footsteps echoed.

And then, golden eyes pierced through the darkness.

Deep within the clearing, countless golden eyes glowed in the shadows.

The Gray Reaper appeared, leading a host of small Golden Reapers that hopped and darted around the ground.

The Gray Reaper glanced around the clearing with an indifferent expression.

It seemed uninterested in the events unfolding in the clearing.

But the Golden Reapers had a markedly different reaction.

A fierce anger emanated from them, directed at the Director and the researchers.

The Director, sensing the shift, shouted orders urgently.

"Researchers, buy us some time!"

The Golden Reapers charged forward with furious expressions, almost simultaneously as the Director issued his command to the researchers.

As the Director commanded the researchers, he quickly started running toward the client's younger brother.

In his hurried dash, something familiar caught my eye in his hand.

A staff!

It was the staff I had given him; the Director seemed intent on using it to escape with the client’s younger brother.

Seeing this, I gestured to Junior Number 1.

"Go quickly and stop them!"

Junior Number 1, understanding the situation, gripped his hammer tightly and sprinted at full speed.

He pursued the Director with all his might, but the distance was too great!

"Hahaha!"

The Director, noticing the Golden Reapers and Junior Number 1 chasing him, laughed heartily.

Then, with a triumphant expression, he placed his hand on the younger brother and struck the ground with the staff.

I arrived at the clearing where the ghost cat had been wailing.

What I saw was the Director, the researchers, the detective’s group, and the ghost cat.

The Director I hadn’t seen in a while was now an entirely different being.

Just looking at him filled the air with a suffocating malice toward humanity.

Wasn’t he supposed to be conducting research for the benefit of mankind?

The once-relaxed demeanor of the Director had turned irritable.

He looked so different that it was as if he was another person altogether.

As the Golden Reapers charged at him, the Director began to flee.

In that moment, I noticed something familiar—a staff that the detective used to carry.

Wasn’t that the Object that enabled teleportation?

The instant I recognized the staff, I rushed at the Director in my ghostly form.

I couldn’t allow such a harmful Object to escape.

"Hahaha!"

The Director let out a triumphant laugh and struck the ground with the staff, but I cut off his right hand before he could complete the action.

"Arghhh!"

The Director screamed in agony, clutching his severed hand, as he staggered backward. I took a moment to confirm the conditions needed to destroy the Object.

[Grant the wish.]

Another impossibly difficult condition.

Still, this Object seemed far too dangerous to humanity to ignore.

While I hesitated, the Golden Reapers mercilessly tore through the fleeing Director.

His body, riddled with holes as if he had been hit by a large-caliber rifle, collapsed to the ground, bleeding out.

"I… I was trying to save humanity!"

It was absurd for an Object filled with malice toward humanity to claim it was acting for their sake.

The Golden Reapers surrounded the dying Director, glaring at him. Their stance seemed to say, "Even if you revive, we will kill you again!"

To the Golden Reapers, who cherished humanity, the Director must have seemed like their mortal enemy.

The Director was dead.

He left behind two Objects.

A strangely glowing orb and the staff I had given him.

I knew the Director had other Objects, but they weren’t here.

The Gray Reaper seemed indifferent to the Objects left behind by the Director.

I attached the staff to my belt and used my monocle to examine the strange orb’s abilities.

[Heals surrounding humans.]

An Object with an incredibly powerful ability.

Its healing power was so beneficial to humans that I couldn’t help but worry about potential side effects.

Meanwhile, the battle between the researchers and the Golden Reapers was nearing its end.

It wasn’t much of a battle; it was more of a one-sided slaughter.

As the fighting ended, most of the Golden Reapers, who had filled the clearing, had already vanished.

A few of the remaining Golden Reapers were clinging to the client’s younger brother.

They looked at him with tears in their eyes, as if they had never seen a living person before.

For some reason, they seemed incredibly relieved.

Once again, I had been saved by the Gray Reaper.

At this point, it was clear that the Gray Reaper wasn’t just a reaper but more of a guardian angel, at least to me.

My indifferent goddess, surveying the surroundings with her usual aloofness.

And then, Junior Number 1 rushed toward her.

"Hey, Reaper!"

Junior Number 1, seeing that the Director had fallen, immediately ran to the Gray Reaper.

He hugged her tightly, rubbing his cheek against her to show his affection.

"It’s been a while!"

Junior Number 1 was showing even more enthusiasm than before in expressing his goodwill toward the Gray Reaper.

Isn’t he scared?

Even though I logically knew the Gray Reaper was beneficial, I still felt uneasy around her.

Honestly, what if she suddenly got upset and crushed someone’s head on a whim?

The client wanted to rush to her brother, but she hesitated because of the Gray Reaper and the Golden Reapers surrounding him.

It’s only natural to be afraid.

So, what about Junior Number 2?

"Wow, wow, wow! So soft! So small!"

Junior Number 2 was happily holding two Golden Reapers, one in each hand.

He’s not normal either.

I lit my pipe to ease my growing headache.

The harmful Director and the researchers had all been turned into swiss cheese by the Golden Reapers.

But since they didn’t fulfill the conditions for destruction, they would probably revive soon.

Given the mood of the Golden Reapers, though, it seemed they’d kill them again the moment they revived.

"Hey, Reaper! It’s been a while!"

No sooner had the Director disappeared than Junior Number 1 clung to me.

"Thanks for coming to save us!"

Junior Number 1 grabbed my limbs, rubbing his cheeks against me, expressing affection as if we hadn’t seen each other in ten years.

He didn’t act like this before. Did fighting the Director stress him out that much?

Junior Number 1 kept clinging to me relentlessly, showing no signs of stopping.

When I lightly bit the hand that was kneading my cheek, he seemed to like it even more.

"Oh my, the Reaper bit me!"

Why does he like that?

I turned into my ghost form to shake him off, then looked around to figure out how we ended up here.

Meow.

The ghost cat, its voice hoarse, slowly walked up to me.

Its raspy meow was amusing, making me wonder how loudly it must have cried to end up this way.

‘Was it fun? Weren’t you in danger?’

The cat puffed up its chest and started bragging while curled up in my arms.

‘What? Not dangerous at all? You just called me because you thought I’d be bored?’

The ghost cat was as full of bravado as ever.

The cat began chattering about the adventures it had experienced this time.

It described the ruins of hellfire that emerged from the abyss, fire-breathing demon frogs, and their gigantic leader, a frog as big as a house.

The cat was such a good storyteller that, even though I knew what had happened, the tale became even more amusing.

‘Yeah, yeah. You’re amazing.’

I held the cat in my arms and stroked it vigorously.

As I petted the adorable cat, I noticed the envious gaze of Junior Number 1 fixed on me.

He was staring with such longing that I took his hand, led him to sit on the ground, and then plopped myself into his lap, guiding his hand to rest on my head.

If he was that envious, he could pet me too.

Leaning against Junior Number 1’s soft body, I enjoyed being petted.

For some reason, his breathing seemed heavy as he stroked my head, but I figured it was fine.

Late at night, at Sehee’s lab.

I was in the break room, organizing photos of the Reaper.

<The Reaper asleep in the isolation room after the Central Research Lab incident.> <The Reaper captured on the security camera the day the Yellow Detective visited.> <A Golden Reaper enjoying a delicious cake.> <The Reaper interfering with the blue lizard playing the piano by lifting one of its legs.> <The Reaper joyfully riding a tricycle.>

<The Reaper pressing its face against the glass of the isolation room, watching a caged skeleton spider with intense focus.>

I had many more photos captured from the security cameras.

But this one was the best.

A photo Sehee’s sister sent me of the Reaper holding up one leg of the blue lizard to stop it from playing the piano.

The photo perfectly captured the Reaper’s cuteness.

Sigh.

Looking through all these photos of the Reaper made me miss the real one.

Even though there were Golden Reapers around, I still longed to see the original Reaper.

"It’s late…."

But for some reason, I had a strong, inexplicable feeling that I might see the Reaper tomorrow.

I really hope that’s the case.