The Golden Reapers gathered together to form a pyramid.

It was an adorable pyramid made up of Golden Reapers holding onto each other's arms and legs. Given that the interior was hollow, it was more like a makeshift shelter than a pyramid.

Though the desert was still unbearably hot, the shade provided by the Golden Reapers made it somewhat bearable.

The source of the heat was undoubtedly the red moon shining brightly above.

It wasn’t as bright as a normal light source, but it radiated an intense heat, like an electric heater used in winter.

Ugh, it’s so hot. I feel like I’m going to die.

It would be great if there were even a little water, but as far as I could see, there was no sign of it anywhere in the desert.

The Gray Reaper, with its indifferent expression, lay beside me, flailing its limbs as if it were making snow angels.

Of course, it wasn’t snow but scorching sand hot enough to cause burns.

"Reaper."

Even though I knew it couldn’t understand me, I spoke to it anyway.

The Gray Reaper stopped moving and turned its head to look at me, its gaze steady.

"Thanks for coming. I thought I was going to die."

"This place is huge, isn’t it? 360 degrees of horizon, and nothing else. Who would have thought I’d see something like this in Seoul?"

"This is my first time experiencing an Object-related incident, and it’s really tough. I never want to go on a business trip again. How does the director of Sehee Research Lab keep doing this, going out to find Objects and getting caught up in accidents?"

I continued my monologue, talking to the Gray Reaper.

There was an intelligence in the glowing yellow eyes of the Gray Reaper that made me feel as if it understood what I was saying.

Is this why Researcher Oh Yerin is so fascinated by the Gray Reaper?

The Gray Reaper suddenly looked up at the sky, then began summoning more Golden Reapers.

It locked eyes with me, and then, just as abruptly as it had appeared, it vanished.

I gathered the Golden Reapers that had appeared around me into my arms.

Strangely, I didn’t feel uneasy.

It was as if the Gray Reaper had told me not to worry with its gaze.

I could feel myself starting to fall for the Gray Reaper, just like Researcher Oh Yerin.

Amidst the noisy TV, I muttered my worries in a small voice that did nothing to quell my anxiety.

"Will everything be okay?"

The Golden Reaper climbed onto my shoulder and patted my cheek, as if trying to comfort me.

The Reaper still hasn’t come back.

I hope it’s already gone to save Seo-Ah.

The scene around Gangseo District shown on TV was utter chaos.

The Association was taking unprecedentedly swift action.

It was hard to believe this was the same Korea I lived in, considering how proactive they were being.

Explosions erupted around Gangseo as they attempted to breach the barrier.

Requests for support had already been sent to countries like the U.S., Japan, and China.

For the prideful Association, which usually hesitated to seek help from other nations, this was highly unusual.

[Breaking news just in.]

[The Gray Reaper has been spotted on the eastern side of the Gangseo barrier.]

[Could the Gray Reaper be responsible for this incident as well?]

The TV showed the Gray Reaper punching the transparent barrier, like it was hitting glass.

"So the Reaper was there after all!"

"Thank goodness."

The news anchors were concerned, but we felt relieved.

Who would have thought the Reaper would anticipate Seo-Ah’s danger and head there early?

The Reaper, which had been lightly tapping the barrier, suddenly punched a hole through it.

[What? The Gray Reaper has broken through the barrier!]

[That looks like the attack it used against the demon!]

The broadcast showed the Reaper’s right arm being severed as it crossed through the hole it had made in the barrier.

"Ugh, that must hurt. What’s going to happen to the Reaper?" Yerin said, distressed by the sight of the Reaper losing its arm.

Before the severed arm could even hit the ground, it turned into yellow flames and scattered into the air.

A fierce sandstorm began pouring out of the hole in the barrier, turning the surroundings into a mess.

But the Reaper’s efforts were in vain, as the barrier quickly regenerated the hole it had made.

The Gray Reaper tapped the barrier a few more times, then turned and started walking away.

The news coverage shifted to other stories.

[What could the Gray Reaper have been thinking?]

[The Gray Reaper is known for its eccentric behavior, so perhaps this is just another one of its antics.]

The anchor and the so-called Object expert began recounting past incidents involving the Gray Reaper.

Since I wasn’t interested in their commentary, I changed the channel.

"Do you think the perception of the Gray Reaper will improve after this?"

"I hope so. Seo-Ah would be especially happy."

"Seo-Ah would?"

"She wanted to sell Gray Reaper figurines to make up for the lab’s budget shortfall."

In fact, Seo-Ah wanted to sell all sorts of merchandise, not just Gray Reaper figures, but the Association had shut down the idea.

They claimed it could diminish public awareness of the dangers posed by Objects or something like that.

In the oasis of the red desert, the Black Agent’s sense of unease continued to grow.

The source of his anxiety stemmed from two main issues.

The first issue was that more and more people were gathering in the cave.

Fortunately, the cave was large enough to rival modern skyscrapers, so space wasn’t a problem, but the increasing number of people itself was concerning.

If this cave was an Object designed to lure people in, the more people there were, the greater the danger.

The second issue was the ominous structures they had discovered deeper inside the cave.

A tall stone altar.

Twisted statues of humans and animals.

And the walls were covered with inscriptions that looked like warnings.

However, the Black Agent couldn’t read the language, as it was something he had never seen before.

"Aaaah!"

Suddenly, a scream echoed from the cave entrance.

"Mister, something terrible has happened!"

When the Black Agent reached the entrance, he was met by the sight of the pale blonde girl and a man screaming in pain from a severed leg.

And there, lurking by the entrance, was a massive stone statue.

The giant statue that had been standing guard at the cave entrance had come to life!

It was now covered in blood, chomping on the man’s leg with its stone jaws.

After chewing on the man’s leg for a few moments, the statue spat something out.

It was a mangled mess of bone and flesh—what was left of the man’s leg.

The man, now missing both legs, was left to die at the entrance without receiving any help.

The statue scanned the people around the entrance, then returned to its original position atop the cave.

The Black Agent took a deep breath, then approached the shocked people to ask what had happened.

"What exactly happened here?"

"Th-that guy said this was a trap, and that we needed to escape as soon as we regained our strength. He wanted to get out of the cave."

The man, who seemed to be the victim’s companion, was pale and trembling with fear.

"We said we should rest a bit longer, but he insisted on going out first to check. As soon as he stepped outside…"

"I understand. It seems this is an Object that attacks people who try to leave the cave."

Just as the Black Agent suspected, this place was indeed a trap.

If the trap only prevented them from leaving, that would be one thing, but considering there were similar statues inside the cave…

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see a positive outcome.

Inside the large cave where the Black Agent was staying, two researchers from Trinity Lab were having a secret conversation.

"Team Leader, I found the ‘inscriptions’ the Director mentioned when I went deeper into the cave."

"Really? Let’s go take a look."

Conscious of the people around them, they slowly made their way deeper into the cave.

"This is quite impressive," the Trinity Lab team leader said, admiring the red-tinged statues and the lake that reflected the starlight.

The red light from the overhead moon illuminated the surface of the lake, casting an otherworldly glow over the cave.

Next to the statues bathed in red light were the inscriptions the researcher had mentioned.

"I’m still in the early stages of evolution, so I couldn’t read them properly."

"I probably won’t be able to read them completely either, but let’s see what they say."

As the team leader stared intently at the inscribed wall, his eyes began to bulge out of his head.

Thick, black veins pulsed on his face, and his eyes grew so large that they began to strain against his skull.

He placed his fingers on the wall and started to slowly read the inscriptions.

"Hmm, this ruin is safe until 100 people gather. It says we need to prevent anyone else from entering."

"If that’s all, it seems like something we could manage to convince them of."

The team leader continued to read the inscriptions line by line, the veins in his bulging eyes becoming more pronounced, making it seem like they might explode at any moment.

"There’s another way to escape. It says we can offer one person as a living sacrifice."

The eyes that had seemed on the verge of bursting suddenly shrank back to their normal size, and the team leader let out a pained groan.

"Ugh, this is going to kill me. I need to advance my evolution faster so I can use my powers more naturally..."

Soon, the black veins that had appeared on the team leader’s face receded, and his eyes returned to their normal size.

"For now, let’s convince everyone to keep others from entering this place. And if that becomes difficult, we can always use the other method to escape."

"The human sacrifice option seems much harder to justify."

"Don’t be stupid. Of course, when it comes to offering a sacrifice, we’ll kill everyone here and escape ourselves."

"Oh, right. With our powers, that should be easy enough."

A quiet chuckle echoed from the Trinity Lab researcher as they discussed their grim plans.

I can’t destroy it.

I pounded on the wall, but the barrier remained intact.

The condition for destroying the barrier was Destroy the core.

Until the core was destroyed, the barrier would regenerate indefinitely.

If the regeneration speed had been slower, I could have broken enough of it to give Seo-Ah a chance to escape, but it was regenerating far too quickly.

I looked up at the sky and saw the unnaturally large red moon.

That must be the core.

I started focusing my "eye" on the red moon.

Place the red skull at the center of the desert, light it on fire, and dance on top of it.

Long.

And another weird condition!