Under the bright moonlight, I sat on the deck railing, looking down at the people who had fallen asleep.

What should I do with the staff of the Sehee Research Institute who had been put to sleep?

It didn’t seem like they would wake up on their own, as they had fallen under the spell of an Object. Should I just move them all to the Golden Reapers' garden? Or perhaps I should leave them in the care of the Golden Reapers and go off in search of the Blue Witch?

But no matter what I chose, it would mean canceling Sehee's fun trip, which I was reluctant to do.

As I was contemplating this impossible choice, I suddenly remembered the blue reaper I had summoned earlier. It seemed to possess some strange, magical powers—perhaps it could wake up the staff who had been put to sleep by the old woman?

I called the blue reaper to my palm, and it appeared, startled, pulling its hat down low and beginning to write something in the air.

“Invisible. I’ll turn invisible.”

As it did, the blue reaper gradually became transparent until it was completely invisible. Of course, since it was a part of me, I could still sense its location, so this was a pointless gesture.

Feeling a bit more secure now that it was invisible, the blue reaper adjusted its hat and stood up on my palm.

Now that I think about it, this little one is the only one wearing clothes—small shoes, a dress, and a big hat. It looks so uncomfortable; I’ll have to suggest it dress like me later.

But first, I needed to deal with the sleeping people. I focused my will and communicated with the blue reaper through the connection we shared.

“Wake up the people on this ship who have fallen asleep unnaturally.”

The blue reaper took in my thoughts, then looked around the deck before signaling that it understood.

It jumped off my palm and conjured a broom made of water, flying around the ship as it circled the deck.

“Please wake up from your sleep. Please escape from the curse.”

The words, formed from water, burst forth and gently rained down on the people like dew. The Golden Reapers, watching in fascination, hopped around excitedly, delighted by the sparkling droplets.

But no one woke up.

I had hoped that the situation would be easily resolved, but it seemed to have little effect.

Hmm, I guess this weaker version can’t break the original curse.

The blue reaper, standing back on my palm, looked around, then pulled its hat down low again and conveyed its thoughts.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t wake them up.”

Sensing its deep disappointment, I gently patted its hat to comfort it. The Golden Reapers also climbed onto my palm, hugging it tightly as if to reassure it.

Overwhelmed by the attention, the blue reaper, flustered, fled to the Golden Reapers' garden.

It seemed that Sehee’s enjoyable party had, unfortunately, come to an end for today. Considering the giant skeleton that appeared in the Red Desert, it was clear that the Blue Moon’s lake would be dangerous. I would need to evacuate the Sehee Institute staff to the Golden Reapers' garden.

I summoned the entire cruise ship to the Golden Reapers' garden, transforming the massive passenger ship into a vessel floating on a sea of hot chocolate. After relocating the sleeping people to the hot chocolate sea, I returned to the lake.

Now, I needed to quickly find the so-called “Mirror of the Blue Witch.”

The deserted Sehee Research Institute, mostly empty as people had gone on vacation, was left with a few unlucky security staff members tasked with managing the remaining Objects.

Under normal circumstances, they would be killing time by watching movies or dramas on their phones, but today, they sat idly, looking particularly glum.

One of the staff members, staring blankly at the CCTV, suddenly spoke up.

“Ah, the lake. I really wanted to go, but it’s a shame.”

“Yeah, me too. Maybe I should just quit and go to the lake instead.”

The senior staff member responded while stretching, looking almost like a zombie with his hollow expression.

“Maybe it’s because I couldn’t go to the lake, but I feel strangely tired and unmotivated. Even movies aren’t as fun anymore.”

“Yeah? Same here. I have this feeling that I won’t feel better until I see that wide-open lake.”

The other staff member replied, looking at the empty pudding cups with an even more dejected expression.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for the night shifts, it wouldn’t be so bad. I’d be so happy if a Golden Reaper could bring me some pudding... Why do they sleep at night, anyway?”

“Who knows? I’ve seen them wandering around at night sometimes, but it’s hard to say. The researchers might know.”

And so, time passed uneventfully in the Sehee security office.

At 6 a.m., as the sky began to turn a soft blue, the shift change personnel arrived. After a brief handover, they returned to their quarters, where they were greeted by a mess of a room.

Trash piled up like a mountain. Dirty dishes stacked in the sink. Clothes strewn haphazardly across the floor.

They knew they needed to clean up, but they just couldn’t muster the energy.

Sigh, who needs cleaning?

They decided they’d just microwave a convenience store meal and collapse into bed.

With that thought, they tossed their clothes onto the floor and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

“Huh? What the...”

After finishing the shower and dragging their tired body out, they were met with a strange sight.

The mountain of trash had disappeared.

The dishes in the sink had been cleaned and neatly put away.

The clothes scattered across the floor were folded and organized on the desk.

Normally, this would be a situation that would make them jump out of their skin, but for some reason, under the influence of the Blue Moon, they felt oddly calm.

What is this?

Did a house fairy stop by?

With the room clean, the air inside felt unusually fresh.

The deep night with the full moon hanging high had passed, and morning began to dawn.

The sun cast golden rays across the serene lake, brightening the sky.

The waves of the lake, rippling in the sunlight, created a unique atmosphere.

It somehow reminded me of wandering aimlessly through the red desert. Maybe because the dunes and the waves looked similar?

Well, it’s just that the sand has turned into water. That’s probably it.

Tap, tap.

I walked across the surface of the lake, in ghost form, without any particular direction, wandering wherever my steps took me.

Since the “Blue Witch” seemed like an Object that preyed on humans, I focused on areas where humans might be.

But the result was dismal.

There were countless boats on the lake, but they were all empty, floating aimlessly without their owners.

This is too much.

Who turned this place into a tourist attraction, anyway?

The search, which began in the morning, continued until late at night when the full moon rose. I had found neither the Blue Witch nor any living humans.

Blue Witch... Where are you?

Then, suddenly, the overwhelming stench returned, rising from the lake’s surface.

Ah!

I stopped my aimless wandering and fixed my direction, walking steadily toward the source of the foul smell.

The stronger the stench, the thicker the fog became. The closer I got to the source, the more chaotic the noise around me became.

“Your flesh will burn to ashes, down to the last scrap!”

And there it was—the curse the old woman had used.

I pushed through the fog and arrived at the lake's shore, where a gruesome scene awaited me.

Nasty creatures were tangled together, biting and cursing at each other.

There were the monstrous old women who toyed with and killed humans for fun.

And the twisted abominations, mocking humans, like the ones I had seen in the desert.

Two kinds of harmful creatures were killing each other.

Tap, tap.

I walked slowly between the two warring groups. As I approached, a clear change began to occur between them.

“The Gray Reaper?”

“Why is the Gray Reaper here?”

Their eyes filled with confusion and fear.

As I confirmed the destruction conditions for the monsters with my “eyes,” the effect accelerated.

The creatures I saw with my “eyes” recoiled in shock, turning to stare at me.

The once noisy lakeside grew quieter.

The old women, who had been spouting curses, and the monsters dripping with black ooze, stopped in their tracks and focused on me.

Their destruction conditions were all typical and weak—destroying the heart, exhausting regenerative abilities, destroying the brain, and so on.

The old women were the more troublesome ones since they needed to be buried in the ground, but nothing particularly high-ranking or special was here.

Was the “Blue Witch” not here?

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of small footsteps on gravel echoed in the eerie silence.

The once chaotic lakeside was now filled only with the sound of my footsteps.

Late in the evening, the night shift staff entered the security office.

They looked much more refreshed than usual. Lately, even when they tried to sleep, thoughts like I should’ve gone to Yangcheon-gu Lake had kept them awake, but tonight they had finally slept soundly.

“Hey, it’s like a house fairy visited my place. I took a shower, and when I came out, my place was spotless.”

“Really? That happened to you too? It happened to me as well.”

“The place was so clean that I slept better than I have in a long time.”

The senior staff member, feeling unusually refreshed, noticed that one of the junior staff was staring intently at something on his screen.

It was a camera feed showing a room that looked like it had been ransacked by a burglar.

A pet cam? Why is he so focused on that?

“What are you watching?”

“I’m trying to figure out what this house fairy is. So I left my place in a mess on purpose and set this up.”

“You really think you’ll catch something on that?”

But as a small blue figure appeared on the pet cam, both the senior and junior staff members leaned in closer, their eyes glued to the screen.

With each flash of blue light, the chaotic room was returned to its original, tidy state.

“The quality’s too low to make out much.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect the house fairy to be so tiny.”

The blue figure that had cleaned the room so quickly stood in front of the pet cam, surveying the room with a satisfied expression.

“A reaper? Is there a blue one too?”

“No idea. This is the first time I’ve seen it. Maybe it’s a variant of the Golden Reapers?”

The blue reaper, having surveyed the room, noticed the pet cam and curiously leaned in to examine the lens. After a moment of confusion, it tilted its head as if trying to figure out what it was before dissolving into mist and vanishing from the room.

“Well, who would’ve thought the house fairy was a blue reaper?”

“Wow, reapers are all pretty cute, aren’t they?”

As the senior and junior staff discussed the reapers, the blue reaper entered the security office and was shocked to see the pet cam feed showing the room.

Humans had seen it!

Embarrassed, the blue reaper pulled its hat down low and fled back to the Golden Reapers' garden.