Inside the cold, steel cage of Trinity’s lab, a man sat in deep regret, his mind consumed by guilt.

He silently chastised himself, caught in a whirlwind of self-reproach. Bringing his daughter to Trinity Research Facility, which he once believed to be the pinnacle of trust and scientific excellence, had been a grave mistake.

All he had wanted was to fulfill his daughter’s wish of seeing the Gray Reaper, her hero. He had thought it was the safest opportunity to do so, having even made reservations for the tour. But now, here they were, locked in a cage with a crowd of terrified people.

In the midst of this bleak situation, he heard his daughter’s fearful voice.

"Dad…"

“It’ll be okay. It’s going to be alright.”

He forced himself to sound calm, suppressing his own fear to comfort her. The once bright and cheerful face of his daughter was now darkened by fear, which only deepened his regret.

He cursed himself for trusting anyone involved with Objects. There was no one trustworthy in this world of dangerous experiments.

"Help us! This is kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment!"

"Do you know who I am? You’re going to be in big trouble!"

Angry, confused shouts and threats filled the air from the other prisoners in the cage, but the man knew that none of these protests would make a difference. The lab staff, who prowled the area, paid no mind to the outbursts. The fact that they moved so brazenly without any fear of consequences only confirmed one thing: these captors had no intention of letting anyone leave alive.

His thoughts wandered to the horrors uncovered after the collapse of the Central Research Facility—murders, body concealment, and the homeless being fed to Objects. Trinity was no better, and believing otherwise had been his critical error.

A thunderous voice broke through his thoughts.

“You! I’ll remember your face! When I get out of here, you’re finished!”

The man's head turned to the source of the voice, an old man with a muscular build who was seething with rage, his face red as he bellowed at the staff. The man even ripped off his shirt and hurled it at the lab staff.

The old man’s roaring provoked a reaction from the previously indifferent researchers. Their eyes gleamed with a twisted shine, and unsettling smiles crept across their faces.

That’s when the man’s protective instincts kicked in. He grabbed his daughter’s hand and pulled her deeper into the crowd, hiding them among the other captives to avoid the researchers' unsettling gazes.

Holding his daughter tightly, they watched the scene unfold from within the safety of the crowd.

The researchers, now visibly transformed, approached the old man slowly. Their gazes roved over him like a butcher appraising meat, and one of them called out to the others.

"We don’t need to keep all of them alive, do we?"

“W-what…?”

The fear rippled through the captives, but not because of the words themselves. It was the grotesque transformation of the researcher’s arm that sent terror through the cage. What had once been a human limb was now a monstrous appendage with sharp claws.

With a swift motion, the researcher’s mutated arm grabbed the old man, the sickening crunch of bones echoing as the old man screamed in agony.

Moments later, his neck was snapped, and his body crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

The man watched in horror as the researchers, once ordinary lab staff, now revealed their monstrous, twisted forms—faces contorted with malice and hunger.

The crowd went silent. The truth was undeniable now: there was little hope of surviving this.

As dread and despair spread through the cage, the man noticed something unusual. His daughter was staring intently at the floor.

“Dad, the Reaper is here!”

His daughter, unfazed by the panic around her, reached out toward a small figure.

In front of her was a tiny, blue-colored Reaper.

The woman entered the isolation room, her eyes immediately drawn to the figure of the Gray Reaper.

Despite all the stories and rumors about this Object, standing in front of it now, she felt nothing special.

"The most dangerous Object in Korea."

"A top-tier, highly dangerous Object."

The Gray Reaper had garnered a notorious reputation, yet the overwhelming aura typically associated with such a being was completely absent.

No menacing presence, no sense of immense power pressing down on the surroundings—nothing.

This was supposed to be Korea's most dangerous Object?

It seemed like a mistake.

The Gray Reaper barely acknowledged its surroundings, its empty gaze falling in her direction, but there was no expression on its face. It seemed indifferent to everything around it.

Still, no matter how harmless it seemed, caution was necessary. The woman composed herself, placing a vial of concentrated evolutionary fluid on the table. Taking a sip from the vial, she addressed the Gray Reaper.

"Drink this, Gray Reaper."

For the first time, a flicker of interest appeared in the Reaper’s otherwise vacant eyes.

The woman activated the large screen behind her, which displayed a live feed of a cage filled with terrified people and the dead body of the old man.

“I know you care about humans. Drink this evolutionary fluid. If you don’t, I’ll have them killed, one by one.”

According to the lab’s research, the Gray Reaper possessed a level of intelligence capable of understanding language. Given the Reaper’s apparent attachment to humans, it would have no choice but to drink the fluid.

The woman took another sip from the vial, demonstrating what she wanted.

Surely, faced with such an impossible situation, the Gray Reaper would comply.

But the Reaper’s reaction wasn’t what she had hoped for. It continued to stare at her with the same bored expression, showing no signs of cooperation.

Perhaps it still didn’t understand.

Growing impatient, the woman pulled out her phone and issued a command.

“Kill one of the hostages. Now!”

If the Reaper didn’t understand the first time, repeating the process would eventually force it to comply.

Her order was relayed to the staff, and they began to reveal their true, evolved forms.

However, before they could reach the cage, jets of water shot out from seemingly nowhere, shredding the researchers to pieces.

"What…?"

Unable to comprehend what had just happened, she turned back to the Gray Reaper.

This must be some undocumented ability.

The hostage situation had failed, but she was confident she could still win.

"Everyone, come out and kill the Gray Reaper!"

The walls of the isolation room slid open, revealing the lab’s enhanced soldiers. They were products of brain surgeries that stripped them of fear, designed to be disposable fighters.

Though weaker and lacking regenerative abilities compared to the main researchers, their sheer numbers and strength were formidable.

As the soldiers advanced toward the Gray Reaper, it reacted, glancing at the empty air with a curious expression.

What’s going on? Was it surprised by the soldiers?

The soldiers charged forward, claws swinging wildly, but the Gray Reaper responded with a playful twirl and a round of applause.

Suddenly, the soldiers turned on each other, attacking their own ranks and collapsing.

At first, the woman thought it was a coincidence. Reports from the ogre fight had mentioned something similar, but that had been dismissed as insignificant.

Now, the Reaper jumped twice to the right and tapped the floor, causing another soldier to get tangled in electrical wires and snap their neck.

One by one, the soldiers fell, victims of their own actions, as the Gray Reaper continued its bizarre, childlike antics.

Before long, a series of explosions erupted from the ceiling, the wires zapping the remaining soldiers into oblivion.

In an instant, dozens of soldiers were dead.

Even though more were still rushing toward the Reaper, the woman found herself stepping back in fear.

There was no way her soldiers could win.

For the first time, she felt a deep unease as the Reaper’s gaze fell on her. It seemed to be looking at something beyond her, something she couldn’t understand.

The primal dread spreading through her body made it impossible to suppress her growing fear.

What was the Gray Reaper seeing?

Panic surged through her as she turned and ran.

She needed to buy time. She had to reach security.

Only the director could stop this monster!

Clap, clap.

Tap, tap.

As the sounds of clapping and tapping echoed behind her, signaling more of her soldiers falling, the woman fled in terror.

The researchers, upon receiving a signal, began to approach the captives within the cage.

The researchers had completely shed their human façades, revealing themselves as twisted monsters.

Just as all hope seemed lost, something unexpected happened.

Incomprehensible words appeared in the air, glowing brightly.

"100 water-made needles!"

Tiny jets of water shot through the air, tearing a researcher to shreds.

"1,000 water-made needles!"

"10 water-made needles!"

The Blue Reapers conjured beautiful strings of text in the air, attacking the researchers with precision.

However, the researchers were resilient. No matter how damaged they became, they regenerated and continued their assault.

Worse still, more researchers were pouring out of the surrounding buildings.

The ten Blue Reapers couldn’t hold them all off.

Realizing this, the Blue Reapers gathered together and created a massive string of text in the air.

"The Strongest Mom Golem!"

"Golem!"

A colossal figure of water formed in the air, casting a vast shadow over the battlefield.

Standing at a towering five meters tall, the water golem took the form of the Gray Reaper and let out a ferocious roar.

“Raaaargh!”

With overwhelming force, the water golem crushed the researchers, turning them into a bloody pulp. It swept through the battlefield, its immense mass reducing the attackers to nothing. As it moved, the golem lifted its enemies into the air and slammed them down with brutal power, shattering their bodies on impact.

"Mom is so strong!"

"She's the strongest!"

The Blue Reapers cheered as the colossal golem, shaped like the Gray Reaper, unleashed its fury, flattening everything in its path. No matter how many enemies came, the golem was unstoppable. After the area was cleared of threats, the golem let out another thunderous roar, shaking the ground with its sheer intensity.