The calm finally returned to Sehee Research Institute after we handed over the victims of the Third Trinity Lab abduction incident to the Object Association.

"Ha, now I can finally relax."

Sehee, who had spent a long time arguing with the Object Association members, slumped into the chair across from me.

No sooner had she collapsed than a Golden Reaper darted across the table, leaping onto her cheek as if offering comfort.

The Golden Reaper’s soothing pats quickly revitalized Sehee, who then scooped the creature into her hand and began to stroke it affectionately.

Another Golden Reaper, curled up in my palm, looked up at me with expectant eyes. So, I too began to gently stroke it.

Ah, this is so relaxing.

Under the warm sunlight, sitting beneath the parasol in the courtyard, sipping a drink and playing with the Golden Reapers—this is heaven.

Each Golden Reaper had its preferred way to be petted. The one in my hand liked its head scratched, while another sprawled under the sunlight, enjoying belly rubs. When I tickled its belly, it burst out laughing, clearly enjoying itself.

At first, it was difficult to tell the Golden Reapers apart since they all looked identical. But recently, I’d gotten better at distinguishing them. It made me feel like I was becoming a real Reaper expert.

After all, the most important job at Sehee Research Institute is playing with the Reapers!

Of course, seniors like Kim Jung-rye and Seoah would never agree, but that’s beside the point!

On the table, one of the Golden Reapers was crouched in front of my phone, intensely watching the screen. Its head followed the movement on the display so attentively that it was surprising. Most Golden Reapers weren’t interested in screens, so this one’s behavior was unusual.

The Golden Reaper was watching the news coverage of Agu, who had escaped. A helicopter from an Object-specialized broadcasting station was following Agu from a safe distance, capturing footage.

“Huh?”

An odd scene appeared on the broadcast.

It showed the completely devastated Trinity Lab and the eerily deserted city surrounding it. Scorched bodies lined the nearby roads, stark and lifeless.

"Sehee, I can see Trinity Lab on the news. The situation looks worse than we thought."

"Yeah, it looks a lot more serious than what the survivors told us."

Though it was clear that a massive disaster had occurred at Trinity, neither Sehee nor I were particularly worried about the Reapers.

After all, the Reapers are invincible!

The news anchor, who had been flustered by the sudden Gwanak-gu incident, regained composure as new information came in, providing a detailed report on the Trinity Lab abduction and imprisonment crisis.

The key takeaway was that Trinity Lab is suspicious.

Agu, charging forward relentlessly, suddenly dove into the ruins of Trinity Lab.

At that exact moment, the Golden Reaper watching the TV stood up abruptly and waved at me. Then, in the blink of an eye, it vanished into thin air.

The man, filled with unfounded confidence, turned out to be easier to deal with than expected.

His presence was considered "Agu-level," so I thought there would be another absurd destruction condition, but it was surprisingly simple.

<Destroy the human form.>

For an Agu-class entity, it was an almost anticlimactic condition. Perhaps it was because his body was overloaded with too many unnecessary things, causing his balance to collapse.

As the man was cut in half, the countless Objects that had emerged from his shadow melted into black slime.

Splat.

As his severed upper half hit the floor, people began to enter the lab.

Wait—there were still people here in such a dangerous place?

The newcomers turned out to be James, the foreigner from the pudding factory, along with a timid-looking man and four bodyguards.

I had heard they had returned to America, but apparently, they were back in Korea.

The moment the humans appeared, the Golden Reapers rushed over to greet them with bright smiles.

James's bodyguards, who were standing protectively around him, tried to block the Reapers' approach, but James motioned for them to stop and gathered the Golden Reapers into his arms.

"Haha, my little cuties! Have you been well?"

James’s interactions with the Reapers were much more natural and friendly than before.

The bodyguards, indifferent to the Reapers climbing onto their shoulders, focused solely on their duties. The Reapers, however, looked downcast as they perched on the guards’ shoulders, sulking after being ignored.

Meanwhile, one Golden Reaper cautiously approached the timid man. It was the same one he had previously abandoned.

As it approached with a nervous expression, the timid man hesitantly extended his hand, closing his eyes as he did so.

The Reaper beamed brightly, leaping into his palm.

"Haha," the man chuckled, a mix of fear and endearment on his face.

The Reaper smiled back, resting happily in his hand.

After taking down the "source of the black slime" lurking within Trinity, I felt as though my work there was complete.

Just as I was beginning to think about leaving, a sudden, ominous sound filled the air.

Thud. Thud.

The ground trembled beneath the heavy footsteps of an approaching Object.

The Golden Reapers stood up, sensing the approach of the powerful presence.

Bursting through the wall came a sight I hadn't seen in a while—one I hoped never to see again.

Agu.

Its gleaming eyes locked onto us as it prowled around, leaving deep claw marks in the floor.

The Golden Reapers glared back fiercely, ready to defend.

<Protect the humans!>

The Blue Reapers flew overhead, casting protective water barriers over everyone.

Agu was prowling, observing its surroundings instead of charging like before. Something felt off.

Why wasn’t it attacking as it had before?

The tense standoff between the Reapers and Agu filled the air with a sense of impending danger.

“We’re all doomed if Agu and the Gray Reaper fight here,” the translator wailed in despair, as a Golden Reaper gently patted his cheek to console him.

Even the bodyguards stood on edge, hoisting their torches high in preparation for the worst.

Despite the thick tension, James seemed to sense something different.

Agu’s gaze was locked onto him, staring intently.

Could it be?

James raised the briefcase containing the 0-level relic he had been holding.

Agu’s gaze followed the movement of the briefcase.

Impossible.

What was going on here?

Was the 0-level relic not related to the Gray Reaper, after all?

Should I take it out to confirm Agu’s reaction?

James’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sudden explosion of shadows and tendrils erupting from the body of the Third Trinity Lab Director.

The violent surge of shadows burst through the roof of Trinity, exposing the sky above—a sky that now glowed with a sinister light.

"The sky?"

James looked up in shock.

The sky had turned pitch-black, oozing like a liquid, slowly melting away.

The shadow spreading from the director's body turned the ground beneath into a pool of black liquid.

Anything that touched it melted and was sucked into the shadows.

Fortunately, the ground beneath us had transformed into soft marshmallow-like material.

The awkwardly textured surface surrounding the Gray Reaper seemed immune to the effects of the shadow, protecting us from the encroaching darkness.

Meanwhile, the black goo consumed everything it touched, greedily swallowing entire buildings.

The once-bustling street had become a bleak, barren wasteland, filled with grotesque tendrils that now took the place of the buildings.

The sky, which had melted into a sticky black ocean, began to stir.

From that ocean, an immense Object emerged, its scale almost too vast to comprehend.

It had changed, now darker and more grotesque, but I recognized it immediately.

It was the Object that had annihilated an entire city in China.

The giant jellyfish.

The colossal dome of the jellyfish swayed like a twisted canopy, raining black sludge down onto the ground below.

Its massive, writhing tendrils, now sharp and menacing, shot toward us.

<Protect the people!>

<Keep everyone safe!>

<Don’t let them get hurt!>

The Blue Reapers, startled by the sight, hastily etched frantic, glowing runes into the air.

The Golden Reapers leaped into the sky, ready to clash with the jellyfish’s tendrils.

But just before the two forces collided, a massive Object emerged from the black water, shielding James and his group.

It was Agu, slowly rotting away in the toxic black sludge.

Agu let out a piercing scream as its entire body was impaled by the jellyfish’s black tendrils.

What?

Agu, protecting humans?

Shocked, I extended the protective boundary of the garden to shield Agu from the black water.

Agu’s condition was terrible.

One of its eyes had rotted away, and the parts of its body that had been corroded by the black slime seemed to have lost their immunity to physical damage.

But it didn’t seem like Agu was going to die.

It was slowly regenerating, but that wasn’t the only reason.

The stone created by the Object of Beginning.

Its destruction condition remained unchanged.

Even with its body disintegrating, Agu’s gaze was still fixed on James.

Just then, a white flame erupted from the briefcase James had been holding.

Startled, James dropped the case, which was quickly consumed by the fire, leaving behind nothing but ashes.

In its place remained a glowing, round stone, radiating light like the sun.

The stone slowly rose into the air, hovering above my head.

At that moment, white flames enveloped my body.

The familiar firewood flames.

Instead of pain, I felt… comfort.

How should I describe this feeling?

Trust? Friendship?

The white sun replenished my energy faster than the book I had encountered before.

Agu, too, shifted its gaze from James to me, its eyes filled with a bittersweet longing.

Its expression seemed… desperate.