The Trinity Research Facility had left no trace, and Gwanak-gu had transformed into a living hell.

Tentacles whipped through the air in every direction.

Black water engulfed everything.

From James’s perspective, neither the sky nor the ground was safe.

He watched as tentacles, rising from the black sea that had replaced the sky, grabbed helicopters and dragged them into the ocean.

These were helicopters from a news station, keeping what they thought was a safe distance while recording.

Perhaps they had judged that they were far enough away to be safe, but the entire Gwanak-gu area was now a danger zone, filled with tentacles.

The only safe place in Gwanak-gu was here.

Only the white land created by the Gray Reaper provided safety.

James bowed his head and gently stroked the soft, white ground.

Is this... marshmallow?

A marshmallow island, protecting us from tentacles that look like they've risen from hell.

It feels like something out of a fairy tale.

Giant tentacles continued to slam down from the sky, but they never reached James and his group.

It was thanks to the 0-level relic burning brightly above the Gray Reaper's head.

The sun-like light emitted by the relic burned away all the approaching tentacles, leaving none unscathed.

"Huh, so the 0-level relic had this kind of power..."

James muttered to himself, discovering a new side to the relic he had studied for so long.

The white light felt sacred and mysterious, to the point where even the interpreter, usually quick to panic, had fallen silent and watched quietly.

Underneath that white light, Agu lay on the ground, gazing blankly at the Gray Reaper.

Standing before Agu were the Gray Reaper and the Golden Reapers, exchanging looks with Agu.

The Gray Reaper slowly reached upward.

A white sphere moved toward the Reaper's outstretched hand.

As soon as the sphere touched the Gray Reaper's hand, a blinding light burst forth.

It was so intense that James had to close his eyes.

When he opened them again, the white sphere was gone, and the Gray Reaper's body was glowing white.

The radiant Gray Reaper slowly stepped forward and placed a hand on Agu’s head.

Suddenly, Agu began to turn to ash and scatter in the wind.

Though Agu had been a fearsome sight, the way it disintegrated into ash seemed oddly peaceful.

As Agu turned to ash, the brilliant glow of the Gray Reaper also faded.

Did the Gray Reaper just consume the 0-level relic?

Based on the circumstances, that seems to be the case.

Agu had turned to ash, and the glowing 0-level relic had vanished.

But the Gray Reaper didn’t stop moving.

The Reaper crouched down and placed a hand on the marshmallow ground, causing something to rise from it.

A large, round marshmallow hill.

From this hill sprouted arms, legs, and a tail.

As eyes and a mouth formed, it began to take on the shape of an Object.

A much cuter, tentacle-free, enormous white Agu.

The new Agu was twice the size of the original and let out a dolphin-like sound as it opened its huge mouth.

"Kyuu!"

White flames erupted from its marshmallow skin.

And then, it charged toward the jellyfish.

Surrounded by a flaming armor that burned through the tentacles in an instant!

Agu lay sprawled on the marshmallow ground, its body pierced through by the jellyfish’s tentacles.

The poor thing gazed at me with pitiful eyes.

Somehow, I could tell that it was asking me to end its suffering.

Agu's destruction condition was linked to The Stone Created by the Object of Beginnings.

Suddenly, Agu’s demeanor changed.

It flew toward me, and above my head hovered a burning white stone.

If I put these two pieces together, it made sense that the sphere above me was 'The Stone Created by the Object of Beginnings.'

As I raised my head to look at the stone, I had a sudden sense of what needed to be done.

I’d never done it before, but it felt strangely familiar.

With a practiced motion, I reached out toward the stone with one hand.

The moment my hand touched the stone, a 'memory I didn’t know' surfaced in my mind.

In that memory, I was facing a large, white creature.

A giant frog?

Or a sleek, white Agu?

Whatever it was, it was much bigger than the current Agu, and I was placing my hand on its head.

In the memory, I was speaking, though the words were incomprehensible.

They sounded warm and sad.

A language of pleading.

When I snapped back to reality, the exact same white creature from the memory stood before me.

Agu had been destroyed, and now there was a new Object—a mini Reaper garden’s Object.

The white Agu.

There were small differences compared to the one from the memory, probably because it had been made of marshmallow, not dirt.

For some reason, it looked incredibly delicious.

Soft and squishy, like something you could take a bite out of.

It looked so tasty.

As it gazed down at me with an expectant expression, I slowly approached and tapped its leg.

Then, I tore off a piece and took a bite.

Chewy, soft, and delicious, just as I had imagined—real marshmallow.

As I ate, the white Agu, watching me with a smile, glanced around before letting out another cute, dolphin-like sound.

"Kyuu!"

And then, covered in white flames, it charged at the jellyfish.

The white Agu raced around, setting the tentacles on fire as it went.

Wow, it’s fighting better than I thought.

It seems like it could protect James and the others well enough.

But defeating the giant jellyfish like this won’t work.

The jellyfish’s destruction condition is too complicated.

"Silence the jellyfish that can’t speak but talks a lot, then destroy the Night Pearl at the eye of the storm."

What on earth does it mean by the jellyfish that talks a lot?

I gazed at the miniature jellyfish filling the sea of black sludge, feeling a sense of hopelessness.

I’ll have to try every method I can think of.

James sat comfortably on the marshmallow, watching the white Agu struggle.

The massive white Agu was locked in battle with the giant jellyfish that dominated the sky.

Though the white Agu was large, the size difference between it and the jellyfish was like that between an adult and an infant.

Yet, the white flames surrounding the Agu gave it an advantage over the giant jellyfish.

The jellyfish’s enormous tentacles would burst into flames the moment they touched the Agu.

Whenever it got the chance, the Agu would leap onto the jellyfish and viciously tear at its body.

But the jellyfish regenerated its wounds instantly, shaking the Agu off.

It was truly an endless war between two giant monsters.

And in the midst of this fierce battle, James was casually eating snacks.

It was a bizarre situation.

It should have been dangerous, yet he felt oddly at ease in this strange setting.

While the white Agu fought, the Golden Reapers brought snacks and handed them out to everyone.

The problem was that their choices reflected their own preferences—marshmallows, pudding, and candy.

And yet, another subspecies of the Gray Reaper had appeared.

A blue, semi-transparent mini Reaper.

The blue Reaper seemed shy, avoiding people's gazes and turning invisible whenever someone looked at it.

There were times when snacks seemed never-ending, and that was usually the blue Reaper’s doing.

As for the Gray Reaper, it was acting strangely.

It kept fishing jellyfish out of the black sludge, dissecting them, listening closely to them, and even punching them, though the reason behind these actions was unclear.

Sometimes it looked as if it was torturing the jellyfish, but I couldn’t understand why.

It seemed like the Gray Reaper was aiming for something, but whatever it was, it wasn’t yielding any results, given the Reaper’s displeased expression.

Next to where the Gray Reaper sat, a mountain of dead jellyfish corpses piled up.

The Gray Reaper kicked the pile back into the sludge and clapped its hands, summoning a group of Golden Reapers.

They exchanged glances for a long while.

After the silent exchange, the Golden Reapers scattered, diving into the black sea.

Splash, splash.

Their expressions made it clear that they weren’t thrilled about it, but they had no choice.

As countless jellyfish corpses began floating up from the black sea, the Gray Reaper smiled in satisfaction.

Slap, slap.

I had been sleeping, but something was hitting my eyelids.

When I came to, I saw a group of very angry Golden Reapers.

Oh, right. I was supposed to go into the black sea too, wasn’t I?

Thud, thud.

They must’ve realized from my expression that I never intended to go in, because the Golden Reapers rushed me and began hitting me with their tiny fists.

Just as I was tussling with them, a loud sound and a tremor shook the air.

Startled, I looked around to see the black sea roiling.

Tornadoes were rising everywhere, and a fierce wind began to howl.

"Silence the jellyfish that can’t speak but talks a lot, then destroy the Night Pearl at the eye of the storm."

It was the storm described in the destruction condition.