I quickly stood up and rescued the Golden Reaper from the sea of hot chocolate, responding to its unexpected reaction.

The Golden Reaper, now cradling the orb, curled up in a ball on my palm, eyes tightly shut.

It had fallen asleep, but a single tear rolled down from its eye, as if it were having a sad dream.

All I wanted was to see the Golden Reapers happily playing around, passing this letter like a game of hot potato!

Who would've thought it would take the letter so seriously...

I placed the Golden Reaper back onto my palm, deep in thought.

How on earth do I fix this?

This is more of a headache than when I fought Agu.

Solution #1:

[Pretend I removed the orb and cured the curse.]

Pros: The Golden Reaper would be happy. A perfect world where no one gets hurt.

Cons: If I get caught, things will get much worse. I can’t even imagine how angry the Golden Reaper would be.

My inner Neutral Reaper proposed this solution.

It was the route where everyone would have a happy ending.

But the more I thought about it, the less feasible it seemed.

If deceiving the emotionally sensitive Golden Reaper were easy, I would've kept tossing that black slime 'by mistake.'

Solution #2:

[Properly apologize and face it head-on.]

My inner Good Reaper proposed this solution.

Doing the right thing is always the best approach.

If I did something wrong, I should apologize.

Apologizing seemed like the better option.

There was a third solution, suggested by my inner Evil Reaper, but I scrapped that one. It was high-risk, low-reward, and nobody would be happy if I got caught.

Deciding on Solution #2, I reached out with my fingers to gently pull the orb from the Golden Reaper's grasp.

But when I tugged, it wouldn’t budge—the Golden Reaper clung onto it with all its strength.

The Golden Reaper, startled awake, saw me and clung to the orb even tighter, trembling.

I gave up trying to take the orb and instead stroked the Golden Reaper’s head gently to convey my intentions.

"I made that orb. I'm sorry."

The moment I conveyed that, the Golden Reaper widened its eyes, looked up at me, and the orb in its arms vanished. It created a new orb and began shedding tears again.

I hugged the Golden Reaper tightly and slowly stroked its head.

"It was just a joke. No one's going to die. Don't cry."

"I'm sorry."

"I won’t do it again."

I continued to stroke the Golden Reaper gently until its sobbing finally stopped.

Late Afternoon

The sun’s late afternoon rays streamed through the office windows, casting long shadows over the piles of paperwork on my desk.

The stiffness from sitting for so long was weighing down my shoulders with fatigue.

Senior Kim Jung-roe was busy, and Seo-ah unni was busy, so all the simple paperwork tasks ended up falling on me.

"Ugh."

Stretching my arms over my head to loosen my stiff shoulders, I felt a satisfying pull in my muscles, easing the tension.

There was so much to prepare for James’s sudden proposal to send the Sehee Research Institute to the U.S.

Not only did I have to submit paperwork to the Korea Object Association for the transport of high-level Objects, but I also had to file documents with the U.S. Object Association.

There was a mountain of forms and applications needed for the trip to the U.S.

But finally, the piles of papers that had been tormenting me were all submitted.

"It's finally over!"

I leaned back in my chair with a satisfied sigh, free at last from the endless cycle of paperwork.

The sheer volume of documents required by the Korea Object Association made it feel like they kept popping up no matter how many I finished.

Of course, once they reply, there will be even more tasks, but that’s for tomorrow's me to worry about.

At last, a moment of rest.

The storm of work that had been swirling around my mind subsided, and I began to feel excitement at the thought of visiting the Reaper.

Standing up, I switched off the lights in the empty office and stepped outside.

Just the thought of seeing the Reaper made a smile spread across my face.

When I get to the isolation room, I’m going to hug the Reaper with all my might and roll around on the bed!

But when I arrived at the Reaper's isolation room, I was greeted by a shocking scene.

The Reaper...

The Reaper was wearing clothes!

Sitting on the bed, the Reaper was dressed in a large witch's hat made of water and a water scarf, calmly watching TV.

In its arms, the Golden Reaper, also wearing a matching hat and scarf, was grinning and watching TV as well.

And all around them, more Golden Reapers, also wearing witch hats, were running around, smiling brightly.

The Reaper seemed to be having the time of its life, wearing the same outfit as the Golden Reapers.

The Reaper was wearing clothes.

Is this a dream?

Could it be that I haven’t actually finished the paperwork and I’ve fallen asleep out of exhaustion?

The horrible thought crossed my mind, and I pinched my cheek, but all I felt was a sharp sting.

It’s not a dream.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket and started snapping pictures of this rare scene.

A Reaper wearing clothes, lovingly matching with the Golden Reaper?

If someone offered to buy these photos from me, I’d probably even hand over my house deed. That’s how rare they are.

Tap, tap.

When the Golden Reaper patted its hand, the Reaper responded by stroking the Golden Reaper with its finger.

The Reaper’s touch was more careful and tender than usual, and the Golden Reaper grinned even wider.

It was as if the Reaper had discovered a maternal instinct.

If I were to title this photo, it would probably be:

“A Kind Reaper and the Golden Reaper’s Family Portrait.”

The day to depart for the U.S. had finally arrived.

As I stepped out of the institute's vehicle, the quiet stillness and cold morning air greeted me.

Before the sun had fully risen, the world was filled with a brief, serene peace.

Soft blue light began to spread across the horizon, casting a blue glow on everything it touched.

The sunlight felt comforting against my skin, perhaps because I had been trapped indoors for so long, with the Golden Reaper constantly asking to play dress-up.

Even though I told the Reaper I’d grant one wish, who knew its request would be to wear matching clothes and play?

Considering it was an Object created in my likeness, it was a surprisingly modest wish.

If it had my personality, it would have probably asked me to create a "Cursed Letter Mk.2" out of sheer spite.

As I followed Yerin toward the airport, the place seemed strangely unfamiliar.

Normally bustling with travelers, the airport was eerily silent, the empty atmosphere unsettling.

Did they really clear out the entire airport just because I’m heading to the U.S.?

Step by step, we entered the airport, the sound of our footsteps echoing in the eerie silence, confirming my suspicions.

An empty airport. A strange, unsettling stillness.

The only sounds were Yerin's heels clicking against the floor and the soft padding of my bare feet.

If they were going to clear the place out like this, wouldn’t it have been easier to use a military airport?

Not that I’m an expert or anything, but I’m sure there’s a reason for it.

Still, using a civilian airport like this gave the whole thing a secret mission vibe, which felt kind of fun.

Heh.

And there, in the middle of the empty hall, I spotted James and his team waiting for us.

Finally, we were off to America!

New Scene:

In the eastern U.S., there was a vast, newly established city—James City.

As the name suggests, it was built and funded by James himself, a massive metropolis that bore his signature.

At the outskirts of the city, preparations were underway at James City Airport to welcome the team from the Sehee Research Institute, arriving from Korea.

Early in the morning, as I supervised the preparations at James Airport, something strange caught my eye.

"What on earth is that?"

A cylindrical pillar, riddled with countless holes, had appeared beyond the tall buildings, its towering form unmistakable.

It hadn’t been there yesterday.

How could such a massive structure suddenly appear overnight?

"There's nothing there, sir," one of my subordinates replied, as if they couldn’t see the pillar at all.

Either I’d lost my mind, or my subordinates had lost theirs.

It had to be one of the two.

Since it couldn’t be me, it must be everyone else who's gone mad.

Ignoring my subordinates' attempts to dissuade me, I started walking slowly toward the pillar.

"Possible Object-induced mental contamination detected. Requesting a response team!" I heard someone shout from the distance.

Ha, they’re calling for a response team without even realizing they’re the ones contaminated.

Now, how was I supposed to handle this?

Right, I should take out my recorder.

"Strange structure sighted. White in color. Large cylindrical pillar with numerous holes."

"Since no one else seems to perceive it, it appears everyone has been mentally contaminated by the Object."

"I will proceed to investigate the pillar's identity."

Of course, approaching an Object without caution was a dangerous move, but given the emergency situation, I didn’t have much of a choice.

After passing through countless security checkpoints, I finally arrived at the location where the Object was supposed to be.

But instead of the towering pillar, there stood a massive wall and a gate.

The reason for James City's existence.

It was a colossal barrier surrounding an area deemed irreversible due to Object contamination.

Access to this zone was restricted, permitted only to those with administrator-level clearance.

Standing before the barrier, I felt a sudden revelation.

"Open the gate."

At that moment, I remembered the protocol we were drilled on endlessly to gain administrator privileges.

“If your mind is clear, and you feel compelled to open the gate, press the red button.”

I pressed the red button and immediately lost consciousness.