The giant pig roamed the Rocky Mountains like it was its own home, always looking for the right moment to strike.

I placed the Sprout Reaper and Blue Reaper in my palm and conveyed my will.

"Here we go, there's only one shot at this. Get ready!"

The Golden Reaper, left out of the mission, sat sulking in Yerin's hand like a puppy who had just had its food bowl taken away.

"It's okay. It's all right."

Yerin, feeling sorry for it, gently stroked the Golden Reaper's head, trying to comfort it.

I gathered the remaining logs, preparing to create a massive black hole.

No more backup.

If this mission failed, all I had left were the resources to escape with Yerin to the Mini Reaper Garden. This would be the final strike.

As I pushed the remaining energy into my hands to form the black hole, my palms began to darken, casting a shimmering heat around them.

The Sprout Reaper and Blue Reaper, perched on my shoulder, tensed up, ready for action.

Sensing that I was preparing something big, the giant pig turned its full attention to me, watching closely for an opportunity.

<"Block its vision!">

<"Cover everything in thick fog!">

<"Disorient its sense of direction!">

As a thick fog spread, clouding vision and distorting the senses, I stretched out my hands.

At that very moment, the giant pig ignited its body with flames and charged through the fog at incredible speed.

Watching its approach, I clenched my fists.

Snort.

The King of Pigs, ruler of the mountains, thought endlessly, even in its dazed state.

I must kill them all.

That was the promise made with ■■.

For my mountains, my people, my ■■.

Once again, space distorted before the pig’s eyes, signaling another compression.

As the space contracted, bone and flesh were ripped apart mercilessly.

It barely escaped, but these wounds wouldn’t kill it.

Amid the agonizing process of its body reassembling, the pig caught a glimpse of the enemy.

Its nearly-blind eyes could only make out the faintest presence of its foe.

And that presence was steadily diminishing.

I can win.

The enemy was strong, but not strong enough to defeat me.

Their strength isn’t limitless.

If I hold out, they'll exhaust their power or make a mistake.

The Pig King waited for that moment.

Surely, the enemy would push too hard to turn the tide and take a risky gamble.

<"Block its vision!">

<"Cover everything in thick fog!">

<"Disorient its sense of direction!">

The moment came quicker than expected.

Fog thickened around them, blurring vision and distorting their senses.

As the fog spread, the presence of the enemy rapidly diminished.

It looked like they had worn themselves out to the point of being unable to make a follow-up attack.

This was the moment the Pig King had been waiting for.

And as the enemy’s presence shrank, a terrifying pressure grew.

Space itself screamed.

A massive attack, larger than anything before, was coming!

The Pig King, cloaked in flames, charged head-on, as if preparing for a direct showdown.

But it was an act.

The Pig King rushed forward, as if in a desperate hurry to strike before the attack could finish.

All the while, it was prepared to dodge at any moment.

Inside the fog-filled space, a transparent yet disjointed boundary formed.

Some of the fog no longer fit, clashing with the space around it.

At the boundary, the fog split apart like a fault line, and the flow of air became tangled and chaotic.

The entire area was filled with what seemed like endless, transparent glass beads, distorting the scenery like the view through a fisheye lens.

A transparent, yet impenetrable barrier had formed, trapping the Pig King inside.

And then, darkness fell.

A massive region, large enough to engulf the Pig King, was covered in a space that let no light escape.

From within, a low, ominous hum echoed.

It was the symphony of space folding, the signal the Pig King had been waiting for.

This was the last possible moment to escape, the point where the enemy’s attack couldn’t be reversed.

As the black sphere formed, the pig leapt through space.

It landed directly behind the enemy.

A perfect dodge, followed by an immediate counterattack.

As the Pig King opened its mouth wide, ready to bite down, everything froze.

The fog vanished.

Above, instead of the sky, there was a massive tree.

A strange tree, golden and navy-blue intertwined.

The Pig King didn’t remember this tree, but it felt familiar.

I can't move!

Why?

In this frozen world, only one figure moved.

A gray-skinned, flame-bright enemy.

They floated slowly towards the Pig King and gently tapped its tusk with the tip of their finger.

The Pig King began to move—against its will.

Leaving a trail of navy-blue afterimages, the Pig King was slowly, slowly rewound.

No!

It retraced its steps, step by step.

The dimensional portal that had vanished reappeared, as if time itself was rewinding. The shattered ground reassembled beneath the Pig King’s feet.

It was as if only the time connected to its position was being reversed.

The Pig King resisted with all its might, but it was no use.

And the moment it was engulfed by the black sphere, time resumed.

The black hole, grinding space itself, devoured the Pig King's body in an instant.

In its final moments, as its body disintegrated, the Pig King found a fragment of an old memory.

A forgotten, faded memory.

The memory of its birth.

The white guardian towering above the Pig King, and behind them, a massive figure staring with expressionless eyes.

With that memory, the Pig King closed its eyes.

We won!

It’s finally over.

The giant, nimble pig was dead.

As the vortex in the earth, warped by space, vanished, the massive clearing the pig had rampaged through began to shrink rapidly.

The Sprout Reaper, exhausted, had fallen asleep in the Golden Reapers' arms.

The Golden Reapers laughed and tossed the Sprout into the air.

They were celebrating their youngest's success with a playful toss.

From the look on the sleeping Sprout’s face, though, it didn’t seem like it was enjoying it much.

"It’s finally over!" Yerin exclaimed with a bright smile as she approached me.

"Reaper, we did i—huh?"

But as Yerin grabbed my hands in relief, she gasped in shock.

Poof.

The moment she touched my hands, they crumbled into ash.

This happened because the Sprout Reaper’s power—the ability to rewind an object's position—used more resources than I had expected.

"Are you okay? You’re okay, right?"

Seeing Yerin’s panicked reaction, I suddenly had a fun idea.

Heh heh.

Suppressing the light from my essence, I pretended to faint, dramatically collapsing backward.

It hurt a bit, but I cut off the flow of essence from my legs, turning them into ash.

"No! Reaper, no!"

Yerin wailed, shaking my shoulders, crying as if I were really dying.

Then, she collapsed, burying her face in my chest.

I figured it was about time to reveal it was all a joke, but when I opened my eyes, Yerin didn’t move.

'Huh?'

It seemed she had fainted from the emotional shock.

The Mini Reapers looked down at me with expressions that screamed, "You idiot."

What? What did I do?

I laid Yerin down carefully and shook her gently, but she didn’t wake up.

Yerin, come on, wake up.

It was just a prank!

This can’t be serious, right?

Early in the morning at Sehee Research Lab, Se-ah received a report about the appearance of a mysterious woman.

The woman's identity was soon revealed—James’s personal secretary.

James’s secretary, suddenly brought to Sehee Lab?

It had to be connected to the Gray Reaper and Oh Yerin, but it was difficult to get relevant information while in Korea.

Even the news about the spirit barrier, which had been functioning smoothly, had suddenly gone dark.

Unable to reach James directly, Se-ah had sent an email detailing the secretary’s condition.

The Korean Object Association sometimes tried to control information in this manner, but the reasons behind it remained unclear.

Though a bit worried, Se-ah figured everything would be fine as long as the Gray Reaper was with Yerin.

If a real problem arose, the Gray Reaper would bring Yerin back.

With those thoughts sorted, Se-ah went for a morning walk around the research facility, only to stumble upon something highly suspicious.

Through the slightly ajar door to Sehee’s office, Se-ah noticed a hidden underground staircase.

In that moment, an absurd rumor that had been circulating in the Sehee Lab came to mind.

The reason the lab’s financial situation never improved, no matter how much money they made, was because of a massive golden statue hidden underground.

Se-ah had always dismissed such ridiculous gossip, but after seeing that passage, a part of her grew suspicious.

Using only the light from her phone, Se-ah began to descend the secret staircase that wasn’t even marked on any maps.

She had always trusted that Director Sehee managed the lab’s budget transparently and responsibly, so she’d never been too concerned. But now, seeing this hidden facility, she regretted not paying more attention to those rumors.

Step by step, as she descended the long staircase, Se-ah’s regret only deepened.

When she finally reached the bottom, she found herself in a spacious, gleaming underground chamber.

The first thing that caught her eye was a massive golden statue dominating the room.

Reflecting the lights in the chamber brilliantly, the statue was clearly the centerpiece of this underground facility.

It was a colossal golden statue of the Gray Reaper.

Its expressionless face made it clear that this wasn’t a statue of the Golden Reaper, but the Gray Reaper itself.

"How much must this have cost?"

Se-ah could only gasp in awe.

It was clear that an absurd amount of money had been spent to create both the golden statue and this underground space.

As she marveled at the pristine air, which felt too fresh to be underground, Se-ah heard a voice from behind her.

"You’ve seen it now, haven’t you, Se-ah?"

Her heart racing, Se-ah turned around.

Standing there, emerging from the shadows of the underground passage, was Sehee, staring directly at her.