NoveLight ™
In the quiet back garden of Sehee Lab, the warm midday sun bathed everything in a serene glow.
The peaceful scene looked like it had been cut straight from a well-crafted photograph, with everything in place as if frozen in time.
I lay on a soft mat, my head resting on Yerin's lap, gazing up at the sky in comfort.
The Golden Reapers joyfully played with the Black Reapers, racing around the garden, while a cute dog carried one of the Golden Reapers on its back, running tirelessly in all directions.
This is peaceful.
No matter how impressive the facilities at James's lab were, Sehee Lab always felt like home.
People really do make all the difference.
The stifling atmosphere of James’s lab couldn’t compare to the relaxed, carefree environment of Sehee Lab, which felt more like a fun getaway.
A light breeze stirred the leaves, their rustling sound adding a pleasant background noise.
The scent of flowers carried by the wind filled the air, creating an ambiance of soft tranquility.
Chomp, chomp.
Nibbling on the snacks Yerin fed me, I gazed up at the sky, where cloud fish swam across the vast blue expanse like creatures of the sea.
The clouds, shaped like fish, drifted gracefully through the sky, forming schools that danced in elegant patterns overhead.
The deep blue sky and the flowing movements of the cloud fish made me feel like I was submerged underwater, staring up at the surface.
I’ve always envied those cloud fish, gliding so freely.
Though rare, they sometimes descended to the ground. If I ever got the chance, I’d love to see them up close.
They seemed to gather in large schools—would anyone notice if I caught and ate just one?
If I could absorb their flying ability, that would be fantastic. As for the cloud fish…
Well, there’s bound to be some benefit for them too, right?
Who knows, maybe there’s a cloud fish overpopulation problem, like job shortages or something.
A Black Reaper, watching Yerin with envy, picked up a potato chip and crawled over, slowly shoving it into my mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of the chip breaking in my mouth was followed by the Black Reaper flashing a mischievous grin, its sharp teeth on display.
As I blankly enjoyed the snacks from Yerin and the Black Reaper, Yerin suddenly began speaking, as if something had just crossed her mind.
"Oh, by the way, I ran into James’s secretary at the hospital. She seemed to be in a bit of a tough spot."
What could have happened?
As if she knew I was curious, Yerin continued.
"Apparently, because she appeared out of nowhere without any travel records, they’re treating her like an illegal immigrant. So, it looks like her return to the U.S. will be delayed for a while."
Yerin shared her conversation with the secretary while offering me a delicious slice of apple.
"Oh, and she wanted me to pass on a message. Since she’s currently detained, she can’t tell you herself, but she wanted to say, ‘Thank you for saving me.’"
Then, Yerin held my cheeks and looked me straight in the eyes, her expression filled with sincere gratitude.
"And I want to thank you too! For saving me!"
Her eyes were so full of appreciation that it almost felt overwhelming, and I closed my eyes, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Late afternoon at Sehee Lab.
In the quiet deputy director's office, I was busy working on paperwork.
To an outsider, it might have seemed peaceful, but from my perspective, it was anything but.
Teehee.
Every time I made a mistake, the sprout-sized Reaper sitting atop the monitor would giggle at me.
"Finally finished!"
As I wrapped up the work, the sprout Reaper stood up and clapped in celebration.
For a little mischief-maker, it sure knew how to show genuine appreciation sometimes….
I picked up the sprout-sized Reaper from the monitor and began to squish its chubby cheeks.
Its soft, mochi-like cheeks were perfect for relieving my stress.
The Reaper, as if giving me permission to squish away, closed its eyes and offered up its cheeks.
What a cheeky little thing.
The sprout Reaper was so different from the pure-hearted Golden Reapers, but if the original gray Reaper liked to play pranks as much as this one, maybe the sprout Reaper was more like the original.
Still, it had a certain charm that made it impossible to hate.
It never went too far with its teasing, and whenever it was around, I felt like my productivity improved.
The only issue was that I was the only one who could see it, so whenever I played with it, people around me started giving me strange looks. That’s why I only interacted with the sprout Reaper when I was alone in my personal office.
There was something comforting about having a mini Reaper that only I could see, but sometimes, I wondered if it was all just a hallucination showing me what I wanted to see.
Even so, I needed to document the new information about the sprout Reaper.
As I opened my notebook, the sprout Reaper sat nearby, watching me write.
Notes on the Navy Sprout Reaper:
I closed the notebook and placed the sprout Reaper back in my hand, chatting idly with it.
If the Golden Reapers had the innocent gaze of children, the sprout Reaper’s eyes held a certain intelligence, making it feel more like I was having a conversation, even though it never spoke a word.
Near the Rocky Mountains, by the scorched remains of the Spiritual Barrier, a village bustled with activity.
The once quiet, peaceful village was now filled with people, a stark contrast to its usual calm.
The cause? Staff from the Object Association, easily identified by the emblems on their uniforms.
With serious expressions, the employees carried strange equipment as they moved through the village, attracting the attention of the boys playing basketball in the open space nearby.
"Hey, what do you think’s going on?"
"No idea. Doesn’t seem dangerous, though. If it were, they’d have told us to evacuate by now."
Some of the employees were moving around with odd instruments in hand, while others distributed flyers to the villagers.
One of the staff members noticed the boys watching with a basketball in hand and approached them with a friendly smile, holding out a flyer.
"There’s a dangerous Object nearby. If you see it, contact the number on this flyer immediately."
The young boys, who looked to be in elementary school, accepted the flyers and asked curiously,
"What’s happening?"
"A dangerous Object has appeared, and we’re tracking it. It’s really important that if you see anything, you don’t approach it and call us right away."
One of the boys squinted suspiciously at the employee, as if he didn’t fully trust him.
"If it’s that dangerous, shouldn’t we be evacuating?"
The staff member, caught off guard, looked a bit flustered before replying.
"Well… it’s dangerous, but not life-threatening. And the Object is moving too fast for us to issue an evacuation order in time."
With that, the staff member, clearly in a hurry, waved and walked off.
All that remained in the boys' hands were the crumpled flyers.
"What’s so dangerous anyway?"
One of the boys crumpled the flyer in frustration, tossing it away with a scowl.
The flyer, now wrinkled, listed a phone number and a warning message.
Warning: Highly Hazardous Mental Contamination Entity Detected!
Do not approach within 10 meters.
If spotted, immediately contact the number below.
The boy kicked the crumpled flyer away, watching it sail off into the distance.
"But the ‘Golden Reapers’ are so cute, though."
On the discarded flyer, a photo of a smiling Golden Reaper beamed up at the sky.
Under the guidance of the Director of Trinity Research Facility No. 1, the deputy director witnessed something truly astonishing.
The resurrection of the dead.
When a human corpse was submerged in a solution known as "Evolution Fluid," its cells began to revive.
No such reaction occurred with animal corpses; only human bodies responded in this way.
"This is truly remarkable."
The deputy director couldn't help but express admiration.
On the monitor, footage played of a person who had died in a car accident, now coming back to life within the Evolution Fluid.
"Yes, it is remarkable, isn’t it?"
However, the next video highlighted a host of problems.
"It’s incredible, but there are still too many issues. How could the director of Research Facility No. 3 administer this fluid to humans without improvements? He’s out of his mind."
The director of Research Facility No. 1 then showed the deputy director an old notebook.
"The production method of the Evolution Fluid is the main problem. The process is incomprehensible, and the ingredients are bizarre."
The deputy director was shocked when he saw the notebook.
"Is this for real?"
The notebook was filled with strange instructions.
The recipe for the Evolution Fluid was full of such cryptic and dubious steps.
What was even more surprising was that this nonsensical recipe actually worked.
"With such an absurd method, mass production is impossible. The yield is terrible. And the fact that humans are one of the required ingredients is a major problem."
"Indeed. We need to establish a modern production method. It’s going to be a long, painstaking process."
The deputy director sighed in frustration at the thought of how to improve the alchemy-like recipe.
"Luckily for us, the director of Research Facility No. 3 left notes on how to scale up production."
The director of Research Facility No. 1 smiled mysteriously as he handed another notebook to the deputy director.
At his urging, the deputy director skimmed through the notebook.
It was the personal journal of the director of Research Facility No. 3.
The journal contained all sorts of ramblings, but there were a few noteworthy entries.
One mentioned a blue moon Object needed for mass-producing the Evolution Fluid.
Another talked about how the Gray Reaper was proving to be a major obstacle.
Closing the journal, the deputy director spoke.
"The Blue Moon and Red Moon have lost their powers. We’ll have to either wait for another moon to appear or experiment with other Objects that can serve as substitutes."
As the deputy director mentally reviewed a list of powerful Objects with domains, the director of Research Facility No. 1 interrupted his thoughts.
"There’s no need to wait. The moon Object is already within our reach."
"Are you referring to the Moon of the Frozen Plains? That one is noted in this journal as unusable."
"No, not that one. I’m not talking about the purple moon."
The director shook his head and unfurled a large map.
"Here. A hidden moon that hasn’t yet been revealed to the public. This location will allow us to target the moon without interference from the Gray Reaper or anyone else."
The spot the director pointed to on the map was a remote village deep within the Odaesan mountains.
As the late afternoon sun sank lower in the sky, the temperature began to drop.
The crimson-stained clouds of dusk signaled that it was time to return to the isolation ward.
Yerin had disappeared somewhere, saying she had some last-minute work to finish.
Looking up, the sky was still filled with cloud fish, swimming in schools that looked like they had been drenched in blood.
I’d never seen so many cloud fish at once.
As I stood up, the news began reporting on events in Songpa District.
"[We’ve received reports that ‘cloud fish,’ known to be harmless Objects, are swarming in large numbers over Songpa District.]"
The broadcast showed aerial footage of the cloud fish, from massive cloud whales to countless smaller fish, filling the sky.
After watching the news, I glanced back up at the sky, where the blood-red cloud fish continued to swim above.