The fog was so thick, it could be mistaken for a cloud descending from the sky.

A black-clad agent and a blonde girl were moving through this heavy mist.

However, the danger wasn’t as severe as the agent had initially anticipated.

In fact, since entering Odaesan, it felt safer than Seoul.

There were no threatening Objects in sight, and the few Objects that did appear were nothing more than cute cloud fish swimming through the fog.

Even now, the blonde girl was surrounded by cloud fish that playfully rubbed their cheeks against hers.

"Mister, there are so many cloud fish!"

A small cloud fish rested in the palm of the blonde girl’s hand, its eyes closed as if it were peacefully sleeping.

She didn’t seem to mind them at all; in fact, she looked delighted as she played with the little creatures.

"It is strange, though. Cloud fish aren't supposed to stay grounded for this long," the agent muttered, sensing something else was off.

Despite hiking through a fog so thick you couldn’t see a step ahead, there wasn’t a sense of danger or unease.

It was almost as if the cloud fish were guiding them.

In reality, the fog was so dense that the landmarks were barely visible, and the compass they carried had long since stopped working, spinning aimlessly.

The agent had given up trying to navigate long ago, tucking away the map and compass.

Though the path was laid out like a mountain trail, there was no real assurance they were on the right one.

After wandering through the fog-filled forest for several hours with the cloud fish, a massive stone staircase loomed ahead.

As they climbed the steps, which seemed to stretch up into the heavens through the fog, the mist began to glow brighter.

The agent, concerned, glanced back at the blonde girl, as the light didn’t seem like moonlight.

However, the girl simply smiled and shook her head.

“It’s not sunlight.”

With each step they took, the fog thinned, and the light descending from the sky grew stronger.

Finally, after reaching the last step, the fog parted like the curtain of a theater, revealing a breathtaking sight.

An ancient village, shrouded in swirling walls of mist, lay before them.

This was the village hidden behind a veil, one they wouldn’t have known about without the Yellow Detective’s clue.

A massive moon replaced the sun in the sky, casting a soft orange glow over the village.

Above the village, an array of cloud fish swam gracefully through the air.

Cloud jellyfish with trailing translucent tendrils, majestic cloud whales, and countless other fish-shaped cloud creatures flew above, creating a surreal scene.

The village looked like a city of mermaids built beneath a sea of white.

“Wow! It’s amazing!” The blonde girl exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

Her red eyes sparkled in the orange moonlight, overflowing with curiosity.

"It really is," the agent replied, standing next to her.

His voice was calm and cautious, but there was a hint of awe in his tone.

He stood protectively by the girl's side, but his gaze remained fixed on the serene village and the beautiful flow of cloud fish above.

 

 

The tranquil courtyard of Sehee Lab basked in warm sunlight.

Within that courtyard stood a new structure, one no one had seen before.

A round coliseum made of marshmallow bricks.

The audience seats lining one of the walls were packed with Golden Reapers, Black Reapers, and even Blue Reapers.

At the center of the crowd sat an eternally burning sugar flamingo, and over the flames, numerous marshmallows were being roasted on skewers.

Kyu-hing-hing.

Tiny white jaws, small enough for Mini Reapers to devour, chomped away.

In the center of the coliseum, a monumental battle was taking place.

The grand prize? 100 Gray Reaper puddings!

On the other side of the coliseum, a mountain of giant puddings—100 of them—towered, waiting for the victor.

"Raaaargh!"

A gray Reaper golem, made entirely of water, roared.

Thud. Thud.

Opposite it stood a giant Black Reaper.

It was a colossal Black Reaper, formed by several Black Reapers combining their bodies like block pieces.

<The Strongest Mom Golem Punch!>

<Golem Punch!>

Strings of text from the Blue Reapers filled the sky as the golem threw a heavy punch.

Boom!

The sound echoed like a giant wave crashing against a breakwater, making the massive Black Reaper stagger.

A shockwave mixed with moisture swept through the area as the Golden Reapers, munching on white jaws, cheered wildly.

I was reclining in the ‘Mom’s Seat,’ set up for spectators, enjoying the view of the coliseum with delight.

The origin of this event was simpler than one might think.

It all started when the Golden Reapers stumbled upon a boxing match on the news.

The boxing contest between Golden Reapers gained popularity, and before long, the Reapers of all kinds banded together to create this massive event.

The match was nearing its end.

At first, the giant Black Reaper, immune to physical attacks, seemed to have the advantage. But as the match dragged on, its movements grew sluggish.

The golem’s punches landed one after another, and as the Black Reaper’s form began to fall apart, the score shifted in favor of the golem.

The Black Reapers, no longer moving in unison, faltered.

<The Gentlest Mom Golem Uppercut!>

<Golem Uppercut!>

Dodging the Black Reaper’s slow, straight punch, the golem landed an uppercut.

That was the finishing blow.

The giant Black Reaper, its parts no longer working in harmony, broke apart like a disassembled toy.

The Golden Reaper, acting as the referee, raised a blue flag to declare the victory.

The Blue Reapers had won.

Applause from the Golden Reapers and the sound of their jubilant steps echoed throughout the coliseum.

The Blue Reapers, wearing their hats low, proudly held the trophy while hiding in a mountain of pudding, and the defeated Black Reapers laughed, clapping as if they’d thoroughly enjoyed the match.

It was a wholesome game where both winners and losers had fun.

“Nooo! My lunch money!” came a distant cry from the Sehee Lab employees who had been betting on the outcome.

Yerin, meanwhile, didn’t seem to care about the bets or the result. She was too busy taking pictures of the Mini Reapers.

She held up one of the photos to me.

“Hey, Reaper, what do you think? A rare smile!”

The photo she showed me captured a Blue Reaper smiling with wide eyes.

Indeed, it was a rare sight.

 

The man, clad head to toe in a protective suit, was madly sprinting down the mountain path.

He should have exited the fog long ago, but no matter how far he ran, the mist refused to end.

He had started with a team of ten, but now only two colleagues were left running beside him.

"Hah... Hah..."

It was difficult to breathe, probably due to the filter in his protective suit.

It felt as though someone was covering his mouth, stopping him from drawing a proper breath.

Still, he couldn’t remove the suit.

The others who had taken theirs off had their heads torn apart and died.

This mission was supposed to be safe, even though it took place in an area swarming with Objects.

And up until they arrived in the operation zone via helicopter, everything had seemed calm and secure.

There hadn’t been a single hostile Object in sight. All they’d encountered were harmless ones—just an abundance of cloud fish, known for their innocence.

But the moment they set up the "Evolution Fluid," the peaceful atmosphere shattered.

The gentle fog that had enveloped the area turned dark like storm clouds, accompanied by thunder.

The once cute cloud fish transformed into piranha-like creatures with razor-sharp teeth. Instead of the serene cloud whales, cloud sharks now prowled the skies, ready to tear them apart.

[No, stop!]

A teammate’s voice crackled through the radio inside his helmet.

Looking to his side, he saw a colleague gasping for air, struggling to breathe, and frantically attempting to remove his helmet.

No one stopped to intervene.

They only shouted, telling him not to take it off, while their feet kept moving in a desperate bid for survival.

Crunch.

After what felt like an eternity, he heard the sound of a skull being crushed behind him.

It was likely the sound of the colleague who had removed his helmet.

But this mad sprint was finally nearing its end.

A bright white light began piercing through the fog from ahead.

[I made it!]

He shouted into his radio, filled with relief, but there was no reply.

When he glanced over, his colleague's helmet was filled with blood.

Inside, the cloud piranhas were devouring the man’s flesh, reducing him to a bloody mess.

Chunks of flesh, minced like ground meat, leaked out of small holes in his protective suit.

His colleague’s body, now nothing more than a lifeless shell, collapsed to the ground, continuing to run only by inertia.

But the man gritted his teeth and burst out of the fog.

I made it!

That thought was short-lived. What he ran into was hell.

The helicopter that was supposed to be waiting for them was smashed into a mangled heap, surrounded by blood-soaked corpses.

And above it all, the red-stained cloud sharks circled menacingly.

“Ha ha, why did I ever think it would be safe outside the fog?”

The last thought the man had was as the jaws of a shark closed in on him.

A variety of snacks were delivered to the courtyard of Sehee Lab for the coliseum after-party.

There was pudding, jelly, cookies, macarons—an array of sweet treats spread out across the area.

Nom nom.

The Mini Reapers spread out across the picnic mats, gleefully devouring the snacks with joyous expressions.

The Mini Reapers gathered in large groups, while the people around watched the happy scene, enjoying what had turned into a Mini Reaper party.

The Blue Reapers, meanwhile, looked like they were ready to bolt but stayed at the edge of the party, hiding under their hats.

It seemed they couldn’t leave, given that they were the "Coliseum Champions" and thus the main characters of the event.

The warm sunlight, delicious snacks, and the cheerful Mini Reapers gave off the perfect peaceful afternoon vibe for Sehee Lab.

But that flawless afternoon scene was shattered by an unexpected gust of wind, a forewarning of the storm to come.

The once brilliant sun was gradually swallowed by a thickening veil of ominous clouds, casting an eerie shadow over the surroundings.

The gusts stirred up by the swirling cloud fish in the sky scattered the snacks everywhere.

The Mini Reapers, who had been playing so joyfully, now looked up at the sky with serious expressions.

It seemed they had detected the faint scent of oil carried on the wind.

It was the return of that stench they thought they would never encounter again after demolishing the Third Research Lab.

The Black Reapers reacted more aggressively, baring their sharp teeth and gnashing them together as if ready to tear something apart.

And then, from the swirling mass of clouds in the sky, a massive silhouette slowly began to take shape.

Bit by bit, the colossal form of a giant cloud whale revealed itself.

The enormous cloud whale, made entirely of white mist, descended silently, as if a balloon were gently deflating, making no sound at all.

The whale cast a massive shadow over the entire Sehee Lab, and it was so huge that it could have swallowed the whole lab with room to spare.

Whooom.

There was no sound of impact, thanks to its cloud-like nature.

But the displacement of air and the slight tremor in the ground were enough to make its overwhelming presence known.

Like a herald of something far greater, the giant cloud whale had suddenly appeared, swallowing Sehee Lab in its wake.