The object wearing the ghostly doll head asked me if I was an alchemist, speaking in a language unknown to anyone present. Even Yerin seemed puzzled by the language, unable to recognize it. The girl hiding behind the doll-head object looked equally confused.

"Sis, what’s wrong all of a sudden?" she whispered, poking the doll-head object’s back. But the object didn’t react, continuing to fix its gaze on me.

In moments like these, I had one approach: ignore it!

Since I pretended to be incapable of speaking or understanding certain things, it was always better to act clueless.

Hehe.

Still, I found it intriguing that the doll-head object wasn’t hostile toward humans—in fact, it seemed almost protective. It was rare to see an Object that was so friendly to humans. The blue lizard and the ghostly cat were pretty friendly too, but this one seemed even more so. Especially since there was a human girl under its protection.

Naturally, the Mini Reapers in the quarantine room were wide-eyed, gazing curiously at the strange newcomer.

The doll-head object continued speaking strange phrases to me:

[The eye of a mist salamander and the wing of a frog.]
[The heart of the sea and the breath of air.]
[White flowers and dark roots.]
[Moonlight in a crystal and an unrotting lizard’s tail.]

The list of ingredients sounded like something out of an alchemy book.

Could these actually be alchemical ingredients, considering the question it asked earlier? In a world filled with wild Objects, the existence of alchemists wasn’t entirely out of the question.

Alchemy, magic, swords, and adventure!

Though my heart was long gone, the mention of such fantastical concepts was enough to make it beat again—figuratively, of course.

[I see, you don’t know, then.]

The woman in the doll-head sighed, sounding disappointed. She muttered something about “one last thing” and pulled a large object out of her bag, heavy enough that it made the floor shake when she set it down.

The heavy object wobbled as it moved into view. It was a white Agwi, painted in all sorts of vibrant colors like candy stars.

Oh.

Ohhh.

It looked like a colorful star candy Agwi!

Curious and hungry, I jumped up and ran toward it, intending to scoop it up. But it was far too heavy for that.

I tried to bite into one of its wobbly antennae—it looked delicious—but it was just a hard rock.

Without my immunity to physical damage, I would have probably hurt my teeth.

Disappointing.

To soothe my disappointment, I summoned a familiar white Agwi and bit into it viciously.

Kyuu-hing.

Biting into the soft, fluffy white Agwi always warmed my heart and made me feel at ease.

White Agwi was always delicious.

Satisfied, I tossed the white Agwi aside and snuggled back into Yerin’s arms.

The doll-head woman looked utterly dejected. Was she hoping I really was an alchemist?

Her younger sister, meanwhile, was excited, holding a Golden Reaper in her hand and saying, “Look, sis, it’s so cute!”

The doll-head woman glanced at her sister with concern as the girl played with the Reaper, tickling it with her fingers.

"Here, chew on this." The doll-head woman handed her sister a pill that smelled strongly of medicine. It looked like a human-made drug but gave off the distinct aura of an Object.

Was it something that only an Object could create? Or was it something an alchemist could make?

"If you get a headache again, take another. Be sure to tell me right away, okay?"

"Got it."

Despite myself, I was growing more and more intrigued by alchemy.

What could it all mean?

The tattooed woman’s language was too elaborate for a mere invented tongue. The intonation was unique, and it didn’t seem to be borrowed from any other language structure.

Could it have been some obscure language I had never heard of?

No matter how I compared it to every language I could recall, I simply couldn’t figure it out.

One thing was for sure, though—the Reaper understood it.

Its antennae had twitched inside my mouth as if startled, something that only happened when it heard a language it recognized—other than English or Korean.

Nom, nom.

With those thoughts running through my head, I cradled the Reaper and slowly fed it some pudding.

Thunk.

I was feeding the Reaper when a loud sound drew my attention. The colorful Agwi that the tattooed woman had brought was lumbering around the quarantine room, making a racket.

Looking exactly like an Agwi, the Mini Reapers gathered around it, tapping it curiously with their tiny fists.

Thump, thump.

The little Reapers tapped it with their small hands, giggling like they were saying, “It’s so hard!”

Somehow, the colorful Agwi seemed to get better treatment than the white Agwi. Even the Red Reaper, who normally set the white Agwi on fire at first sight, simply tilted its head, intrigued by this new, colorful Agwi.

And when the white and colorful Agwis came face-to-face, both of them opened their mouths wide in surprise.

Their movements mirrored each other—when one opened its mouth, the other did the same, and when one moved its feet, the other followed in perfect sync.

They looked like mirror images of each other, waddling around in shock.

Watching this, the Golden Reapers began playing their own version of the mirror game, facing each other and mimicking each other’s movements.

They waved their arms and legs in unison, laughing together with matching expressions.

It wasn’t much of a game, but the Mini Reapers seemed to be having the time of their lives.

But what about the odd ones without a matching partner?

Sure enough, the Red Reaper, who had no twin, sat slumped on the table, looking glum.

Seeing this, one of the Golden Reapers with twin tails tied in her hair giggled and helped the Red Reaper stand.

Despite the twin tails and the red paint on her skin, the expression clearly showed it was a Golden Reaper. The Golden Reaper in disguise and the Red Reaper happily began playing the mirror game together.

I wondered if the Reaper in my arms wanted to join, but when I glanced over, it looked completely uninterested, with a sulky expression.

That smug little face made me want to squish its soft cheeks.

The tattooed woman and her younger sister had finished their "exploration," disguised as a tour of Sehee's lab, and were now walking home under the setting sun.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” the younger sister asked, clearly satisfied from playing with the Golden Reaper.

“I don’t know. At first, I thought it was a failure, but now, I think maybe it was pretending not to know on purpose.”

The records indicated that the Gray Reaper couldn’t understand writing or speech, so if it truly was an alchemist, it must have been intentionally concealing its abilities.

If it was an alchemist, it would be an impressive act, worthy of praise. An alchemist who bit the Guardian's antennae, though—that would be something else.

If the Reaper was going to such great lengths to hide its true identity, exposing it would require a well-prepared trap.

"We’ll have to visit again a few more times. Maybe if we set a more elaborate trap, we’ll catch it."

“Really?”

Her sister beamed with excitement at the prospect of meeting the Golden Reaper again.

“Then let’s bring some treats, like pudding! I heard the Golden Reapers absolutely love it when you give them even the tiniest little gift!”

Watching her sister's enthusiasm, the tattooed woman felt a bit uneasy.

"That's odd. I gave her a bunch of mental contamination suppressants, but it still feels like she's been affected."

As she looked at her cheerful sister, the woman decided to improve the formula for the next batch of suppressants.

Late in the evening, as the Golden Reapers drifted off to sleep, the "cute dog" snuck out of its quarantine room and slowly roamed the dark corridors of the lab.

The cute dog frequently took these "late-night walks," thanks to a sympathetic security guard who always left the door slightly ajar for it.

Reaching the back yard, the cute dog gazed up at the cold moonlight, an expression of melancholy on its face.

Kyying.

With a heavy sigh, the cute dog began trudging back toward its kennel.

Its plastic kennel.

On its way back, the cute dog noticed a new passage leading underground.

For some reason, it felt an irresistible urge to explore this underground passage.

Descending the dimly lit stairs, the cute dog soon found itself in a massive recreation facility.

It appeared that construction was nearly complete, with a few workers here and there putting on the finishing touches late into the night.

But the facility and the workers were of no interest to the cute dog.

The dog’s eyes were fixated on the large golden statue that adorned the center of the recreation facility.

Drip.

Tears began to fall from the dog’s eyes.

"My… my home was here all along."

Those tears soon turned a deep, blood-red.

Grrr.

The cute dog’s body started to grow larger and larger.

Now the size of a house, the dog leaped with all its might.

“Huh? What’s that?” one of the workers shouted in surprise as they spotted the giant dog bounding toward them.

Consumed by a deep sorrow, the dog's eyes burned with rage as it resolved to destroy everything it could not have.

Charging to demolish everything in its path, the dog aimed its teeth at the nearest worker.

But the dog’s reckless charge was met with failure, as it found itself riddled with holes in the shape of Golden Reapers.

With a thud, the cute dog collapsed in defeat, proving the futility of its rebellion.

As it gazed at the blood leaking from its own body, the cute dog slowly closed its eyes, wishing that in its next life, it could be reborn as a truly cute dog.

In the ever-sweet-smelling Mini Reaper Garden, where the ground was soft like marshmallows and warm cocoa waves lapped gently, the cute dog opened its eyes once more.

Though it was an Object, the cute dog could feel that it had transcended the mortal coil.

Its body was now made of fluffy white cotton candy, with firm chocolate chips for eyes and a nose.

It had been reborn as an adorable cotton candy dog.

The dog was now both cute and indestructible—an eternal Object.

The cute dog looked at its new body with a satisfied smile.

But, unfortunately, ominous shadows were beginning to loom around the reborn dog.

Golden Reapers, wearing mischievous grins, were gathering around it.