The investigation team from the Association slowly approached the massive hole beneath the monument.

Despite shining light from the outside, once it reached a certain depth, all light was swallowed by something within the immense pit.

The hole, filled with impenetrable darkness, triggered an instinctive sense of fear.

Normally a loud bunch, the team members were now silent, their faces tense with anxiety.

"Hahh."

The team leader of the Association's investigation team exhaled a deep sigh, his nerves on edge as they moved closer to the hole.

The Association usually wasn’t this quick to act, but the discovery at the entrance of the hole had been the tipping point.

A massive golden chunk.

Part of a large golden pillar had been found, clearly a fragment of what seemed like a colossal temple or building. If the entire structure was made of gold, its value would be unimaginable.

This had stirred the Association's greed.

Of course, before sending the investigation team, they had deployed drones into the hole. However, all communication with the drones was lost once they entered.

Then came the command for the investigation team to immediately proceed inside.

The team leader had originally joined the Association because, although the pay wasn't great, the work was relatively easy. Now, he found himself dragged into something incredibly dangerous.

He had considered quitting, deeming the whole situation not worth the risk. But the Association made an enticing offer:

'We’ll turn a blind eye to any gold you pocket during the investigation.'

The team leader and his team, unable to resist the proposal, had agreed and come to the site.

At the entrance to the hole, unsettling statues stood guard.

The stone of the statues was an eerie white, their muscular bodies clashing with the ridiculous, unimpressive faces they bore, creating an unpleasant feeling.

The unnerving statues didn’t stop them from entering the hole.

The team leader carefully examined the statues before issuing an order to his subordinates.

"Stay alert, but don’t attack. These objects don’t seem to be indiscriminately hostile."

They had orders to break through if necessary, but it was fortunate they didn’t have to fight.

With objects, one could never be too cautious, but there was no need to initiate conflict with non-hostile ones.

"Let’s proceed."

They securely fastened stakes near the entrance and began descending slowly, using ropes to lower themselves into the dark pit that felt as thick as mud.

The darkness swirled like it had a tangible presence, swallowing the team and their leader whole.

The white statues, watching the team enter, grinned once everyone had disappeared into the darkness.

Their mouths stretched unnaturally wide, revealing rows of disturbingly human-like teeth that didn’t match their otherwise absurd faces.

In the peaceful isolation room, I sat cradling the mini reapers, who were happily eating pudding like baby birds, while another reaper nestled in my arms, watching TV.

But it felt like the tranquility of the room was on the verge of being broken.

It started with breaking news on the TV.

An object had appeared at the park where the ‘Cute Dog’ terror incident had taken place.

The death row inmate and her sister, after seeing the news, hurriedly left.

It seemed the younger sister didn’t want to go, but her older sister insisted, leaving her with no choice.

The mini reapers, who had been eagerly waiting for pudding, were left behind.

The mini reapers, deprived of their homemade pudding, slumped to the floor, their expressions filled with despair.

The reaper on my lap, too, seemed unusually interested in the news, even though its face remained as indifferent as ever. But its antennae were twitching quickly, betraying its curiosity.

Why are they so fascinated by that grotesque, muscle-bound statue with an anglerfish face?

I find it unsettling, especially with those ears…

Just as the reaper appeared to be deep in thought, gazing up at the ceiling, it suddenly vanished.

Sigh.

The reaper had run away again.

Feeling down, I sat quietly on the bed. The golden reapers swarmed over me, patting my back and cheeks reassuringly.

They even climbed onto my lap, looking up at me with their tiny fists clenched, as if to say, “Cheer up!” with a sweet smile.

"Thanks."

I pulled the adorable golden reapers into my arms, hugging them tight and gently stroking each one.

As I tickled the chin of one beaming golden reaper, I made a small wish.

I hope the runaway reaper comes back soon this time.

Lying on the back of a massive cloud whale, I soaked in the warmth of the sun as we flew through the sky.

The cloud whale was slowly making its way toward the park mentioned in the news.

It was nice not having to walk and simply riding on the whale.

Honestly, I was curious but a little lazy to go right away. Still, given it seemed to be related to me, I decided to set aside my laziness for now.

The statues resembled the white anglerfish from before, so it seemed likely they were connected somehow.

Thinking about the ominous vision I saw when I obtained the white anglerfish, I suspected it might have something to do with me.

And, since I died there, I figured there might be something worth investigating.

The cloud whale was soft, and the sunlight was so pleasant that I was in a really good mood.

Feeling like it would be fun with the kids, I summoned a bunch of mini reapers from the garden.

With arms outstretched, the golden reapers appeared on the whale’s back, raising their hands to the sky and cheering for the sun.

The golden reapers seemed to love sunlight for some strange reason.

It didn’t seem like a general trait for all mini reapers, as most reapers tended to prefer moonlight.

As the sunlight bathed the golden reapers, they began to glow brighter and brighter, until the light they emitted became so intense that it was almost impossible to look at directly.

Just as I thought the light had reached its peak, they shot a golden beam forward.

The beam, emanating from the chest of the golden reaper, pierced the atmosphere and disappeared somewhere in the distance.

What?!

Startled, I picked up the golden reaper and examined it closely.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The reaper was just grinning as cheerfully as ever.

Aren’t the golden reapers supposed to inherit my abilities?

How are they doing something I can’t?

'How did you do that?'

'?'

The golden reaper didn’t seem to understand my question.

It seemed to think, ‘I could do it, so I did.’

As I pondered, resting my chin on my hand, the golden reaper mimicked my thoughtful expression.

Could I do it too?

Now that I thought about it, the beam the golden reaper fired looked similar to the white flame shot by that cult leader.

I stood up on the fluffy back of the cloud whale and raised my arms triumphantly.

Seeing this, the golden reapers cheered excitedly, copying my movements.

The other mini reapers joined in as well, cheering and raising their arms in unison as they gathered on the massive whale, but no beam was fired.

Sigh.

I really wanted to shoot a beam, too…

As we descended through the thick, mud-like darkness, a tunnel-like cave came into view. Scattered across the ground were the remains of the drones that the Association had sent down earlier.

"The radios aren’t working."

The team leader of the Association’s investigation team tried to issue orders via radio, but when he realized it wasn’t working, he switched to giving verbal commands.

"Check your equipment. It could be a troublesome environment, like inside the steel tower."

Once everyone completed their checks, they confirmed that only the radios were malfunctioning.

"I’ll lead. Follow the formation and proceed slowly."

The path consisted of solid stairs carved into the earth, the air was unexpectedly fresh, and the passage was longer than anticipated.

The team leader began to suspect that the investigation might take longer than expected.

After what felt like an endless passage, they reached a sheer cliff edge.

Beyond the cliff, an exotic city stretched out below them.

With nothing happening on their journey so far, the previously tense team members started to relax, the atmosphere becoming more boisterous.

As the familiar chaotic energy returned, the team leader felt oddly reassured.

This was the way the Association’s investigation teams were supposed to be.

"Leader, that looks like gold, right?"

Looking in the direction one of the team members pointed, the team leader saw houses built of what appeared to be gold bricks.

They’d have to get closer to be certain, but from where they stood, it did look like gold.

'Great, if we collect that gold, we can wrap up this investigation quickly.'

"Quiet, everyone. Let’s collect some samples and get out of here."

As the team grew excited over the sight of the gold, their chatter became louder. The leader quieted them down and began leading them slowly down the stairs that wound around the cliff.

As they descended further, the strange nature of the city became more apparent.

"Whoa, that shop looks just like the one that disappeared a year ago. How is it here?"

What?

Sensing something important in the team member’s words, the leader asked, "Have you seen this street before?"

"Yes, it’s not an exact match, but it looks like Yongsan District from a year ago. I think it’s near the Seoul Research Institute."

As they continued further, they spotted a sign written in Hangul.

“Welcome to Yongsan District.”

Many of the buildings had a distinctly modern feel, like they’d been cut out and pasted into this place. Between them were structures made of white stone, with an old-fashioned, fantasy-like design.

It was a city where modern and fantastical buildings were randomly mixed together.

Both the Yongsan District structures and the fantasy buildings had a lived-in atmosphere that made the place feel eerily unsettling.

It gave the impression that the inhabitants had suddenly vanished without a trace.

"This is one creepy object. Let’s collect what we need and leave as quickly as possible."

The team, on high alert, began running toward their target at top speed.

"Leader! There’s something there."

"Stop!"

At the sudden alarm in a team member’s voice, the leader halted and they gathered into a circle, scanning their surroundings.

As the team’s footsteps stopped, the city fell into silence once more.

There was no sign of humans, animals, or even insects.

Then, peeking out from behind a small building that could be found anywhere in Seoul, was something white.

A statue with an absurdly silly face was staring right at the team.

"Phew."

The entire team exhaled in relief when they realized what it was.

"I nearly had a heart attack."

"That was nothing to worry about."

But in the midst of the lighthearted atmosphere, the team leader couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling the statue gave him.

Its grotesque muscular body and that strange, unpleasant face—something was definitely off.

Step. Step.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of walking, they arrived in front of the golden building.

"Leader, are we just going to leave that thing alone?"

A team member pointed to the white statue, which was now hiding behind the building, peeking out at them with a faint smile.

"It’s better not to mess with objects unnecessarily."

Though in his mind, the team leader knew that coming here was already equivalent to messing with it. But it was too late—after all, they had accepted the Association’s proposal.

"Alright, gather the samples and let’s get out of here."

Following the leader’s command, a team member carrying the sampling backpack took pictures and used specialized tools to cut off a chunk of the golden building, placing it into the bag.

"Leader, is it okay if we take some gold for ourselves too?"

"Just remember, we still have to climb back up with those ropes."

Everyone had agreed to this dangerous mission for the chance at striking it rich, so it was only fair that they be rewarded.

After pocketing several gold bricks himself, the team leader looked around.

'It’s gone.'

The statue that had been watching them had disappeared.

Now that the persistent, eerie feeling of being watched was gone, the leader felt a little more at ease.

"Alright, let’s start heading back."

But just as the team leader gave the order, something white swooped down from the roof of the golden house and tore off a team member’s head.

"AAAHHH!"

It was the white statue, its previously short neck stretched unnaturally long.

The once-smiling statue now displayed a set of gruesome, blood-soaked teeth as it grinned down at the team.

In a panic, the team opened fire with their rifles, but the bullets simply bounced off the statue without leaving a mark.

Click. Click. Click.

The statue clacked its enormous teeth together as it continued to grin at them from above.

"Run, everyone!"

The team leader’s command sent the group scattering in all directions.

As he ran, the leader found cover behind a wall and took a moment to catch his breath.

'We won’t be able to outrun it. I’ll wait and then find a way to sneak out.'

It made no noise when it moved, and there was no way they could outrun an object that could leap to the rooftops in a single bound.

Normally it was passive, so if enough time passed, there was a chance its aggression would subside.

The gold, which had seemed to trigger its hostility, had long since been abandoned.

In the eerie stillness of the deserted city, only the frantic sounds of footsteps and screams echoed.

After the ninth scream, the leader slowly rose from his hiding place.

All his team members were dead.

Now he could move slowly and carefully.

With his eyes closed, he took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart. When he finally opened his eyes, the last thing he wanted to see was right in front of him.

The creature, dripping blood like saliva, grinned broadly, clearly enjoying itself.

'I should have quit this investigation team a long time ago…'

The team leader tightly shut his eyes again.