Blue Reapers with button eyes flew through the air on brooms.

Having realized how much could be done with the Blue Reaper doll clothes, they suddenly became popular among the Mini Reapers.

However, their behavior was quite different from that of the real Blue Reapers.

Instead of sitting calmly on the broomsticks, they stood on them as if snowboarding.

And these button-eyed Blue Reapers engaged in intense play that the real Blue Reapers would never do.

It was a game resembling a jousting match on horseback.

Each created a large shield and lance, then charged straight at each other.

The button-eyed Blue Reapers would fly at high speed on their brooms, thrusting their lances at their opponents.

Thud!

The sound of shields and lances clashing echoed continuously in the sky.

And with each clash, the defeated button-eyed Blue Reaper fell from the sky.

To me, it seemed like the outcome depended solely on the moment of impact. Was this really fun to them?

“Mom, let’s play!”

Just then, a one-meter-tall button-eyed Blue Reaper pushed a large doll outfit toward me, signaling a desire to play.

I didn’t know what was inside most of the button-eyed Reapers, but I could tell who this one was.

It was probably the Black Reaper in disguise.

I thought to myself as I accepted the doll outfit fitted to my size.

If it’s a game of chance, I’d have a good shot at winning, wouldn’t I?

I prided myself on my luck.

As long as I wasn’t up against the Orange Reaper, who could manipulate probabilities, I should have a good chance against a Mini Reaper.

“Alright, let’s do it!”

When I agreed to play and took the doll outfit, the button-eyed Blue Reaper threw its hands up and cheered joyfully.

Despite all the other Mini Reapers, was playing with me that much fun?

As I put on the doll outfit, an uncomfortable feeling started to overwhelm me.

I had assumed the doll clothes would be fine, unlike regular clothes, but it was not at all what I expected.

Still, I felt a bit of excitement.

It seemed I had gained some new abilities.

I could shape water and use magic through strings.

The Black Reaper, who had been eagerly waiting for me to put on the doll outfit, could barely contain its excitement as it stood on a broom.

Then, the two of us flew into the sky on brooms made of water.

As we hovered at a suitable height, standing precariously on the broomsticks with lances and shields, I had a sudden feeling that I had made a terrible mistake.

This is hard!

Had they all been soaring around on such flimsy brooms?

The water-made lance and shield were heavier than I’d anticipated, and keeping my balance on the thin rod was no easy feat.

Seeing me wobble on the broomstick, the large button-eyed Blue Reaper across from me smiled widely.

It was just a joyful smile, happy to be playing with me.

But I gritted my teeth and steadied my stance.

This time, I would win!

With that resolve, I waited until I heard the sound of a water droplet bursting.

That was the signal to start.

And as soon as we clashed, I fell off the broom, sprawling on the ground.

“Mom, let’s play again!”

The little one came up to me, laughing with delight.

This had nothing to do with luck!

This game was all about athletic ability!

At the moment I struck with my lance, I realized just how little luck had to do with it.

The opponent’s shield deftly deflected my lance.

With footwork that skillfully absorbed the impact of the clash on that narrow broomstick, I was effortlessly knocked out of the sky by a vast difference in skill.

What made it even more frustrating was that, while I was doing my utmost to win, the Black Reaper was just having fun, regardless of victory or defeat.

The fact that it didn’t come over to tease me with a “Mom, you’re weak!” showed just how little it cared about the outcome.

I threw off the cumbersome doll outfit and signaled that I wasn’t playing anymore, at which point the Black Reaper pouted.

Beep—

The Black Reaper let out a sorrowful sound as its form slowly melted down.

Like a slime, it poured out from the doll outfit.

I vowed never to participate in broom jousting again.

As I stuffed a white pastry into my mouth in frustration, I spotted the Black Reaper running towards me from afar, with a startled expression.

“Mom! Mom, eyeballs!”

“?”

Even I, as the master of Mini Reaper language comprehension, found it difficult to grasp what it was trying to say.

Since the Golden Reaper Incident in Mapo, much had changed in Mapo.

The man’s life and attitude had also undergone significant transformations.

As he left his studio apartment and looked up at the sky, a giant pinwheel came into view.

It was as big as a wind turbine used for generating power.

That pinwheel was one of the things that had changed in Mapo.

Though it was still early morning and the streets were a bit chilly, the man walked to earn money, even from the crack of dawn.

Something unimaginable before the incident in Mapo.

In the past, he would likely have been going to bed around this time.

But now, he had resolved to make each small step count.

Since the Golden Reaper saved his life, he couldn’t afford to waste it.

“Do you want some pudding?”

“Aren’t you cold?”

He looked at the people passing by with a bitter gaze.

Happy people walking around with Golden Reapers.

Even after the incident ended, many Golden Reapers remained in Mapo, but none accompanied him.

“It’s only natural,” he thought.

After all, he had thrown the Golden Reaper out the window.

As he slowly walked, he found himself in front of the pinwheel installed in the park.

The pinwheel was embedded in a part of the park covered in marshmallow, rising above it like a massive piece of candy.

It was a meeting spot where he hoped to see the Golden Reaper every night before going to sleep.

Every day on his way to work, he would pass by this spot with faint hope, but he never saw the Golden Reaper that had saved him.

The area around the pinwheel was filled with joyful laughter.

People happily welcomed the Golden Reapers who came running with bright smiles.

An experience he knew he would never have, given the terrible thing he had done.

Though he clung to hope, the place only made his heart ache more.

“Today is the last day,” he thought.

The laughter was too painful to bear, so he decided.

He looked around but didn’t see the Golden Reaper he longed to see.

“In the end, it wasn’t here.”

He turned away with a sad expression, his steps heavy.

“Even though I’ll never see you again, I’ll cherish you in my heart and live well.”

He said his farewell to the Golden Reaper in his heart.

Turning his back on the pinwheel and starting to walk away, the morning sun began to rise through the forest of buildings.

As the light grew too bright, he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the sun and heard a familiar sound.

The sound of tiny footsteps, like a hamster’s.

Tap, tap.

Dismissing it as wishful thinking, he looked toward the sound.

There, against the sun, was the Golden Reaper, smiling brightly.

“It’s you. The Golden Reaper who spent time with me.”

Standing with the sun behind it, creating a radiant halo, the Golden Reaper beamed at the man, waving its hand.

Following the Black Reaper’s lead, I arrived at the interior of the “Unchanging Black Sphere” in the Mini Reaper Garden.

It had been a long time since I’d entered the space filled with dead Black Reapers, as it was a hassle to get in.

I was surrounded by Black Reapers who had followed me here.

The other Mini Reapers seemed uninterested in the corpse inside the black sphere, so only the Black Reapers had come along in the end.

Hand in hand, tap-tap.

In a line, tap-tap.

The Black Reaper clung to my hand, dangling with its feet off the ground, but it looked pleased.

It seemed that walking together was entertaining enough for them.

As we approached the massive corpse, I began to sense something strange.

Looking down at the enormous Black Reaper corpse, I noticed two faint rings of light in its empty eye sockets.

They were eyeballs.

The Black Reapers seemed to sense something, as they nervously patted each other’s cheeks.

The emotions I felt were a mix of fear and a hint of nostalgia.

As I stared down at the corpse, I could identify the source of the strange feeling.

“My connection with the corpse has grown stronger.”

It felt as though the amount of firewood needed to animate the corpse had slightly decreased.

If I tried to move it now, it would likely be easier than before.

Of course, it was still impossible to move it properly now.

Even if I held onto Ye-rin, the firewood consumption would be beyond my control.

Seeing the Black Reapers fussing so much, I decided to play a little prank.

I burned a good amount of firewood to slowly move the corpse’s eyes, directing its gaze towards the nearest Black Reaper.

“!”

The Black Reapers leapt like startled cats.

Seeing so many of them jump in unison was quite amusing.

Hehe.

Those who hadn’t seen the eyes move looked puzzled, while those who had witnessed it started slowly backing away from the corpse.

These kids, who often mocked me as “Mom, you’re weak,” were now so scared. Just what kind of things had this corpse done?

I continued to shift the gaze a bit each time their attention waned, amused by the startled reactions of the Black Reapers.

The variety of their responses made it entertaining.

Leaping.

Rolling into a ball and bouncing like a rubber ball.

Extending spikes like a sea urchin.

The Black Reapers had such diverse reactions.

But this fun quickly came to an end.

One of the Black Reapers noticed the rapid consumption of my firewood.

Then came the thumping.

The Black Reapers swarmed me, landing punch after punch.

But they seemed relieved, knowing I was the one who moved the corpse.

The interior of the Unchanging Black Sphere, once filled with the joyful antics of the Gray and Black Reapers, was now empty.

In the silent, desolate space, only one massive corpse lay still.

In that quiet, a faint scratching sound echoed, like stones grinding against each other.

Screech.

It was the slow, eerie sound of a millstone turning.

The sound came from the dead corpse, vibrating ominously.

Matching the noise, the corpse’s eyes slowly shifted to stare at the spot where the Gray Reaper had disappeared.

And they stayed there, fixed for a long while.

In the warm sunlight of Sehee’s lab courtyard.

Many visitors laughed happily as they fed the Golden Reapers pudding.

It had been only a short time since the Mapo incident ended, so the courtyard was bustling with visitors.

The Golden Reapers, having tasted delicious pudding, reciprocated by sharing their pudding or playing with the visitors on white pastries.

But the peaceful lab suddenly grew busy.

“Quick, prepare! The Association President is coming!”

“Why is the President coming here all of a sudden?”

The lab security team, unusually bustling, began checking the security status.

The Golden Reapers, unconcerned with the commotion, remained focused on playing with the visitors.

However, when the sharp sound of a cane striking the ground and footsteps echoed, all the Mini Reapers halted their actions and turned to look in one direction.

The expressions on the Mini Reapers’ faces suggested they had spotted a particularly harmful object.