The warm sunlight poured into the courtyard of Sehee’s research lab.

Lying in my designated seat, I leisurely ate pudding while watching the mini grim reapers.

Since many of the mini grim reapers had left, riding the cloud meat, the courtyard felt a little deserted.

Amidst the quiet atmosphere of the courtyard, I noticed something strange—a golden reaper.

It wandered around with a timid expression, and every time it made eye contact with me, it quickly dashed away.

Although the personalities of golden reapers tended to differ slightly, I had never seen one behave so differently.

Whenever I tried to observe it more closely, it would disappear before I could make proper eye contact.

There’s a scent of something interesting in the air...

I chuckled mischievously as I gazed at the spot where the golden reaper had just fled.

Thump thump.

The black reaper carefully walked through the dense shadows created by the fake sun's intense light, following the human it had become attached to.

The human was walking briskly down a gravel path in sturdy leather shoes.

However, despite their confident stride, the human's heart was filled with sadness, loneliness, and a sense of helplessness.

The black reaper wanted to rush over and comfort them immediately, but the human was afraid of it, so it couldn't.

Feeling dejected, the black reaper lost its shape and melted down like a slime.

Beep-

It let out a pitiful sound, one no one else could hear.

"I want to comfort the human."

"I want to play with the human."

"I want to be praised by the human."

Hoping to win the love of the human, just like the many mini reapers had done, the black reaper seeped into the gaps between the gravel.

Soon, people gathered around, but no one noticed the black reaper, which had transformed into liquid, flowing through the cracks.

As the black reaper continued to follow the human's emotions from afar, it was suddenly shocked.

'!'

The human had disappeared!

Startled, the black reaper quickly seeped into the entrance of the labyrinth where the human had vanished.

Upon entering the labyrinth, the black reaper found itself welcomed by a completely different space.

But that didn’t matter to the black reaper.

'The human is in danger!'

The labyrinth, which initially appeared as a powerful yet harmless object, turned into a 'harmful' one, filled with intent to kill once inside.

Even though they had entered through the same entrance, the human’s emotions were now felt from a far distance.

The black reaper forced its way through the cracks in the walls, breaking down every obstacle in its path as it rushed toward the human.

'The human is feeling anxious.'

The walls of the labyrinth were extremely solid, but they posed little problem for the black reaper.

After all, it had the strength and durability to chew through even the indestructible metal created by alchemy!

However, the black reaper lacked the speed of the golden reapers.

Before long, the human’s anxiety had turned into a sense of life-threatening danger.

'No!'

The black reaper gathered all its power and transformed its body into spikes, launching itself forward.

Piercing through countless walls, it managed to rescue the human just before they were attacked.

Beep-

Inside the wolf's body, the black reaper let out a joyful cry, performing the harmful object removal technique it had learned.

First, infiltrate the body and destroy the brain, then destroy the heart, where the energy gathers.

Next, sever the spine segment by segment, crushing all muscles and bones into tiny pieces.

Finally, tear the head apart, and it’s done!

After executing the strongest attack that its powerful mother had taught, the wolf could no longer endure and collapsed helplessly.

The black reaper thought the removal technique it had just performed was flawless and swift.

Mom is amazing, as expected!

‘Did I do well?’

Eager to be praised, it jumped out in a triumphant pose, but the human’s reaction was entirely different from what it expected.

They fainted, as if they had witnessed something terrifying.

The human is afraid.

The human was so shocked, they’re in pain.

The black reaper, with a sorrowful expression, melted down and whimpered in a small voice.

Beep-

Does the human hate me?

The fallen human, frowning and tossing as if having a nightmare, looked pitiful.

The black reaper gently patted the human's cheek with its small hand, but it wasn’t very effective.

Instead, a sticky red handprint was left behind from the blood.

Looking down at the human, the black reaper decided to try a different approach.

Since the human disliked it, the black reaper thought it would stay with them in a different form.

‘I don’t mind if you don’t like me.’

‘I just want to be with you.’

‘Even if it’s a little sad, that’s okay.’

With these thoughts, the black reaper continued to ponder, thinking and rethinking with its small head.

The girl had a dream.

It was a dream where a giant monster with black skin burst out from within the wolf’s belly.

The monster grotesquely ripped the wolf apart, just like an alien from a movie.

Even as the creature tore the wolf to pieces, the girl couldn’t move a finger, as if trapped in a nightmare of sleep paralysis.

After the wolf was shredded, the terrifying monster, glowing ominously with black luster, slowly approached and began tapping her cheek with a bloodstained, slimy tongue.

The sensation of the blood on her cheek felt incredibly real.

"Gasp!"

As the girl awoke from the nightmare, she jumped up in shock.

Looking around, she saw eerie green torches burning, a shredded backpack, and a headless wolf's mangled corpse.

It wasn’t a dream...

As soon as she saw the wolf’s body, she fell to her knees, retching.

Every time she closed her eyes, it felt as though she could still see the wolf’s horrible, writhing body.

She was dizzy and nauseous, but she had no choice but to pull herself together.

She hadn’t eaten, and she had no idea where she was.

If she stayed still, she would surely starve to death while lost in the labyrinth.

Slowly rising on trembling legs, she quickly checked her condition.

Despite facing such a terrifying and bizarre event, other than a little blood spattering, she was unharmed.

"So that’s why I had such a nightmare."

Wiping her palm across her cheek, she saw the large amount of blood and muttered to herself.

What in the world was that?

Suppressing the urge to vomit, she inspected the wolf’s body, but found no traces of what had caused it.

She vaguely remembered seeing something glowing yellow before she fainted, but everything was so hazy that she couldn’t be sure.

"I'm hungry."

After fighting the wolf so fiercely and fainting from fear, her hunger had become overwhelming.

She had pushed her body too far on an empty stomach, and now her limbs felt completely weak.

She finally gave up investigating the wolf and had no choice but to move.

She gathered the shredded dungeon roses and stuffed them into her pockets.

They didn’t seem like anything valuable, but she kept them just in case.

Unfolding her map, she stood by the torch and took a deep breath.

I’m scared.

Another monster like the wolf could appear.

And I might die in the same strange way the wolf did.

'But if I stand still, I'll just starve to death.'

Grinding her teeth, she manipulated the torch with shaking hands.

The room flipped upside down, revealing a passage to the other side.

"If I want to get out of this labyrinth and return home, I can’t let this scare me!"

Shouting loudly to drive away her fear, she slowly crossed into the next room.

The place she arrived at exuded a mysterious atmosphere.

There was nothing different from the other rooms, except for a sword stuck in the center.

It was a sword of a design she had never seen before.

It was short, suited for one-handed use, and rather simple, consisting only of a blade and a hilt.

However, the sword emitted an aura of peculiar intimidation.

The girl’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she gazed at the sword.

'So, this is what they meant by finding items in dungeons.'

Cautiously approaching, she drew the black sword.

The grip fit her hand perfectly, as if the sword had been made just for her.

And it was so light that it felt almost weightless, as if it were hollow.

It was easy to swing due to its lightness, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit concerned.

Could something this light actually be a proper weapon?

The sword’s color was also unlike any normal blade, making it feel more like a decoration.

Still, since it was the first proper 'item' she had acquired in the dungeon, the girl felt excited.

And for some reason, the sword seemed to share in her excitement.

After acquiring the sword and feeling elated, the girl quickly became humbled again.

"Get away!"

She swung the feather-light sword wildly, but the long-bladed swallow darted effortlessly through the air, dodging her attacks.

"Huff, huff."

Panting heavily, the girl was lost in thought.

Although the swallow was strangely wary of her sword, it hadn’t yet attacked her. But this standoff wasn’t likely to last much longer.

'But seriously, expecting me to cut down a swallow with a sword? Is that even possible?'

The girl grumbled inwardly, as if someone was asking her to mimic a famous swordsman.

At the moment she noticed the swallow's eyes change, it suddenly sped toward her faster than anything she had ever seen.

'It’s over!'

Startled by the swallow's incredible speed, the girl couldn’t even think to swing her sword, but something strange happened.

Without her swinging it, the sword extended, split into three, and instantly cut the approaching swallow into pieces.

The swallow, struck by three precise slashes, was shredded into four pieces and fell to the ground.

'W-what... was that?'

Staring in disbelief at the sword and the remains of the swallow, the girl stood frozen in shock.