The next morning, I hid inside the ventilation duct along the corridor leading to the security room, with a beaming smile on my face.

I was really looking forward to seeing how the prank I prepared using the Golden Reaper for the Blue Reaper would play out.

‘Here it comes!’

After a few minutes of waiting, I saw the Blue Reaper, disguised as a Golden Reaper, stomping towards the security room.

The Blue Reaper had been coming in that Golden Reaper disguise so often that the gait was quite familiar by now.

Once the Blue Reaper entered the security room, I phased through the thick walls, poking my head out slightly to spy on the room’s interior.

Inside, I could see the Blue Reaper looking a little flustered as they were swarmed by Golden Reapers.

“Amazing Golden Reaper!”

“Amazing Reaper!”

The Golden Reapers, noticing that the disguised Blue Reaper moved differently from the others, hopped around excitedly as if they had found something fun to play with.

There weren’t as many as in the courtyard, but there was an unusual number of Golden Reapers for a security room, where they typically weren't found.

It was probably because I had alerted the Golden Reapers, who were idly wandering around the Mini Reaper Garden, about the fascinating Golden Reaper hidden in the depths of the Sehee Research Institute.

I casually dropped the hint while passing by, saying, “There’s a fascinating Golden Reaper in the security room, deep inside the Sehee Research Institute, guarded by thick walls!”

The Golden Reapers had immediately scattered, shouting “Treasure Hunt!” as they began exploring every corner of the Sehee Research Institute.

Of course, they didn’t actually know where the security room was, but that only made it more mysterious and enjoyable for them.

Once the Golden Reapers figured out the Blue Reaper’s disguise, the Blue Reaper would surely flee, right?

Hehe.

It was strange; I didn’t feel this way with other Mini Reapers, but whenever the Blue Reaper tried to get close to their attachment human, I couldn’t help but want to disrupt them.

However, the Golden Reapers’ reaction was a bit different from what I expected.

“Younger sibling!”

As they realized the Blue Reaper was hiding inside the bundle, the Golden Reapers cheered as if they had solved some grand mystery.

That’s odd. Usually, when they find their sibling in a disguise like that, shouldn’t they want to take off the costume?

The Golden Reapers then began munching on snacks provided in the security room with satisfied expressions, while the Blue Reaper quietly sat back down, gazing intently at the security room staff.

The Blue Reaper seemed genuinely happy, their expression radiating contentment.

My perfect prank was ending up as a failure, just like that.

Feeling annoyed, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

“Time Acceleration!”

In a ghostly state, I sped towards the Blue Reaper with accelerated time.

A Golden Reaper, who had been caught in many of my pranks before, quickly sensed the time distortion and turned around in surprise.

The Golden Reapers also started accelerating time with tense expressions, but it was a futile effort.

My target wasn’t them this time!

The Blue Reaper was so engrossed with their attachment human that they didn’t even notice me approaching.

As my hand reached for the Blue Reaper’s bundle, the Golden Reapers started rushing over with expressions that seemed to scream, “How could you do that to our sibling!”

“Hehe, I win this time!”

The moment I grasped the bundle tightly, I stopped the time acceleration.

Time, which had been flowing slowly, resumed at its normal pace.

The clatter of the Golden Reapers rushing towards me.

The Blue Reaper’s startled reaction as their bundle was suddenly removed.

The security room staff turning their heads towards the sudden commotion among the Mini Reapers.

A Golden Reaper clung to my fist, trying to reclaim the bundle, but no Mini Reaper could possibly match my strength unless they were the Black Reaper.

Thump, thump.

The Golden Reapers, with angry expressions, kept swinging at me for bothering their sibling, but I was only focused on the Blue Reaper’s reaction.

As the Blue Reaper’s bundle was removed, they met the security staff’s gaze, pressing their hat down, seemingly flustered.

The Blue Reaper’s body started trembling as if bubbling with anxiety.

And then, just as I expected, they began to weave a string of words to escape.

<Hide me...>

But before they could finish, the Blue Reaper suddenly stopped.

“I can do it.”

A sense of determination slowly seeped from the Blue Reaper, filled with longing.

Then, they slowly lifted their head, gazing intently into the eyes of their attachment human.

Not avoiding their gaze but meeting it directly.

As the attachment human’s eyes reflected the Blue Reaper, the Blue Reaper smiled as if they were truly happy

Step, step.

Footsteps echoed beside the nearly extinguished campfire.

The sound was from men filled with greed for the item, steadily approaching the sleeping girl.

Unaware of anything, the girl was sleeping soundly with a peaceful expression, clutching the sword to her chest.

“Sorry, but in a labyrinth like this, it’s better to die quickly. Don’t hold it against me.”

One of the men murmured in a low voice, then plunged a dagger towards her heart with all his might.

Thunk.

The dagger, thrust forward with the force of a mortal enemy, stopped just short of the girl’s skin, as if held back by something.

The black sword, melting like a shadow, had intercepted the dagger.

And then the dark shadow began to spread throughout the room.

The sword that had been held by the girl melted away completely and disappeared.

Even the dimming campfire was swallowed by the shadow.

“What...what is this?”

“Is it another strange phenomenon?”

The three men, startled by the sudden anomaly, stood back to back, guarding against all directions.

‘Greed.’

The shadow, as if it had a tangible form, began to rise, stretching so tall that it almost touched the labyrinth’s ceiling.

‘Hypocrisy.’

From within, the white, split-open eyes of a beast radiated a sinister glow, along with the creature’s menacingly white fangs.

‘Betrayal.’

The shadow continued to take shape, forming a threatening figure with long, skeletal arms.

Snap, snap.

As the white-hot flames surged up from the shadow’s core, sharp teeth clashed, and white flames dripped down from its forcibly torn eyes like blood.

It almost looked like tears, giving the entire scene an even more ominous air.

“Traitor!”

The men, paralyzed by fear at the surreal sight, tried to flee, but they couldn’t move a step.

The shadow had already ensnared them like a spider’s web.

They were nothing but trapped prey.

One by one, the gigantic shadow picked up each man and began to devour them with its massive jaws.

Crunch. Snap. Munch.

Though their bones and flesh were crushed and shredded, the shadow, resembling the ominous veil of night, consumed all the sounds, making it seem as if there was nothing but silence.

After devouring all the men, the shadow vanished as if it had been a mere illusion.

The campsite returned to the moment just before the girl had fallen asleep.

The only difference was that the men who had prepared the campsite were now erased from existence.

But there was something else that had changed.

The pommel of the black sword clutched in the girl’s arms had turned from a warm yellow to a sinister white.

The entire space was filled with sand, making up the walls, floor, and ceiling, as if it was a place entirely built of sand.

The sand flowing on all sides gave the impression of being in the middle of a river of sand.

In the midst of this sandy expanse, a large ring of light floated, drawing a distinct white line across the space.

Below the floating ring, the flowing sands took on various shapes.

Countless rooms and creatures made of sand.

It was like a miniature model of the labyrinth.

Seated on a high chair, overlooking the miniature, was an old man with his eyes closed.

The old man, with a stern and rugged appearance, was pinned to the chair by numerous sand stakes, firmly immobilized.

For years, the tranquil, flowing sand had remained undisturbed—until it suddenly began to shake violently.

This fluid yet stable space was now losing its form, shaking erratically.

The miniature was the first to be affected.

The sand that had faithfully recreated the labyrinth began to scatter and warp chaotically.

The light from the ring overhead grew increasingly intense.

The sands comprising the space began to crumble and fall away, as if the entire place was about to collapse.

However, just as it seemed everything would come crashing down, the old man opened his eyes and gazed down at the miniature.

With a chilling gaze that seemed to be made of sand instead of eyeballs, he looked down, and the miniature began to reshape, once again depicting part of the labyrinth.

The figure of the now-enormous Black Reaper.

And the grisly scene of it devouring the men.

The old man continued to stare at the Black Reaper as if pinned in place, even as it returned to the form of a sword, with no intention of looking away.