Rumble.

Had the Gray Reaper’s entrance into the spatial rift been a signal?

The moment he vanished from the clearing, the vast, sandy space began to collapse.

First, the flowing sand that supported the sky started to pour down like a waterfall.

No matter where the girl looked, walls of sand cascaded around her.

These sandfalls formed towering walls, encircling her and gradually moving closer.

There was nowhere to run.

It was an intensely dangerous moment.

The sand, much heavier and denser than water, surged forward like a deadly waterfall.

In an instant, the raging torrent of sand reached the girl’s face, and all she could do was stare, frozen, unable to think of escape.

Beep!

At that moment, the black reapers created a massive dome around the girl and Dog Meat Uncle, shielding them.

As the black dome enclosed her, the sand’s torrent began to shake everything violently.

It was like being on a wild amusement ride, tossed and turned, yet surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as expected.

Inside the dome, the interior was softer than it looked, and countless small hands held onto the girl’s body for support.

Despite the turbulence, the dome wasn’t entirely dark.

The black reapers’ eyes shone like stars in a night sky, illuminating the space.

The girl couldn’t help but smile at the twinkling odd-eye stars that stood out.

How much time passed? Eventually, the shaking stopped.

The black dome began to crack like an eggshell, and rays of sunlight started to seep through the gaps.

As the girl moved slowly towards the light, the black dome broke apart, scattering into small black reapers who created a path for her.

Stepping outside the dome, she saw the familiar stone monument at the labyrinth entrance.

However, the labyrinth beyond the monument was gone.

In its place, a towering sand vortex stretched up to the sky.

The usual false sky was also absent.

A massive ring of light now stretched across the sky, casting its presence over the city.

Tap, tap.

The odd-eye reaper on her shoulder gently tapped her cheek.

“Huh?”

As the girl turned, the odd-eye reaper waved as if saying goodbye.

‘I have to return to Mom!’

She couldn’t sense the reaper’s emotions, but somehow, she understood what the odd-eye reaper was trying to say.

“Alright, go quickly.”

The odd-eye reaper nodded with a bright smile and, after hearing her words, leapt into the vortex along with the other black reapers.

Even though it had only been a short time, she felt a twinge of loneliness as the black reaper, who had always been by her side, disappeared.

Hoping the odd-eye reaper would return safely, she looked up at the swirling sandstorm.

The Sehee Research isolation room, now without the Gray Reaper.

Yerin sat on the bed in the Gray Reaper’s isolation room, feeding pudding to the mini reapers and watching TV.

An ad for a cat head massager was playing, and Yerin watched it with interest.

“Wouldn’t it be fun to use that on the reaper?”

She imagined sneaking the massager onto the reaper’s head, curious about his reaction, when suddenly, the commercial cut off.

“What?!”

Though she was disappointed, the breaking news that followed quickly caught her attention.

The report spoke of significant changes on the island of Red Lightning.

[While it’s too dangerous to approach closely, it has been confirmed that the cloud cover over Red Lightning Island has vanished.]

[The likelihood is high that the barrier of ‘Red Lightning’ has also disappeared. After confirming with drones, the Japanese Object Association plans to begin rescue operations.]

The news explained that the clouds that had shrouded the island had dispersed.

[A massive vortex appeared at the center of the island, and a huge ring of light was spotted in the sky above.]

At the sight of the ring of light, Yerin had a feeling that the Gray Reaper was over there, doing something.

Though she never bothered to report it, she had a hunch that the Gray Reaper’s excursions were always linked to the mini moons and rings of light.

“Do you think the reaper’s there?” she asked, holding a black reaper waiting for its turn to eat pudding.

But this time, there was no familiar “beep” response.

Finding it odd, Yerin paused and looked down at the black reaper.

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

What she saw was unexpected.

The black reaper was curled up, as if in pain.

It looked like it was forcing itself to endure a burning agony.

“Are you hurt? I’ve never heard of an Object being sick before. Was there a manual for this?”

Yerin stroked the ailing black reaper gently, pondering what to do.

A mini reaper in pain? That was a completely unprecedented situation.

Panicked, she glanced around the isolation room, only to find a more alarming scene.

All the black reapers were sprawled out, appearing to be in pain.

They seemed to be in such distress that they couldn’t maintain their forms, their bodies melting and softening.

“This is serious. What should I do?”

Amid her panic, Yerin sent a security alert about the unusual Object behavior and checked the other mini reapers for any signs of abnormality.

The golden reapers, who usually smiled, now looked on silently as the black reapers suffered. They gazed upwards, as if peering beyond the ceiling and into the cosmos.

Like dolls that had suddenly stopped moving, the golden reapers stared at the sky, their antennae swaying gently from side to side.

The golden reaper gazed down at the black reaper writhing in pain.

But the golden reaper wasn’t truly looking at the black reaper.

Instead, he was seeing beyond, observing the image of the black reaper beside his suffering mother, sharing in her pain.

Then, the golden reapers all looked skyward, emanating a powerful will.

‘Mom needs help.’

The golden reapers near the black reaper began to wiggle their antennae and radiate their intent with fervor.

‘Help is needed!’

This message of intent was received by other golden reapers who also looked to the sky, each amplifying the call.

Japan, America, China, Korea.

Golden reapers scattered across the globe stopped whatever they were doing and raised their eyes to the heavens.

‘Mom needs help!’

This will then spread to mini reapers of other colors as well.

A red reaper grilling food looked up.

A blue reaper peeling an apple for their beloved human also gazed upward.

A sprout reaper, napping in a flower pot, directed its eyes skyward.

An orange reaper floating in a bath looked up.

A yellow reaper, performing a puppet show based on a ghost cat story, paused and looked up.

Even an ogre reaper, slicing his own fingers to make a meal, raised his eyes to the sky.

One Halo rested atop my head.

Bearing the weight of that crown, I looked over at the black reaper, who smiled at me while wearing his own tiny Halo.

“It’s okay now, Mom!”

Although only one black reaper stood before me, it felt as if every single one of them was lending me courage.

Yes, even if the condition to “die in this world” were true, I’d die ascending these steps.

I looked back at the black reaper and slowly stepped onto the next step.

Thud.

I felt something press down on my body, as if it might explode at any moment.

My fractured body felt as if it would shatter completely, like a porcelain vase barely held together.

‘Is this the end?’

At that moment, a radiant will shone from my other shoulder like the sun.

“Mom!”

A golden reaper appeared, smiling brightly, fists clenched, with a Halo on his head, fortifying my spirit.

Inside the golden reaper’s heart lay the wishes of countless golden reapers.

And inside the black reaper’s heart were the wishes of countless black reapers.

Yes, I had millions of golden and black reapers on my side.

Through the pain, I forced a smile and took another step.

Crunch.

The sound of my cracked ankle shattering echoed.

Just as I was about to collapse, a new ankle formed, crafted from the hottest, reddest flames.

“Revolution!”

A red reaper appeared, clutching a giant red moon in his arms, with a Halo atop his head.

As I took one more step, even when my body threatened to crumble to pieces, a stream of blue reaper’s water wrapped around me, holding me together.

And another step forward—when I fell from the steps, a sprout reaper rewound time to bring me back.

Even when I could barely bear the weight, an orange reaper embraced me, lifting me up.

When I had no strength left to go on, the yellow reaper’s puppet costumes pulled me forward.

And as I was about to topple backward, an ogre reaper braced my back.

The black reaper, golden reaper, blue reaper, sprout reaper, red reaper, orange reaper, yellow reaper, ogre reaper, and finally, the gray reaper.

With the help of all these children, I managed to climb all nine steps.

When I reached the top and looked down at the throne, everything started to dissolve into dust.

The throne, the steps, the Halos, and even the mini reapers.

As if it all had been an illusion from the beginning.

This was the end of the adventure.