The containment room, a converted part of the house serving as a lab, wasn’t as equipped as a proper laboratory, but it looked scientific enough on the surface.

The desk was cluttered with various lab equipment, and the walls were covered with countless posters and notes.

However, amidst all that, bags of hardtack lay scattered everywhere, making the room look rather messy.

["So, you’re saying that given the scale and danger of this zombie incident, the number of casualties is surprisingly low?"]

["Yes, similar object incidents have occurred in other countries, but they experienced significantly more casualties."]

Inside the room, the sound of someone crunching echoed in sync with a small TV playing in the background.

The sound was that of hardtack being nibbled by a small mouth.

It seemed as though whoever was eating it had no interest in the news broadcast, as the sound of chewing continued without pause.

["The credit for this outcome is attributed to the 'Golden Reaper.'"]

["Notably, in areas like Mapo-gu and Songpa-gu, where the Golden Reaper has been most active, there has been almost no damage."]

The dimly lit room was gently illuminated by the glow of the TV screen, showing an intriguing scene.

In a news studio, a host and a panel of invited guests were seated.

Among them was an “object expert” participating as a panelist.

On the desk was a transparent cage holding a glittering object that shone with a golden hue.

As the camera zoomed in on the cage, it became clear that the object was indeed the Golden Reaper, glowing brilliantly.

Inside the cage, the Golden Reaper was playing with a rubber ball, rolling around.

["Is that really the 'Golden Reaper'? I've never seen an object this close before. Is it really safe?"]

The host, sounding slightly wary, asked, and the expert confidently replied that it was safe, then opened the cage door.

At that moment, the Golden Reaper jumped onto the desk.

As if it were the star of the show, the Golden Reaper began rolling around the desk, exploring and moving all over.

It looked almost like a small animal, or even a harmless baby, causing the other panelists to hide their excitement poorly.

The host, initially reluctant, relaxed as the Golden Reaper waddled over, and even began to pet it.

The program, intended to bring in experts to discuss the incident, quickly transformed into a showcase of the Golden Reaper’s antics.

Watching the TV, the woman smiled warmly and turned to look at the Golden Reaper beside her.

"Look, your friends are on TV!"

However, the Golden Reaper, busy nibbling on hardtack, showed little interest.

It didn’t even glance at the TV, instead turning back toward the woman.

It continued the same cycle: taking a bite of the hardtack, then glancing up at its beloved human with a blissful smile.

The woman chuckled, picking up the Golden Reaper and gently cradling it, petting it softly.

Her face, once drawn with anxiety, seemed to have brightened, as if the Golden Reaper’s influence had brought her own smile back to life.

‘The property prices in Mapo-gu and Songpa-gu are bound to go up now.’

With such an adorable and lovable Golden Reaper making its TV debut, it seemed inevitable.

Cute, loveable, and now deemed safe during object incidents—who wouldn’t think the same?

The alchemist’s younger sister was in the middle of a nightmare.

Lying on the bed, she was drenched in sweat, her hands flailing as if trying to grasp something in the air.

“Unnie…”

In her dream, horrific scenes played out before her.

Her sister, riddled with cuts from a blunt bread knife, was bleeding heavily, staring at her with a gaze full of resentment.

“You killed me.”

“That dull knife slowly dug into me!”

As her sister’s blood-stained cries echoed, the younger sister murmured weakly.

“I’m sorry.”

She kept apologizing to her sister, sobbing uncontrollably.

Even in reality, tears rolled down her face as she lay on the bed, echoing the sorrow of her nightmare.

Seeing her distress, a Golden Reaper happened by and rushed over.

It reached out, clutching one of her fingers tightly, as if trying to warm her pale fingers with its own heartbeat.

Perhaps sensing the warmth, the younger sister’s expression gradually softened.

In the dream, the scene began to shift as well.

The blue mist that had spread like a shroud of death started to melt away under a soft morning glow.

As the mist cleared, a fantastical forest made of cookies, sweets, and chocolate emerged.

Trees were made of chocolate-covered stick biscuits.

Large dollops of whipped cream were strewn around like rocks on the ground.

Colorful sprinkles dotted the whipped cream like glittering decorations.

The forest felt like something out of a fairy tale, bright and filled with magic.

And the image of her sister, filled with bitterness and resentment, had vanished entirely.

“Unnie? Where are you?”

Her sister had suddenly disappeared, so the younger sister started pushing through the biscuit trees, searching.

After a few moments of aimless wandering, she finally spotted her sister.

She was gleefully riding a white creature across a surface as clear as crystal ice, wielding two massive candy canes like maces.

The sight was so joyful that it brought a smile to the younger sister’s face.

But as she got closer, she began to notice something odd.

“Unnie?”

Her sister, though smiling, still had a bread knife embedded in her.

Strawberry jam, not blood, was oozing from the wound.

Her sister had somehow transformed into a donut filled with the strawberry jam that the younger sister had always loved.

‘This is a nightmare.’

She recognized it as a nightmare and awoke with a start.

The first thing she saw upon waking was the Golden Reaper, angrily pummeling the Gray Reaper.

Yaaawn.

It was a late night so sleepy that it made me yawn.

I was fighting off drowsiness while watching the strange ritual being performed by the Mini Reapers in the large auditorium at the heart of the Jelly Pig Hospital.

The ritual had a clear order, proceeding with strict rules.

The Mini Reapers wore ornate and religious-looking costumes.

Their tools hinted at an intriguing mix of style and cultural significance.

The ritual wasn’t something the Golden Reaper could have cobbled together from overheard bits and pieces, nor something it could have imagined—it was too complex, and it bore no resemblance to anything on Earth.

Atop the large circular altar lay the alchemist, the blonde girl, and the man in the black suit.

The Mini Reapers circled them, throwing small logs into the altar.

During the ritual, a Mini Reaper who had run out of logs rushed over to me.

It nestled into my arms as Yerin might, took a log, then ran back to continue the ritual.

Blinking away sleep, I realized who must have taught them this ritual.

In the middle of the ceremony, the Golden Reaper, forgetting the next step, scurried over to ask the Black Reaper for guidance.

Of course, it was too lengthy and complicated for the Golden Reaper to remember alone.

The younger sister watched with a worried expression, shifting uneasily.

“It’ll be alright, won’t it? It has to be.”

Hmm, was this the aftereffect of my Golden Tree ability, which had altered her dream to be more cheerful?

The Golden Reaper had been furious when it realized I’d tampered with the dream, but I felt it was unfair.

The younger sister awoke from a nightmare, now happy.

I got to craft an amusing dream and felt content.

It was a win-win, where everyone had fun!

Suddenly feeling a bit resentful, I began tying the hair of the Golden Reapers on my lap together.

Hehe.

As I busied myself tangling the Golden Reapers’ hair, the ritual came to an end.

The girl and the agent remained asleep.

Beside them, the Red Reaper sat with a sorrowful expression, gently stroking the girl’s cheek.

But unlike the girl and the agent, who continued to sleep, the alchemist opened her eyes on the altar.

“Unnie!”

The alchemist looked around, bewildered, trying to comprehend her situation, but the younger sister’s joy at seeing her awake was evident.

I noticed that the trace of the Color Universe on the alchemist had vanished.

Like the Jelly Pig or the Sugar Flamingo, she had now become bound to the garden.

If I were to cut her open, she might even look like a roll cake, just like the agent.

After confirming the alchemist’s condition, I returned to the containment room.

I was far too sleepy to stay any longer.

I awoke from a warm sleep on the containment room bed, jolted by a sudden sense of emptiness.

In front of me stretched a vast space, one I recognized from before.

It was the color-saturated universe where the Crimson Creature had been sucked in.

There were no stars, only chaotic swirls of color.

The colors slid across the space like paint on glass, fluidly shifting.

It was a place both dangerous and beautiful, unlike anything else.

But even this wondrous space had its dangers.

Simply looking at it seemed harmful, as if it were burning up the fuel of my heart.

Yet I couldn’t help but keep gazing at it, captivated.

As I stared, I began to notice creatures lurking among the colors.

The colors never mixed, like oil and water.

And amid the flow of hues, enormous beings floated.

They were monsters of every form.

Shapes that defied stability.

These creatures drifted through the flow of colors.

I stood on a gray-tinted ground, gazing up at them.

‘Is this a dream?’

It felt like both a dream and a place beyond dreams.

The creatures floating above showed no interest in anything around them.

‘When will I wake from this dream? Maybe when all the fuel burns out?’

As I observed the bizarre creatures in this space, one of them caught my gaze.

The creature, aimlessly drifting, suddenly stopped and stared back at me.

And then, slowly, it began to approach.

A sense of dread told me I shouldn’t let it get any closer, but as if something held me in place, I couldn’t turn away.

I couldn’t tear my “eyes” away.

I needed to force my gaze away, but I was out of fuel.

Just one more “squeak” of fuel would do!

I’d used up too much while marveling at the universe.

“!”

At that moment, a warm glow and a burst of radiant light poured down behind me.

A golden light full of fuel.

I turned to see a giant halo of light shining in the golden glow.

When I woke up, I was overwhelmed by surprise.

The warmth and comfort I felt behind me was none other than Yerin’s embrace.

As the truth of the golden fuel’s origin dawned on me, it felt as though I had solved a mystery.

But a new question arose at the same time.

What was that halo of light?

Did it have some connection to Yerin?

Was it merely a figment of a dream, or did it hold a deeper meaning?

My mind brimmed with curiosity.