The courtyard of Sehee’s research lab, gently swayed by a soft breeze, was bustling with researchers during lunchtime.

Among them, a researcher with a sad expression wandered around, asking people about the whereabouts of the Golden Eater Spirit.

In the researcher’s hand was a now-useless photograph that everyone in the lab had already seen.

"Have you still not seen it anywhere?"

Desperation seeped into the researcher’s voice.

Though several days had passed since the disappearance, the researcher hadn’t given up and continued searching relentlessly for the Golden Eater Spirit.

Watching from afar, the "Golden Eater Spirit," now known as the "Pudding Spirit," hesitated, its eyes filled with uncertainty.

The Pudding Spirit, having resurrected in the Mini Grim Reaper Garden, looked quite different from before.

While its golden color, reminiscent of the sun like the other Golden Spirits, remained unchanged, its overall silhouette now resembled a large pudding.

Moreover, its sweet scent and the soft texture when touched had changed, filling the spirit with concern.

‘What if they don’t recognize me?’

Even the Pudding Spirit itself found its current form a bit unfamiliar, so it was obvious that its beloved human would feel even more estranged.

Watching this, the Eater Spirit gently nudged the Pudding Spirit’s jiggly pudding-like form.

‘It’s okay.’

Encouraged by the Eater Spirit’s reassuring gesture, the Pudding Spirit mustered a bit of courage.

With that support, the Pudding Spirit cautiously bounced toward the researcher.

‘Hang in there.’

The Eater Spirit smiled warmly, watching the Pudding Spirit.

It had found this spirit and helped it reunite with its beloved human.

There had been difficult times when it suffered from mental corruption.

But seeing it approach its beloved human once again after its resurrection warmed the Eater Spirit’s heart.

Are beloved humans and objects connected in some way?

Even if they didn’t recognize it right away.

Just like how some could unmistakably identify their beloved Golden Spirit among many others, the researcher searching for the "Golden Eater Spirit" instantly recognized the Pudding Spirit and hugged it tightly.

"I was so worried."

On the verge of tears, the researcher embraced the Pudding Spirit tightly.

The Pudding Spirit, unsure how to react, scooped out a bit of its pudding and offered it to the researcher.

The researcher, smiling brightly, accepted the pudding.

It was a happy moment for the beloved human and the beloved object.

As the Eater Spirit watched, memories of times spent with its master suddenly flooded its mind.

The days it had spent with its cherished master.

Those days had been so much fun.

Immersed in nostalgia, the Eater Spirit suddenly longed to see its master again.

Looking around for the lead doll, the Gray Spirit its master had entered, the Eater Spirit spotted it in a corner of the courtyard.

It was near a huge jelly hill made of the golden jelly that the Golden Spirits had piled up, a mound resembling the Eater Spirit itself.

The Gray Spirit, who had been lingering nearby, was doing something whenever the Golden Spirits left the area.

With immense concentration, like a moment of creating a Tyrannosaurus, the tiny fists of the Gray Spirit clenched and unclenched.

Each time the little hands opened and closed, the red jelly on its palm turned golden.

Upon closer inspection, it was using spatial swapping to replace the golden jelly in the center of the jelly hill with red jelly.

It was an incredibly subtle and skillful spatial swap, something beyond what it would usually attempt.

Almost on par with "First Sword" level spatial control!

Although recently praised for becoming gentler, when no one was looking, it still indulged in its mischievous ways.

“Qyu…”

The Eater Spirit turned its head with some effort and walked deeper into the Mini Grim Reaper Garden.

‘Today, I’ll visit the Blue Master who’s lying in bed.’

The Eater Spirit had always loved its master.

Perhaps.

After hiding five red jellies inside a bowl of rice, like a single bean hidden within the grains, I left the courtyard.

On a normal day, I would have swapped out everything except the top layer, but since it was "Kind Mom Week," I stopped after making just a few changes.

Technically, I wasn’t supposed to play pranks during "Kind Mom Week," but I couldn’t resist letting a little bit of mischief slip through.

Hehe.

The Golden Spirits would probably forgive me for this much.

Thump thump.

As I wandered through the quiet corridors of Sehee’s research lab, I decided to visit the isolated objects that I hadn’t seen in a while.

Many of the harmful objects still suffered from mental corruption.

Even killing the Blue Star hadn’t lifted their corruption.

As I watched the corrupted objects, I realized I’d need to deal with the ghost cat and the blue lizard.

I could just grab the lizard and take it.

As for the ghost cat, I’d trick it by telling it we were going for tonkatsu and take it to the jelly pig hospital.

As these thoughts swirled in my mind while I walked down the quiet corridor, something felt off.

No matter how much it was lunchtime, it didn’t make sense that no one was around.

Moreover, upon closer inspection, all the CCTV cameras were turned off.

It’s the end of the world. The end of the world.

During my time at the lab, such a scenario would have been unthinkable.

‘!’

As I continued walking through the corridor, I finally discovered the reason for the eerie emptiness.

<Please, let everything be clean!>

<Let everything be clean!>

The Blue Spirits were diligently wandering around the lab, cleaning it with magic.

‘No way. Did they turn off all the CCTV cameras just to avoid disrupting the Blue Spirits’ cleaning?’

Now that I think about it, I hadn’t seen any cleaning staff lately.

Even knowing the reason, it still felt like the end of the world.

A research lab leaving security and cleaning to objects?

It fit the laid-back nature of Sehee’s research lab, but it hardly seemed like a proper "lab."

Helmet Researcher sat in the break room, watching the other researchers boast about their Golden Spirits.

"My Golden Spirit remembered up to ‘ㅂ’ yesterday."

"Really?"

Those fortunate enough to be chosen by a Golden Spirit had long since given up on writing substitute reports. Now, they compared how smart their Golden Spirits were.

Of course, the Golden Spirits themselves paid no attention to such comparisons, happily munching on pudding given to them by their beloved humans.

Hehe.

Listening to their conversation, Helmet Researcher fed snacks to his Golden Spirit with a proud smile.

‘Yesterday, I told my Golden Spirit to try for the first time, and it remembered up to ‘ㅇ’ in order.’

It was a pointless comparison, but it had a strange allure, making him want to try.

It was like those psychological or personality tests that are all the rage these days.

And since his results were better than what he had heard in the break room, his shoulders naturally lifted with pride.

The break room, filled with chatter about Golden Spirits, was also airing news related to them.

It was such shocking news that even the crisis in Italy was quickly overshadowed.

[The news we bring you today is somewhat unusual: a research lab in Japan has appointed a Golden Spirit as its director.]

[The incident is even more shocking given that Japan is considered second only to the U.S. in object research.]

Simultaneously, the TV screen showed a Golden Spirit standing atop a large podium.

Beside it, the "former" lab director held a microphone with a serious expression, answering questions.

Most of the reporters' questions boiled down to one thing:

'Why on earth would you do something this crazy?'

The answer was simple.

‘Because it's cute.’

[Upon hearing the news, the Japan Object Association expressed strong opposition, calling it absurd.]

[Many labs and organizations voiced their disapproval, but surprisingly, the U.S. Object Association gave a positive response.]

“Ugh.”

The ridiculous scene made Helmet Researcher’s headache grow worse.

It felt as though a massive hammer was pounding the top of his skull.

It was as if his head would split open any moment.

Seeing this, the Golden Spirit gently patted Helmet Researcher’s cheek with a worried expression.

The Golden Spirit looked genuinely sad, emitting a warm scent of sunshine.

At that moment, all trivial worries vanished, and the headache disappeared completely.

"I’m fine now. It doesn’t hurt anymore."

Well, with something this cute, it’s probably fine for it to be the director of a lab.

Helmet Researcher smiled contentedly as he patted the Golden Spirit’s head.

Now that its beloved human was no longer in pain, the Golden Spirit looked truly happy.

Mini Grim Reaper Garden, Marshmallow Plain.

I felt like a chef as I used a bread knife to prepare a simple dish.

Just like slicing soft bread and spreading strawberry jam on it.

I slid the knife across the back of the white Eater Spirit, spreading jam and placing it on the ground.

Kyuhihing.

When I lifted my head to look around the Marshmallow Plain, it was already filled with the Eater Spirit jam sandwiches I had made.

It looked like rows of red peppers drying in the sunlight.

To make them look even more appetizing, I sprinkled some sprinkles on top.

It was a dish made solely to give the white Eater Spirit an aggrieved look again.

There was just one downside.

Even though I’d offered it to the mini reapers, they refused to eat it, saying it was too much.

They had no problem eating raw, but they wouldn’t eat the white Eater Spirit after I had cooked it to make it taste better.

Weirdos.

The orange spirits, however, gave it rave reviews.

They even borrowed a few mini white Eater Spirits and made a dish that even I admired.

They hollowed them out, stuffed them with meat, and threw them in the oven.

‘Impressive!’

I patted the fluffy hair of the orange spirit and praised it.

As I continued cooking the Eater Spirits, the mini white Eater Spirits I had caught ran out before I knew it.

‘I’ve already used them all?’

I looked around but saw no more white Eater Spirits.

It feels like their numbers have been dwindling recently, but maybe it's just my imagination.

As I got up and started wandering around, I saw the Golden Spirits playing.

It seemed like beast play was trending lately, as many Golden Spirits were now running around on all fours.

Hmm, something seems off.

The Golden Spirits had a strange look, as if they were about to cry out "kyuhihing."