Free City Union, Lawless Zone

Despite the cold rain falling, Cheong could still feel the searing heat of the melting concrete through her thick mask.

The man leading the scavengers looked far from human, though the multitude of implanted objects for body modifications suggested he once had been.

His skin was mostly gone, along with the synthetic skin used for such augmentations, making him resemble more of a robot than a person.

Thick armor, like something used in a tank.

Heavy, large-caliber weapons that no ordinary human could carry.

A beam cannon capable of melting concrete.

This man had turned his entire body into a weapon.

But the artificial eyes, glowing faintly red, revealed the truth—he was afflicted with madness.

That ominous red glow was a sign of "red-eye madness," the final fate of a mercenary who had abused object modifications.

The monstrous man opened his mouth, directing his voice at Cheong and her group.

"There are only two things I want."

The leader of the scavengers, known as "Tank," spoke as if he had already won.

Indeed, looking at the numbers and the sheer difference in equipment, Cheong and her comrades seemed to stand no chance.

Still, they clung to hope, pretending to listen to the scavenger leader while desperately searching for a way out.

Cheong was scanning the data from the monster’s objects through her small terminal, hidden behind her comrade.

"Any weak points we can target?" the woman with the sniper rifle whispered softly to Cheong.

“There’s one,” Cheong pointed to Tank’s chest.

Thud. Thud.

Heavy vibrations that shook the ground.

Tank’s chest was fitted with a mechanical device that emitted a faint red glow, pulsing like a furnace where his heart should be.

“That device... it was built from an object called ‘Fire-Breathing Serpent’ that appeared two years ago. It’s highly unstable.”

Cheong continued speaking in a low voice.

“But he’s survived for two years with it, so he must have found a way to stabilize it. Our best bet is to trigger it and blow it up.”

However, the device was well-protected by thick armor, making it an almost impossible target for their weapons. The man’s shotgun, the woman’s sniper rifle—none of their arms seemed powerful enough to break through.

“Now, make your choice!”

Tank raised his beam cannon, his voice booming.

It was the moment of decision.

Cheong’s team exchanged glances, knowing full well that their chances of survival were slim. But still, they resolved to fight, even if it was just a desperate final attempt.

Before they could act, however, the situation took an unexpected turn.

The device embedded in Tank’s chest began to glow intensely, growing brighter with each pulse until it started spewing out flames.

Just as the beam cannon had melted concrete earlier, the fire from the device began to melt Tank’s own body.

His complex armor and cooling systems proved useless.

"Wha—why is this happening?!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Tank flailed desperately, trying to survive.

He attempted to tear out the device with his massive mechanical hands, but strangely, his grip kept slipping, and he was unable to remove it.

The flames seemed to have a life of their own, melting away his hands and face first in a grotesque, unnatural manner.

“No… no!!”

Within moments, the once-mighty Tank had melted into nothing but glowing, molten metal.

Again?

Cheong, witnessing this surreal event, was reminded of what had happened before—when the shotgun had danced through the air, seemingly performing miracles.

But having experienced such a bizarre phenomenon once before, Cheong quickly snapped back to reality.

She grabbed her comrades and shouted, “We need to run!”

The scavengers were still too stunned by the inexplicable turn of events to react. Now was their chance.

Cheong led her bewildered teammates, fleeing as fast as they could from the scene.

At this moment, surviving was all that mattered. Without hesitation, they ran forward, not looking back.

Mini Grim Reaper Garden, the snowy plains.

I was still there, helping with the reconstruction of the Ice Palace.

Eating pudding, lying around, and occasionally working on the palace when we were bored—it had turned into a slow, leisurely project.

At first, we had been working hard to rebuild it, but now, it seemed like we had decided to take our time.

While I was working, a group of Golden Reapers approached and began sending out their intentions.

“Help needed!”

“Help weak sibling!”

And just like that, the Golden Reapers stopped their work and rushed off somewhere, leaving me no choice but to follow along, still bound by forced labor.

We arrived at the Marshmallow Plains, where a large group of Blue Reapers had gathered.

A quick glance told me there were at least 1,000 of them.

Last I checked, there were only ten Blue Reapers, so at least 990 of them had to be imposters.

It wasn’t hard to distinguish the fakes from the real ones, though. The fake Blue Reapers still looked like Golden Reapers at first glance.

They were throwing their hats like boomerangs, or performing exaggerated moves like windmills, playing around.

Some Golden Reapers even threw off their water-made dresses because they found them uncomfortable.

Of course, whenever they did, the real Blue Reaper would storm in, furious, and smack them on the head with a staff.

Every time, the Golden Reapers would sulk and reluctantly put their clothes back on, which was a bit amusing.

As I watched the squirming Reapers in their discomfort, a challenge came my way as well.

A large Blue Reaper costume, big enough for me to wear, appeared before me.

Sigh.

With the pitiful, pleading eyes of the Blue Reapers staring at me, and given the fact that I’d been caught destroying the Golden Reapers' Ice Palace, I had no choice.

"Just this once."

Grumbling, I put on the Blue Reaper costume.

Once I was dressed, the thousand Blue Reapers formed a circle around me.

One Blue Reaper began to weave glowing letters into the sky.

<The World’s Biggest Mom Golem!>

<Golem!>

Suddenly, a giant water golem, standing at about three meters tall, appeared in the center of the Blue Reapers.

As more and more Blue Reapers started weaving strings of glowing letters, they all wished for the golem to grow larger.

<Grow bigger!>

<The biggest Mom Golem!>

<Huge!>

One by one, the Blue Reapers willed the water golem to grow larger.

Oh no, could this be...?

Ever since they acquired the Blue Giant, the Blue Reapers had been trying to create a giant golem at every opportunity.

And now, it seemed they were using the Golden Reapers’ help to build a golem as big as the Blue Giant.

I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

I packed my creation full of wood and sent up my own glowing letters.

<Grow!>

The moment my letters filled the air, the water golem instantly grew to the size of the Blue Giant.

Wow!

Mother is strong!

The Blue Reapers clapped in delight and swarmed toward me.

It felt a bit strange seeing the usually reserved Blue Reapers sticking so close.

Among the crowd of Blue Reapers, some of the real ones had subtly snuck in, shyly clinging to me while pretending to be imposters.

Their bashful attempts to blend in were kind of cute.

Mini Grim Reaper Garden, Marshmallow Plains

In the Marshmallow Plains, perhaps the most important object would be the White Maw.

The White Maws always seemed to be lying comfortably with peaceful expressions, but they actually had quite a lot of roles to play.

They were snacks for the hungry Mini Grim Reapers.

They served as beds for the tired Mini Grim Reapers who had worn themselves out from playing.

And they also played a role in calming the ferocity of the Gray Reaper's attacks.

Without the White Maws, the Mini Grim Reapers probably would have been subjected to even more pranks.

And now, it seemed they had taken on another responsibility.

As the Orange Reaper grew more vicious, becoming almost as dangerous as the Gray Reaper, the White Maw was also tasked with calming the Orange Reaper's aggression.

At that moment, the Orange Reaper, floating aimlessly around the Mini Grim Reaper Garden as if searching for its next prank victim, spotted a White Maw.

The White Maw was lying in the peaceful glow of the Marshmallow Plains, enjoying the soft light with a happy smile.

Like mother, like daughter.

The Orange Reaper, who also had a mischievous habit of teasing anything that looked so content, grinned as it spotted the White Maw.

And then, with a gleeful laugh, the Orange Reaper began a steep dive toward the White Maw, much like a bird of prey, aiming for its soft belly.

"Kyuu-hing!"

A sorrowful wail echoed as the Orange Reaper tackled the White Maw's chubby belly.

The Orange Reaper savored the prank, seemingly intent on devouring the White Maw whole, biting into its soft, plump belly with gusto.

After the feast, the Orange Reaper flew off, leaving behind a devastated White Maw, half of its belly having been bitten away. The White Maw lay sprawled out, wearing an expression of utter defeat.

Free City Union, Alleyways

Cheong ran through the alleyways, feeling as if her lungs might burst from the effort.

Despite desperately wanting to rip off the mask that made breathing so difficult, she held back.

If she, a pure human, were to remove her mask while running, her throat and lungs would be at severe risk of damage.

Not to mention, getting caught by scavengers would mean being torn apart while still alive, which gave her the strength to keep running.

"Cheong! Wait, stop for a moment!"

The woman trailing behind, holding off the scavengers, grabbed Cheong’s shoulder and spoke.

"Something’s not right."

Cheong looked around, trying to calm her breathing as much as she could.

Her breath echoed loudly through the narrow alley, especially now that the rain had stopped.

It’s too quiet.

Indeed, something was off.

Even though their leader had been suddenly killed, the scavengers were showing no sign of movement or retaliation. It was too strange.

Gulp.

Cheong swallowed nervously and crouched lower, scanning the area.

The group huddled together, watching each other's backs as they slowly surveyed their surroundings.

At that moment, one scavenger was suddenly thrown from the alley they had just come through, landing on the ground, his body bloodied.

The scavenger, who had been knocked to the ground, spotted them and reached out desperately with trembling hands.

"S-save me..."

But before they could respond, an H-beam fell from a nearby building and pierced through the man’s heart.

Crash!

Blood sprayed from the scavenger’s heart, followed by the sickening sound of bones crunching as the scavenger’s body was torn apart.

What the hell? What’s happening?

Frozen in shock, the group could only watch as something began to float out from the shadows.

!

It was a dark, ominous, blood-spattered ball of fur.