A man was running breathlessly.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! It’s definitely their doing!”

Most of the comrades who had followed the boss into battle had scattered in a panic.

All of this began when the boss’s Object, which had been working perfectly fine for two years, suddenly malfunctioned.

Tripping over a rock and having a rebar sticking out of the skeletal concrete pierce your eye?
Possible.

A comrade falling to their death after the cracked concrete floor suddenly collapsed beneath them?
Believable.

The safety pin of a grenade on a comrade’s pack, who had the habit of hitting it with his fist, coming loose and exploding?
Could happen.

Slipping off a rooftop because of the oil-like rain?
Plausible.

But all these incidents happening simultaneously? It wasn’t normal.

Something unknown was lurking among them.

Then someone, gripped with terror, shouted loudly.

“It’s a curse! A ghost’s curse!”

Some, overtaken by fear, started to flee like mad.

“A curse? A ghost? That’s ridiculous,” the man tried to keep his sanity.

He was certain that whoever their boss had been targeting was behind all this.

Luckily, a few comrades who still hadn’t lost their composure stayed by his side.

They cautiously followed their prey, their faces tense with fear.

“Wait!”

The one leading the group suddenly halted everyone.

“There’s something there. Something bloodstained!”

In a flash, something pale and stained with blood flitted through the alleyway.

“Ahhh!”

One of the comrades screamed in terror.

“It’s a ghost! A ghost has appeared!”

He fired his gun wildly down the alley in a panic.

As bullets disappeared into the dark, the sound of crumbling concrete followed, and a strange, ominous vibration started to spread.

“Damn it.”

The man looked around.

The old, decrepit buildings were towering over them, on the verge of collapsing at any moment.

“Stop! For God’s sake, stop!”

The man rushed over to his frenzied comrade and wrestled the gun away from him.

But it was too late.

The tremor from the bullets grew stronger, and part of a building collapsed entirely.

Boom!

Dust and debris filled the air.

By some miracle, the man avoided being crushed, but his comrades weren’t so lucky.

They were buried under the rubble, meeting a gruesome end.

The man tumbled across the ground as if hit by a car, his bones broken and his skin torn.

Rolling out of the shadows of the alley, he finally caught sight of the people they had been chasing.

“Hah... hah... I survived?”

The man gasped for breath, celebrating his survival, but it wasn’t over yet.

From the shadows of the collapsed building, a bloodstained white mass slowly approached.

It was the figure of death itself, leading him to his demise.

“P-Please… help…”

The man struggled to turn his head and reached out toward the prey he had been chasing.

But at that moment, a massive steel structure came crashing down from above.

“Oh.”

The man instinctively knew his fate and closed his eyes as the structure fell.

Free City Union Outskirts, Scavenger Territory

For reasons unknown, the scavengers had stopped pursuing them, but Cheong’s group still cautiously navigated through the narrow alleys.

Atop Cheong’s head sat an unknown furry creature.

The furball flattened itself, as if trying to blend in and insist it was a hat.

“Are you sure that thing’s safe?”

The woman carrying a sniper rifle looked at Cheong with a concerned expression.

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Cheong picked up the furball from her head and hugged it close.

She gently tapped its tiny hands and feet, smiling with satisfaction.

The woman watched her with discomfort, as if seeing someone mentally unstable.

How could she find such a bloodstained, ominous-looking Object so adorable?

She quickened her pace, catching up with the man walking ahead.

“Still haven’t figured it out?”

She whispered to the man.

“Do I look like someone who’s good with machines like Cheong? Give me a minute,” he replied, fumbling with a tiny smartphone that looked completely out of place in his large hands as he searched for information on the Object clinging to Cheong.

The man was struggling more than expected to find details.

The Free City Union had limited access to Chinese networks, and even from China, it wasn’t easy to connect to outside networks.

“I found it!”

Finally, after digging through various roundabout methods, he managed to find information on the mysterious Object.

<Name: Orange Reaper.>

<Rank: Estimated to be a Special-Class Object, similar to other derivatives of the Gray Reaper.>

<The Orange Reaper is a derivative of the Special-Class Object, the Gray Reaper.>

<Its only known abilities are flight and the ability to control cloud fish.>

The woman’s eyes widened as she read the information, nearly shouting in surprise.

“Special-Class? It’s a Special-Class?”

Special-Class Objects were rare around the Free City Union, where many Objects could be hunted and used for prosthetic equipment, making this revelation even more shocking.

“A Special-Class Object? The mercenary manual says we’re not supposed to deal with anything Special-Class…”

“Well, that’s a classification from Korea. Our system might be different. Still, we should tread carefully and not provoke it.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

As the man and woman whispered to each other while glancing at Cheong, the group finally arrived at a massive wall.

“It’s the security wall. Once we get past this, the job’s done!”

Cheong looked up at the security wall with a tired but happy expression.

The “Giant Mother Golem,” now adorned with sparkling starlight, marked the completion of the “Giant Golem Creation” project.

The massive structure stood tall in the Marshmallow Plains, likely intended to be summoned by the Blue Reapers when needed.

<Mother Golem!>

<The real Mother Golem!>

The Blue Reapers looked overjoyed to see a giant, shining golem that resembled their beloved “Mother.”

And seeing them so happy made me happy too.

I didn’t know why, but the Golden Reapers had granted me a vacation.

So, I finally got to return to my isolation room and rest in peace.

<Mother's vacation!>

<Vacation!>

The only downside was that I still had to spend my vacation with the Golden Reapers.

They clung to me everywhere, from my antennae to my fingers and toes, even burying themselves in my hair.

It was annoying.

But since they were soft and squishy like cushions, it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

I buried myself in my fluffy bed, pulling a warm, squishy Golden Reaper over me like a blanket.

Finally, I turned on the TV to watch the news after a long break.

Free City Union, Outer Territory of the 'Wei' Family

After crossing the massive security wall, Cheong’s group was waiting at the designated spot to hand over the item while engaging in a small argument.

“Cheong, think about it again. Something feels off about this job.”

The woman clung to Cheong, suggesting they back out of the mission altogether.

She proposed they return the item to the broker and wash their hands of it.

There had been several strange occurrences during this job.

The scavengers had somehow tracked them down, the number of attackers had been higher than expected, and even the scavenger leader, “Tank,” had shown up.

And then, the scavengers had mysteriously vanished.

Despite all this, Cheong firmly shook her head, refusing to back down.

“This is a request from the Wei Family, one of the ruling families of the Union. If we give up now, we’ll never be able to work as mercenaries again.”

“I know, but…”

“Besides, if the item is important enough to attract a scavenger boss, abandoning it could lead to even bigger problems.”

Cheong whispered quietly to herself, though no one but the Orange Reaper on her head could hear.

“And I need the money from this family job. There’s something I need to do.”

“I’ll make that wish come true,” the Orange Reaper vowed silently, even though Cheong couldn’t hear it.

Footsteps echoed nearby, interrupting their conversation.

“Damn it, these family people always give me the creeps,” the man muttered nervously.

A figure approached, dressed in what seemed like a neat gray suit, but upon closer inspection, the clothes were seamlessly fused with the person’s skin, creating an eerie, patchwork appearance.

The scene of the deserted clearing faded into quiet as the collector from the Wei Family made sure no one was around. He opened the bag, revealing the radiant golden light of the smuggled horn cube.

With a satisfied but brief smile, the collector muttered to himself, “The scavengers caught a whiff of it, but the item made it safely.”

As he walked away, his figure gradually disappeared into the distance, leaving only the glint of the golden horn behind him.

“The scavengers caught a whiff of it, but the item made it safely,” the collector muttered.

He paused, waiting as if for a response, then added, “Yes.”

The collector glanced around once more, ensuring that no one was nearby. His face remained expressionless, though a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corners of his lips, as if he had just secured something invaluable.

“And there’s something else to report…”

The collector's hand gently brushed over the bag, the radiant light of the horn cube barely visible beneath the material.

“I’ve identified a pure human who might be of great use for the grand plan.”

His voice was steady, betraying neither excitement nor hesitation. It was a matter-of-fact statement, yet it carried weight. There was both expectation and caution behind those words.

After ensuring that everything was in order, the collector slung the bag over his shoulder once again and set off with purpose.

As the golden glow of the horn faded into the distance, the collector's figure disappeared into the shimmering haze of the dusty air.