The courtyard of the Sehee Research Institute, bathed in the warm noon sunlight, was bustling with researchers enjoying their lunch break alongside the mini reapers.

The researchers were gathered around a newly installed golden statue of a Triceratops, discussing it curiously.

“Why is there a golden Triceratops statue here all of a sudden?” one of the researchers asked, puzzled.

“Maybe Director Sehee had it installed,” another researcher suggested, putting forth the most likely theory.

Given that such absurd things typically happened under Sehee’s direction, it was a reasonable guess. And who else but Sehee could have acquired such a massive chunk of gold?

Just then, Sehee and Seo-ah entered the courtyard together, walking slowly. The moment Seo-ah saw the golden Triceratops statue, her expression twisted in frustration.

She quickly turned to Sehee with a look that seemed to say, "You didn't...?"

Sehee, wearing an exasperated expression, immediately shook her head in denial, as if saying, "It wasn't me!"

But Seo-ah, perhaps because Sehee was known to lie frequently, didn’t seem to believe her.

Hehe.

I was observing the scene from the cozy shade beneath the Triceratops’ frill.

Next to me was the red reaper, holding a trembling white spirit captive. The red reaper, mimicking the stance of a painter sketching a landscape, was intently watching the golden Triceratops statue, holding an imaginary camera up to frame the view.

With a pipe-shaped flame in its mouth and a chisel of fire in hand, the red reaper looked as if it were about to create some sort of masterpiece.

After admiring the Triceratops for a long time, the red reaper struck a dramatic pose and, with a flamboyant motion, jabbed the fire chisel into the white spirit's neck.

"Kyuu-hing-hing!"

The red reaper appeared to be carving the frill of the Triceratops out of the white spirit’s neck, but the chisel was too sharp and pierced right through the spirit’s throat.

‘Oops!’

The red reaper looked startled by its mistake, and the white spirit took the opportunity to flee.

And just like always, a playful chase ensued between the fleeing white spirit and the gleeful red reaper.

As the sun dipped towards the horizon in the late afternoon, the steady flow of supply trucks came to a halt, and one by one, the association dolls that had been transporting the supplies vanished. The parking lot, once bustling with activity, now lay still in silence.

In the quiet corner of the parking lot stood James' makeshift containment facility—a temporary setup designed for confining and observing objects, as well as conducting remote experiments.

Inside the observation room, James and his subordinates, all dressed in lab coats, were peering into the containment chamber.

Within that chamber were various association dolls, securely fixed in place by steel frames.

They were all different types of dolls that James had acquired from the association.

Through the transparent barrier separating him from the dolls, James carefully observed them.

A man dressed in a bulletproof vest and black uniform, unlike the others, broke the silence.

“Sir, wouldn’t it be safer to use the tower’s internal facilities?”

James, who was carefully disassembling one of the association dolls using a mechanical arm, replied without taking his eyes off the control console.

“Of course, the tower's internal facilities would be much safer, Alex.”

“Then, let’s move the operation there right away! There aren’t enough security options here,” Alex responded eagerly, seeing that James agreed with his suggestion.

“Security-wise, sure, it would be the best option. But we won’t move,” James said, his voice low.

“Because the association dolls keep trying to enter the tower. Until we know exactly what’s going on, it's better to keep them out of the tower.”

James added quietly, “From now on, think of the James Tower not just as a lab, but as a fortress.”

After long hours of disassembling the dolls, James finally stepped away from the console.

“We’ve learned the basic structure of the dolls, but the most important part, their energy source, remains a mystery.”

James rubbed his eyes wearily, a result of spending too long working at the remote console.

Alex, somewhat surprised that James—the top object expert in the U.S.—was admitting uncertainty, didn’t say a word.

“We’re done for today.”

James glanced out of the window, where the sun had already set, and saw a golden reaper sticking something against the glass. The reaper was holding a sticky poster of a mechanical Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“It’s already been six hours, so you should switch shifts and go home, too.”

James’ lab coat had already accumulated five different posters of mechanical dinosaurs stuck to it.

By nightfall, as darkness fell, Yerin was walking home, following the golden reaper.

Tap, tap, tap.

The confident steps of the golden reaper echoed as always, and its water-made spear and helmet glimmered in the moonlight.

Occasionally, the reaper would turn to check on Yerin, smiling bashfully each time.

It seemed like it was making sure Yerin was following along well.

When they reached the shared entrance of the building, an association doll greeted Yerin warmly.

“Welcome back.”

Though the doll’s greeting was polite, Yerin, clearly annoyed, rushed past without a glance.

She hurried down the hallway and finally stepped into her home.

“I’m back!” Yerin announced cheerfully as she entered.

She immediately pulled a round, golden jelly from the jar by the entrance and handed it to the golden reaper.

“Thanks for escorting me!”

The golden reaper smiled widely and started nibbling on the jelly, taking small bites.

Nom, nom, nom.

The golden reaper’s face lit up with happiness as it savored the sweet taste of the jelly, alongside the warm emotions Yerin exuded.

After finishing the jelly, the golden reaper waved its hand in a farewell gesture and vanished into thin air, using its ghostly powers.

As Yerin entered her room, she noticed something strange.

‘?’

There was something off.

Before leaving the house, Yerin distinctly remembered placing the white spirit on the lap of the leaden doll.

But now, it looked as though the leaden doll was embracing the white spirit tightly.

Leaden dolls had somewhat stiff joints, which allowed them to maintain certain poses when moved. But now, the doll’s arms were wrapped around the white spirit, holding it snugly.

‘Did the spirit adjust the position itself?’

It seemed to Yerin that the white spirit had crawled into the doll’s arms and moved its limbs to get hugged.

The white spirit’s face was filled with happiness as it lay nestled in the doll’s cold embrace. Its small face looked even more lively, seemingly finding peace in the doll’s coolness.

‘The leaden doll must be cold, but it seems so comfortable and happy.’

Yerin smiled softly as she observed them for a moment.

The white spirit, always with a slightly pitiful expression, now looked so content.

Yerin gently poked its cheek and patted the soft head of the leaden doll.

‘!’

But as she stroked the doll’s head, Yerin jumped in surprise, her eyes widening.

“It’s warm?”

She muttered to herself, clenching and unclenching her fist as if to confirm the lingering warmth in her hand.

Late at night, in the security room of James Tower, James was still on edge, unable to leave for the day.

‘Two days left until the doll expo.’

To James, those two days felt like the last bit of time he had left.

‘I hope we can figure out whether the association dolls are a threat or not before then.’

James sat in front of the monitor, analyzing the CCTV footage.

It was a video compilation of strange behavior exhibited by the association dolls.

[Click. Click. Click.]

On the monitor, the sound of a lock being turned echoed rhythmically. It was the sound of the association dolls trying to open doors.

The dolls would always turn the doorknobs in the same rhythm and with the same force.

Whenever they exhibited the strange behavior of trying to enter James Tower, this is what happened.

[Click. Click. Click.]

The dolls would always turn the knobs three times, in perfect rhythm, and then, as if nothing had happened, they would return to their original positions.

As James sat in the security room, watching the monitor, a loud noise broke the silence.

Beep. Beep.

The security alarm went off, signaling someone approaching the room.

James switched the camera view and saw Alex, who had gone home earlier, slowly walking toward the security room.

‘Did he forget something?’

When Alex reached the security room, he turned the doorknob.

[Click. Click. Click.]

[Click. Click. Click.]

[Click. Click. Click.]

“...”

Then Alex looked up at the security camera and spoke.

“Boss. Could you open the door, please?”