Everything had ended, and Seoul lay in silence.

As the sky, once concealed by the Color Universe, reappeared, the floating clouds of meat glimmered white in the sunlight.

The light rising from the horizon began with the cloud meat, moving downward past the skyscrapers.

As the sun finally rose above the horizon, sunlight fully seeped into Seoul.

The warm rays illuminated the exterior walls of buildings that had been shrouded in darkness, revealing the devastation that had unfolded in the city during the previous night.

Buildings collapsed and roads destroyed, as if a powerful earthquake had swept through.

Despite the sunlight now covering the streets, not a single person was in sight, creating an eerie, timeless atmosphere of stillness.

Amidst the quiet ruins, the massive remains of the purple foreign entity burned white, casting light into places untouched by the sun.

Not long ago, the gray grim reaper had been standing before the foreign entity. But as soon as the situation was resolved, it melted into the air, vanishing.

"Ah!"

"Mom ran away!"

The mini grim reapers, who had hoped to celebrate their victory with "Mom," were a bit disappointed when they realized she was gone.

The mini grim reapers, who had gathered around the remains of the foreign entity, began to disperse once again, breathing life back into Seoul.

Like a heart pumping blood through veins, the mini grim reapers spread out to every corner of the city.

Footsteps echoed in the empty streets.

Thump, thump.

The mini grim reapers walked around the deserted streets, letting the people know that the harmful objects were gone.

"It's safe now!"

The mini grim reapers poked their heads into rooms where people had hidden, sending out a cheerful message.

Though humans couldn’t hear the mini grim reapers’ thoughts, they could understand the situation through their actions and bright expressions.

The mini grim reapers sensed human emotions and found those who were hiding.

Even in places like underground parking lots with no exits.

There was one such parking lot, completely collapsed and blocked by rubble.

“So cold…”

Amidst the giant concrete wreckage, a person had miraculously survived.

In the pitch-black darkness with no light, in a building on the outskirts of Seoul that few ever visited.

And in such a hopeless situation, with their leg trapped under the debris, death was slowly approaching.

In front of that person’s eyes, a golden grim reaper’s head suddenly popped out with a poof.

The gentle light radiating from the golden grim reaper wasn’t blinding, even in the darkness.

The golden grim reaper’s sun-like warmth and bright smile made the despair fade away.

The grim reaper clenched its fists, as if encouraging the person to hang on just a little longer.

“I’ll save you soon!”

Though no words could be heard, it felt like the golden grim reaper was offering comfort.

Whether the person was hiding in a high-rise building or in a collapsed parking lot, the mini grim reapers reassured them, bringing a sense of relief to the humans they found.

In the middle of Seoul, in an upscale residential area.

While the mini grim reapers were busy rescuing people elsewhere, a sense of desolation hung around Oh Mooryong’s mansion.

The residents of this area had evacuated long ago, and the mini grim reapers were scarcely seen, leaving the place eerily quiet.

On top of that, the mansion had been completely destroyed by the massive boulder, making the area feel like a lonely ruin.

Amidst that desolate ruin, the blonde girl slowly walked forward.

There were hardly any buildings left, and no roads remained, but the blonde girl moved toward her destination without hesitation.

A gap in the wreckage, where a sturdy wall and shattered boulder formed what looked like a cave.

That was her destination.

A strong smell of oil and the stench of blood wafted from the gap, but without hesitation, the girl stepped inside.

As she walked further into the shallow crevice, she began to hear muttering filled with malice.

“Ah, ahh. My granddaughter…”

“This can’t be happening. This can’t be…”

In the darkness, Oh Mooryong sat, his hands resting on the mass that had already lost all its strength and melted away.

“It won’t end like this! Never!”

His eyes gleamed with red madness.

As the blonde girl slowly approached, Oh Mooryong lifted his head.

For a long moment, he stared at the girl, as if trying to recall a forgotten memory, before he finally spoke.

“Ah, my granddaughter has come. Your grandfather is hurt badly… Can you help me up?”

At his words, the blonde girl slowly approached him with an expressionless face, and Oh Mooryong smiled with delight.

His face twisted with an expression that seemed to scream, “Just a little closer, just a little more!”

But just before the blonde girl reached him, she stopped and looked down at him.

“Grandfather!”

Though her face remained rigid, her voice sounded as sweet and affectionate as it had when she was a young girl.

But the stiff expression on her face, hidden by the cave’s backlight, was something Oh Mooryong couldn’t see.

“W-why, why, why are you doing this?”

His face twisted, his voice trembling with urgency.

Unlike the blonde girl, Oh Mooryong couldn’t hide his anxious feelings.

“Which one am I?”

Her voice, now cold and devoid of emotion, was a stark contrast to the playful tone she had just used.

Clicking his tongue, Oh Mooryong’s face twisted as he spoke.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Can you forgive me?”

The blonde girl gave a sorrowful smile, almost as if she were crying.

Then, she slowly walked toward Oh Mooryong and grabbed his face.

“You don’t even know how many of us there were, do you?”

But Oh Mooryong didn’t respond to her question.

Instead, he clutched her tightly with his twisted arms, like a drug addict who had just found his fix.

“No, do you even remember my name?”

“…”

“You never once called us by our names.”

As that sad voice left the girl’s mouth, red flames began to erupt from her entire body.

Oh Mooryong screamed in agony as the flames of purification consumed him.

“Stop! Stop!”

“Name. Name. What was my name?”

Even as he was reduced to ash by the flames of purification, Oh Mooryong couldn’t remember his granddaughter’s name.

In his final moments, as the red voices grew distant, he realized only one thing.

All the clones had been perfect granddaughters.

It was only he, Oh Mooryong, who had never been satisfied.

“Grandfather!”

Recalling the bright smile of his first clone, Oh Mooryong died in regret.

In the always-comfortable quarantine room of Sehee’s lab.

I was nestled in Yerin’s arms, munching on snacks while watching TV.

Nom nom.

Even though Seoul had been utterly wrecked to the point where TV and radio broadcasts couldn’t function properly, the recovery efforts had proceeded faster than expected.

I had thought it would take at least a year to repair the collapsed buildings and deal with all the casualties.

But now, more TV news channels were starting to come back on air.

Public institutions like the Object Association seemed to be regaining their footing, as there were some interesting stories on TV.

[Following the “association doll rampage incident” in Seoul, the city is still undergoing extensive recovery efforts.]

[As a result of the incident, the South Korean government has decided to dissolve the Korea Object Association.]

[In its place, a new organization called the “Object Safety Management Council” has been established to oversee the safety and regulation of objects.]

[Since the incident was caused by dolls directly developed by the association, the new council is expected to operate quite differently from its predecessor.]

[Unlike the former association, which focused on running research facilities, the council will prioritize object safety management and regulation.]

[Chairman Hwang Geumcheol of the new council stated, “We will not repeat the mistakes of the bloated association and will focus on safety management.”]

[Meanwhile, there were discussions about relocating the capital, but due to various practical issues, those plans have been put on hold for now.]

On TV, a middle-aged man holding a large, gold-decorated staff was giving an impassioned speech.

Wow, the Object Association is finally gone.

I wonder if this new safety management council will be any better.

Well, no matter how bad it gets, it can’t be worse than the association.

While I was thinking that, Yerin, who had been feeding me snacks, suddenly held her phone up to my face.

“Sashin, take a look at this.”

On the internet article she showed me was a picture of a wrecked building.

[Secret Research Facility of the Object Association Collapses, Large-Scale Damage Feared]

[It has been confirmed that a secret research facility of the Object Association has completely collapsed due to the doll incident.]

[Many dangerous objects that were being contained within the facility have gone missing, raising concerns about potential secondary disasters.]

[Furthermore, it has been reported that the notorious criminal “Maker” escaped during the incident.]

[In response, the Object Safety Management Council stated, “We are working with the police to track down Maker and are doing our best to ensure public safety.”]

Maker, huh.

That name feels vaguely familiar.