NoveLight ™
A spacious room at the outskirts of Songpa-gu, in James Tower.
James was meticulously inspecting a series of large blueprints spread out across the floor.
Meanwhile, a golden reaper, with a bright expression, had its cheek pressed against James’ cheek, giggling happily.
To an outside observer, it might have seemed like they were both looking at the blueprints together. However, in reality, the golden reaper wasn’t thinking about anything. It was simply enjoying the moment, rubbing its cheek against James' and feeling happy just to be doing something together.
Pointing to the blueprints scattered on the floor, James spoke.
“Which design do you think is the best?”
All the blueprints James pointed at were for a special set of armor designed for a Tyrannosaurus rex.
They were various upgrades to the armor they had previously sent to the gray reaper, offering a wide variety of new designs.
The designs ranged from a similar type of armor as before, to:
The array of designs was quite extensive.
However, there was one problem.
Which version of the Tyrannosaurus would the gray reaper prefer?
That’s why James had printed out the blueprints and decided to rely on the golden reaper’s choice.
Hearing James’ question, the golden reaper tilted its head, as if unsure, and began looking at the blueprints.
After a moment, the golden reaper pointed at one of the designs with its tiny finger and smiled brightly.
It had a look that said, ‘Mom will love this for sure!’
The golden reaper had chosen the radiant, shining Golden-Mecha-Tyranno.
James was slightly puzzled by the golden reaper’s choice.
‘Does the gray reaper even like gold?’
But then he remembered the massive golden statue of the gray reaper in the reaper’s lounge and nodded.
If the statue was there, it couldn’t be that bad, at least.
“Alright, I guess we’ll proceed with the production of the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno armor.”
As a token of gratitude for the golden reaper’s help, James handed it a large pudding.
Nom-nom-nom.
The golden reaper grabbed an enormous spoon, relative to its size, and scooped up some pudding, nibbling at the edges with its small mouth.
Then, it lifted the spoon over its shoulder and offered it to James.
“You want to share?”
James smiled at the golden reaper, who was beaming as if urging him to hurry up and join in, and took a bite of the pudding.
Hehe.
The golden reaper laughed joyfully as it watched James eat.
Just as James was about to scoop some pudding to feed the golden reaper in return, his phone let out an ominous sound.
It was a loud, urgent alert, signaling an emergency.
When James checked the phone, the message displayed on the screen was troubling.
<The U.S. Object Association's Space Station has lost communication.>
<No issues detected from ground observations.>
<A very high level of mental contamination has been detected.>
Sehee Research Institute Office.
Researcher Helmet entered the office for a normal day of work, but immediately sensed that something was different about the atmosphere.
The first thing that caught his eye was the golden reapers!
The office floor was packed with them, so much so that it was difficult to walk without stepping on one.
In addition, there were far more researchers present than usual.
It made him realize just how many employees actually worked at the Sehee Research Institute.
Normally, they would find any excuse, like a cigarette or coffee break, to leave their desks, but today, everyone was staying in their seats, captivated by the strange behavior of the golden reapers.
The source of this peculiar behavior was two sealed objects that had been delivered to the institute by the Object Safety Management Council.
The objects were placed near Senior Researcher Kim Jungroe, tightly sealed.
“This wasn’t a formal request through proper documentation. They just dropped it off with a verbal notice…”
“Where’s Director Sehee when things like this happen…?”
Deputy Director Park Seoa and Senior Researcher Kim Jungroe were frowning, making calls and figuring out how to handle the situation.
But the golden reapers didn’t seem to care about the office’s tense atmosphere and kept their eyes fixed on the sealed objects.
Like curious cats, every time Kim Jungroe moved the objects, all the golden reapers in the room followed with their gaze.
The golden reaper sitting on Researcher Helmet’s palm also stared intently at the objects.
‘What could those be?’
Judging by the reactions of Deputy Director Park Seoa and Senior Researcher Kim Jungroe, it seemed like these were very dangerous objects.
It could be something like an evolution fluid sample, considering how everyone was reacting.
While stroking the head of the distracted golden reaper, Researcher Helmet asked,
“Can you tell me what’s going on?”
The golden reaper turned toward him and started explaining something with a flurry of gestures.
‘I have no idea what it’s saying.’
Of course, he couldn’t understand it.
The golden reapers’ gestures were very different from human body language, making them difficult to interpret.
On top of that, the same gesture could have multiple meanings, and they often seemed to use movements arbitrarily.
It was probably the hardest language in the world to understand.
‘Dangerous objects!’
‘We need to get rid of them quickly!’
‘Mom! Hurry and come!’
The golden reapers had gathered at the Sehee Research Institute out of concern.
An utterly malicious, dangerous object had entered the institute.
Late morning, Sehee Research Institute Courtyard.
I was lying in Yerin’s arms, basking in the sunlight in the unusually quiet courtyard.
Strangely, the researchers who usually played with the mini reapers while drinking their morning coffee were nowhere to be seen, and neither were the golden reapers who normally rolled around by my side.
For the first time in a long while, it was a peaceful moment, lying quietly with Yerin, enjoying the break.
Yerin was nibbling on my antennae and chatting away, sharing various stories.
“Do you remember the lead doll that the reaper gave me? It might just be my imagination, but I feel like it’s starting to move a little.”
“Normally, I should be worried about something like that, but since the white maw has stuck close to it, I figure it must be fine, right?”
Ah, the lead doll.
It was a finely crafted doll that I’d found in the workshop of the Blue Girl.
I had given it to Yerin as a gift, thinking that if I did, she might stop trying to dress me up so much.
And indeed, since giving her the doll, the attempts to dress me up had significantly decreased, so I was satisfied.
However, I was a bit uneasy about what Yerin might be doing with the doll in my absence.
Well, as long as the white maw was attached to it, it should be safe, no matter what happens.
“Oh, and early this morning, the Object Safety Management Council delivered a new object.”
Then, Yerin mentioned something that piqued my interest.
A new object delivery?
Those were always exciting events at the Sehee Research Institute.
I wondered what kind of new objects had arrived this time.
As I was lying there with my eyes closed, listening to Yerin’s story, the golden reapers began approaching me.
Thump, thump.
They climbed onto my body, which I had been pretending to keep asleep, and started calling out to me.
‘Mom!’
‘Something bad happened!’
But I didn’t want to shake off the pleasant drowsiness, so I kept my eyes closed, continuing to pretend I was asleep.
Thwack, thwack.
The golden reaper started patting my eyelids with its little hands.
Then, as if it knew I was faking it, it lifted my eyelid with its fingers and forced me to look at it.
‘Mom, you need to wake up now!’
The golden reaper seemed to know that I wasn’t really seeing through my eyes, but it always insisted on making eye contact.
Reluctantly, I slipped out of Yerin’s arms and followed the golden reaper as it led me into the institute.
When we arrived, I immediately understood the situation.
‘Definitely something worth causing a commotion over.’
Two highly dangerous objects had been delivered to the Sehee Research Institute.
They were antique lamps, similar to the one Watson had.
Recently, I had grown stronger, or maybe it was because I had seen a lot of foreign entities lately, but to me, these lamps seemed quite weak. However, to humans, they were incomparably dangerous.
Now that I looked at them, they reminded me somewhat of the Violet Foreign Entity.
Not quite a foreign entity, but something similar—like the incomplete Violet Foreign Entity.
Not quite an object, but exuding the same kind of presence as one.
Not quite an object, but with a visible destruction condition, just like an object.
Someday, I would have to find and eliminate the “master of the lamp,” but I had no idea where to start.
If I tried to track its source using my antenna, like last time, the lamp would likely be destroyed again.
For now, I decided to seal them away in the Mini Reaper Garden.
With my decision made, I gave the golden reapers an order.
‘Take them away!’
The golden reapers, who had filled the office floor, surged forward like a wave, sweeping away the sealed lamps.
The outskirts of Songpa-gu, James Tower.
James was securely connected to the U.S. Object Association, watching live footage of an ongoing operation from the association’s space station.
“Are objects appearing in space stations now too?”
James’ low voice echoed the sentiments of the entire association.
It had been several days since they had lost contact with the space station, but long-distance observations had revealed no irregularities.
Both James’ lab and the U.S. Object Association had spent a long time deliberating and finally decided to send a manned probe.
[We are currently approaching the space station. No anomalies detected yet.]
The team leader of the probe communicated back.
The control center continued to monitor the probe closely when they suddenly detected an alarming sign.
“The mental contamination levels are rapidly reaching dangerous levels.”
[Understood. We still have some leeway, so we’ll proceed a bit further.]
But as the probe drew closer, the team leader’s voice took on a note of concern.
[The mental contamination levels are increasing more rapidly than anticipated. I don’t think we’ll be able to dock with the current equipment.]
Even though docking seemed unlikely, the mission was progressing smoothly.
Then, without warning, something unprecedented occurred.
Before the mental contamination shielding even collapsed, the team leader began reporting strange observations.
[A green moon is visible above the space station! I repeat, a green moon is…!]
The communication cut off immediately afterward.
A green moon?
“Immediately initiate long-distance observation!”
A panicked James shouted urgently.
The control center quickly tried to initiate long-distance observation, but the probe had vanished without a trace.
It was as if the station had swallowed it whole.