In the mountains beneath the blue sky, there was a clear stream trickling down a valley.

The sunlight sparkled off the flowing water, and the clean pebbles scattered along its bed created a pleasant sound with every step taken over them.

A man slowly walked through this beautiful valley.

Sitting on top of his head, gripping his hair, was a small black reaper.

Admiring the beauty of nature, the man looked up at the black reaper and said,

“The water is so clear. The pebbles sparkle, and the air is so fresh! Isn’t this place great?”

Beep!

The black reaper responded with a clear sound, as if agreeing.

Seeing that the black reaper seemed to enjoy the place as much as he did, the man smiled contentedly.

He set down his backpack and began setting up a tent with the black reaper.

With a light swing of the black reaper, which had transformed into a hammer, the man drove tent stakes easily into the hard ground, as if it were soft earth.

It was the black reaper moving in sync with the man’s hand, adjusting its form with every swing.

Even with a gentle movement, the reaper hammer exerted just the right amount of force. And since the black reaper grasped the man’s hand firmly, there was no risk of losing grip.

Even if he swung in the wrong direction, the black reaper would turn pliable, ensuring that no one got hurt.

The golden, gleaming eyes on the hammerhead were also quite cute.

In addition, the black reaper could transform into countless other tools, including gloves and clothing, so there was never a need for extra equipment.

The only drawback was that whenever the black reaper got bored, its tiny tongue would lick the man’s palm.

“Thanks,” the man said, hugging the black reaper, who was now sprawled across a makeshift table, lazily rolling around. He gently petted it.

The man was deeply grateful to the black reaper.

His current job, one he would never have pursued without the reaper, involved traveling to scenic natural locations, camping, and recording videos of his adventures.

Thirty years had passed since objects first appeared on a large scale.

Camping, an activity that required visiting remote, less populated areas, had become a dead hobby.

Encountering an object while camping was as dangerous as meeting a wild tiger.

The only reason the man could travel so freely without fearing objects was because of the black reaper.

Though it was only the size of a palm, the black reaper was strong enough to subdue most objects in an instant.

Nom nom.

The black reaper sat quietly in the man’s lap, munching on some snacks.

But suddenly, the black reaper’s expression hardened as if it sensed something. It leapt onto the man’s hand.

Puzzled by the reaper’s sudden change in behavior, the man began surveying the area, realizing the message the reaper was trying to convey.

Grrrr.

Following the black reaper’s gaze, he saw numerous tigers emerging from the dense shadows of the forest.

Tigers again.

Not long ago, he had encountered a pack of tigers near Gwanak Mountain, and now he was facing another group.

A serious expression flickered across the man’s face.

He had begun noticing strange phenomena in the forest recently.

The forest was growing increasingly dense, and animals that were rarely seen had started appearing more frequently.

From herbivores like deer to carnivores like tigers.

Even stranger, these animals were displaying unusual behavior, like “tigers moving in packs,” something they wouldn’t normally do.

And just recently, he had spotted an enormous bird with iridescent feathers that scattered light wherever it went, a creature of unknown origin.

‘It seems like I’ll need to postpone camping until the forest returns to normal.’

The black reaper, who loved camping, would likely feel a bit disappointed, but there was no helping it.

In the Sehee Research Institute’s courtyard, the sorrowful cries of a maw echoed sweetly.

Kewhing!

I had sliced a white maw into spirals like a spring potato and was slowly roasting it over the campfire, savoring its pained screams.

That was the fate of the white maw that had dared to mock me.

Lately, I’d been encountering many white maws with strangely enlarged livers, and I had carefully dissected each one to confirm the plumpness of their livers.

Unfortunately, all I found inside the maw’s belly was marshmallow, no liver.

I had heard that maw liver was quite the delicacy, so I was a bit disappointed.

As I was busy tormenting the maw, the heads of the mini reapers in the courtyard began turning toward the entrance, one by one.

I could also sense that someone was approaching.

It was Yerin, accompanied by two humans and an object.

“That Triceratops golden statue is huge.”

“What does a Triceratops have to do with Sehee Research Institute, though?”

The newcomers were the orange-crowned reaper and its bonded human, along with the purple-eyed reaper and its bonded human, who wore an eyepatch.

‘Siblings!’

The golden reapers were visibly excited to see the rare siblings again and eagerly swarmed around the orange-crowned and purple-eyed reapers.

Some of the golden reapers also ran toward the human-shaped object.

Upon closer inspection, I recognized that the object was the human roll cake I had revived.

The roll cake human cradled the golden reapers as they crowded around and furtively glanced around.

Then, seeing no one watching, they began feeding the golden reapers their own fingers.

Nom nom.

“Delicious, right?” the roll cake human asked, smiling as the golden reapers nodded enthusiastically.

There was something unsettling about the scene.

Was the roll cake human suffering from the same disease as the maw reapers, wanting to feed others their own body parts?

I decided to avert my gaze and walk over to Yerin, who was chatting with a girl I had seen before in the Free City Union—Cheong.

“It’s not a dinosaur research institute, so why do they have a golden Triceratops statue on display?” Cheong asked.

“I’m not entirely sure. Usually, such ridiculously expensive things are brought in secretly by Director Sehee,” Yerin replied.

Standing beside Yerin, I looked up at Cheong, admiring her energy.

‘She doesn’t have as much fire as Yerin, but it’s still quite a lot. It seems to have increased since last time.’

Standing between Yerin and Cheong, I couldn’t help but feel tempted by the vast amount of energy flowing from both of them.

It might be nice to have Yerin on one side and Cheong on the other.

Nom nom.

As I was looking at Cheong and licking my lips, the orange-crowned reaper suddenly headbutted me.

The sharp edge of the crown poked me right in the eye!

‘Ack, it’s the second rebellious child.’

I pointed to the orange-crowned reaper, who was trying to stab me with all its might, and called for help from the mini reapers.

But none of the mini reapers came to my aid.

Instead, they cheered on the orange-crowned reaper as if this was only natural.

‘Bad mom!’

The rebellion of the mini reapers had begun.

A helicopter slowly descended into a clearing deep in the jungle.

James stepped out of the helicopter and, guided by the James Research Institute staff, made his way to a tent.

Inside the tent was a large birdcage, at least three meters tall, and perched inside was a mysterious bird that radiated a soft light.

“It’s certainly worthy of being called a phoenix.”

James had seen the legendary creature in photos, but he had come in person to confirm it.

‘This should definitely justify removing the green moon.’

James carefully reviewed the documents he had received from the researchers.

<A pack of at least 300 tigers spotted in Korea.>

<A massive dragon sighted in the Himalayas.>

<A phoenix roaming throughout East Asia.>

<Resurrection of extinct animals.>

<Abnormal growth of forests.>

All of these strange occurrences had begun after the appearance of the green moon.

Now, only one problem remained for James.

How to send the gray reaper to the James Space Station.

James opened his notebook and began writing down potential methods.

<Broadcast that the space station has been taken over by an object.>

Due to the inability to observe the interior and the high probability that there were no survivors, there wasn’t much to attract the gray reaper’s attention.

<Spread false information that a Tyrannosaurus festival is being held at the James Space Station.>

This might provoke the gray reaper, but it was too risky.

As he brainstormed, each idea seemed to have its own flaws.

‘I don’t know.’

As James pondered, a golden reaper waddled over and handed him a piece of paper.

It was a blueprint for the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno armor.

The James Space Station, floating alone in the vastness of space.

In the darkness and silence, the woman who had been left behind clung to the microphone like it was her last hope.

“Please, someone… save me. Please…”

The ominous noise coming from the darkness grew closer and closer to her.

Sssk… sssk…

It sounded as if something was crawling toward her.

Her heart raced with fear.

Terrified, she held her breath, praying that whatever it was would pass her by.

But the sound continued to approach, getting closer and closer.

Her mind raced with all sorts of horrific thoughts.

A man-eating object? Or was it a hallucination caused by mental contamination?

In the pitch blackness, all she could hear was her own heartbeat and that strange noise.

And now, it sounded like it was right in front of her.

Panicked, she kept her eyes tightly shut and fumbled around for something to use as a weapon.

But there was nothing.

Frozen in place, she could only accept her fate.

The sound stopped right in front of her.

Endless silence.

If she opened her eyes, she feared she would see a giant monster ready to devour her whole.

But no matter how long she waited, nothing happened.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.

And there, it revealed itself…

“Ming!”

Before her was a small creature, no larger than a human head, its eyes glowing softly.