Near James Tower, Songpa District

The open area near James Tower in Songpa was bustling with employees moving around and sorting equipment.

In the center of the open space lay the Golden-Mecha-Tyranno Rocket, slightly scorched black.

Looking down at the rocket, James muttered with a hint of pride,
“Recovering a rocket shaped like a tyrannosaurus… This must be a world first.”

His muttering carried a slight tone of disbelief as well.

Lowering his gaze to the table, he saw a Golden Reaper chewing on something with great concentration over the spread-out newspaper.

The Golden Reaper, who always followed James around, was trying to munch on a piece of tough dried squid that James had left out as a casual snack.

The Reaper bit and tore at the hard squid with its small teeth but didn’t seem to have much luck.

Perhaps it was due to its lack of strength and its slightly soft teeth.

While it was a relief for humans that bites from the Golden Reaper didn’t hurt, it looked like it had a hard time with chewy food.

‘Heeng.’

With a downcast expression, the Golden Reaper held the big squid in its mouth and looked up at James.

Seeing this, James tugged on the squid hanging from the Reaper’s mouth.

“Ack!”

Thinking James was trying to take away its squid, the Golden Reaper clamped down with all its strength, dangling from the squid.

But when James held onto the Reaper’s body and pulled, the squid slipped right out of the Reaper’s mouth.

“Angdae!” (Nooo!)

Watching the struggling Golden Reaper in his grip, James laughed and said,
“Hang on; I’ll cut it for you.”

With a small pair of scissors, James snipped the squid into bite-sized pieces for the Reaper.

‘Nom-nom.’

The Reaper then sat by the squid with a slightly bashful look and began to nibble on it.

‘How long will it take that Golden Reaper to finish a single piece of squid?’

James flipped through the newspaper on the table, watching the Reaper chew diligently.

The next page displayed a photo of dozens of Red Reapers flying around, burning ooze with flames.

The headline read:
"Angels of Communism: Red Reapers Protect the World from Threat!"

In the past, much of the Gray Reaper and Mini Reapers’ efforts happened at the forefront of object control, so regular people only perceived it as “The Gray Reaper destroyed an object.”

However, the recent "Dark Green Ooze Incident" was different.

This was a direct threat experienced right in front of most of the world.

Hardly anyone lived without animals like cats or pigeons or without insects or plants around them.

Reports flooded in of sudden green ooze creeping onto tables inside homes.

And in that moment, when there was no clear solution, the Red Reapers appeared.

Perhaps due to this, the popularity of Red Reapers, along with Gray and Mini Reapers, was skyrocketing.

Fan sites for Red Reapers popped up everywhere, with rediscoveries of countless deeds attributed to the Gray and Mini Reapers.

James felt a positive shift was taking place.

In time, humanity would likely find itself under the protection of the Gray and Mini Reapers.

Moreover, seeing the Red Reapers wield scythes and hammers led some to believe the Reapers could understand human culture.

An object that comprehends humanity and protects it!

This notion was spreading gradually.

There was just one problem.

Rumors suggested that the system desired by the Mini Reapers was communism. James wondered how he could tackle this.

However, no matter how much he pondered, James couldn’t think of a way to resolve it.

Deep Within the Mini Reaper Garden, Beyond the Black Sugar Desert

I arrived in a region unreachable by any Mini Reaper, looking around.

After destroying the Green Moon, this new area had appeared in the Mini Reaper Garden.

It was a jungle crafted entirely of vibrant jellies.

Jelly trees, jelly rocks, jelly rivers, jelly vines.

The diverse shapes and colors made it a fun place to explore.

It felt like a jungle made of massive plastic block toys, yet each part retained the essence of jelly.

‘Nom-nom.’

Lying on a sunlit jelly rock, I looked up at the sky, eating jelly.

With no Yerin around to feed me and no Mini Reapers offering tribute, I used shadows to rip the jelly for myself.

I was using my tentacle-summoning ability obtained before and the shadow-shaping ability I gained after destroying the Violet Moon.

Though I couldn’t give my shadows physical strength like the Violet Reaper, combining them with tentacles made them somewhat useful.

I extended the shadows using shadow-shaping! And then summoned tentacles from the shadow! This way, I could easily reach jellies beyond tentacle range—a significant discovery.

As I munched on the jelly, lounging on the soft rock, my thoughts drifted to the Green Moon.

‘Since I caught the Green Moon, I’ll probably gain a Mini Reaper ability soon. How will it turn out?’

Given that Mini Reapers usually stem from the Moon’s followers, could it be a green Reaper with a population-sized count in the trillions like bacteria?

The ability I’ll gain will probably lean toward handling nature, but it was impossible to predict exactly how.

‘If a green Reaper appears, the Mini Reapers will throw another festival.’

I could almost see the Golden Reapers exclaiming, “A new youngest!”

While I pondered these things, something suddenly burst out of the jungle’s shadow with a ‘pop.’

‘!!!’

Though it was a new object form, it had a small log nestled in its heart.

Ah, so this is the Green Reaper.

Distinct from other Mini Reapers, it bore a similarity to the Orange Reaper.

But at least its figure was that of a Mini Reaper, to my relief.

It floated through the air with cat-like ears, drifting around.

The Green Reaper, after scanning its surroundings with a puzzled expression, looked at me and made a small sound.

“Meeng?”

Then, as if glad to see me, it began circling around me.

“Meeeng!”

And with a loud cry, it abruptly took off as though in a rush to handle something urgent.

‘?’

Large Hospital Near Sehee Research Institute

The sole survivor of James Space Station had arrived in Korea via the Mini Reaper Garden.

Although physically unharmed, she was hospitalized, unable to regain her strength due to severe emotional trauma.

“No, Mingming. Don’t go.”

She was lost in an endless nightmare.

It was a nightmare that repeated Mingming’s final moment, where it disappeared as a cluster of light.

“Miing.”

With wounds dried to the bone, and her golden eyes shining faintly,

Mingming smiled faintly, as if to say not to worry, and softly cried, “Miing.”

“If only I could see other moments with Mingming.”

Though their journey was short, there were indeed many memories between her and Mingming.

But the only thing her dreams could show her was this nightmare.

And as Mingming transformed into a cloud of light and disappeared, she woke up.

In the dark hospital room, she glanced around her blurry surroundings from sleeping too long, then closed her eyes again, lying back down.

If she fell asleep again, she could see Mingming.

As she drifted back into sleep, a small green object peeked out from the corner of the room.

“Meeng…”

It was Mingming, returned from death.

But Mingming couldn’t bring itself to approach the woman.

It had changed too much in appearance.

Due to the Gray Reaper’s influence, Mingming had turned into the Green Reaper.

The Green Reaper confirmed the woman was asleep and quietly nestled into her embrace.

“Miing.”

Feeling the warmth of her cherished human, it closed its eyes peacefully.

Seoul Forest in Silent Rejection of Civilization

At the heart of this quiet Seoul Forest stood a towering object.

The Steel Tower.

In the silent, pitch-black night without human-made lights, clouds slowly parted, and moonlight began to pour down.

As the seven-colored moonlight illuminated the towering Steel Tower, an air of awakening as if something ancient was stirring surrounded it.

Creaaaak.

A crack began to form on the Steel Tower’s surface, which no human weapon had ever scratched.

Through the gaps in the crumbling Steel Tower, a chilling black light started to seep out.

Ironically, it was darker than the night-cloaked Seoul Forest.

The surface of the disintegrating Steel Tower resembled a demon shedding its skin.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the inside of the Steel Tower, hollow and empty, began to emerge.

Though its surface was crumbling, the Steel Tower remained steadfast, unyielding in its place.