Near Sehee Research Institute, Yerin’s Apartment

In the dimly lit, empty room of Yerin’s apartment—since she had left for work at the Sehee Research Institute—a presence could be felt.

With Yerin gone, Mini Agwis were gathering in the room.

These Mini Agwis, blackened and burnt in places, looked pitiful.

They slowly made their way toward the room where a Lead Doll was seated.

Once they arrived, they settled in a fan shape on the floor, gazing at the doll on the chair.

After a few minutes, the Lead Doll’s eyes slowly opened, as if its eyelids were weighed down with immense heaviness.

Seeing the Agwis gathered in front of it, the doll gave a small, gentle smile.

“Kyuu!”

Seeing this smile, the Mini Agwis eagerly leaped onto the doll’s lap.

One by one, in orderly fashion.

The Lead Doll embraced each Agwi tenderly as they climbed onto its lap.

“Kyuhihi.”

The Mini Agwis sat on the doll’s lap, reveling in its gentle strokes, their faces lighting up with satisfied smiles.

For Mini Agwis who were often scorched by the Red Reapers or nibbled on by the Golden Reapers, this was a small moment of peace.

A rare, warm moment for the Mini Agwis.

It was a blissful rest that continued until the Lead Doll fell asleep again.

While the Mini Agwis enjoyed this peaceful moment, a small golden head poked through the firmly closed front door.

It was a Golden Reaper, who had followed the Agwis after hearing them laughing with "kyuhihi" sounds, curious about where they were going.

‘!!!’

Seeing the Agwis’ moment of joy, the Golden Reaper froze in shock, as if it had witnessed something that shouldn’t exist.

A gentle mother.

A dressed mother.

A mother who embraced with a smile.

A mother who didn’t torment Agwis.

All of it was an impossible, fantasy mother.

Seoul Forest, Center – The Steel Tower

I lay in front of the Steel Tower, waiting for it to completely collapse.

The sound of something breaking continued endlessly, but no matter how long I waited, the Steel Tower did not fall.

“There’s this constant breaking sound, yet nothing changes.”

Could it be that the tower’s massive size meant it took a long time to fall apart?

“I don’t know.”

In fact, even as an object, the Steel Tower was absurdly enormous.

It was as large as a skyscraper, yet different from one in essence.

Skyscrapers had various features—windows, doors, and entrances.

The Steel Tower was just smooth, solid metal with no structures at all.

Few people would look at a skyscraper and wonder, “How many people would it take to hug around its circumference?”

But with a giant tree, many would.

The Steel Tower was similar; its lack of structures made its sheer size immediately impactful.

I walked up to it, spread my arms as wide as I could, and clung to it.

“It’d probably take about 100 Gray Reapers to measure around this thing.”

I tried measuring its circumference, then simply lay back on the ground.

As I lay there resting, the Golden Reapers who had been tidying up Seoul Forest started crawling over and clinging to me, giggling.

They climbed up my body and gathered on my stomach.

“Mom’s belly!”

“It’s squishy!”

Boing-boing.

They started bouncing on my soft stomach like a trampoline.

It wasn’t like this before, but lately, it felt like the moment I lay down, every Golden Reaper nearby would dash over.

As if an irresistible playground had appeared!

Was I really that soft?

I pinched my belly lightly and squished it.

As I watched them bouncing, I felt a new ability surfacing.

Given the timing, it seemed likely to be the Green Moon’s ability.

It was a peculiar power, similar to but distinct from the Green Moon’s ability to induce plant overgrowth.

Watching the Golden Reapers bouncing on my belly, a playful idea popped into my mind involving the Green Moon’s power.

Hehe.

I grabbed one of the Golden Reapers having fun.

‘?’

The Reaper looked up at me in confusion.

I infused it with a bit of fuel.

“From now on, you’re a plump Golden Reaper!”

But, knowing well that my energy wouldn’t make it gain weight, the Reaper simply giggled.

It was probably thinking, “Mom’s at it again with something weird.”

I slowly mixed a bit of the Green Moon’s overgrowth ability into that energy.

The Green Moon’s infamous overgrowth ability!

‘!!!’

The first to notice the change were the Golden Reapers watching from my belly.

“It’s getting bigger!”

Thanks to my ability to increase a Mini Reaper’s size, the small Golden Reaper began growing in my hands.

Compared to the Green Moon’s power, which could cause explosive plant growth worldwide, this was minor.

It allowed me to temporarily increase the Mini Reaper’s size, making it a bit plumper.

The size increase was only up to about double, but that alone was enough to give the Golden Reapers a bit of a scare.

‘!!!’

The Golden Reaper I held, noticing its palms getting larger, tried to wriggle free in panic.

“Nooo!”

“You’re now the plump Golden Reaper!”

Hehe.

As I laughed and said that, the other Golden Reapers started backing away from me, their expressions frightened.

“It turned into the chubby yellow sibling!”

Once freed, the Golden Reaper plopped onto the ground, looking down at its slightly round belly.

‘….’

Before long, the clearing in front of the Steel Tower was filled with Golden Reapers doubled in size.

“Nooo….”

They’d all been caught and turned into “plump” Golden Reapers by my ability.

Fortunately, I could control the Green Moon’s ability remotely, successfully making the Golden Reapers chubby.

The “plump” Golden Reapers sprawled out gloomily until the effect wore off, returning them to their original sizes.

Hehe.

It had been a while since I’d pulled off such a successful prank.

Sehee Research Institute, Outskirts of Songpa District

A woman with a Green Reaper on her head arrived at the Sehee Research Institute.

Having just recently been discharged from the hospital, she was quite excited.

The Sehee Research Institute—a place she’d been wanting to visit for so long!

Smiling slightly, she spoke to the Green Reaper perched on her head.

“Aren’t you looking forward to it too?”

“Meeng!”

As the woman and the Green Reaper entered the institute’s courtyard, many Mini Reapers started to gather.

“A sibling!”

“A new sibling!”

Watching this scene, the woman glanced around the courtyard, fiddling with her camera.

The Gray Reaper wasn’t around….

According to James’ research report, the Gray Reaper was often away.

She’d thought it was unlikely she’d see it, but not seeing it left her feeling a bit down.

“Meeng!!!”

The Green Reaper, after enjoying some pudding with the Mini Reapers, suddenly flew into the air with a loud “Meeng!”

‘?’

The Mini Reapers and people in the courtyard were momentarily puzzled.

But soon, grass began sprouting across the courtyard of the Sehee Research Institute.

Small animals began to emerge from the grass.

‘!!!’

Tiny creatures, from miniature rabbits to tiny chickadees, the size of a Mini Reaper’s head, appeared.

These were animals that had melted away with the Green Moon’s dark green ooze during its rampage.

Even the cheerful Red Reapers had shown a rare touch of sadness as they burned these animals’ ooze.

“A baby bird!”

“A tiny bunny!”

The Mini Reapers smiled brightly, overjoyed at the return of the mini animals.

Plod, plod.

The courtyard became lively, with Mini Reapers walking around with mini chickadees on their heads or feeding jelly-shaped seeds to tiny hamsters.

“Amazing, sibling!”

“Amazing!”

The Green Reaper had seamlessly integrated into the Mini Reaper family.

Near Sehee Research Institute, Overgrown Area

Though restoration had made great progress in Songpa District, there were still empty, secluded spots.

In one such spot, concealed by thick foliage, a Yellow Reaper settled.

It was a little hideaway the Yellow Reaper had created, avoiding the ever-busy Mini Reaper Garden.

The hideaway was a large dugout, created by controlling black reaper dolls, filled with a mountain of various dolls.

There were simple teddy bears, dolls resembling people, and even object dolls like the white Agwi doll.

A variety of dolls.

Small footsteps began approaching the Yellow Reaper’s hideaway.

Shuffle, shuffle, the sound of someone dragging through the dirt.

Upon hearing the sound, the Yellow Reaper paused its doll-making and formed a slightly crumpled smile.

The source of the footsteps entered the cave and greeted the Yellow Reaper with familiar movements.

“Hello! I’m here!”

Seeing the ash-gray girl smiling brightly, the Yellow Reaper showed its delight.

It laughed softly, as if saying “hooheehee.”

“Ah! You’re laughing weird again!”

The ash-gray girl, dressed in worn-out clothes, pouted, puffing out her cheeks at the laugh.

She reached out, adjusting the Yellow Reaper’s face to form a proper smile.

“This is how you smile.”

Hehe.

Facing each other, they both shared a bright smile.