The Ashen Girl was dreaming.

In the dream, her memories were faded to an ashen gray, much like her hair.

In that dream, she was a younger girl.

Her home was filled with the loud arguments of her mother and father.

“It’s because you’re out drinking all the time that we ended up like this!” her mother screamed.

Her father responded even louder, “I only drink because you keep wasting money!”

Terrified by the endless fighting of her parents, the girl curled up in a corner, hugging herself tightly.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she couldn’t move or make a sound.

It felt as though the entire world was crumbling around her.

“Mom, Dad…”

This was a memory that left an unerasable scar on the Ashen Girl’s heart.

It was a memory she could never forget, yet somehow, she had completely forgotten it.

Parents who always fought for every possible reason.

A brother who hardly ever came home.

And then…

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

Suddenly, her older sister came over and wrapped her in a tight embrace, without saying a word.

With the warmth of her sister’s hug and her comforting scent, the girl’s frozen heart began to thaw.

“Everything will be okay.”

Her sister whispered, and more tears trickled down the girl’s face.

For some reason, it sounded as though her sister was also saying it to herself, but it was truly a comforting thing to hear.

Pat, pat.

And in the dream, her sister gently patted her head.

…

With that, the Ashen Girl woke from her dream.

Pat, pat.

Looking up, she saw the Yellow Reaper patting her head with a worried expression.

The Yellow Reaper met her gaze and smiled awkwardly.

For some reason…

She couldn’t help but smile back.

On the outskirts of Songpa District, in a new luxury apartment complex.

In the warm afternoon sunlight, the Golden Reapers walked along the paths leading into the apartment complex.

To the Golden Reapers, this place felt like a strange mix of humans and objects.

“Hey, look at this!”

Hearing an excited voice, one Golden Reaper turned to see people gathered around a flower bed at the entrance.

Brightly colored flowers bloomed, forming a rainbow of colors.

Past the flower bed, straight rows of trees created a green tunnel leading into the complex.

A curved path wove beneath the shade of the trees.

Alongside the path were neatly trimmed lawns with benches, providing a relaxing space for humans.

At the end of the path, there was a small pond.

Clear water sparkled as a fountain sprayed mist into the air, while water lilies planted around the pond exuded a serene beauty.

Families strolled slowly along the path encircling the pond, chatting peacefully.

It would have been wonderful if this peace were real…

The Golden Reapers, watching the humans who seemed so happy, wore slightly downcast expressions.

One of them frowned, filling his eyes with a burning intensity.

When the Golden Reaper’s expression turned emotionless as if angry, the true nature of the city was revealed.

The flower beds were filled with nothing but trash, with no flowers or grass in sight.

The trees were just skeletal frames made of wire.

The pond was polluted, emitting a foul stench.

And the people wandering around were human-shaped objects, their frames haphazardly plastered over with gypsum.

These objects, mingling with the humans wandering through the apartment ruins, looked disturbingly human-like.

But no matter how intently they stared, the Golden Reapers didn’t sense anything harmful from the objects.

Instead, faint traces of positive human emotions seeped from them.

Similar to fuel for kindling, yet different.

Though nothing like Mini Reapers, these objects seemed to operate on positive human emotions as fuel.

“So… beneficial objects?”

If they made humans happy through mental corruption and fed off the emotions that leaked out, they certainly weren’t harmful like the Golden Reapers themselves.

Yet, for some reason, these objects left the Golden Reapers feeling uneasy.

Because of this, the apartment complex had recently been a topic at the Golden Reaper Conference.

“They don’t seem harmful, so we won’t destroy them.”

“But they still make us uncomfortable, so we’ll avoid them.”

The conference conclusion was to leave them alone.

“Eradicate them all anyway! It’s creepy!”

A guest, the Orange Reaper, had voiced this extreme view, and it seemed to gain some support.

Particularly from the White Maws and Black Reapers, but most of the voting power lay with the Golden Reapers.

Ultimately, a proposal from one of the Golden Reapers resonated with many of them.

Their Mother had always said that they don’t seek out and kill objects that keep to themselves, suggesting there must be a reason for this.

The Orange Reaper insisted, “Mother only says that because it’s a hassle!” but failed to sway the Golden Reapers who adored their Mother.

Although a few White Maws protested by staging an unauthorized sit-in, all were eventually led away by the Red Reapers.

Thus, this apartment complex became a place Golden Reapers rarely visited, yet now, Golden Reapers were gathering there in droves.

“Is it dangerous?”

“Creepy!”

The reason for the gathering was the influx of James’ research staff hidden throughout the apartment complex.

James’ employees had begun infiltrating the complex yesterday in various disguises, and their beloved Reapers had asked for the Golden Reapers' help out of boredom.

“I have a feeling my human might be in danger!”

“Something feels off!”

So wherever there was a James’ employee, at least five Golden Reapers were walking around.

The research staff, disguised as local residents, meticulously photographed the interior of the apartment complex and even used spectral cameras as if searching for something.

The way they crept around was much like Golden Reapers playing hide-and-seek.

But to the Golden Reapers, their behavior was strange.

The researchers stood out too much!

Trying to hide among bare plaster mannequins with no eyes, nose, or mouth was futile.

Late afternoon, Sehee Research Institute courtyard.

I was lying back, leisurely gazing up at the sky.

“There are fewer Golden Reapers than usual today.”

Usually, if I lounged in the courtyard, the Golden Reapers would flock to me, but today, there were noticeably fewer.

It seemed some of them had gone to protect James’ staff.

During the Association Doll Incident, almost all objects in Seoul had been eradicated, so were there any dangerous ones left?

Nibbling on cookies brought by the diligent Mini Reapers, I heard a mournful cry.

“Wheeeing!”

Turning to look, I saw a White Maw impaled on a skewer.

Its limbs were burnt black and gone, and its body was covered in revolutionary marks.

Come to think of it, there was a White Maw that had once clamored for voting rights, could it be that one?

Eating cookies to the background sound of its wails somehow made them taste twice as delicious.

Haha.

As I continued to lounge, the Mini Reapers started to grow excited.

“So cute!”

“Sibling!”

I turned my attention from the White Maw to see Green Reaper floating around, covered in what looked like a leafy, flower-adorned cape.

“Miiing!”

It looked somewhat like a ghost draped in cloth, or maybe like the giant moss balls I’d seen at the station.

To me, it looked like an uncomfortable poncho I’d never want to wear, but the Mini Reapers seemed to feel differently.

“I want one too!”

“Me too!”

Responding to their enthusiasm, Green Reaper let out a loud “Ming!”

At his call, grass sprouted from the ground, wrapping around each Mini Reaper.

“Waaah!”

The Mini Reapers, wrapped in greenery, joyfully ran around, bumping into each other and rolling on the ground as they stumbled.

Watching them, it felt like a premature Halloween.

Late evening, the Ashen Girl lay sprawled on the floor as if she were collapsing.

“I’m exhausted…”

Having run away from home, the Ashen Girl no longer went to school, hiding instead at Yellow Reaper’s hideout, yet she felt even more tired than when she was attending school.

Perhaps because she had realized she was an object, she no longer felt hunger.

As she lay on the floor, poking Yellow Reaper’s cheek and complaining, Yellow Reaper just laughed with a “Hehe.”

“So mean!”

The reason for the Ashen Girl’s fatigue was entirely due to Yellow Reaper.

Yellow Reaper had called in a Mini Reaper to teach her instead of sending her to school.

And the one who appeared was the Violet Reaper she’d only seen in online photos!

The Violet Reaper crafted glasses from shadows and began an actual lesson.

Aren't Mini Reapers supposed to not understand human speech and have intelligence lower than humans?

The Violet Reaper taught better than her school teachers.

So, the Ashen Girl, feeling more tired than usual, quickly fell asleep.

As she drifted off, she had one last thought.

“Could Yellow Reaper be keeping me busy so I don’t have other thoughts…”

But she didn’t finish that thought before falling deeply asleep.

The Ashen Girl was dreaming again.

This time, she was walking alone in an empty apartment complex at night.

Unlike her previous dream, this one had no connection to her old memories; it was entirely unfamiliar.

In the dream, she walked through a meticulously arranged apartment complex.

She didn’t turn her head, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead as she walked.

“Was there a place like this in the complex?”

She walked without hesitation, even through a place that seemed entirely new.

Eventually, she reached a spot she did recognize.

An open area in the center of the apartment complex.

In the beautifully decorated complex, this was the only spot left empty.

But in the center of the clearing stood a building that didn’t exist in her memory.

Step by step.

Entering the building, she saw a vast field of fine, white sand.

The field stretched out, seemingly hundreds of times larger than it appeared from the outside.

In this field, countless rectangular pits were dug, as if to hold coffins.

In the strange space, the dream Ashen Girl continued walking without hesitation.

Swish, swish.

The sound of sand crunching underfoot.

She kept walking, as if endlessly, until a chilling feeling made her stop.

Turning her head at the icy sensation running down her spine, she saw a thin hand suddenly emerging from the darkness.

The hand, ghostly pale, looked almost skeletal, and it clutched her ankle in a twisted grip.

Terrified, the girl tried to scream, but nearly choked when she recognized the person the hand belonged to.

It was her brother.

His face was covered in white sand, lips dry and cracked.

Through those parched lips, he struggled to whisper, begging to be saved.

The sight was so horrifying that the girl jolted awake, gasping.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, even though she no longer needed to breathe.

Her hand trembled, and she felt as if her now-absent heart was pounding furiously.

“It’s really, really my brother.”

For some reason, she was certain the brother she saw in her dream was real.

She sat up abruptly.

“I have to go save him.”

She felt a certainty that if she went there, everything would return to “normal.”

With trembling hands, the Ashen Girl began preparing to leave the hideout.

At that moment, Yellow Reaper climbed onto her shoulder as she prepared to leave.

“Will you come with me?”

Yellow Reaper nodded softly in response to her determination.