As I pulled space toward me, the End Tower, filled with evolutionary fluid, began to grow distant.

The unpleasant scent of oil faded, replaced by a familiar fragrance.

The sweet smell of hot chocolate mixed with marshmallows.

When I opened my eyes, a vast field of marshmallows stretched endlessly before me.

"We're back!"

Though the time spent at the End Tower wasn’t long, the pervasive oil scent made it feel like I’d been gone for ages.

I let myself collapse onto the marshmallows.

Soft and warm.

As I lay there, Mini Reapers started gathering from all directions.

"Mom’s here!"

The Golden Reapers climbed onto me, peering down at my face, radiating their thoughts.

"We’re sorry we couldn’t come help!"

One Golden Reaper stuck to my cheek looked like one of the ones who had desperately tried to headbutt its way through the blocked garden gate during the fight with the spider.

I gently patted its perfectly unharmed forehead.

If a human had done that, their head would’ve been cracked open from such effort…. But thanks to their immunity to physical damage, not a single scratch remained.

Beep!

Beeep!

Turning my gaze, I saw Black Reapers from different origins holding hands and beeping together.

The Black Reapers from the Immutable Sphere and the End Tower.

They looked exactly the same to me, but apparently, they could distinguish each other. Was it the tone of their beeping?

"Good job!"

"You did well!"

Praising each other, they extended hands toward each other's heads and began to pat one another enthusiastically.

Then, as they chirped and celebrated their reunion, the Golden Reapers joined the scene.

"New siblings?"

"Siblings multiplied!"

A wave of Golden Reapers with bright, sunny expressions.

They grabbed each new Black Reaper one by one, tilting their heads curiously.

"Hungry?"

"Your firewood dried up."

The Golden Reapers looked sympathetic, then pulled the Black Reapers into a tight hug.

Pressing their chests together, they shared firewood with them generously.

It was a soft and squishy exchange of firewood.

After splitting the firewood evenly, the Golden Reapers and Black Reapers held hands, laughing together.

"Let's go!"

Paired up, they started spreading out across the Mini Reaper Garden.

If I had to name it, it would be "Mini Reaper Garden, Golden Reaper Guided Tour."

With the Golden Reapers departing, double the usual noisiness even without making “beep” sounds, I noticed a quieter group gathered in the corner.

In the arms of the pink-haired girl, a small blue-capped bundle was snuggled.

The blue idol reaper, who had been abducted to the tower, and other Blue Reapers were embracing each other tightly.

They hugged for a long time, sniffling quietly.

Why do they look so sentimental?

The other Mini Reapers usually aren’t like that.

Fortunately, after a while, the cluster of Blue Reapers untangled, the emotional atmosphere dissipating, and they returned to their usual selves.

The blue idol reaper stood atop the pink-haired girl's head, proudly showing off its precious human.

The other Blue Reapers looked on, exclaiming, “Amazing!” repeatedly.

Meanwhile, the pink-haired girl smiled awkwardly, looking a bit out of place.

Watching her, a sense of concern crept up inside me.

Since she was brought back from a completely different dimension, the End Tower, she was practically an alien.

What should I do with this alien?

Her health doesn’t look too good, probably due to living in the tower.

Should I take her to a hospital?

The problem is, she only looks similar to us; she might be a completely different kind of life form.

And her language also seems different.

Sometimes when she speaks, it sounds like the language the alchemists used.

My head started to hurt.

Forget it.

I decided to call someone who might be able to help and instructed the Golden Reapers to bring them over.

Yerin, Sehee, Seo-ah, James.

Anyone who could come and solve this!

Heh heh.

On the outskirts of Songpa District, at James Tower.

James slumped deeply into a chair in the control room, his face weary.

On the hologram screen before him, the latest updates on the Black Planet continued to scroll.

Rubbing his eyes as he watched, his expression grew more serious.

The first report caught his attention.

Titled "Analysis of Black Planet Size Changes," it displayed a graph showing a slight yet unmistakable upward curve that made him frown.

Moving to the next page, he found the report titled "Confirmation of Lack of Physical Substance."

High-resolution images lined up with graphs and measurements accompanying each photo.

"All detection equipment except optical methods show 'no signal.' It’s just like the Mini Moon."

James exhaled slowly and moved on to the next report.

The third report was even more concerning.

Under the title "Estimated Approach Speed," complex equations and graphs sprawled across the page.

Though tracking the movement of an entity without physical substance was nearly impossible, a hypothesis suggested that, based on various indirect indicators, the Black Planet was slowly moving toward Earth.

The conclusion at the end of the report stated that, if this "theoretical speed" was accurate, Earth would collide with it in less than six months.

James’s expression hardened as he read the conclusion.

Finally, the screen filled with a report from the U.S. headquarters titled "Analysis of Correlation with Spatial Loss Events."

The report included detailed statistical data comparing the size changes of the Black Planet with the frequency of spatial loss incidents reported worldwide.

Examining a graph showing a high correlation between the two variables, James looked deeply concerned.

As he prepared to close the report, an urgent message arrived.

<Anomalous behavior observed in ‘Nameless’>

<Nameless either does not appear when summoned by incorrect names or, if it does appear, remains inactive.>

"…."

After a long silence, James picked up the remote.

Click.

With the sound of the remote, the hologram screen turned off.

He sighed deeply and muttered to himself.

"Troubling."

His voice was thick with fatigue and worry.

He stood up from his chair and walked over to where his ornate briefcase lay.

With practiced movements, he opened the case and took out two books.

One was Artifact No. 0, and the other was a recently completed translation of it.

Though he inspected Artifact No. 0 cautiously, he found no changes.

"The appearance of this Black Planet wasn’t mentioned in Artifact No. 0."

"And there was no reference to Nameless either."

"Was it not a perfect prophecy after all? Or is there some variable I’m unaware of?"

As James sealed Artifact No. 0 back in the briefcase, he noticed a Golden Reaper clinging to the hem of his pants.

Climbing up him urgently, the Golden Reaper finally perched on his shoulder and tugged on his ear.

"Mom is calling!"

"It's urgent!"

Seeing the anxious Golden Reaper, James placed it on a designated table for Golden Reapers.

On the table, alongside various toys, puddings, and the Golden Reaper communication button, the Golden Reaper looked relieved.

It grabbed a jelly, munched on it, and then positioned itself in front of the button.

Spreading its fingers wide, it raised its right hand high and pressed the button.

On the screen appeared letters written in the "Golden Reaper Script" James had created.

<Mom is calling!>

The golden, rounded font glowed on the screen.

The button the Golden Reaper had pressed was the one indicating a call from the Gray Reaper.

After pressing the button, the Golden Reaper raised its arms in celebration, radiating its thoughts.

"Mom is calling!"

James chuckled lightly at the sight, bringing a finger to his lips.

"Let’s keep this button a secret from the Gray Reaper."

The Golden Reaper nodded, covering its mouth with both hands, and giggled.

"So, it’s a call from the Gray Reaper."

James felt a small spark of hope in response to the call.

"Maybe this could lead to a solution for the current crisis."

He entertained a faint hope that the call might somehow be connected to Nameless or the Black Planet.

While waiting for Yerin, I was lying on the marshmallows, rolling around, when a trio of Golden Reapers with shocked expressions rushed over and started shaking me.

It looked like a three-Golden-Reaper emergency.

Following their lead, I headed out to the courtyard of the Sehee Research Institute, where I was met with an unexpected sight.

From my perspective, it was a five-Golden-Reaper level emergency.

Sitting calmly in the courtyard was a lead doll that looked exactly like me, with golden eyes radiating light.

The Mini Reapers crowded around it, which made me feel a little annoyed.

I was supposed to be glad that the Mini Reapers weren’t pestering me, so why did it feel like this…?

As I slowly approached the lead doll, pondering the question, the Mini Reapers looked back and forth between me and the doll.

"There are two Moms!"

"No, they’re a bit different?"

The Mini Reapers tilted their heads in confusion.

"The real Mom!"

"This one’s real!"

Then, with a Golden Reaper clinging to my ankle, the Mini Reapers began to swarm towards me.

Heh heh.

Now cocooned in Mini Reapers to the point it was hard to stand, I looked down confidently at the lead doll.

"This is the true power of Mom!"

Yet, the lead doll only continued to stare at me blankly.

And behind the lead doll, I noticed two incredibly shocked figures rushing over—James and Yerin.