Mini Reaper Garden, the End of the Spiral

Upon hearing the Golden Reapers’ resolve, I arrived at a place shrouded in endless darkness.

The light once streaming from the ceiling had entirely vanished, and even the glow from the firewood in my eyes was swallowed by the greedy darkness.

The darkness was alive, writhing and enveloping me as if it had a will of its own.

Somehow, this place didn’t feel like the Mini Reaper Garden.

A thin layer of "Desire" coated the ground, making soft, rippling sounds as I stepped.

Plip. Plop.

The faint yet distinct sound of water.

And, as if responding to that sound, a faint silhouette began approaching from within the darkness.

"Maaa…"

The figure in the darkness staggered, swaying like a puppet with loose strings, as it shuffled forward, uttering its intent like the Mini Reapers.

The unsettling sound of water, the ominous darkness, and the shambling silhouette—like a scene from a horror movie!

Though my heart no longer beat, I felt an eerie sensation, as if it were pounding, while I waited for the silhouette to approach.

A monster born from Desire?

Or perhaps a creature connected to the old gods?

I stood poised, ready to fire a swift "Kwek" at it.

But the moment the figure entered the glow from my eyes, it collapsed with a wet splat, as if its strength had entirely drained.

Huh?

Wading through the soft sounds of the liquid, I approached and examined the silhouette. It appeared to be a white Mini Reaper, partially melted, as though it were dissolving.

"Maaa…"

The creature barely managed to lift its head, struggling to turn toward me, pouring out its faint will.

The poor thing looked unwell.

It wasn’t originally white—Desire had bleached its color.

After brushing off the "Desire" clinging to the bleached reaper’s body, I turned toward the outer spiral with the Golden Reapers.

I gathered all the Golden Reapers who hadn’t yet reached the end of the spiral and led them out.

Once outside, the first thing I did was seal the entrance to the spiral.

It was too unknown and dangerous, so sealing it seemed the safest choice.

With a simple "Kwek," I cut away the entrance, sealing the space entirely.

After laying the unconscious Golden Reapers on the ground, the others started to fuss, visibly shocked.

“!”

“They’re injured!”

“White patches!”

They looked helplessly at the Golden Reapers, whose golden armor now bore white splotches, like bleach stains.

“Will firewood help them recover?”

It was concerning that the Golden Reapers, who were usually resilient even in evolutionary fluids, showed this unusual bleaching.

Despite my worry, I tried pushing firewood into them, and, in an instant, the white patches vanished.

"Mom is amazing!"

"Amazing!"

Seeing this, the Golden Reapers who had looked anxious gazed up at me with cheer and raised their hands in joy.

"Revived!"

"Alive again!"

The restored ones, still lying down, suddenly leapt up, joining the cheers among the Golden Reapers.

I had used quite a lot of firewood, and the previously collapsed ones now moved with boundless energy.

After healing all the Golden Reapers, I noticed the bleached Mini Reaper lying motionless.

"A new sibling?"

"Is it dead?"

The Golden Reapers poked it cautiously, but the bleached Mini Reaper showed no response.

I picked it up and examined it closely.

"It’s empty."

Unlike the other reapers, this one had nothing inside—not in a physical sense, but in an object sense.

Without anything inside, it couldn’t use any abilities.

Its melted appearance suggested it had been swept up in the torrent of Desire.

And it was dying—because it had no firewood.

Since it lacked a place to hold firewood, even if I filled it, it wouldn’t survive.

"Is the sibling going to die?"

Seeing no hope, I considered placing it next to the Blue Girl. But, before I could, the Golden Reapers gathered at my feet, shedding tears.

Feeling sorry for them, I reconsidered.

"All right, let’s try putting some firewood in it."

I began stuffing firewood into it, though the firewood merely seeped out, unable to stay inside.

It seemed impossible.

But then—

Fwoosh.

The firewood adhered to the bleached reaper.

Instead of where a heart would be, the firewood settled on top of its head.

The bleached reaper suddenly stood on my palm.

"Maaa…"

It could barely express itself, but the Golden Reapers, overjoyed to see their sibling alive, smiled and hopped around in delight.

Near Songpa District, James Tower

James was resting in his personal room at the tower, basking in the sunlight.

Looking out the window, he noticed that the area around Songpa District had changed drastically.

What was once desolate after the Agui Incident was now bustling with new buildings and people.

Turning his gaze from the window to the Golden Reaper, James saw it sitting by his feet, drawing with a crayon as big as its own body.

Despite the crayon’s size, the reaper skillfully created a drawing with focused strokes.

“What are you drawing?”

Curious, James examined the Golden Reaper’s drawing.

“!!!”

The paper held a bizarre image: a Gray Reaper lying sprawled on the ground, while an unusual Golden Reaper stood triumphantly with both hands raised.

It was hard to believe that the drawing was by a Golden Reaper who adored the Gray Reaper, its “Mom.”

“What on earth are you drawing?”

He asked, holding out a communication button to the Golden Reaper.

Lifting the crayon, the Golden Reaper expressed its intent.

"It’s a play that’s popular lately!"

"The yellow sibling performs it ten times a day!"

"It’s fun!"

Through repeated questions, James finally pieced together that the drawing depicted a play created by the Yellow Reaper.

The protagonist was a horned, armored Golden Reaper wielding a firewood sword, and the villain, an evil Gray Reaper.

Though James wasn’t sure why the Yellow Reaper made this play, he now understood the reason behind the drawing.

Was there some conflict between the Yellow Reaper and the Gray Reaper?

Or did the Gray Reaper simply allow such playful interpretations?

Just as James finished jotting down his observations, he received a call from the secretary’s office.

The Asia regional officer from the American Object Association had arrived.

Allowing the visitor in, an elderly Asian man greeted him lightly as he entered the room.

“James, it’s been a while.”

“Likewise, old man. When did you return from Japan?”

The old man, who hadn’t been in Korea long, helped himself to a cup of instant coffee.

“What’s this?”

The man, who had been calmly drinking, suddenly stopped in surprise, taking the cup away from his mouth.

“Oh, I forgot to mention. All the coffee in this room has been replaced with cocoa—extremely sweet cocoa.”

James added that the Golden Reaper must have swapped it all out while he was working.

“It tastes like it’ll give me diabetes.”

The old man, looking dismayed, placed the cup back on the table and glanced at the snacks, which were all overly sweet.

“Is it even safe to eat just this?”

He asked, watching James, who was eating a slice of whipped cream cake.

“Well, I get regular health checkups, but I’ve had no issues.”

“Must be in your constitution. I envy that.”

Despite his words of envy, the old man quickly shifted his expression and handed James a USB drive.

“This USB contains data on missing person cases from Europe.”

“It seems these incidents are quite old. The Europeans have been trying to resolve it on their own, keeping the information under wraps.”

“They might even be connected to the butterfly incident in Korea. Take a look.”

The old man, having explained the USB’s contents, downed the remaining cocoa.

“Got it. I’ll check it out.”

With James’ response, the old man nodded and slowly exited the room.

A Golden-Horned Girl Arrives at the Peaceful Courtyard of Sehee Lab

The 2nd Junior, a member of the Yellow Detective Agency, arrived with a vintage cane.

The Golden-Horned Reaper, delighted to see her beloved human after so long, ran up and rubbed her cheek against her.

She looked up at Junior 2 with a bright smile.

“Let’s go back to the Rift Lab now.”

“We still have a lot of preparation to do.”

The Golden-Horned Reaper nodded, jumping from her embrace.

She bid farewell to the Mini Reapers in the courtyard.

"Take care!"

"Come back soon!"

With a heartfelt goodbye, she waved to the Mini Reapers as she nestled into Junior 2’s arms.

As they departed from Sehee Lab, Junior 2 tapped her cane twice on the ground.

Tap. Tap.

In an instant, they arrived at a place entirely different.

A long hallway reminiscent of a lab, lined with isolation rooms on either side.

As they walked down the hallway, faint scenes appeared within the isolation rooms, all showing past actions of the Gray Reaper.

Reaching the end, Junior 2 opened a door, and a familiar voice greeted them.

“Welcome back?”

At the end of the hallway, a man in a yellow coat welcomed Junior 2 warmly.