At the end of the corridor where the graduate walked.

The air in the room at the corridor’s end was filled with a thick sulfuric smell.

The head that had fallen to the floor floated up on its own, reattaching to the man’s body, and red flames erupted.

The flames scorched away his eyes, leaving behind only blackened, charred sockets.

His skin dried and cracked from the heat, turning into a grotesque figure of red and black, like leather left to burn.

The man had now completely lost any semblance of humanity, transforming into a twisted, corpse-like monster.

Through the faint embers left in its eye sockets, the monster slowly looked down at the Silver-haired Girl.

The Silver-haired Girl, though slightly intimidated by the horrifying sight, began to move slowly, preparing to fight.

Despite her fear, she didn’t stop; she moved her body slowly and carefully picked up the sword the man had dropped.

The sword was sharp like an awl at the tip, with a strong scent of blood clinging to the blade.

The Silver-haired Girl gripped the handle tightly and pointed the weapon at the man.

Seeing her stance, the monster opened its mouth toward her.

[A mere livestock can never defeat its master.]

Its voice was harsh and distorted, almost unintelligible.

When the monster suddenly swung its hand through the air, red flames left a trail.

A swift, powerful slash.

The slash was faster and stronger than any attack she had encountered within the "facility."

It was an attack no one in the "facility" could block or dodge.

Had it been the Silver-haired Girl from before she ate the fruit, she would never have been able to avoid it.

But she was no longer her former self.

In the extreme acceleration of time, the Silver-haired Girl dodged the attack as fluidly as the wind.

[No, how can mere livestock…?]

The monster's voice was filled with shock.

However, the harsh voice of the monster didn’t continue; it was cut off abruptly.

Because the Silver-haired Girl had already closed the distance in an instant, driving the awl-like blade into the monster’s heart.

The monster stumbled back slowly, feeling around its chest.

A dark, sticky fluid oozed from the wound, like dried blood.

As the man looked down at his chest, the wound seemed as though it would regenerate any moment, but it didn’t, as if something blocked it.

[Why… why…?]

With those as its last words, the man collapsed to the floor, becoming motionless.

Above the corpse, a small, dark blue sprout began wriggling, sprouting all over it.

Mini Reaper Garden, Marshmallow Plains.

Before me lay a Yellow Reaper and a Purple Reaper with an eye patch.

The Yellow Reaper was sprawled out as if unconscious, his round belly sticking out, while the Purple Reaper leaned against a wall, trying to create a dignified air even in its fainted state.

Even while fainted, the Purple Reapers kept up appearances.

It was a bit amusing, so I poked the Purple Reaper’s cheek.

After the Yellow and Purple Reapers had fainted, the First Blade of the Golden Reapers and the Maw Reaper moved slowly, practicing something.

They wielded their swords in harmony, swinging slowly together, but I had no clue what they were doing.

“Well, at least I finally got to conduct an experiment this time.”

Every time I tried to call the special ones to test the halo, an incident occurred, but this time the experiment concluded without a hitch.

I scribbled down the experiment results on the marshmallow ground.

<Yellow Reaper - capable of manifesting illusion halos.>

<Fake-Eye Patch Purple Reaper - capable of using spatial halos.>

<Those already tested.>

<Blue Idol Reaper - word halo.>

<Orange Crown Reaper - complete evasion halo.>

<Untested - Disobedient Black Reaper & Golden-Horned Reaper & Cloaked Golden Reaper.>

<Ownerless Halo - ability nullification halo.>

<Golden Reaper First Blade - none.>

<Maw Reaper - none.>

<Special Note - The First Blade and the Maw Reaper can use any halo at will, though not as naturally as the Blue Idol Reaper or the Orange Crown Reaper.>

As I jotted down the experiment results, a strange sense of annoyance crept in.

Was it because it reminded me of the "Cute Puppy" observation reports I wrote daily as a Seoul Research Institute employee?

Suddenly, I had an urge to mess with the "Cute Puppy."

It’s been a while since I last saw it in the Jelly Pig Hospital; I wonder where it is now.

I got up and set off in search of the Cute Puppy.

"Olympics!"

On my way to find the Cute Puppy, I came across a Golden Reaper exuding an unusual sense of determination, a quality not typically found in Mini Reapers.

And it wasn’t just one or two; there were quite a few Golden Reapers emitting this determined energy as they dashed toward something.

"What’s going on?"

Curious, I followed the line of Golden Reapers slowly.

Their procession stretched on for quite a while.

They passed through winding hallways, phasing through steel barriers in their ghostly state.

"Did the Sehee Institute always have a passage like this? I don’t think I’ve seen it before…."

When I reached the end of the passage, I found a large room where Sehee was playing with the Golden Reapers.

Another strange thing created, huh….

Why are there so many oddballs around me like Sehee and Yerin?

"Reaper, over here!"

Noticing me, Sehee waved with a bright smile.

Plodding over, I sat down beside Sehee, who quickly scanned her surroundings before clapping her hands.

"Olympics!"

"Snacks!"

The Golden Reapers, looking eagerly up at Sehee, were shining with anticipation.

Sehee chuckled at their expressions, then announced loudly.

"Let’s start the First Golden Reaper Olympics!"

"Wow!"

At her announcement, the Golden Reapers laughed brightly and jumped with joy.

Golden Reapers were always so good at setting the mood.

Then, the sound of machinery filled the large room, and a stadium perfectly sized for Golden Reapers emerged.

Sehee and I sat in the VIP seats overlooking the stadium, munching on snacks.

Nom, nom.

Enjoying delicious snacks and drinks, we watched as the first event began.

The first event was a bread-eating race instead of a regular running race.

The fastest Golden Reaper to reach the bread and take a bite would be the winner!

The winning Golden Reaper shot off like a rocket from afar, taking a big bite of the bread.

With an athletic ability that set it far apart from the other Golden Reapers, it was the clear champion.

With the bread in its mouth, the winning Golden Reaper laughed brightly.

Many other events followed.

A donut duel, where the contestants put donuts on their antennae and tried to steal the opponent’s donut.

A match to push each other out into a hot chocolate pit outside the ring.

A game to score by throwing candies accurately.

A contest to lift the heaviest chocolate.

The events were like Olympic games reinterpreted in the Golden Reaper’s unique way.

After the Olympics ended, the scores were announced.

"And the winner is~ the Golden Reaper eating a donut over there!"

When Sehee announced the first place, the winning Golden Reaper jumped with a joyful smile.

"The one who won the first race ended up taking first place overall."

'?"

Sehee looked at me as she spoke, but I only raised a question mark over my head.

"Can you even tell them apart?"

More and more people are developing the "Golden Reaper Identification" ability Yerin used to have alone….

The victorious Golden Reaper walked excitedly to claim its prize, while the other Golden Reapers slumped sadly on the floor.

Following Sehee’s lead, I plodded over to a large door.

"Alright, all the snacks in here are for the winner!"

As Sehee opened the door, the room’s interior was revealed.

Darkness filled the room with not a single beam of light.

A sweet aroma wafted out from the open door.

The air was cool, almost cold.

The room stretched on endlessly, flanked by snacks along both walls.

"Snacks!"

The Golden Reaper laughed with joy and rushed toward a gigantic pudding.

The pudding was massive, about 3 meters wide and tall.

The Golden Reaper nibbled at the pudding, then waddled over to Sehee, expressing intent.

"Can I share?"

At first, Sehee didn’t understand, but after seeing the Golden Reaper’s gestures, she nodded.

The Golden Reaper turned to me with a bright smile, sending a message.

"Mom, let’s eat together!"

It then sent an invitation to Sehee and the slumped Golden Reapers.

"Let’s all eat together!"

The Golden Reapers, who had been lying around like corpses, revived and swarmed in.

"Let’s eat together!"

Thus, the Olympics ended with a munch-munch party.

But with facilities of this scale and all these snacks, won’t Seo-ah find out about this?

"Huff, huff."

The Silver-haired Girl took a deep breath, looking down at the sprouting monster.

The fight hadn’t been especially hard, but her tension left her breathless.

Once her breathing calmed a bit, she approached the Brown-haired Girl.

Slowly, she began to free her from the restraints on the bed.

"The Human Army was an Object?"

Though the freed Brown-haired Girl still looked confused, she quickly composed herself and turned to the Silver-haired Girl.

"Let’s go back and report this first. It must be a problem caused by an Object invasion."

The Silver-haired Girl nearly shouted in frustration at the Brown-haired Girl’s stubbornness but held back, speaking in a low voice.

"Let’s move a bit further forward first. Going back isn’t an option."

"But…."

The Silver-haired Girl gently held the Brown-haired Girl’s face, looking her in the eye.

"Even if you’re confused, please trust me. Alright?"

With the determination in the Silver-haired Girl's eyes, the Brown-haired Girl took a calming breath and replied.

"Alright, I will."

The Brown-haired Girl added softly, "I trust you."

Holding each other's hands tightly, they left the bed room.

Beyond lay an even more dilapidated hallway.

A dingy hallway that didn’t match the “noble” Human Army at all.

Reaching the end of the hallway, a large door greeted the girls.

They looked at each other, nodded, and slowly pushed the door open.

Beyond the door was a room filled with darkness.

The smell of thick blood wafted out from behind the door.

The air was cool to the point of coldness.

With the light from the hallway, the room seemed to stretch endlessly.

When the Silver-haired Girl found a switch and turned on the light, a horrifying sight appeared.

Along the walls were endless rows of meat. Meat, meat, and more meat.

It looked like human flesh.

It was nothing less than a human slaughterhouse.

With a pale face, the Brown-haired Girl took a sharp breath as she saw it.

"Is this all human? This is insane…."

She continued to breathe heavily, stunned by the scene.

Realizing the facility was flawed, the Brown-haired Girl calmed herself and tightly grasped the Silver-haired Girl’s hand.

"This isn’t something that one person could have done alone."

"Yes, the entire facility is the problem."

At that moment, a loud noise began to sound.

Red lights flashed as an announcement blared.

[An 'enemy of humanity' has infiltrated the facility.]

With it, footsteps began to echo from all directions.

As if they were surrounded.

At that moment, the Silver-haired Girl saw something small in her line of sight.

[Human! This way!]

It was a navy Object waving its hand from afar.