At the entrance of a seemingly endless dark room, a Golden Reaper sat crying, collapsed to the floor.

The gentle light emanating from the Golden Reaper’s body glowed like a lone candle flame in the darkness.

But the room’s deep shadows were far too thick for a single candle to illuminate; there were no signs of walls or ceiling.

“Mom…”

The room held a Golden Reaper who looked utterly sorrowful.

Seeing the usually cheerful Golden Reaper like this stirred a mischievous urge within me.

Pat, pat.

Unable to resist, I approached the weeping Golden Reaper and gently poked its cheeks.

My playful pestering made it cry even harder, with a face that looked like it was about to wail loudly.

The response was far sadder than I’d anticipated.

The Golden Reaper was so deeply sorrowful that it couldn’t even react to my teasing.

“What in the world happened to make you cry like this?”

My curiosity quickly turned to concern, and I decided to take a closer look around.

I lifted my head and used the light from my eyes to illuminate the room’s interior.

‘!’

What I saw was shocking.

The space was structured like a massive butcher shop, only on a much larger scale.

Humans hung everywhere in that enormous space, as if they were mere slabs of meat.

The sight stirred complex emotions within me.

In this world where even humans, like firewood, were so easily killed, such a grotesque slaughter was especially heinous.

And to think that this kind of horrific event had brought the Golden Reaper to tears.

“The saddest thing for the Golden Reaper should be when I turn it into a ‘dejy.’”

The mix of anger and compassion in my heart wiped away any trace of reluctance.

I took the crying Golden Reaper into my arms.

“It’s okay. Everything will be alright.”

As I held the Golden Reaper close and gently stroked it, I sent my resolve flowing toward it.

“Though I can’t bring the dead back to life… unless they’ve turned into objects.”

The Golden Reaper buried itself deeper into my embrace, shedding more sparkling tears.

Hm.

I should destroy this place completely before anyone else sees it.

Spreading my hands wide, I took hold of the entire room.

Clap.

Then, I brought my hands together with a forceful clap.

Everything in the room began to crumple and disappear.

The vast room.

The hooks that held the bodies.

And all the corpses hanging there.

All of it vanished.

The Golden Reaper stared in a daze at the sight.

After everything was gone, the Golden Reaper closed its eyes tightly and sent out its will.

“May there be a Valhalla for humans too.”

“So that someday, we might meet again.”

It was something like a prayer, coming from a Golden Reaper who didn’t even know how to pray.

I gently patted the top of the Golden Reaper’s head with my finger.

Deep within the Mini Reaper Garden, in the Marshmallow Plains.

[Mom, don’t!]

The newly evolved Mini Sprout Reaper, now a Mini Flower Reaper, urgently sent a psychic wave to its mom.

But its desperate message only lingered in the air.

Mom had ignored the plea as if she hadn’t heard it, sending the Mini Flower Reaper back to the Mini Reaper Garden.

“Mom… that’s not good…”

Worry cast a shadow over the Mini Flower Reaper’s eyes.

It thought deeply about the dangers its mom might face.

But no matter how hard it imagined, it couldn’t envision a scene where Mom would lose.

“Mom will be fine.”

“Mom’s invincible!”

With its mind at ease, the Mini Flower Reaper looked around.

Lying nearby were two girls.

The silver-haired cherished human and her brown-haired friend.

Both girls were in a deep sleep, as if they had completed a long journey.

Their faces bore the signs of exhaustion and the events they had endured.

“They seem okay, thankfully!”

After carefully examining their condition and confirming they were alright, the Mini Flower Reaper nestled against the cherished human’s cheek, enjoying a moment of peace.

But that peace was brief; soon, the calm of the Marshmallow Plains was shattered by a golden light filling the surroundings.

“A wounded human!”

“Call the Blue Reaper!”

“We need the White Maw too!”

Golden Reapers had appeared to observe the two girls who had suddenly shown up in the Mini Reaper Garden.

The cheerful Golden Reapers, who had been watching with innocent curiosity, became alarmed upon noticing that the brown-haired girl had a broken bone. They quickly called for the Blue Reaper and the White Maw.

As they checked over the silver-haired girl, who was covered in minor cuts, their gazes suddenly fixed on a particular spot.

“A new sibling?”

“An evolved sibling!”

The Golden Reapers noticed the Mini Flower Reaper and, with bright smiles, rushed over in excitement.

“Your head looks amazing!”

“So cool!”

The Golden Reapers’ enthusiastic attention was like a storm. As they closed in so tightly that their cheeks pressed against each other, the Mini Flower Reaper was overwhelmed, swept this way and that.

After the storm of Golden Reapers passed, the Mini Flower Reaper finally managed to catch its breath.

“Please, don’t be hurt!”

The Blue Reaper arrived to heal the silver and brown-haired girls, while the White Maw took the brown-haired girl away somewhere.

With the density of Golden Reapers around the Mini Flower Reaper noticeably reduced, the remaining few gazed at the sprout atop its head with envy.

“…”

The Mini Flower Reaper raised its finger toward them and shouted, “[Take this!]”

Suddenly, a small sprout popped up on top of one of the Golden Reapers’ heads, wiggling in deep blue.

“!!!”

The Golden Reaper touched the sprout on its head and, giggling happily, began hopping around.

“Thank you!”

The Golden Reaper laughed brightly.

Seeing this, the other Golden Reapers looked on with envy, hesitating as if they wanted to ask for the same but worried it might be too much trouble for their sibling.

“Take this!”

The Mini Flower Reaper extended its hands, and light blossomed from its flower, making sprouts appear on the heads of all the nearby Golden Reapers.

With that, the sprout-headed Golden Reapers began to multiply rapidly.

It was the beginning of a new trend: the Great Sprout Golden Reaper Boom!

In the middle of a lonely island in the Pacific Ocean.

As James stepped onto the island under the guidance of his research staff, a crowd of Mini Reapers stuck their heads up like meerkats, eagerly watching.

“A new human?”

“A human who brings lots of snacks!”

“Snacks!”

Standing on James’s head, a tiny Golden Reaper waved its hand enthusiastically at the meerkat-like Golden Reapers.

“Hello!”

“Hello!”

James descended the ship’s side ladder slowly, reviewing a report.

The report was filled with data on mental contamination levels and patterns, along with a comparative analysis between the unusual phenomena near the Pacific and the island.

“Hm, given this data, it’s reasonable to conclude there’s no correlation between the island and the strange phenomena in the Pacific.”

“Yes, I agree.”

A woman with the Purple Reaper on her head responded in a formal tone.

Their conversation continued until they entered the cave at the center of the island.

“This is truly impressive.”

James murmured as he looked up at the ceiling, resembling a starry sky.

It was an environment that would be difficult to create without an object’s influence.

An object-level scale.

Clean air, indistinguishable from the outside world.

Mystical particles sparkling in the air.

The team quietly took in the scenery as they walked toward their destination.

Their target was a facility that resembled the object research lab.

“It’s an exact match.”

As they arrived at the facility’s entrance, James flipped through the report with admiration.

“Discovered here after disappearing for 36 years…”

The report contained numerous aged photos, showing an old research lab in England that had suddenly vanished decades ago.

Before objects became public knowledge, this lab had been established with the aim of creating superhumans through the fusion of humans and objects.

Of course, this was highly confidential information, known only to someone like James.

“I heard they almost succeeded… Wasn’t there a ‘superhuman’ who gained power by consuming others?”

James stroked his chin and muttered under his breath.

“This case is undoubtedly a calamity brought on by humans.”

And it was no wonder; the basement of this facility was filled with the remains of “consumed” humans.

Moreover, the fact that the kidnapped people were primarily from England and Europe only reinforced his conclusion.

“It must have been the revenge of an experiment subject who became an object. Though, it’s unlikely any human-turned-object could retain their sanity for 30 years.”

Having finished his thoughts, James closed the report and observed the boys and girls being escorted to the ship with a thoughtful expression.

Mini Reaper Garden, Hot Chocolate Sea.

Squeeeeeak.

The White Maw drifted through the Hot Chocolate Sea, crying out in a sorrowful voice.

Its tail was aflame, and its back was roasted golden brown.

So, in an attempt to put out the fire, it dove into the Hot Chocolate Sea, but the flames refused to go out.

Squeeeeeeak.

Between the Candy Mountains and Marshmallow Plains, the White Maws wandered aimlessly, unable to find rest after losing their final paradise.

Many White Maws roamed the Mini Reaper Garden in search of a new haven, but most of them ended up burning within the Furnace Golem.

This particular White Maw, drifting in the Hot Chocolate Sea, was also one dreaming of a new paradise.

As it wandered through the deep sea, touching the sandy bottom, it was suddenly sucked into a hidden trap.

It was a hole concealed within the thick hot chocolate, making it impossible to see.

Suddenly dragged into the hole, the White Maw tumbled over fine sand.

‘!!!’

Looking up, it was overcome with awe.

A vast underground chamber lay beneath the Hot Chocolate Sea.

The ceiling was studded with sparkling sugar stars, and the floor was covered in fine, blue-toned candy powder.

At the end of the slope it had tumbled down, wafer-like buildings lined the area.

Squee.

Squeehehe.

Squeeeeehehehehe.

The White Maw lifted its tiny feet, laughing joyously.

It was so happy that it didn’t even notice the candy powder sticking to its body.

It had finally found it!

A brand-new paradise just for Maws!

The White Maw’s eyes sparkled with hope.