Mini Shinigami Garden, Marshmallow Plains.

Kyu-hing-hing.

I lay deep in thought, listening to the sweet kyu-hing-hing coming from the giant structure made of white jaws.

This is strange...

I find it so amusing to torment the white jaws.

It was always fun, but it wasn’t something I’d go as far as to torment while skipping TV.

Maybe it’s because of the fusion with the Orange Shinigami?

Hmm.

But the fusion with the Orange Shinigami showed no signs of separating, no matter how long I waited.

Since it seemed like it might never separate on its own, I decided to try separating it using the Fusion Halo.

With the Halo placed above my head, I focused on separating us, and in an instant, the Orange Shinigami split from my body and popped out.

Hoo.

Was it a side effect of the fusion? I felt a sudden draining sensation, as though all strength was leaving my body.

I lay sprawled on the floor, looking up at the sky.

The Orange Shinigami had already run off and was nowhere to be seen.

As I lay on the floor, fluffy golden Shinigami rushed toward me.

Mom, are you hurt?

Is Mom hurt?

Seeing me lying down, their expressions were filled with shock.

Looking at them, it seemed they were surprised by my hair.

Ah, I guess it’s not fluffy anymore.

The golden Shinigami saw my hair and hurriedly started to revert their own hair back to its original form.

It looked as though they believed someone might come and take them away if their hair wasn’t changed back.

They seemed to really like the fluffy style, but why were they acting like this?

Once their hair was back to normal, the golden Shinigami crowded around me, patting me with concerned expressions.

Are you okay, Mom?

You look hurt.

I stared at them, and a thought crossed my mind.

What would happen if I fused with a golden Shinigami?

As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I grabbed a worried golden Shinigami and fused it with me using the Fusion Halo.

The moment we fused, energy surged through my body.

I stood up and looked at myself in detail, but nothing had changed.

There wasn’t much different.

After all, the golden Shinigami looked almost exactly like me, so I guess that’s why.

One with Mom!

Hehe.

Aside from the happy voice of the golden Shinigami echoing in my mind, nothing had changed.

This fusion doesn’t seem to be anything special…

While I was thinking this, I suddenly felt like seeing Yerin.

I wonder if Yerin is working now?

I thought of places where Yerin might be, and started running toward the Sehee Research Institute.

The Sehee Research Institute break room, always bustling with people.

Om-nom-nom.

I was in Yerin’s arms, happily munching on snacks she fed me.

And every time, I fed Yerin some snacks as well.

"You're so nice today, Shinigami."

Yerin said as she patted my head.

Hehe.

While eating snacks, the employees sitting next to us were chatting about their favorite Shinigami.

They were a man feeding a golden Shinigami stick-shaped snacks nonstop and a woman who was slouched beside him.

The woman watching the golden Shinigami eat the snacks looked envious.

"I wish the Blue Shinigami could come to the break room too..."

"Wasn’t the Blue Shinigami your favorite?"

The man feeding the golden Shinigami stick-shaped snacks continued.

"Well, the Blue Shinigami tidies up the room and is so smart, I kinda envy that."

Then, the golden Shinigami, eating snacks in the woman’s arms, looked up at its favorite human with a shocked expression.

Seeing that, the employee apologized and began to pat the golden Shinigami’s head.

At that moment, the Blue Shinigami’s favorite human proudly pulled out their phone.

"So, whenever I want to replenish some Blue Shinigami essence, I’ve installed a huge pet cam in the living room!"

Then, a video started playing from the phone, showing the entire room.

After a brief wait, the Blue Shinigami appeared in the corner of the phone screen.

Confirming that no one was in the house, the Blue Shinigami happily started walking around.

As it wove strings in the air, dust and trash disappeared, and the room was neatly tidied up.

Enjoying the cleaning, the Blue Shinigami smiled gently.

"Like a hardworking wife."

The man, watching the phone screen, muttered.

At that moment, the Blue Shinigami on the screen tilted its head, and began walking toward the camera.

In an instant, it figured out what the camera was and scowled.

The Blue Shinigami poked the camera and made it look up at it, then stared down at it intently.

And when the Blue Shinigami tapped the screen, the signal from the camera cut off.

"Ah, the Blue Shinigami is mad…"

The Blue Shinigami’s favorite human muttered in a gloomy voice.

The cold concrete floor met my cheek as my consciousness suddenly returned.

The reporter blinked, frantically surveying his surroundings.

Under the faint moonlight, the scene before him looked like a nightmare.

W-What is this...?

Muttering with a trembling voice, he looked at the bodies of soldiers scattered a few meters away.

Shattered night-vision goggles and torn high-tech equipment lay scattered in disarray.

The reporter felt a sharp pain in his head as he barely managed to get up.

His hand instinctively fumbled over his body.

He was startled to find his clothes stained with blood and torn in places.

I was definitely hit... but why doesn't it hurt?

He examined his body with confused eyes, but astonishingly, there were no wounds.

What happened...?

The reporter tried to recall his memory, but his mind was foggy, as if trapped in a haze.

The last memory that barely surfaced was the smoke rising from the silenced gun’s barrel... and the black something that covered his body.

It was just like the dream I had in the landfill...

The reporter shook his head fiercely to shake off his confused thoughts.

I need to get out of here... quickly...

In a panic, the reporter felt the urgent need to leave the scene, staggering as he quickly got to his feet.

He continued to walk through the dark alleys, constantly on alert.

A thought crossed his mind that someone might be following him, and cold sweat began to trickle down his back.

About an hour later, the reporter found an old motel by the road.

The man at the front desk, fixated on the TV, lazily handed over a key without even looking up at the reporter.

Despite his effort to clean himself up, the reporter was in a rather fortunate situation, being able to get a room in this condition.

...

Once in the room, the reporter immediately took a shower.

As the warm water washed over his body, he tried to calm his mind and organize his thoughts.

The soldiers shot at me the moment they saw me.

And it felt like I was wearing the monster from the dream...

After that... I can’t remember anything.

Finishing the shower, the reporter stood in front of the mirror.

Staring at his reflection with vacant eyes, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

No, it was more like something close to a thought or emotion.

[Human…]

At that moment, a black mass began to appear in the mirror.

A monstrous shape, about the size of a palm, had sprouted on the reporter's shoulder.

Seeing this, the reporter was startled and nearly screamed.

It was small in size but had long arms and looked just like the monster from his dream, with nine eyes.

"You... who are you?"

The reporter spoke in a trembling voice and slowly reached out to grab the creature.

It felt soft and squishy, completely different from the monster that had torn apart the soldiers.

Oddly enough, it felt oddly familiar, so the reporter placed the creature on the palm of his hand.

[I don’t know.]

[It’s dizzy.]

[Where is this?]

With the incessant whispers, small palm-sized lumps began to emerge from various parts of the reporter's body.

They all stared at each other and began conversing.

[We were told to do something...]

[But I don’t remember.]

[We must protect it.]

[What?]

[I don’t know. I’m dizzy.]

[So dizzy.]

Just like the reporter, who had lost a week of memories, it seemed that the creatures had forgotten something too.

Screech.

Late at night, the sound of a vehicle quietly stopping in the motel parking lot reached the reporter’s ears.

Such extraordinary hearing.

"Did you give me this hearing as well?"

The reporter, curious about the fact, asked the creature, but he couldn’t hear their answer.

[Harmful human!]

The black lumps spread out and began to rush toward the reporter, attaching themselves to him.

And just like when the reporter tore apart the soldiers, they began to grow into a large form.

"Stop, stop!"

The reporter shouted, desperately clawing at the lumps trying to cover his face.

[?]

The black lumps paused, seemingly puzzled, but fortunately, they listened to the reporter’s words.

The lumps, which seemed to be acting without reason, stopped as though they understood.

"Why the sudden change?"

[Bad humans are coming.]

[Very bad humans.]

Hearing the lumps’ words, the reporter quickly checked outside the window.

An unidentified black car was parked in front of the motel, and men in black suits and brightly dressed men were getting out.

"Prism Sentinel...?"

The reporter muttered with a puzzled voice, watching them from the window.