The red-haired reporter was having a recurring dream.

It was a dream where she was investigating the Alexander Group, eventually infiltrating its inner sanctum.

The same scene unfolded each time.

In a dark building, a brightly lit isolation room.

People in a pitiful state.

At the end, a massive steel door.

And every time that door opened, an ominous sphere would catch her gaze.

In that moment, a frantic whisper from the darkness pulled her back to reality.

[Human, wake up!]

[It's a big problem!]

As her consciousness returned, the reporter realized she was lying on a cold concrete floor.

The surroundings were engulfed in darkness, but she could feel the presence of black masses surrounding her skin.

Their anxiety and restlessness flowed through her body like electricity.

And behind her, the rough, continuous presence of something immense could be felt.

She instinctively tried to turn her head to check, but the black masses covering her body made it impossible.

[Don't look!]

[It will make you dizzy.]

At their warning, the reporter stopped moving.

In that moment, memories from just before losing consciousness flashed through her mind like lightning.

"Right… the worms suddenly popped out, and I lost consciousness..."

The sight of worms glowing in different colors pouring out, and the moment when she fainted just from watching.

[Seal failure…]

The whispers of the black masses resonated in her mind.

Their voices were a mix of fear, sorrow, and longing.

[Mom…]

[I miss Mom.]

[There’s no Mom here either.]

[I'm dizzy.]

As she thought, the whispers of the black masses had multiplied many times over.

When she turned her gaze, new black masses were wriggling out of the same place the worms had appeared, constantly emerging.

As the reporter slowly tried to sit up, the black masses all turned toward her, beginning to whisper in unison.

[Help us.]

[Humans, we are in danger.]

[I'm dizzy.]

[Human, help us.]

[We can't fight.]

[Human, lend us your senses.]

At the desperate pleas of the black masses, the reporter nodded.

"Alright, let's fight together."

The worms certainly looked dangerous to her as well.

As the reporter agreed, the surrounding black masses rushed toward her.

At the same time, memories from the week-long gap slowly began to return.

Every time the black masses rushed toward her, little by little.

The secret laboratory of the Alexander Group, the horrific scenes she witnessed there, and the black liquid and ominous sphere she found beyond the steel door.

When she regained all the memories of the week, she transformed into one enormous black mass, with the reporter standing at its center.

[Humans are in danger.]

[We have to seal it again.]

[Impossible.]

[We need Mom.]

[Where is Mom?]

[Let's go to the surface.]

[Up.]

With the whispers of the black mass, they began to escape the underground facility at great speed.

They swept through the stairs and climbed up the walls, resembling a massive black wave.

When they emerged from the narrow building, the black masses began to take on familiar shapes.

Forms with long arms and rooted legs.

The reporter, now part of the massive black mass that had grown as large as a building, was looking down at the city.

With their large gathering, a strength unimaginable before could be felt.

Even when there were only a few of them, they were special objects, so how powerful were they now?

Her gaze turned to the ominous sky.

It seemed they were stronger now, as the black masses no longer restrained her from looking up at the sky.

But she soon regretted looking up.

The sight before her eyes was more terrifying than any horror movie.

The sky was covered in worms of various colors.

The wriggling sight of them twisted the reporter's stomach.

'Yes, anyone would lose their mind seeing this as a normal human.'

Disgust. Ominousness. Revulsion. Unpleasantness. Horror.

For those worms, any negative word fit without feeling out of place.

However, surprisingly, the people passing by on the street seemed not to notice this horrifying sight at all.

Instead, their gazes were all fixed on the massive black mass that had transformed the reporter.

"Object?"

"Run!"

"Why isn't the emergency alarm going off?"

"Is this some kind of filming?"

People’s reactions were all over the place.

Some fled in terror, while others, full of curiosity, pulled out their phones and began taking pictures.

[It's dangerous here.]

[Run quickly!]

[There are so many humans.]

The black masses whispered to the people, but no one could hear them.

Before the whispers of the black masses even finished, a mass of worms fell from the sky.

The moment it touched the ground, the world began to distort.

The worms, like roots of plants, burrowed into the ground and began planting tiny worms into the bodies of passing people.

[Human!]

With the cry of the black masses, the reporter’s body reflexively moved.

In an instant, they rushed toward the spot where the worm had fallen.

[Enemy of humanity!]

[Die!]

[Attack!]

Sharp black claws shredded the worm apart.

They dug up and destroyed even the roots buried deep in the earth.

After smashing all the worms, the reporter looked around and saw people screaming and fleeing.

'Yes, run quickly. This place is dangerous.'

Then, she chased after the falling worms scattered around the city, smashing them.

Several tall skyscrapers and the Golden Gate Bridge, among others.

During this process, many buildings were destroyed.

But even then, it was not enough to stop the worms.

It was almost like trying to block all the rain falling from the sky with just an umbrella.

[Human…]

The voices of the black masses carried a sense of despair.

More and more people were getting infected by the worms, and the contaminated land was spreading.

'It's impossible alone…'

A sense of despair began to seep into the reporter's heart.

It was then.

Suddenly, white flames spread through the air.

As if a fog had cleared, the world became clear.

A refreshing feeling seemed to engulf her entire body.

'Mom!'

'Mom! When did you come?'

The sound of cheerful, cute voices reached her.

And from the far side of the city, a strong presence and clear connection were felt.

[Mom??]

The whispers of the black masses were mixed with joy and confusion.

In the distance, at the edge of the city, a small gray reaper figure could be seen.

Despite being so small, it seemed to the reporter’s senses as though the entire city was filled with gray reapers.

The night sky of San Francisco, once again, seemed to shimmer with new colors, as if the city was undergoing a transformation.

The reporter, now larger than the city, marveled at the impossible feat of containing and fighting the worms.

With new black reapers adopted into her ranks, the reporter continued her plan.

Looking up at the sky, she could still see the vivid, wriggling worms that had taken over the heavens.

The sky had once been an inky black but now had been overtaken by a rainbow of grotesque, squirming worms, their disturbing movements filling the atmosphere.

"Now, I just need to solve this crisis."

With her new black reapers in tow, the reporter whispered to herself in determination.

As she observed the sky closely, it was clear that the worms' destructive conditions hadn't yet been met.

<■ ■ ■>

She sighed silently, understanding the daunting task ahead of her.

As an outsider, it was going to take some time to process everything and address the situation.

"First, I need to secure the battlefield."

Slowly, she surveyed her surroundings.

Even the terrified people, once fleeing the destruction, stopped running when the monstrous black reapers, now transformed into her allies, arrived. Some even seemed to greet them with open arms.

"How troublesome..."

Perhaps due to her growing reputation, people no longer fled in fear. They stayed.

But the situation was dire. The reporter realized that for the sake of everyone’s safety, she had to clear the city quickly.

Especially, as an outsider, the growing number of worm-infected people would only create more trouble.

That’s when the key to solving the issue came into focus.

The reason people were unable to avoid the worms was because they couldn't see them.

"Using the Halo of the Commandment to mark the worms' locations should help."

But another problem arose.

Above her head, there was already a Halo of power-nullifying white flames.

"Hmm."

Using two halos at once was nearly impossible.

As she pondered, an idea suddenly came to her.

"The blue idol reaper can use the Halo of Commandment."

But she quickly realized the flaw in this idea.

With the blue idol reaper's strength, it might be insufficient to affect such a vast range of 'outsider byproducts.'

As she continued her thoughts, a giant black reaper with a beaming smile appeared in her sight.

"Ah!"

A bright idea flashed in her mind.

"Wouldn't it be possible if the reaper weren't mini-sized, but a larger one?"

Excited by the thought, she summoned the Hug Reaper and the Blue Reapers.

As soon as the Blue Reapers gathered at her command, they appeared in mid-air, their faces filled with concern.

"Hug!"

The Hug Reaper immediately embraced her ankles the moment it was summoned.

She quickly placed the Halo of Fusion on the Hug Reaper and gave her command.

"Combine with the Blue Reapers and form a huge Blue Reaper as big as the black reaper."

"Hug!!!"

The Hug Reaper nodded and merged the ten Blue Reapers into one.

To her surprise, an enormous Blue Reaper formed much quicker than she expected, and it was far larger than she had imagined.

"Ughhh."

The giant Blue Reaper seemed confused by its newfound size.

It awkwardly tried to shrink and hide behind buildings, but its slightly smaller size than the black reapers made it impossible to conceal.

The reporter couldn’t help but laugh quietly at the sight, then gave the giant Blue Reaper its next task.

"Make the worms visible so that people can avoid them."

The Blue Reaper hesitated for a moment, then raised its finger to the sky, beginning to write.

"Project the horrific image of the worms!"

At that moment, something remarkable happened.

Wherever the worms were, transparent mirror images of the worms appeared.

Not only on the ground, but even the sky was filled with the terrifying reflections of the worms.

Though it didn’t make people lose consciousness or dizzy, the worms’ grotesque images still terrified anyone who saw them.

The response from the people was immediate.

People panicked and scattered as the giant worm apparitions appeared out of nowhere.

Anyone would run at the sight of worms wriggling into their bodies.

However, the miraculous Blue Reaper using outsider-level magic didn't last long.

The Blue Reaper seemed to have exhausted all of its fusion power and quickly split back into ten individual reapers.

"Just one spell, but the effect was extraordinary."

She marveled at the power of the mini reapers.

It was incredible to see that the mini reapers had become strong enough to make a semi-permanent, wide-scale impact on outsider-level byproducts.

"The dream of automated hunting seems even closer now."

Smiling to herself at the thought of a brighter future, she lifted the Hug Reaper onto her shoulder and began considering her next steps.

"For the next automated hunting task, I need to create mini reapers that can cut down the level of worm outsiders."

At that moment, two powerful mini reapers came to her mind.

What if she combined them?

"Hehe."