When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was this cozy brick wall glowing softly. It had little cracks, and through them, I could see fire swaying like it was dancing just for . The ceiling was all red flas too, kind of like soone had draped a big red cloth over it, and there was black smoke swirling up, moving like it was putting on a performance.
Ugh, the air was so harsh! A human would’ve probably choked on it. The smoke was so thick and creamy, I could barely see a thing. My poor eyes were stinging like crazy.
I turned my head slowly—it wasn’t easy, not with that heavy, stifling air—and there they were. The Golden Reapers, lying in a neat little circle around , looking all peaceful, like they were just taking a nap. Their firewood wasn’t glowing anymore. They had chosen to stay asleep, not wanting to wake up and put any more strain on my poor, dwindling firewood.
Feeling grateful, I tried to raise my hand to pat them. That’s when I really realized how bad off I was. My hand felt so heavy, and when I finally managed to move my fingers, they crumbled like sand. Even my skin was flaking away, falling apart like dry, fine grains.
Yep, I was literally falling apart. On the verge of death, actually. My firewood had almost completely burned out. Honestly, the last ti I’d been this drained was when I t Sehee. Even though I wanted to give the Golden Reapers a pat or share what little firewood I had left, my hands just… disintegrated.
So, I just lay there, staring blankly, waiting for my firewood to refill. If I moved too much, my wrists would snap, and if I tried to stand, my ankles would probably crumble.
The ceiling was still burning away, but… at least my firewood started to co back pretty quickly.
Just like that ti during the Central Research Institute ss, all the fear and confusion from the people around started to flow into my firewood reserves.
Sothing was definitely going down outside.
Yerin… was Yerin okay?
I was worrying about her, feeling that creepy tension in the air, when I noticed my firewood had recovered enough. Slowly, I got up and gathered the scattered Golden Reapers into my arms.
I carefully passed so firewood to them. One by one, their little bodies flickered back to life, like a fluorescent light turning on after being off for too long.
It’s Mom!
The Golden Reapers chirped, snuggling into my arms and rubbing their little faces against like they hadn’t seen in forever.
It’s really Mom!
There, there. Mom’s here.
I said, hugging them tight.
But wow, I’d almost died. Almost died in so strange world with a strange body.
Just thinking about it made feel all-powerful again, like I could do anything—except the fuel efficiency was awful…
Maybe it was because I’d pushed a dead body way too far. Seriously, what was that place? Was it connected to that Relic Number 0 thing?
So many questions, but h, who cares right now?
I got to my feet, and the Golden Reapers, still looking worried, stared up at with wide eyes. So of them clung to my head, holding on for dear life, like I might just keel over at any second. Ṛ
It’s fine, don't worry.
I reassured them with my thoughts, and started walking.
Plop-! Plop-! Plop-!
Like a line of ducklings, we all waddled along, heading up to the surface.
The hallways were a confusing maze, and the smoke made it hard to see, but it was no biggie for —or the Golden Reapers.
Plop-! Plop-! Plop-!
As we walked, the Golden Reapers’ worried little faces slowly began to brighten. It looked like they were starting to enjoy themselves, like we were just out for a fun stroll together.
I felt like a kindergarten teacher, leading them up to the surface, when… wow, a huge change greeted us.
Even though it was the middle of the night, the streets were lit up like it was day. But the light wasn’t from the sun—it was this eerie, blood-red glow hanging over everything.
And there, blocking part of my view, was a massive spirit barrier, surging like a tidal wave, burning bright red.
*********A crimson light surged through the window.
When I woke up, I could hear all these strange screams around . It was kind of weird, because my hotel room was supposed to be quiet and peaceful! But nope, chaos had definitely co to visit. Ugh.
I peeked out the window, and guess what? The street wasn’t dark anymore—oh no, it was bathed in this creepy red light, flickering like a huge fire had just set the whole place ablaze. It looked so intense! Like, way too intense. I an, who needs that much fire?
Just in case, I yanked the curtain on the other side to check it out. The mont I did, this intense heat just smacked right in the face. Ouch. And there it was—a gigantic wall of fire. Seriously, it was huge, like it could crash down on any second! Who thought this was a good idea?
Oh, wait! The Reaper was gone! I glanced around the room, and out of all the Golden Reapers that used to hang out with , only one little guy was left.
And he was clinging to my face. I an, really clinging, like a little sticky bug. Its tiny face was all worried, like it was saying, not to dare leave it. Aw, poor thing.
“We have to get out of here, quick!” a voice shouted.
It was the secretary, bursting into the room looking super stressed. When she noticed the Reaper had bailed, she grabbed my hand and practically dragged out of the hotel. She was in such a rush, I barely had ti to whine!
“Co on, let’s go!” she said, leading straight to the parking lot.
Then, she shoved a motorcycle helt into my hands and threw on the back of a motorcycle. Seriously, no warning, just plop—on I went.
“You better hold on tight!” she yelled over the roar of the engine.
As we zood out of the hotel, this crazy loud sound ca from the sky, like it was collapsing in on itself or sothing. The spirit barrier—the one that had been burning—started to give up, crumbling under its own weight.
And then, oh boy, giant pigs ca crashing through the fire wall, shaking the whole ground like it was a piggy earthquake.
The secretary gunned it, speeding through the ss like she was in so kind of action movie. We were dodging fire-breathing pigs and flaming debris, heading for safety, or at least further from the chaos.
The streets were packed with abandoned cars and—uh—burnt corpses. So people had been roasted alive, while others had their brains sucked out. Yep, totally normal.
Those fire-breathing pigs were just casually strutting around, burning people to ashes. And don’t get started on the Ghostly Objects haunting the place! Ugh, it was a total nightmare.
The secretary, though—she was like so kind of acrobat on that motorcycle, dodging the pigs and flas like it was nothing. It really felt like we were gonna make it out of there. I an, it was so close!
But noooo, fate just had to ss with us.
Out of nowhere, BAM! We slamd into sothing invisible, and both of us went flying off the bike, hitting the ground hard.
Bang-! Bang-!
I blacked out for, like, a second. But the Golden Reaper was tapping on my helt, waking up.
The poor, poor motorcycle… it was totally wrecked. The secretary? Yeah, she wasn’t moving—looked like she was knocked out cold.
“Ughhh…” I groaned, feeling this sharp pain in my side. Ow. Definitely sothing broken.
The Golden Reaper looked up at with those worried eyes again. Yep, I probably had so broken ribs, but honestly? I was still in decent shape considering we’d just been thrown from a speeding motorcycle.
The little guy must’ve protected . What a sweetheart.
And then, guess what? That giant pig started waddling toward us, like it had just spotted its next snack. It was giving that look—like, yep, you’re next.
Thump-! Thump-!
Its heavy footsteps were getting closer, and I couldn’t even move! My ribs were a total ss, and I was stuck there like, Really?! Now?
But then, my brave little Golden Reaper ran right at the pig, looking so determined. I almost cried from how cute it was. But also, what was it thinking?!
The pig puffed up, ready to spit fire, and the air got all hot and wobbly. But the Golden Reaper? It charged right in, ready to block the flas with its tiny body.
And then—bam! The space just… tore apart. Like, literally. The giant lava pig didn’t roar or anything.
Nope, it just split in two, collapsing silently into pieces, like soone had ripped it up like paper.
All the fire and smoke scattered into the air, and this soft, yellow light shimred from inside.
Beyond the pig torn in half, a small silhouette swayed.
Glowing eyes that pierced the darkness.
Long, flowing hair.
Gray and soft skin.
And—wait, is that a glowing heart?! So cool.
“!”
The Grey Reaper revealed itself, surrounded by nurous Golden Reapers.
“Reaper!!!” I shouted, totally forgetting about my broken ribs as I limped toward them.
As soon as I saw that face, relief washed over like a huge, warm wave. Finally, I was safe.
***Yerin limped over to , her face lighting up all happy-like as she wrapped her arms around in the tightest hug ever. She even started rubbing her cheek against mine.
“Reaper, are you hurt?” she asked, looking all worried.
She leaned back just a little, her eyes scanning up and down like she was checking for damage.
“You’re puffier than usual… and your light’s a lot weaker.”
Her fingers gently traced the sunken part of my cheek, and her frown deepened, all serious-like, as she gazed into my flaming eyes.
But honestly? Yerin looked way worse off than . Scratches covered her everywhere, and her side—ouch—that had to hurt.
Compared to her, I was just, like… running low on firewood. No big deal, really!
When I tore through space to save Yerin earlier, my firewood reserves had dropped back down to empty. But, oh! It was already bouncing back up. Fast.
Worry, joy, affection… all sorts of warm, fuzzy feelings were pouring out of Yerin, and every single one was helping heal.
Firewood was flowing into , far stronger than what I got from her before, maybe because she’d just barely survived a super dangerous situation. Or maybe she was just that concerned about . Either way, I could feel myself getting better by the second.
I glanced past Yerin’s arms, looking out at the chaos on the street.
Ghostly Objects were swooping around in the sky like creepy, evil birds, and on the ground? Pigs. Giant, fire-breathing pigs rampaging around like they owned the place.
And then, far off in the distance, I spotted the silhouette of the big guy. The really big guy.
The King of the Pigs.
Even through the thick smoke, I could see his massive form casting a shadow over the whole city. His face peeked through the haze, as he stared right at .
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