After confirming that the blonde girl was asleep, Agent Black stepped out of the building to conduct a periter check.
The village they’d arrived at appeared peaceful, shrouded in a thick fog. However, there was sothing off about it in his eyes.
His instincts were soon proven correct when a cloud fish swam by, its tail swaying lazily. Without much reaction, Agent Black opened his notebook and jotted down a few observations.
< the="" village="" seems="" to="" have="" little="" contact="" with="" the="" outside="" world.="">
< the="" people="" didn’t="" exhibit="" the="" usual="" behavior="" of="" isolated="" communities.="">
< the="" people="" didn’t="" shy="" away="" from="" outsiders,="" show="" curiosity,="" or="" extend="" any="" welco.="">
Overall, the cloud fish village had an unnaturally calm and subdued atmosphere.
Could it be mind corruption?
Agent Black glanced up at the orange moon, suspecting it might be exerting so kind of influence. It was a reasonable hypothesis, given the thick fog that resembled an Object’s aura. But there was no hard evidence to support this idea yet.
Slap-!
Just as he was about to seek out the villagers for more information, he heard a sharp sound. Instantly alert, Agent Black hurried back inside, his first thought being that sothing had happened to the young miss. But what greeted him wasn’t what he expected.
Near the window, bathed in the soft orange light, the blonde girl was holding a Red Reaper in her palm.
Judging by its appearance, size, and deanor, it seed to be a mini reaper, similar to the ‘Golden Reaper,’ a known subordinate(?) of the Gray Reaper.
“A-ahjussi! Look at this!”
With a beaming smile, the girl pointed at the tiny Red Reaper, who was busily licking a piece of candy, cradled in her palm.
“It looks like one of the Gray Reaper’s henchn. Where did you find it, Young Miss?”
The Red Reaper, completely uninterested in their conversation, made a sad face as its tongue got stuck to the candy.
The blonde girl giggled at the sight and gently pried its tongue off the candy.
“I don’t know either. I had a dream about a bunch of colorful mini reapers. Maybe that’s why?”
Agent Black stopped analyzing after hearing that. There wasn’t enough information on the Gray Reaper or the mini reapers to draw any conclusions especially since it had been so ti since the Sehee Research Institute had sent a proper report to the association. Ȑ�
Things had deteriorated after the Seoul Forest Village fire incident. Most likely, the institute’s change in leadership following the director’s kidnapping was to bla.
The Red Reaper quickly devoured the candy, then settled on the girl’s shoulder, its cold gaze fixed on her profile.
Fortunately, at least it seems friendly to the Young Miss.
Agent Black let out a quiet breath of relief. Given the power of the Golden Reaper, the most well-known of the mini reapers, it was only natural to be concerned.
Though not fully understood, experts speculated that the ‘Golden Reaper’ was a ‘Special Object.’ So even theorized that if it ever turned hostile, Korea could face complete destruction.
While the blonde girl and the Red Reaper played, a soft breeze rustled through the air, further emphasizing the village’s eerie calm. It was difficult to believe such a peaceful mont could exist in a place surrounded by Objects.
The girl continued to converse with the Red Reaper as though they could communicate. Though Agent Black knew that Objects couldn’t talk, she seed content, laughing softly as she spoke.
Watching her, he noticed how her once-gloomy deanor had brightened.
But the peaceful atmosphere didn’t last.
The fog outside the window began to darken. Monts later, thunder cracked through the sky, shattering the village’s tranquility.
Rumble-!
Sensing danger, Agent Black imdiately shielded the girl behind the wall before assessing the situation.
The orange moon, once casting a gentle glow, now flickered like a failing fluorescent bulb. The fog had turned black and swirled violently, with occasional flashes of lightning cutting through it. The ominous atmosphere was undeniable.
Sothing’s happening.
He looked up at the orange moon, which now seed to be weeping. Black liquid dripped from its surface like thick, oily tears.
Splash-!
The viscous black substance hit the ground, filling the air with the pungent sll of petroleum.
The cloud fish, once lazily drifting through the sky, scattered in panic. A few darted toward the window, forcing Agent Black to close it quickly. Grabbing the girl’s hand, he opened the door.
“Ah… Ahjussi.”
But outside, they were t with an unsettling sight. The hallway was packed with cloud fish, their eyes glowing orange as they stared down the pair. So were as large as an adult’s forearm, their sheer number and the eerie glow from their eyes making the scene downright unsettling.
*********The tattooed woman and her younger sister arrived at the Sehee Research Institute without much fanfare.
“Sis, there are so many cloud fish here.”
Her younger sister held one of the cloud fish in her hand, petting it absentmindedly as if it were a household pet.
The woman glanced at her, a faint smile touching her lips, before her eyes swept over the surroundings.
This place is far too lax.
Even after such a major incident, all she could see were reporters and gawking bystanders. A few police officers milled about, but there was no sign of anyone from the association.
It all felt like so bizarre enactnt of a governnt plan to “befriend” the Objects.
Given the superior communication, transportation, and infrastructure systems compared to where the woman used to live, this kind of negligence was difficult to justify. Unless, of course, it was all part of so carefully crafted national agenda.
A ans of communication that can report incidents in less than a minute from anywhere.
A transportation system that ensures imdiate response, no matter the distance.
In her eyes, these technologies were nothing short of miraculous.
At that mont, a Cloud Whale that had been drifting lazily in the sky abruptly descended, then shot back up just as suddenly. Its disappearance left behind a sky embroidered with a river of cloud fish.
Her younger sister, who had looked deflated when the whale left, now stared wide-eyed at the Milky Way of cloud fish that illuminated the sky.
The tattooed woman continued on, her steps deliberate, heading toward the Sehee Research Institute. Her goal: the alchemist of Sehee and the infamous ‘Gray Reaper.’
“How in the….”
When she inquired about the Gray Reaper’s whereabouts, the staff’s response was simple, yet incomprehensible.
The Gray Reaper had vanished.
Is it okay for an Object that was being contained to disappear sowhere like that?
Strange.
*********The after-party for the Colosseum event with Reaper was finally over.
I really, really wanted to hug Reaper and feed it tons of pudding, but then—bam—this whole accident happened!
And after that Cloud Whale attack? Ugh, Reaper just vanished, poof, like smoke.
“Reaper, let’s eat pudding together!” I called out, trying to lure it in with pudding as bait.
But no luck. Reaper didn’t show up.
Instead, a bunch of mini Reapers started gathering around , all with these adorable faces.
Sigh… Where did Reaper go?
I an, we’d just survived all that craziness in the U.S., and I thought maybe—just maybe—we could finally relax. But nope. Off Reaper goes again!
I plopped down on the ground, feeling defeated, and opened up a pudding cup. Right away, the Golden Reapers and Black Reapers sward , their mouths wide open like little baby birds.
“Okay, okay! I get it!” I laughed and snapped a picture of their cute, begging faces before giving each of them a spoonful of pudding.
Once they had their fill and closed their mouths, looking all satisfied and happy, I noticed it was already getting dark.
The sky was all dim and the only thing lighting up the courtyard was this strange bonfire the mini Reapers had brought along.
But, wait a second… Why did it sll so sweet? Like, way too sweet. Curiosity got the best of , so I shuffled over to check it out.
“!”
Inside the fire, sothing transparent was slowly lting. It took a second, but then I realized—it was a flamingo! A glass flamingo, all clear and shiny, lting right there in the flas.
Could it be that’s the sa Glass Flamingo that the Golden Reaper had smashed to bits?
I thought it was totally gone, but nope—here it was, looking all sad and lty. Its head drooped, and these sugar-like tears were dripping down its face. Oh, poor thing.
Its eyes kinda seed to say, “Please, send back to the containnt room…”
And, yeah, I did feel a little bad for it. But then I rembered the headache that would follow if an Object that was supposed to be destroyed turned out to still be alive.
Umm, no thanks. I turned my head, deciding to ignore it.
Sorry, Flamingo.
Think of it as payback for attacking our staff and the Blue Reaper.
*********Looking up, I saw a river of cloud fish dancing gracefully across the sky—soooo pretty! It stretched on and on, like it would never end, all the way to so far-off mountain outside of Seoul.
Oh! But even though I was far from Seoul, there was a helpful signpost on the ground that told where I was.
< map="" of="" mt="" odae="" national="" park.="">
The trail up the mountain looked all old and broken down, like nobody had cared for it in ages. But that just made it even prettier, in a wild, overgrown kind of way. The road might’ve been in ruins, but the bushes had taken over, all lush and green. It was like nature was showing off or sothing!
As I started climbing the mountain, the river of clouds above didn’t seem so important anymore. Nope. Because up ahead, there was a huuuuge do of fog, like a giant barrier, just waiting for !
When I got closer, I felt it. That weird, tingly, ominous feeling. Even though it was just fog, there were flashes of lightning inside it, like it was angry or sothing. And, oh, that sll… Ew, petroleum again? Yuck.
Oh no, not the black mucus stuff again!
Once I take care of this ss, I’m definitely cleaning up all the black goo in Gwanak-gu. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll catch whoever’s behind this disaster! Hmph. To think those humans who ssed up Gwanak-gu with the black liquid were back at it again!
Once I take care of this ss, I’m definitely cleaning up all the black goo in Gwanak-gu. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll catch whoever’s behind this disaster! Hmph. To think those humans who ssed up Gwanak-gu with the black liquid were back at it again!
But then, as I kept going, the fog suddenly changed. It stopped being white and turned pitch black! The only light left was from the flashes of lightning that streaked through the fog, like so storm cloud had fallen to the ground.
I pushed through that stormy fog and finally ca out on the other side. And there it was—a village, with cloud fish everywhere, going wild! They were usually so gentle, but now? They were fighting, teeth bared, chomping at each other like they’d gone crazy!
The white cloud fish were battling the ones stained with black goo. It looked like a giant, angry sea, waves of fish crashing into each other, trying to bite and claw their way to victory.
At first, it seed like a close fight, but the white cloud fish were losing. If they got bitten by the spotted, gooey ones, they’d get infected and turn into monsters. Yikes!
But then, there it was—a red spark, balancing out the battle! It was a Red Reaper!
The little Red Reaper was all fiery, burning its body up like a cute little fla tornado, shooting fire everywhere. It zipped through the air, fanning its flas until they grew into this huge, crazy wildfire! The black-stained cloud fish didn’t stand a chance—they got roasted into dust by the flas.
Even though my connection to it wasn’t that strong, I knew for sure—it was a mini reaper.
A new baby reaper!
But wait… Sothing felt off. I could only see one mini reaper, but… I felt two. Where was the other one?
I started moving toward where the Red Reaper was fighting when, suddenly, I felt soone watching . Like, really, intensely watching . I turned my head to find out who it was, and there she was—a blonde girl, the one I’d seen a few tis before.
She was just… staring at , frozen in place, like she couldn’t take her eyes off of .
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