Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound of the pink-haired girl's footsteps echoed through the pipes.
The pink-haired girl and the Blue Reaper passed through a massive gate marked Alchemist Academy, following a pathway ford by pressed pipes.
The scenery beyond the gate had a slightly different atmosphere than the previous city.
Unlike the city filled with stones, roads, trees, and buildings, beyond the gate lay a landscape filled with pipe-made grass, trees, pebbles, and wildflowers.
As they crossed a small hill along the path, an endlessly stretching field ca into view.
A field with a blend of colorful flowers and grass, and a stone path that cut through its center.
And beyond that, a colossal building.
"The city outside the gate was amazing, but this place is even more incredible."
The pink-haired girl marveled at the ticulously crafted pipes that depicted grass and flowers.
"I've never seen this much grass before. And I can feel how carefully it was made."
The Blue Reaper nodded slightly in agreent with the pink-haired girl's words, looking down at the field.
The grass in the field seed to sway naturally, as if a breeze were blowing, capturing that mont as though it were frozen in a photograph.
As they moved closer to the building, they noticed statues of countless people.
The place was filled with children dressed in identical, elaborately decorated outfits.
"There are so many kids. They look about my age."
Kids gathered in small groups, walking together.
Others stood in place, smiling and chatting with each other.
A child tightly clutching a large book and running sowhere.
Each child had distinct features, making them feel almost like real people.
The pink-haired girl looked at the cheerful statues of the children, smiling with a hint of sadness.
"Would I have lived in a place like this too?"
"Would I have been among so many people, wearing the sa clothes, laughing and chatting happily?"
The Blue Reaper gently patted the cheek of his dear human friend, who looked a little sad.
"It's okay."
The pink-haired girl placed the Blue Reaper on her palm and gently stroked him.
"If that were true, it would be so nice."
"Surely there must still be places where people gather on the higher levels? The tower is vast and tall. It has to be."
"Then I could wear the sa clothes and live in the sa place too, right?"
Though she seed lonely, the pink-haired girl smiled softly, as if lost in a pleasant dream.
After wandering around the model of the Alchemist Academy, the Blue Reaper discovered a slightly unusual place.
While most areas resembled precise models, the spot he found was a bit different.
Rather than a model, there were traces suggesting real human habitation.
“A… display room?”
Following the Blue Reaper's lead, the pink-haired girl found a place with a naplate.
As soon as they opened the door, they saw a large room.
Inside, mirrors displayed preserved images, not as paintings, but as if capturing mories or scenes exactly as they were.
And in front of each mirror on the wall, there was always a single chair.
It was as if soone spent all day walking around the room, sitting in each chair for a long ti, just admiring the mirrors.
"I can see lots of people in the mirrors."
The figures in the mirrors were more lifelike than the pipe models, showing vibrant colors and expressions, moving within the reflections.
[What’s for lunch today?]
[I don’t want to go to class….]
[They say the tower has lost another floor!]
[Professor, co here too!]
The scenes in the mirrors looked like fragnts of everyday life.
In a corner of the display room were mirrors that felt distinctly different.
Unlike the children, these mirrors reflected weary middle-aged n.
[The evolutionary fluid is an alchemical byproduct. There must be a way.]
[Just as eternal alchemy doesn’t exist, this tower isn’t eternal either. I need to find a way fast.]
[People still don’t know. This tower isn’t a perpetual machine.]
The last mirror reflected the image of an elderly man.
[I failed. All I accomplished was to nearly create an eternal tower by borrowing the power of a god.]
[Before this world ends, soone, I hope, will find the answer.]
The pink-haired girl stared intently at that mirror, almost as if in a trance.
Just then, the Blue Reaper rushed over, hurriedly writing a ssage.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps and an intense presence.
A powerful object!
The Blue Reaper hid with a tense expression, avoiding the window in the display room.
“What…?!”
The pink-haired girl tried to say sothing, but the Blue Reaper quickly covered her mouth, stopping her from speaking.
At that mont, a giant shadow appeared in the window.
A massive body and long limbs that seed to block out the sun.
The shadow looked like a spider.
Sehee Research Institute, Reaper-exclusive underground lounge.
I and the Golden Reapers, bored from our deadly ga of tag using the evolutionary fluid in Seoul Forest, eventually returned to the Sehee Research Institute.
Of course, the area around the evolutionary fluid’s falling column was blocked off with a spatial barrier, as it was dangerous.
Then, we headed straight down to the underground lounge and dipped into the warm water.
"Ah, it’s so warm."
After working so hard to find the Blue Reaper, the warm water made feel relaxed.
The Golden Reapers followed in, one after another, and floated comfortably in the water.
Only their round bellies were poking out, which looked a little cute.
Gathering the Golden Reapers floating around, I pressed their bellies like piano keys when the TV in the lounge started broadcasting the news.
[The nation is in chaos after the sudden appearance of a massive planet last night.]
[In the early hours of the morning, a celestial body resembling Earth suddenly appeared in the night sky around the world.]
[This phenonon, suspected to be caused by an object, continued throughout the night and is still visible in the sky.]
[Astronors say that the planet in the sky mirrors Earth as if reflected in a mirror.]
[The planet resembles Earth in the outline of continents and cloud patterns, but its oceans appear black instead of the familiar blue.]
[SNS has been flooded with related photos and videos all night, with speculations and rumors spreading quickly.]
[The Object Council has convened an ergency eting, and the first briefing is scheduled for 10 a.m.]
The news was full of reports about the black planet I connected to while searching for the Blue Reaper.
I felt a little ticklish, thinking I’d played a big prank on the whole world.
Hehe.
As I chuckled and watched TV, a familiar voice called out.
"Oh, so here you were!"
It was Yerin, in a swimsuit.
Upon spotting , Yerin entered the water and wrapped her arms around .
“Reaper, you’re so warm.”
Yerin smiled softly, burying her face in my hair.
She started chatting about how she hadn’t seen much lately.
“Oh! Speaking of which, I installed a security cara in my house recently because it felt like soone’s been entering.”
“?”
I tilted my head at her words.
Hadn't I placed a White Maw in Yerin’s house? Did a thief get in?
I decided to toss the White Maw I’d stationed at Yerin’s place into “Maw Hell” for neglecting its duty.
“But strangely, nothing in the house has gone missing.”
“Lately, Sehee has been acting….”
“The other day, I saw Golden Reaper and….”
While Yerin continued talking, toying with my belly, she eventually nibbled on my antenna and began watching TV in the lounge.
As I watched TV absent-mindedly, I thought of Jas.
“Now that I think about it, what happened to the Golden-cha-Tyranno Armor I asked him to make?”
The thought of finally outfitting the Tyranno with golden armor made the corners of my mouth lift.
Hehe.
The display room in the model Alchemist Academy.
The pink-haired girl and the Blue Reaper held their breath, hiding in the shadows.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
As night fell over the model city, only the heavy footsteps echoed.
It looks strong.
The Blue Reaper, tense, wrote words before the pink-haired girl.
The pink-haired girl shook her head.
“It’s not that. Grandpa said the spider that eats the sun always stays at the very top of the tower.”
She spoke in a hushed voice, worried they might be spotted by the giant shadow.
“And it seems too small to be the sun-eating spider. Grandpa read a storybook where it was huge.”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The footsteps began to fade away.
The pink-haired girl mumbled, “I’ll just take a quick look,” and peeked through the window.
The Blue Reaper was startled and tugged on her earlobe, but it was too late.
The pink-haired girl continued looking outside before ducking back down.
“It’s definitely not a spider. It looks a bit strange.”
She added that it seed a little cute, giggling.
The Blue Reaper grew curious from her words.
Slowly, very slowly, he began to peek out the window himself.
Starting from the pointed tip of his witch’s hat, inch by inch.
Finally, he managed to peek one eye out of the window.
What the Blue Reaper saw was a massive black maw with disproportionately long limbs.
Strangely, he felt it resembled the black statue he’d seen on a previous level.
In that instant, his gaze t the black maw’s.
Oh no!
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