A city in Russia, struck by the chanical giants' invasion.
A man sat by the window, gazing at the shattered city beyond.
The once lively streets had now been transford into a scene of half-collapsed ruins, a result of the chanical giants’ attack.
The view outside the window resembled a scene from a war movie.
The debris of fallen buildings scattered across the road, and broken glass shards glead in the sunlight on the asphalt.
The sidewalks, once bustling with people, were now filled with deep craters.
Flipped cars lay scattered along the roadside, so so crushed that it was hard to recognize their original form.
But even amidst this thoroughly destroyed landscape, the city was still alive and moving.
People in shabby safety vests were installing temporary fences around the ruined buildings.
Though there had been a great disaster, the city was far from stopping, but what truly caught the man’s eye was sothing else.
Tiny Mini Reapers, about the size of a palm, were following the construction workers, hopping around with tiny footsteps.
They were helping clear debris, carrying pebbles as small as their fingernails, or curiously observing the workers and imitating them.
The Mini Reapers, like the workers, wore safety vests and helts, though they looked sowhat out of place, which brought a smile to the man’s face.
"Where did they get those tiny clothes and helts from?"
The man murmured with a smile.
Just a few days ago, the people of this city harbored an extre animosity toward Objects.
It made sense, as many had left their hos and moved to this city due to the Object known as "Moon of the Snowfield."
But the chanical giants’ invasion had changed everything.
The sight of the Mini Reapers fighting valiantly to protect the people, without regard for their own safety, had deeply moved many hearts.
The courage and spirit of sacrifice displayed by the Mini Reapers, whose golden flas bled like blood, and their undeniably adorable appearance, were enough to win the hearts of the people.
Turning his gaze away from the window and looking at the TV, the sa story had been running for several days.
It was about the battle of the Mini Reapers across Russia.
This was an incredibly rare occurrence in Russia, a country that was extrely hostile toward Objects.
"It seems like the day when Golden Reapers will appear in comrcials like in Arica isn't too far off..."
The man turned off the TV that had started airing an advertisent and stood up. That’s when he noticed the Golden Reaper sitting next to him.
The Golden Reaper, perhaps imitating the man, was wearing glasses and holding a tiny book it had sohow acquired.
Furthermore, the Golden Reaper had a deeply furrowed brow, its mouth tightly shut, sitting at an angle on the chair.
"Could it be that you’re copying ?"
Normally, if soone imitated him, he wouldn’t feel too good about it, but the man couldn’t help but laugh.
"That book is upside down."
The man pinched the Golden Reaper’s chubby cheek and turned the book right side up.
The Golden Reaper made a question mark with its hair and tilted its head, but then gave up and smiled brightly at the man.
"Human!"
It looked like a puppy jumping into play.
On an afternoon when the hot sunlight poured down on the asphalt, in the parking lot in front of Sehee Institute’s main courtyard.
I was feeling a bit bored, wandering around, when I was drawn outside by the noisy sound and stumbled upon an unexpected sight.
The parking lot, usually crowded with visitors’ cars, was now completely different, filled with vibrant energy.
In the center of the parking lot stood a flashy temporary building.
The structure, decorated with shining silver panels, changed the entire atmosphere around it simply by its presence.
In front of the building, a large LED screen constantly displayed the images of the Mini Reapers in various colors.
Above the entrance of the building, a large, extravagant banner fluttered in the wind.
It read "1st Sehee Institute Mini Reaper Fashion Show" in shining gold letters, surrounded by silhouettes of Mini Reapers.
Below the banner, a red carpet was laid out, giving the illusion of stepping into a Hollywood awards ceremony.
‘It seems like Sehee is up to sothing strange again…’
A fashion show? It was an unexpected developnt, but after thinking about it from the institute's perspective, it didn't seem like a bad idea.
It could actually make so money.
The only problem was that it probably ant Yerin would want to dress up.
Sohow, people had already flocked to the fashion show, as if they knew about it.
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
And these people were with many Mini Reapers.
Black Reapers dressed in head dresses and maid costus.
Golden Reapers sitting in cat cages, wearing glamorous dresses.
People dressed in matching clothes to their cherished Reapers, holding their precious Mini Reapers.
There was a wide variety of people entering.
Booths selling snacks lined the sides of the corridor leading to the entrance, attacking the wallets of the affectionate humans.
"Human! That looks delicious!"
"Human, thank you!"
"Hehe."
Although the Mini Reapers couldn’t understand the will of humans, no affectionate human could resist buying them snacks when they pointed with a cheerful expression.
From the expensive special snacks sold by Sehee Institute to the toys the Mini Reapers loved, it seed as though Sehee Institute was about to get rich.
It was still a place filled with happiness.
The laughter of humans and the will of Mini Reapers filled the air.
As I entered the temporary building, I was greeted by dim lighting and a cool atmosphere.
"Oh."
In the center, Mini Reapers were walking along a long runway.
Of course, asking Mini Reapers to model or strike poses was a bit much, so they simply stood on white ogres and posed.
It was the white ogres who did the model walks.
With long, elegant strides, the white ogres gracefully walked down the runway.
Watching the Mini Reapers in various outfits was surprisingly entertaining, so I kept watching until an unexpected Mini Reaper appeared on the runway.
"!"
It was a slightly sulking orange Reaper.
The orange Reaper was wearing a red cheongsam dress and radiated a completely different vibe from the other Mini Reapers.
While the other Mini Reapers looked like cute babies or at a pet fashion show, the orange Reaper seed to have a different, more sophisticated aura.
I wondered, was there an affectionate human who took the orange Reaper as their own?
The orange Reaper was known to rarely form an attachnt to humans, but it seed like sothing had changed without knowing.
As the orange Reaper stood on a white ogre and exited the runway, I suddenly beca curious.
If I rged with the orange Reaper, could I beco like that?
Hmm.
Not that I was envious, but it was an interesting thought.
Jas, wearing a ntal contamination prevention helt, stepped into the dark temple, and the Golden Reaper on his shoulder hopped up, landing atop his head.
"Light!"
It then spread both hands in the air like a cheerleader, emitting light like a flashlight.
Following this, the Mini Reapers of the staff also began to emit light in their own ways.
Jas entered a long corridor made of various-colored jade.
The walls were filled with countless depictions of foreign deities, created using the vibrant jade.
These weren’t re paintings; they gave the illusion of living, moving beings.
The red jade depicted a foreign deity that seed like a misty, monstrous creature, evoking the feeling of being imrsed in fog just by gazing at it.
Nearby, a foreign deity made from black and white jade seed to shift its colors with every glance, creating an optical illusion.
"Is this the foreign deity that caused the Pacific Crisis…?"
Jas' gaze stopped on a massive foreign deity made from blue jade.
It looked as if it were covering the entire sea with its body, with intricate, web-like patterns of jade spun across its surface.
Beyond the web, thousands of eyes seed to be carved, each one following Jas’ movents.
As Jas slowly walked down the corridor, he couldn't help but feel both awe and unease.
To create such chilling yet captivating murals from jade of every color, it was no wonder he felt a strange attraction while passing by these walls.
With each step, Jas felt bizarre emotions rising within him.
It was a mixture of fear and an inexplicable pull, as though sothing was slowly consuming his mind, like a ntal contamination Object.
"No ntal contamination detected."
One of the staff mbers, who shared Jas’ concerns, asured the ntal contamination levels, but curiously, no contamination was detected.
‘...’
As Jas exited the corridor, he found himself in a vast, strangely large space, larger than the temple appeared from the outside.
"That must be the king or the supre deity of the foreign gods."
At the very entrance to the space stood a colossal statue made of jade.
It was in the most prominent position, and its appearance was that of a gray giant with eyes closed, as though it were asleep.
But unlike the foreign gods Jas had seen so far, this one looked strikingly human.
‘It seems suspicious, since it looks so ordinary compared to the other foreign gods.’
But as he approached and examined it closely, the ordinary appearance completely disappeared.
The statue had been crafted with tightly packed jade of every color, creating a gray hue that was mixed with all shades.
Its surface was entangled with various kinds of living and non-living creatures and geotric shapes.
Among the chaotic entanglents, faint writing was visible.
The text seed like a prophecy of the future, or a tale of doom and salvation.
The more Jas tried to read the blurry words, the more dizzying it beca.
As he shook his head violently, the text vanished without a trace.
"Was it an illusion...?"
Just like the murals, no ntal contamination was detected.
As Jas took a photo of the ominous optical illusion statue, the Golden Reaper on his head suddenly leapt off and started running sowhere.
‘There’s sothing there!’
Following the Golden Reaper, Jas arrived at a hidden room behind the statue.
It was an extrely narrow room.
In the center, a black orb floated gently.
The floor was covered with black liquid, gently sloshing around.
Seeing the black liquid, Jas flinched but quickly relaxed and began observing it.
‘This doesn’t seem like evolution fluid.’
The black liquid appeared suspicious, but it didn’t have the characteristic sll of oil from evolution fluid.
The Golden Reaper crouched in front of the black liquid, its expression full of worry.
Jas passed the Golden Reaper and moved toward the orb.
And the mont he looked at the orb, his helt split in two.
‘What is this?’
His vision was filled with an endless universe.
A universe full of colorful truths.
Knowledge that could save humanity filled the colors.
At the center, nurous frog faces appeared.
Just then, the Golden Reaper rushed at Jas, covering his eyes with its hands.
‘Don’t look!’
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