In the early morning, sunlight gently filtered through the window, casting a soft glow that illuminated the one-room apartnt with a subtle light.
The Helt Researcher slowly opened his eyes, waking up, and as he did, the Golden Grim Reaper, who had been sleeping beside him, stretched and let out a little giggle.
A smile spread across the Helt Researcher's lips as well.
"Are you hungry?"
The Helt Researcher asked.
The Golden Grim Reaper nodded eagerly and raised both hands in a gesture of victory, his eyes sparkling.
Seeing this, the Helt Researcher smiled softly and got up from the bed, heading toward the kitchen.
As usual, breakfast was simple—just a calorie bar.
Taking a bite of the bar, the researcher handed a small cookie to the Golden Grim Reaper.
The affectionate Golden Grim Reaper took the cookie, which was about the size of its own body, and sat down at the table, starting to nibble on it.
Om nom nom.
It was the happy, simple morning routine that had continued ever since leaving the Association.
After finishing breakfast, the Helt Researcher began preparing for work.
As he changed clothes and packed his bag, the Golden Grim Reaper circled around him restlessly.
Finally, when everything was ready, the Helt Researcher stood in front of the door, extending his arm.
Normally, by now, the Golden Grim Reaper would have jumped up and perched on his palm, but today was different.
"?"
The Helt Researcher looked around, puzzled.
Just then, a small sound ca from the table.
Clink. Clink.
Turning around, the Golden Grim Reaper was still sitting on the table.
What was strange was that it was holding sothing in both hands.
Upon closer inspection, it was another limp Golden Grim Reaper.
"A naturally occurring Golden Grim Reaper? It's been a while."
The Helt Researcher mumbled.
Recently, there had been more frequent occurrences of naturally appearing Golden Grim Reapers outside the Sehee Research Institute.
At first, it was thought that they had followed soone, but now it was becoming generally accepted that Golden Grim Reapers could appear anywhere on Earth.
This was especially true since it had been observed that baby Golden Grim Reapers could spontaneously erge in mid-air, unable to control their bodies.
Places with large concentrations of Golden Grim Reapers, like the Sehee Research Institute or areas near windmills, had a higher likelihood of this happening.
There were even probability maps of Golden Grim Reaper occurrences!
In areas with a high occurrence rate, the property values tended to rise significantly, making it one of the key factors considered when looking for housing.
The Helt Researcher picked up the semi-conscious baby Golden Grim Reaper and placed it in his pocket, then put the affectionate Golden Grim Reaper on his shoulder before leaving the house.
Once outside, more baby Golden Grim Reapers could be seen. So were rolling around on the walls, while others were peeking out between stones and waving their hands.
"There's a huge increase. Is sothing going on?"
"?"
The Helt Researcher asked, but the Golden Grim Reaper on his shoulder rely shook its head, seemingly uninterested.
As they got closer to the research institute, the number of Golden Grim Reapers increased even more.
"So, this is why property prices around the Sehee Research Institute are rising?"
Most research institutes were considered undesirable due to dangerous objects, but Sehee Research Institute was different.
In fact, if it were announced that the research institute was moving, the locals would protest.
Lost in these idle thoughts, the Helt Researcher had already arrived at Sehee Research Institute.
As he was unpacking his things in the office, Senior Yeorin suddenly appeared and caused a ruckus.
"Alright, now go play!"
Senior Yeorin added, "Golden Grim Reaper Festival!" as she opened a huge bag.
It was so large it could have been used for cargo transport, and from inside, countless baby Golden Grim Reapers poured out.
In an instant, the office was filled with baby Golden Grim Reapers.
"Senior Yeorin!"
The Helt Researcher exclaid in a panic.
Then, Senior Researcher Kim Joong-roe hurried over, trying to stop Yeorin, but the office was already in a state of paralysis.
'...'
The Helt Researcher sighed and sat down.
The keyboard was covered in Golden Grim Reapers, all gazing up at him, while even the edges of the monitor were lined with them.
Their expressions seed to say, "Let's play!"
The Helt Researcher tried to ignore them and carefully cleared the keyboard, mouse, and the Golden Grim Reapers from the monitor.
The baby Golden Grim Reapers, looking disappointed, watched from behind the monitor, but the environnt was finally set up to begin working.
Fortunately, the affectionate Golden Grim Reaper understood the situation and took action.
It led the disruptive baby Golden Grim Reapers to the break room.
The affectionate Golden Grim Reaper led the way, followed by the baby Golden Grim Reapers.
Phew.
The Helt Researcher let out a sigh of relief as he watched the cute parade of Golden Grim Reapers.
Even the Helt Researcher found it hard to work while looking at the sad expressions of the Golden Grim Reapers.
After starting work, a few minutes passed, and a small vibration was felt.
When he turned his gaze, one of the baby Golden Grim Reapers had stayed behind and was lying on top of his phone.
It looked like a Golden Grim Reaper who was sad because it hadn’t been played with.
The Helt Researcher finally gave in.
After answering a call, he took the baby Golden Grim Reaper and headed for the break room.
"Maybe it’s fine to take a break today..."
Thinking about the atmosphere in the research institute that made it impossible to focus on work, the Helt Researcher opened the break room door.
As soon as he did, the Golden Grim Reapers rushed in to greet him.
"Human!"
"The human is here!"
The Golden Grim Reapers, with happy expressions, greeted him.
The Helt Researcher couldn't help but smile at them, resigning himself to the situation.
After crossing the boundary of dinsions and returning to the Butterfly’s space, the Golden Grim Reapers could be seen rushing from all directions. Amid the crowd of Black Grim Reapers, the Golden Grim Reapers were running around joyfully, as if celebrating a festival.
"Little sibling!"
"A new sibling!"
"Black sibling!"
The joyful energy of the Golden Grim Reapers echoed loudly.
The Black Grim Reapers, upon seeing them, looked around with confused expressions as if they had just stumbled into a strange world.
However, when they noticed , they all turned towards and began pouring out their willpower.
"Mom!"
"What should we do now?"
"Should we build a temple?"
"Should we fight humanity’s enemies?"
"Who are we fighting?"
Like lifelong slaves, the Black Grim Reapers were desperate for their next task.
"Do you need humans?"
"Should we gather humans?"
"If there are no humans, will Mom be in pain?"
Oddly enough, many of the little Grim Reapers were eager to kidnap humans.
Though humans were needed, the energy from having humans alive was already more than enough.
Could it be that the Black Grim Reapers collapsed due to a shortage of firewood?
Well, it didn’t matter either way.
I sent my will toward the Black Grim Reapers.
"There’s no need to do anything. Just play freely!"
This left the Black Grim Reapers looking puzzled.
"?"
But before long, they were each grabbed by the Golden Grim Reapers and started a tour of the Mini Grim Reaper Garden.
"This place is nice because the ground is warm."
I could see the Golden Grim Reapers, skipping through the Marshmallow Plains, showing off the hidden spots of the plain to the others.
Kyu-hing-hing.
And there were others sharing snacks from the garden, introducing delicious treats to the little Grim Reapers.
"Mom, do we really not need humans?"
Even the Black Grim Reaper, who had asked the most serious question, was now being dragged along by the Golden Grim Reapers. This ti, they grabbed my ankles and tugged.
"Mom!"
"Mom! We found a new place!"
The Golden Grim Reapers excitedly called out, urging to join them.
Led by the lively Golden Grim Reapers, I trudged through the Jelly Swamp.
"Wow."
Before us, a vast caral-colored canyon appeared.
It was a breathtaking sight, a new land made of caral that looked like sothing out of a natural environnt.
In the sky, transparent butterflies resembling object-like beings flitted about.
"Mom!"
"Co with us!"
At the boundary between the canyon and the Jelly Swamp, a crowd of Golden Grim Reapers had gathered, all saying they wanted to go together.
"Alright, let’s go."
I hopped forward with the Golden Grim Reapers, stepping onto the caral terrain.
The Golden Grim Reapers, stepping onto the caral, smiled with joyful expressions.
But I, not quite able to land properly on the soft ground, fell right over.
"Ugh, it’s a swamp."
As I struggled, being sucked deeper into the muck, the surrounding Golden Grim Reapers laughed in amusent.
"Hee-hee."
"Mom’s stuck."
"Mom’s stuck for sure."
I grabbed onto the space around , struggling to get out of the swamp, before pushing them all into the caral.
"Don’t want!"
"Don’t want!!"
I buried them carefully, leaving only their swollen bellies above the surface of the caral.
Beneath them, I placed ssage orbs.
Hee-hee.
On the outskirts of Songpa District, at the top floor of Jas Tower, the office of Jas was situated, with a massive glass window offering a panoramic view of Seoul.
Late at night, as the city’s lights flickered, Jas was deep in thought.
On his desk lay a thick report titled Ti Butterfly Ergence Trends Report.
Jas slowly flipped through the pages, examining the contents.
It was about the sudden disappearance of the Ti Butterflies that had been appearing worldwide.
"Hmm."
Jas murmured while rubbing his chin.
The appearance of the Ti Butterflies had not caused major issues due to the efforts of the Golden Grim Reapers.
However, their increasing frequency had beco a significant problem, and the Jas Institute had put all its resources into finding the cause.
Jas took a sip of hot chocolate and let out a deep sigh.
"Good thing."
But his voice sounded more concerned than relieved.
His gaze shifted to other docunts on his desk.
One of them was a report about a recent incident at Sehee Research Institute.
It described the appearance of a massive object in the form of a giant goat.
"The frequency of high-class, large objects is increasing..."
Jas muttered to himself.
At that mont, his eyes caught a newspaper placed on the desk.
The headline read Anti-Golden Grim Reaper Coalition in bold letters, a statent from a group opposed to the Golden Grim Reapers.
Jas chuckled lightly and picked up the newspaper.
He scanned through it quickly before setting it back down on the desk.
The anti-Golden Grim Reaper group claid that the increase in high-class objects was related to the rise of the Golden Grim Reapers.
"Foolish idiots..."
Jas knew that their claims had no real basis.
The increase in Golden Grim Reapers had been steady, and similarly, the rise in high-class objects was also consistent, with no clear correlation.
In fact, there was sothing else related to the increase in these objects.
Jas stood up from his desk with a serious expression, gazing upward.
The translucent black planet was steadily approaching.
The black planet, which already occupied a significant portion of the sky, was now covering more than half of it.
The Black Planet.
To Jas, this approaching planet looked like the herald of the apocalypse.
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