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 me. The ceiling was all red flames too, kind of like someone 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 me, 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 time I’d been this drained was when I met 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 come back pretty quickly.
Just like that time during the Central Research Institute mess, all the fear and confusion from the people around me started to flow into my firewood reserves.
Something 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 some 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.
The Golden Reapers chirped, snuggling into my arms and rubbing their little faces against me like they hadn’t seen me in forever.
There, there. Mom’s here.
I said, hugging them tight.
But wow, I’d almost died. Almost died in some strange world with a strange body.
Just thinking about it made me 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 meh, who cares right now?
I got to my feet, and the Golden Reapers, still looking worried, stared up at me with wide eyes. Some of them clung to my head, holding on for dear life, like I might just keel over at any second.
It’s fine, don’t worry.
I reassured them with my thoughts, and started walking.
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 me—or the Golden Reapers.
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 me. It was kind of weird, because my hotel room was supposed to be quiet and peaceful! But nope, chaos had definitely come 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 mean, who needs that much fire?
Just in case, I yanked the curtain on the other side to check it out. The moment I did, this intense heat just smacked me right in the face. Ouch. And there it was—a gigantic wall of fire. Seriously, it was huge, like it could crash down on me 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 me, only one little guy was left.
And he was clinging to my face. I mean, 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 me out of the hotel. She was in such a rush, I barely had time to whine!
“Come on, let’s go!” she said, leading me straight to the parking lot.
Then, she shoved a motorcycle helmet into my hands and threw me 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 zoomed out of the hotel, this crazy loud sound came from the sky, like it was collapsing in on itself or something. The spirit barrier—the one that had been burning—started to give up, crumbling under its own weight.
And then, oh boy, giant pigs came crashing through the fire wall, shaking the whole ground like it was a piggy earthquake.
The secretary gunned it, speeding through the mess like she was in some 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. Some 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 me started on the Ghostly Objects haunting the place! Ugh, it was a total nightmare.
The secretary, though—she was like some kind of acrobat on that motorcycle, dodging the pigs and flames like it was nothing. It really felt like we were gonna make it out of there. I mean, it was so close!
But noooo, fate just had to mess with us.
Out of nowhere, BAM! We slammed into something invisible, and both of us went flying off the bike, hitting the ground hard.
I blacked out for, like, a second. But the Golden Reaper was tapping on my helmet, waking me 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 something broken.
The Golden Reaper looked up at me with those worried eyes again. Yep, I probably had some 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 me. 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 me that look—like, yep, you’re next.
Its heavy footsteps were getting closer, and I couldn’t even move! My ribs were a total mess, 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 flames 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 someone had ripped it up like paper.
All the fire and smoke scattered into the air, and this soft, yellow light shimmered from inside.
Beyond the pig torn in half, a small silhouette swayed.
Glowing eyes that pierced the darkness.
And—wait, is that a glowing heart?! So cool.
The Grey Reaper revealed itself, surrounded by numerous 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 me like a huge, warm wave. Finally, I was safe.
Yerin limped over to me, her face lighting up all happy-like as she wrapped her arms around me 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 me 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 me. 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 me heal.
Firewood was flowing into me, 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 me. 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 me.