Unlike the snowy field where the purple moon hung, the Sehee Research Institute’s courtyard was bathed in warm sunlight.
I lay on a fluffy marshmallow under the sun.
Above me, countless Golden Reapers clung, rolling around with joyful expressions.
I was quite shocked when I woke up from the dream and encountered the Golden Reapers.
Golden Reapers don’t roam where humans aren’t, so I thought I wouldn’t be caught!
I wondered if the Sprout Reapers, sensing the dream, had snitched, but they shook their heads, denying it.
I had something to take care on my mind after that dream.
So, I was quietly arrested in the snowman and escorted to the Sehee Research Institute.
The Golden Reapers, thinking I might run away, watched me with curious eyes as I followed obediently.
Their demand was slightly different from what I expected.
Lying in the courtyard with the Golden Reapers, rolling around, and eating snacks!
I remembered the Golden Reapers liked clinging to my body.
Did they wish this because I’d been throwing them off, annoyed by their clinging?
I thought angry Golden Reapers would punish me with ‘Drink 1 liter of evolution fluid’, but they were lenient.
I’d secretly hidden evolution fluid in Gwanak-gu’s underground, to feed to misbehaving Golden Reapers.
The Golden Reaper crunched on a uniquely textured long snack, then held it out to me, finding it tasty.
As I bit into the snack and munched, the Golden Reaper giggled with delight.
Other clinging Golden Reapers started shoving their favorite snacks into my mouth.
A torture scene that would have burst a human’s stomach.
In the Sehee Research Institute’s courtyard, where this cruel torture unfolded, others suffered.
Four Orange Reapers, buried in the flowerbed like Sprout Reapers.
What did they do to deserve being buried like that?
Orange Reapers especially hate getting sand or mud on them…
Their usually calm faces were crumpled.
A Red Reaper played in the dirt beside them.
It piled mud on the Orange Reapers’ fur with both hands, building a sandcastle.
Next to them, a White Ghoul, bound and with a candlewick in its abdomen, cried, turned into a candle.
Bound with the Orange Reapers, did the White Ghoul and Orange Reapers team up for a rebellion?
Looking at the strangely eventful courtyard, as lunchtime approached, I saw Yerin waving and approaching.
Yerin, seen after a long time, greeted me with a smile, as always.
And I started staring intently at Yerin’s neck.
There was one reason I was quietly arrested.
I had to check on Yerin, so I had to return to the Sehee Research Institute anyway.
At first, I thought it was just a dream, but something bothered me.
The timing and number of ‘Purple Reapers’ appearing.
The Purple Reapers appeared right after enduring an hour and defeating ‘Nameless’.
And not just one, but several.
So, it was strange to think they appeared because I destroyed the purple moon.
It was more natural to say they appeared after defeating several hermit crabs disguised as humans.
If that were true, the hermit crabs destroyed in the dream became real.
Then, could it be, the isekai mini-Yerin too?
I reached this thought.
A purple line perfectly encircling Yerin’s neck, like a circle.
It was a wound from an Object, so neat it looked like a pen drawing, not a scar.
But a scar was clearly there.
My heart ached, thinking it was my fault she got hurt.
Since coming to work at the Sehee Research Institute, Yerin felt strange.
The Reapers are acting strange.
It started at the Sehee Research Institute’s entrance.
The Golden Reaper guard post, built small like a woodpecker’s house at the main gate.
A Golden Reaper popped out, patting Yerin’s neck with a worried expression.
After that, every Mini Reaper she met looked at her neck, startled and worried.
Yerin, having had the scar since childhood, didn’t care much, never remembering it.
The Mini Reapers never cared much, so this sudden change felt strange.
Even the usually indifferent Gray Reaper was shocked, making Yerin feel uneasy, checking her old scar in the mirror.
But nothing was strange.
Under the endlessly pouring evolution fluid waterfall, a blue girl and her mentor sat.
They had guided survivors to a nearby city and returned, looking around the sinkhole’s surroundings.
“It’s too large to prepare for.”
The mentor looked up at the evolution fluid waterfall, flustered.
“If we don’t solve this, in about 30 years, all humans will have to live on mountains.”
The blue girl added, “It’s a big problem,” closing her equation-filled notebook.
“But by then, I, the infinitely growing Magic Book and alchemist, will have reached the level to solve this, right?”
At the blue girl’s playful words, the mentor smiled slightly.
“Yes, I believe. ‘The Last Alchemist’.”
The mentor’s face hardened again.
“I’m going to the kingdom’s capital to report the evolution fluid problem. You do what you must.”
The blue girl said seriously.
This situation had many stories.
The loss of the moon that protected humanity and the city’s collapse.
The Magic Book that didn’t die, contaminated with evolution fluid.
And is evolution fluid really beneficial to humans?
But the blue girl thought the mentor’s words would likely be ignored.
The alchemy guild had already become ‘that man’s’ property.
The blue girl walked endlessly in the snow, parting with her mentor.
Endless white with nothing around.
And there, the blue girl found a lone hermit crab.
Even if the purple moon turned out like that, the underlings remain.
With a faint premonition that this hermit crab would do something important in the future, she embraced it and set off with the larger White Ghoul.
The Sehee Research Institute’s courtyard, under beautiful starlight.
I was still lying in the courtyard.
The Golden Reapers didn’t seem to want to return me to bed.
Lying in the courtyard for three days straight, clinging, was too much.
Next to me, a White Ghoul with a candlewick in its abdomen cried.
The candle-turned White Ghoul lit the Sehee Research Institute’s courtyard day and night for three days.
Their wish was just ‘Let’s lie down and play together’, and they were smiling, so I thought they weren’t angry…
Were they actually very angry?
From the atmosphere, the Golden Reapers seemed ready to rest here for over a week.
I couldn’t just abandon the comfortable containment room and keep lying here.
Then, I had a great idea to cheer up the Golden Reapers.
A method full of dreams and adventure, better than just lying here.
A low ceiling a Mini Reaper could reach by jumping.
A narrow passage where you can’t fully spread your arms.
A Golden Reaper advanced cautiously through the maze-like passage, tense.
It held a large shield and a short sword.
Behind it, a Red Reaper carried a long flame spear.
At the rear, a Blue Reaper followed carefully, holding a staff.
A perfect party of a swordsman, spearman, and mage.
As they advanced cautiously, a shadow monster appeared.
The Golden Reaper raised its one-handed sword, exuding will.
It pushed the monster with its large shield, and the Red Reaper thrust its long spear from behind.
The shadow monster burned in flames, screaming painfully, then disappeared.
Three large star candies appeared where the monster was.
The Mini Reapers ate a candy each, happily continuing through the passage.
How long had they wandered this labyrinth?
After a long time, the Golden Reaper found an unusual place.
The Red Reaper with the long flame spear and the Blue Reaper with the staff stopped.
In front of the Golden Reaper was a large, ornately decorated door.
The door was tinged with shadow, emitting an ominous light.
The Golden Reaper, Red Reaper, and Blue Reaper, slightly flushed, opened the door to the dungeon boss’s innermost chamber.
In a room filled with endless darkness, as the Golden Reaper took a step, torches on all sides lit up, illuminating the boss room.
As darkness receded and the large room’s form was revealed, a low will was heard.
Finally, you’ve come. Challenger.
On a large platform, standing in a cool pose, the final boss appeared.
A Purple Reaper with snail shells on either side of its head, covered in shadow, like devil’s horns.