In a place devoid of even a single speck of light.
The Pink-haired Girl was slowly making her way forward, relying solely on the Faint Light emanating from her fingertips.
All around, there were no landmarks to rely on in this Deep Place.
For the Girl, the only guide was the faintly glowing round pipe beneath her feet.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Since the pipe was made of metal, her footsteps echoed like drumbeats in the empty void.
“It’s dark. I’m hungry. My feet hurt.”
[It’s dark. I’m hungry. My feet hurt.]
“It’s dark. I’m hungry. My feet hurt.”
[It’s dark. I’m hungry. My feet hurt.]
A voice droned on, resonating through the dark space like an echo.
With sluggish steps, the Girl kept muttering complaints without pause.
Though the Pink Girl wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest, she wasn’t about to sleep on a pipe barely wider than her cheeks.
You couldn’t see the Floor, after all—falling off during sleep would be catastrophic.
‘Was it a mistake to enter this dark place just to avoid the starlight ants?’
‘Yeah, obviously a mistake.’
While pondering how she’d ended up here, the Girl trudged endlessly along the pipe.
Yaaawn.
The Pink Girl opened her mouth wide and let out a huge yawn.
‘Sleepy.’
Nothing but darkness stretched before her.
Just walking endlessly in a straight line on the pipe.
It had already been over a day since she started.
As walking the pipe became second nature, drowsiness began creeping over her.
Chomp chomp.
To stay awake, the Girl pulled out a white flower petal and nibbled on it.
Ugh!
Its bitter taste made the Pink Girl scrunch her face and stick out her tongue with a “Bleh!”
While picking through edible but unpleasant alchemical samples, she spotted a distant Faint Light.
Opening her mouth wide, the Girl exclaimed “Oh!” and began sprinting along the pipe like a tightrope acrobat.
“Light!”
Reaching the light in an instant, the Girl leaped toward it.
The moment she jumped into the light, she emerged from the vast dark building into a familiar night sky and unfamiliar scenery.
Instead of metallic pipes, there was now a solid stone Floor covered in soft white powder.
This white powder blanketed everything within sight, creating a landscape the Girl had never seen before.
Reflecting starlight from above, the powder shimmered faintly, with her footprints marking its surface.
Looking up, she saw an endless canopy covering the entire sky.
This was the sky veil that had existed long before her birth.
Torn and tattered in places, parts of the night sky beyond could be glimpsed through the veil.
Beyond the veil, the deep blackness was dotted with stars shining like scattered jewels.
“Now, the moon is no longer visible.”
“One by one, they’ve disappeared… even the Green Moon is gone.”
Looking up at the sky, the Girl muttered wistfully.
Never having seen the Sun, she had now lost the moons as well.
Then, out of nowhere, an unknown entity appeared before the Pink Girl.
A transparent blue hue, about palm-sized, wearing an oversized hat.
Deep within the Mini Reaper Garden.
I was lying down leisurely on the Marshmallow Plains.
Having given up on resolving the Steel Tower space chaos, I decided to just roll around instead.
No matter how much I used my “eyes” to scan Seoul Forest, no Object was visible—just the space going berserk.
It felt so natural it seemed almost like a “natural phenomenon.”
So I decided to leave it be.
Since it didn’t seem related to the Color Universe, it should be fine.
Even if there was some causative Object, it probably wouldn’t be stronger than a “moon.” If it does pop out, I’ll just smash it then.
“Tired…”
After only sleeping 8 hours due to worrying about the Steel Tower, I felt exhaustion clinging to my body.
The Golden Reapers had gathered nearby, sensing my intention to nap.
“Mmm…”
“Mom…”
The Golden Reapers quickly fell asleep, munching on my hair or clinging tightly while calling for their mom.
But frustratingly, I couldn’t fall asleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, the Ghost Reaper would pop into view at the edge of my vision.
The Ghost Reaper was lurking with a rubbery knife, waiting for the perfect moment to strike my forehead again.
And sure enough, it would sneak closer when my eyes were shut, then vanish instantly when I opened them.
Of course, the Ghost Reaper assumes I perceive things visually like other Mini Reapers.
So I started pretending to be asleep with my eyes firmly shut.
Sneak… Sneak…
At first moving slowly, the Ghost Reaper finally lunged at what it thought was my sleeping form.
“Ha-do!”
With great determination, the Ghost Reaper stabbed my forehead with the squishy knife.
“Pop!”
The moment it struck, a refreshing sensation spread through me, driving away all sleepiness.
Last time it felt unpleasant, but this time it oddly made me feel good.
Was it truly filial piety?
Surprised by the unexpected effect, I bolted upright and grabbed the Ghost Reaper.
“Eeek!”
The sudden movement caused the Golden Reapers sleeping on me to tumble off.
Confused from their unexpected fall, the Golden Reapers happily bounced around upon seeing the Ghost Reaper.
“Mom found a ghost!”
Ah, right. This Deviant Reaper was the ghost the Golden Reapers had been searching for.
The Golden Reapers joyfully climbed onto my arm and began clinging to the Ghost Reaper.
“Sibling!”
“New younger sibling!”
The Golden Reapers enthusiastically rubbed their soft cheeks against the Ghost Reaper.
“They seem to like this one more than usual?”
As more Golden Reapers clung to the Ghost Reaper, forming a giant ball, I gently placed the mass on the ground.
The Ghost Reaper had transformed into a giant golden ball resembling a moss ball.
Some Golden Reapers began investigating inside the Ghost Reaper.
“!”
Startled by what they found, those Golden Reapers quickly detached themselves from the moss ball.
“Similar?”
“Similar!”
The separated Golden Reapers huddled together, discussing something with puzzled expressions.
What could it be?
Their reaction seemed strange, so I broke open the moss ball and peeled back the Ghost Reaper’s spectral shell.
“Ahh!”
Inside was a Mini Reaper who looked eerily like me.
Small even for a Mini Reaper.
Yellow glowing eyes.
Gray skin.
A broken yellow halo.
Messy hair covering one eye.
And this revealed Mini Reaper shyly smiled while licking the knife.
Other Mini Reapers resembled me somewhat, but having the same skin tone was unsettling.
Though the Golden Reaper looks most like me, their expressions are too different to notice the resemblance usually.
“Mini Mom Sibling!”
“Sibling!”
Seeing this Mini Reaper, the Golden Reapers rushed over and began nibbling on its chubby cheeks and belly.
“Eeeek!”
As the Golden Reapers enthusiastically attacked, the Mini Reaper looked to me for help, but I just giggled and watched.
“Ang!”
The Mini Reaper was soon completely buried under the pile of Golden Reapers.
Ku-ong. Ku-ong. Ku-ong.
Footsteps of the golem appeared on the white snow.
“Yes, that’s the way.”
<Moving forward, Mom Golem!>
The Blue Reaper controlled the small Mom Golem they created alone, following the Pink Girl’s guidance while occasionally sneaking glances at the girl beside them and smiling slightly.
‘Attached Human!’
Unlike other Blue Reapers, this one rarely managed to create Attached Humans but encountered one here in this unfamiliar space.
Hehe.
That’s why the Blue Reaper couldn’t stop smiling happily.
They wanted to hide and observe the Attached Human immediately, but couldn’t.
The Pink Girl looked too lonely, and this place filled with Evolution Liquid smelled too dangerous.
<Climbing the stairs, Mom Golem!>
Strangely, in this completely different world, the Attached Human could understand the string language used by the Blue Reaper.
“Mom Golem!”
The Pink Girl poked the Blue Reaper’s cheeks while reading the strings or chatting nonstop.
“Hmm, I learned something when I was younger…”
“The relationship between Alchemists and Magical Books…?”
“Talking Magical Books are… Magical Books are… ‘cute’?”
After appearing to think deeply, the Pink Girl shouted “Ah, I don’t know!” and gave up.
‘Attached Human. Physical condition doesn’t look good.’
Though the Attached Human kept talking cheerfully, they were clearly very ill.
Probably malnourished.
A condition the Blue Reaper’s abilities couldn’t treat.
“What’s that?”
When the Blue Reaper worriedly observed the Pink Girl, the Attached Human’s curious voice sounded.
A wall made of transparent Glass.
A modern structure built with reinforced concrete.
And on the building’s sign, it said “24-hour convenience store.”
“Are these letters?”
Already having climbed down from the golem’s shoulders, the Attached Human was inspecting everything closely.
Aside from looking like it had been cut out and moved elsewhere, the building was very familiar to the Blue Reaper.
It was a convenience store near Seoul Forest.
