Under the bright moonlight, I looked down at the people who had fallen asleep sitting on the railing of the deck.
What should I do about the sleeping people from Sehee Research Institute?
It doesn’t look like they’ll wake up if left alone since it seems to be due to the Object’s doing.
Should I just move everyone to the Golden Reaper Garden?
Or should I leave them with the Golden Reapers and set off to find the Blue Witch?
But no matter which choice I make, it means canceling Sehee’s fun travel plans, which is a bit disappointing.
While pondering this impossible either-or decision, I suddenly remembered the Blue Reaper I summoned today.
They were using some magic-like mysterious power earlier—maybe they can wake up the employees put to sleep by the old woman?
Summoning the Blue Reaper onto my palm, they jumped in surprise, pulled their hat low over their face, and began weaving strings into the air.
<Can't see me. Turning invisible.>
And just like that, the Blue Reaper started fading until they became completely transparent.
Of course, since I know the location of all my mini versions, this was pretty useless.
Still, looking more at ease now being invisible, they adjusted their hat properly and stood up on my palm.
Hmm, this little one is wearing clothes all by themselves.
Tiny shoes, a dress, and an enormous hat—it looks incredibly uncomfortable. I’ll have to advise them later to dress like me.
Anyway, let’s deal with the sleeping people first.
I transmitted my will to the Blue Reaper resting on my palm.
‘Wake up all the people aboard this ship who are unnaturally asleep.’
The Blue Reaper glanced around the deck after hearing my thoughts, then nodded in understanding.
Leaping off my palm, they conjured a broom made of water and began flying around the cruise ship.
<Wake up from your slumber. Break free from the curse.>
Strings of water exploded into a gentle mist that rained down upon the sleeping people.
The Golden Reapers watched the sparkling mist curiously, hopping around happily.
…
But nobody woke up.
Looks like the situation isn’t as easily resolved as I hoped. Maybe replicas can’t undo the original curse?
The Blue Reaper stood on my palm again, looking around before sending me a message through their mind.
‘Sorry, I couldn’t wake them.’
They seemed quite disheartened, so I tapped their hat lightly to comfort them.
The Golden Reapers climbed onto my palm too, hugging them tightly and reassuring them everything was okay.
Seeming overwhelmed by all the attention, the Blue Reaper fled back to the Golden Reaper Garden.
Sadly, Sehee’s joyful party has come to an end today.
Considering the giant skeleton that appeared in the Red Desert, the Lake under the Blue Moon must be dangerous.
I’ll evacuate the Sehee Research Institute personnel to the Golden Reaper Garden.
I transported the entire cruise ship into the Golden Reaper Garden.
Behold—the birth of a massive passenger ship floating leisurely atop the Sea of Hot Chocolate!
After moving the sleeping people onto the surface of the Sea of Hot Chocolate, I returned to the lake.
Alright, time to quickly find the ‘Mirror of the Blue Witch.’
The once bustling Sehee Research Institute now lies desolate, with only the unfortunate security room staff remaining to manage the Objects.
Normally, this would be the time when the staff would kill time watching movies or dramas on their phones, but today they sat glumly without distractions, looking extremely depressed.
A staff member staring blankly at the CCTV suddenly spoke out.
“Ah, the lake. It’s such a shame we couldn’t go.”
“I wanted to go too. Should I just quit and visit the lake?”
Stretching while replying, the senior staff member looked almost zombie-like.
“Withdrawing from the night shift might’ve helped avoid this exhaustion. Lately, I’ve felt tired and lacking motivation. Movies aren’t even interesting anymore.”
“Yeah, same here. I feel like I’ll stay like this until I see the open lake.”
The responding staff member looked even more dejected as they gazed at the empty pudding bowls.
“Actually, if it weren’t for the night shifts, I wouldn’t feel this drained. Right now, I wish the Golden Reapers would feed me pudding—it’d make me so happy… Why do Golden Reapers sleep at night anyway?”
“Hmm, sometimes they’re out and about even at night, but I’m not sure why. Maybe the researchers know?”
Thus passed another uneventful day in Sehee’s Security Room.
By 6 AM, the sky began to softly turn blue as the shift change arrived.
After a brief handover, the staff returned home, greeted by a messy room.
Piles of trash everywhere.
Dishes stacked in the sink.
Clothes scattered across the floor.
Though aware these needed tidying eventually, there was no motivation.
Cleaning? What cleaning?
I’ll just grab a convenience store bento and collapse into bed.
Thinking this, I tossed my clothes onto the floor and entered the bathroom for a shower.
“Huh? What’s this?”
After finishing my shower and stepping out, I found an unusual sight awaiting me.
The piles of trash were gone.
The dishes in the sink had been cleaned and neatly arranged.
The clothes scattered on the floor were folded and organized on the desk.
Though normally startling, the employee’s heart felt strangely calm under the influence of the Blue Moon.
What is this?
Did an uwang (korean mythical house cleaner) visit?
With the room clean, the air felt unusually moist and refreshing.
The deep night lit by the full moon had passed, and morning approached as the sun cast golden beams across the tranquil lake, painting the sky in brilliant hues.
The rippling lake water distorted the light, creating a unique atmosphere reminiscent of aimlessly wandering through a red desert.
Perhaps it’s because the dunes resemble waves, just with water instead of sand.
Thud-thud.
Walking ghostlike across the lake surface, I wandered aimlessly without direction, focusing on areas where humans might be found, given the Object known as the ‘Blue Witch’ targets humans.
But the results were disheartening.
Though many boats floated on the lake, none had owners—they were abandoned.
Too extreme!
Who turned this place into a tourist spot?
The search operation commenced in the morning and continued well into the night under the full moon.
Neither the Blue Witch nor any living humans were found.
Blue Witch…
Where could you possibly be?
Just then, an overwhelming stench rose from the lake’s surface.
Ah!
Halting my random wandering, I headed in a straight line toward the source of the smell.
My target was the direction where the stench grew stronger.
Though unclear, recently places emitting foul odors often turned out to be sources of trouble.
Fortunately, it seemed my guess was correct again.
As I approached the stench, the fog thickened.
As I neared, chaotic noises grew louder.
[You will all burn into ashes, every last shred of flesh!]
Curses used by the old women flowed out.
Arriving at the lakeside through the fog, grotesque creatures gnawed at each other, entangled in curses and violence.
Old women treating humans as toys, killing them for amusement.
Monstrosities created by mocking humanity from the desert.
Two types of monsters harmful to humans fought each other to the death.
Thud-thud.
I slowly stepped between the two warring groups.
As I approached, noticeable changes occurred among the battling factions.
“Gray Reaper?”
“Why is the Gray Reaper here?”
Their eyes filled with confusion and unease.
Using my ‘eyes’ to check the destruction conditions of the monsters accelerated the phenomenon.
The monsters caught within my ‘eyes’ gaze startled and stared at me.
The chaotic lakeside gradually quieted.
Both the cursing old women and the black-oozing monsters ceased their actions, focusing on me.
Their destruction conditions were all rather mundane and weak.
Destroying hearts, exhausting regeneration abilities, destroying brains, etc.
On the contrary, the old women required burying in the ground, making them slightly more troublesome.
There’s no high-tier or special Object here.
Is the ‘Blue Witch’ not here?
Clack-clack.
The soft sound of small footsteps on pebbles echoed clearly in the silence.
The once tumultuous lakeside fell silent, leaving only the sound of my steps.
*
Late evening, the night-shift security staff entered the security room.
The usually weary expressions of the night staff showed signs of improvement.
Having previously been consumed by thoughts of “I should’ve gone to Yangcheon-gu Lake,” preventing proper sleep, today they rested deeply thanks to it.
“Yo, it seems we’ve got a housecleaning spirit. After showering, I found my house tidied up.”
“Really? Same here!”
“The cleanliness made it easier to fall asleep. It’s been a long time since I slept so soundly.”
Feeling refreshed, the senior staff noticed a subordinate intently staring at something.
A camera revealing a messily overturned one-room apartment.
Is that a pet cam? Why are they so focused on it?
“What exactly are you looking at?”
“I’m trying to uncover the identity of our housecleaning spirit. So, I intentionally left my room in shambles.”
“Will it really show up just because of that?”
However, as a small blue something appeared on the pet cam, both senior and junior staff members fixated intently on the screen.
Every time the blue color flashed, the messy room reverted to its original state.
“Can’t see clearly because of the poor resolution.”
“Yeah, this thing is much smaller than I expected.”
The tiny blue object tidying the room stood in front of the pet cam, proudly surveying the space.
“Is that a Reaper? Is there a blue version too?”
“Nope, first time seeing it. Maybe a subspecies of the Gold ones?”
Upon noticing the pet cam, the Blue Reaper tilted their head inquisitively, examining the lens closely before shaking their head in confusion, dispersing into mist and vanishing.
“Huh, who knew the housecleaning spirit was a Blue Reaper.”
“Wow, all Reapers are cute!”
While the senior and junior staff exchanged stories about Reapers, the Blue Reaper entered the security room and was startled to see humans watching them on the monitor.
Humans were watching me!
Pulling their hat low, the Blue Reaper fled to the Golden Reaper Garden.
