A building with a giant statue inside.
The Pink Girl read some kind of meaningful inscription carved beneath the statue and then fiddled with it, her expression turning serious.
“Hmm… this doesn’t look like it was carved long ago, does it?”
Saying this, the Pink Girl turned to look toward the Blue Reaper.
She began rubbing her fingertips together.
“The edges are sharp, and there’s still quite a bit of stone dust remaining.”
The Blue Reaper stared silently at the Attached Human who seemed somewhat excited while babbling on.
“It looks like people were here until recently. They probably headed upward to the higher levels too.”
The Pink Girl said this, then muttered quietly to herself with a slightly confused look.
“What should we do?”
“What should we do if we meet people?”
“I’ve never met anyone besides Grandfather, so I’m not really sure…”
The Blue Reaper gave a small smile toward the Attached Human who seemed both excited and anxious.
<Don't worry!>
Then, mimicking what the Golden Reaper used to do, it clenched both fists tightly and sent out a string.
Though it looked a little awkward, the Pink Girl giggled softly.
The Pink Girl placed the Blue Reaper on her shoulder and started walking down the large corridor.
Continuing toward the tower connecting the layers.
Thud. Thud.
In the empty white corridor, the sound of the Pink Girl’s footsteps echoed.
It was like a park on Earth, built to accommodate many people, but now the vast corridor felt lonely as the two walked through it.
While looking around in all directions, something caught the Blue Reaper’s eye moving faintly.
Swish.
One of the statues decorating the corridor had silently turned its eyes to stare blankly.
Startled, the Blue Reaper frantically patted the Pink Girl’s cheek and pointed with its finger.
When the Pink Girl turned her head in response to the Blue Reaper’s call, the statue rotated its eyes dramatically and stared at her.
“!!!”
Shocked, the Pink Girl hugged the Blue Reaper tightly and started running away down the corridor.
Passing through endless white walls and black statues along stairs and corridors, they finally reached the rooftop of the large building.
By now, the sky had grown dark, and beyond the rooftop, the view of the water-filled layer stretched below.
The Pink Girl sat down on the rooftop, catching her breath.
“I wonder what that was? Since it didn’t chase us, it probably wasn’t dangerous.”
Breathing heavily, she chuckled softly.
Then, she turned her gaze and began admiring the scenery visible from the rooftop.
The night sky filled with stars peeking through the sky barrier.
Buildings completely shrouded in darkness without a single light.
And between those buildings, clear water creating a tranquil surface.
“The sky looks like two.”
The starlight reflecting perfectly on the water made it feel like sitting between two skies.
Plop.
At that moment, something fell onto the water.
The object that landed on the water looked familiar to the Blue Reaper.
Golden luster.
Sharp teeth.
Huge jaw.
It appeared to be the head of the Golden-Mecha-Tyrannosaurus that Mom loved so much.
<Look at that!>
Pointing where the Blue Reaper indicated, black statues were swarming and devouring the dinosaur head.
“So those statues really were moving… I thought I might have been imagining it…”
As soon as the statues started moving, the sturdy metal dinosaur head disappeared in an instant.
“Oh, that’s why there was no trash.”
The Pink Girl wore an expression of relief for some reason.
On the other hand, the Blue Reaper looked extremely worried.
<Mom is going to get so mad...>
Considering how precious the Tyrannosaurus toy was compared to even Mini Reapers, it felt like the tower would collapse any second.
‘I hope Mom comes as late as possible!’
‘Just a little longer for this trip with the Attached Human!’
The Blue Reaper earnestly wished.
Late night, right in the middle of Seoul Forest.
I saw a planet somewhere that looked familiar.
‘Saw it somewhere before…’
‘I forget everything important after three months if I don’t think about it… It’s hard to recall.’
‘It was definitely a planet I’ve seen before. Where was it?’
‘TV documentary?’
‘No way.’
Since I couldn’t remember, I grabbed a nearby Golden Reaper and started thinking while playing with it like a doll.
“Ahhh, Mom’s bothering me!”
After making one Golden Reaper punch another with its fist, a very old memory surfaced.
‘Ah! I saw it when Yerin and I went to America.’
The black planet floating in the sky was the same one I’d seen when I first experienced the omnipotent senses through a Black Corpse.
Letting go of the Golden Reaper, I extended my hand toward the sky.
The Blue Reaper must be on that planet.
For some reason, I had that feeling.
If I can’t reach them with my senses, I’ll just extend them anyway since I know where that place is and a Mini Reaper is there.
Extending my senses endlessly, I began to faintly sense the Blue Reaper.
‘Found you!’
Though the connection was extremely weak, it was still a connection.
The Blue Reaper’s firewood was burning healthily, and it didn’t seem anxious.
‘That’s good.’
At that moment, a desperate wish came through from the Blue Reaper.
[Please let Mom come as late as possible!]
[I want this trip with the Attached Human to last a little longer!]
‘…’
While the Golden Reapers were panicking, the missing Blue Reaper seemed happy…
Well, happiness is good, right?
I gathered the Mini Reapers and began broadcasting my will.
‘Found the Blue Reaper. Looks fine.’
At that moment, the Golden Reapers started jumping around happily.
‘Hooray!’
‘That’s a relief!’
Meanwhile, some Golden Reapers stood dumbfounded, gazing at the sky, spreading this news through the Mini Reaper Network.
Now that I’ve found the runaway Blue Reaper, I need to decide what to do next, when suddenly evolution liquid poured down from the sky.
Flowing along my connection, forming pillars of light.
I gasped at the stench of the evolution liquid and emitted my will.
‘Yikes. What’s this all of a sudden?’
The Mini Reapers had already detected the suspicious smell and moved far away.
‘Ahh!’
‘Mom smells bad!’
The moment I heard that, I scattered the evolution liquid everywhere.
‘Aaaah!’
‘Mom has gone crazy!’
Drenched in evolution liquid, I chased after the Mini Reapers, and they all fled immediately.
Thus began the game of deadly tag.
End world, upper floors of the Tower.
As the Blue Reaper and Pink Girl ascended past the pretty layers like a vacation spot, they arrived at a floor with a strange atmosphere.
Metal houses.
Roads with exposed pipes.
This area had a completely different vibe from the previous layers they had visited.
“The shape of the houses is weird.”
The buildings made of interconnected pipes looked somehow broken.
Either:
– No entrances,
– Ceilings too low,
– Walls crumpled,
– Or no internal space at all.
Moreover, there were no usable facilities in sight.
The girl, who had been eagerly expecting to find humans, looked a little disappointed.
<The next floor will be better!>
However, contrary to the Blue Reaper’s encouragement, the next floor and the one after that were also completely wrecked.
Even worse, the following floor had no trace of buildings or roads—just a wide circular platform.
“…”
Thus, the Pink Girl and the Blue Reaper passed through the empty floors and headed toward new staircases.
“Haa.”
Inside the tiered tower.
Despite the chilly temperature, the Pink Girl blew warm breath.
<Please keep everyone warm!>
Seeing this, the Blue Reaper wrote a message, and a gentle warmth settled around the Pink Girl.
“Thank you.”
Expressing her gratitude, the Pink Girl moved toward the tower exit.
Though she secretly expected another empty scene, the bright light revealed a sight slightly different from her expectations.
Strangely, the height of the circular platform at the entrance of the tower was significantly lower.
Below it lay a massive city filled with traces of human presence.
All made of pipes and metal, yet clearly shaped into proper buildings.
“Woah.”
The Pink Girl opened her mouth wide at the grand view of the city seen from the tower.
Crooked pipes resembling streetlights.
Neat central avenues made of pipes.
Horses and carriages crafted by hammering pipes.
It was truly a colossal city made entirely of pipes.
And within that city, pipe-shaped statues of pedestrians filled the streets.
Pedestrian-like pipes walking on the streets.
Female-shaped pipes wearing umbrellas and fancy dresses.
Child-like pipes running around on the streets.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Descending the grand staircase connected to the tower, they walked down the large avenue.
“It feels like they’re alive.”
The Pink Girl murmured as she stroked the neck of a horse made by hammering pipes.
The buildings lining the pipe avenues were intricately detailed inside as well.
Though all the materials were pipes.
“I’ve never seen so many people.”
The Pink Girl said, looking at the people who seemed frozen in place like living statues.
“There are this many people…”
Continuing onward, they eventually arrived at a massive gate connected to the avenue.
<Royal Alchemist Academy.>
The Pink Girl tilted her head as she looked up at the words written on the gate.
“Alchemist Academy? What’s that?”
<...>
For some reason, the Blue Reaper felt as if the writing carried deep sorrow.
*
The layer with the clear water and black statues.
Strange phenomena were occurring in the place where the Pink Girl and the Blue Reaper had left.
All the black statues began stretching their necks and gazing upward at the sky.
Their posture resembled trying to see something invisible.
With pale, faint lights streaming from their eyes, they gazed upward.
In the statues’ eyes, it seemed as though the shadow of a great blue star was reflected.
