When the Reaper spun their foot around three times with a “kon kon kon,” flames erupted from the grooves of the nearby drainage沟 in the open lot.
Was it because the gasoline leaking from the wrecked sports car had flowed into the drainage沟?
The way the gasoline was so evenly spread out must have been due to the Reaper’s ability, huh?
Suddenly, a wave of intense heat could be felt.
The open lot where the Hungry Ghost subspecies and the Reaper were fighting had transformed into an arena surrounded by flames.
Kwa-rung.
And then the ground began to shake violently.
“Are the internal tunnels collapsing? There’s no way they should collapse from this level of impact…”
James wore an expression of witnessing something that defied logic.
“The Reaper can do anything! They might even be able to break the Earth if they wanted to!”
Smiling broadly, the speaker boasted about the impressive qualities of the Reaper.
Bang!
With a sudden explosion, the ground beneath the Hungry Ghost sank unnaturally.
Back when it happened in Songpa District, there was an enormous sinkhole.
This time, however, it was a small, cute sinkhole tailored for the Hungry Ghost.
It seemed like a scaled-down version of what happened in Songpa District.
Once the flying dust settled, the Hungry Ghost had already been sucked into the hole.
But unlike what happened in Songpa District, the conclusion was different this time.
Kung. Kung.
A large sound echoed as a giant hand emerged over the edge of the sinkhole.
The sinkhole wasn’t enough to contain the Hungry Ghost subspecies.
Puh-ehk.
The sound of its body bursting could be heard.
The tightly clenched hand disappeared along with the sound.
And then came the rumbling sound of a massive landing.
The Hungry Ghost subspecies had been slammed back onto the bottom of the sinkhole.
Suddenly, the Golden Reaper appeared and jumped in, eliminating the Hungry Ghost’s hand.
Before long, the Gray Reaper was surrounded by countless Golden Reapers.
As the Gray Reaper extended their hand forward, the Golden Reapers rushed toward the sinkhole and one by one leaped inside.
Each time a Golden Reaper jumped in, the sound of part of the Hungry Ghost’s body being destroyed could be heard.
Puhng. Puhng. Puhng. Puhng.
As endless Golden Reapers fell into the sinkhole, the sounds resembled popcorn popping.
Kreeeerrrr!
The cries of agony from the Hungry Ghost reverberated through the sinkhole.
All traces of confidence were gone, replaced only by fear.
Kwaang!
With a loud noise, the Hungry Ghost subspecies leapt out of the sinkhole with great force.
In mid-air, its body was tattered all over.
Riddled with holes shaped like Golden Reapers, it looked like paper shredded by a document puncher.
However, something was off about the trajectory of the falling Hungry Ghost subspecies.
Isn’t its target the Gray Reaper?
The Hungry Ghost subspecies had jumped toward us who were watching at the edge of the open lot.
Though tattered, its massive body still had enough mass to turn a couple of people into pancakes.
Why suddenly?
“Hurry, get out of the way!”
At the sudden shout, I turned around to see James carrying an unconscious man on his back and hastily running away.
But…
It was already too late to evade.
Thinking back to the fight in Songpa District, I tried creating a sinkhole, but it proved useless once again.
Why hasn’t the Hungry Ghost escaped from the Songpa sinkhole yet?
Did someone spread honey down there or something?
Recreating the battle with the Hungry Ghost confirmed how much stronger things had become.
This level of combat and regeneration doesn’t put much strain on the firewood anymore.
Since the experiment is over, it’s time to fight seriously.
When I summoned the Golden Reaper, numerous ones poured out from the Golden Reaper Garden.
Already, some Golden Reapers had rushed toward the extremely harmful human Hungry Ghost subspecies and cut off its arm.
I extended my hand toward the sinkhole.
Command to the Golden Reapers.
Hey, there’s a harmful object over there! Destroy it!
Tubang tubang.
Pojjak pojjaek.
The Golden Reapers gathered at the sinkhole at their respective speeds.
Without hesitation, they jumped down below.
Puhng. Puhng puhng.
The irregular popping sounds sounded pleasant.
The mileage on the Golden Reaper side was definitely better.
Ever since the Golden Reaper Garden was created, almost no firewood is needed for resurrection.
I could feel the Hungry Ghost subspecies’ regeneration speed slowing down.
It seemed like everything was going smoothly, but the Hungry Ghost subspecies made one last desperate attempt.
For some reason, it launched an attack toward Yerin.
You don’t know, do you?
There’s no way I’d leave Yerin in danger.
Stretching both hands wide, I summoned the Golden Reaper Garden into reality.
When I fully unleashed the garden, the surrounding factory area instantly vanished.
What filled the surroundings instead was…
The land of beds, the sea of hot chocolate, and the heaven of snacks and pudding.
“Huh? Suddenly we’re at the Golden Reaper’s house?”
Yerin’s surprised voice.
Ku-ung.
The Hungry Ghost subspecies landed far away from where Yerin was.
Confused, it didn’t understand the sudden change in environment or why its jump had gone awry.
But the Hungry Ghost subspecies didn’t give up and started running toward Yerin again.
Pointless effort.
“Waah!”
When the Reaper spread their arms, the scenery around them completely transformed into the Golden Reaper’s home.
“Can objects do stuff like this? What should we call this? Spatial replacement? Spatial teleportation?”
James wore a somewhat worried expression.
Kurrrr.
Despite these bizarre phenomena, the Hungry Ghost subspecies persistently charged toward us without giving up.
Surprisingly tenacious, but something even more astonishing happened.
When the Reaper stomped their foot lightly, space itself folded, creating a wall-like barrier between the Hungry Ghost subspecies and us.
Then, as the Reaper stretched out their hand and brought both hands together in a circular motion, the space where the Hungry Ghost was began to curl inward.
Inside that curled-up space, the Hungry Ghost subspecies looked distorted as if trapped within a fish-eye lens.
And when the Reaper tightly clenched their hands with a “ddiip,” the spherical segment of space crumpled and disappeared without a trace.
The Reaper calmly turned to look at us.
“This… It’s like a god.”
James’s expression went beyond worry, now looking utterly dejected.
“Reaper, are you alright?”
The Reaper appeared calm and unbothered as usual.
Still, somehow the Reaper seemed tired, so I ran over and hugged them.
Since hugging usually makes the Reaper feel better, it’ll probably help this time too, right?
Fortunately, the Reaper’s expression improved when I looked up at them.
I’ll probably never forget today’s events.
We firmly believed that someday America, and perhaps humanity as a whole, would catch up and conquer these objects.
But today’s sight… I’m not sure about that anymore.
Could humanity ever replicate this phenomenon?
The good news is that even causing such phenomena seems difficult for the Gray Reaper.
The Gray Reaper’s expression was hard to read, but it clearly looked exhausted to the point where even I could tell.
The mysterious space that had engulfed reality had vanished as quickly as it had appeared, like soap bubbles.
“Well, now that the last obstacle in our path has disappeared, let’s go reclaim the factory.”
I forced a bright smile and said cheerfully.
Passing through the damaged door, we were reunited with the pudding production object that the Hungry Ghost had been guarding.
“It’ll be tough to resume production immediately.”
The pudding production object was in shambles.
Many facilities were destroyed.
Moreover, the crucial bunny dolls were either broken or had escaped.
Looks like it will take quite some time to normalize operations here.
In the deepest part of the factory guarded by the Hungry Ghost subspecies, there was an object that looked completely different from what we imagined.
“Is this the object that produces pudding? I thought it would be some kind of large-scale equipment since it’s called a pudding production factory…”
This looked more like a toy kitchen than a factory.
It was an adorable little kitchen equipped with rabbit-sized cooking utensils that attacked us.
Compared to the surrounding structures that were chewed up and destroyed, the condition of some mini kitchens seemed relatively good.
“If it’s in this state, shouldn’t production resumption be possible?”
“It’s tough; the most important bunny dolls are missing. Producing new ones will take some time, so normalization will take quite a while. Sorry we couldn’t secure pudding purchases.”
The Reaper silently listened to James’s conversation before walking “tubang tubang” to stand in front of the mini kitchen.
Do they really plan to handle it themselves?
Isn’t it too small for the Reaper to enter?
When the Reaper extended their hand, peculiar-looking Golden Reapers popped out of their palm with a “pueng pueng.”
They were cute Golden Reapers wearing chef hats with rabbit ears.
The Golden Reapers skillfully entered the mini kitchen and took their positions.
“Could they possibly replace the bunny dolls?”
James looked perplexed.
I was also slightly surprised.
The Reaper is just too versatile!
The Reaper stared at us with an expression that said “Of course I can do it.”
“Alright, let’s give it a try.”
When James placed his cherished book on a certain device, golden flames shot up from above the book, and fire began entering the mini kitchen.
An adorable cooking process commenced.
It was a division of labor, but strangely, the time inside the mini kitchen seemed to be moving 10 times faster.
The completed pudding was sent through the chimney attached to the mini kitchen, floating up surrounded by foam.
“Woah, the pudding is coming out incredibly fast.”
“Because the time inside the kitchen is accelerated. Once the factory is repaired and the other mini kitchens start operating, it will come out even faster.”
Turning to check on the Reaper who was enjoying the pudding, I noticed they looked somewhat dissatisfied.
Why are they sulking this time?
The Reaper walked “tubang tubang,” grabbed the book, and tossed it toward James.
Then, with a meaningful expression, the Reaper placed their hand on the device where the book had been.
Golden flames shot out from the Reaper’s body and began being sucked into the machine.
“Eh? Eeeh?”
Soon, the mini kitchen started accelerating.
10x, 100x, 1000x, 10000x.
Time was accelerating so much that the Golden Reapers moved at such high speed that their afterimages weren’t even visible.
“Stop!” James shouted, but it was already too late.
Foam-covered pudding began erupting from the chimney like cannon fire.
The torrent of pudding flooded the factory!!
Kwaang!
The pudding torrent shattered the factory ceiling and began dispersing freely across the sky in all directions.
Wow, the world is full of pudding.
What should we do? Unnie Seoah is going to be furious.
