NOVEL NEXT Reaper (MC) POV:
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For some reason, I had a feeling that I could create a blue mini Reaper, so I tried it....
And a blue Reaper really appeared.
The Golden Reapers also seemed amazed, staring intently at my palm.
They had expressions like looking at a newborn younger sibling.
Its appearance was exactly the same as me and the Golden Reapers.
However, compared to the Golden Reapers, the blue Reaper lying on my palm as if asleep showed some distinct differences.
The most noticeable was that it wore a hat?
A large witch's hat made of water.
Except for its bluish hue, its body was much more transparent.
Like clear water.
Inside the transparent body, a faintly glowing flame pulsated like a heart.
The edges of the blue Reaper's hair were blurred like mist, giving off a dreamy vibe.
Blinking its eyes as if waking from sleep, the blue Reaper opened its eyes wide and looked around.
Around it were the Golden Reapers staring with interest.
Feeling their gazes, the blue Reaper pulled its hat down with both hands and sat hunched over.
Could it be feeling shy?
Then with one hand, it wrote something down in midair.
A string of incomprehensible characters.
But I could understand them automatically.
<Please sleep soundly>
The letters made of water appeared in the air, then turned into light and rushed towards me.
Some kind of Mage-like guy popped out.
The blue Reaper peeked at me by slightly lifting its hat.
Seeing that I wasn't asleep, it didn't know what to do and pulled its hat down again.
When I poked it with my finger, it turned into mist with a 'poof' and disappeared.
***
3rd Person POV:
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In the middle of Seoul Forest, an old brick house nestled among the ancient trees existed in a way that did not match the modern era at all.
The bricks covered in weathering and moss blended perfectly with the surrounding environment, as if they had grown from nature itself.
Inside this brick house with its peculiar charm was a slightly different scene.
It looked like stepping into a fantasy novel, with tools and furniture straight out of one.
A large fireplace radiated warmth, casting shadows on the walls.
The firelight danced across the room, illuminating shelves filled with leather-bound books embossed with strange symbols and odd objects. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
On a sturdy wooden table cluttered with scrolls and parchments sat an unidentified bottle.
A faintly glowing bottle containing an unidentifiable liquid.
An energy of some kind pulsated within the liquid, clearly an unusual item.
Exotic herbs found only in Seoul Forest hung from the ceiling, with a mortar stained by herb residue sitting below.
In this house that seemed cut out of a fantasy world, a girl rolling around spoke up.
"Sister, can't we go to Yangcheon District lake?"
"No."
The 'Yangcheon District lake' she had glimpsed in Seoul while getting supplies looked like a wonderful tourist spot that could make one's heart turn green just by looking at it.
"Why not? Everyone else seems to go there without any problems."
"Absolutely not. Let me briefly explain how dangerous that place is."
The tall woman naturally took out white grass from the pantry as she spoke.
"Grimoires, or rather Objects, are fundamentally incomprehensible to humans but share some common traits."
Lighting the white grass, a milky flame rose up.
The white grass burning on the wooden table quickly turned to ash.
Brushing the ash off with her palm left no trace on the table.
"Like this white grass, Objects tend to minimize their impact on their surroundings. Yangcheon District lake takes that to the extreme."
Numerous examples poured from her mouth.
A fire-type Object that burns only people while leaving the surroundings untouched, and so on.
Of course, she added that there are exceptions, so don't believe it blindly.
Then she looked down at her younger sister with a serious expression and said,
"There, even if people die, it's not sad, and even if strange things happen, it's not strange. And I'm saying we're not going 'now.' We plan to go soon, so just wait patiently."
"Really? Will we really go?"
Looking at her beaming younger sister, the woman silently apologized a little inside.
It was obvious that this wouldn't be the lake trip she had been looking forward to.
***
Reaper (MC) POV:
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After dealing with the old woman, the returning cruise ship was very quiet.
The people from the Sehee Research Institute couldn't wake up from their sleep.
Worried about them, a Golden Reaper clung to each collapsed person and nursed them back to health.
The Golden Reapers had gloomy expressions.
The fog had cleared, revealing a clear sky and beautiful lake, but the people remained asleep.
Even after getting rid of the old woman, they didn't wake up from their sleep.
Since she had said she would lend the 'power of the blue moon.'
Do I need to destroy the blue moon for them to wake up?
But looking up at the sky, there was only the red moon and the regular moon.
Then, a tremendous stench began to emanate from the lake.
The Golden Reapers were startled and began staring intently at me.
?
Why are they looking at me?
tak tak tak~
trak-taktaktak
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As I took steps, the Golden Reapers scattered in all directions, fleeing.
Could it be they're avoiding me now?
It's disappointing if they're doing this just because I made a few mistakes....
T/N: For those who didn't get it, I think the Golden Reapers are afraid of being pranked again (cuz they smell the tremendous stench), just like last time when the Gray Reaper put a Golden Reaper on a black slime.
***
3rd Person POV:
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Inside a truck with windows tinted so heavily that sunlight could barely enter, two men were grumbling.
“Isn't this the kind of job you're supposed to subcontract out, and why are you suddenly insisting on supervising it yourself?”
"It's probably because of the James Factory failure last time. That 'perfect' director must have been furious after failing."
The two men snickered, thinking about the rarely angry director.
"To be honest, that last incident was a bit strange. The director was practically an expert on Objects, but he ended up failing."
"I've never liked him from the start. No matter what data or experiment results we present, he insists his word is the absolute truth."
"Well, that guy was more of a prophet than the director of the Research Institute. He'd stubbornly insist, but then time would pass and the director's words would actually turn out to be right, which really pissed me off. Maybe it'll be better now that he's been wrong this time."
The truck arrived at the shore of a vast lake and stopped.
The transparent, vast Yangcheon District lake.
"We're finally here. Let's get this done quickly and head back."
Having reached their destination, the men put on work gloves and boots, then took large drums out of the truck and began rolling them into the lake.
An unpleasant smell of oil was coming from the drums.
The men scrunched their faces at the foul odor as they carried the drums.
“What the heck is this smell?”
"I don't know. It seems only the senior researchers and above know, and we'll never make senior rank after getting on the director's bad side."
With each drum they rolled into the lake, the temperature around the lake seemed to drop gradually.
And a thick fog began to creep in from the depths of the lake.
The fog started as a thin veil over the surface, but grew thicker and more opaque like a curtain.
As the fog thickened, sounds became muffled, creating an atmosphere like another world.
"Is this really okay?"
He muttered, feeling an eerie sense of being alone in the world, but received no answer.
"..."
A faint cry seemed to come from far away.
A sound so quiet that it would be inaudible if not in an extremely tense state.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
He shouted loudly out of fear, but only a muffled echo came back, as if the fog absorbed the sound.
The sound of footsteps crunching on gravel came from the impenetrable fog.
Following the crisp sound, the man came face-to-face with a skull dripping fresh blood.
"Aaaaahh!"
The skull, covered in flesh and blood as if freshly torn off, was held in the hand of some monster.
[How dare you, how dare you pull such a trick?]
The monster revealed in the fog did not seem to be in good condition.
Half of the monster's body was melting into black slime.
Disgusting eyeballs were stuck all over the black slime, and blood vessels protruded outwards, wriggling in all directions.
"Wh...Why?"
The director said the Object in Yangcheon District would be neutralized by the black liquid, so it would be safe!
[You will suffer with your skin melting forever.]
His skin melted like butter.
Even if he tried to scream, no sound came from his melted mouth.
He desperately tried to crawl away on the bumpy gravel bottom, but his melted hands and feet wouldn't move.
When the fog cleared, only a red lump remained lying by the lakeshore.
That lump thrashed in endless agony, endlessly cursing the director who had deceived him.
***
Reaper (MC) POV:
---
I sat on the railing with a sad expression, as if shocked that the Golden Reapers had fled.
With an expression filled with as much sorrow as possible.
The Golden Reapers who had avoided me saw that look and slowly approached, cowering.
Eventually, one Golden Reaper hopped up onto me and shook its body, expressing its apology.
And then!
I poked that Golden Reaper with my finger.
The Golden Reaper had a startled expression.
I looked down at it with a meaningful expression and smiled.
Hehe.
Realizing it had been betrayed, the Golden Reaper flailed its limbs with a sad look and got sucked into the water.
pop.
When I summoned the Golden Reaper that fell into the lake again, it lay limp on my palm.
As if it realized the cruel reality that there was no one to be trusted.
I'm sorry.
Was that too much?
I gently stroked the Golden Reaper's head with emotion, over and over, until its mood improved.
*
While pondering how to wake up the people the old woman put to sleep, I suddenly had a strange feeling.
Sitting on the railing and quietly looking down at the lake water, the slightly blackened water clearly reflected the sky above.
And rising above that was the blue moon.
The moon reflected in the water was only one, not two.
I found it, the blue moon!
I smiled and used my 'Eye' toward the blue moon.
<Destroy the Blue Witch's Mirror>
Fortunately, the condition to destroy the blue moon was quite clear.
Will this task be resolved a bit more easily this time?