Chapter 445
I used teleportation to escape from the White Goby Grim Reaper, who had no intention of letting go.
The destination had already been decided.
It was my cozy confinement room, deep inside the Sehee Institute.
I had a feeling that Yerin was about to start slacking off, so I decided it would be nice to spend some time with her in the confinement room. Without much thought, I teleported there.
As soon as teleportation was activated and I opened my eyes, the familiar atmosphere of the space greeted me, just like always.
Soft shadows, cast by the dim lighting, flowed along the walls, draping over the large TV screen that had been turned off.
But what caught my eye, as always, were the Mini Grim Reapers filling my room.
Sehee Institute had plenty of rest facilities for the Mini Grim Reapers, but no matter how many were added, the number of Mini Grim Reapers in my confinement room never seemed to decrease.
The number always seemed to stay the same, making me wonder if there was a market where people traded “Mom’s confinement room day passes.”
On the opposite side of the TV, there was a large, fluffy bed.
At first glance, it seemed empty, but I could feel tiny movements beneath the thick blanket.
I lifted the blanket slightly, and as expected, the Mini Grim Reapers were crammed underneath.
No space to lie down—packed tightly!
It looked like a carton of colorful Easter eggs stuffed to the brim.
“Ah!”
“Mom!”
“Hehe.”
As I pulled the blanket away, the Mini Grim Reapers, who had been hiding and squirming underneath, smiled brightly.
Their smiles were filled with mischievous joy, as if to say, “Ah, we got caught!”
As I swung my hand, the Mini Grim Reapers moved in waves, creating a space on the blanket that perfectly matched my body.
The silhouettes they created were almost identical to my shadow.
How was it possible to achieve such precision just by eyeballing it, and with so many Mini Grim Reapers working together?
Their teamwork and agility always amazed me.
As I lay down in the space they made for me, the Mini Grim Reapers giggled and pulled the blanket over me.
It was like an automatic bed!
I lay there on the bed, and when I turned on the TV, a discussion between a news anchor and expert panelists began to play.
[Recently, the missing Golden Grim Reaper reappeared and resumed normal activities. How do you view the significance of this disappearance?]
[Yes, this incident clearly shows how dependent our society is on the Golden Grim Reaper. The emotional stability provided by the Golden Grim Reaper had a significant impact, as we have seen.]
Listening vaguely to the conversation, it seemed to be discussing the return of the Golden Grim Reaper and societal stability.
[What specific changes have occurred?]
[During the week the Golden Grim Reaper was missing, the city’s anxiety index increased by 47%. Interestingly, even though the crime rate didn’t actually rise much, the citizens’ sense of unease significantly increased.]
I watched the discussion with interest, and then sent a thought to one of the Golden Grim Reapers I held in my hand.
‘This is about you guys.’
‘?’
But maybe the Golden Grim Reaper didn’t understand Korean, as it just tilted its head, looking confused.
As I was about to tease it by saying, “Humans don’t like you!” one of the Golden Grim Reapers jumped onto the bed and sent me a thought.
‘Mom! Secrets aren’t secrets anymore!’
‘?’
Then, it began sending thoughts while looking up at the air.
‘Secrets aren’t secrets anymore!’
Hearing this strange thought, I remembered which Golden Grim Reaper was speaking.
This was the Golden Grim Reaper who had always kept secrets even when I made it into a trampoline.
‘It burned everything!’
‘The secret is a dangerous object!’
‘Humans are asking for help!’
‘It went on an adventure with the purple sibling!’
What was it saying?
It seemed like the Golden Grim Reaper had a lot it wanted to say, but fragmented, short responses made it hard to understand what was going on.
I was confident in my ability to decode the Golden Grim Reaper’s language, but this time, I couldn’t make sense of it.
Especially since the Golden Grim Reaper often spoke in a scrambled order, and the story was long, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma.
So, after hearing the frequent mention of the Purple Grim Reaper, I called it over and asked what had happened.
‘What happened that you kept it a secret from me?’
The Purple Grim Reaper started explaining the situation in a much more organized way, starting from the story about not being able to call me due to the contract terms with the Lamp Man, and going on in chronological order.
After hearing the explanation, I understood why it had been kept secret.
The power wielded by the Lamp Man, the “contract,” was that dangerous.
Moreover, had I met the Lamp Man before my possession abilities had strengthened, could I have used the Blue Girl to destroy him?
It was likely that a drawn-out battle would have occurred.
After the story was finished, I patted the Purple Grim Reaper and praised it.
‘Well done. You’re really smart.’
At that moment, the Golden Grim Reaper beside me looked up at me with a sulking expression.
[The Jade Plate…]
A faint psychic wave from the leaden doll.
The Saintess Doll heard it and glanced down at the Jade Plate, thinking for a moment before passing it to the leaden doll.
While the Jade Plate was valuable to the Saintess Doll, she didn’t think there was much risk in handing it over.
According to the book she had written about the sacred relics from the sect, the Jade Plate was physically difficult to break, and even if it did, it would regenerate quickly.
Moreover, the leaden doll, though resembling a god and exuding a divine presence, lacked the firewood necessary to fully unleash its potential.
[…]
The leaden doll, now holding the Jade Plate, stared at it intently.
It didn’t move, staring endlessly at the relic.
It almost seemed as though it was reading the inscriptions on the Jade Plate.
[!]
After some time passed, the leaden doll, unusually angry, began to gnaw at the Jade Plate with its teeth.
It bit fiercely, as if trying to crush the plate with its teeth.
Its behavior was wild and beastly.
However, just like the Gray Grim Reaper, the soft teeth of the leaden doll couldn’t leave a scratch on the Jade Plate.
[Ah!]
The Saintess Doll, shocked, quickly removed the Jade Plate from the leaden doll’s mouth.
After pulling the Jade Plate away, she opened the leaden doll’s mouth to inspect its teeth and scolded it.
[Ah, I knew it. Your teeth are a bit damaged.]
She then blew some golden firewood into the leaden doll’s teeth to heal them.
[…]
The leaden doll seemed slightly sulky, as if feeling, “How could my teeth not work?”
Of course, the leaden doll rarely showed any change in expression or sent out psychic waves, so it wasn’t easy to detect its feelings.
But strangely, the Saintess Doll could feel the leaden doll’s mood more clearly than she could feel the Gray Grim Reaper’s, who usually had a more expressive face.
As she checked if the leaden doll was injured, the Mini Grim Reapers suddenly swarmed around her, poking her.
‘Follow me!’
‘A gift!’
The Saintess Doll placed the leaden doll onto a large white goby and followed the Mini Grim Reapers.
Carrying a light curiosity about what was going on.
Following the Mini Grim Reapers, the Saintess Doll found a large building visible halfway up the Candy Mountain.
Could it be?
Seeing the familiar shape of the building, the Saintess Doll began walking briskly toward it.
If a human had tried to climb up the steep slope, they would have been out of breath, but for the Saintess Doll, it was a familiar place that didn’t cause her any fatigue. The building she was headed to was the one tied to the memories of the sect members.
Ah…
The building that had been in ruins by the time the Saintess Doll was born.
The structure seemed to be made out of cookies, though it was crafted so intricately that it was hard to tell even by touch.
Watching the Saintess Doll marvel at the craftsmanship, the Mini Grim Reapers smiled proudly, as if their efforts had been well worth it.
With trembling hands, the Saintess Doll pushed the cookie-made door open, and the scene inside welcomed her—exactly the same as the one stored in her memories.
Of course, there were no sect members resurrected inside the building.
That was something the Gray Grim Reaper had said was impossible.
However, inside the building, Mini Grim Reapers wrapped in black cloth were frolicking around.
“Hello!”
“Hi!”
These Mini Grim Reapers waved at the Saintess Doll with bright smiles whenever they made eye contact.
“Really. This is such a wonderful gift,” the Saintess Doll thought, sending out a psychic wave of gratitude.
“Thank you.”
Inside Sehee Institute, deep within its walls, a single human was trapped.
“Seo-Ah unni! Please let me out!”
“Quiet down, object! Where is the real Yerin?”
It was Yerin, dressed in a white research lab coat.
