Chapter 447
Late in the morning, deep within the Seoul Research Institute.
I lay on my bed in the isolation room, passing time by tossing the Golden Grim Reapers, which were crawling up the bed, back and forth.
Some of the Golden Grim Reapers clung to my fingers, but after shaking my hand a few times, they flew off beyond the bed.
“Aah!”
I heard the small scream of a Golden Grim Reaper and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“I’m so bored…”
It felt especially boring because Yerin hadn’t come over to skip work lately.
Of course, she couldn’t skip work, so after finishing her duties, she would cling to me. But it was true that during work, I felt even more bored.
By the way, Yerin suddenly started working hard…
Of course, she was probably trying to get out of skipping work by using the Saintess Doll, but I never imagined she’d be this consistent.
It would take a long time for the Saintess Doll to master Korean, English, and even work, but I wondered if she was planning to keep doing this until then.
If it were me, I don’t think I could be bothered to keep it up.
I probably would have continued as usual, worked diligently the day after the Saintess Doll’s training was done, and then quit going to work and just swapped her in instead, right?
As I continued to think about it, I suddenly felt like visiting Yerin’s apartment.
I was bored, and there was nothing interesting on TV either.
‘…’
Upon arriving at Yerin’s apartment using teleportation, the late morning sunlight was shining on the plants lined up on the window.
“Mom!”
“Mom!”
Under that sunlight, the mini Grim Reapers happily ran toward me, and at the same time, I came across an unexpected scene.
The Naph Doll, which should have been in the isolation room, was sitting in the living room.
“When did it escape? How did it get out before?”
Looking at the Naph Doll naturally occupying the space next to the Saintess Doll, I was filled with questions.
The Naph Doll shouldn’t have any special abilities to escape from the isolation room…
I thought for a moment and then something suddenly crossed my mind.
“Maybe the mini Grim Reapers brought it out, like how I sometimes take out the Naph Doll to play with…”
When I arrived at the apartment, I had seen the mini Grim Reapers gathered around the Naph Doll, so this theory seemed pretty reasonable.
The mini Grim Reapers seemed to have a strange fondness for the Naph Doll, almost like they viewed it as a “Mom Doll.”
Moreover, with Bo-ra Grim Reaper’s ability, it would have been easy to bring it out.
Well, whether it was in the Seoul Research Institute or Yerin’s apartment, the security level was probably similar, so it didn’t matter much.
Since there were so many mini Grim Reapers, it didn’t mean much, but one could argue that the security in Yerin’s apartment might be higher due to the guards frequently patrolling the area.
The Naph Doll was just idly stroking the white Grim Reaper and the mini Grim Reapers alternately with a blank expression.
‘!’
And when I shifted my gaze from the Naph Doll to the Saintess Doll, an even more surprising scene unfolded.
Outwardly, it looked like the Saintess Doll was studying normally, but upon closer inspection, there was a noticeable difference.
“Could that be a textbook related to Objects?”
Not long ago, she had been looking at a children’s Korean practice book, but now she was reading a book in English.
How much time had passed for her to suddenly master both Korean and English and start reading these complex books?
I was really shocked to see her reading a book I couldn’t even understand.
“Is it because Yerin is smart? The doll made after Yerin is incredibly capable too.”
On the other hand… my doll…
[?]
Noticing my gaze, the Naph Doll looked up at me, tilting its head with a questioning expression.
While the Saintess Doll was effortlessly reading difficult books, the Naph Doll was just absentmindedly petting the white Grim Reaper…
“I guess it’s just my doll after all…”
When compared to the Saintess Doll, the Naph Doll certainly gave off a foolish vibe.
Ugh.
I turned my eyes away from the Saintess Doll and Naph Doll duo and threw myself onto Yerin’s soft bed.
Lying there in the bed that gave off Yerin’s scent, something strange caught my eye.
“What’s this?”
On the tables, which were usually empty and set up for the painting Golden Grim Reapers, there were now many Golden Grim Reapers settled in place.
The Golden Grim Reapers sitting at the table had serious expressions, which were rare for them, and were diligently reading books.
Judging by the water droplet texture of the books, it seemed like they had been made by the Blue Grim Reaper…
The sight was so intriguing that I lifted one of the Golden Grim Reapers from the table onto my palm.
“Why are they reading books all of a sudden?”
The Golden Grim Reaper smiled brightly, as always, and answered.
“Mom said she liked smart mini Grim Reapers!”
Could it be that when the Bo-ra Grim Reaper praised them for being smart, this happened?
It seemed like something that could happen…
As I heard the Golden Grim Reaper’s answer, the image of the massive cart of the Orange Grim Reaper popped into my mind, and a sense of unease crept in.
Of course, if I thought of them as automatic hunting targets, it would be good for the Golden Grim Reapers to be smarter, but it still made me uneasy, just like when I saw the Golden Grim Reapers getting smarter before.
So I put on a forced friendly smile and gathered the studying Golden Grim Reapers into my arms.
“Alright, stop reading books and let’s eat pudding together!”
“Pudding!”
“Mom is so kind!”
And so, I started a little pudding party with the Golden Grim Reapers.
I already felt that their average intelligence was slowly rising, but if a trend of reading books started…
There was a chance I might end up being called a “silly mom” instead of “mom.”
It was a future too horrible to even imagine!
But if I ordered them to stop studying altogether, a serious problem would arise, so I couldn’t bring myself to give that order.
Ugh.
Later that night, as the darkness surrounding Seoul Forest deepened.
The quiet night sky had not a single star in sight.
Instead, a huge black planet filled the sky.
The red ring encircling its black surface seemed to ripple as if it were alive, and its light was brighter than the neon signs of the city.
Beneath that sky, a Golden Grim Reaper stood alone.
Huh.
A soft yawn slipped out.
The Golden Grim Reaper rubbed its eyes with its tiny hands and barely opened its eyes.
Its head dropped forward several times and then jerked up again.
It was very late for the Golden Grim Reaper to still be awake, but still, its gaze never left the black planet.
“Human…”
The Golden Grim Reaper, unable to fully open its eyes and nodding off, kept looking up at the sky as if something was there.
In its drowsy state, a faint will continued to reach its ears through the night air.
It sounded like a sigh, or perhaps a sob.
That will mixed with the Golden Grim Reaper’s dream, a faint sound, filled with loneliness.
The fragments of that feeling were faint, but they kept reaching the Golden Grim Reaper.
Like crying from far away, or a sigh carried by the wind.
When it looked up at the black planet, that will became clearer, but when it looked down, it faded again.
“Humans are lonely… Where are you, human?”
The Golden Grim Reaper had a sad expression.
Finding a sad human was second nature for the Golden Grim Reaper.
Even if they were crying deep underground, or lying on the street in a crowd, the Golden Grim Reaper would run to comfort them.
But this time was different.
No matter how much it searched, it could not find the owner of that lonely feeling.
A faint, distant feeling of loneliness from a little girl who didn’t fully understand it.
The Golden Grim Reaper wandered through Seoul Forest, squinting its sleepy eyes to follow that trace.
As the night deepened, the black planet grew larger and the red ring became even brighter.
It looked almost like a giant eye, or a tunnel leading somewhere, and the Golden Grim Reaper kept its gaze fixed on it.
“Where are you? Where…”
Just like the werewolves in old tales howled at the full moon, the Golden Grim Reaper sent its will toward the black planet.
But no human was detected.
So the night continued to deepen, and the lonely will kept wandering in the night sky of Seoul Forest.
“???”
After wandering around Seoul Forest, the Golden Grim Reaper, who had dozed off for a moment, opened its eyes to see a completely new scene.
The sparkling blue grass, as if it had dew, stretched endlessly.
Mysterious trees, unseen anywhere else on Earth, reached their branches toward the sky, with their leaves shimmering in rainbow colors.
As the wind blew, a sweet scent spread, and colorful Agwi were busy moving around, tending the garden.
“A new place!”
The Golden Grim Reaper’s eyes sparkled.
The heavy eyelids that had been weighing down just moments ago were now gone.
With curious eyes, the Golden Grim Reaper looked around, and its gaze stopped at the white Agwi tending the garden.
“New snack Agwi!”
The white Agwi were all identical, but the Golden Grim Reaper remembered them all.
So it could tell.
The white Agwi here were all new ones.
Excited, the Golden Grim Reaper rushed toward the nearest white Agwi.
It carefully nibbled with its small teeth, but…
“Ah! It’s hard!”
To its surprise, the white Agwi was as hard as if it were biting into a stone.
There was no sweet taste, just bitterness.
Ugh.
The Golden Grim Reaper sat down dejectedly with a disappointed expression.
At that moment, from far away, the familiar lonely feeling began to reach it.
The feeling it had been chasing, the one that led it to Seoul Forest.
The Golden Grim Reaper’s eyes sparkled.
“I found it at last!”
The Golden Grim Reaper smiled brightly and began to run toward the feeling.
Weaving through the rainbow-colored garden trees, running and running, it finally found a girl.
The girl with violet hair, sitting alone at a table, drawing. Her hair gently swayed in the soft wind.
The Golden Grim Reaper, smiling brightly, ran toward the girl.
“I found you at last. Finally met you!”
The Golden Grim Reaper smiled happily, thinking it had found its cherished human.
