Chapter 451
At the violet-haired girl’s mansion, dining hall.
The dining hall, where I had breakfast with my beloved human, was as splendid as ever.
Chandeliers adorned with countless jewels emitted a soft glow from the ceiling, and the gold-trimmed wallpaper shimmered, reflecting the light.
But to the Golden Grim Reaper, that brilliance seemed hollow.
The once-bustling dining hall, where countless Agwis scurried about serving meals, was now as silent as an abandoned ballroom.
On the massive dining table, only the Golden Grim Reaper sat, looking glum.
‘Human…’
The Golden Grim Reaper sat at the table, letting out a silent sigh.
After every breakfast, the girl would be led away by the Agwis to take a bath.
And each time, she would say, “It’s embarrassing, so wait here,” and not bring the Golden Grim Reaper along.
Instead, she left behind an abundance of delicious snacks, but that only made the Golden Grim Reaper feel lonelier.
Snacks eaten without my beloved human weren’t meaningful.
The table was piled with colorful macarons, hot chocolate in porcelain cups, and homemade cookies.
But none of it appealed to the Golden Grim Reaper.
Strangely, the snacks in this mansion, including those from the Mini Grim Reaper garden, were even less flavorful than ordinary snacks.
They felt more like decorations than real food.
Despite being incredibly elaborate and having a sweet scent, there was something odd about them.
Looking up, the Golden Grim Reaper noticed a massive stone slab on the dining hall wall.
It was a rough stone that didn’t fit at all with the grandeur of the dining room.
The edges were uneven, as though someone had struck it with a hammer, and there were signs of it being cracked in places.
This was the stone slab with the “rules” that the violet-haired girl checked every morning.
“You have to watch it closely, because it changes little by little each day.”
The words the girl had said when I first arrived came to mind.
<1. Do not leave your room at night.>
<2. Keep the doors to unused rooms closed.>
<3. Turn off the lights in rooms that aren’t in use.>
<4. Use an eye mask and earplugs when sleeping.>
<5. Don’t worry if the guardian seems strange.>
Fortunately, the writing on the stone slab was in a script the Golden Grim Reaper could read.
But even though the Golden Grim Reaper observed the rules every day, the content never changed, only the order of the points did.
The Golden Grim Reaper took its eyes off the Object Stone Slab and looked around the dining hall.
‘This mansion is strange…’
Even without the occasional strange hallucinations, it felt like something was off.
I couldn’t exactly say what it was, but something was definitely wrong.
That feeling became even stronger when the violet-haired girl wasn’t around.
It felt as though the world became muffled, like cotton was stuffed in my ears, and the scenery before me seemed to darken.
‘I don’t know.’
In truth, the Golden Grim Reaper wasn’t sure.
Maybe it was just a feeling of sorrow from my beloved human being away.
Without touching the snacks, the Golden Grim Reaper simply waited for its beloved human.
In the silence, where even the footsteps of the bustling Agwis were absent, it suddenly felt as though something was staring at it from behind.
‘Human?’
With a small hope in its chest, the Golden Grim Reaper turned its head.
Had the girl, after finishing her bath, quietly come closer?
But what appeared around the corner of the hallway was something completely different from what the Golden Grim Reaper had expected.
It was definitely an Agwi.
But unlike the usual Agwis, and even different from the Tooth Agwi.
It was tinged with ominous black in places, and its form was distorted.
Sharp teeth had sprouted inside its mouth, and sharp claws were visible on its legs.
The Golden Grim Reaper’s eyes met with the creature’s.
In an instant, the twisted Agwi’s form collapsed, and it melted away like ink spilled on water, disappearing beyond the corner of the hallway.
‘!’
The Golden Grim Reaper didn’t have time to calm its startled heart before it sprang to its feet.
The presence of a harmful object and the faint smell of oil.
The Golden Grim Reaper hurriedly ran down the hallway with small steps, but by the time it reached the spot, there was nothing there.
The long hallway stretched into darkness like a monster with its mouth wide open.
Dozens of doors lined the sides, and strangely, the chandelier’s light couldn’t reach the end of the hallway, dimming halfway.
Cautiously, the Golden Grim Reaper moved slowly, stopping at the door with the darkest shadow.
As it jumped up and reached for the doorknob, the rules from the stone slab flashed in its mind like lightning.
<2. Keep the doors to unused rooms closed.>
The Golden Grim Reaper wondered if it should open this door, hesitating as it turned the knob.
Unlike the other doors in the mansion, which always opened smoothly, this one was different.
Creeeak-.
The door opened with a chilling sound, like a stiff joint being twisted.
And beyond it…
There was nothing.
No, to be more precise, there was only pitch-black darkness, as though it would swallow everything.
When the violet-haired girl returned to the dining hall after her bath, she was met with an unusual sight.
The Golden Grim Reaper, which usually greeted her with a bright smile, now looked at her with a serious expression, as if it had made an important discovery.
It was unlike the usual times, when it would happily greet her with a cheerful smile. Today was different.
The small face was full of anxiety and unease, and it kept pulling at her clothes as though urging her to go somewhere.
“What’s going on?”
The violet-haired girl tilted her head, confused.
It was the first time she had seen it act so flustered.
She followed the little one’s lead, passing through the dining hall and heading toward the long hallway.
At the end of the hallway, a door caught her eye.
The door to a small storage room for art supplies was wide open.
Normally, that door would always be kept closed, so the fact that it was open like this was strange.
The girl was about to remind her friend of the mansion’s rules.
“You shouldn’t open doors…?”
But as she started to speak, she paused.
Suddenly, doubts about the rules filled her mind.
After a moment of thought, she muttered softly.
“Shouldn’t the room my friend is trying to enter also be considered a ‘used room’…?”
The violet-haired girl looked confused about the mansion’s rules.
But the more serious issue was the Golden Grim Reaper’s reaction.
Until just a moment ago, it had been urgently leading the girl, but now, it was wearing an extremely confused expression.
Its small eyes were fixed on the inside of the room.
‘The darkness is gone. Why?’
The room, which had once been filled with endless darkness, now looked like an ordinary storage room.
The art supplies neatly arranged on the shelves, a small vase on the windowsill, and the girl’s sketches hanging on the wall.
Everything seemed so ordinary.
A dream garden full of Golden Grim Reapers having nightmares.
I kept comforting the unicorn Golden Grim Reaper, who kept biting its own fingers.
“I’m sorry. I won’t bother you anymore.”
To soothe it, I gave all the Golden Grim Reapers who were suffering in their nightmares happy dreams.
A dream where massive star candies rained down endlessly from the sky.
As expected, the Golden Grim Reapers flailed their arms toward the sky, smiling happily.
And I made pudding for the unicorn Golden Grim Reaper, feeding it and petting it.
I spent much more time soothing it than the others, but I didn’t mind.
For automatic hunting, this much effort was worth it.
Hehe.
As I petted it, the unicorn Golden Grim Reaper’s face slowly softened into a happy expression.
It seemed to have even forgotten that I had given it a nightmare.
I then made a small request of the unicorn Golden Grim Reaper.
To gather a bit of the firewood from the sleeping Golden Grim Reapers.
‘I can’t do it!’
But contrary to my expectations, the unicorn Golden Grim Reaper shook its head.
Then, as though trying to show me what it could do, it smiled mischievously and reached for the air.
At that moment, the Golden Grim Reapers, who had been deep in sleep, slowly began to wake up, looking disappointed.
‘No…’
‘My star candy…’
Then, as the unicorn Golden Grim Reaper reached for the air again, the waking Golden Grim Reapers fell back into deep sleep.
‘!!!’
As soon as I saw that ability, I immediately recognized it.
It was the sleep-inducing power I had!
It seemed even more effective than what I had, with a greater range and stronger effect…
But it was absolutely useless for automatic hunting.
Hehe.
The unicorn Golden Grim Reaper looked at me with a bright smile, as if asking for praise.
I stared at the little Golden Grim Reaper, expressionless, and turned it into a “Dakji.”
‘No!’
The useless Golden Horn Grim Reaper is a Dakji!
Somehow, I felt uneasy, as though my “Golden Horn” farming plan was already falling apart before it even started.
“Could it be? Could it be that my dream, my hope…?”
I hurried toward the Golden Horn isolation area.
