Chapter 453

Along the dusty corridor, the Golden Grim Reaper carefully made its way to the slightly open door.

The gap was so narrow that a human couldn’t possibly pass through, but for the palm-sized Golden Grim Reaper, it was more than enough room.

Cautiously slipping through the gap, the Golden Grim Reaper was met with a scene full of shadows.

The room, much like the landscape outside the mansion, was filled with a living darkness that seemed to breathe.

The darkness, as if black ink spreading through the air, filled the space, making it hard to determine the room’s boundaries or size.

However, the bookshelves that stood in spaces untouched by the darkness gave the Golden Grim Reaper a clue as to the nature of the room.

‘A room full of books!’

The Golden Grim Reaper had often seen such rooms in human homes.

Humans called them “libraries.”

Driven by curiosity, the Golden Grim Reaper slowly stepped forward and stood before the writhing shadows.

It reached out its small hand to touch the darkness, but recoiled, startled by an ominous feeling.

‘It seems like I shouldn’t touch it…’

Instead, the Golden Grim Reaper turned its gaze to the space that the darkness had not reached.

Books, tightly packed on the shelves, came into view.

Normally, the Golden Grim Reaper wouldn’t have been interested in books, but now it felt differently.

For its beloved human, it was prepared to look through every single book.

‘The solution to this mansion’s mystery must be here!’

Since entering the mansion, the connection to the Mini Grim Reaper network had been severed, and there was no way to call for help from other Mini Grim Reapers or its mother.

To solve the problem, the Golden Grim Reaper would have to find the answers on its own.

Though its small size prevented it from viewing the entire bookshelf at once, the Golden Grim Reaper didn’t give up and began carefully inspecting each book, one by one.

‘Books are hard…’

As the Golden Grim Reaper scanned the bookshelves, its vision grew faint, and it rubbed its temple with a tiny hand, trying to focus. But the complex content of the books was still too difficult to understand.

The books, filled with professional terminology, were written in a script the Golden Grim Reaper could recognize, but the content was almost unintelligible, much like seeing foreign words.

<On the Completeness of the Guardian Core and its Relationship with the Guardian Color> <Beyond the Cycle of Death and Life> <Encyclopedia of Magical Books and Rare Materials>

Research on Guardian Cores, essays on the essence of life and death, and encyclopedias on rare materials.

The Golden Grim Reaper shook its head, trying to snap out of the confusion, but the difficult words still eluded understanding.

However, despite not grasping the content, the Golden Grim Reaper noticed something.

‘Alchemy…?’

But that was odd.

The beloved human had said that there were no alchemy books in this mansion, yet here before the Golden Grim Reaper were clear alchemy books.

While pondering this contradiction, something on the desk caught its attention.

A lone book, half-devoured by the darkness, lay on the table.

Unlike the other books, it was made of rough-textured paper, and its cover was simple and unmarked.

Drawn by curiosity, the Golden Grim Reaper climbed onto the table and carefully opened the book.

It was a journal of a novice caretaker, who had taken great care in nurturing a girl who missed her mother, who had tragically passed away.

The caretaker’s affectionate records filled every page.

Stories of carrying the melancholy girl around the mansion all day to cheer her up.

Tales of failing repeatedly to make her favorite dishes.

Eventually, the caretaker gave up on cooking and created a guardian to cook for the girl.

And like her mother, who had died in an accident, the girl was also incredibly talented at drawing.

Each sentence in the diary reflected the caretaker’s warm feelings toward the girl.

Especially in the sections where the caretaker proudly described the girl’s exceptional artistic skills, the longing for the girl’s late mother was palpable.

But as the journal progressed, the handwriting became rougher.

To the Golden Grim Reaper, it seemed as though the caretaker was writing through pain, struggling to put the words down.

Finally, after a trace of black liquid, similar to evolutionary fluid, was spilled, the diary abruptly stopped.

The back pages of the now-white journal were filled with numerous drawings.

The Golden Grim Reaper picked one of them up and examined it closely.

A picture of numerous Agwis, each fulfilling various roles.

On the back of the drawing, the violet-haired girl’s neat handwriting read:

<The food was terrible, but thank you always!>

The words, filled with the girl’s gratitude, seemed to radiate warmth, but there was also a strange sense of loneliness that accompanied them.

As the Golden Grim Reaper studied the drawing, a heavy thud reverberated throughout the mansion.

Thud—

The thick darkness in the room began to ripple like a wave.

The table shook beneath the Golden Grim Reaper’s tiny feet, and the books on the shelves rattled.

But that was just the beginning.

The darkness, which had filled the room, began to slowly extend its reach.

Like water rising in a glass, it began to creep toward the Golden Grim Reaper.

At the same time, the door leading to the hallway creaked and began to slowly close.

‘No!’

In that instant, the Golden Grim Reaper sensed that once the door fully closed, it wouldn’t be able to escape until the next night.

Using every ounce of its strength, the Golden Grim Reaper poured all its power into the effort.

Ghosting, time acceleration, and strength enhancement using firewood.

It was a full-on sprint, with every ability the Golden Grim Reaper had.

As it ran toward the closing gap in the door, time seemed to slow, as if the second hand had stopped.

The darkness’s tendrils were closing in from behind.

At the last moment, the Golden Grim Reaper barely managed to throw itself through the narrowing gap and successfully escape.

Thud—

The heavy sound of the door slamming shut echoed throughout the room.

‘?’

Just before returning to the violet-haired girl, the Golden Grim Reaper halted its steps and looked back at the closed door.

It had clearly felt something just before escaping the room.

From deep within the thick darkness, there had been a gaze watching it.

A powerful presence—an object of great magnitude.

That imposing entity had sent a faint will to the Golden Grim Reaper just before it left.

[Again, a little closer.]

Though it wasn’t a clear, specific language but rather an ambiguous, vague feeling, the Golden Grim Reaper could feel its meaning.

The ever-joyful Sehee Research Institute.

I, hidden as a ghost inside the Sehee Research Institute office, watched as Yerin performed her spot-check operation.

The Saintess Doll, with its eyes covered and a scarf around its neck, entered the office greeting people with the same expression as Yerin.

[Hello!]

Except for the fact that it spoke in Elmpa, it was the same cheerful atmosphere, with the same smile Yerin always had every morning.

How much practice did it take to replicate that perfectly?

Furthermore, Mini Grim Reapers rushed over, waving their tiny hands, just like Yerin.

Though not quite as much as Yerin, the Mini Grim Reapers did seem to like the Saintess Doll.

So the Saintess Doll blended seamlessly into the office.

‘This can’t be…’

While my dream of automatic hunting was crumbling, Yerin’s was succeeding!

Hmph.

As I sulked, a researcher with a helmet spoke suspiciously.

“Yerin-senpai, doesn’t she seem a bit odd today?”

Well done!

Though the researcher was a madman wearing a helmet inside, I silently cheered him on.

“I’m not sure, but it’s not the first time Yerin-senpai’s been acting weird.”

Unfortunately, no one agreed with the helmet-wearing researcher.

He simply gave the Saintess Doll a suspicious look, then sat down and began working.

‘No!’

Annoyed, I used my ghosting ability to punch the researcher’s helmet, sending it flying.

Then, the Golden Grim Reaper, furious inside the helmet, popped out. I laughed and fled at full speed.

When the Golden Grim Reaper returned to the room, it found the violet-haired girl looking around in confusion.

When their eyes met, she let out a huge sigh of relief and muttered softly.

“Really, where did you go…”

She approached the Golden Grim Reaper with a slightly teary expression and pressed her cheeks against its.

“Don’t disappear like that again.”

The Golden Grim Reaper patted her cheek in acknowledgment.

After a while, the violet-haired girl mumbled softly.

“I didn’t know. My little friend smelled like the sun.”

Then she laughed gently, saying it was a calming fragrance.

The girl, looking relieved, placed the Golden Grim Reaper on her palm.

Sitting on the bed, she began playing with her fingers and tickling the Golden Grim Reaper.

However, no matter how long they waited, the Agwis did not appear.

“This is strange. Why isn’t anyone showing up?”

The Golden Grim Reaper also felt a strange foreboding and turned its head toward the window.

‘!!!’

Outside the window, a sunset painted in orange hues was visible.

But it was morning!

The Golden Grim Reaper jumped off the palm and rushed to check. Outside, Agwis, stained black with sharp teeth, had gathered in the garden, staring up at the window.