Chapter 483

In a small coastal city in the United States, a man with a purple blindfolded Reaper perched on his shoulder, his younger sister, and Cheong were slowly strolling through the town.

Cheong, tightly holding the orange crown Reaper in his arms, took in the changes in the city.

“It’s really surprising,” Cheong whispered to the tired-looking orange crown Reaper with a slightly excited expression.

“Just a while ago, it seemed like a riot could break out at any moment… but now it feels almost like a festival.”

The street was bustling with life, with people filling both the sidewalks and even the roads.

“It’s strange walking proudly in the middle of the street like this. It almost feels like I’m doing something bad!”

At that moment, the man’s younger sister, who had been walking behind Cheong, hugged him from behind and giggled.

Strangely enough, there were almost no vehicles on the street.

The few remaining vehicles were simply abandoned in the middle of the road, with their engines off.

It was as if they were artifacts from the city’s past, left alone and forgotten.

The roads that used to connect the city to the surrounding areas had been cut off, and the jungle had taken their place. So, it was only natural.

In the city surrounded by thick, impenetrable jungle, cars had become useless lumps of metal.

Moreover, it was difficult to operate them inside the city.

Only a small part of the city had fallen into the heart of the jungle, so there were no places left to drive to.

Perhaps because of this, the abandoned cars seemed to symbolize that this city was no longer the same as it once was.

The center of the city, where cars used to zoom past without a break, had now transformed into a vast park.

On the wide asphalt roads, people could be seen sitting on mats, enjoying the view.

Those who had settled down were looking up, admiring the unusual, but now everyday, scene.

Fluffy, cotton-candy-like cloud creatures floated by in groups, flying lazily through the sky.

They were so close that one could almost reach out and touch them.

And the Golden Reapers were jumping off the cloud creatures, holding large letters.

“Human! A letter has arrived!”

With cheerful smiles, the Golden Reapers, like postmen, delivering letters had become a new joy for the people.

Perhaps because of this, more and more people had started writing letters to hand to the Golden Reapers.

“Golden Reapers are cute… Should we exchange letters too?”

“But sister, we don’t even have any stationery, right? I heard it’s hard to come by these days…”

When Cheong pointed out the reality, his younger sister made a pouty face.

At that moment, a Golden Reaper postman, passing by, started to fidget nervously, then whispered into her ear, as if sharing a secret.

It was a small gesture to tell her where to get some stationery.

The object-like younger sister regained her energy upon hearing the suggestion.

“I’m going to get some stationery! Wait here for a bit!”

Before long, she disappeared off to get it.

Seeing this, the man sighed, a look of resignation on his face, and said that he would wait here while she went to the hilltop.

Cheong, separated from the group, climbed the nearby stairs and spread out a mat on the hilltop, settling down.

From the high hill, he looked down upon the endless expanse of the jungle.

“This view isn’t so bad,” Cheong mused with a small smile, poking the chubby cheek of the orange crown Reaper, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

The view from here had been completely different just a while ago.

The roads stretched straight to the horizon, and the barren, majestic wilderness had been spread out before him.

The lonely road and the wilderness dyed in the glow of the setting sun had been Cheong’s favorite view of this journey.

Now, what replaced that view was the endless stretch of dark green jungle.

The green, like an emerald carpet, covered the horizon entirely, and fluffy, cotton-candy-like cloud creatures lazily drifted above it.

The scenery had completely changed, but Cheong found himself liking this new one just as much.

Suddenly, his attention was drawn to a flicker of light as the nearby building’s electronic billboard began broadcasting again, breaking the long silence.

The news of the restoration of communication networks had finally become a reality.

“Oh, they said the communications were going to be restored…” Cheong thought, remembering a conversation he had with a James Institute employee just a while ago.

At that moment, an odd sense of loss filled a corner of his heart.

The restoration of communication was undoubtedly progress, and it was something to be welcomed. However, it also signified the end of something.

It marked the end of the cloud creatures that once stitched the sky together to connect people, and the end of the Golden Reapers with their tiny postman hats.

The Golden Reaper postmen seemed to sense this, as a faint emotion appeared on their small faces.

It was as if they had realized, like the postmen of the late 19th century, that their era was coming to an end with the invention of the telegraph.

There was a sadness in the faces of the Golden Reapers as they faced the changing times.

The setting sun began to color the city.

Even in this changed world, the unchanged beauty of twilight warmly illuminated the jungle, the cloud creatures, and the last deliveries made by the small postmen.

In the depths of Sehee Research Institute, in my comfortable isolation room, I was lying on the soft bed with Ye-rin, watching TV.

“Finally, TV is back…”

Though there were still few channels and the broadcasts seemed a little patchy, the fact that it was up and running was what truly mattered.

And despite using the Golden Reaper network for broadcasting, the unexpected antics of the Golden Reapers had disappeared.

“James Institute really is smart… they must know more about the Golden Reapers than I do.”

The method was simple.

They just put a big, fancy hat on the Golden Reapers and assigned them tasks.

As soon as the news stopped and the commercials started, a Golden Reaper suddenly popped up from the corner of the screen.

Holding a sign that said “Commercial Start!” the Golden Reaper hopped around the screen like a round bell.

Perhaps because of the tall, flashy hat it was wearing, the Golden Reaper looked extremely pleased with itself.

It was a task involving a magnificent hat, and it was something that helped humans, so no wonder the Golden Reapers’ postal service became such a popular job.

Nom nom.

Ye-rin, who hadn’t eaten my antennae in a while, spoke to me while munching.

“I’m glad the TV is back. I was worried, as the Reapers have been losing their energy lately.”

Ye-rin said I looked like a Golden Reaper who had drunk coffee.

Even for Ye-rin, that was quite an exaggeration…

A Golden Reaper who drinks coffee becomes all liquid and droopy, but I didn’t think I was quite that bad.

Seeing my lack of reaction, Ye-rin pulled out her phone and showed me a picture.

In it, I was sprawled on the floor like half-melted liquid.

“?!”

I was startled and quickly pressed the delete button with my finger, but unfortunately, it didn’t register.

“Ah.”

Because I had no moisture in my body, I couldn’t use the capacitive touchscreen…

I grabbed Ye-rin’s hand to press the delete button, but she hid the phone away.

Hmph.

At the Object Research Facility in Japan.

This facility was the second-largest research institute in Japan, next to the one where a Golden Reaper served as the director.

The massive concrete building, surrounded by jungle, exuded an imposing presence, like a fortress of modern science.

The director of this facility was deep in the underground isolation room, looking up at something.

“Really lucky, aren’t we, director?” The senior researcher standing beside him spoke.

Her voice had a strange excitement to it.

“Yeah, we’re lucky.”

The director slowly nodded.

“Who would have imagined? That a dome would form in the very isolation room we were researching.”

Originally a small isolation room designed for research on miniature objects, the 3-square-meter room looked unchanged from the outside, but inside, it had expanded to the size of a city.

Due to the bizarre effects of the fusion, the interior space had grown massively.

And at the center of that space was a truly enormous dome.

“It was research we thought impossible… but now we can finally conduct real research.”

The director muttered in awe.

“We’ve never been able to properly research because of the James Institute.”

The senior researcher continued.

“Every time a dome appeared, it was destroyed right away.”

The director’s eyes gleamed.

“But this time is different! This dome appeared inside our own facility. We can research it without anyone knowing.”

The two exchanged meaningful smiles.

Under the fluorescent light, their eyes glowed red.

Like objects.

“If we succeed in extracting energy from the dome…”

The senior researcher trailed off, and the director finished her sentence.

“Humanity will enter a new era.”

Inside the isolation room, the dome continued to expand.

Mocking or perhaps encouraging their ambitions, the colorful universe shone even more brightly.

An ominous feeling hung in the air.

But in the eyes of the two researchers, there was no room for rational judgment.

In their red eyes, only madness and greed were reflected.