Chapter 135: James’ City (3)

A security office employee sat on a deserted emergency staircase that not many people used, waiting for someone.

He looked a little nervous, as if she were in the middle of some shady deal, but instead of anything illicit, she was holding a ‘Gray Reaper Pudding’ in her hand.

Glancing around, the employee’s face lit up with a bright smile. She had spotted something—a blue hat poking out from behind the railing pillar of the stairs leading to the next floor.

Despite the awkwardness of the moment, the employee felt a thrill. The Blue Reaper was approaching.

Meeting the Blue Reaper regularly had been no easy feat. Ever since she first saw the Blue Reaper cleaning her house like a snail, she had worked hard to make this connection.

The Reaper was elusive, making it quite challenging to feed it pudding. But now, it seemed all her efforts to gain the Blue Reaper's attention were paying off.

Munch-! Munch-!

The Blue Reaper nibbled at the pudding, spooning it into its small mouth with deliberate care.

Perched on the employee’s palm, the Reaper ate slowly, and with every bite, the employee’s heart swelled with a strange satisfaction.

Even though the Blue Reaper still felt a bit distant, the employee consoled himself with the fact that just being able to meet it regularly was a significant achievement.

He made a silent vow that one day, she would rest with the Blue Reaper in her house and feed it all the pudding it could want.

Unlike the Golden Reapers, who gobbled their pudding down, the Blue Reapers ate slowly. Just as the Blue Reaper in her hand finished half of the pudding, the red emergency light in the staircase began to blink.

Beep-! Beep-!

A loud alarm echoed, and an ominous red light bathed the stairs. What on earth had happened?

An emergency at a time like this? Sehee Research Institute had a very high emergency threshold, so if the siren was blaring, something serious must have gone down.

It wasn't like the Blue Lizard, who was always playing the piano, had suddenly snapped and beaten someone to death with it, right?

The Blue Reaper, who had been happily eating, now looked around in alarm.

Swiish-!

A sharp sound cut through the air, and the steel door on the emergency stairwell was sliced open. From the opening, a bird’s beak, as clear as glass, poked through.

It was the < Glass Flamingo >.

This flamingo, made of a transparent material that beautifully absorbed and reflected light, was the latest Object acquired by Sehee Research Institute.

When still, it looked like an exquisite statue, so it must have been classified as a safe Object, right?

But the Glass Flamingo now looked anything but safe. It seemed aggressive, its posture menacing.

The Blue Reaper, sensing danger, stepped in front of the employee and scribbled an incomprehensible string of characters in the air.

< protect="" us!="" please!="">

A water droplet shield formed around the Blue Reaper and the employee, shimmering with a faint blue glow.

However, the Glass Flamingo ignored the protective shield and continued its slow approach, the sound of glass clinking with every step.

Meanwhile, the employee took a cautious step back, trying to put some distance between himself and the shield.

The Flamingo’s steel-cutting beak and its proud, confident stance filled her with anxiety.

The Blue Reaper, frightened by the advancing Flamingo, also began to back away.

< water!="" become="" ten="" sharp="" needles!="" please!="">

At the Reaper’s command, water gathered in the air, forming sharp, needle-like shapes that shot toward the Flamingo.

But the attack had no effect.

The Flamingo merely pulled its head back slightly, then shot its beak forward like a bullet, shattering the water droplets and aiming straight for the Blue Reaper.

The employee quickly scooped the Reaper into her arms and rolled away just in time to avoid the beak.

His quick thinking saved the Reaper, but not himself. The beak grazed her thigh, tearing off a large chunk of flesh.

The searing pain and the feeling of blood soaking her leg hit her all at once.

When I turned around in surprise, James was standing there too, looking all calm and collected, but with just the tiniest bit of wonder in his eyes.

“As expected.”

“Uh, James? Reaper just disappeared! Is that, like, okay?”

James just turned to me with that calm, mysterious look of his.

“Do you think there will be any problem?”

“Um...” I had to think about it for a second. I mean, Reaper was pretty tough, so I couldn't really picture anything bad happening to it. But still, you never know, right?

“Besides,” James continued. “I figured there was a high chance the Immutable Black Ball and the Gray Reaper would, you know, do something together.”

Just as he finished talking, the < Immutable Black Ball > vanished—like, blink, and it’s gone! And there was Reaper, standing right where the ball had been, looking all confused and adorable.

It kept staring at the spot where the ball used to be, like it couldn’t quite believe what just happened.

Plop-! Plop-!

Reaper turned its head and started walking toward me, still looking a little dazed. It even tilted its head, like, ‘What the?’ And then it started clenching and unclenching its tiny fist like it was testing to see if everything was still working. So cute!

“Looks like the < Immutable Black Ball > was a success. The other Relic Number 0’s are being transported, so let’s get started with the ‘James Lab’ tour before they arrive.”

And then he added, with a grin, “Wouldn’t it be a shame to come all the way to America and not do a little sightseeing?”

Before I could even think about arguing, he was already heading out of the vacant lot where the Immutable Black Ball had been.

I grabbed Reaper’s hand—it felt nice and reassuring—and followed him, trying not to trip over my own feet.

As we walked away, a bunch of researchers with all sorts of fancy gadgets started poking around where the < Immutable Black Ball > had disappeared.

They were super busy, but I couldn’t stop thinking about something that felt a little off. Why is James feeding Relic Number 0’s to Reaper? Huh...

*******James Research Institute was soooo big! We got to ride around in this cute little electric cart for our tour, and I couldn’t help but feel like I was on some kind of fun amusement park ride.

I was all snuggled up on Yerin’s lap, clutching a giant pudding like it was my precious treasure, and just taking in everything around me.

Being in Yerin’s arms while I munched on that delicious pudding—it was like all the jumbled-up thoughts in my head started to sort themselves out.

I mean, I think I might’ve gained some new ability after that whole thing with the Immutable Black Ball. But, ugh, I couldn’t really figure out what it was! So confusing! But then, with every spoonful of pudding, it was like, "Eh, whatever. I’ll figure it out when I need to, right?"

As James steered the cart up this twisty ramp, we finally made it to the top of this super tall wall.

It was like a fortress, starting all the way from the outskirts of James City and going up, up, up into the sky. And in the middle of it all was this gigantic, dark blue tree.

The gigantic being was a dark blue tree.

“If the < Immutable Black Ball > was what kickstarted the founding of James City, that tree is the reason we keep it going.”

And wow, the sight in front of me was breathtaking, like the most beautiful and mysterious thing James had shown me so far. But, um, also kinda scary?

The wall around the tree seemed like it was there to keep it in, like a big, fancy cage. And all the observation gadgets on the wall—yikes! It was like humans were totally freaked out by that tree.

The tree itself, though? It was gorgeous, but in an unsettling way.

The trunk was this huge, ancient thing, glowing with an indigo light that pulsed like a heartbeat—like the heartbeat of the earth or something.

It made me feel all tingly, like it was connected to something deep and... otherworldly.

“Wow, look! There’s something like glass flying around it!”

Yerin gasped at the transparent shards swirling around the tree, like leaves made of broken glass. They spun and danced around, catching the eerie light and flashing in all these crazy, rainbow-like colors.

But here’s the thing—Those shards were extremely dangerous!

They were pieces of torn space, all sharp and chaotic. They looked pretty, sure, but if humans got too close... well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be good.

And the tree just kept ripping up the space around it, getting bigger and bigger like it was hungry for more. There was no way that wall and all its barriers could hold it back.

Is this okay? I mean, seriously, this feels really, really dangerous...