Chapter 139: James City: Epilogue (1)

The moment the Gray Reaper touched the tree, the sky filled with light—a brilliant, overwhelming radiance that marked the Reaper’s victory over the Object that had slowly devoured America.

As shattered time and space began to realign, I knew I would soon be torn apart, scattered to the winds. Yet, a deep sense of relief washed over me. At least I could close my eyes knowing that the crisis in James City had been averted.

The deputy mayor, his movements stiff and broken, managed to lift his head and gaze skyward. His failing eyes, dim and blurry, could still make out the celestial bodies above.

The moonlight, pure and beautiful, bathed the deputy mayor’s shattered form. Though his body lay in ruins, his heart swelled with a quiet pride.

It may have only been six hours, but in that brief span, I had protected James City.

With that thought, the deputy mayor released the last vestiges of will holding his form and mind together. His hands, once gripping the control panel with determination, loosened as he surrendered to his fate.

The mayor’s body grew colder, but the smile on his face remained.

As the endless cycle of time finally released its grip on him, a flood of emotions surged within. He had fulfilled his duty, safeguarded the city he loved, and now, he could leave James City behind—free from the terror of fractured time.

In the periphery of his fading vision, a golden light flickered. The mayor gazed at it, thinking it resembled the flame of an angel, come to guide him home.

*********My surroundings were a total mess, like someone had taken a giant paintbrush and splashed different styles and materials all over the place.

Buildings that didn’t belong together were mixed up like a jumble of mismatched puzzle pieces. A shiny pillar, looking like it was straight out of an ancient marble temple, was lying broken on the ground. Poor thing...

Right next to it was a piece of fresco, all sliced up into sharp squares. It was supposed to show some religious scene, but now it just looked like a weird, artsy jigsaw puzzle. And then, there was this antique iron furniture, totally over-the-top, like something no one would use these days. Even the once-luxurious chair, the kind only snooty nobles would sit in, was cut in half and tossed aside like yesterday’s news.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the huge barrier looming in the distance, I might’ve thought this place was some bombed-out museum instead of James City.

Oh, by the way, who was that blue-haired girl over there?

She seemed familiar, but at the same time, not. It’s really odd how she felt so familiar even though I couldn’t quite place her. Super weird, right?

Anyway, there were a lot of strange things going on, but one thing I really, really liked was the new ability I just got. Oh, it’s so fun! I could manipulate time now, just like I could mess around with space before. Isn’t that neat?

It’s like, I can’t do everything the original ability could, like mix time and space together or cut and paste them all over the place, but I can speed up or slow down my own time. And that’s still super satisfying!

With this, I could totally outrun the Golden Reaper and play all sorts of pranks on them.

Hihihi...

Plop-! Plop-! Plop-! Plop-!

Even when I wasn’t using my phantom form and just walked normally, I was still so fast that afterimages kept popping up behind me! It was like I was in one of those old cartoons where the character zips around, leaving a blur. So fun!

I wandered around the ruins for a bit, just enjoying the speed. But then, I suddenly sensed someone in the air. What? A person here, in this dangerous, messed-up space where there shouldn’t be anyone?

Now that I think about it, when I was off killing that nasty tree, my firewood kept rising little by little. I guess it was because of this person.

They must’ve been stuck in a gap between time and space, and now they were gradually coming back to the real world because the tree was destroyed and the blue moon showed up.

When I peeked at the gap in space, I saw the person’s body was already shattered into pieces. Yikes, they were practically dead. If I left them like this, they’d be 100 percent gone.

But you know what? I felt like I could save them! Maybe it was because of my ability to mess with space or the new time-manipulating thing, but I just knew I could fix this.

Originally, I wanted to wait for Yerin to come before gathering the scattered fragments from the gap. But hey, why not do it now? Consider it a little thank-you for keeping my firewood stocked up when I was dealing with that tree.

Since the glass flamingo incident, the Blue Reaper had been visiting the room every time the guard fell asleep. It would quietly clean the room and then sit beside the bed, watching over him.

It wasn’t exactly what the guard had hoped for. He had imagined the two of them sharing pudding and playing together, just like he often did with the Golden Reapers.

But now, the Blue Reaper had become even more elusive. It was getting harder to spot it while he was awake.

The guard felt a bit wronged seeing the Blue Reaper flee faster than before.

Didn’t we get closer? Why did it run away...? Did I do something wrong...?

The Blue Reaper was nowhere to be found in the room now, only a faint, refreshing scent lingering—a trace of its presence.

*********The containment room was unusually quiet, probably because the Gray Reaper and the always-noisy Yerin were nowhere to be found.

After waking up from a dream that felt like it happened ages ago, I decided to head to the containment room to check on the facilities—and, let’s be honest, to take a break.

It wasn’t a super old memory, but it had that weird, nostalgic feel, like something from a long time ago. It was a flashback to when I first met the Gray Reaper, back when I was stuck in that creepy cave in Seoul Forest.

But, of course, dreams love to mess with reality.

In this one, I made it back to the Research Institute without the Gray Reaper. Yeah, I was so high on the joy of escaping that I totally forgot to bring Reaper, whose light was starting to fade.

Naturally, the dream turned into a nightmare where I struggled to run the Research Institute without the Gray Reaper.

And just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, there he was—Reaper—staring at me with those big, sad eyes, his whole body falling apart.

What if something actually happened to Reaper?

I mean, it’s hard to picture the Gray Reaper getting hurt, let alone being in danger. But still, that dream left me with a gnawing worry, like a tiny, annoying voice in my head saying, “What if?”

And then, just when I thought I was being paranoid, the news hit like a ton of bricks.

[ Breaking news! An urgent report just came in. ]

[ Reports indicate that ‘James City,’ a hub for Object research, has been destroyed. ]

[ Domestic research institutes partnered with ‘James’ Pudding,’ active in Korea, may also be impacted. ]

A helicopter shot of the destruction flashed on the TV screen, and there, standing on top of a building split clean in half, was the Gray Reaper, gazing down at the ruins.

Reaper... What on earth are you doing there?

*********The sleeping room of Sehee Research Institute, typically empty due to the light workload and the inviting comfort of the break room, now held an unusual gathering.

The cause of this rare assembly was a peculiar Object sprouting from the edge of a flower pot.

Within the pot, fresh and vibrant dicotyledons fluttered gently. The plant was moist and lively, its striking blue hue adding to the oddity.

But the color wasn’t what drew their attention. It was the face beneath the sprout—a tiny reaper, an exact miniature of the Gray Reaper, sleeping soundly. Only its head protruded from the soil, while the rest of its body lay buried beneath the earth.