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Chapter 5
"...Is this really alright?"
Cosmic Docter lowered his gaze to his own body. No longer flesh and blood—everything was metal, wires, and strange circuits humming faintly. A body rebuilt to escape the curse, to reduce the risks of splitting into countless personalities.
> "It's fine. Just get out of here already… no more chit-chat."
The other figure waved him off, voice sharp but not unkind. The reason was simple: those mechanical parts were worth a fortune. Yet because they were once friends, there was no bill attached. No price demanded. Just a quiet dismissal.
Cosmic Docter lingered a moment, watching his old friend, then stepped through the door and vanished into the next space.
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Elsewhere, Reaper found himself staring at… himself.
A figure wearing a worn cloak, the same sharp eyes—yet older, heavier.
> "Heh… how convenient. No need to search."
The cloaked figure lunged forward. But then, an unseen force stopped him mid-swing—an annoyed voice echoing behind his shoulders.
> "Alright, alright! I won't fight! Don't nag!"
He dropped his fist and backed away, grumbling. Reaper blinked in confusion. The man before him looked exhausted, yet strangely casual, as if being scolded by someone he trusted.
The truth was twisted: the one in front of him was the true Reaper. The real one.
The boy standing here—only a fragment, barely awakened, not yet complete.
> "…How boring. Wanna grab a drink?"
He turned and strolled into the ruins. Reaper hesitated, then followed.
They stopped in front of an old refrigerator half-buried in rubble. Strangely, the machine was still running—wires snaking out of its back, connected to some kind of shimmering gateway. Power stolen from another dimension.
Reaper frowned.
> "What… what even is this? And who are you?"
The older Reaper tossed something at him—a can, cold and fizzing.
Reaper almost dropped it, but caught it just in time, glaring.
The true Reaper just smirked, cracked open his own can, and took a sip.
> "Long story. I'll keep it short: my wife won't give me allowance anymore. So I had to… improvise. Found a kid once during wartime, thought about robbing him. Ended up teaching him how to steal instead. Funny how things turn out, huh?"
His laugh echoed strangely against the empty ruins.
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