Chapter 177: Chapter 177 Doppelganger (2)

Doppelganger (2)

Doppelganger (2)

Think before you act.

It was the advice I gave Ainar on the first day I arrived in this world.

And I didn't just say it for the sake of saying it.

This motto has actually saved my life countless times in the midst of adversity.

So, in that sense...

‘Damn it.’

I end my brief lament and focus on the current situation.

[I never expected to meet someone who knows me here.]

First, one piece of information I can glean from her first line:

She didn’t come here looking for me.

[This is... a bit troublesome.]

Information number two:

She’s also finding this situation as troublesome as I am.

However, the nuance is quite different from before.

It feels like there's another reason why she can't reveal her identity.

‘They said Noark is under lockdown… Could she be a spy? Someone they smuggled out before the lockdown?’

Well, it’s hard to be sure yet.

There might be a hidden reason.

The only thing that’s certain right now is this:

[Well, I can just beat you up and erase your memory like last time.]

She still has no intention of killing me.

In other words, I can relax about that part.

‘As long as I don’t accidentally step on a landmine.’

The fact that the memory-erasing pill doesn’t work on me.

I just have to be careful not to let her find out about that.

Then it won’t go to the worst-case scenario.

Therefore, my basic stance is also decided. I have no intention of obediently swallowing the pill and becoming incapacitated, but…

It doesn’t hurt to have insurance.

‘What did I say in the sewers?’

It happened a few months ago, but I remember it quickly.

When we reunited by chance in the sewers, I definitely asked this question first.

“…Why do you want to kill me now? I kept my promise.”

It’s the question I have to ask if her last memory is from the Land of the Dead.

“You’re saying the same thing as back then.”

“…Back then?”

The woman shakes her head and continues as I look at her with a puzzled expression.

“But your expression is much more relaxed.”

I can’t help but chuckle.

‘Relaxed…’

I can’t believe it was that noticeable.

I ask directly,

“The oath is still valid. Are you not going to just pretend you didn’t see me and leave?”

“Then swallow this.”

The woman takes out a pill from her pocket and throws it at me.

It’s a dark, moist pill.

“It’s a memory-erasing pill. If you just swallow it, today’s events will be as if they never happened.”

I briefly have the thought that swallowing the pill might be the cleanest way to resolve this situation.

But…

“How can I trust you?”

…that’s the last resort.

I’ll lose consciousness if I swallow the pill.

What if she gets greedy for my equipment?

What if she opens my subspace ring out of curiosity and finds Dragonslayer?

In the end, that’s also a landmine.

“You don’t have any other choice, do you?”

“Why do you say I don’t have a choice?”

I’m hundreds of times stronger than when we met in the Land of the Dead.

Even compared to when we met in the sewers, I’m several times stronger.

And most importantly, this isn’t a dark underground place where there’s no one to help me.

It’s a city on the surface where law and society function.

“If I shout, my companions will wake up. You can’t handle all of us alone.”

There’s no reason for me to back down in front of this woman.

“…So it wasn’t confidence, but arrogance.”

“Try me.”

The woman remains silent at my bold words.

Although she called me arrogant, she knows it too, right?

That the situation is completely different from before.

“…….”

An unusual heavy silence falls upon the empty hallway in the middle of the night.

She’s the first to speak.

“Barbarian.”

She calls out to me, taking a step forward.

I turn my back on her instead of answering.

And as expected…

Tadat!

…I see her clone.

The Doppelganger’s ability, [Self-Replication].

「Amelia Rainwales has cast [Sura Kick].」

The clone, which appeared silently behind me, leaps and swings her leg with her body weight behind it.

It’s the same one that completely blew off my head last time.

I immediately raise my arms to protect my face.

Kwaaang!

A tingling shock is transmitted through my wrist.

But that’s all.

‘Just how high is my Physical Resistance stat right now?’

Well, it seems like there’s a hairline fracture in the bone…

But honestly, I can’t even tell. I don’t even feel pain because of Pain Resistance.

“Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!!”

I shout the name of the ancestor god and punch the clone in the face with my fist the size of a watermelon.

Boom!

The clone disappears in a puff of smoke as soon as it takes the hit.

I quickly turn towards the original, preparing for a follow-up attack…

…but she’s just standing there.

“How did you know?”

Ah, she didn’t expect me to block it.

I answer honestly,

“Sound.”

All sounds have disappeared since some time ago.

It’s a clearly unusual phenomenon, even though it’s the middle of the night.

Ainar’s snoring can easily pass through a wooden door.

I realized she was going to ambush me as soon as the sounds disappeared, and I even figured out her method when I saw her take a step forward.

[Self-Replication], which I’ve already experienced once.

‘The summoning range for the clone is 5 meters.’

She must have been a bit short to summon it behind me. Since I’ve fought her twice, I was able to counter it like this.

“My offer from earlier is still valid. Just pretend you didn’t see me and go do whatever you were doing.”

I repeat what I said before.

And as expected, I get a different answer this time.

“…How can I trust you?”

I grin and give her the same answer.

“Do you have any other choice?”

It seems like the duration of whatever she used is short, as I start to hear Ainar’s snoring again.

Now, if I just shout, my companions will come out—

Creak.

That’s when the door opens.

“Bjorn? Who are you talking to…?”

Misha appears through the gap in the door, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

“I’ll explain later, go back inside.”

“Ack!”

I reach out and close the door before it can fully open.

“Hey! You crazy bastard!!”

Although Misha is furious after hitting her head, it can’t be helped.

That’s not what’s important right now.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Hey! Open up! Open the door! There’s a woman outside! Erwen? Don’t tell me she came again!!”

I block the door with my body and silently look at the woman.

The message in my eyes is simple.

‘So, what are you going to do?’

The answer comes after a brief pause.

“If I say I’ll leave, will you believe me?”

In short, she’s asking if I’m worried about retaliation.

I answer without hesitation,

“I believe you.”

After all, she’s the woman who spared my life trusting in a single oath before.

And I didn’t report her.

I even blocked Misha with my body just now.

“You should know by now. I don’t care what you do. I just don’t want to get involved with you.”

“…Right.”

The woman mutters in a slightly bitter voice.

But it’s not the answer I wanted.

“So what’s your answer?”

“I’ll leave.”

“I’d like you to promise not to come looking for me again.”

“I didn’t come looking for you. But… if you want, I’ll promise that too.”

I relax a bit at her words.

Although it’s a world where you can’t place much meaning on a mere promise, that’s not the case for everyone.

[If possible, I don’t want to kill barbarians with my own hands.]

[Because that was the promise.]

She’s the woman who spared my life because of someone’s promise in the Land of the Dead.

Her promises must hold a different weight.

‘I called her a psychopath back then, but she wasn’t actually that bad…’

“Then go, human woman.”

“…….”

The woman silently nods at my words.

And she turns around and starts walking down the stairs.

Click, clack.

I feel a sense of relief as her footsteps fade away.

I’m truly glad it ended without a fight.

My build isn’t complete enough to withstand Aura yet.

If she had really wanted to finish me off, I would have been the one bleeding, regardless of the city or my companions.

“Whew…”

I head towards the stairs, thinking that I won’t be able to sleep properly until I see her leave.

Click.

She’s already reached the 1st floor, stepping on the last step.

But did she sense my presence?

“…You’re not a human woman.”

She turns around and looks at me.

And…

“Amelia Rainwales.”

…she disappears like smoke after leaving those words.

I’m momentarily stunned.

“No, what the…”

This makes it seem like we’ll meet again later.

Knock, knock.

I knock on Ainar’s door.

I only hear snoring, and the door doesn’t open.

Unlike Misha’s door, which opens as soon as I knock.

“Hey! Who was that woman outside?!”

“A salesperson.”

“What?”

“Enough, let’s sleep. I’m tired.”

“Huh? Uh, uh…? Uh? Sleep? Here? Why?”

I put a pillow on the floor and lie down.

Although I really don’t want to do this…

“Th, that’s right. If you’re ti, tired… Co, come up here and sleep. Don’t sleep there…”

“But that’s a bit… I’ll just sleep here.”

“Huh? Then why did you co, come here?”

Uh…

Because I’m scared to sleep alone tonight.

______________________

Time passes, and the day to enter the labyrinth arrives.

[10:30]

1 hour and 30 minutes left until the portal opens.

Raven arrives as soon as the appointed time comes.

Now everyone is gathered in one place.

“Fortunately, no one is late this time.”

We cast the Bonding spell and then move together.

For reference, the starting point is the bear-like man’s bar.

I judged that it’s better to just pick him up here than to wait for almost an hour.

“…It’s unusually empty.”

The streets leading to the Dimensional Plaza are eerily quiet.

It’s understandable.

Considering the situation, everyone is probably taking a break and observing.

‘…But what’s this?’

I freeze as soon as we arrive at the Dimensional Plaza.

A completely different situation is unfolding compared to the empty streets.

“Everyone, please line up!”

There are dozens of times more officials than usual.

And I see the army.

Hundreds of units, each consisting of one knight and four soldiers, are stationed everywhere.

‘…Don’t tell me they’re trying to restrict entry to the labyrinth?’

That thought briefly crosses my mind, but fortunately, that’s not the case.

“Here you go.”

An official quickly approaches us as we reach the end of the long line and hands us two items.

One is a video recording device, and the other…

Hmm, honestly, I have no idea.

“What’s this necklace?”

“It’s an identification tag that signifies you’re an explorer from our side.”

“Identification tag…?”

“Yes.”

The official explains a few precautions along with the warning that we should never lose it.

Although his explanation is long-winded, as expected of a government official…

…the interpretation is simple.

‘We’re fucked if we lose it.’

We’ll become targets for extermination if we don’t have this identification tag.

And conversely, there won’t be any punishment for killing someone without an identification tag.

‘So they were planning this while things were quiet.’

It seems like they maintained strict secrecy, judging by how they’re only telling us right before entering the labyrinth.

It’s not bad for me, a resident of Lafdonia.

“Bjo, Bjorn… are we okay?”

“Why wouldn’t we be okay? It means the army will protect us in the labyrinth.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“At least one thing is clear now. That the rumor about a portal in the underground city is true.”

We chat while waiting, and after about 5 minutes, the portal opens.

The army enters first, and then it’s the explorers’ turn.

“…We might not be able to enter at this rate.”

“Eh, come on, Mr. Urikfrit. There’s no way that would happen.”

Although Raven says it’s impossible, her expression hardens as time passes.

The portal shrinks as the line gets shorter.

I’m actually happy about this situation.

‘Hmm, then I don’t have to say anything.’

I was originally planning to confess about the incident the other day and use the experience point duplication bug.

The bear-like man, whom I’ve observed for a month, values trust, and Raven is reliable in a different sense.

The incident with the special appraiser was the key factor.

[If we told him, he would have made several times more profit than the money he gave us with this. I can’t accept that.]

She never does anything that benefits others for free.

So I was going to share this method and start accumulating free experience points from this entry onwards.

But…

“What are you doing! Get in quickly!”

“Move aside if you’re not going in!”

It seems like I can naturally create that situation now.

Even I think it’s a close call.

And there are quite a few explorers who are blocking the path and hesitating, as if scared by the sight of the army.

“This is the end! Everyone, please step back!”

“What! Wh, what do you mean! I’ve been waiting for over an hour!”

Entry is closed when there are about 10 people left in line.

“Ar, are we really going home like this?!”

“Huh, I didn’t expect we wouldn’t be able to enter.”

“It’s because Mr. Urikfrit said something strange.”

“…You’re blaming me for this?”

“Phew, whatever. Then let’s all go back.”

Everyone seems resigned to reality.

Geez, how embarrassing for a barbarian to hear this.

Giving up just because of this?

“Bjorn, what are you doing? You keep looking ahead.”

“Now.”

The portal starts to fade.

It’s the time when shouts of ‘The gate is about to close!’ would normally erupt from everywhere.

“Everyone, get on my back.”

“Huh?”

I don’t have time to explain, so I activate [Gigantification] first.

My body grows in an instant.

“Wh, what are you doing! It’s illegal to use abilities in an undesignated area—!”

I’ll just pay the fine.

It’s not that much.

About 300,000 stones as long as I didn’t injure anyone.

‘I can just deduct it from the team funds.’

I quickly scoop up the four of them in my arms.

And I start running forward.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

“Stop!!”

I ignore the officials’ shouts.

It’s just a small fine anyway.

Why wouldn’t I enter?

We can earn so much just from hunting on the 5th floor for one day!

“Kyaak!”

“You, don’t tell me! You’re just going to enter like that?”

“Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!”

Did my shout answer her question?

Ainar, who’s in my left arm, giggles.

“Hahaha! As expected of Bjorn!!! A great warrior!!”

Right, that’s more like a barbarian.

Thud! Thud!

I sprint across the empty plaza with a smug smile.

Swaaa!

The light of the portal, which has shrunk to the size of a person, flickers precariously.

And then it flashes and envelops us.

「Entered 1st Floor Crystal Cave.」

Safe.

______________________

「Character’s fame has increased by +1.」

「Character’s fame has increased by +1.」

「Character’s fame has increased by +1.」

「Character’s fame has increased by +1…….」

「…….」