Chapter 119

After joining the test, YuWon was able to witness something amusing.

‘A self-proclaimed Kim YuWon…’

It was natural that there would be people who wanted to mimic famous people. The situation right now was something like that.

He was probably an impersonator who appeared because Kim YuWon hadn’t attempted the tests in a long while.

‘He looks pretty similar to me.’

His face looked like it was copied with a skill or something as it was a near-perfect replica of the original. A part of his head looked a little off though since it looked like the imposter couldn’t perfectly copy his hair style.

However, there probably weren’t that many people who would doubt him because of something like that. And that guy also had the 「Pyromancy Robe」 he had been wearing until not long ago.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Whether there was an imposter or not, YuWon didn’t pay much mind to it. It would become a problem if that guy continued to climb the Tower and do bad things, but it wasn’t all too bad. As that guy climbed the Tower, he would attract the attention of Olympus at some point, and until that guy was discovered as just an impersonator, YuWon would be able to quietly climb the Tower himself.

However…

‘He instantly found a Doppelganger?’

Kim YuWon became curious about the imposter who he had thought was just normal.

‘What tricks did he use?’

It definitely wasn’t that easy to find a Doppelganger like that. As a monster related to demons, to find them, you either had to be lucky to have a player who had light-attribute skills in your party or just suspect everyone and fight each other until all the Doppelgangers were found.

Kim YuWon had decided to observe him for a bit since there was no need to complete this test quickly. However…

‘He’s better than I thought.’

The imposter he observed for an entire day was quite skilled. His expression control was top tier, and his voice was also full of confidence without faltering. He was the spitting image of what people thought when they heard ‘Kim YuWon.’ Seeing him move when he went for the Doppelganger, he was pretty skilled as well.

Well, that was probably why he was even able to plan to act like he was YuWon. This guy was definitely able to perform the role of ‘Kim YuWon,’ and he was reaping the benefits of it. If this test ended well, the big guilds would probably move again to acquire this Kim YuWon.

He felt as if he was watching a child show off. However, there was a limit to how much a kid could show off before they crossed a line.

‘What? I thought he wasn’t an idiot…’

He thought the guy was smart, but that wasn’t the case.

YuWon grabbed the edge of the blade that was pointed at him.

* * *

Translator - Jreaming

Proofreader - BringTheRayn

* * *

“Kim… Yu… Won?”

‘Please, no.’ That was what the imposter’s trembling voice and shaky eyes were saying.

However, unfortunately for him, he had gone too far.

“I’ll see you later.”

Fwooosh—

[Cinder Eyes] lit up.

At that moment…

[Cinder Eyes reveals the truth.]

Crack, cra-cra-crack—

The face of the man who impersonated Kim YuWon started to split open.

“Ah, ahh, aaaaaaaaghh!”

Feeling the pain in his face, the man covered it with both his hands. His skin, no, the thin layer of leather that was on top of it was peeled away and fell on the ground.

Flop, plop—

The man whose face had been revealed covered his face with both his hands and struck his head on the ground.

It was a baffling situation.

The players who were surrounding them, watching the situation, all fell into stupor.

Just what was happening right now?

“Th-Then he was a fake?”

“Kim YuWon isn’t here?”

“No, doesn’t this mean that the guy over there is the real Kim YuWon?”

“Ah, that’s true…”

While they were trying to understand the situation, the man who was on the ground lifted his head.

“This bastard’s the fake!”

Through his split face, the pale face of a young man could be seen.

Sharp fragments of mana surrounded him. The mana that arose from insanity was much stronger than the mana of any of the other players.

“I’m the real one. I’m the real—!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Crack—!

The man saw stars.

Crash—!

YuWon had kicked him in the head, and after he staggered a little, the color drained from his face, and he crumbled to the floor.

Flop—

“Take my name.”

“…”

“…”

A stillness overcame everyone.

It was one hit.

Just like the man who got kicked in the face, the other players that had all gathered around couldn’t understand what just happened. They could only recognize afterward that YuWon had somehow approached him and kicked him in the head.

“This part is sorted out…”

YuWon stopped caring about the guy who had collapsed on the ground. It was just a small commotion, and the test still hadn’t ended yet.

“Have you been looking for who the Doppelgangers are?”

YuWon turned his eyes to the players who the previous fake YuWon had tried to kill.

They flinched under his gaze. They simultaneously had feelings of hope of finally being able to live and fear that now they would really die.

“I-It’s really not me! Really!”

“It’s not me either! I don’t even know what a Doppelganger is!”

“I’ll prove myself! What do I need to do?”

“My name is Myel, my hometown is…”

“I’m…”

A cacophony of voices were heard. Everyone was trying to prove their innocence.

YuWon seemed like he didn’t really care about what they were saying and began to move.

Step—

As he approached them, their voices died down.

Were they really going to die here?

However, the target of their worries was moving somewhere else.

“…Huh?”

“Where is he going?”

After moving through the group of people, YuWon walked towards the other half of the players that had split off, the players who knew each other, the ones in teams.

Among them, YuWon approached Reinhar.

“We meet again.”

“Ah, yes.”

Reinhar nodded his head and greeted YuWon. He remembered him.

He had thought that he looked similar to Kim YuWon but didn’t realize that he was the real one because of his clothes.

“Are you the real Kim YuWon?”

“Who I am isn’t important to the test.”

YuWon turned his head and looked around at the Reinhar’s teammates.

His eyes turned red.

As Reinhar met those eyes, he felt uncomfortable, like he was being exposed.

“Why are you looking at me like…”

“Who are you?”

“What?” Reinhar questioned what he meant. However, he soon realized why YuWon was asking and smiled. “Are you suspecting me of being a Doppelganger?” He looked around at his party. “This is quite embarrassing. Guys, who am I?”

“You’re our team captain.”

“We vouch for him. He’s not a Doppelganger.”

“From before the test started until now, we haven’t been separated a single time, so I’m sure.”

“That’s right.”

The support from his party members. There was no clearer evidence than this.

All the players here had gathered with the single purpose of passing this test. Also, there was no reason to say they knew someone they didn’t and accidentally vouch for a Doppelganger.

However…

“Since you’re in a team, there’s no way that one of you would be a Doppelganger…” YuWon reached his hand out towards Reinhar. “Is that really true?”

Shwooop—

Reinhar was startled and took a few steps back.

“Wh-What are you doing?”

He was startled again when he thought he had definitely dodged out of the way, but YuWon’s hand was right in front of his face.

Grab—

YuWon gripped Reinhar’s neck. His breathing became strained, and he felt like he was really going to die.

‘I can’t just die like this…!’

At that moment…

Snap—

Something broke in Reinhar’s mind. It was his human rationality, and with it, an explosive strength erupted from his body.

Reinhar’s eyes flashed open and he punched.

Swoosh—

Bang—!

Reinhar’s hit landed on YuWon’s side.

Explosive sounds were created as the mana-infused fist shook the air.

YuWon let go of him.

Reinhar’s attacks had begun.

Clang, boom—!

A chain of punches were thrown.

The flow of his mana was unusual, and seeing this, his team members were all surprised.

“Uh, huh?”

“Captain?”

“Was he… always this strong?”

Since they knew him well, they were really surprised. Had he been hiding his true strength until now? If that was the case, then for what reason?

There was only one possibility.

“No way… Is he really a Doppelganger?”

White-washed eyes. An unusual flow of mana. Pale skin that was becoming even paler.

“Isn’t this weird?”

YuWon dodged his attacks as he looked at the party members.

“Didn’t you say you were together with him from the start?”

“We did say that…”

“Th-Then was he a Doppelganger since then?”

It was an odd situation. They definitely were with their team captain since before the test started. There was no chance that he could’ve been replaced by a Doppelganger. But then…

“I’m learning this for the first time as well.”

Shwack—

YuWon’s sword sliced between Reinhar’s teammates.

“Did the Doppelganger who copied a player fool itself?”

Fwook—

“Huak!”

“Talia!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Screams were heard from among the team as her head was blown off.

However, an unbelievable occurrence followed this.

Kyaaaaah—!

Glooop—

A scream of pain from being impaled by a sword and the white blood and liquid flesh that flowed away from it.

“…Uh?”

“T-Talia?”

Another one of their teammates had turned into a Doppelganger corpse and crumbled to the ground.

“How about showing yourselves now?” YuWon flicked off the clear Doppelganger blood that drenched his sword. “You Doppelgangers.”

Then…

“Krrk—”

“Kyaark—”

“Kyaaaah—!”

Including Reinhar, all his teammates screamed monstrously and clear liquid started to stream down their faces.

Doppelgangers. Monsters. No, demons that consumed the life of others and possessed their thoughts, emotions, and outer shells.

The test of the 21st Floor was the first time ‘demons’ would be revealed to everyone.

‘As it’s the first time, the death toll is high as well.’

Fwoosh—

[Cinder Eyes reveals the truth.]

YuWon’s eyes could see something.

The base form of the Doppelgangers who had consumed another’s life. After they turned into people, they had made themselves forget that they were Doppelgangers and entered the test.

Although they were demons, they were only low-ranking.

The reason this test was extended this much was because of that fake over there.

‘I’ll figure out the details later…’ YuWon appeared between the Doppelgangers. “Let’s start ending this test.”

Slash—

[Heaven Slaying Star’s completion rate has increased by 0.001%]

[Heaven Slaying Star’s completion rate has increased by 0.001%]

[Heaven Slaying Star’s completion rate…]

The messages kept ringing one after the other. It was a message that hadn’t appeared when he was climbing Susanoo’s Dungeon.

He was curious if the growth had completely stopped since the completion rate had not gone up at all, but now he could be certain of it. Killing an already dead thing that had become an Undead couldn’t increase Heaven Slaying Star.

“O-Over there!”

“Th-The Crystal!”

Multiple players were running furiously towards the Crystal that was stationed at the center of the testing grounds.

They were Doppelgangers with white eyes, proof of being demons, and leaking demonic energy.

The Doppelgangers didn’t just end with Reinhar and his party.

“Kyahak—!”

A Doppelganger that had used the chaos to attack the Crystal reached out its hand for it.

The moment the Crystal was destroyed, there wouldn’t be a point to finding more Doppelgangers… because the test would end with failure.

But…

Stab—

Something stopped the hand of the Doppelganger that had reached for the Crystal.

It was an incorporeal flicker of a purplish flame.

[Heavenly Demon’s Spirit]

Fwooosh—

Boom—!

YuWon’s [Heavenly Demon’s Spirit] that was protecting the Crystal lashed out at the Doppelganger and demolished it without mercy.