Chapter 88: Chapter 88

“Min-Ji, let’s each take on a doppelganger.”

“Yes!”

Jeong-Hoon used his movement technique to get close to a doppelganger.

The doppelganger also used a movement technique and threw a punch at Jeong-Hoon.

The movements were smooth, and the punches were sharp.

Jeong-Hoon skillfully dodged the punches and admired inwardly.

‘Amazing. It can copy this perfectly?’

This time, Jeong-Hoon threw a punch.

Underworld King’s Fist Technique 1st form.

The doppelganger also dodged the punch with minimal movement.

[Doppelganger A uses ‘All Stats Increase’.]

As Doppelganger A used its ability, its aura changed.

[Lv. 206 Doppelganger A]

The doppelganger’s level instantly became 206.

And it started to use martial arts again.

‘It seems it can’t copy abilities.’

If it could copy abilities, it would have pressured him with the Underworld King’s Fist Technique, not just any martial arts.

Because it was the best martial art in existence.

Jeong-Hoon dodged the martial arts and tried to find an opening.

Doppelganger A reached for its waist and then swung it like a whip.

‘Dangerous!’

Jeong-Hoon quickly used his movement technique to widen the distance.

Doppelganger A was holding a dagger in its hand.

So it could even copy classes?

It seemed that all the skills learned through Steadfast Will could be used.

“If that’s how you’re going to play, I’ll crush you with items.”

He didn’t see the need to fight with pride.

[Blackfield is activated.]

As he activated the skill, the floor around Jeong-Hoon turned black.

[All stats are increased by 1.2 times.]

[Due to the effect of Blackfield, all stats of monsters that have entered the area are decreased by 3%.]

Jeong-Hoon’s stats increased by 1.2 times, and conversely, the doppelganger’s stats decreased by 3%.

[Crush him! Smash that damn face!]

‘Damn face?’

Jeong-Hoon frowned slightly.

The doppelganger’s face was Jeong-Hoon’s face.

[No… I meant to smash that poorly imitated face.]

‘Yeah. I’ll crush you later too.’

[I’m sorry!]

Mukho quickly expressed its surrender.

Whoosh!

Even with Blackfield activated, the doppelganger started to pressure Jeong-Hoon.

“Sloppy.”

A sly smile crept onto Jeong-Hoon’s lips.

The doppelganger’s fists couldn’t even graze Jeong-Hoon’s clothes.

The doppelganger was literally a copy of Jeong-Hoon’s specs.

It was impossible for it to copy the experience embedded within those specs.

[All stats are increased by 15%.]

[Damage reduction of 20% is applied.]

[The time limit is ‘1 hour’.]

The Stat Amplification Ring on Jeong-Hoon’s finger.

By using the Stat Amplification Ring, the gap between Jeong-Hoon and the doppelganger was greatly reduced.

That wasn’t all.

The Legendary skill he had obtained through Mukho, Vajra Body.

[Defense is doubled.]

[Evasion is doubled.]

By using Vajra Body, his defense and evasion jumped up by 2 times.

‘Shall I test it out?’

Jeong-Hoon deliberately let the incoming fist hit him without dodging.

Wham!

Hmm?

It felt like…

A cotton ball.

Stat buffs were indeed a cheat.

‘Underworld King’s Fist Technique.’

This time, Jeong-Hoon’s fist hit the doppelganger’s face.

From then on, it was a one-sided beatdown.

As the Underworld King’s Fist Technique unfolded, the doppelganger’s condition became a mess.

[…Wow, he’s beating himself up like that?]

Jeong-Hoon chuckled.

Why would that be me?

It was so pathetic that it was a shame to even call it a doppelganger.

“You bastard!”

The doppelganger, who had been continuously beaten, glared.

Then it used its movement technique to escape from Jeong-Hoon and drew its sword.

But Jeong-Hoon was one step ahead.

‘Underworld King’s Fist Technique 3rd form.’

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique, upgraded to 3rd Star, struck the doppelganger’s abdomen.

“Ugh!”

The doppelganger screamed and swung its sword down.

Whoosh!

[Doppelganger A uses ‘Strike’.]

It was a skill that Jeong-Hoon had learned through swordsmanship.

A skill that strikes with 150% damage.

But the strike hit the innocent floor, not Jeong-Hoon.

Because he had dodged with his movement technique.

‘Its weaknesses are clearly exposed.’

Jeong-Hoon’s fighting style before his return wasn’t about overwhelming with brute force.

It was about hiding his weaknesses as much as possible and attacking the opponent’s openings to achieve victory.

To do that, he had to be self-aware.

It was nearly impossible to suppress Jeong-Hoon with the same techniques.

Whoosh!

Jeong-Hoon’s fist struck the doppelganger’s face once again.

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique continued its combo.

The Underworld King’s Fist Technique, which had risen from 3rd form to 4th form, pummeled the doppelganger’s body.

“Aaagh!”

After being pummeled for a while, the doppelganger couldn’t endure it and disappeared.

Thud.

Two gray crystals fell to the floor as it disappeared.

[Random Enhancement Stone]

– You can obtain the enhancement stone sleeping inside by restoring the gray crystal.

So it was a Random Enhancement Stone.

Jeong-Hoon put the crystals into his inventory.

“Jeong-Hoon! Are you okay?!”

Yeo Min-Ji ran to Jeong-Hoon.

Her condition was not very good.

Her face was so bloody that it was unrecognizable, and some of her armor had been completely destroyed.

It was the aftermath of fighting her doppelganger.

“Are you okay, Min-Ji?”

“Yes. And did you see that just now? I triggered Critical Hit twice!”

She said proudly.

“No. I was too busy fighting my doppelganger to see.”

“…Is that so?”

Jeong-Hoon added, seeing her mutter with a dejected face,

“But two times is amazing.”

“Are you complimenting me because I’m disappointed?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Totally.”

Yeo Min-Ji took a potion from her inventory and drank it.

Her bloody face recovered a bit, but that was all.

“Min-Ji, wait a moment.”

Jeong-Hoon approached her and raised his hand.

[Using Intermediate Healing.]

He used Intermediate Healing on her five times in a row.

Her face returned to normal.

“Jeong-Hoon, you can even use healing?”

Yeo Min-Ji looked at Jeong-Hoon with wide eyes as her body recovered.

What he had just used was healing.

“Yes. I obtained divine power in the tutorial.”

“In the tutorial…?”

“Yes.”

“What were the conditions?!”

“Choose the amulet and clear up to the third stage.”

The beginner’s amulet.

If you chose that amulet and cleared the tutorial up to the third stage, you could obtain divine power.

“What?! How did you get to the third stage with just an amulet? Is that even possible?”

“I worked hard, and it worked.”

“That’s impossible…”

Yeo Min-Ji couldn’t even clear the second stage even though she had chosen knuckles.

It was nearly impossible to fight high-level monsters at level 1 with no experience.

But he cleared the third stage with just an amulet and no weapon?

What kind of person was he?

“More importantly, it seems like you need to help the guild members over there.”

Jeong-Hoon pointed to the three guild members.

Perhaps because the doppelgangers had used stat buffs, they were being overwhelmed.

“…Alright. I’ll go, so you rest here.”

Yeo Min-Ji hurriedly joined the guild members.

* * *

At the same time, Yeo Sunwoo arrived at Lohais territory with his executives.

The reason he had arrived earlier than scheduled was that he had been contacted by Yeo Min-Ji.

“What? It’s Yeo Sunwoo!”

“Yeo Sunwoo?”

“The guild master of Ho-Yeong?!”

“Move!”

“You move!”

Lohais territory was in an uproar at Yeo Sunwoo’s appearance.

Users didn’t hesitate to fight each other to get a closer look at the guild master of Ho-Yeong.

“Sigh, it’s noisy.”

On the other hand, Yeo Sunwoo didn’t like their attention.

His mind was filled with worry about his daughter, Yeo Min-Ji.

“Guild leader, let’s go right away.”

“Okay.”

Ho-Yeong’s guild members pushed the users away and made space.

Thanks to that, Yeo Sunwoo was able to quickly reach Fruhneum.

At the entrance of Fruhneum, he saw his daughter sitting down and resting.

“Min-Ji!”

Yeo Sunwoo hurriedly ran to Yeo Min-Ji.

His beloved wife had passed away early due to illness, and he had vowed to protect his daughter no matter what.

He had said he trusted his daughter, but how could he be a father if he wasn’t worried?

“Father… I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Yeo Min-Ji bowed her head with a gloomy face.

“No. It’s okay. But what happened here?”

“…I was able to survive thanks to Jeong-Hoon.”

She pointed to Jeong-Hoon.

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

Yeo Sunwoo tilted his head in confusion.

No matter how skilled Jeong-Hoon was, he wasn’t at a level where he could save her life.

It should have been the other way around.

However, the explanation that followed from Yeo Min-Ji shocked Yeo Sunwoo greatly.

The executives listening from the side were also shocked.

“A-A trap where you can’t log out…?”

“Yes.”

Yeo Min-Ji nodded.

The trap was a maze, and it was the worst kind of maze, one without an answer.

The only way to break through the maze was to literally break through the walls and pass through, and they were able to escape because Jeong-Hoon had broken through each wall for them.

“…Is that true?”

Yeo Sunwoo called the trapped guild members to confirm the truth.

Even though they hadn’t fully recovered mentally, they gave the same statement as Yeo Min-Ji.

After the statement, the executives took measures to allow them to log out quickly.

The first priority was for their bodies to rest.

“Guild leader… I think we need to file a complaint with New World headquarters about this.”

“We should.”

Yeo Sunwoo’s expression was grim.

People almost died because of their mistake.

He couldn’t just let this kind of mistake slide.

* * *

===

[From the New World Development Team]

– Hello. This is the New World development team.

First of all, we would like to apologize to the users who were caught up in the error.

New World is preparing to bring about a new wave of change, and an error occurred in the process.

We will do our best to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.

– From all of us at the New World development team

===

“That’s it?”

Yeo Sunwoo burst into laughter, then suddenly his face hardened.

His daughter almost lost her life.

And they were going to brush it off with a few words of apology?

“What a shitty game.”

Did they think they were the ones in power?

It was like they were saying, “If you don’t like it, quit.”

“…Should I quit?”

“You can’t!”

Executive Lee Chang-Baek shouted urgently, hearing Yeo Sunwoo’s mutter.

He was an early member who had founded the guild with Yeo Sunwoo and was still active as his right-hand man.

“I know. How could I quit after raising Ho-Yeong to this point?”

“Please don’t scare me like that…”

Lee Chang-Baek truly respected Yeo Sunwoo.

It was all thanks to Yeo Sunwoo’s ability that Ho-Yeong, which had nothing, had risen to this point.

“What’s the search status in Fruhneum?”

“We conducted further searches, and fortunately, no traps were found.”

“That’s a relief. It seems they were dealt with properly.”

“Yes.”

He was quite angry that they only sent a single apology, but it seemed they had handled the situation properly.

“And I’d like to arrange a separate meeting with guild member Jeong-Hoon.”

“With guild member Jeong-Hoon?”

“Yes.”

Jeong-Hoon.

The benefactor who saved Yeo Min-Ji and the guild members.

It was only natural to express gratitude to such a benefactor.

“Please schedule it for 1-2 weeks later. I’m thinking of preparing a list of rewards.”

“1-2 weeks later…? Understood.”

The period was longer than he expected.

That meant they were going to give him a proper reward.

* * *

Ho-Yeong Guild training ground.

“Miss! We can’t find any more traps!”

“Really?”

Yeo Min-Ji’s face brightened at the guild member’s report.

“Yes!”

While Ho-Yeong was searching Fruhneum, the users stationed in Lohais leaked information to World Com.

[I heard Ho-Yeong found a trap?]

– That’s creepy. I went to Fruhneum a few days ago.

└ But isn’t it a bit strange?

└ Only Ho-Yeong guild members went missing.

└ You’re saying that only they got caught in a trap in a dungeon that so many people have been in and out of?

└ Yeah… Something’s strange.

That’s right.

So much time had passed since Fruhneum was opened, but only a handful of people had been caught in the trap.

‘They said it was an error?’

The apology from the New World development team.

Yeo Sunwoo was angry, but Yeo Min-Ji was also angry at the apology.

How could a game enjoyed by so many users make such a fatal error?

And yet, they ended it with a simple apology.

‘…Ha, but the media isn’t covering this at all?’

Ho-Yeong was a large guild and a big name.

Even though such a big name had been affected, the surroundings were quiet, even though she didn’t know what they had done.

The post on World Com was quickly deleted, and soon after, things quieted down.

“Miss…”

“…It’s fine. Let’s just be grateful that everyone is safe.”

She was grateful that everyone was safe.

“Understood.”

“By the way, did you get the camera I asked for?”

“Yes! Here it is!”

He handed her a camera.

Cameras weren’t usually used much.

This was because all users had smart lenses.

All the strategy videos uploaded to World Com were filmed with smart lenses.

Nevertheless, cameras existed because they were used for large events like leagues.

New World cameras were far superior to smart lenses in terms of performance, and their price was also high, so they were rarely used unless it was for competitions.

The reason she had gotten the camera was…

‘I want to film some videos.’

It was because Jeong-Hoon had asked her to.

‘…Suddenly?’

It was a strange request, but it was Jeong-Hoon’s request nonetheless.

‘Yes. Please.’

How could she refuse when the person who saved her life asked her with a serious face?

Honestly, she was willing to do even more than this for him.

Yeo Min-Ji hurriedly sent a whisper to Jeong-Hoon.

———-