Chapter 814

Crack. Rumble.

The ground shook. Clods of dirt and fragments of rock broke away from the towering cliffs and rained down overhead, one after another.

“……Damn it.”

Magic Johnson muttered the words like a groan. The Skeleton King and hundreds of undead blocked the canyon’s exit, crouching low as they stared into the darkness.

More precisely, at the countless enemies approaching from beyond it.

Fwoooosh.

I steadied my breathing and heightened my Qi Sense, sharpening my senses to take in everything around me.

The depth and force of the tremors traveling through the ground. The wind blowing from the west, and the smell it carried. And the sounds.

They were too far away for me to judge their exact number or strength, but I was certain of one thing.

They’re not monsters.

That left only one possibility. The Doppelganger sensed my gaze and bared its bloodstained teeth in a grin.

“Humans are such strange creatures. They’ll throw their lives away for a being they’ve never even seen, calling it a god. All it takes is a few solemn words, and they’re weeping buckets.”

“Fanatics……”

“I liked this land from the start. It was a good place to make plans and cover them up. Most of all, it was crawling with people willing to give their very souls to religion. It was astonishingly easy to win the faith of fools like that.”

Squirm. Crack.

The cleanly severed stump of its wrist twitched. Through the gaps in its shattered armor, I could see fresh, pale flesh already growing over the dagger wound in its chest.

It wasn’t a potion. It wasn’t magic.

And yet, even now, its broken body was healing.

An unbelievable rate of recovery—obviously not human. The power of Regeneration, enough to make anyone suspicious.

But the fanatics who had been launching terrorist attacks around the world since before the Great Cataclysm would have seen it differently.

Perhaps they’d glimpsed the shadow of a god in the Doppelganger, who used mana and had the same red blood and flesh as they did.

“A miracle.”

Its voice rang out, brimming with excitement. The Doppelganger stared at me with blazing eyes and continued.

“To them, I am not a monster but a miracle itself—the Prophet who will lead them to the promised land.”

“……!”

“They’ll fight until the very last one falls. For their god. And for me.”

I didn’t argue with the Doppelganger’s confident claim.

It was the truth.

No matter what we did, a clash was inevitable.

The Doppelganger had planted its followers in this desert far earlier than I’d expected. The wave of fanatics that began there had already shaken the world through terrorism.

So even if I told them the truth about the Doppelganger, nothing would change.

If a few words were enough to make them see reason, they wouldn’t be fanatics.

This was the work of a monster and a bunch of madmen. And right now, I was nothing but a heretic who had to be killed.

A heretic persecuting the great Prophet chosen by God.

“Then there’s only one thing left to do.”

I muttered evenly, staring at the Doppelganger. It understood what I meant, and the corners of its mouth curled upward.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Yeah?”

Thud!

As I spoke, I thrust my dagger forward, piercing its heart.

Its limbs were bound, so it couldn’t dodge. The Doppelganger merely frowned and sighed.

“Give it a rest. That hurts like hell.”

Crack.

The severed muscles and shattered bones returned to their proper places. Bright red blood filled the gaps, and smooth skin, like a child’s, grew over it.

It healed at a staggering speed, as if a video were playing in fast-forward.

Even the great shards of bone that had pierced its limbs and pinned it deep into the cliff shifted slightly, pushed by the flesh and bone growing around them.

The countless Level windows I’d seen with the Truthful Eye—and could still see now—meant far more than they appeared to.

Other lives.

They were fuel, but they were also the lives of the victims the Doppelganger had devoured.

Like an arcade game character that came back to life whenever you fed it a coin, the bastard could keep reviving.

But it’s not truly immortal.

I twisted the dagger still in my hand. Heat surged from my dantian, raced through my acupoints, and flowed into the blade.

Thud—boom!

Scorching Yang Qi poured through the dagger buried deep in its chest and exploded inside the Doppelganger.

Its heart had already been pierced once, yet it had recovered as if nothing could kill it. Now the heart was crushed completely, and the clear bell I’d been waiting for rang in my ear.

Ding.

System

Defeated Lv. 120 Yamamoto Genji!

Gained a significant amount of EXP!

“……!”

One life faded, and a new one took its place.

The Doppelganger was still grinning. Behind its melting skin, another unfamiliar face was ready to emerge.

“Imagine that. Jin Taekyung killed Genji. Japan’s going to lose its mind when they hear about this.”

“Shut your mouth.”

A low nose bridge. Crooked teeth visible inside its mouth.

Judging by features distinctive even among East Asians, this had to be a Hunter from J1—one of the team thought to have been wiped out apart from Yamamoto Genji.

“Come to think of it, I forgot to introduce myself. Nice to meet you. I’m Hiroshi Inoue. I spent my childhood in Nagasaki, then moved to Tokyo……”

I grabbed it by the throat and twisted hard.

Its neck bones shattered under my grip, and its head bent at a grotesque angle.

Ding. Another bell rang, and the twisted head straightened. The face, smiling coyly, belonged to a woman I’d never seen before.

“Oh, did you know? This woman was the lover of the man you just killed. Looks like they were planning to get married this year.”

“……!”

My hand stopped dead, as if someone had hit a pause button. The Doppelganger whistled, clearly enjoying itself.

“Wow. So passionate. Humans really are amazing when it comes to things like this. We could learn a thing or two.”

“……You.”

“Ah, sorry. I apologize if that made you uncomfortable. But what can I do? It’s my ability.”

I clenched my teeth.

The Doppelganger hadn’t just absorbed its victims’ appearances. It could reproduce their abilities exactly as they’d had them in life—and it had their memories, too.

Those memories, spilling from its mouth, dug into my chest like an awl and made me hesitate.

Crack.

Blood seeped between my clenched teeth.

Beyond the canyon, the tremors had grown stronger, and I could feel a fierce killing intent. In front of me, a monster that came back no matter how many times I killed it was smiling faintly.

“Jin!”

Magic Johnson’s urgent shout struck my eardrums. The smile on the Doppelganger’s face deepened.

“This is your last chance.”

“What?”

“Right now is your last chance to run and survive.”

“……!”

Whoosh.

The cool desert wind brushed my face. It felt as if I’d been doused in cold water.

The Doppelganger shrugged at me as I stood frozen like a statue.

“I understand. It’d hurt your pride. You’d be embarrassed. But if you die here like the rest of those humans, would that be a pointless death—or a noble sacrifice by a hero?”

“……That’s……”

“You have to look at the bigger picture. You’re the World Hunter Federation’s Alliance Leader. The one and only light and hope who can save this world, like someone from the past. Aren’t you?”

Its gentle voice tickled my ear, like a snake coaxing me to steal and eat the forbidden apple.

The Doppelganger’s low whisper wound softly around my whole body.

“Run. And survive.”

Rumble.

The canyon shook. The footsteps of countless fanatics—and the hooves of the camels they rode—were approaching from the darkness beyond.

“Think of your family and friends. Can you even imagine how much sorrow and pain they’ll suffer because of your death?”

“……Sorrow and pain?”

“That’s right. You’ve been through it yourself.”

My lips moved without a sound.

Sorrow and pain over someone’s death. Yeah, I’d been through it. It had shaken me so badly I’d felt close to falling apart.

“No one will blame you. Even I respect everything you’ve done. So even now……”

The eyes of the nameless woman—or rather, the Doppelganger—sparkled.

“Run.”

“Allahu Akbar!”¹

The mighty roar of countless voices merging into one rang across the darkening desert.

Brilliant light shimmered around Magic Johnson, while hundreds of undead stared with dimly glowing eyes at the waves of fanatics surging toward them.

And I……

Let go of the Doppelganger’s neck.

Step.

I took a step back and saw it smiling at me. It spoke gently, as if to a child.

“Good. You made the right choice.”

I found myself muttering.

“Is this the best option?”

“It has to be.”

“Good. Then I’m glad.”

I nodded, then murmured under my breath.

“Open. Summon.”

“Hm?”

Shhk!

As it asked its empty question, the Doppelganger’s head flew into the air.

A new face rose onto its shoulders as if someone had turned a page, and blinked.

The heat blazing around White Flame’s spearhead cast a reddish glow in its eyes.

“What the fuck are you, some Ditto from a failed link trade? Quit trying to pull that crap on me.”

Only then did the Doppelganger understand what had happened. It sighed.

“You crazy bastard……”

“Got anything more original? I’ve heard that one so many times I’m sick of it.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“That’s what I want to ask you.”

“What?”

“You started spouting nonsense from the get-go, and I wondered what the hell was going on. But the more I listened, the more curious I got. You’re the first monster I’ve ever seen telling a human to run. For a second, I almost called you Mom, you son of a bitch.”

“……”

“What the hell are you? You’re trying so hard not to get caught, but you keep giving yourself away. So I know you’re stupid—but what do you actually want?”

A brief silence followed. The Doppelganger stared at me without a word, then furrowed its brow.

“Damn it. This has gone to shit. Why are you so reckless? You want to be remembered by history as a hero who made a noble sacrifice?”

“Quit talking out of your ass and answer me. My dream is to be the head of a longevity village.”

“Then why the hell……!”

Scree!

A cry rang out from the sky, swallowing the Doppelganger’s unfinished words.

It naturally looked up at the sky, and its eyes suddenly widened.

“……What’s that?”

I already knew what the Doppelganger was seeing.

Before the forces split up, I’d used Sound Transmission to give the Skeleton King direct orders.

“They’re a little late, but they made it just in time.”

Screee!

Dozens of eagles and griffins glided over the canyon with their wings spread wide.

On the backs of the enormous flying beasts, I could see the Hunters who should have gone east.