Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Doppelganger Seed
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Kane, who seemed to have already grasped the meaning of my words, leaped forward like a swift leopard and drew his sword in one fluid motion, swinging it straight for the swordsman's neck.
“What in the world!”
The swordsman, who had been particularly on edge, barely parried Kane's attack and stumbled back a few steps before clumsily coating his blade in aura to counter.
“As expected, you're not used to handling that body properly, are you?”
After casting force shields on Kane and Luna first, I ignored the doppelgangers reacting sluggishly with bewildered expressions and chanted binding spells to snag the ankles of those cleverly trying to surround Kane and Luna, sneering all the while.
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”
Ignoring the young man who raised both hands in a daze and backed away, I placed my hand on the codex.
“By the power of truth.”
A colorless magic missile glowing white materialized beside my ear, and it felt like an aiming reticle popped up in one corner of my mind.
Just in case, I targeted the druid first with the magic missile in anticipation of providing ranged support, then hurled it forward.
“Stop… just stop. Ugh!”
The middle-aged man in fur robes took a hit to the gut and crashed into the wall before collapsing motionless to the floor.
I reinforced Luna's force shield once more after she kicked away the assassin's dagger and spun to shatter their shin with a heel strike, then cast grease beneath the feet of the hunter trying to snare Kane with a net.
Luna and Kane blocked approaches from all directions toward me, while I began compensating for our numerical disadvantage with force shields and support spells.
Even if we traded blows one-for-one, our attacks would land while I blocked theirs with shields, making the 3-to-7 numbers irrelevant.
Besides, those doppelgangers might have the adventurers' memories from devouring them, but they clearly had no experience properly controlling those bodies.
The strongest fighter, the swordsman, hesitated in his attacks, and the assassin lacked any stealth, so I could neutralize their lethal strikes with shields.
The archer and druid didn't even have a bow or animals to begin with, so they were out of basic combat.
Kane handled the hunter and swordsman, while Luna took the dwarf warrior and assassin.
The druid was knocked out early, and the young man who seemed to handle miscellaneous tasks was sniffling and trying to talk us down.
“Anyway, you only need to leave one mouth alive to talk.”
“What are you saying, seriously! Are you crazy? Or are you the doppelganger?”
“Please… please stop, please…….”
“Hmph! I knew this rabbit girl was suspicious from the start!”
If it weren't for me, how would anyone figure this out with difficulty this bullshit? For a labyrinth, shouldn't it be classic stuff like a minotaur, lots of forks in the path, that sort of thing?
Thanks to my user's eye, I spotted it early, but I'd deliberately pulled out food to give Luna and Kane hints.
Swallowing hard or eyeing it greedily—normal human reactions I used as bait to provoke them, but most wouldn't have noticed.
Monsters that look indistinguishable from humans at a glance.
And everyone except me, Kane, and Luna was a doppelganger, so any other party would've collapsed from infighting.
‘The suspicious part was how they, despite outnumbering us, tried so hard to persuade our side. Something felt off.’
Like a macro, I randomly bound or slipped the hunter, swordsman, dwarf, and assassin's feet with grease and bindings to disrupt their balance, regenerating shields whenever Kane or Luna's wore down from attacks.
“Ow! Damn it!”
“Better fall back!”
“Mister can't handle that rabbit bitch alone!”
Perhaps because Luna had half-crushed the assassin's shin with a stomp, the assassin staggered in retaliation, prompting the dwarf to swing his axe to check Luna.
Kane accelerated in an instant to sever the hand of the hunter tossing a smoke bomb, then smacked away the swordsman's aura—shaking with fear at the blade's tip—and retreated.
“So the real ones are over there, huh?”
Seeing Luna and Kane struggling, I flashed a burst of light at the archer—who had no bow yet was hanging back to protect someone—blinding them briefly before firing a wind arrow.
“Urk!”
“Ugh… uwaaaah!”
Blinded by the sudden flash, the archer twisted blindly and took the wind arrow meant for the young man with their own body.
Red blood sprayed, splattering the young man's face and mixing with his tears to streak long lines down to his cheeks.
“Stop it! That one's basically a civilian!”
“What civilian? At this point, they should know when to quit. Do I look crazy to you? You're all doppelgangers.”
“What, no… no, we're not…! Stop!”
“Not you? Then I guess we have to destroy the evidence. Gotta kill you all?”
I laughed haha and flipped through the codex, floating magic missiles and elemental arrows in the air and aiming their tips at them, causing their blood-smeared cheeks to drain pale white.
This is what I love about the codex. With enough money, you get overwhelming volume that high-speed chanting can't match.
“Stop! Please stop! We surrender. We lost. We…….”
“Mister… but! Ack!”
In the end, at the young man's tearful scream, the assassin spun around with a shrill cry, only to get kicked back by Luna and sent tumbling.
“Killing several at the altar doesn't yield more loot anyway! Please spare them, I beg you…….”
The swordsman, who had been pushed back as the hunter struggled to cover with his severed hand, took a deep gash to the side and a mortal wound, while the dwarf warrior's axe edge was chipped from striking Luna's shield or the floor instead of her nimble form.
The druid lay utterly still in the corner from my early attack, and the young man had been the weakest in combat from the start.
They really were too weak, and something about their vibe felt off.
“Stop for now and fall back, both of you.”
At my words, Luna retreated while panting roughly and wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
Kane shook the blood from his blood groove like flicking off water and slowly backed up, positioning himself to block their view of me.
“Sorry, mister.”
“It's okay…….”
“Clan head. Don't cry so much.”
“Stop crying, idiot. Who's dying right now? Mister, don't cry.”
[%$#—Doppelganger's Seed]
Main Traits: [Replication (D+)] [Gentleness (A)]
Hidden Traits: [Versatility (A)] [Cooking (S)] [Dignity (C+)]
[Kish—Doppelganger replicating Kish]
Main Traits: [Replication (A)] [Agility (A)] [Acting (B)]
Hidden Traits: [Assassination (C)] [Endurance (B)]
…
…
[Trau—Doppelganger replicating Trau]
Main Traits: [Replication (B)] [Axe Mastery (B)] [Strength (B)]
Hidden Traits: [Drinking (C)] [Dance (C)]
So that guy really was the key figure.
I hummed thoughtfully, alternating between the traits of the sobbing young man herding the other doppelgangers back and the rest.
“Anyone looking would think we're the villains. Why the tears.”
I smirked with just the corner of my mouth, flashing my villainous face for the first time in ages, and the young man—eyes now puffy—looked at me.
“Th-that's not what I meant… Sorry.”
“Then how about one of you come over and reopen negotiations?”
The young man tore strips from his clothes to bind the others' wounds, then at my words wiped his eyes with his sleeve and stood. The other doppelgangers grabbed at him.
“I'll go, I'm better than mister.”
“What are you saying. I should go. Clan head, stay put.”
While they bickered, I made sure to hydrate Luna and Kane, feed them potions, apply salves—caring for them meticulously—then pulled out two new chairs and a table to replace the ones smashed in the fight.
Weirdly, primary-processed flour doesn't spoil even if stored, but juices or lunchboxes lose flavor over time in subspace, tasting like eraser.
Pulling out cookies at a time like this would be so stylish.
Instead of cookies, I just set out water, sat in a chair with my chin propped, and spoke again.
“Ah, you there. Come here. You seem like the most important one.”
I pointed at the Doppelganger's Seed with my finger, and they all glared murderously at me.
“If we were gonna kill you, you wouldn't be here already. Not killing you for now, so just come.”
“Yeah. Don't worry too much, just rest, everyone.”
With his steamed-bun face still wet with tears, the seed shuffled over. I nodded at the chair, and he approached awkwardly, sat, and eyed the water bottle.
“First, a name?”
I glanced at the %$# visible in the trait window.
It really looks like the text is glitched.
“I don't have one yet…….”
“No name? Then what do I call you?”
“Just call me whatever's comfortable…….”
I glanced at Kane and Luna, seeing him pale even whiter, then took a sip of water and smiled.
“Then, let's start with the easy questions. Why are you all here?”
At my words, he slowly raised his reddened eyes to meet mine.
* * *
She often grumbled. “This is unfair.” I didn't know what that meant, but I hated seeing Kish upset, so I'd always stroke her back and whisper along.
“Yeah. It's too unfair.”
How long had we been trapped here? Were the other groups trapped too? Or did an “outside” even exist?
Even groping back to the farthest edge of my memories, this chilly cave—bright yet dark—always surfaced first.
Back then, I was tiny and gelatinous, unable to do anything.
“It hurts… it hurts. Why can't we kill them first?”
“Because the labyrinth's master doesn't want that.”
Someone in the group said we were being punished. An endless punishment.
Even if adventurers stumbled into this floor by chance, we could never attack them.
Suspicion and prejudice. Public opinion and deception forced them to kill each other, letting us devour the remains to boost our strength slightly and rest for a while.
When we non-humans cornered them, they'd strangle or burn us.
As long as they didn't use magic to erase us, I could revive them, so we couldn't even die.
Ah… Am I the one dooming them to never die?
I'm their seed—why do I only wither them instead of letting them bloom?
With my unique empathy ability that normal doppelgangers lack, I swallowed their felt depression and misery, pretending brightly instead.
“Baby, don't swallow it.”
“Don't forget. We have replication. We're not just parasites living off others' lives.”
“Baby, don't swallow someone's memories and live as them.”
“Just live as your own self, baby.”
We only took tiny bits of blood, tears, and life—not enough to fully replicate memories—so instead of a wobbly blob, I took on a crude human shape. I smiled and nodded at their words, but coldly wondered inside.
‘What can we even do, living like this?’
Had a thousand nights passed? Ten thousand?
The first change amid countless repeating days that only I sensed. That I knew…
“Baby, look. Words appeared on the altar after so long.”
“Must be a special message from the labyrinth's master.”
“If we kill just one of the newcomers—or make them suspect and scatter—we can send one of us out.”
Why? Suddenly? Why now?
Sometimes, messages appeared on the altar like trades.
We'd get books or new clothes then.
Like lab rats being raised, or prisoners locked and watched.
That ominous thought flashing through my mind.
“Somehow, I feel uneasy. Let's not rush.”
“What are you saying, clan head. This is the most urgent moment since we got here.”
“Yeah, baby. Do you know how great the outside is? You don't even know the sea, baby. Just wait. We'll get you out.”
What meaning would it have without you all?
When they insisted on forcing a kill—even grabbing ankles if needed—I smiled awkwardly.
I knew well through empathy that we, fed only on people who'd killed each other here while trapped, were like kids wielding ill-fitting swords.
And that unease stabbed us like thorns in the end.
‘Kill them all.’
Even if our bodies tore apart, as long as no magic, I thought.
‘No!’
They're different.
I realized instinctively. True death I couldn't revive stood before us.
‘God, please…….’
Unable to properly learn anything since no one ate, in the end, I……
Am I your burden?