Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Naming Zero
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Everyone's memories... from the very beginning, it was here...
Why they were dragged here, where they were before that. The rest was hazy, and even that didn't seem certain.
The only thing they knew for sure was that they'd been trapped here for countless nights, used by someone.
I gathered the blood they'd shed copiously and poured it into the altar's basin, opening the portal out, before speaking up.
"You were trapped that long... so why didn't you ever try to escape?"
"The labyrinth's master set a spell that only lets adventurers through."
"I see. So why do they call you baby or progenitor?"
"Because I'm the origin... Those near me, if they die from physical damage, either after time passes or if I reclaim them right there, they return to me as seeds."
Was that even possible? The question popped into my head, but before I could ask, I realized my own existence here was the most impossible thing of all, so I just decided to accept it.
"And when they return as seeds, are they the same self as before death?"
"Mostly. But if they eat a person and mimic them, they take on a mindset closer to the mimicked person's than their past memories."
"Got it. Go stand over there for a bit."
After hearing all that and asking a few more questions, I handed them potions and food for now, then sank into thought.
'Something's definitely off.'
Nothing concrete came together yet. But if I had to put it into words, it felt like a single hair inside my clothes—something trivial but insanely irritating.
Their words didn't feel like lies. It was just the situation surrounding us that rubbed me the wrong way.
Starting with the very existence of this labyrinth's master, and the fact that they were targeting us.
None of it sat well.
'Really, should I just smash the whole thing?'
It might be impossible right now, but if I raised Kane properly, a mere 99-floor labyrinth would be nothing.
As I mulled it over, I kept up a casual smile and glanced at Kane.
"But how did you know?"
He must have figured out I'd lured them with food, right?
At my question, Kane answered with his expressionless face.
"Breathing patterns. Thinking back now, we were all together in this space for so long that we picked up each other's habits. Plus, there was no sense of someone who'd trained their body."
"Ah! That's what that was... I get it now..."
Uh, I had no clue what he was talking about.
Luna seemed to understand and pouted slightly, hurt that she hadn't noticed first.
I watched the rabbit-turned-duck, then nodded along like I got it too—"Ah, yeah, I know the one"—before turning to the doppelgangers huddled in the corner, healed up and awaiting our judgment.
From what they'd said, they seemed less like special monsters and more like a special race.
The basic distinction here between monsters and demi-humans was whether they had an innate hostility toward humans. So pureblood orcs counted as monsters even if they could talk, while half-breeds were demi-humans.
'But aside from their replication ability, it's hard to see them as monsters at all.'
If they'd been actively hunting people, fine. But seven of them—even with Kane—got wiped by three because of the skill gap.
Even if they copied a human's body and memories, combat wasn't just motions; it was sensory, and they fell way short there.
If they'd really grown by just eating the corpses pushed on them like they claimed, they wouldn't have been that sloppy at human hunting.
Plus, if they had hostility toward humans baked in, they would've jumped us instead of trying to talk their way out.
Recalling how they'd just flapped their mouths earlier to make us suspect each other, it almost made me feel like the villain here.
Well, pretending to buy it while knowing full well—that was prime black幕 material, wasn't it?
And those few with rough attitudes? If anything, they just seemed tense and scared.
"Hmm..."
Look at that. Even at my thoughtful hum, their eyes sparkled, watching warily like I might yell "Off with their heads!" any second.
After getting thrashed by us once, the option of rebellion was straight-up deleted. Seeing them huddled like that...
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kane narrowed his brows, a hint of displeasure showing, so I smiled like I hadn't heard and spoke up.
"You need to escape being the baby bro, too."
"What?"
Honestly, yeah. Luna was my first maid, so join order was obviously Luna, then Kane.
Hierarchy: me, Luna, Kane.
What kind of baby bro glares like that?
'Plus, ultimately, to build Kane on the lord tree, we'll need separate personnel.'
What was a lord? Obviously, the term didn't apply to someone alone.
Lord. Sovereign. Emperor.
In the end, they needed to command a nation—at least a sizable group—for the title to stick.
Even in innocent mode, lord trees meant diving into territory war content, no exceptions.
'So obviously, we need forces.'
But telling human-distrusting Kane to just up and lead people?
'Yeah. Disaster.'
Past alert messages flashed by like a life review, making my head spin for a second.
Kane, who only ever spammed "I don't want to talk to humans," had at least made progress through restaurant orders and village errands, but his core hadn't changed.
Look at his personality. Innate charisma or charm would draw people easily at first.
But would it last?
Kane was the type who couldn't be a friendly social butterfly if he came back to life a hundred times.
He stuck with me now because he owed me and swore loyalty; basically, he was a lone wolf, high and mighty.
Plaster people around him by force? Useless. I'd bet anything.
'Not even ten.'
So how to climb the lord tree?
Make each of those ten lead their own legions.
'Multi-level marketing, go.'
The answer was MLM. Kane's minimum crew had to be people who each led their own group or race.
I beckoned the still-nameless doppelganger progenitor, marked as %$#.
"Wanna get out?"
"Yes? Yes, I do... but there's no way."
Ah, the way's on me.
With a look like he still didn't get it, I thought, you'll see.
Having all these traits made it too convenient. No need for long explanations; they just assumed I had something up my sleeve.
Ah, sure, not the method you expected, though.
I grinned and opened my mouth.
"Even if you give them unreasonable orders, they won't betray you? What if they do?"
At my question, the young man—who'd never even considered it—pondered deeply, then nodded.
"That they would. They all respect me. Plus, for kin within a certain radius, I can force them back to original form at my will, or if they've used too much power and are exhausted, reclaim one core per day forcibly."
"Then, outside of the doppelgangers here, if you meet others out there, you could bring them under you?"
"If any kin are left outside."
I gazed at his docile face, brows drooping innocently without malice.
"The power to revive seeds after they die—is it mana? What if you die?"
"Ah, that's..."
I asked a few more minor things, then beamed.
"Alright. Wanna contract with me?"
Charrlk.
I spun the Kruger ring once, pulled a divine contract from the large sub-space, and at a sudden premonition, called to Kane.
"To swear, you need a name, right? Kane, give him one."
"Me?"
"Yeah. He's gonna be your junior."
They hadn't dared name their progenitor until now.
Naming was for parents or godparents—from this world's view, a clear superior like a lord they served.
'Not for nothing that named mobs differ from regular ones in-game.'
"Then, Nerd. Ugh."
Thwack, dude. Do it right.
At my words, Kane scowled like it was a hassle, then dropped a name with apocalyptic naming sense. I immediately kicked his shin, then gestured to the progenitor blinking at us to wait.
"Think properly and say it. Yeah?"
He'd be your limb, my chef slave, future intel chief, etc.
At least give a decent name so I hear less complaints?
"Then, Zero."
"Why that?"
Worried he'd slapped it together, I pressed, and Kane answered with an annoyed look.
"He said he's their beginning and end."
Ah, got it. Like a snake eating its tail—a circle.
I put my positive spin on it, then spoke to him staring blankly at me.
"Hear that? From now on, you're Zero."
[Zero - Doppelganger's Beginning and End]
Representative Traits: [Replication(D+)] [Kindness(A)]
Hidden Traits: [Ever-Changing(A)] [Cooking(S)] [Dignity(C+)]
I waved the divine contract at Zero, who wore a strange expression.
* * *
"Excuse me... are you a devil?"
"Close enough."
What nonsense.
I elbowed Kane's side to push him back and laughed hahaha.
"No way, right?"
Even at my kind smile, Zero's face stayed pale, no change.
The other doppelgangers behind looked like a nationless people.
Ah, that's why you should've read the contract before signing. I wrote it all out.
"'Obey until death,' 'compensation at my discretion,' 'rescue method delegated to me.'"
That's why you don't stamp seals lightly.
"No... even so, that's just too devilish..."
As Zero mumbled his protest, I showed my palm and shrugged.
"Any issues?"
"No... but killing us all and making us into seeds to get out..."
"You can revive anyway."
"You're killing me too..."
"If it's not by magic, you'll probably revive, right?"
At my confident words, Zero answered with a soul-lost face.
"You said 'probably'..."
"I believe in you, Zero. You can come back. Right? You're the progenitor, after all."
I patted the shoulder of Zero, who seemed unsure since he'd never died, then slung an arm around him like a friendly back-alley bro and whispered.
"Isn't this a great chance to test how to revive fastest?"
Luna's face twisted like she'd misheard for a second. She'd even stopped pretending to watch and gaped at me.
But when I stared firmly, she slapped both hands over her mouth and turned away.
What? Did I say something wrong?
He mumbled something about being happy with his kin even in this prison-like place... I smiled warmly.
"I'll collect the corpses, take 'em out, and feed 'em back, so no worries. Revive and it'll be a new world, yeah?"
"Can we discuss first..."
Zero slumped his shoulders and huddled with the others, whispering.
"Young master... but is it really possible?"
I waited for their farewell chat, then looked at Luna sidling up to ask.
"What?"
"Taking them out... and they're monsters. Won't we just unleash a disaster?"
Eh, doubt it.
If they were real disaster-class monsters, the evil god cult would've sniffed them out and used them somehow.
'Plus...'
That tech the evil god cult used to infiltrate the academy and palace.
'No matter how I think, it seems like they used doppelgangers for it.'
Meaning, high chance the labyrinth master and evil god cult were linked, and since they never showed in-game to the end, at least not Kane's enemies.
"If you're worried, just get super strong and protect me, Luna. Right?"
"Y-Yes!"
I patted her grinning nod, then turned to Zero, back with goat eyes like he was being dragged off somewhere.
"Alright... just one request."
"What?"
At my question, Zero answered with a look of total surrender, poignantly.
"Please... kill me gently..."