Doppelganger Grororo
Han Ji-woo had no idea just how high the Ogre King's stats were, but he figured his current self could handle it just fine. The only issue was...
What if that guy's the real Ogre King?
The Ogre King had treated Han Ji-woo like a friend and cherished him. Thanks to him, Han Ji-woo had even survived near-death experiences before. In short, he was a lifesaver.
But if this really was the Ogre King, wouldn't killing him be repaying kindness with enmity?
That worry vanished in an instant, though.
A name like that was floating above the Ogre King's head.
This guy was a doppelganger named Grororo.
Gr times three in the name? That's one weird name.
Whatever the case, now that he knew it wasn't the real Ogre King, Han Ji-woo approached without hesitation and swung his whip.
Snap!
The whip struck the doppelganger disguised as the Ogre King right on the shoulder. An immense impact sank deep into its flesh, exposing bone.
"Gaaahhh!"
A scream erupted from it—one Han Ji-woo had never heard before.
Easier than I thought!
To writhe in agony from just one lash? Han Ji-woo, built like a tank himself, wrapped the whip around his waist and equipped the Black Hwa Sword. With his robe billowing, he dashed to Grororo's face and gouged out both eyes.
Splat!
"Aaaahhh! My eeeeyes! My eeeeyes!"
Both massive eyeballs burst, blood and viscous fluid streaming down.
With its vision gone, no more duplicates spawned from Grororo's body. It thrashed in pain, flailing its fists wildly.
But...
Slow!
To Han Ji-woo, whose stats had skyrocketed, it looked like slow motion. After ending his flight and landing, he sliced Grororo's right ankle with the Black Hwa Sword and the left with the Ultimate Beast Sword.
Slice! Chop!
"Aaaahhh!"
Grororo screamed even louder and toppled forward.
Thud!
Its massive body crashed into the forest, causing a minor tremor as trees snapped and splintered everywhere.
"It hurts! Hurts so muuuch!"
Like a child, Grororo just kept repeating that it hurt while flailing to get back up. The sight genuinely pissed Han Ji-woo off.
"You bastard. Do you have any idea how many monsters died because of you? You happily stole other monsters' lives, but now that your own body's getting carved up, you cry about the pain?!"
The moment Grororo propped itself up with both arms...
Slice! Slice!
Both hands were severed at the wrists.
Thud!
As it tried to rise halfway only to slam back down, Grororo wailed in searing agony.
"Uwaaah! Stop! Pleeease!"
But Han Ji-woo showed no mercy, mounting Grororo's back to swing again—
Screeech! Squeak! Roooar!
Duplicates charged from all directions. Hundreds of them, at least! Grororo's final desperate struggle.
"Master!"
Sasuri cried out. He couldn't see Han Ji-woo, but from the situation, he was definitely on the Ogre King's back. He tried to fly to protect his master, but his wrecked body wouldn't obey.
"Urgh!"
His wings were rags, unable to catch the air no matter how he flapped, and one broken leg made jumping impossible.
Then...
ROOOAR!
Seibier roared past Sasuri. The golden goblin Jami, who'd been following close behind, struck a fighting pose and shouted.
"Help Ji-woo! We can't let him get hurt!"
"...Golden goblin?"
Sasuri shot Jami a puzzled look. Jami finally noticed Sasuri and jumped in surprise.
"Ah! N-No, it's not like I was running away or anything. I, uh, well..."
"Thanks."
"...Pardon?"
Jami blinked in shock, but Sasuri just turned his worried gaze back toward Han Ji-woo. He wondered why this guy suddenly cared so much about his master's safety, but now wasn't the time for chit-chat. Sasuri just hoped Han Ji-woo stayed safe too.
Meanwhile, Seibier crossed the sky and unleashed lightning on the clustering duplicates.
Flash! Boom!
A high-pressure barrage of lightning burst from its gaping maw, slamming into the horde. It was the Lightning Breath gained from the Blue Dragon's heart.
Grrrk! Keeek!
It was like thunder from a clear sky. Dozens of duplicates struck by the bolts crumbled to black ash.
But the unannounced disaster didn't end there.
Flash! Flash! Flash! Flash! KABOOM!
Lightning Breath fired four more times in succession. Each blast lit the world white and shook the earth. The silent screams of the duplicates echoed four times in quick succession, and a whopping 170 of them fell like harvested rice in autumn, dead on the spot.
By then, duplicates had densely surrounded Han Ji-woo. But even outnumbered, he felt no threat. His pumped-up base stats were cheat-level, and thanks to Invisible, they couldn't even see him.
The duplicates encircled him but flailed at empty air, clueless to his position.
Han Ji-woo swapped the Black Hwa Sword for the Ink Blood Whip again.
Grip.
Veins bulged on his hand as he clenched the whip.
"Hah!"
With a mighty shout, he swung it wide.
Snap!
The elongated whip arced at lightning speed across a 100-meter radius.
Crack!
Every duplicate in range split in half, spilling blood and guts. The corpses vaporized and absorbed into the fallen Grororo.
Seibier and Han Ji-woo's pincer attack had halved the duplicates. Still, over three hundred remained.
A black mist descended over them—acidic gas strong enough to melt steel. Seibier's Acid Breath.
Kieee! Gwargh!
Exposed duplicates screamed their throats raw as they collapsed. Their skin melted away, exposing flesh, then organs and bones, until nothing remained. Perfect dissolution.
Five consecutive Acid Breaths spread the black fog wide, leaving only dozens alive.
Han Ji-woo ignored them and finished mangling Grororo.
Slice! Stab! Crack!
"Aaaahhh!"
All limbs severed, only the torso remained. Blood gushed from the stumps.
Then, the surviving duplicates dissolved and absorbed into Grororo. With life hanging by a thread, it couldn't maintain them anymore.
No duplicates left.
Truth be told, Han Ji-woo could've beheaded Grororo instantly if he wanted. But he'd kept it alive on purpose—to get answers about this mess.
"Jami! Drop the magic!"
"Got it!"
Jami, watching from afar, complied. Han Ji-woo's hidden form appeared.
Seibier zoomed in, rubbing its head against him. It had polymorphed back to chubby form mid-flight.
Han Ji-woo lightly patted the chubby's head and asked Grororo,
"Hey, doppelganger. Why'd you pull this crap?"
"...How'd you know I'm a doppelganger?"
"That matter? Answer the question."
Stab.
Han Ji-woo prodded its back lightly.
"Aaaah! I-I'll talk! I'll talk!"
As expected, this thing was pathetically weak to pain.
"Huff. Huff. I... wanted to rule the Dungeon Prison. That's it."
What a simple, stupid reason.
Han Ji-woo asked something else.
"The Ogre King? Where is he?"
"D-Dead."
"...What?"
Anger welled up in Han Ji-woo. Sensing the ominous aura, Grororo hurried on.
"N-Not me! Old age! I swear!"
"Really...? The Ogre King's dead? For sure?"
"Yes! I saw it with my own two eyes!"
"...Sigh."
Han Ji-woo let out a deep sigh despite himself and closed his eyes briefly.
I owed him my life.
The Ogre King had left without giving him a chance to repay it. Monster or not, his death left Han Ji-woo's chest heavy.
After a moment mourning, Han Ji-woo opened his eyes.
"So? You pretended to be the dead Ogre King to take over the Dungeon Prison?"
"Y-Yeah."
"That's really it?"
Stab!
Han Ji-woo poked again.
"Aaaak! For real! I swear!"
Then Jami climbed onto Grororo's back and yelled,
"You're Grororo, right?"
"That voice... the thief."
"Yep. Calling me 'thief' to the end."
Han Ji-woo's gaze shifted to Jami.
"This the doppelganger you said got experimented on with you by the lich?"
"Yes. But it couldn't transform into anything bigger than itself back then. What happened, you?"
"Urgh... that..."
* * *
Dungeon Floor 22.
The seventeen heroes effortlessly dismantled traps scattered throughout and swatted incoming monsters like children. Not a single straggler, they reached the stairs to the next floor.
Rewards for clearing: two mid-grade comprehensive item boxes and one food box. The food box had lost all appeal long ago, thanks to Han Ji-woo's diverse grub. Even so, Seol Ara's luck pulled some decent stuff from the item boxes, though not super practical.
Especially gear—nothing beat what they already wore. Irene dismantled it all for armor-making materials.
The rare herbs at least satisfied Lisa, who could brew potions from them.
Dungeon points meant little now too. Irene could craft better than the Dungeon Shop.
The real prize: Mid-grade Stat Point Boosters. Three dropped, distributed by their rotation rule.
With rewards divvied up, Jonathan shrugged.
"Man, it's so easy now it feels weird."
"Shut your trap already!"
Yui scolded him. His yapping always preceded bad luck.
But Jonathan grinned.
"We've got Ara's luck now—no problems."
Yet on Floor 23...
"Long time no see, everyone."
The nineteen heroes encountered the Andra Legion. Even Seol Ara's luck couldn't block Jonathan's jinx.