Murder Case (7): Damn It, Damn It, Damn It...!
Damn it, damn it, damn it...!
The doppelganger spat curses over and over. This human body was unbearably uncomfortable. And it was the most uncomfortable one it had ever experienced so far.
Its vision was hazy at best. It felt like darkness was pressing down, leaving almost nothing clearly visible. It knew that humans lost their sight first upon death, but this was the doppelganger's first time experiencing it firsthand.
Hearing was vague too, and even touch had dulled. A prison called a body. Desperate to escape this nauseating situation, the doppelganger frantically scanned its surroundings.
"I don't like unnecessary killing. But it seems you've done quite a bit of that."
From the faint auditory input, the doppelganger heard it. From the faint visual input, it saw it. Cold golden eyes fixed on it.
"To be honest, I have no interest in your past. But right now, you were trying to harm Lady Mayuri, weren't you?"
And the kitchen knife gleamed.
The doppelganger's choice was obvious. It had mimicked too perfectly and ended up as a walking corpse—an undead state. Just existing like this was already pulling it further from its doppelganger legend.
So it needed to mimic a new human, but the only pure human present was one: Mayuri. The doppelganger would devour Mayuri and take her form.
And Lisa caught the glint in the doppelganger's eyes.
"Did you think I'd allow that?"
"Shut up! Don't interfere!"
Jeong Woo-gyeom, the information chief, melted. Turning into a silvery slimy liquid, it leaped into the air, soaring past Lisa straight toward Mayuri.
And Mayuri—clutched Nao tightly beside her.
"S-Sis...?!"
Nao let out a startled voice. From Nao and Mayuri's heads, the slimy liquid poured down.
The doppelganger could only mimic one at a time. Devouring two at once was impossible, and besides, it had the trait of being unable to digest other Muksi Saengmyeongche.
So the doppelganger that had tried to devour both Nao and Mayuri at once had to spit them right back out.
Damn it, damn it, damn it...!
The silver liquid could only curse inwardly, prey right in front of it.
Looking down at that liquid, Mayuri spoke.
Bond Effect with King of Flies activated.
"A doppelganger is a monster from legends where it mimics humans. So the shorter the time it can maintain a human form, the more it loses its life force as a legend. That means you can't hold your true form for long, right?"
At that moment, the doppelganger felt like it was suffocating. Even though it had no respiratory organs in slime form.
If likened to a human, it was like holding its breath for ages—pure agony.
Having failed to devour Mayuri, the doppelganger had no choice but to revert to Jeong Woo-gyeom the information chief's form. That is, the corpse's form.
Slash—
And the instant it reverted to corpse form, one arm flew off.
"Aaaargh!!!"
"Normally, the basics of prep work involve bleeding the meat first. But since you've been dead too long, you're worthless as an ingredient."
Lisa shook the blood off her kitchen knife.
"Spoiled ingredients... In other words, food waste. I suppose treating you as such is appropriate. I'll dismantle you into pieces small enough for a food waste bag."
And Lisa swung the kitchen knife again.
It reflexively tried to block with its hand, but that only made it worse. Fingers severed in an instant.
Even as it screamed in agony, she didn't blink. Instead, she stabbed deeper, as if intent on inflicting more pain. Wrist severed, shoulder lopped off, ear sliced, organs churned.
The doppelganger was carved away bit by bit.
'A Muksi Saengmyeongche that kills humans...!'
Only then did the doppelganger grasp Lisa's true nature.
The doppelganger was a monster that perfectly mimicked humans. In contrast, Lisa was a chef who treated humans as ingredients. To mimic perfectly, it had to mimic even the humans who became that chef's ingredients.
Bad matchup as legends went.
'I can't win... I have to escape first...!'
The doppelganger turned into slimy liquid again. The suffocating sensation returned, but it had no choice. It couldn't maintain its true form long, but escaping like this was still best.
In liquid form, the doppelganger slipped through the door crack and swiftly fled the 90-series containment zone.
Clack-clack-clack—
Having escaped the 90-series zone, the doppelganger heard footsteps from afar. The Special Task Force staff held as suspects.
With the doppelganger's existence confirmed, they were all cleared. Naturally released, they were now coming to catch the last escapee.
The doppelganger knew prolonged flight was impossible.
Damn it, damn it, damn it...!
You think I'm getting caught again...?!
"...There has to be a way."
Back in Jeong Woo-gyeom's form, the doppelganger thought. The corpse's brain cells were half-destroyed here and there, but Jeong Woo-gyeom's brain still held some memories of the containment zones.
Piecing together those memories, the doppelganger headed to a nearby restroom.
Inside the last stall, the doppelganger caught its breath and looked down at its body. Sliced to ribbons by that "human flesh chef," it could barely stand on two feet.
"Damn it...."
Its trait of mimicking even the health status of devoured humans—a feature to fool humans—was now devouring it.
Still, its life as a legend hadn't fully ended yet. One of the Special Task Force members would come here. Devour that one, and escape this wretched body.
Knock-knock.
"Someone's in front of the toilet stall right now. Who's there?"
A man's voice rang out. There was definitely someone with that voice among the staff. Opportunity, it thought. Just one opponent? Careless.
Smirking inwardly, the doppelganger opened the stall door.
Creeeak.
And what it saw upon opening the door—nothing.
Huh?
"I swear I heard a knock just now...."
"Detective Assistant Watson. Right behind you."
Stab!
Intense pain bloomed from its back. Watson, having stabbed the doppelganger, churned its insides.
"Wh-what...!"
"Detective Assistant Watson must help the detective. Trained in voice mimicry for undercover work and such, yep."
Watson kicked the doppelganger down.
"Mystery stories are a battle between author (culprit) and reader (detective)."
Looking at the doppelganger rolling on the restroom floor, Watson said.
"The detective deduced the culprit. Detective's victory. Culprit's defeat. Your defeat."
"Detective's deduction was perfect. Detective's victory. Culprit's defeat. Your defeat."
"Detective found you out. Detective's victory. Culprit's defeat. Your defeat."
"Defeated culprit must pay. You, defeated, must pay. Accept defeat if defeated."
"Detective's victory. Detective won. So you must pay."
"Running after defeat? Detective Assistant Watson won't forgive."
"Won't forgive, won't forgive, won't forgive, won't forgive, won't forgive."
"Can't forgive."
"Won't forgive dirtying detective's victory."
Crunch!
Watson stomped, snapping the doppelganger's leg bone.
"If you run, Detective Assistant Watson chases. To the end. Always chases. Forever chases."
Until the detective wins.
Each containment zone supposedly had a hidden safe area. For managing contained entities, sudden emergencies could arise.
To prepare, safe zones were placed in every containment area for security.
And so we waited in the safe zone.
"Everyone's deployed now, so it'll be caught soon."
"Yeah... But maybe it's better not to catch it. Left alone, the doppelganger's losing its life as a legend anyway."
"We broadcast that already! Leave the rest to us—Yuri, just rest!"
Baesena said that. Honestly, I'd done everything I could. Felt a bit dazed, though.
The doppelganger was mostly killed by Jeong Woo-gyeom already; I just finished it off.
Still, if I hadn't uncovered it, it might've switched to someone else or escaped at the right moment. Good thing I didn't meet the other suspects.
I could probably get praised for handling it well, but... resting without confirming its erasure felt unsatisfying.
All I could do was pray the Special Task Force handled the rest.
"Hey, Sena."
"Yeah?"
"About Mary-san... Think it'll be okay...?"
I cautiously asked Baesena. The moment the doppelganger fled, Watson devoured the Mary doll. Just like with Suabas Chijjok.
No time to stop it. She did it on her own....
Like gaining power from the twentieth Turtle Soup, she'd probably absorbed Mary-san's power too.
So Watson was probably chasing the doppelganger now....
"No idea. Mary-san vanishing is good, but Watson got stronger? Kinda complicated from our perspective containing Watson!"
"Ugh...."
"But Yuri's the top hero who solved the doppelganger! They'll probably let it slide!"
If anything comes up, I'll cover for you! Baesena assured me. That was reassuring.
A bit later, Watson returned.
You encountered the 'Doppelganger' but resolved it safely.
'Doppelganger' has been added to the codex!
"Detective, caught the culprit, yep."
Thud. Watson dropped Jeong Woo-gyeom the information chief's corpse on the floor.
Jeong Woo-gyeom the information chief... no, the doppelganger didn't move anymore.
Its life as a legend fully ended? The corpse was half-slime state.
Half-slime meant not fully slime. Just remnants of the doppelganger legend.
"Detective, did Watson do good?"
"Y-yeah... G-good job...."
"Yep, happy. Happy with detective's praise. Detective Assistant Watson, decided."
Whoosh—before I knew it, Watson stood before me. Because she ate Mary? Teleportation ability maybe.
"Detective Assistant Watson likes detective. Best detective among all met so far. Happy solving cases with detective."
And she grabbed my hand.
Wha—.
"So Detective Assistant Watson wants to be detective's. Yep."
No time to stop her.
Codex updated.
File 023. Massacre (Citrinitas)
Your Very Own Watson (Cleared)