Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Doppelganger Overlap Anomaly (8)
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Simple mazes or complex ones.
In truth, the ways to clear them weren't all that different.
There was always an exit somewhere.
And all it took was challenging it endlessly until you reached that spot.
The more those challenges repeated, the more the accumulated time and experience boosted your odds of escape.
[During our pathfinding, we discovered a new variable. Passage 2-c. First anomaly point.]
[After injecting Antigen a couple more times, we detected a slight sense of dissonance.]
[Just in case, we halted the team and tossed an object into the passage. After about 30 minutes. Once the vibrations and shaking passed, the passage vanished right before our eyes.]
Red pen lines, small skull marks.
Silently warning of paths to avoid.
Conversely, paths deemed safe or okay were marked separately.
[Good O. Water rises to the ankles, but no other issues.]
[Fair △. Intense chill permeates, but passes quickly if you hurry through.]
[Never X. Second from the right—walls on both sides narrow 10 seconds after entry.]
I flipped through the notebook, muttering to myself.
"We should take the right path here."
There was no small confusion or bewilderment.
The notebook was written in considerable detail, as if anticipating someone else might find and read it.
But that didn't mean I could let my guard down.
This notebook wasn't an all-purpose tool.
It was merely an aid for finding paths.
Entrusting your life entirely to it wasn't wise.
The maze's scale had already exceeded their physical limits, time, and mental endurance.
They'd had to give up at times, and some paths they'd never even stepped foot in.
[The water's rising bit by bit. It's already been 4 days. Where the hell is the exit...?]
[Judged it too risky to lose more body heat. In the end, our team had no choice but to turn back.]
[To whoever finds this notebook after us—if your situation allows, please conduct further investigation.]
[Day 6 of deployment. A path appeared far ahead, but black shapes blocked the way.]
[Even Oppa Seung-tae looks exhausted from clashing with them multiple times. Can't put the team at risk.]
[...Turning back.]
[All we have left now are three pistols and 52 rounds. ...Please. Reach it before then.]
The dates in the notebook were constantly updated.
Eight days since initial deployment.
There were clues about the doppelgangers recorded too.
[Day 8. No exit in sight. No hope.]
[They didn't give us time to rest. If we stopped moving, they'd appear before an hour passed.]
[We had to keep going nonstop. Jin-seok's once-vibrant face is darkening bit by bit.]
[Day 9. In the end, we couldn't move anymore. But at least that's a relief.]
[They were vulnerable to light. When Oppa Seung-tae fired the flare gun on a gamble, the approaching ones vanished.]
[...One flare gun left. Before that...please.]
[...Very strong... light is the only intensity they... react to.]
And now.
We stood at the fork where they had ultimately given up and turned back.
From here on, no more markers or notes remained.
"The notebook ends here."
"Investigator Shin Seung-ah... recorded everything so meticulously. When we get out, I should thank her as a junior investigator."
Three paths lay ahead.
Each stretching into impenetrable darkness.
Scrape— scrape—.
The surrounding air warped and rippled oddly.
The familiar sound we'd grown sick of.
With the friction against the sewer walls and floor, black shapes rose from the ground.
The reason the notebook said "we had no choice but to turn back the way we came."
Dozens of them—no, more—fully formed from the darkness.
My hand instinctively reached for the trigger.
But faster still, Kang Su-ji stepped forward.
"I'll handle this place. Alpha."
Her hand brushed her waist, and soon a metallic ring sliced the air—ching—.
Kang Su-ji steadied her breath, then kicked off the ground and charged.
Her footsteps echoed, cleaving the darkness.
The moment the black shapes turned toward the sound in unison—
Whirrrrlirrlir—
A speed too fast to follow with the eye.
White light flashed like lightning through the darkness, darting every which way.
Each flash silenced the doppelgangers' ripping laughter one by one.
"Kihihihi—"
"Heee—!"
Their screams shredded apart before they could finish.
A moment later.
The only sound filling the silence was her sword reassembling.
Sching. Click—
As if reacting to it, the remaining doppelgangers collapsed simultaneously.
Ink burst everywhere like exploding puddles, blackening the floor in seconds.
Ink dripped from above—drip, drip—as Kang Su-ji walked over with a bright smile.
"Alpha! Sera! Good thing we match up well—I took them out quick!"
I stared at her, speechless.
Kim Sera beside me did the same.
'...She's human, right?'
***
A brief moment of pondering humanity thanks to Kang Su-ji.
But we pressed on.
Just as previous investigator Shin Seung-ah had done, I continued her records.
Kang Su-ji handled nearly all the combat during pathfinding.
The shadows vanished to her blade before they could even approach—like she'd awakened or something.
At each fork, we checked paths one by one.
Each time, I etched the remaining records into my mind.
Ruined passages.
Fake exits.
Self-sealing tunnels.
Even doppelgangers now masquerading as family or acquaintances.
'Not here. Last time, Sera got ambushed.'
'Right? No, the far right's blocked. Left this time.'
Sudden heat surging in the passage. — 'Third from left, X.'
Water rising to near-drowning levels. — 'Right passage, X.'
Unfamiliar hands strangling from the dark. — 'Center, X.'
Xs multiplied for paths to avoid,
Os for the relatively safe ones.
Danger wasn't just physical—Kang Su-ji couldn't handle everything.
As deaths repeated, fragments from countless runs piled up in my mind like data.
'This one's proven. Time for another path. One we haven't tried yet.'
Countless ends connected, collapsing edges interlocking into a single form.
—A mental map drawn with the Recorder's Pen.
Finally, a complete map formed in my head.
A colossal maze engulfing the entire city.
And at its edge.
A new space we'd never reached before came into view.
I took a deep breath and turned to them.
Our eyes met, and they nodded firmly.
"...Let's go."
***
Passing a narrow passage revealed a vast hall.
The ceiling soared endlessly high, walls encircling us in black rust like old blood.
Damp, heavy air pressed down like we were inside a giant coffin.
At the hall's center sat an object.
A massive engine of black metal.
Dozens of pipes snaked around its body like living organs, pulsing irregularly.
Soon, a heavy throb echoed from somewhere, vibrating the entire space.
It resembled a human heartbeat, yet grew more unsettling the longer you listened.
This was the core of the anomaly ruling the maze—its nucleus.
I recalled Kang Su-ji's words when we first entered.
'No direct physical power.'
But whether that intel still held now was uncertain.
The maze was already contaminated by doppelgangers.
For now, the engine showed no reaction.
No rampaging like a monster, no overwhelming force.
Just an oppressive presence from its sheer size.
I approached it slowly.
Kwoooom!
The path we'd just taken sealed shut.
Scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape— scrape—
Endless sounds followed, shadows surging from the floor.
Like a black wave rising, silhouettes filled the hall.
All with the same face.
Countless shadow soldiers mimicking Kang Su-ji's form.
They lifted their heads as one, ripping grins splitting their mouths.
As if declaring everything ended here.
"Hihihihihihihihihihi"
"Hehehehehehehehehehe"
"Hehehehehehehehe"
"Hehnihihihihihihhehehe"
"Hehehehehehehehehehe"
But it didn't matter.
I'd half-expected this.
Kang Su-ji stepped forward.
"It's over now."
Her breathing steadied in an instant, eyes sharpening without a flicker.
Kang Su-ji charged.
As we'd agreed beforehand.
If rules changed and resistance arose, I told her to ignore us and sprint straight ahead.
Soon, her body launched into the air in one motion.
A silver arc streaked through the darkness.
Shadows rose like a wall to block her.
A black curtain of dark waves.
Kim Sera and I pulled our triggers in sync.
No interference came our way.
The shadows ignored us entirely, fixated on Kang Su-ji.
They must've thought two bullets couldn't hold them back.
Not a wrong judgment.
Except what we fired weren't bullets.
We didn't fire bullets—
Fwoooom! Fwoooom!
'—flare guns.'
Blinding flares erupted.
The white flames shot past Kang Su-ji, devouring the blocking darkness ahead.
Shadows touched by the light melted away like evaporation.
In that instant, a gaping hole tore through the black curtain's center.
A silver flash pierced the gap.