Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Magic of Eternal Annihilation
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The future he remembered had changed.
And Doppelgangers were upper-rank demonic beasts.
They weren't lowly creatures that would appear on just the 'second night'.
Just as Adora had said, he needed to proceed with utmost caution.
'Nonexistence is manifesting.'
Park Chan-woo first checked his own status.
After making contact with people a few times, he became convinced that 'Nonexistence' was active.
Even the Doppelgangers couldn't easily perceive him.
However, Nonexistence only served to conceal Park Chan-woo's presence itself.
'...Looks like Nonexistence can't prevent me from being marked as a red dot on the map as a fugitive.'
All fugitives appeared as 'red dots' on the pursuers' maps.
Not even the almighty 'Nonexistence' could block that.
As a result, the pursuers could confirm Park Chan-woo's location via the red dot, but they couldn't spot him with their own eyes.
'I've become a ghost.'
It felt just like he had turned into a ghost.
The pursuers would check their maps and let out cries of shock one after another. Even though the red dots overlapped, Park Chan-woo's figure was nowhere to be seen.
'Staying hidden like this could be one way to go.'
Fugitive rules.
The longer you survive, the stronger you get.
If you're not caught, you gain extra Contribution Points.
These applied to him just the same.
Messages that appeared after 30 minutes passed.
Afterward, similar notifications popped up every 30 minutes.
The buffs were even greater than before.
The longer he held out without being caught, the more his stats and Contribution Points would explode.
Just by staying put until morning, he could rack up an overwhelming Contribution score.
There wouldn't be any pursuers capable of catching him while Nonexistence was active anyway.
But sitting idle like this didn't suit his temperament.
More importantly...
'If we leave the Doppelganger alone, it'll grow uncontrollably strong.'
The danger of Doppelgangers was beyond words.
They were greedy.
They endlessly copied opponents to grow infinitely stronger.
They could keep raising their rank until they became a 'Doppelganger Lord'.
If a 'Doppelganger Lord' ever appeared, humanity would face a colossal disaster.
Survival rate of 11%?
No, even surviving at 1% would be fortunate.
The moment a Doppelganger Lord was born, everyone who entered the 'second night' would be wiped out.
And if, by some miracle, the Doppelganger Lord escaped the 'Night's Abyss' and was summoned to Earth...
'Horrifying.'
Just imagining it was terrifying.
In the past, Park Chan-woo had faced a 'Doppelganger Lord'.
It was a monster that wielded the abilities of the top hundred copies all at once.
But its most frightening weapon was that it 'understood humanity'.
It manipulated human emotions, controlled human information, and sought to dominate humanity itself.
Humanity fractured.
Not a few sided with the Doppelganger Lord.
He couldn't allow such a catastrophe to happen again.
Absolutely. No matter what.
"Strong... Winning. Power... Overflowing."
The Doppelganger facing Park Chan-woo smiled.
The source of power it felt the instant it began copying.
It was on a level incomparable to the human it had absorbed earlier.
'...Smiling?'
Park Chan-woo wondered if he'd seen wrong for a moment.
It had only been about an hour since nightfall.
Having absorbed maybe one person at most, it had already learned human expressions in an instant.
It even seemed to grasp the emotion of joy.
Fast.
Too fast.
This evolution speed was on another dimension from what Park Chan-woo knew of Doppelgangers.
At this rate, a 'Doppelganger Lord' might truly be born before the night ended.
'It recognizes me.'
Moreover, the moment he killed Shin Jin-cheol, the Doppelganger instantly 'recognized' Park Chan-woo.
It had sensed and identified his presence.
However, Doppelgangers couldn't copy other Doppelgangers.
Yet it tried anyway, which proved Park Chan-woo 'wasn't a Doppelganger'.
'I need to destroy the mark.'
When Shin Jin-cheol died, the mark returned to the Doppelganger.
Originally, he planned to deal with Shin Jin-cheol, steal the mark, and destroy it.
Taking a Doppelganger prisoner meant the person it had copied was dead.
Deaths were commonplace in the Abyss, but since Shin Jin-cheol was 100% involved, Park Chan-woo hadn't hesitated to eliminate him.
'Incarnations who profit off human lives.'
Park Chan-woo had no intention of showing mercy to such scum.
The problem was the Doppelganger.
He hadn't anticipated the mark bouncing back like this, or it recognizing him so quickly.
Park Chan-woo immediately drew the World Tree Staff.
He had to annihilate the Doppelganger before the copy completed.
But then.
"Wha... what...?"
Suddenly, the Doppelganger blinked in confusion, as if panicked.
Tremble tremble tremble!
Then it began shaking violently like mad.
"My... my 'magic' why...?"
...An anomaly occurred.
The Doppelganger's body started swelling up.
Its flesh was expanding wildly.
Park Chan-woo had seen this phenomenon before.
'Magic overload!'
Back when Dragon God Sepiro's heart caused magic to go berserk.
Sepiro couldn't maintain human form and ballooned up just like that.
It was the same now.
The Doppelganger's magic was overloading.
But this wasn't your typical overload.
"How did you... the 'Fundamental Magic'...!"
The Doppelganger couldn't believe it.
This went beyond mere 'copy failure'.
'Copying' was the Doppelganger's very identity.
Forcing it to overload was something that should never happen.
Was it even possible to overload and destroy a species' innate 'Fundamental Magic'... its 'origin'?
The Doppelganger thought.
What humans called this emotion buried in their feelings.
'Mo... monster...!'
Terror.
An overwhelming fear it couldn't resist.
Humans called Doppelgangers monsters, but to this Doppelganger, that human—Park Chan-woo—was the true monster.
Scary.
Scary.
Scary!
That monster was erasing its life, soul, essence.
Annihilating its very identity.
But the Doppelganger's thoughts didn't continue further.
Splat!
Its overloaded, fully swollen body burst open.
Crunch!
The mark shattered along with it.
Then, another message appeared before Park Chan-woo's eyes.
...A hidden trait had manifested.
In particular, 'Magic of Eternal Annihilation' was one of the two hidden traits he'd acquired while climbing the Tower of Pride.
'Who would've thought it was a trait that destroys Fundamental Magic.'
Occasionally, there were species born with specific magics innate to them.
Examples included Doppelgangers' copying, vampires' bloodsucking, fox tribe's魅惑, werewolves' transformation.
But while those could be nullified, they couldn't be destroyed.
How could you destroy something akin to an inherent trait, even if called Fundamental Magic?
Yet he'd destroyed it.
Hidden trait: Magic of Eternal Annihilation!
Did it earn the name 'Eternal Annihilation' by erasing magic that should exist forever?
One thing was clear: it was beyond common sense.
That was the moment.
Ding!
First to complete Secret Quest 'Betrayer'!
Qualification evolves to 'Covert Betrayer'.
'Covert Betrayer' gains no Contribution Points from rescuing fugitives. Instead, destroying a fugitive's mark grants an additional 400 Contribution Points each time.
However, if the mark destruction is discovered by other 'fugitives' or 'pursuers', everyone will learn of the 'Covert Betrayer''s existence.
Additionally, 'Covert Betrayer' cannot become a prisoner.
Becoming a 'prisoner' destroys the mark and results in death.
Tip: Special shops are now marked on the map.
Purchase useful tools and gear from shops to survive the 'night'.
"I... I'll give it! Everything! Please, just spare my life!"
'Han-shin' gazed at the man with expressionless eyes.
This was the man who had led Doppelgangers in hunting people left and right.
He had confidently attacked the moment he spotted Han-shin.
'What the hell is this guy...?'
The man couldn't comprehend the situation.
There were six Doppelgangers, no less.
Seven in total, including himself, had assaulted Han-shin.
Han-shin also led Doppelgangers, but he faced all seven alone.
And crushed them with devastating force.
Not a single hair out of place.
'What kind of monstrous bastard is this!'
He wondered if this was even the same species as a human.
And that wasn't the only absurd part.
'Why couldn't the Doppelgangers copy him?'
At the start of the clash, the Doppelgangers failed to copy Han-shin.
They reverted to their previous forms, copy failed.
Either he wasn't human, or he was too immense for Doppelgangers to copy.
He should have run then.
But regrets were too late.
Snap.
Han-shin extended his hand, and the man tearfully handed over all the marks.
Soon after.
Han-shin nodded as he read the floating messages.
He had obtained the strongest qualification in the 'second night's Abyss', just as planned.
"N... now you'll let me go, right?"
The man who handed over all the marks asked with hopeful eyes.
Han-shin quietly opened his mouth.
"I'll let you live."
"Ah! Th... thank you! Really! I won't attack again...!"
"Copy him."
"...!!!"
The man's pupils dilated massively.
Soon, one Doppelganger copied the man.
Insane.
Even after handing over all the marks, he hadn't expected it to order a copy.
The man scowled at Han-shin.
"Gonna attack?"
"......"
As if he could.
This monster had handled them all solo.
Fighting would only shorten his life.
Han-shin turned and left with the Doppelgangers.
Thud!
"Ah... no......"
He ignored the man's despairing voice from behind.
Han-shin's attention was focused elsewhere entirely.
'Mage. You're here too, aren't you.'
The mage who humiliated him in the Tower of Pride.
The one who monopolized Death Witch Adora's favoritism and attention would surely have joined the 'second night' as well.
Han-shin was searching for that mage.
And this night, he had no intention of losing to that mage.
All the attention, all the glory.
'It's all mine.'
It had to be Han-shin's alone.