Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Doppelganger Izhar
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This time, Shin Yu-hyun posed a question to Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong.
"We don't have much to talk about."
Kang Yoo-chan shrugged as he glanced at Kim Woo-seong and Lee Sang-hyuk.
Kang Yoo-chan had set out to join the group. Along the way, he ran into Kim Woo-seong nearby, and then they spotted Lee Sang-hyuk fighting off a swarm of crawlers.
They rescued him and got lost again in the forest of buildings, eventually tracking down the sounds of battle from afar.
"I was trying to get out of the buildings, but it turned out way more complicated than I thought. And then we ran into those magic beasts, so we ended up off course..."
As Kang Yoo-chan finished his story, Lee Sang-hyuk scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression.
He hadn't been able to bring himself to jump off the rooftop after Shin Yu-hyun, so he'd taken the stairs down and bumped into a few crawlers.
In his frantic escape, he'd gotten lost, but luckily ran into Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong.
"You got lucky."
Shin Yu-hyun patted Lee Sang-hyuk's shoulder. He hadn't expected the man to encounter crawlers right after they parted ways.
Thank goodness he'd crossed paths with Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong—he didn't even want to imagine what might have happened otherwise.
"Let's wrap up the stories and focus on finding the dungeon entrance first."
The group nodded at Kang Yoo-chan's suggestion. Even though it was a 3-star dungeon, this colorless one was unpredictable.
No one knew what dangers lurked.
They'd scattered the moment they entered, and now they had no idea where the exit was.
"Then let's keep scouting until we find the dungeon entrance."
"Sounds good."
"I'm in."
Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong nodded in agreement with Shin Yu-hyun. It was the most logical choice in their situation.
"I'll launch some scouting drones around the area."
Nam Yeon-a, who had been sitting on the ground to rest, stood up and began deploying small reconnaissance artifact drones.
Reconnaissance artifact: Swarm.
These bug-sized drones incorporated magitech engineering.
They mapped the terrain and detected approaching magic beasts early.
As Nam Yeon-a sent out the Swarm, Lee Sang-hyuk suddenly remembered something and spoke up.
"Oh, right. When I was running from the magic beasts, I saw a weird building."
"A weird building?"
"Yeah. It looked like a clock tower, but huge, with gear mechanisms like clockwork exposed on the outside."
"Which way?"
"Probably around that direction."
Lee Sang-hyuk pointed at Nam Yeon-a's question.
She directed the Swarm drones that way.
She glanced at her linked tablet and said,
"I'll send the drones ahead."
"Got it."
Kang Yoo-chan nodded. With that, the group headed toward the clock tower-like building Lee Sang-hyuk had spotted, hoping it would lead them to the exit.
They stayed vigilant, encountering a few more crawler packs along the way, but Nam Yeon-a's recon drones allowed them to avoid or let Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong handle them.
Finally, Shin Yu-hyun and the others arrived at the spot with the clock tower.
"This place..."
Shin Yu-hyun looked around.
It was a massive park in the middle of the city.
At its center stood an enormous clock tower, easily fifty stories tall.
And just as Lee Sang-hyuk described, countless large and small gears were exposed and whirring away.
"The exit!"
Nam Yeon-a shouted with excitement. Beneath the clock tower was a glowing green spatial rift.
The entrance to the Fallen City 3-star dungeon.
This seemed to be the original starting point.
Not just Nam Yeon-a—Lee Sang-hyuk, Kang Yoo-chan, and Kim Woo-seong all lit up with relief.
They could finally escape the dungeon.
'Which one is it...?'
But Shin Yu-hyun watched Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong with sharp eyes.
He rested his hand on Ignis, senses on high alert.
Now that the exit was in sight, one of them had to make a move.
That instant.
"Huh?"
Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong froze, feeling something alien at their throats.
Slice.
A clean line appeared across their necks, red blood trickling down.
Splurt!
Blood erupted from their throats like fountains.
"Ah!"
Shin Yu-hyun's eyes widened in shock.
In the blink of an eye, two mid-4-star superhumans had their heads severed.
Beyond the geysers of blood stood the Joker who had decapitated them.
"You can enter the dungeon however you like, but leaving? Not so much."
The man with the mild, un-hunter-like impression.
The Joker was none other than Lee Sang-hyuk.
'Lee Sang-hyuk was the Joker?'
Shin Yu-hyun stared at him in disbelief.
He'd suspected either Kang Yoo-chan or Kim Woo-seong.
The survivor from the investigation team in his previous life was reported as a low-4-star superhuman.
Who would've thought it was Lee Sang-hyuk!
"Even 4-star superhumans are just this much?"
Lee Sang-hyuk—no, the Doppelganger—looked down at the bisected bodies of Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong with cold eyes.
His glowing red eyes turned to Shin Yu-hyun and Nam Yeon-a.
"I'll play with you two slowly before killing you."
He grinned unpleasantly, raising his blood-dripping blade.
Or could you even call it a blade?
The weapon that bisected Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong was his arms.
His hands and forearms had transformed into razor-sharp swords.
"What the hell are you...?"
Shin Yu-hyun glared, furrowing his brow.
Izhar raised his sharpened arms overhead, pointing at one spot.
"Does this answer your question?"
That moment, information appeared above Izhar's head.
"Unique Boss!"
Nam Yeon-a cried out in horror upon confirming Izhar's info.
Unique magic beasts with names.
Rare among their kind, they existed as sole individuals.
Hard to encounter, and far superior to regular bosses of the same rank.
Most annoyingly, they possessed human-like intelligence.
Typically, intelligent magic beasts were 6-star bosses or higher.
But unique named ones like Izhar often had intellect despite lower ranks.
And intelligent beasts were almost always hostile to humanity.
But something even more shocking caught Shin Yu-hyun's attention.
"Hiding your true nature all this time..."
Shin Yu-hyun couldn't believe it. Izhar's identity was stunning, but the fact that he'd concealed it until now was unbelievable.
He'd never heard of a magic beast hiding its information, not even in his previous life.
"How the hell...?"
"You don't need to know. You're dying here anyway."
Izhar sneered at Shin Yu-hyun.
In other words...
"So what happened to the real Lee Sang-hyuk?"
"Lee Sang-hyuk? Oh, the owner of this face?"
Izhar grinned at the question.
"I gouged out his eyes, ripped out his tongue, chopped off his fingers, skinned him alive, and finally tore out his heart and chewed it up."
"..."
Shin Yu-hyun clenched his fists at Izhar's casual, smiling words.
Lee Sang-hyuk's story about encountering crawlers after parting ways was a lie.
He'd run into Izhar instead.
And after brutally killing him, Izhar stole his appearance.
"Don't worry. I'll kill you two the same way. Tormenting the weak is always fun."
Izhar smirked wickedly.
To him, 3-star superhumans were ants he could crush anytime.
That's why he'd ambushed the complacent Kang Yoo-chan and Kim Woo-seong from behind, severing their necks.
Even for Izhar, facing two mid-4-stars head-on was risky.
But.
Boom!
Shin Yu-hyun activated Body Strengthening Technique and stomped the ground hard.
Heaven-Splitting Divine Steps
First Step: Gale Swift Step
Leaving a small crater, Shin Yu-hyun shot toward Izhar like a gale.
Reaching him in an instant, he swung his demon sword Ignis with full momentum.
Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship
First Form: Nameless
Flash! Roar!
A red sword beam and black flames surged toward Izhar in a fierce strike.
Clang!
But Shin Yu-hyun's attack was blocked by Izhar's sword-like arms: Arm Blades.
"You thought a mere 3-star could land that?"
Izhar scoffed.
Shin Yu-hyun was nearing 3-star peak.
Izhar was a low-4-star unique boss.
But as Shin Yu-hyun dodged sideways, he shot back,
"Of course not."
Roar!
Then, three 3-circle fireballs materialized behind him—launched by Nam Yeon-a while he kept Izhar busy.
Boom!
The meter-wide fireballs slammed into Izhar and exploded.
Red flames spread, engulfing him.
And that wasn't all.
Nam Yeon-a gathered four Astra Bits, focusing mana into one point.
Vreeee!
Blue orbs formed at the tips of the four Astra Bits.
Mana stones embedded in the bits combined with Nam Yeon-a's mana, concentrating.
Soon, a mechanical voice emanated from the Astra Bits.
"Fire!"
Flash!
A dazzling light burst from the charged blue orb at the Astra Bit's tip.
Shwooo!
A single beam sliced through space, hurtling forward with ferocious speed.
Just then, the red flames cleared, revealing Izhar.
But the Astra Blaster was already right in front of him.
"Damn it!"
Izhar hastily crossed his Arm Blades.
Kaboom!
The Astra Blaster engulfed Izhar in an explosion.
The ground shook, the air trembled.
The blast scattered leaves from the park's trees.
'Is this the power of the Astra System?'
Shin Yu-hyun gazed in awe at where Izhar had stood and the Astra Bits. This wasn't 3-star level power.
At least 4-star.
'I definitely need her.'
Shin Yu-hyun's eyes gleamed.
Nam Yeon-a's artifact tech exceeded expectations.
She'd be a huge asset against Getia.
"D-Did we get him?"
Nam Yeon-a asked wearily, beginning the revival chant.