Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Campfire Confessions
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[Part 2 Episode 51]
Seol Do-yoon pulled Dun out of the pit where he lay unconscious and tossed him aside before building a campfire nearby.
With that presence gone, whatever it had done to the exit had made it vanish completely.
When Dun's doppelganger had come looking for him, Do-yoon had a hunch something like this might happen, so he'd packed a ton of camping gear—and it looked like that foresight had paid off.
Sugar-crashing from the doppelganger's punches, Do-yoon skewered a marshmallow and held it over the flames.
He'd known from the start that the Dun who returned to base was a doppelganger.
Something felt off, so when he hugged Dun, he'd secretly jabbed a thumbtack into his shoulder.
Luck was on his side—he figured it out in one go.
The sharp point sank into flesh just like it would with a normal person.
If it had been the real Dun, the tack wouldn't have pierced his skin.
'Haha! Even stripped of power, you're still the Balancer? You benefited from my strength, yet you forgot. The dregs of a long-sustained world—weakened, yet so annoyingly resilient. Hahaha!'
The doppelganger's words from earlier suddenly came back to him.
'From the nuance, it seemed like that thing had taken my power.'
He'd always suspected the force behind the gates had stolen his strength.
And he'd wondered if one day it would come for all of it.
But this incident had given him certainty—and solidified it.
There was mention of him being the Balancer, and contextually, it seemed tied to being the remnant of a prolonged world.
Still, without solid info, he couldn't jump to conclusions, so he kept his stolen power front and center in his mind.
Mermaid Gate.
More than ten years ago, after that gate appeared, their numbers had exploded.
Lee Yoo-hyun had been there, Kim Woo-sung too, and even Do-yoon himself, just gaining awareness.
[<Warning> Your life is in danger!]
[Transfer your power to hide your presence.]
He hadn't understood at first, instinctively downloading the local language settings to read it.
Driven by survival instinct, he'd hastily passed Bachinum authority to nearby Lee Yoo-hyun and hidden away. But when he tried reclaiming his power, someone intervened and snatched it.
That process broke his system window, and his high level plummeted by half.
'If I take back the power that guy stole, can I pass on abilities like before?'
Dealing with the guy might take time, but reclaiming his power was a relatively quick goal.
'Information Protection Administrator'
[Information Protection Fu?nc?ti?on Ac?ti?ve.]
* * *
It had been ages since his HP dropped below half.
Just a few punctures, yet this much damage. He might actually die at this rate.
'Sell out Dun!'
Smart and tough enough to survive on his own. Do-yoon's own nose was barely above water. With resolve, he opened his mouth.
"Dun."
Kwaaaaaang!
The moment the word left Do-yoon's lips. Maybe he could even share some power with this dawn guy.
The remaining thorns shattered from the shockwave, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
* * *
[SUCCESS!]
Lost in thought, Do-yoon tossed the charred marshmallow and loaded a fresh one over the fire.
"Ugh..."
Dun started stirring, on the verge of waking. After a few rolls, he bolted upright, propping himself on his waist.
Ignoring the throbbing pain, he turned his head to see Do-yoon roasting marshmallows.
Dun stared blankly at him and let out a massive yawn.
"Didn't you go ahead?"
"Was gonna, but the entrance is blocked."
With a serious look, Do-yoon peeled the burnt shell off a marshmallow and popped it into Dun's yawning mouth.
"Ack, cough."
"Gave you the good part. Don't spit it out—eat it like a treat."
Grinning, Do-yoon started on another. Dun spat out the burnt bit and spoke.
"Hang on—entrance is blocked?"
"Yeah, we're trapped."
"What?"
Dun's face twisted in a scowl.
Memories of the orphanage gate flooded back suddenly. Luckily, he wasn't badly hurt, so no fear or anxiety set in.
Only Do-yoon needed escorting out, and this kid could fend for himself—no worries there.
Still fatigued, Dun flopped back onto the ground to loosen his tense muscles.
Staring at the ceiling, he spoke.
"Struck out. And it was a solid lead."
"Went berserk and scared it off. Can't coax like I do."
"You got beat silly too, but acting all high and mighty."
Dun glanced at Do-yoon.
Not a spot without wounds. Even after jabbing himself with syringes everywhere, that guy's attacks were vicious—none fully healed.
"Oh, wait."
Dun eyed Do-yoon slathering marshmallow on a cracker with his injured arm.
"Thinking about it—why'd you just take the hits? You're the type to hit back twice as hard, so pretending to grovel was hilarious."
Do-yoon pulled Nutella from his inventory, spread it on the roasted marshmallow, and smiled at Dun.
"Dun, first off, I'm all about strong-weak-weak-strong. Meek around the powerful. That's why I'm roasting marshmallows for max-level you despite all these injuries."
Do-yoon shoved the s'more into Dun's mouth. To stop him spitting it, he pinched Dun's lips with chopstick fingers.
"Second, if the opponent thrashes too wildly, the body analysis gear might not measure right—or break."
Forcibly chewing the s'more Do-yoon made, Dun swallowed fast and widened his eyes.
"What? What'd you do? How'd you plant it?"
"Acted like I didn't notice it was a doppelganger the whole time. Slipped on a 'safety vest' body analyzer while pretending to be chummy. Stroked its filthy hair to stick on the latest brainwave sensor. Couldn't risk wrecking them in a brawl. Oh, and the vest linked to my phone's auto-contact sender—that's how I called you."
Dun's eyes bulged, blinking silently. Thump, thump. His quiet heartbeat suddenly raced wildly.
"Thorough bastard. Kinda respect getting wall-embedded for it."
He'd thought Do-yoon spaced out, but he'd laid bait while taking hits. Dun leaned in close, uncomfortably eager.
"Tell me more. What intel'd you get?"
"Dun, calm down first?"
"Hey, you're suddenly so damn pretty."
"Won't show results if you don't back off?"
Smiling faintly, Do-yoon pushed Dun's forehead away. Eyes sparkling, Dun nodded repeatedly and pulled back.
Do-yoon pulled out a laptop from inventory and booted it.
The gear on the doppelganger Bluetooth-linked to his inventory devices, storing data live.
Clicking a desktop icon updated the screen with graphs and raw data.
"This means jack to me, dumbass. Explain."
"Body comp closest to a monster's. No brainwaves."
"So no brain?"
"Yeah."
"Then how'd it move and talk?"
Most beast-type monsters had brains. Humanoids especially.
Saturated mana, monster body comp, absent brain.
One fact flashed in his mind instantly. Do-yoon smiled.
"Dun, I suspect that guy's a Bachinum."
Dun raised an eyebrow.
"Evidence."
"Compiled a race compendium from the data. Only Bachinums can amplify power like that."
Do-yoon gathered mana, using Soul Eye on Dun.
Nothing visible, like before.
"Also, my Soul Eye sees soul stones. Bachinums don't show—and neither did your doppelganger. And crucially..."
Do-yoon pulled out sand from inventory.
Left by the doppelganger when it vanished. Collected while pulling Dun from the pit.
Hand over the sand, he imagined crafting another self from his fingertips.
The sand absorbed, forming a tiny hand at his fingertips. Soon, child-Do-yoon molded there.
"What're you doing?"
"Thought of Siamese twins while using its leftover sand. Not enough for adult size."
Do-yoon drew a knife from his hunter band and sliced the linked fingertip.
The child Do-yoon stared blankly at his falling fingertip.
"Like this, I can make another me sharing a brain. Thoughts, knowledge, vision—all shared. As the main body, I control it."
"Dun dummy."
Child Do-yoon bared teeth in a 'hee' laugh, skewering nearby thorns with marshmallows to make s'mores.
Dun gaped at child Do-yoon.
"Whoa, crazy fucker. Making kids solo."
"Weird way to put it. You can too, Dun. Bachinum body transformation applied."
"You researched a ton."
Do-yoon nodded, smiling.
"This kid's got no brainwaves, monster-like body comp. High chance that guy approached the same way. Makes it way likelier he's Bachinum—unless another race with that power shows up."
Dun nodded at Do-yoon's words, then frowned.
"Wait—how was it your form? Body shift's limited to your own shape, right?"
"Didn't you say first sight it was gooey?"
"Yeah."
"Dug through palace forbidden books—it's using 'god' powers. Too weak for god, but way past Bachinum body shift limits. Probably higher freedom than ours."
Do-yoon drew a gun from his hunter band, loaded it, aimed at child self's head.
Bang!
The child munching s'mores bled, crumpled, turned to sand fast.
"Hey, hey. Coulda just normally reclaimed the dirt."
Dun tsked at the shot child Do-yoon.
"Not pointless, Dun. Think."
Do-yoon pulled a mana field detector from his pocket, checked, tossed to Dun.
"...?"
Dun caught it, eyed the screen.
At child Do-yoon's death spot, thick lines all pointed to Do-yoon's position.
Dun stared blankly, eyes widening.
"Oh shit. Trace mana recovery—leads right to the main body."
"Took you long enough."
Dun's hand trembled holding the device. Excitement surged with his pounding heart, pupils dilating.
"You... while I slept, you marked that guy's mana flow?"
Dun grabbed Do-yoon's collar, yanking and shaking his face close.
"Nope."
Do-yoon laughed brightly. Dun's face crumpled. Amused by the reaction, Do-yoon burst out laughing.
"Kidding. Collar off now?"
Crack!
Dun wrapped arms around Do-yoon's broad shoulders, hugging crushingly. Bones ground in Do-yoon's frame.
"Damn, fuck. Thorough workaholic pretty boy, you're so fucking pretty!!"
Do-yoon's competence suddenly made his heart ache with thrill.
If not Do-yoon, he'd have kissed him—heart pounding that hard.
Light-years beyond tailing the hidden guy solo.
This unlucky bastard always earned his salt.
"Workaholic pretty, grant one request?"
Crack! Bones reset, Do-yoon smiled.
"Shoot."
With Dun's okay, Do-yoon reached out, grabbing his hand.
"When he wall-slammed me, it hurt. Pretty humiliating."
Focus faded from Do-yoon's eyes.
Intentional or not, humiliation was humiliation. No one else had wounded him and walked away unscathed—except this dawn guy.
He'd always paid back dawn guy's humiliations.
Wall-pinned like a bug crossed the line. Especially since it stole his power—blood pressure spiked.
Not just a slap—minimal damage, but still hit. Fair payback: slap other cheek, kick gut, dunk in Arctic water till near-drown, then pyre-roast.
Do-yoon pressed another s'more into Dun's hand.
Dun knelt eye-level with mad-smile Do-yoon.
"Got it. Mince like garlic, drown in water—but pull before death, electrocute till near-fatal, toss in fire pit. When drained, hand over for your knife frenzy or spell show—vent away. Like it?"
Do-yoon's eyes sparkled at Dun's rare affectionate tone, hand over mouth, beaming angelically.
"Too much."