The Life Eater's Resolve
A new resolve formed, and a black bear charged straight at Kang Yoonsoo.
He leaned back, then sprinted forward and swung his sword.
The fierce, swift blade pierced the black bear’s neck.
It was a movement clearly different from before.
“Kuruuuk-!”
More black bears poured out from behind the trees.
The black bears of the mountain range were not only extremely vicious, but their hides were so thick that ordinary attacks barely scratched them.
The rest of the party quickly shifted into combat stance.
Shanette gripped Death Scythe tightly, while Henrik pulled five swordsman dolls from his puppet summoning box.
Iris, however, remained seated calmly in place.
Henrik snapped at her in irritation.
“You idiot! Bears are charging right now—what the hell are you doing sitting there?”
Iris looked up at the middle-aged man with a genuinely puzzled expression.
“A princess does not fight. It is rare for royalty to step onto the battlefield themselves.”
“Then at least run farther away!”
Henrik was about to curse when a black bear lunged at them.
Crack-!
The leading swordsman doll collided violently with the bear.
Half its upper body shattered, and Henrik quickly flicked the threads of mana.
Four remaining dolls simultaneously stabbed their swords into the bear’s belly.
Yet the black bear’s hide was tough, and its muscles were taut.
The blades failed to penetrate, and a sword or two lodged in its body was not enough to stop its rampage.
Only by targeting vital points like the neck or heart could they end the fight quickly.
Swish-!
Shanette also swung her great scythe with full force.
When the black bear countered with its forepaw, she felt a tremendous impact, as if a boulder had been crushed in her hands.
She immediately drew the scythe straight down to create distance.
Shanette activated a new skill.
“Fire Strike!”
It was the new skill she had gained upon changing class to Ignus Warrior.
Five fireballs formed around her great scythe.
She swung Death Scythe in a wide arc, and the fireballs exploded toward the black bear.
The blazing orbs struck the bear and burst outward in a wide radius.
“Kueeeek-!”
The spreading flames engulfed even the black bears several meters away.
After changing to Ignus Warrior, her combat ability had improved dramatically.
The mistakes she had made in previous battles had nearly vanished, and even after prolonged fighting, the trajectory of her scythe never wavered.
It was thanks to the class traits of the Ignus Warrior, which raised strength, stamina, and weapon skill simultaneously.
“The flowers are pretty.”
While everyone else fought fiercely, Iris calmly touched the petals of a wildflower.
Her face remained gentle and peaceful, as though the battle around her belonged to another world.
Kang Yoonsoo, having slain one black bear, walked over to Iris.
Blood from the bear dripped from his blade and stained the wildflowers red.
Kang Yoonsoo sorted through his memories.
Now that she was part of the group, he needed to raise Iris’s combat ability quickly.
“Stop sitting still. You are not a princess.”
A look of innocent confusion crossed Iris’s face.
“If I am not a princess, then what am I?”
“You are simply yourself.”
Kang Yoonsoo spoke as if it were obvious.
“A doppelganger does not possess its own voice.”
Iris gently grasped the wildflower.
Though she only held it lightly, the petals and stamens crumbled into powder.
She plucked another wildflower.
“If I do not copy others, what can I do?”
“You can create a new self.”
Iris stood up.
At that moment, Shanette shouted urgently.
“Watch out!”
Three black bears charged at them simultaneously.
But Kang Yoonsoo stood still without drawing his sword.
Just as the black bear’s powerful forepaw was about to strike his face—
Iris rose and swung her right arm.
Crack-!
In an instant, the three black bears were sent flying as if swept away by a waterfall.
It was a sight that could only be described as being swept away.
Both Shanette and Henrik were speechless at the scene before them.
A long, thick tusk had sprouted from Iris’s right arm.
“……!”
It was a shape they had seen somewhere before.
It closely resembled the tusk of the wild boar she had eaten the previous night.
The doppelganger has accepted a foreign existence for the first time.
She has become the first doppelganger to decide to find herself.
The hidden ability of the doppelganger race, Predation, has bloomed.
Each time she devours an enemy’s heart, she absorbs its physical abilities.
When a new ability is absorbed, the previous one disappears.
Consuming many hearts of the same species does not increase the effect. She must devour hearts from a variety of monsters to grow smoothly.
The more hearts she devours, the higher her ability absorption rate becomes.
*This message is visible only to those the doppelganger has opened her heart to.
The heart of the boar she had eaten last night.
Through the newly awakened ability of Predation, she had absorbed the monster’s power.
Although she could not transform her entire body, her mutated cells had restructured to absorb abilities.
It was far superior to that of ordinary doppelgangers.
Even if she had lost the ability to copy perfectly, the power to devour enemies and absorb their abilities was something no other monster possessed.
Iris gently stroked the boar’s tusk protruding from her wrist.
“Combat is truly mysterious.”
“Hardly.”
Henrik retorted with a tired face.
Iris swung the tusk on her right arm and began slaughtering the black bears.
A doppelganger’s grip strength was far greater than that of an ordinary human.
Though it was her first battle, she dispatched her enemies with ease.
Finally, the entire pack of black bears lay defeated.
The surroundings were filled with blood-soaked bear corpses.
Kang Yoonsoo’s level rose by two, reaching 90.
Kang Yoonsoo pried open a black bear’s chest with his longsword and cut out its heart.
He tossed the heart to Iris without even cooking it.
“Eat.”
“Why must I eat this?”
“So you will be useful in battle.”
Iris chewed the bloody heart without so much as a frown.
By consuming the heart of a ferocious black bear, Iris’s strength has slightly increased.
She smiled in satisfaction.
“It is truly delicious. Much better than when cooked.”
Iris devoured the heart completely, her eyes filled with curiosity like a baby nursing at its mother’s breast.
Then she suddenly stared straight at Kang Yoonsoo.
“May I taste your heart as well?”
“No.”
“Oh my. How disappointing.”
Iris wore an expression of pure regret.
Shanette lacked even the strength to object and could only stare in disbelief.
Next, Kang Yoonsoo resurrected the fallen black bear corpses as undead.
“Mass Corpse Resurrection.”
The black bear corpses rose as undead that had overcome death.
The zombie black bears’ eyes turned pitch black as they drooled.
Kang Yoonsoo sent the undead into the summoning space.
52 zombie black bears have been stored in the summoning space.
Current summons in the summoning space: 52 zombie black bears, White the White Wolf, Sally the Salamander.
Maximum number of summons that can be stored: 646
* * *
Kang Yoonsoo led the party to an old mountain lodge in the range.
It appeared to be an abandoned cabin once used by a mountain keeper.
Though cramped, it was sufficient for lodging.
They decided to spend the night there.
Exhausted, Shanette quickly fell asleep, and Henrik began snoring the moment he lay down.
Iris, on the other hand, sat blankly staring at the night sky.
“The stars are truly beautiful. It would be nice if one day I could reach them.”
Kang Yoonsoo glanced at her, then extended his right arm.
“Summon Salamander Sally.”
Flames spread, and a beautiful girl appeared.
Upon seeing Iris, Sally came running over.
She had seen her during the forest fire, but there had been no time for introductions.
“Wow! A pretty big sister!”
“You are a pretty child as well.”
“Really? Really?”
Sally asked, her eyes sparkling.
Iris nodded with a faint smile.
“Really.”
“Wow! I love you!”
Sally hugged Iris.
Iris looked at Sally with eyes full of curiosity.
She touched Sally’s plump cheeks, then gently pinched them.
“Ow!”
When Sally cried out in pain, Iris pulled her hand back in surprise.
Iris tilted her head, then lightly licked the girl’s cheek.
She was like a doe encountering a human for the first time.
Sally made an innocent face, then pressed her own lips to Iris’s cheek.
“I’m Sally! Who are you, big sister?”
“Iris.”
Iris stroked Sally’s crimson hair.
With gentle eyes, she spoke.
“You truly are a beautiful child.”
“Big sister is pretty too! Want to play with Sally?”
“If that is what you wish, then let us.”
Sally beamed brightly and hugged Iris again.
“Hooray! Sally has been so bored! What do you want to do with Sally, big sister Iris?”
“Then may I taste your heart?”
“Waaah! Papa!”
Sally burst into tears and clung to Kang Yoonsoo’s waist.
The girl sniffled and cried.
“Papa! Papa! That big sister is scary!”
“Play with her.”
“Waaah!”
“If you cry, I will not make you a little sister.”
“Uuuu…… sniff!”
In the end, Sally stayed behind in the lodge with Iris.
Once everyone had fallen asleep, Kang Yoonsoo slipped out of the mountain lodge alone.
He climbed the mountain path.
Kang Yoonsoo closed his eyes and searched his memories.
‘In the lives when I lived as a ranger or mountain keeper, this place was my entire world.’
Everything about the Hatar Mountain Range came flooding back.
Beneath a cascading valley lay the lost sword of a former imperial emperor. Deep underground in the mountains was a gold mine hiding the dwarves’ legacy. And near the bushes on the second peak to the left of the eastern and western sides grew the herb of immortality.
Kang Yoonsoo sifted through the fragments of memory.
The lost sword of the former emperor was powerful, but repairing its lost durability would require an enormous amount of mithril.
The dwarves’ gold mine would bring immense wealth, but it would incur the wrath of the Gold Dragon who ruled the mine.
The herb of immortality greatly increased vitality, but it also shortened one’s lifespan.
Of course, obtaining each one would be helpful in the future.
But time was precious.
He knew every hidden treasure and secret skill in the mountains.
‘There is no need to search the mountains for them.’
Kang Yoonsoo stopped walking.
Before him stood a wooden barricade made of long logs driven into the ground.
Beyond it came the sound of bandits laughing.
A bandit on guard raised his sword warily.
“Who goes there?”
Kang Yoonsoo approached lightly and pierced the man’s neck.
The bandit collapsed immediately, as if he had never expected to be killed by such a casual motion.
You have slain the vicious bandit Greenwell.
Because you killed a notorious criminal, your crime value does not increase.
You can claim the bounty at the investigation headquarters.
Experience gained has increased due to the Kin-Slaying Synergy.
Your level has increased by 1.
This was the method he had chosen to grow as quickly as possible.
The Crossblade Bandits were vicious criminals who made the Hatar Mountain Range their home.
Killing them would grant massive experience, and their leader possessed a rare magic sword.
Even Kang Yoonsoo, however, could not face so many bandits alone.
Under normal circumstances, he would have ignored them.
But from now on, he had to change.
Kang Yoonsoo slowly organized his thoughts.
Tonight, which version of himself would he become?
Before long, he chose the self he would transform into.
The self from his tenth life.
The Life Eater who had taken countless lives.
The moment he passed the barricade and entered the bandits’ stronghold, Kang Yoonsoo had already become the worst kind of killer.