Chapter 226
Chapter 226
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 227
Chapter Title: Hunted by the Hound
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[Defeated the doppelganger disguised as a teammate.]
[Acquired 300 points.]
“Huu…”
Having triumphed over Yoo Ara’s doppelganger, I gazed at the remnants of the surrounding battle and let out a sigh of relief.
Roar.
The forest was ablaze with flames.
Just like the real Yoo Ara, its fighting style was eerily similar, scattering wide-area fire orbs everywhere.
The air had grown thick and hard to breathe because of it, but I was satisfied since I’d dispatched it cleanly.
It only had about 50% of the real Yoo Ara’s power anyway, so there was no way I could lose.
“300 points for now.”
I flashed a satisfied smile.
As long as I had [Persona Discernment], no one in this ‘Doppelganger Hunt’ exam had an edge over me.
I’d aim straight for first place like this.
…That’s when I was preparing to move to the next spot.
Thump.
My heart suddenly pounded.
Goosebumps rose across my skin, and a sliver of fear bloomed in my chest.
My instinct to evade death kicked in, automatically turning my head to detect the ‘killing intent.’
I turned my gaze toward the direction where it emanated from.
At an almost imperceptible distance, atop a massive boulder, a man stood staring down at me with bloodshot eyes.
Having enhanced my vision with mana, his face was crystal clear.
Werner.
Jaun’s spy and the special examiner for this Seongmuje trial.
I pretended it was just a fleeting coincidence and turned my gaze away.
Turning my back to him, I bit my lip lightly.
“Damn…”
Cold sweat trickled down.
I’d worried Werner might target me as a threat to Daria, and that fear had come true.
What should I do now?
If Werner set his sights on me, survival was impossible.
The guy was an S-Rank wizard.
No way I could handle him in a head-on fight.
‘But why’s his killing intent that intense?’
I swallowed hard.
I’d sensed plenty of killing intent aimed at me while meddling in the story so far.
Most were B-Grade or A-Rank, with the occasional S-Rank.
But Werner’s just now was incomparable to any of them.
Whether it was pure intent to kill me or because he was an S-Rank monster, I didn’t know.
Either way, that level of killing intent was proof his desire to kill me burned stronger than anyone I’d faced before.
…I had to evade it.
Get out of here.
I glanced back at the boulder where Werner had stood moments ago.
He was gone without a trace.
It meant he’d started pursuing me.
“…This is a hassle.”
Werner handled ‘tracking’ for Jaun.
Even within Jaun, he was nicknamed the ‘hunting dog’ for his keen senses and aura detection.
For a normal person, escaping his pursuit was impossible…
But I had [Silent Steps].
If I used the trait’s power to mask my ‘presence,’ I could slip his surveillance for a while.
Our current distance was considerable, so even if he charged straight here, it’d take at least a few minutes.
And if he wanted to avoid the exam’s broadcast eyes, it’d take even longer.
It wasn’t impossible.
I forcibly curled my lips up to feign composure.
“…Let’s go.”
With [Silent Steps] active, I moved to a new location.
Earning points from doppelganger hunts was important, but my top priority now was survival.
15 minutes after Werner began chasing Kim Sun-woo.
Werner had arrived at the spot where Kim Sun-woo had been.
“Hmm. Made it, but…”
He slowly scanned the surroundings.
Burning trees and bushes. And the doppelganger corpse sprawled on the ground.
But no sign of Kim Sun-woo.
Of course, there was no reason for him to stick around for 15 minutes, so his absence was expected…
But Werner sensed something off.
“…No traces at all?”
Human movement always leaves traces. Footprints, auras, mana, presence…
For Werner, called Jaun’s hunting dog and holder of the ‘Tracker’ trait, following such clues was child’s play.
Yet somehow, this place held not a single trace related to Kim Sun-woo.
Even for him, who’d handled ‘tracking’ for Jaun for years, this was one of those rare situations he could count on one hand.
“What?”
15 minutes should’ve left at least faint traces…
How could they not be detectable?
“No way.”
Suspicious?
Then, suddenly, Werner recalled an event from 24 years ago, before ‘that one’ had saved him.
Back in the days when he opposed ‘that one.’
He’d once engaged in a chase with ‘that one’ in a similar environment.
He’d always been confident in pursuits, so even against ‘that one,’ praised worldwide for exceptional talent, he figured he could track them easily.
But Werner never found them in the end.
They must’ve known how to deliberately erase their traces.
Just like now.
Werner sank into wistful sorrow for ‘that one’ for a moment.
It had been 14 years since he’d last seen them, yet the ache of missing them still cut deep.
‘…I want to see you again soon.’
Time was running out anyway.
Once we achieved our goal in the Seongmuje, we’d learn.
Their true intentions. And…
“…Not the time.”
Longing for them could wait.
His immediate goal: only about 4 hours left until the ‘Night Doppelganger Hunt’ trial ended.
He needed to hurry and find Kim Sun-woo and any other threatening students.
“Tch.”
Werner looked up at the sky.
A single square cube floated in the pitch-black night sky dotted with stars.
That cube was called the ‘Relay Cube.’
A special device broadcasting the Seongmuje trials live to the outside world.
“…If not for that, I’d just raze the area.”
But he couldn’t.
Jaun’s top priority was ensuring the Seongmuje wasn’t canceled.
“Fun.”
It even felt like hide-and-seek from his childhood.
Hide wherever you want. I’ll find you for sure.
With that mindset, as he prepared to resume tracking Kim Sun-woo—
Rustle rustle—
A sound came from nearby bushes.
Werner immediately turned toward it.
Soon, a female student with a bun hairstyle emerged from the bushes.
“...Yang Ing?”
At Werner’s call, Yang Ing gripped her spear and assumed a stance.
“Lee Seo-jun!”
“...?”
Werner tilted his head at the out-of-nowhere remark.
Then he realized its meaning and gaped.
“Ah. Uh, yeah, I’m Lee Seo-jun. I’m Lee Seo-jun.”
He was disguised as Lee Seo-jun, right?
Werner belatedly tried to act (?) like Lee Seo-jun.
Objectively, his acting was poor, but since the language differed, Yang Ing didn’t notice.
Yang Ing lowered her stance and shouted loudly.
“...What’re you saying?”
Werner, who didn’t know Chinese, couldn’t understand her.
At that moment, Yang Ing unleashed her mana and cast a spirit summoning spell.
—Hiiiing!
A massive horse made of mana neighed loudly.
Yang Ing mounted it and shouted again.
Werner stared at her blankly before drawing the sword at his waist.
First, eliminate this noisy one.
“...Whoa there.”
Having evaded Werner, I climbed a tree and surveyed the surroundings from the top.
Far off, Werner—disguised as Lee Seo-jun—was fighting Yang Ing.
And it looked pretty funny.
He was desperately mimicking Lee Seo-jun’s fighting style, but differences showed in the fine details.
Like that flashy backflip he just did.
Lee Seo-jun doesn’t do that.
“…That’s not how you act like Lee Seo-jun.”
As a Lee Seo-jun expert, I wasn’t impressed by his performance.
Worried he’d get found out like that.
Couldn’t exactly tip him off to act better.
In this Seongmuje episode, Jaun needed meaningful success.
The reason was simple.
The Jaun episode’s outcome would positively affect Lee Seo-jun too.
There was the ‘loss’ of Jaun’s success, but the ‘gain’ outweighed it, so I had to root for Jaun’s success.
I turned my attention from Werner and descended the tree.
Thud.
It was nearly 5 meters high, but with mana-reinforced body, my soles just tingled a bit.
While Werner was distracted like that.
Time to encounter a doppelganger or enemy team and rack up points.
“Hmm. Where are the others?”
I moved again in search of points, heading opposite Werner’s direction.
As I walked along, I sensed mana not far away.
A familiar mana signature.
No, familiar didn’t cover it—it was one I knew intimately.
“…No way.”
I rushed toward the mana’s source.
“Aaah!”
There, I spotted a familiar face.
Glamorous silver hair gleaming under the moonlight in the darkness.
It was Eun Seol-ah, fallen backward mid-battle.
And…
Her opponent was.
…‘Me.’
I stared blankly at ‘Kim Sun-woo.’
Seeing a guy identical to me felt weird somehow.
Then curiosity struck.
How would a doppelganger mimicking me fight?
“Hnngh!”
Eun Seol-ah deployed an auxiliary barrier spell to block ‘Kim Sun-woo’s’ approach.
Though it showed about 50% of my abilities, it still seemed overwhelming for her.
I considered helping since she looked strained, but she wasn’t completely outmatched, so I decided to watch a bit more.
Then ‘Kim Sun-woo’ manifested mana orbs.
Neutral attribute orbs.
I’d thought maybe ‘lightning’ or ‘light,’ but fortunately not.
I kept watching just in case, but it only used neutral orbs and hand-to-hand combat, nothing else.
Seems it copied personality and style too.
If it were me, I wouldn’t use attributes other than wind here either.
I’d worried it might use other attributes or rune bindings, but this was fine.
I’d watched enough; time to help.
For a surprise attack, I quickly manifested mana orbs.
Wooong!
And fired them the instant they formed, before it could react.
Bang—
The spell lit up the darkness, streaking forward with a white afterimage.
Not much mana invested, but as a sneak attack, it’d suffice if it hit.
…But.
‘Kim Sun-woo’ reacted faster than my spell.
No—even before I manifested the orbs, it had already braced for my attack.
Obviously, an attack the enemy anticipated wasn’t a ‘surprise.’
It casually twisted its body to dodge.
“…Huh.”
I felt dumbfounded watching it.
“…It can use killing intent detection.”