Execution
Meanwhile, in PER's waiting room. Ryu Jae-jun, who had been eliminated first and was now watching the match with the coaching staff, could only grit his teeth.
"Tch……."
He had been on guard, but he never imagined he'd get taken out like this.
But when he thought about it coldly, Ryu Jae-jun's defeat wasn't due to carelessness or anything like that.
The doppelganger had just randomly copied an intruder's ability that happened to be way too strong.
……Even if we fought again, if I let them strike first, I'd lose the same way.
And yielding the first strike—even against Lee Chang-hyun—wouldn't be easy, no matter what.
That's why the current situation felt so uncomfortable.
Especially since the doppelganger was wearing his face.
This makes it look like we're losing because of me…….
Inside, he was screaming at his teammates to notice, but he knew even that wouldn't be easy.
This match is over.
He had no choice but to resign himself to it in his heart.
The doppelganger would probably seize some opening and create a negative variable.
As he thought that—
A massive roar erupted from the audience stands outside.
No way……!
Something changed for PER as they entered one of the rooms in the Mirage Palace.
A change none of them had anticipated.
Tower maps were incredibly diverse, and many of them imposed massive disadvantages and variables on players.
Among them, the Mirage Palace was one of the worst offenders.
That's why……
If there's suspicion, I can't just brush it off halfway.
Whether that Ryu Jae-jun was real or fake.
Honestly, he couldn't be 100% sure.
But one thing was certain.
He had to confirm it, even if it meant taking a risk.
One enemy inside was worlds apart from one outside in terms of the ripple effect.
As they approached the door to a room in the Mirage Palace, Yi Yeon-ju piped up.
"This place……?"
I brushed it off and urged them on.
"We don't know how Ji-su's doing, so let's check it out quick."
I flung the door open.
The room was empty.
Of course it is. It's the next room over.
With Kim Do-jun potentially being a doppelganger too, I needed to deal with Ryu Jae-jun fast.
"Chang-hyun? There's no one in here?"
Ryu Jae-jun—or rather, the doppelganger—spoke up.
But strangely, no one responded.
"……?"
Silence hung in the air.
And just as the doppelganger started sensing something off—
Yi Yeon-ju's Binding and Yoon Han-gyeol's Seven Flying Swords sealed its body in place.
It was like they already knew it was a doppelganger posing as Ryu Jae-jun—a perfectly coordinated move.
Bang—.
And in that final instant, before it could react, my gunshot rang out.
Its body was already pierced by the bullet.
"Kuh…… How……."
"How'd I know? I didn't need to know."
The thing with the hole through it slowly liquefied and melted away, vanishing completely before long.
"Whew…… That was creepy as hell. Dungeons like this must've killed tons of hunters who actually climbed the Tower."
Well…… Yeah, the real Mirage Palace was one of the deadliest for first-gen hunters.
"But…… Chang-hyun. How'd you know that guy was fake?"
With the Ryu doppelganger down, PER's crew headed off again to find Han Ji-su.
"Yeah, you shared that image ability, even accounting for fakes. You signaled for a simultaneous attack. You were sure, right?"
Well…… Honestly, I was certain only at the end, when I sent the image to Yi Gil-han via his ability.
I'd been wavering when sharing it with Yi Yeon-ju and Yoon Han-gyeol.
"Eh…… I've known the guy a while. His habits, the way he talks. You can tell at a glance."
"Oh…… Really? I couldn't spot a thing. Even the clothes were identical."
Of course, that was bullshit.
It had absorbed memories or something—indistinguishable from the real Ryu Jae-jun.
The only way I knew was thanks to Piercing Eye.
I'd used Full Bloom - Talent Awakening: Dream Commander without randomly burning mana, setting up an environment where it could be easily taken out if it was a doppelganger Ryu.
In short: Using Dream Commander, I sent an image of killing Ryu Jae-jun on my signal.
And by activating the ability simultaneously, I made mana use feel natural.
Masking detection skills like Piercing Eye.
And it worked.
If I'd just used Piercing Eye, the mana glow in my eyes might've tipped it off.
Maybe I'd overdone the feint.
"Alright, heads up. Do-jun next to Ji-su could be a doppelganger too. Stay sharp. Let's go."
We'd nearly arrived. They opened the door to the room where Han Ji-su was.
Inside the match, they'd handled the traitor with eerie calm, no big drama.
But outside, watching the broadcast, it was pandemonium.
Lee Chang-hyun opened the door, gave the signal, and the team swarmed the doppelganger in unison.
The sight drew an explosion of cheers.
And no wonder—the commentators had been droning on with negative predictions, saying it'd be impossible to spot.
They'd spotted it beautifully.
"No way……! If he used an ability, the doppelganger would've sensed the mana flow and caught on. It wouldn't have gone down that easy without countermeasures……."
The massive black man watching the broadcast shook his head in disbelief, muttering rebuttals nonstop.
But what happened had happened.
Leman just chuckled.
Then added one line.
"Do you know the world of high-stakes games?"
"You're asking me? Of course I—"
The big guy started to retort in exasperation, but Leman cut him off.
"The countless schemes and dirty tricks corporate raiders pull behind the scenes—do you know how they look from the outside?"
"……."
"Just one line in the paper after it's all over. 'XX Corp acquires YY Corp, synergy expected in ZZ sector.' Something like that."
Leman burst into laughter.
Hard, like it was the funniest thing.
"Fights are always like that. Invisible mind games, endless maneuvers—all boil down to one clash on the surface."
"Leman! I know that. But from someone who's cleared that map myself, something was off about—"
"Tsk…… And here I thought a successful hunter like you would get it. The fact that the doppelganger didn't notice? That 'weird, unconventional' move itself means something was brewing under the surface."
"……."
Finally getting it, the man slumped into his seat.
Even a top hunter like him hadn't seen it coming.
That alone was a shock.
Lee Geun-taek found a better guy than I thought…….
A faint smile tugged at Leman's lips.
Click—
Creeeak……
PER's four remaining members opened the door to Han Ji-su's room in the violet-drenched Mirage Palace.
The building had a sleek, grand design, but the hinge screech felt tense, ominous.
Yet the door swung open quickly, revealing familiar faces inside.
"Ji-su, Do-jun!"
Yoon Han-gyeol's face lit up, relieved to see Kim Do-jun—who might've been a doppelganger—in this bizarre, violet haze of repeating emptiness.
Makes sense. Seeing a friendly face in a palace like this felt good.
This map makes me wanna hurl too.
It was one of those maps that felt packed with pure malice.
But right now, my focus was elsewhere: Kim Do-jun.
Ryu's doppel had earphones, but no earphones on Do-jun? Suspicious as hell.
The normally chatty motormouth Kim Do-jun not saying a word over comms? Not normal at all.
But like before, no need to tip my hand early.
Best to one-shot it, no chance for resistance.
"So, how's it been? Anything happen while we were coming?"
I asked Han Ji-su specifically, probing for any weird Kim Do-jun behavior.
"Anything……? Hmm……."
She tilted her head.
Nothing coming to mind meant no obvious incidents.
But this map's doppelgangers were high-level.
That wouldn't confirm anything.
"What, with just you two here? Nothing much. We just waited quietly."
Quietly……?
Hard to picture with the real Kim Do-jun.
But thinking back to their rocky Seoul Hunter Academy days…… Maybe silence was normal between them.
Overthinking wasn't helping.
I already told the team Do-jun might be fake. Signal for first strike…… Should I test him directly?
Positions shifted subtly, surrounding Kim Do-jun……
"Wh-what?"
Of course, he noticed the shift and panicked.
"What's with you guys? Talk it out."
But as the team closed in, glaring, he sensed the vibe.
"How about a draw?"
For a split second, his nonsense sounded like real Kim Do-jun.
But still—
"You. Where're your earphones?"
"Oh, that? If that's what this is about, you should've said so. See……."
Kim Do-jun suddenly shed something like an insect molting—a thin, whitish membrane.
"Couldn't wear the earphones with this new mana gear I brought……."
This was the ace weapon he'd bragged about prepping?
Seeing the transparent husk he shed, the bizarre realism hit me—this was the real Kim Do-jun.
I couldn't help but feel absurd.