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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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A humanoid monster.
The creature that had triggered my rise in realm, which had been blocked by a wall right before my regression, and the one that had killed me right after.
Of course, the regressed me did intend to defeat that monster in this round.
Although my top priority was the survival of humanity and the annihilation of the Black Fog, in that process, I would naturally end up facing that monster that had killed me before.
Because I thought that although my pre-regression self was much weaker than that monster, after regressing, my realm would rise even higher, and if I grew as planned, I could become strong enough to defeat that monster and then some.
‘…And of course, I had thought that it was the Black Fog that had created that monster.’
But it seems like that wasn’t the case.
My thoughts were wrong.
In the first place, that monster wasn’t a creature created by the Black Fog.
It was something created by a human. A human like me.
“……”
That fact was enough to weigh me down.
Of course….
‘Compared to the one I met before my regression….’
This one was weak.
That was certain.
If that hadn’t been the case, I would have attempted to flee as soon as I entered this room, no, even before I entered the laboratory.
Because there was no fight more foolish than a fight with no chance of winning.
‘The one I met before my regression must have been a creature that was born after strengthening or repeatedly improving upon the one before me now.’
Thanks to that, I saw a chance of winning.
Thinking that, I was inwardly relieved and then looked at the Doctor who had created that monster.
There were many things I wanted to ask him.
Although it wasn’t for me, an intruder, to say this, he also seemed to want to talk rather than fight, and that monster didn’t seem to have any intention of moving until it received the Doctor’s order.
“It seems you have a question. As it happens, I also have something I’m curious about you… How about we exchange one question each?”
“…Fine. What were you thinking when you created the ones I saw earlier and this one?”
I accepted the Doctor’s proposal and asked him a question.
Then, he answered my question faithfully.
“It’s simple. I created them to fulfill the wish of all humanity.”
“…The wish of all humanity?”
“Yes.”
The wish for the annihilation of the Black Fog….
“And I started this research in the hope that everyone living in the world would recognize my genius, which would annihilate the Black Fog.”
“…I don’t understand. Why does creating monsters like that lead to the annihilation of the Black Fog?”
“Ah ah… It’s unfair for only you to ask questions, isn’t it? I have to ask a question too.”
He brushed me off and asked me.
“Are you an aura ability user? Or are you a psionicist?”
“……”
“Still, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t lie if possible. Since I have a rough idea.”
At his words, I let out a sigh and answered.
“Neither.”
“I thought so. The energy you emitted was too foreign for psychic power, and it was too different compared to aura. And… you won’t tell me exactly what kind of power it is, will you?”
The Doctor heard just my one statement and said that to himself.
And I didn’t deny his words.
It wasn’t as if he would believe me even if I did deny it.
More than that, my question was the priority.
“Next question. Why does creating those monsters lead to the annihilation of the Black Fog?”
“The answer to that question isn’t difficult either. Because I intend to use these children I’ve created to fight the Black Fog.”
“……”
No way.
The ones I knew in the future were hostile to humanity, not the Black Fog.
However….
‘It doesn’t seem like a lie, and it doesn’t seem like a proper answer will come back even if I ask him….’
It was obvious that a more thorough question about this would only clue him in about my regression, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.
Because the information about my regression was the kind that I hadn’t even told Yeon Mi-rae, and that I shouldn’t tell anyone.
No, Yeon Mi-rae probably had a rough idea.
“Then it’s my turn. What do you think of the children I’ve created?”
“…What do you mean?”
“The opportunities to meet a strong person like you are, after all, rare. So… what is the level of my children? Do you think that they can gain an advantage even against people like Aura Blade users or Archmages?”
“…They’ll be able to gain a sufficient advantage against mediocre aura users or mages, but still, to Aura Blade users or Archmages, they’ll be nothing more than a slightly troublesome level.”
…Of course….
“Though the one in front of me is different.”
“Fufu… I see. It means that my masterpiece, the Doppelganger, is effective enough even against Aura Blade users or Archmages. And that includes you.”
“……”
“It’s your turn.”
“…I have no more questions.”
Of course, that was a lie.
I still had many things I wanted to ask him.
Like the reason why my intrusion was discovered even though I had definitely fooled the sensors when I entered this laboratory.
Like the reason why he had given his masterpiece the name Doppelganger.
Like the source of his capital for maintaining this laboratory and what criminal organization he was requesting specimens from.
Like what he had done with the people who had been kidnapped as his specimens.
‘And above all….’
Like the reason why he was so confident that he wouldn’t die even though I was right in front of him.
Although there were still many things I wanted to ask, I stopped here.
‘In fact… those can all be answered if I just kill this monster and search his head.’
More than that, I felt that I shouldn’t let him ask me any more questions.
Therefore, I readjusted my grip on my sword.
“Oh my… It seems like the information exchange time is over with this.”
The Doctor said that while looking disappointed.
Instead, the monster, the Doppelganger, which had been guarding the Doctor, began to walk forward as if it had been waiting.
“But it should be fine. Because now… it’s combat data collection time.”
As soon as his words ended, the Doppelganger charged at me.
Clang!
I blocked the Doppelganger’s attack with the sword I was holding.
‘…It’s heavy.’
However….
‘As expected, it’s nothing compared to that one from before my regression…!’
Both the technique and the power.
The Doppelganger from before my regression was far superior.
The one in front of my eyes now wasn’t the Doppelganger that had a much stronger physical ability than me and had moved much more efficiently than me.
Although its physical ability and technique were quite strong, it wasn’t at a level that could keep up with the current me… or to be precise, my doll.
Of course, I didn’t let my guard down.
If this was all there was to this Doppelganger, I wouldn’t have felt threatened by it, and the Doctor wouldn’t be so confident.
The Doppelganger definitely had a hidden trump card.
‘Then I’ll memorize all of its movements.’
Then, the Doppelganger kicked at me.
I lightly dodged its kick, but….
KWAANG…!
“?”
The Doppelganger’s foot that I had dodged hit the floor and shattered it.
It meant that the Doppelganger’s kick carried a stronger force than it looked.
‘This is….’
I hardened my face and looked at the Doppelganger and the Doctor.
The Doctor seemed to be admiring the Doppelganger’s power, and then he said with a joyful laugh.
“Amazing… When you kicked the Unicorn’s corpse, I had expected that it wasn’t an ordinary kick… but to think that it would produce such power when the Doppelganger uses it.”
“……”
When I kicked the Unicorn’s corpse….
At that time, I had definitely….
‘I had mixed in the principle of the Thousand-Pound Drop to push back not only the Unicorn’s corpse but also all the monsters behind it.’
This, in other words, meant that the kick the Doppelganger had just performed was a kick with the principle of the Thousand-Pound Drop mixed in, and….
‘This bastard… Don’t tell me, my technique…?’
It meant that the Doppelganger had copied my Thousand-Pound Drop.
“…So this is why you gave it the name Doppelganger.”
“Yes. It was a lot of trouble to make. I extracted and mixed only the DNA of the most talented among the kidnapped children… and literally created an individual with outstanding talent, to the point of being able to copy an opponent’s technique just by seeing it.”
“…I see.”
So that was why the Doppelganger from before my regression had been so overwhelmingly strong.
Because it must have seen many enemies before meeting me and copied their techniques.
And if it had that much talent, it wouldn’t have been difficult to optimize those techniques to suit itself.
‘And because it has such an ability….’
The Doctor didn’t think that the Doppelganger would lose.
Because it was growing in real time while fighting me.
As time passed, the one who would be defeated would be me.
Of course….
‘I won’t give you that kind of time…!’
…Only if it was given time.
Chwaak…!
I attacked the Doppelganger faster than before.
The Doppelganger saw my movement and tried to move accordingly, but my sword cut the Doppelganger’s leg faster.
Yes, no matter how much it could copy an enemy’s technique just by seeing it, if it didn’t have the body part to use that technique, it was useless.
“Kieeeek…?!”
The creature screamed.
I paid no heed to its pain and swung my sword.
Chwaak…!
What I cut this time was its eyes.
He had said that it could copy techniques just by seeing them, but conversely, didn’t that mean it couldn’t copy anything if it couldn’t see?
So, I took away its sight.
Fwoong!
Though the creature didn’t just give up after that.
Even if its sight was taken away, its other senses remained.
And for a talent of the Doppelganger’s level, it wasn’t difficult to roughly grasp an opponent’s position with its other senses.
Therefore, the creature swung its arm widely and aimed for my heart.
Though I wasn’t so foolish as to be hit by such an honest attack, so the Doppelganger’s hand missed.
“It’s useless. The Doppelganger has the genes of talented children injected into it, but… its foundation is still that of a monster. In other words….”
It means that this level of injury will heal soon.
“……”
At the Doctor’s words, I glanced at him quickly and then looked at the Doppelganger again.
Well, I had also expected that it would regenerate as long as it didn’t die.
And yet, I had cut its legs and eyes, and not its neck.
The reason was simple.
It was because I wanted to temporarily take away its mobility by cutting its legs, and wanted to prevent it from copying the technique I was about to use now by cutting its eyes.
I took a stance and drew up my internal energy.
And I delivered the best sword strike I could make that would surely finish it off.
‘Space Rend.’
The technique that I had used when I first entered the dungeon with Yeon Mi-rae where the Orc Warlord had appeared… The technique that literally cuts space.
At that time, since the technique wasn’t properly refined yet, space hadn’t been cut, but had literally shattered instead.
And that… was the same now.
Shatter…!
“…What…?”
The space where the Doppelganger was shattered.
Even if it could copy an opponent’s technique just by seeing it.
Even if it could regenerate.
From the time when it couldn’t see the technique… and until space itself had shattered, the creature couldn’t do anything.
Next….
‘Samadhi True Fire.’
The Doppelganger, which was in the fragmented space, had each and every one of its fragments burst into flames.
The fire burned not just the basic materials that constituted its body, but also the mana that the Doppelganger had used instead of internal energy when it used the Thousand-Pound Drop as well as the faint soul that remained.
Literally, everything that made up the Doppelganger burst into flames.
“…Hah….”
The Doctor who saw that could do nothing but watch the scene.
“How cruel of you… To burn my masterpiece so thoroughly… that not a single cell of it can be recovered….”
“And you’ll meet the same end as your masterpiece.”
I, who had burned everything that made up the Doppelganger, approached the Doctor and grabbed him by the collar.
“Wait…. Stop.”
“?”
Then, the Doctor spread both his hands and said.
“It seems like you’re thinking of killing me… but are you sure about that? If I die… the specimens that the criminals had kidnapped and brought to me… that is, you’ll never know where the young Awakeners are being held…. Are you… okay with that, hero of justice?”
“…Hah.”
So he did have something to rely on.
He had been so relaxed because he had a way out even if the Doppelganger lost.
However….
“I can just ask your head directly.”
I said that and brought my hand to his head.
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T/N – Lol, get dunked on, wanna-be “the Doctor”. These intellectuals, they think they have it all figured out… until something they don’t expect happens.
As for the Doppelganger, it will probably appear later on in the future. If it can be created by this fake “the Doctor”, then others can too. As for being able to copy the MC’s technique, I wonder what type of energy it was using? Before the regression, I assume that the OP Doppelganger was also using techniques from different power systems. So how is it pulling that off?
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
