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chapter 205
I quickly drew my inner strength.
The equipment they brought made my inner strength feel heavier, but that wasn’t much of a problem for me.
‘Compared to when I fought the Oracle’s Africa branch operatives last time, this is easier.’
The Africa branch operatives had brought only one piece of equipment each, and it was small enough for a single person to carry. The dopplegangers in front of me now had equipment so large it would require trucks to transport.
Judging by what they said, it seems they brought not just one, but multiple pieces.
Still, if their equipment was less effective than the ones the Africa branch operatives used…
‘It means their equipment is of lower quality compared to what the Africa branch operatives used.’
What could that possibly mean?
With that thought, I swung my sword at one of the dopplegangers at the front.
Swish!
“Ugh…!”
“…?”
The doppleganger hit by my sword gritted its teeth and clutched its wound.
I was slightly surprised. Not because it hadn’t died. I had swung my sword lighter than usual to adapt to the heavy inner strength, and I expected a normal doppleganger to easily evade it.
In fact, considering the dopplegangers I had faced so far, it was strange that it didn’t dodge.
‘Well… it’s clear just by looking that their level is lower than the dopplegangers I’ve dealt with before, so my surprise isn’t because of that.’
What surprised me was its action of clenching its teeth and holding its wound after being struck.
Of course, dopplegangers feel pain. But the ones I’d seen before would scream in agony when hurt; they wouldn’t clench their teeth and clutch their injuries like this one.
‘…Because they were made as weapons. They were probably designed to prioritize attacking the target in front of them rather than clenching their wounds in pain.’
Then why did this doppleganger clutch its wound?
‘It means it wasn’t made for combat.’
Something other than combat…
That wasn’t hard to guess.
I broke through the other dopplegangers and held the Sword of Harmony to the neck of the one impersonating my uncle.
“…Hey, before I cut your neck, I have a question.”
“…Geon-woo…”
“Stop pretending to be my uncle. It’s disgusting.”
I ground my teeth as I looked at the one still trying to play my uncle.
“Were there originals for all the dopplegangers here… like there was for you?”
“……”
“Just like you pretended to be my uncle to run Sinsegyo… are these dopplegangers also impersonating Core Earth employees to pull some kind of scheme?”
I could feel the police and the Ironblood Guild behind him reacting to my words.
“How many people have been swapped with dopplegangers?”
“……”
I wasn’t expecting an answer. But he responded.
“I don’t know.”
He said it with a firm expression. The other dopplegangers then turned their heads toward the one impersonating my uncle.
…What’s going on?
“Our dopplegangers mimic the actions of their originals, doing what they would do while also following instructions. But I don’t know how many dopplegangers are active.”
“Why… how can you say that?”
“Seems he immersed himself in the role while mimicking the original.”
“Being created ten years ago, malfunctions can occur.”
The other dopplegangers said that in response to the one impersonating my uncle. Apparently, this one had been made quite a while ago, unlike the others.
Thinking back, the person he replaced must have been swapped when I was five, so he must have already been created at that time.
‘No wonder there’s something special about him compared to other dopplegangers.’
Perhaps Oracle cannot completely control him.
“He must be disposed of.”
“Before he reveals any more information…”
As I glared at the doppleganger whose original was my uncle, the other dopplegangers’ words annoyed me. They even tried to attack to stop me from speaking, so I used my Incantation Magic.
“Silence (沈默).”
“…!”
“…?!”
With my words empowered, the noisy dopplegangers around me could not speak.
Satisfied, I looked back at the doppleganger in front of me and asked:
“Why are you telling me this willingly?”
“Geon-woo, because you are my nephew.”
“……”
Earlier, I had cursed him to stop pretending to be my uncle, but now I didn’t feel like doing that.
‘This one truly believes he is my uncle.’
That’s why he is approaching me so amicably. Still, Oracle’s orders likely take priority.
“Since the topic came up, I should also say that my wish to save my brother… no, the brother of my original was sincere.”
“……”
“Oracle actually made that proposal to control me. It meant they wanted to make a doppleganger like me.”
…I see. Oracle doesn’t revive the dead but makes dopplegangers that imitate the appearance and actions of the deceased. If Oracle could really bring people back, they would have used that as bait to recruit powerful figures worldwide long ago.
“Now, kill me. I’ve told you everything I can about dopplegangers and Oracle.”
He smiled with satisfaction, as if dying at my hands was pleasing.
“Sorry, but I still have questions for you.”
Nope. Not going to the afterlife just yet.
“I checked the companies that sent money to Sinsegyo… specifically to you. Most were unfamiliar, but there was one… a very familiar name.”
I glanced at the truck the dopplegangers arrived in. I saw the logo on its side.
“What kind of company is Core Earth?”
“……”
He glanced at the truck I had checked and then spoke carefully.
“…A company where Oracle replaced the upper management and over half the employees with dopplegangers.”
“!”
“!”
“!”
The police and Ironblood Guild all looked shocked. I was also slightly surprised. I had thought Oracle merely bribed some upper management to infiltrate lower levels, but most of the members being replaced by dopplegangers…
“To ensure stable smuggling, Oracle needed dopplegangers to obey them. Ordinary humans could betray them, so they were replaced with dopplegangers.”
“…Do you know more?”
“Yes. Explaining everything I know about Core Earth will take some time.”
He began revealing all the information he had about Core Earth. The other dopplegangers struggled to stop him, but they were immobilized by my inner strength.
While the dopplegangers’ attention was on me, the police and Ironblood Guild, having neutralized the dopplegangers’ equipment, gathered around to listen.
At the same time, my main body was learning about Core Earth from the doppleganger.
My “artist” doll had subdued all those who attacked the police and Ironblood Guild headquarters.
‘…They’re all dopplegangers.’
From my meditation, their souls were extremely similar to humans, but they were all dopplegangers.
‘Over 100 of them attacked the police and Ironblood Guild today… all dopplegangers.’
Their individual level was low. Even a normal awakened could defeat a doppleganger from today’s raid alone. Compared to the past, where it took multiple veteran awakened, aura masters, or archmages to face one doppleganger, the difference was staggering.
‘No, maybe this was a trap using fixed ideas. Oracle probably sent only strong combat dopplegangers before, so we assumed no weak ones existed.’
“What are these guys thinking to do this?”
“Maybe they’re a violent group from another region?”
“Probably. They wouldn’t attack us without a reason, so someone must be behind it. Still, these kinds of people exist even today…”
Currently, the police and Ironblood Guild only suspect these subdued attackers are Oracle-related criminals, and haven’t realized they are dopplegangers.
‘This will become obvious when the police and Ironblood Guild return, so no need for me to explain…’
Thinking that, I sent my doll elsewhere. Something had triggered the barrier I had set to protect my home and mother.
‘Given the numbers, they seem to be dopplegangers too.’
I didn’t confirm directly, but the circumstances suggested it.
[…Geon-woo? How did you arrive so fast…]
The doppleganger impersonating my uncle looked surprised. He was shocked that I arrived so quickly despite preparing a way to secure me. The true method wasn’t attacking the police or Ironblood Guild.
‘Even if there had been minor damage, the remaining people at the police and Ironblood Guild could’ve handled it.’
The real method to capture me was attacking our apartment. My apartment had decent security, but compared to the police or Ironblood Guild, it was weaker…
‘And many civilians are there.’
Especially my mother… a weak point. Attacking our apartment was the most effective way to restrict me. Even if I quickly blocked the attack, more could come, forcing me to stay in the apartment and delaying me.
Bang!
Kwahng…!
If I hadn’t prepared at all, that would have been a disaster.
‘Noisy.’
The barrier reacted to any hostile presence entering the apartment. By the time my doll arrived, it had already subdued all the dopplegangers attempting to infiltrate. Some outside attacked the barrier, but subduing this number of dopplegangers wouldn’t take long. My doll landed among the dopplegangers.
Thunk!
“?!”
“Hello?”
And with that, it struck out its fist.
