TRPM 206

chapter 206

Every time my puppet swung its fist, several nearby doppelgängers went flying.

Of course, I adjusted the blows so they wouldn’t crash into nearby shops and cause damage.

The roads and vehicles already destroyed before I arrived can’t be helped anyway.

It wasn’t like I was going to compensate for them, so I let that slide.

Even after being thrown, some doppelgängers were still moving, so I chased them down and stomped them into submission.

While I was doing that, I could sense a commotion near the apartment complex protected by a barrier.

Well, even if it’s the middle of the night, the racket from those doppelgängers must’ve woken people up… they probably looked outside to see what was going on.

And when they saw doppelgängers lying unconscious after being stopped by the barrier, they must have panicked and caused the commotion.

After finishing off the last doppelgänger outside the barrier, I sent my puppet toward the apartments.

“…Hm?”

When I did, I was a little surprised.

The doppelgängers inside the complex were bound by glowing chains of light.

For reference, my barrier doesn’t have that kind of feature.

Which meant someone else had created them.

…Magical binding chains?

And at a very high level at that.

In this apartment complex, there’s only one person capable of such magic.

“Ah! That’s Gunwoo’s… no, it’s his puppet!”

The Archmage, Lee Haeun.

She waved when she spotted my puppet.

“Gunwoo…? Wait, don’t tell me—you’re the Artist?”
“A puppet? Oh, right. The Artist is still a teenager but has appeared in the form of an adult before, hasn’t he?”
“Then the ‘Artist’ everyone talked about was actually that puppet?”

While the others muttered among themselves, I sent my puppet to ask Haeun what had happened.

“What’s going on?”
“That’s what I want to ask you. Weren’t these people knocked out by your barrier? Shouldn’t you know what’s happening?”

I hadn’t told her about the barrier, but apparently, she knew about it anyway.

Well, she is an archmage. It wouldn’t be strange if she had noticed its existence long ago.

“I wasn’t asking who they were, but why you bothered binding them with magic when they were already incapacitated.”
“Oh, that? To avoid confusion.”

“Confusion?”

“I knew they collapsed because of your barrier. But others didn’t. Non-Awakened people thought innocent bystanders had suddenly fainted, so some even rushed to perform CPR or call 119.”
“Ah…”

Right. From the outside, doppelgängers taken down by my barrier would just look like people who had suddenly collapsed.

“But if I bind them with magic, at least it’s clear they’re dangerous.”

So that’s why the chains glowed brightly—to make it obvious.

I nodded, praising her judgment.

“But Gunwoo, why is your puppet’s hands and shoes covered in blood?”
“…Oh, this? Some from earlier fights, and also from finishing off the stragglers outside.”
“What about your black sword thing?”
“…My subspace artifact is with my real body right now.”

Back at Sinsegyeo, I had to send the puppet out in a rush, so it didn’t even have its sword. It had no choice but to fight barehanded.

Still, that had been more than enough.

The next morning.

[“At around 11 p.m. last night, the individuals who caused chaos at the National Police Headquarters and the Iron-Blood Guild were all apprehended…”]

[“At the same time, individuals believed to belong to the same group appeared at an apartment complex in Gyeonggi Province, but were subdued thanks to the efforts of Archmage Lee Haeun, who resides there, and handed over to the police…”]

[“Authorities are working to identify the suspects and track down those responsible for orchestrating these attacks on the police, the guild, and the apartment complex.”]

The incident from last night was wrapped up quickly.

The police and Iron-Blood Guild wanted it settled as fast as possible.

After all, a world-class corporation was involved.

Far too big a foe for just Korean police and guilds to handle.

Which was why—

They decided to hand it off to the World Awakeners’ Association.

But not through official channels.

With an incident this huge, the fewer people who knew, the better.

So I personally contacted Chairman Richard of the Association.

There was no safer way than delivering the intel straight to him.

Though I haven’t been happy with his actions lately…

Still, one thing was certain: he opposed Oracle.

Which meant once he received my intel, he’d begin investigating Core Earth, which was under doppelgänger control.

Of course, I hadn’t passed on the intel yet.

There was too much to relay over a call or message, and I also needed to hand over physical evidence. We agreed I’d give it to him in person the next time he visited Korea.

Understanding the gravity of the situation, Richard promised to schedule a trip soon.

…Strange. When he took Morris and the Albatross PMC just two days ago, didn’t he fly here immediately without scheduling?

I shook my head at the thought.

It was probably for political reasons. Not something I needed to worry about.

Anyway—

“……”

I left the living room, where the news was still on, and stepped onto the balcony.

The battlefield’s traces remained from the night before.

The doppelgängers had all been taken away by the police and Association, but the cracked roads and wrecked vehicles from their assault on the barrier were still there.

Looking at the wreckage, I thought:

The doppelgängers that attacked the police, the guild, and the apartment complex were nothing but bait to distract me.

Bait numbering in the hundreds.

And not even real members—just doppelgängers.

…If they can send out that many, maybe weaker doppelgängers are much easier to produce than the combat-ready ones.

Even the weaker ones were too much for ordinary civilians to handle.

But the important point was: Oracle could be mass-producing them.

“…Just how many people have already been replaced?”

It wasn’t only Core Earth employees.

If I were Oracle, I’d be inserting doppelgängers into organizations worldwide.

The recent global arrests of low-ranking Oracle operatives might even be because doppelgängers had already replaced them.

Unlike humans, who could betray, doppelgängers seemed incapable of treachery.

…Except for the one pretending to be my uncle.

“Gunwoo, aren’t you eating breakfast?”
“…Yeah, I should.”

While I was lost in thought, my mother called me.

She didn’t ask me about what happened last night.

Even though I had asked her about Sinsegyeo, and despite everything that followed, she hadn’t questioned me once.

She probably trusted that I’d tell her what she needed to know when the time came.

“…Mom.”
“Yes?”
“About Uncle…”

I decided at least that much she deserved to know.

Not every detail, but at least the truth—that the one pretending to be her brother wasn’t really him, but something else entirely.

“……”
“……”

I told her over breakfast.

Her expression didn’t change.

She had probably suspected it already.

“…I see.”

After listening quietly, she seemed to make up her mind about something, then asked:

“Gunwoo, after school today, would you come somewhere with me?”
“?”

That was sudden.

“…Sure.”

I didn’t have any plans after school anyway.

And I had a vague idea of where she wanted to go.

When I arrived at school that morning, my classroom was buzzing.

I walked in, curious, and overheard the chatter.

“Haeun! I heard you caught gangsters last night? Weren’t you scared?”
“Not really. They weren’t that strong.”
“Well, of course. You are an archmage.”

They were talking about last night.

Probably because of the morning news.

In reality, the doppelgängers had been stopped by my barrier, but from the outside, it looked like Haeun subdued them.

The news had even shown the glowing chains she had conjured, so naturally, everyone assumed she had done it all.

For all I knew, people might even think she was the one who set up the barrier.

An archmage being able to create such a thing wouldn’t seem far-fetched.

Thinking that, I sat down at my desk and pulled out my phone to search for information on Core Earth.

Let’s see… Founded around 30 years ago. Started as a small company specializing in dismantling monster corpses. Gradually expanded, opening branches worldwide, and through that network began branching into distribution and other industries. Became the global #1 company in monster by-products just 5 years ago.

The company was famous enough that just typing its name into a search engine gave me all the basics.

But only the basics.

To learn more, I’d need insider information.

The higher up, the better.

…But most of Core Earth’s employees have already been replaced with doppelgängers.

Especially the executives.

In that situation, how could I possibly get real intel on Core Earth?

As I pondered, someone behind me caught sight of my screen and muttered:

“…Core… Earth?”

I turned.

It was Kim Eun-yeon.

“You… interested in Core Earth?”
“A little. Why?”
“…Want me… to look into it… for you?”

She probably meant she’d ask her Association handler.

But—

“Even the Association can’t dig too deep into Core Earth. If they could, I wouldn’t be investigating it myself—I’d just leave it to them.”

That was exactly why I had to handle it personally.

“…No. I don’t mean… through the Association.”
“Then how?”

In response, Eun-yeon pulled out her own phone and showed me a screen.

I couldn’t help being surprised.

“…You’re… a Core Earth VIP?”