TRPM 377

chapter 377

The doppelgänger that killed me before my regression.

No, the doll that resembled that doppelgänger.

“Except for the fact that it’s a doll, it’s exactly the same.”

The energy I felt from it.
Its movements.
They were endlessly similar to the doppelgänger before my regression.

But there was one thing different from before.

Cha-cha-cha-chang…!

The doll and I exchanged blows rapidly.
For reference, this was staged to look like we were exchanging blows evenly because I was moving carefully, worried that the sword I held might break.

Puh-ok…!

So, as I deflected its sword and kicked, it couldn’t react and was pushed back.
And by “pushed back” I mean…

Kwaaak…!

Not just a simple step back—it was sent flying several meters through the air.
The doll drove its sword into the ground to stop its flight, then looked at me.
I spoke to the doll watching me.

“Now the roles are reversed from last time.”

From that doll, I could see an overlay of my pre-regression self.

[The sword the monster carried was sturdy enough to block my swings, even if I wasn’t going all out, and the monster itself was strong enough not only to withstand my strength but also to throw me with its force.]
[After stabilizing myself in midair and landing against the wall, I quietly observed the monster.]

Back then, I, too, had failed to immediately grasp the situation, just like this doll.
And…

[I hurriedly raised my sword to strike, but it lightly dodged, seemingly controlling its speed perfectly, and struck my face with a punch.]
[I was thrown without even being able to scream.]

I punched the doll in the face just as my pre-regression self had been hit.

Kki-gi-gik…!

The doll seemed to try blocking my punch, but my fist reached its face far faster.
Naturally, it rotated and flew.

Thud…!
Bang…!
Kwahng…!

After colliding with the ground multiple times, it finally stopped—completely battered.

“… Incredible…”
“Um… did either of you see the movements of the doll and Geonwoo? I couldn’t see properly…”
“Since this is my dream, I could perceive how they fought… but if this weren’t a dream, I wouldn’t have seen it.”

The three who had witnessed our exchange couldn’t help but gape.
Understandable.

“That doll is by no means weak.”

It was strong enough to toy with my pre-regression self.
There’s no way it could be weak.

“Even Lord Sergey, once a candidate for the strongest in the world before I appeared, or Chairman Richard… could probably fight it to some degree, but winning would have been impossible.”

Of course, if Sergey or Chairman Richard ever had to fight the doll, they wouldn’t charge head-on.
Still, unless someone stronger than them among the world’s hidden elites appears, no one could defeat this thing in a frontal battle.

“… I really feel stronger now.”

Watching the battered doll, I felt a strange sense of calm.
Had my failure to defeat it before been due to my “Simma”?
I could feel, even slightly, that my level had risen again.

Kki-gi-gik…!

While thinking this, the battered doll stood up.
Even though it was battered, it was still a doll.
It probably didn’t feel pain.
Perhaps that’s why it made a choice a normal human wouldn’t.

Kwaang…!
“… Charging at a speed beyond its limit.”

The doll forced its speed, even at the cost of breaking parts of its legs.
And it wasn’t aiming at me.

“Chloe.”

That made sense.
Intelligent dolls knew Chloe was the threat and aimed for her.

“Uh…?”

Chloe noticed the doll coming straight for her and looked startled.
The doll thrust its sword at Chloe.

Puhk!

I couldn’t just stand there.
Before the sword could reach Chloe, I pierced the doll with my sword.
The sword stuck into the ground…

Kaga-gak…!

The doll, as if hitting the brakes, stopped moving forward.

“Ah?!”
“Surprise!”

Elena and Ihaeun screamed, realizing the doll had moved at a speed they couldn’t perceive, but we ignored it.

“Is that it?”
“Yes… I don’t think there are any more dolls left in this dream.”

It looked like we could absorb this nightmare without issue.
Chloe began to absorb the nightmare steadily.
Elena, Ihaeun, and I decided to leave her dream.

“Hmm… when will Chloe wake up?”
“She’ll wake up after absorbing all the nightmares.”

Elena’s expression soured slightly at my answer.

“Geonwoo, could you help move Chloe to the guest room?”

Ah, I see.
She was uncomfortable with someone else still lying in her bed.
I carefully lifted sleeping Chloe and took her to the guest room.
Along the way, I saw Elliot watching TV in the living room.

“What’s up? Finished?”
“For now.”

He must have returned home while we were in Chloe’s dream.

“(Ugh! The smell of sweat! I told him to shower first!)”
“(I’m going to eat and then exercise again, so why bother?)”
“(There are guests, so go shower now!)”
“(Y-yes…)”

Elena complained in English, and Elliot reluctantly went to his room.

“Phew… really…”

I left Elena fussing behind, laid Chloe on the guest bed, and exited.
I saw Elena alone in the living room.

“… Where’s Ihaeun?”
“Uh? Oh… she’s still in her room, I think.”

Elena checked her room, and I followed, finding Ihaeun still seated in the same position as when we entered Chloe’s dream.

“Uh… she’s not still in Chloe’s dream, right?”
“No, but it’s better not to meddle recklessly.”

I retrieved a bucket from the subspace.

“… Why do you carry that around in subspace?”
“Just in case it’s needed.”
“… And why take it out now?”
“Watch.”

I placed the bucket under Ihaeun’s chin.

“Ugh… urgh…”

Black waste came out of Ihaeun’s mouth, repeatedly.

“Ugh… the smell…”

Elena hurriedly covered her nose and opened a window.
I judged that enough had been expelled…

“Purification. Cleanliness.”

Using Word Magic, I cleaned both the contents of the bucket and Ihaeun’s face.

“… What was that filthy stuff?”
“Waste from her body. Since magic usually didn’t pass through, waste had accumulated. But when magic flowed through it, it cleaned out.”
“… I don’t quite get it.”
“Ihaeun doesn’t normally use offensive magic, right? So the organs where magic passes had accumulated waste. When she used offensive magic in her dream, that sensation got recorded in her mind…”

“Returning to her body, she unconsciously moved her mana like in the dream, so her body expelled the obstructing waste through her mouth.”
“Ugh… I never want to experience that again…”

Ihaeun muttered in distress immediately after I explained.

“Judging by the fact she expelled only through her mouth and not elsewhere, she must have been controlling the waste’s movement somehow.”
“Ugh… not in our house… in someone else’s… in front of others…? Ugh, just thinking about it…”

True, it wasn’t a pleasant sight.

“Elena, what about you?”
“Huh?”
“Your mana circulates actively in your body, right?”

If she didn’t want to expel waste in front of us, she should change clothes and go to the bathroom.

“… Aaaah…!”

Elena seemed to imagine herself expelling waste and hurriedly went to change and enter the bathroom.

“… Did you really have to say it like that?”
“I had to get her in quickly. Unlike you, Elena can’t freely move the waste inside her, so it would literally come out of every orifice.”
“Ugh…”

Ihaeun’s expression soured at my words.
But…

“This is a fortunate event.”

For both Elena and Ihaeun, this incident was a kind of stroke of luck.
They experienced a stronger version of themselves in a dream and, to a limited extent, underwent a transformative experience.

“For me too, it was fortunate.”

I faced the last doll, overcame my Simma, and gained insight.

“But the biggest beneficiary is probably Chloe.”

The scale of the nightmare was enormous, and the quality was exceptional.
The final doll in the nightmare represented my Simma, but it was essentially born from my own nightmare.
Absorbing it all would make transcending the wall easy.

“Let’s wait in the living room. Leaving quietly would be impolite.”
“Yeah. Shall we watch TV?”

Ihaeun and I waited in the living room while Elena and Elliot finished washing and while Chloe absorbed the nightmare and woke up.

“… Where’s Elena?”

The first to appear was Elliot, freshly washed from the bathroom.

“Elena’s showering.”
“… There’s a guest, and she’s showering?”

Elliot asked, confused, but we stayed quiet to preserve her dignity.
While the three passed time watching TV…

“Am I too late?”
“… I’m happy but also unsettled…”

Chloe and Elena emerged from their rooms.
Ihaeun’s eyes widened seeing them.

“Uh? You two…”
“Hmm?”
“Oh…”

Elliot didn’t understand if Ihaeun was surprised, but I too marveled at the two, like Ihaeun.

“Congratulations on transcending the wall.”

To both of them.