Chapter 333 – Part 2 – Doppelganger

Clunk-

When the bartender pressed a button on the display case, a secret passage opened.

“Guide me.”

He walked through the dark passage with the bartender leading the way.

Although his vision was pitch black, he wasn’t worried about ambushes.

His Combat Sense trait would alert him the moment he felt killing intent.

“You’ll really spare me if I guide you to the treasure vault, right?”

“I told you so. Stop whining and just guide me.”

He spoke to the frightened bartender as if telling him not to worry, but his words and thoughts were different.

‘I’ll have to kill him as soon as the guidance is over.’

There was no value in keeping alive a disgusting monster that imitated humans.

After walking following the bartender for about 5 minutes.

‘Hmm?’

Light could be seen from the other end of the passage.

‘We’ve arrived.’

Instinctively sensing they had reached their destination, he gripped his dagger tighter.

He expanded all his senses so he could kill the bartender at any moment.

‘As expected, there should be a warehouse keeper ahead.’

He had heard from God in the strategy guide.

That there was a mid-boss who used illusions to subdue intruders.

‘If I get caught in illusion magic, it’s over.’

Being a mid-boss, it used more powerful illusion magic than other ghosts.

If caught, his life could be in danger.

That’s why Choi Seong-min kept his nerves taut.

‘Quick decisive battle. Kill it before getting caught in illusions.’

That was the only way to defeat the mid-boss.

Eventually, as they approached the passage lit by torches, he could see a muscular man standing guard in front of iron bars.

It was the warehouse keeper.

Kiiing-

The warehouse keeper’s eyes turned bright red upon discovering Choi Seong-min.

He was trying to cast illusion magic.

“H-here! Warehouse keeper sir! I brought the intruder…”

At that moment, a dagger flew past the bartender.

Thunk-

It pierced precisely through the warehouse keeper’s red eye.

“Graaaah!”

While buying a brief moment, Choi Seong-min’s form sank downward.

Just as the warehouse keeper turned his remaining eyeball red while searching for his target.

Swoosh-

Choi Seong-min appeared from behind as if bouncing up and slashed his throat.

Slice- Thunk- Slice- Thunk-

Seeing that once wasn’t enough, he slashed several times.

Thud-

The warehouse keeper’s body collapsed to the floor.

[You have defeated the Warehouse Keeper of Illusions!]

[You have obtained a B-rank Magic Stone.]

[You have obtained a Staff of Illusion.]

[You have obtained the Warehouse Keeper’s Key.]

[You have obtained a Mental Resistance Rune.]

Without time to check the messages, Choi Seong-min launched his body.

“Ah… Guk!”

He stabbed his dagger into the throat of the trembling bartender.

Shortly after, the bodies of the bartender and warehouse keeper turned to smoke and disappeared.

All that remained were bloodstains on the floor and items.

‘I don’t need the magic stone or staff… what’s this rune?’

[You have obtained a Mental Resistance Rune.]

[Resistance to mental magic and debuffs permanently increases by 10%.]

[Rune Affinity trait activates.]

[Mental Resistance Rune effect enhanced to 20%.]

‘Ho. It increases by as much as 20%.’

10% seemed small, but doubling it made it seem quite reliable.

‘Now I have resistance against illusions.’

A satisfied smile formed as he could cover his weakness to some extent.

‘First, with the key from the warehouse keeper…’

Choi Seong-min took out the key from his inventory and opened the iron gate.

Clank-

Walking down the torch-lit path, a space filled with various gold, silver treasures, and jewels appeared.

His eyes widened, but only briefly.

‘Even if I gather these things, I can’t take them outside.’

God’s words came to mind, telling him to think of them as mere decorations created within the dungeon.

They were pictures of rice cakes.

‘He said there would be the most splendid chest among these…’

While looking around at the gold, silver treasures, and various treasure chests, one chest caught Choi Seong-min’s attention.

As he had heard, it was a chest decorated with much more splendid jewels than the others.

Creak-

But contrary to its exterior, inside were only shabby-looking items.

A mirror and a compass.

‘Hunters who don’t know better would be disappointed asking what these are, but…’

Choi Seong-min’s eyes sparkled more than when seeing any jewel, far from disappointed.

After all, these were the core items for conquering the Doppelganger.

‘The compass tells me its location. The mirror weakens it.’

Having gathered the items as intended, Choi Seong-min retraced his steps through the passage.

His business was done.

As soon as he left the secret passage, the smell of blood stung his nose.

Returning to the scene where he had massacred twenty people, the bodies were nowhere to be found, only pools of blood remained.

Creak-

Stepping outside, the chilly city welcomed Choi Seong-min, unlike the interior.

‘This way.’

He walked through downtown while looking at the compass.

Whenever humans appeared and bothered him along the way, he immediately slit their throats.

After walking following the compass for nearly an hour.

‘Hmm?’

He discovered a human suspected to be his target.

‘The compass is pointing only at that guy.’

Just to be sure, he moved around here and there, but the compass needle was looking only at one human.

‘That guy is the Doppelganger.’

In appearance, he looked as ordinary as any other human.

‘Finally found him.’

Choi Seong-min put away the compass and took out the mirror from his inventory.

Unlike other ghosts, cutting his throat wouldn’t kill him.

Being a boss of sorts, he could survive without a human body.

‘He just enjoys hiding in human bodies and imitating humans.’

That’s why he was hard to find, and even if killed, he would just hide in another body, but using the mirror changed the story.

Choi Seong-min approached the Doppelganger with a dagger in one hand and a mirror in the other.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to look at this?”

He held up the mirror to the creature’s face.

The Doppelganger looked puzzled seeing his own face, then at some point.

“Kii… Keeeeek!”

He showed an abnormal reaction.

Taking that as a signal.

Slice-!

As Choi Seong-min immediately cut his throat, the body disappeared and only a black form remained.

Only a form that seemed to be dancing around in agony.

‘That’s the Doppelganger’s true form…!’

The mirror was an item that weakened the Doppelganger.

Though one-time use, the effect seemed good as the Doppelganger was thrashing about.

He had to drain as much health as possible during this time.

Thunk- Thunk- Thunk-

Even though it was just a form, he could feel the dagger piercing.

‘It feels like stabbing sand.’

Thunk- Slice- Thunk- Slice-

While the creature was incapacitated, Choi Seong-min unleashed various attacks.

[Fierce Attack buff stack: 10/10]

[Attack speed increased by 200%.]

[Remaining time: 59 seconds]

Adding the Fierce Attack trait buff to his existing attack speed allowed for 3.5 attacks per second.

Pop pop pop pop pop-!

He concentrated attacks like digging through sand, but the form seemed to scatter then return to its original shape.

‘The creature is incapacitated for 15 seconds. I need to pour maximum damage within that time.’

But even while writhing in apparent agony, the form wouldn’t easily crumble, and eventually.

“Kiiieee…”

The form stopped convulsing and stood up.

15 seconds had passed.

Squirm squirm-

The form, which was just a shadow, underwent transformation.

It grew slightly taller, became slimmer, and sharp weapons appeared in its hands.

Though only deep darkness could be seen in the face of the Doppelganger that had taken human form, Choi Seong-min knew.

Who it had taken the form of.

‘Me. It copied my appearance.’

Not just appearance.

The Doppelganger copied not only the opponent’s appearance but also weapons, damage, and stats.

Even skills.

Swoosh-

The dagger thrown by the Doppelganger grazed past Choi Seong-min’s cheek.

If he had turned his head just a moment later, he would have lived as a one-eyed man.

‘That was dangerous. Since it has the same damage stats as me, I can’t be careless.’

The opponent, like himself, had agility exceeding 1,500.

If he let his guard down even for a moment, he would reunite with God.

Swoooosh-

The Doppelganger that had sunk into the ground rose from behind.

Choi Seong-min, who had anticipated Shadow Step, turned his body a beat early and swung his dagger.

Perfect timing.

Clang-

But the creature also swung its dagger to block.

It was unbelievable reflexes.

Whoosh- Whoosh- Whoosh-

He tried to land hits with his dagger consecutively, but only cut through empty air.

Whoosh- Whoosh- Whoosh-

The Doppelganger also tried to cut Choi Seong-min but it wasn’t easy.

Clang- Clang-!

Daggers aiming for each other’s lives sparked in mid-air.

‘To think I have to surpass myself. Not easy.’

Surpassing wasn’t the only problem – the real issue was the boss’s health.

‘I cut it like a sandbag for 15 seconds but it didn’t die.’

Since he hadn’t heard it was immune to physical damage, the damage must have gone through.

‘The problem is I don’t know how much health remains.’

There might be more left than expected, or it might actually be on the verge of death.

Anyway, he had failed to kill it and given it a chance to transform, leading to a difficult situation.

‘No. It’s not that difficult.’

Choi Seong-min was confident.

Even though it used the same stats and skills, there was a clear difference between the Doppelganger and Choi Seong-min.

It was traits.

‘It can’t copy traits.’

It might seem like a similar level at first glance, but that was only looking at physical abilities.

‘Without traits, it can’t beat me.’

Choi Seong-min stopped attacking and turned to run.

The Doppelganger used Sprint to quickly follow.

It might look like he was running away, but he wasn’t.

He was looking for another target.

‘There it is.’

Choi Seong-min spotted one human.

‘VIP Assassination.’

After designating the human ghost in sight as an assassination target, he threw his dagger.

Thunk-

The dagger lodged precisely in the ghost’s forehead.

[You have assassinated the designated target.]

[Invincibility effect maintained for the duration.]

[Remaining time: 9 minutes 57 seconds]

A buff appeared.

A buff that would prevent death from any attack for about 10 minutes.

‘Though damage is reduced by 50%.’

Turning his head, he could see the Doppelganger’s dagger coming for his eyeball.

But.

Ting-!

The dagger couldn’t pierce his eyeball and only made a clear metallic sound.

Meanwhile, Choi Seong-min’s dagger lodged in the Doppelganger’s nape.

Thunk-

There was a feeling like it had stuck in sand.

Thunk- Thunk- Whoosh-

The Doppelganger pulled its body away then swung its dagger once more.

Ting- Ting- Ting-

“It’s useless.”

Laughing as if it tickled, he quickly wielded his dagger.

Slice- Slice-

Even with halved damage, it lodged well in the Doppelganger’s form.

Sensing crisis, the creature retreated backward.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

Choi Seong-min, who had no intention of letting it escape, used the Sprint skill he had been saving.

The distance closed quickly.

“You used Sprint skill earlier, didn’t you?”

A triumphant smile spread across Choi Seong-min’s lips.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk-

One-sided stabbing tore through the Doppelganger’s entire body.

Unable to escape, it was only a matter of time before the Doppelganger’s body crumbled.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk-

After exactly 59 stabs.

“Kieee, ek!”

A scream-like sound came from the Doppelganger’s mouth, then its form melted away like sand.

[You have defeated the Doppelganger!]

[You have obtained an A-rank Magic Stone.]

[You have obtained an A-rank Magic Stone.]

[You have obtained Doppelganger’s Mask.]

[You have obtained Doppelganger’s Replica Sword.]

[You have obtained a Supreme Choice Rune.]