Chapter 22: Chapter 21

The monsters appearing in artificial dungeons were close to holograms, mere fiction. Whether monster or entrant, if they take enough damage to be judged dead, they disappear like an illusion. This means they don’t leave corpses behind like the long-haired man, Kim Hwan, in front of them.

“Weren’t dropouts supposed to be automatically moved outside?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too…”

It was understandable for people to be confused. Who would have guessed that monsters had mixed in from outside? And monsters that imitate humans at that.

“Hey, can’t the healer try treating him…”

Ryu Seo-ha, feeling just as perplexed as them, shook his head. He had already checked for breathing and heartbeat first anyway.

“He’s already deceased.”

The completely non-functioning body couldn’t accept his mana. Even a healer can’t resurrect a dead body.

“He’s really… dead?”

“Shit, is something wrong with this dungeon?”

“How could this…”

He could see anxiety and fear spreading across people’s expressions like wildfire. If left alone, the group would surely fracture in a negative way.

“Who was it! Who killed him? Come out right now!”

“Are you saying there’s a murderer among us? Does that make sense?”

“How else could he have died? All the monsters are illusions! The only real things in here are the people gathered here!”

“It’s you, isn’t it? You’ve been picking fights since earlier…”

“Bullshit! What did I do? Do you have any proof?”

Just like this.

“It’s not human.”

Finally, Ryu Seo-ha stepped forward. Examining the corpse of the long-haired man closely, or more precisely, the caved-in skull.

“What do you mean it’s not human?”

Considering that it directly attacked the head despite having easier ways to take over a host, it seems Kim Hwan had realized its identity sooner than expected.

If so, there was a high probability that the culprit possessed a skill like noise cancellation. Stealth-type was likely for the characteristic, and ranged DPS or supporter for the position.

“If you look closely at the attacked area, there’s dark blue slime stuck to it. It’s a trace of the doppelganger’s attempt to take over the brain.”

“Doppelganger!”

While inwardly reasoning about the class of the host the doppelganger had possessed, he gave a brief explanation, and exclamations of shock burst out here and there. With evidence like this, it’s right to mention it immediately, even if it seems to temporarily increase confusion. They have to stick together for at least another day, and he couldn’t let them be exposed to the doppelganger’s attacks in a defenseless state.

If possible, he wanted to pinpoint and reveal the creature’s identity. The problem was that Ryu Seo-ha was also somewhat confused now. He definitely hadn’t taken his eyes off the bespectacled man for even a moment. Was it really okay to point out the suspect based only on the original work?

“Wait, isn’t that soldier the most suspicious? He was the first to discover the body!”

“That’s right! The culprit always returns to the scene of the crime!”

“Damn, this is insane. What the hell is going on?”

As expected, the aftermath was fierce.

“First, we should preserve the body. If we leave it like this, it will decay quickly…”@@novelbin@@

Ryu Seo-ha calmly spoke to the people who were murmuring and trying to start a witch hunt with flimsy logic, pointing fingers at each other. At his request, an awakened who could handle the freezing attribute stepped forward.

Kim Hwan’s corpse was thoroughly frozen and neatly laid in an airtight sleeping bag. They also separately recorded the estimated time of death. Sadly, that was the extent of respect they could show the deceased. For now, resolving the immediate problem was more urgent than mourning. Deep distrust filled the eyes of all the companions showing vigilance while keeping a suitable distance.

It was a natural reaction. How many people wouldn’t be tense when told there’s a monster that devours humans mixed among them? Choi Gang-hu’s relaxed attitude showing little emotion was the unusual one.

“What, is the chaebol’s brain made of steel too? So damn calm.”

Perhaps due to being extremely on edge, someone threw a suspicious glance with a confrontational tone but immediately shut their mouth, flinching as soon as they met Choi Gang-hu’s pitch-black eyes. Meanwhile, Ryu Seo-ha repeatedly came up with and discarded several hypotheses.

Currently, there were about two highly possible conjectures. Either the infiltrated doppelganger had taken on the appearance of someone other than the bespectacled man, or more than one doppelganger had mixed in.

“Let’s get out of here quickly. Isn’t there an emergency exit button or something? Never mind the test, someone died!”

“If we just leave, wouldn’t we be letting the doppelganger loose in society?”

“Is that important right now?”

“Are you crazy? We’ll be the first ones suspected! We’ll be forcibly detained immediately!”

“We have to survive first! Or should we all die together?”

“We just need to catch the doppelganger and get out! We’ll clear the test dungeon too!”

“Easy to say, but how?”

As opinions clashed amid fear, people’s emotions began to intensify. The thought that they might lose their sense of self and become a monster’s puppet severely stimulated their inner fears.

“The emergency bell isn’t working.”

A man who came forward identifying himself as the ‘on-site supervisor’ poured oil on those fears.

“I don’t know why, but it seems someone tampered with the operating mechanism from outside… I’ve been trying to contact them continuously since the body was discovered.”

It was an open secret. That a supervisor accompanies each test round pretending to be an applicant. It was to prevent actual casualties in case internal disputes intensified.

“Don’t you know any emergency escape methods? You’re the supervisor, aren’t you?”

“Let’s just conquer the dungeon quickly. We can move without sleeping, right?”

“What if there are more victims in the meantime?”

“Ah! Could we die from monster attacks? Then we’d be moved outside.”

The applicants, whose anxiety increased at hearing that emergency contact wasn’t working, started offering opinions one by one.

“What if there’s a problem with the artificial dungeon? It’s possible, considering we can’t contact the outside.”

“But are we sure there’s a doppelganger in the first place? Should we give up the test based on one person’s word?”

When the rampant distrust reached the point of doubting Ryu Seo-ha’s statement itself,

“Then let’s do this.”

Choi Gang-hu, who had been quietly observing the situation, opened his mouth. The people who had been loudly arguing immediately closed their mouths. He had the power to focus people’s attention. Ryu Seo-ha looked at Choi Gang-hu with a surprised expression.

It was surprising and strange. To see him actively involved like this. Why did he suddenly step forward? A man who doesn’t care about others and this isn’t even a threatening incident for him. It was a completely different attitude from the original work.

“Let’s play a truth game.”

…What? What did you say?

❖ ❖ ❖

In the jungle enveloped by darkness. The people sitting in a circle at the campsite glanced awkwardly at each other. If they just lit a campfire in the center, it would look like students on a retreat having a campfire, but,

“Did you kill Kim Hwan?”

In reality, the atmosphere was like being trapped in an interrogation room as a group. The soldier immediately shook his head at Choi Gang-hu’s question asked in an indifferent tone. He looked quite anxious.

“It wasn’t me, really. I just discovered him while taking my turn patrolling the perimeter.”

A trembling voice claimed innocence. Everyone’s gaze focused. Not on the speaker, but on Choi Gang-hu. As he nodded with an impassive expression, everyone either swallowed sighs or shook their heads.

“I thought that soldier was the most suspicious…”

[Consistency of Words and Actions], a detection-type skill that can discern lies. It’s said to be a skill that shows the truth by comparing current statements with past actions.

“Next.”

Although the question format must clearly have a subject, object, and predicate, and the answer format can only judge YES/NO short answers, it was an extremely useful ability in the current situation.

Of course, there are some limitations as it can’t be applied to subjective questions, identity questions like “Are you the doppelganger?”, or vague psychological questions like “Have you ever thought about hurting someone?”.

“Did you kill Kim Hwan?”

“N-no, it wasn’t me either!”

Surprisingly, everyone accepted the questioning willingly. Well, innocent people would think they had nothing to lose, and the doppelganger would be laying low for now to avoid being marked as a suspect if they resisted without cause.

They’re probably busy trying to figure out how to get out of this unfavorable situation right now. Ryu Seo-ha traced the creature’s identity, comparing today’s attitudes of his companions with the original work. There was one person he suspected.

“Next.”

Meanwhile, it became Ryu Seo-ha’s turn to be questioned. He straightened his posture and faced Choi Gang-hu directly.

“Did it upset you when that guy picked a fight?”

Choi Gang-hu pointed at the tattooed man with a slight nod of his chin.

“…Pardon?”

At the completely different, out-of-place question compared to the previous ones, Ryu Seo-ha just blinked his wide-open eyes a couple of times. Looking around wondering what this was about, everyone else seemed equally perplexed.

“You need to answer.”

A gentle voice urged an answer, as if coaxing a child. No, even if I answer, the skill won’t apply anyway. It has nothing to do with finding the doppelganger. What on earth are you thinking?

“…No.”

Though he had a mountain of things he wanted to refute, he just shook his head for now. Because he shouldn’t overestimate his patience. He mixed a lie into the answer. There’s no need to create conflict over something that’s already passed, right?

“Don’t you want to kill all those people who ignore your advice and act recklessly, ruining things?”

Why are you doing this to me? At Choi Gang-hu’s successive questions, Ryu Seo-ha shook his head again with a troubled expression. Somehow, he felt that if he showed even a hint of agreement, Choi Gang-hu would offer to kill them for him.

“Mr. Choi Gang-hu. The questioning…”

“Isn’t it suffocating to live while keeping your true feelings so tightly hidden?”

“……”

“I wish Ryu Seo-ha would properly protest against unfair treatment and rude attitudes.”

I was wondering why he was suddenly acting like this, but did he want to express his observations from watching all this time? Well, from Choi Gang-hu’s perspective, who has walked the path of catharsis from birth, it might look frustrating.

“It would be nice to live like that. It’s probably the life everyone wishes for.”

Ryu Seo-ha nodded.

“But?”

“One’s attitude towards life doesn’t change in an instant. It’s formed through experiencing many things.”

How many people in the world truly live speaking and acting as they want all the time? For someone like Ryu Seo-ha, who always had to face the strong from the position of the weak, it was an unattainable dream-like attitude.

“I’ll help you.”

Choi Gang-hu didn’t deny the life attitude he had chosen. He only gently suggested a different direction. How and what he intended to help with was unclear. Swallowing a sigh, Ryu Seo-ha shook his head slightly.

“Let’s find the doppelganger first. That seems more urgent.”

The people who had been watching their exchange with bewildered expressions nodded along.

“You won’t suffer any harm whether we find it or not, right?”

“Doppelgangers are the highest alert grade, aren’t they?”

Alert grade. It was a separate classification from the general grade system based on strength. It’s given separately to monsters that pose a risk of collapsing the order of civilized society, regardless of individual strength.

“I will protect Ryu Seo-ha.”

He wasn’t worried about his own safety. Choi Gang-hu would surely protect him without a single hair being harmed. Until his unknown need was fulfilled. The problem was the other applicants who had entered this dungeon together.

“I don’t know why you care so much about others’ well-being.”

Choi Gang-hu, who had been staring at him sitting quietly without responding, stood up. Ryu Seo-ha’s entire body tensed up. It felt like having an unpredictable stray bullet right in front of him.

“I understand.”

Just as he felt slightly relieved at the unexpectedly compliant words, contrary to his thoughts.

“Guk!”

“Kkeuk!”

The bespectacled man and the tattooed man floated up into the air and stuck to Choi Gang-hu’s hands like magnets. With their necks firmly grasped.