Chapter 107: Another Me
Thud!
Jang Chae-yeon, who had appeared once again, folded in half and collapsed.
"...This feels awful."
Jang Chae-yeon frowned, muttering under her breath as she shook out her hand.
"Hey—"
Bang!
I put a hole in the forehead of the thing that had appeared, calling my name, that looked like Song A-rin... then turned my gaze behind me.
Song A-rin was sitting there, gripping her arm and sweating cold sweat, while Yu Daon stood guard around her, holding a sharp awl as if to protect her.
I looked around.
After confirming there was nothing else visible, I quickly approached Song A-rin.
"Oww..."
"Just bear with it a little."
I supported Song A-rin, who was gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut.
"...Over here."
"Yes."
Jang Chae-yeon spoke softly and sat down demurely beside me.
"I'll handle the first aid."
"Understood."
Jang Chae-yeon took hold of Song A-rin's arm and spoke to her in a low voice.
"...Hey."
"...Huu... I'm listening."
"It's going to hurt."
"Yeah..."
Jang Chae-yeon took off her own jacket and began immobilizing Song A-rin's arm.
While her arm was being fixed, Song A-rin just kept her eyes tightly closed and let out groans.
"Ugh... Huuu..."
"Endure it."
"Aaaugh...!"
"You're not going to die. Endure it."
Jang Chae-yeon spoke impassively as she stabilized Song A-rin's arm.
Song A-rin's breathing, which had been labored and painful, gradually stabilized, and she sat up with a final grunt.
"...I'm fine, now."
"Are you really okay?"
"I've been through worse than this. I can handle it."
She said this in a voice full of bravado that anyone could hear, then looked at me.
"It won't interfere with using hypnosis. Don't worry."
"Does hypnosis work on those things?"
"I tried it earlier, and it did work."
She muttered, wiping the cold sweat from her brow with her sleeve.
"I'll show you. I never lose against humans."
*
Crack!
The fake Yu Daon that appeared before us broke its own neck with both hands and collapsed with a horrific sound.
"That's strange. Why doesn't... the countless me...? Why don't they regenerate?"
Yu Daon muttered curiously, lightly kicking the corpse that looked like her with her foot.
"Right. Is there some condition?"
"Not to mention, monsters that look like Mr. Jae-heon aren't even appearing."
That was also true.
The monsters that looked like Yu Daon showed no signs of regeneration whatsoever, and as for me... I wasn't even showing up at all.
To put it simply, the order of frequency was Jang Chae-yeon -> Song A-rin -> Yu Daon -> Me.
"Maybe it can't mimic us?"
Song A-rin muttered as she looked around.
"It can't mimic us?"
"Honestly, the white-haired one's ability is easy to copy."
"Ah."
I thought I understood what Song A-rin meant.
"...You mean the abilities are of a difficult level."
"Right."
I thought about each of our talents.
Jang Chae-yeon with telekinesis, Song A-rin with hypnosis, Yu Daon with immortality, and... me, who just sees well.
Among these, there must be abilities that are easy to copy and ones that are difficult.
Like Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unique.
Especially something like immortality might be hard for Aestheticism to copy.
If it were possible, wouldn't she have already overrun the city with Yu Daon clones?
As for me...
I don't know.
Of course, having good eyes isn't a bad ability, but I wonder if it's really that difficult.
Snap!
The fake Song A-rin broke its own neck, and silence returned.
"Seems like there are no more for now."
"For the time being, anyway."
Jang Chae-yeon and Song A-rin spoke while looking at me, and I also nodded and opened the manual.
Swish!
With a light sound, the pages of the manual flipped open.
[Manual for Office Workers]
[Gallery 2 - Gallery of Nature]
2. The Gallery of Nature is, as the name implies, a gallery depicting beautiful nature.
3. It is presumed that you have already encountered entities that are you, or look like you, in this gallery.
4. Always be cautious. They are always prepared to sow discord among you.
5. Furthermore, the path in Gallery 2 is a straight line. If you continue forward without giving up, you will eventually arrive at Gallery 3.
6. If you lose yourself here, you will be replaced. If you are replaced, the Management Bureau will dispose of you, and upon disposal, the insurance payout will go to your next of kin.
7. Occasionally, the walls may move as if alive and block the path. In such cases, calmly remember item 5 and continue advancing forward.
"...Hmm."
So, it means other versions of us could appear and deceive us.
"Everyone, let's all establish a code wo—"
I turned to look at the others behind me,
"...Huh?"
and realized there was no one behind me.
Where the people should have been, there was only a single wall, with one artwork hanging alone in front of it.
It was a painting of a person struggling, hanging from a vine.
<The Last Supper>
It was different from the Last Supper I knew.
I opened my mouth to shout, pounding the wall with my fist.
"Everyone! Can you hear me! Everyone!"
No answer came.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"..."
I turned around to see a person in a tuxedo looking at me.
Or, should I even call it a person?
Where a face should have been, only a mask floated grotesquely. Wearing gloves on its hands and shoes on its feet, tightly covering any bare skin, it looked at me and placed a finger on what I assumed was its mouth.
A semi-transparent window appeared.
[Name : Guide]
[Age : X ]
[Specialty : - ]
[Talent : -]
[Background : A guide needs no story.]
[Weakness : - ]
"Shh."
It whispered softly.
"..."
Before I could even respond, it vanished as if merging with the darkness, and before I knew it, I was alone again, staring blankly at the wall.
If I make another sound...
I clicked my tongue to compromise with the rising anxiety and took a step forward.
According to the manual, this is a one-way path. I probably won't get into any major trouble.
Step, step.
Under the bright lights of the art gallery, only the sound of my own footsteps echoed.
Where did everyone else go? Did we all get separated, or was it just me?
I opened the manual again.
There were still no new updates or points of caution, and fortunately, no clones or doppelgangers of the others appeared.
Maybe it's pointless because I'm separated alone?
"Alright."
Then, let's take a look at the paintings.
This art museum knows things I don't, and it seems to be playing tricks, like someone frantic because it can't use that knowledge to tease me or others.
Conversely, if I keep my wits about me and gather information, I might be able to resolve some of the questions I had.
I calmly looked at the paintings around me.
Would there be a painting about me?
Aestheticism would do that.
Because that's her idea of aesthetics.
Taking a person's past, or their wounds, tearing them apart and making them ruminate, leading them to depression and misery.
"Just as I thought."
Sure enough, it didn't take long to find a painting depicting me.
Someone was looking down at me with a hole in my forehead.
"..."
It was a man holding a cross.
I read the title.
<The Reason for Failure.>
"..."
The man holding the cross.
Even without thinking, he immediately came to mind.
"Eileen and the man from the amusement park."
The one who survived a Critical hit.
If my memory serves me right, his background was definitely some nonsense like 'found his own path'.
What connection could he and I have?
"..."
And why is it that in these paintings of my death, other people are never visible?
It was the same with Yu Daon, and Jang Chae-yeon or Song A-rin didn't appear in the paintings either.
"Ugh, this is giving me a headache."
"You said it."
While muttering out of tiredness, a voice both familiar and unfamiliar caused me to hurriedly try to draw my gun and turn around,
Wham!
Something punched me in the face and tackled me.
My nose stung.
"Guh...!"
I hurriedly tried to reach into my pocket for my gun, but a rough hand stopped me.
I opened my eyes and looked at what was in front of me.
Black hair and tired-looking eyes.
It was me.
A semi-transparent window floated above its head.
[Name : Kim Jae-heon]
[Age : Created a moment ago]
[Specialty : X]
[Talent : X]
[Background : Aestheticism has realized. She cannot create him. Therefore, her pride was hurt.]
[Weakness : It is merely human. Strike a vital point and it will die.]
What does it mean, she can't create me?
I struggled, wrestling with it—no, with me.
The problem was that its strength was exactly the same as mine. So, even as we tussled back and forth, no clear winner emerged.
Wham!
My blind punch landed on its jaw,
Smack!
and its punch landed on my brow.
If we fight like this, there will be no end.
I need to get my gun out quickly—
"Hey!"
A voice calling from afar filled me with relief.
Turning my head, I saw Song A-rin, Jang Chae-yeon, and Yu Daon rushing towards me.
"Everyo—"
"Everyone! This doppelganger is harassing me!"
The doppelganger pinning me down spoke before I could even open my mouth.
The color drained from my face.
"Wait, everyone! No! I'm the real—"
"That's not true, everyone! I'm the real one!"
I hurriedly pushed it away and stated my case, but it also detached itself from me, raised both hands, and put on an expression of injustice.
"...Wow."
Song A-rin's eyes widened as she muttered in disbelief.
"They look exactly the same."
"Now's not the time for that—"
"That's right! Hurry up and—"
My words and its words overlapped, and at the same time, Yu Daon pulled an awl from her pocket.
Without saying a word, she charged towards me.
"That's right, Ms. Daon! That thing— Gack!"
The doppelganger, who had been shouting gleefully, had its neck snapped in half, and Yu Daon, grabbing my wrist, finished it off by stabbing the awl into its neck.
Stab!
Blood gushed out as it fell to its knees.
"How...? I clearly... copied... everything..."
It muttered with a blank expression.
"Smell."
Yu Daon answered, lowering her eyes.
"Feeling."
Jang Chae-yeon answered as if it were obvious.
"Eye expression."
Song A-rin answered with a sigh, then continued.
"And."
"..."
"He doesn't talk to us in such a friendly tone."
"Right."
"Yeah."
"..."
What the hell.
The doppelganger looked at me resentfully as it died,
then stopped breathing.
An awkward silence fell.
"Ah, I, for one, am okay with Mr. Jae-heon talking to me without any sense of camaraderie!"
"Ms. Daon, please stop, you're making me feel like such a piece of trash."
Yu Daon's ability to smooth things over was utterly hopeless.