Chapter 162: The Fourth Trial (2)
“Sung Yoo-rang…!”
Consciousness returned.
“…No, Allen.”
But Allen was already gone.
‘There was one last thing I wanted to ask.’
Gathering her thoughts, Yusera looked around.
An empty, white space devoid of anything.
In that space, she was the only one there.
Even Allen, undergoing his fourth trial, couldn’t hide his bewilderment in this place, so how could she not be confused?
‘Where is this…?’
She tried to recall the knowledge Allen had shared with her about the trials.
There was definitely a purpose behind every trial, and if she achieved it, she could pass.
‘But…’
There was nothing that could be called a purpose here.
Only she existed, and there was nothing to interact with.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
She recalled the instructions Allen had given her.
Allen’s directives were the foundation of her actions at her usual pace.
Ever since losing the Divine Seat, it had always been that way.
Not all of her actions, but most were executed based on Allen’s guidance.
It felt familiar, and she liked it.
‘He told me to pass the trial, didn’t he?’
The task Allen had given her this time was to pass the trial.
So what she needed to do now was to pass it.
But how could she accomplish that?
‘I don’t know.’
And in fact, Allen’s instructions didn’t end there.
If there was no sign of the trial ending within three days, she was to escape.
In that case, she might end up waiting for three days, only to leave.
‘Then…’
Just as she was about to wait for three days as Allen commanded…
“What should I do while I wait?”
“What should I do while I wait?”
For some reason, her own voice echoed back to her.
No, it wasn’t an echo.
Someone was behind her.
“Who are you?!”
“Who are you?!”
Startled, she turned around, widening the distance.
What she saw was an unbelievable sight.
It was herself.
“You…!”
“You…!”
She wished it wouldn’t mimic her.
Hearing her own voice from someone else’s mouth felt weird.
Could it be someone else?
“Who are you?”
“Who are you?”
The other person mirrored her question.
If they were going to ask like that, there was only one answer.
“I am me.”
“I am me.”
Of course, it would be.
That fake guy seemed to be under the illusion he was the real one.
In that case, she had to show him.
‘That I am the real one.’
She pulled a Relic Sacred Replicant from her inventory.
But the other self did the same.
Simultaneously opening their inventories and pulling out Relic Sacred Replicants, it felt as if they were looking in a mirror.
Though unlike a mirror, the other self wasn’t switched left and right.
‘You’re using the inventory and holding a Relic Sacred Replicant too?’
Could it be that this would go as far as that?
‘Overload.’
Then her sword was engulfed in a sinister black light in an instant.
The light of Overload drastically increased performance at the expense of the Relic’s durability.
For some reason, the other self’s sword also emitted a similar glow.
‘And there’s one more left.’
The skill Allen had taught her.
Moreover, it was the skill she was most confident in.
Would it be able to follow that too?
She shouted.
“Sky Cleaving!”
“Sky Cleaving!”
The clashing swords crossed paths, exchanging strikes at an angle.
If speaking in terms of power, these two strikes would be amongst the highest tier of knights.
Naturally, neither of the two wielders could remain unscathed.
“Urgh!”
An enormous shockwave swept through the space.
To survive, she had no choice but to let her body succumb to the shockwave.
After all, this space appeared infinite.
So she floated for a while, then rolled for a while.
The spot where she finally came to rest was quite far from where she initially stood.
The other self seemed to have flown far as well, becoming small enough to look like a dot.
The tingling sensation left in her arms and shoulders made it clear.
At this point, she had to accept it.
That was not another person or a fake, but she herself.
‘But now I have to defeat myself?’
The only other thing present here was another version of herself.
In terms of the conditions to pass the trial, fighting and winning against that self was the only thing that came to mind.
But could it really be possible to win against an opponent that behaved just like her?
A fleeting thought of giving up crossed her mind.
They had exchanged strikes once already.
The sensations remaining in her hands shouted impossibility.
But Allen’s image flashed back in her mind.
‘He said I wouldn’t know if I didn’t at least try.’
Of course, her sensations keenly pointed to impossibility, but it wasn’t definitive.
There were still elements left to explore.
She regripped her sword.
And started dashing toward the other her once again.
The other one did the same.
Squelch.
The space groaned.
Swords clashed.
She was sent flying again but managed to regain her balance and charged right back in.
What should she do?
To win, she definitely had to do something she hadn’t done yet.
But each time she thought about acting differently, the other self seemed to share that very thought and copy her actions.
‘So I am me, huh.’
No matter how much she swung her sword, it was merely a standoff, no conclusion.
Then it seemed the only option left was just one.
‘This is a method I would never normally consider, but…’
Perhaps now it might work.
This wasn’t merely thinking of an unthinkable method, but it went against common sense.
She swung her sword downward.
Thwack.
The sound of the space being cleaved again.
But this time, their swords didn’t clash.
The path of her sword was one that, if the other picked the same one, would never overlap.
Yet, that also meant that the opponent’s path was the same as hers.
That meant cutting through her opponent also meant her opponent cutting through her.
‘Failure…’
In a near-instant kill blow with no pain, her consciousness evaporated swiftly.
However, in the next moment, her consciousness returned immediately.
The place still remained that empty space.
‘This is…’
Her body was entirely fine.
And before her stood the other her, just as fine.
That one wore a vacant expression identical to hers.
From this, she realized one thing.
‘Dying doesn’t equate to failing.’
But still, she had no clue about the conditions for success.
Even if defeating the other was the way to pass the trial, she had no idea how to achieve it.
That being because the other was entirely the same as her, thinking the same thoughts, moving the same way.
‘Then…’
Was there a way to finish this within three days?
If it were Allen, what conclusion would he reach?
Perhaps he’d already realized this trial could never be completed in three days and escaped?
‘Then he must be waiting for me outside right about now.’
She’d been told that reaching the Central Sea System was paramount.
So it would be better to finish the trial as quickly as possible.
Wouldn’t it be better to give up and leave now?
She shook her head.
‘There must be a reason Allen gave me three days.’
Moreover, Allen said.
Sometimes, the growth obtained through enduring the trial is a greater reward than the rewards obtained after passing.
So perhaps even if she didn’t pass this trial, there might still be some significance.
With that thought, she lifted her sword once more.
For the next three days.
“Let’s do our best.”
“Let’s do our best.”
She began clashing swords once more, hoping this trial had meaningful purpose.
*
“You…”
“You…”
Another me suddenly appeared behind me.
As I opened my mouth, it did the same.
It was kind of a nice voice, but knowing it was my own made it just a bit creepy.
So I decided to close my mouth.
And with a smile, I thought.
‘Let’s verify first, shall we? Did it really replicate me perfectly?’
As I pondered, I noticed the other person was also wearing the same smile.
‘Is that what my smile looks like?’
Mixed with its lazy face, it somehow felt annoying.
Instantly, its face twisted again.
Yet seeing its face distort alongside mine somehow irked me.
‘Your face is my face.’
Of course, it wouldn’t be unaware of that.
So that’s likely the look it was making.
Now it was even making a face that suggested, ‘Well, with this look, I can get away with a little bit of annoyance.’
I found myself slightly repulsed by this stark reflection of myself.
‘For now…’
This is a trivial issue.
Verification comes first.
‘Wind’s Power.’
I applied Wind’s Power to the Relic Sacred Replicant in my hand.
Then the other’s Relic Sacred Replicant began swirling in the same wind’s power.
‘Oh.’
Even though it’s a divine power, it executed well.
So I quickly moved on to the next.
‘Optical Modulation.’
As my face changed, so did the other’s.
Even the change was perfectly identical.
‘Overload.’
The other self also managed Overload without difficulty.
‘Sublimation.’
The wind’s power deepened further.
The other did every single skill I had mastered intact.
Somehow it felt strange seeing my own image for the first time, but I could tell he perfectly copied me.
‘No, should I say he’s following me?’
He must be trying to verify me too.
Right now, both were merely performing the same actions, so it wouldn’t be right to say one was following the other.
However…
‘Could he pull off this next one too?’
What I was about to do was not just a simple skill.
It was the swordsmanship of Libero that had reached S-rank.
Could he match that too?
After one clash of swords, I was at a distance from him.
Yet, I still moved the overloaded Relic Sacred Replicant.
Suddenly, time began to flow slowly around me.
But within that, he was moving too.
Our swords collided precisely at the midpoint between us.
‘He’s identical in swordsmanship too.’
This confirmed it.
He was completely the same as me.
So defeating him in the first place was impossible.
‘As I grow, he will grow alongside me.’
That was a clear fact that needed no further proof.
So the goal of this trial probably wasn’t to defeat this guy.
Considering that, it made more sense for him to grow alongside me.
‘This is quite an interesting trial.’
An interesting trial.
It probably rivals the fun I had in the second trial.
But just as it was enjoyable, it was also a frustrating trial for me now.
“How disappointing.”
“How disappointing.”
Time isn’t on my side right now.
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