Chapter: 111
### 111 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Doppelgänger Train’ (2)
—
– Han Kain
Someone tapped my shoulder.
When I turned around, it was Jinchul-hyung.
“Hyung?”
“It’s nothing. By the way, is your grimoire all good?”
Why are you suddenly asking about the grimoire?
I didn’t really have a reason to hide it, so I summoned it.
Hyung suddenly reached out and tried to flip through the cover of the grimoire.
“Hyung! This is seriously dangerous for anyone other than me!”
Before I could stop him, he lifted the first page just a bit.
In a split second, sparks flew, and Hyung started rubbing his eyes.
“It’s real. I suspected since the parrot only reacted to you, but you are the real deal.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Nothing much. Just looking at the outside scenery reminded me of the past.”
Hyung plopped down next to me and began to tell stories.
Tales of losing his parents while in high school.
Starting a business with the little money he saved during college, and managing to have some success.
It lasted about ten minutes? A mix of heart-wrenching and funny points sprinkled in.
…
Something feels off.
This doesn’t quite match up with the Jinchul I know.
… Earlier he mentioned the parrot and that I was “the real deal.”
A thought crossed my mind, and I asked, “Didn’t you say your mother was still alive? I’ve never heard about your business before.”
“That’s understandable. I just found out I have this past now.”
Both of us glared at ‘him’—the fake Jinchul.
In the next moment, the fake Cha Jinchul’s thick hand grabbed my neck!
“Grrr!”
I instantly hijacked his body using the grimoire’s power.
As I stood up in a daze, I saw six others looking at me with somewhat meaningful expressions.
The bloodbath was about to begin.
—
—Bang!
Before I could act, Mooksung’s gun fired, and the head of the Cha Jinchul I possessed exploded.
Instantly, my consciousness returned to my original body.
Mooksung! I need to snatch that body!
Gritting my teeth, I used the lifeless, headless fake Jinchul’s body as a shield and stood up.
“Mooksung’s furious roar echoed.”
“You coward!”
“It’s 1 against 7; there’s no cowardice here!”
As I charged, ready to take Mooksung’s body—
—Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, Mooksung emptied his gun into the floor before tossing it away somewhere.
What the heck is he doing?
…I get it.
In this train car, the most threatening weapon is the gun!
The problem is, if I take over the body of the one holding the gun, no matter how many fakes there are, the power shifts to my side.
Since I’m already using the fake Jinchul’s corpse as a human shield, it’d be hard to shoot me dead, huh? So he’s just tossing the gun away and taking this to a numbers fight.
In an instant, fakes rushed at me from all sides.
“You bastard—”
“Die! You bastard! Why should you be the only one to get out of this hell!”
“Is it my fault you’re stuck here?!”
Fakes came rushing from all directions!
Mooksung pummeled me with his fists. Eunsol yanked my hair.
Songee had me in a grip.
“Ughhhh!”
In that instant of intense pain, I was forced to summon the grimoire again.
As I summoned it, those attacking me flinched and stepped back.
I seized the most significant threat, Mooksung’s body.
As I grabbed it, I also tried to twist away Kim Ahri’s neck next to me—
But then Songee tried to poke the eyeball of ‘my body’ with her finger!
This is why I couldn’t use the grimoire!
Once I take over someone’s body, who’s going to protect ‘my body’ in this train car without my companions?
If I had a gun, I could eliminate them all in an instant, but Mooksung had already thrown it away to prevent just this situation!
I had no choice but to return to my original body and immediately detach Songee’s arm.
—Thwack!
At that moment, Mooksung, now freed from possession, swung a punch at me.
Just then, Ahri, who had come running late from somewhere, stabbed me in the shoulder with a sharp object she found.
… I thought I’d gotten somewhat used to the body pains from rolling around in this harrowing hotel, but nope!
Is this how it ends?
—Bang!
Ahri’s head exploded.
—Bang!
A hole was pierced in Mooksung’s chest.
Just as Songee regained her senses and turned around—
—Bang!
A hole appeared in Songee’s forehead.
In mere moments, the fakes were falling one after another.
…
I hadn’t expected the fakes to come from behind like that, but my, what a shockingly precise shooting skill.
When I finally came to my senses, there were bodies everywhere. I stared blankly at Elena.
“Why… did you help me?”
“Conversely, why would I have any reason to harm you?”
“…”
“As Kain said, you didn’t drop us into this hell…”
Elena threw a gun at me.
“If I regain my senses, I might envy you so much I’ll go mad. Before that, kill me.”
I picked up the gun. After getting mercilessly beaten by Mooksung and getting my eyeball poked by Seungyub, I felt like my whole body was going to shatter.
I staggered towards Elena, who grabbed my hand and pointed the gun at her own head.
…I stared at her blankly.
Elena let out a small laugh and muttered, “I’m glad you’re real in a place full of fakes.”
“Your original name is—”
“Just shoot. I want to end it thinking I’m Elena.”
—Bang!
…
Now, I’m the only one left alive in this car.
Just as I was about to drag my staggering body to the next car, a good plan came to mind.
—
– Elena
What on earth is this train for?
Gazing out the window blankly, I thought about the past.
In the days of wandering from country to country, I held precious dreams.
The glamorous world on TV!
Will I ever be able to step into the outside world again and stand on that stage?
As I pondered, I suddenly heard whispers around me, followed by strange words.
Aria’s voice.
“Who’s a participant?”
Songee’s voice.
“The parrot looked at Elena for a while and then flew away. It must be her.”
Mooksung’s voice.
“What the hell! Why is she the only one getting out of here?!”
Huh?
What’s going on here?
People were approaching me.
Pouring my soul into thoughts—what, what, what!
When Songee came up to me, my lifelong excellent instinct kicked in.
When in doubt, just slap first.
Classic drama cliché!
“Elena! Who do you think you are—”
—Smack!
The sound of my slap echoed throughout the train car.
Everyone coming towards me stopped, their expressions stunned.
“How dare you act so cheeky! Aren’t you going to bow your head?”
Eunsol, looking perplexed, said, “Huh? Are you a fake too? But—”
“Fake? How can you say that in front of me? Where’s the fake? I am—”
Who should I say I am? Just throw something out there!
“I am the 16th Count Huntington’s daughter of England!”
The Huntington count? What family is that? I don’t know! It just popped into my head.
…
A silence spread around. Did I throw that out too casually?
Mooksung sighed deeply from his spot.
“Seems like you were captured quite some time ago. When were you caught?”
Is this kind of lie really going to work?
“In 1874, on the day the queen wore the crown of the Indian Empire. The glory of the empire shall fill Europe. But anyway, who is this standing in front of me?”
I deflected the question.
The fake Songee, who had been awkwardly dazed after I slapped her, replied quietly.
“Um, I’m still a bit hazy, but I might have been taken in 1980 or 1982—”
“Shut your mouth. You cheeky talking monkey should have been taught better by your master!”
I have no clue! Let’s just go all in! Life is about confidence.
I shoved Songee aside and glared at everyone with wide eyes, making them step back.
“Who are you?”
This time, when it came to Seungyub, he spoke hesitantly.
“Uh? I—”
“Wait a second!”
The fake Eunsol interrupted the flow.
“Suddenly making such a ruckus is alarming, but aren’t you the one who needs to explain first? The parrot definitely flew at you before leaving. Aren’t you the participant?”
“How typical of the colonial talking monkeys to have such a low level of intelligence. Birds are attracted to shiny things. Though I may not be my real body, I do shine pretty well, so it attracted the bird’s attention. Any more words to say?”
“Nah, I’ll let that slide, but what’s with your thought process…”
The fake Kain had been listening and chimed in.
“Hey! Let’s stop this. Ugh, why the hell is this old man summoning someone from 200 years ago. At least summon someone decent.”
“What? You cheeky monkey—”
“Let’s just get to the point! Who’s the participant?!”
“That quiet person has been unusually silent since earlier. Isn’t it you?”
“What the heck? I’m from 1977—”
And just like that, a civil war broke out among the fakes, battling over “Who’s the participant?”
At that moment, I was thinking of how to sound as much like a British, racist aristocrat as possible, throwing in random comments.
“Ha! My majesty! Please rescue me from these dirty yellow monkeys!”
“Hey! Somebody shut that annoying racist old man up!”
“Can you answer my question? Why are you confused about your own name?”
As I observed, I noticed that these ‘fakes’ were terribly confused, with memories jumbled up.
Some could recall their original memories relatively clearly, while others teetered on the edge of identity crisis.
They started casting suspicion on each other due to the inability to clearly recall their past.
Whereas I, paradoxically, had crafted this role of being the daughter of the nonexistent Count Huntington from the get-go. I was free from confusion, and my bold demeanor helped me escape suspicion.
But dragging this out… will it work?
—
– Han Kain
…
What the heck?
The possession ability has one major weakness.
While I’m possessing someone else, my original body is left vulnerable.
Because of this, I left my original body in the corridor between train cars while just transferring my consciousness.
The barrier blocking the path between the train cars!
Once ‘I’ had dealt with all the fakes in my car, I could cross over. But the fakes couldn’t cross the barrier. So, I’d wait until someone came near, and then I’d hijack their body.
So far, so good…
But who the heck is the “real” one in this car?
The atmosphere in the train car is pure chaos.
Fakes are trying to figure out who among them is the participant, clawing at each other in confusion!
The most exhausting among them all is that crazy racist Brit standing by the window.
He’s been furious since he caught sight of “the yellow monkeys” looking his way. I couldn’t get close at all!
He keeps throwing out accusations at people, claiming they’re suspicious, dragging the car deeper into chaos.
No matter how you look at it, that man is no doubt the reason he got eliminated in life.
So, who’s the “real” one in this car.
I found myself caught in confusion.
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