<731 – Who Said That? (2)>
“Heheh. That’s not a bad idea.”
I didn’t really expect any backup, but the Grandpa of the Okashii-ne stood up for me.
“Where did Seonhwang Papa go, leaving you alone?”
“I just had a piece of advice to give, so I made some time.”
“What kind of advice?”
“Have you heard about the Chairman of the Foundation’s non-fair flight that caused a gigantic mushroom cloud to erupt, obliterating an entire dimension while traversing the dimension route?”
“Oh? Isn’t that nuclear?”
“Looks like the Heir of the Foundation can guess the identity of the new weapon.”
“…That might be true…?”
“I wanted to remind you to mentally prepare, as there’s a chance of a clash between the Academy and the Foundation soon. Heheh. It seems I was unnecessarily worried since the Dark Princess knows the Foundation’s plans.”
I see.
“But how do you know this, Grandpa? Emperor Papa doesn’t even know!”
Grandpa of the Okashii-ne chuckled and offered me a deal.
“If you agree to my condition, I might just share my secret.”
“Wow, really?”
It’s rare for this mysterious old man to be so generous.
Naturally, my curiosity was piqued.
What on earth did he want me to do for him to spill that heavy secret?
“My condition is as simple as eating a piece of cake, so it won’t take long.”
“Wow! What’s that simple condition?”
“Kill the Darknodi right here and now.”
But this Grandpa suddenly slammed on the gas.
What could possibly be the reason to kill the Darknodi right now?
Rather than pondering that, my hand moved first.
“Grandpa, you’ve crossed the line!”
I pulled his tie, forcing his head down, and aimed my fingernail at the nape of his neck, yet the Grandpa of the Okashii-ne just chuckled without a hint of fear.
With a naive face much like a grandfather caught up in his granddaughter’s mischief, the threat of killing the Darknodi felt even more dissonant.
“Let me share a funny anecdote.”
“I’d rather hear an apology first!”
“If this moment is the turning point to change your life, are you intrigued?”
If it were just a simple story, I wouldn’t care much, but when options accompany it, the situation changes.
━━━
[Surprise Quest – The Crossroads of Fate]
The Butler of the Foundation is a suspicious figure with unknown background, and his intelligence comes from a source that’s hard to discern.
A crossroads of fate spoken by such an entity carries weight.
To receive an apology from the Butler and lose the Butler’s interest, or to gain the Butler’s interest and lose the favor of the Darknodi.
To kill the Darknodi to know the Butler’s secret, or to reject the Butler’s secret to save the Darknodi.
All choices are yours to make.
━━━
Quest.
Event.
The gods watching over me have acknowledged that it is indeed the “Crossroads of Fate,” as a sign appeared stating that this choice can overturn your destiny, like a hammer banging down right in front of me!
But so what?
[Final Strike: Instant Kill]
The mana bursting from my fingertip pierced the Butler’s throat.
“I decide when I harvest my eternal doppelganger!”
[Flowing Clay]
[Unholy Creature]
The Butler’s body, slumping and oozing, regained its original form two steps back.
“Oops. I didn’t mean to make you mad. Given my age, I’m quite distant from the hearts of young folks, so I apologize if I’ve caused any misunderstandings.”
An entity with a gimmick that can’t be easily killed.
Now was not the time to find an end to this.
“Hmph. You better explain yourself clearly. Why do you suddenly suggest killing the Darknodi?”
The Butler, now smoothly restoring the hole in his clothes with his palm, stepped forward with his hands behind his back, gazing down at the city.
“When it comes to the monster known as [Doppelganger], which often comes to mind with the term ‘doppelganger,’ it harbors one impulse: the [Desire to Plunder], which seeks to steal the life of its original from not just imitating its appearance.”
“…That sounds very suspicious right now, you know?”
“Heheh. Once you cross the line once, why fear doing it again?”
The Butler of the Okashii-ne nonchalantly irritated my nerves.
“A doppelganger typically can’t achieve perfect imitation merely by mimicking the exterior. They feel a lack of knowledge and language, something essential for imitation.”
A doppelganger has no definite identity of ‘self.’
They harbor extreme mental instability due to denying themselves.
That was knowledge I recognized through gaming.
I’ve actually seen doppelgangers in the Mirror Dungeon before.
That queen doppelganger mirroring me, the Mirror Nodi!
I had teased the idea at the Academy’s Dungeon Theme Park, thinking if I collected other dungeon bosses, perhaps it would be able to resemble me better, but I wondered if they had collected them by now.
But it wasn’t the time to calmly ponder over the Mirror Nodi.
“While it’s true that there are doppelgangers who coexist peacefully by exchanging memories, most do not come out well.”
“Why?”
“I have become a perfected version of you, so what use is your existence now?”
“!”
“The moment both the doppelganger and the original realize this, they fight to be the sole true existence to protect their roles.”
The Butler’s gaze shifted toward the house where the Darknodi was.
“Throughout humanity’s long history, there are many rumors about powerful figures who’ve stolen the body of their ‘host’ or ‘replica’ over and over. Scholars often decide whether those stolen lives can be distinguished by the existence of ‘biological offspring.’”
That was a setting I didn’t know.
“Why?”
“Because a doppelganger can mimic appearance and follow personality but cannot perfectly replicate reproductive functions.”
“Oh! My knowledge has increased!”
“You think it doesn’t concern you?”
“Of course! The Darknodi isn’t a doppelganger but my doppelganger! With the same thoughts and mindset as mine, there’s no way it’d make inefficient waste!”
With all the knowledge of [Time Wasting] and [Wrong Branch Choices], there’s no way it would act foolishly and screw everything up with a wrong choice, right?
“The Butler’s story doesn’t apply to the Darknodi. I wasted my time listening to it. A complete waste of time!”
“Heheh. Do you think no one has walked that path before? You won’t be lonely walking it alone. Historically, very few have looked into the past like a mirror to avoid the repetition of mistakes.”
“If you want to compare someone, better name someone I know! I care nothing for ancient history I don’t know.”
“Heheh. Don’t worry. It wasn’t that long ago when someone foolish enough to create an [Eternal Doppelganger] appeared like you.”
The Butler stared me straight in the eye, chuckling sinisterly.
“That one thought to himself, ‘There may be things that can’t be done alone, but maybe we can overcome them together.’ But with the same growth, they couldn’t defeat their enemy. So, he decided, let’s send the doppelganger down paths he has yet to tread and grant him powers he couldn’t obtain.”
A shadow loomed over the Butler’s feet.
So long lived that even the lands he stood on were withered, a shadow as dark and thick as the years past.
“The doppelganger grew magnificently. It became a being capable of doing things the original could not. The original was overjoyed and urged, ‘This time, let’s defeat the enemy!’ The doppelganger responded affirmatively and then stabbed the original.”
“…!”
“Why? Despite the original’s denial, reality didn’t change. He was betrayed. The doppelganger had come to see the original as the enemy. To protect what he needed to protect. To keep the relationships he held dear as his own.”
“…The Darknodi is different.”
“The exchange of memories led to the doppelganger’s betrayal. If you think you can do something even worse than sharing memories and still get away with it, then you’re sorely mistaken. What grows greater over the years isn’t just age. I can sense it. The Darknodi is no different.”
“On what grounds are you so certain?”
“Oknodi. Your ‘Papa’ has already traversed that path.”
That was a statement too weighty for even the veteran player to brush off.
“My Papa?”
“The one who created a doppelganger in the darkness to defeat the [Principal], the end point where all heroes fall. A conception born as a method to escape from the cycle of repeated defeats. One of the three great evils and the ruler of the underworld.”
“Gah! Those titles are…!”
“What do you think the [Director of the Foundation] came from?”
First Wahyhiemhai.
The Chairman of the Foundation was someone in the same
