“Tap…”
I briefly stepped out of the house with him.
As I got closer, the man’s face didn’t look so relaxed.
“To get straight to the point, it seems we’ve been discovered by the client.”
“……….”
“The client was debating whether to kill Lee Yeon-hee based on her growth, but it seems he felt uneasy after my opinion on her performance.”
… Couldn’t you have done a better job?
“I guess I’m not skilled at distorting information. Truth be told, I’ve never done it in my life.”
The Man of Stealth was hinting that he had completed his job perfectly.
“If you want to have more conversations with me, how about you share some information too?”
“……….”
Of course, there were many questions I wanted to ask.
Is the client the person I think he is? Are there any weaknesses or openings in his abilities? Is he planning to attack us directly? Is there a set date and time for when he’s coming?
Flick—
I pulled out a notebook and pen from the space and began to write, letter by letter.
“Whoa— Your handwriting isn’t bad at all! Are you really a summoned creature? How do you possess such intelligence? Does Lee Yeon-hee control your body or something?”
“Tap…”
I didn’t respond to the man’s question, and he didn’t seem to expect an answer anyway, as he continued rambling on about what he wanted.
This man is also quite the chatterbox.
“Hmmm. Let’s see here.”
The man calmly read through the information I had written and nodded in satisfaction.
“Got it. If Ma Gwang-jin and Yoo Min-jeong protect Lee Yeon-hee…”
“Tap?”
“That won’t work! Are you joking? I don’t know how much Ma Gwang-jin has grown recently, but he’s at best in the mid-tier of S rank. I know Yoo Min-jeong’s restraints are impressive, but that won’t work on Jo Gi-man’s Clone. Well, it might hold him for a second.”
‘What, so it really is Jo Gi-man’s Clone.’
“Still, not bad… It’s actually beyond what I expected in terms of power. If you and they could unleash the last ability you used on Escalon… Haha, this could actually work out!”
“……….”
The man casually dropped information about the client and observed my reaction before continuing.
“Right. The client I mentioned is Jo Gi-man’s Clone. You know what a clone is? It’s not just a mere imitation to confuse the enemy. It’s a sinister clone that has inherited a certain degree of power from its original.
It’s actually funny to refer to him as a client. Somehow, they have my life in their hands. I’ve rarely met the original. Once? Twice, maybe? I don’t seem to be significant enough for him. Just by the fact he’s delegated me to a clone.”
The man kept taking control of the conversation.
He said he was referred to as ‘the enemy,’ and mentioned that the meeting time with the client, originally set for tomorrow morning, had been moved up by two hours.
“I just went to the area near the building where Jo Gi-man’s Clone is located. And instinctively, I realized something was wrong. That’s why I rushed here. I don’t plan to meet that guy tomorrow. If I do, I’ll most likely die.”
‘Does that mean abilities activate just by going near Jo Gi-man’s building? This feels like an almost certain instinct… What an incredible ability…’
I quietly listened to the conversation when another question arose.
He mentioned he is under some restraints, but if he has that kind of intuition and can escape when the situation goes south, it doesn’t seem like a real restraint.
“The clone of Jo Gi-man may notice my betrayal, but the restraints on me won’t activate immediately. However, he will pull the strings, gradually eating away at my life force until I end up in a state of neither living nor dead. It’s a living hell.”
‘So that’s how it is… He must have lived his whole life suffocating like this.’
I began to understand why this man so desperately wanted to break free from these restraints.
“Moreover, it’s linked to the abilities I trained with my colleagues, so it won’t just be me suffering. If my other companions betray me, I’ll share the same pain. Well, if it comes down to it, I could accept their deaths if it meant I could survive.”
‘That’s a deeply selfish way of thinking. But I wouldn’t be much different either.’
“Anyway, the important part is that the risk of him moving has increased. He probably doesn’t think my betrayal relates to you, but the likelihood of him choosing to kill me in a do-or-die situation has risen.”
‘… It’s fine now. It’s something we’ll face eventually. The sooner, the better.’
“You and I share the same goal. To kill that guy trying to kill Lee Yeon-hee. So, could you possibly hand over a bit of the great beast’s remains? I’d like to give you a heads-up on when the clone is moving and fight together in exchange.”
‘You even want to fight together. I guess that’s worth it. But what are you planning to make?’
As I wrote the question in the notebook, ‘the enemy’ nodded.
“Waiting around passively is an act of fools. Heh heh… I have something prepared alongside my colleagues for a long time. Let’s just say it’s a preparation for using it properly.”
It seemed like he was trying to set some kind of trap, but his confidence made me feel reassured.
‘Is this enough…?’
I took out some branches I had gathered from the remains of the great beast and handed them over to him.
Kuuhh─!
“What, what’s this? Something this large from the space?! Then that massive root from before was indeed your doing? Hahaha— I can’t tell who the real monster is anymore.”
Although it was just the branches, not the central part of the root, it was still considerable, easily weighing hundreds of kg.
‘The enemy’ showed a facial expression I had never seen from him before.
“Perfect. With this, I can easily lure in my colleagues…”
‘He plans to put everything on the line tomorrow…’
I didn’t care much, but it did seem necessary to change locations.
For a while, we exchanged conversations, discussing where to lure him in and how to engage.
“Hehe, I’ve never felt so good talking to a Skeleton Soldier. Life certainly keeps you on your toes. Don’t you agree? Anyway, see you tomorrow.”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
We wrapped up our arrangements and set our sights on tomorrow.
Once inside, I shook Yeon-hee awake and asked her to call Ma Gwang-jin and Yoo Min-jeong.
“Huh? At this hour?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap.”
Eventually, our companions were summoned back to our house.
I shared what I had discussed with ‘the enemy’ and we even finished a simulation together.
“This is the base of the Ilseom Guild, but it’s far enough that we should be fine.”
“Yes, we’re pretending to explore a hidden dungeon.”
“With the stealth item and the traps from that guy, we’re all set… So, the client just needs to show up. Do you really think he will?”
The most crucial point is that Jo Gi-man’s clone needs to come after us.
‘The enemy’ was certain the clone would definitely show up.
He also said the clone would become careless upon seeing our companions.
‘I still don’t understand how he becomes careless just by seeing the companions. Hmmm…’
I don’t know why he would become careless, but I’ll have to trust his instincts.
And then the next morning.
A note with a message from ‘the enemy’ tore itself to signal.
“Haah… suddenly fighting Jo Gi-man’s clone? This world really keeps me guessing. I just hope he doesn’t return unexpectedly.”
We had already arrived at the base of the Ilseom Guild after leaving the house.
Jo Gi-man’s clone must have set surveillance on us, as expected, and we were being watched.
‘Is the one following us a crow? So he has the ability to control living creatures as well…’
I barely managed to detect the weak magical power with my sensory ability, which led me to catch onto the tailing.
I sent out the prearranged signal, letting them know things were proceeding according to plan. Thanks to that, my companions could steady their resolve.
I risked the presence of my companions to maintain the perception that we were hunting dungeons as usual. I was truly grateful that my companions were willing to risk themselves for us.
“I’m sorry for putting you in danger because of me.”
“No way. I’ll make sure to see which bastard is trying to harm Yeon-hee.”
Ah-rin seemed genuinely angry.
It must be due to what happened with Heo Min-sol; it seems she’s more involved this time.
And I had only told Ma Gwang-jin and Yoo Min-jeong about the identity of the client.
It didn’t seem like our party of hunters could bear that truth just yet.
Of course, Yeon-hee also learned who was trying to kill her, but it seemed unbelievable to her that someone who tricked her now wanted to kill her.
“Today, we’re heading to explore the hidden dungeon of the Ilseom Guild.”
“Yes, yes.”
“And when the battle begins, we retreat immediately. We must not have any pointless sacrifices, even if I have to endure something myself.”
Everyone was trying their best to pretend to be calm, but if Yeon-hee said something like that, it was bound to become serious.
We loosened up at our appointed point and acted as if we were getting ready before entering the dungeon.
By now, ‘the enemy’ and our allies had already prepared everything stealthily. We invested time until dawn to coordinate this.
With the stealth items provided by Ma Gwang-jin, my companions’ presence became faintly detectable even within the range of my senses.
If everything went well this time, I promised myself that I would share more of the great beast’s remains with those who had helped us, and I patiently waited for him to arrive.
*
Ten minutes later.
Just as Il-wol and the companions finished up preparations and were about to stand.
“………. Kihihihihik-”
Someone with an unappealing laugh revealed themselves.
“Wh-Who are you!!”
At Bae Joo-ah’s shout, the mysterious figure fell into silence for a moment before revealing himself.
A man with a twisted smile that seemed out of place.
“With pretty girls gathered like this, how can I not smile?”
The clone of Jo Gi-man approached, licking his lips with his tongue.
While he inherited some of Jo Gi-man’s abilities, he also absorbed the filthy desires of his original. Among those, the most significant was lust.
The original had deemed that emotion the least useful after repeated attempts, resulting in this outcome.
‘So Jo Gi-man’s clone is a guy obsessed with women… I honestly didn’t see that coming. Amazing how ‘the enemy’ figured it out.’
That’s why Jo Gi-man would deliberately exclude clones from tasks involving striking encounters with beautiful women, and with the removal of the suppressing original, this guy had no reason to hide his instincts.
‘This isn’t Jo Gi-man’s face at all. Can a clone even change its appearance? And what’s with that expression? So annoying. This guy’s just the worst.’
Il-wol rushed forward simultaneously with his thoughts to block the path of the mysterious man.
“Oh, so it’s you? The absurdly powerful variant of the Skeleton Soldier. Clearly… you’ve changed.”
“……….”
– [Incompatible Rage] is activated.
– Damage dealt to [The One Subject to the Seven-headed Dragon’s Incarnation] increases by 11.1 times.
Since he was an opponent far stronger than me, my achievement was undoubtedly activated, giving me a somewhat ambiguous 11.1-fold boost.
‘The First Escalon was 12.5 times… so is this monster weaker? Yet even a clone is this strong. Jo Gi-man is truly insane.’
Though achievements like [Incompatible Rage] vary based on the power difference with the enemy, making simple comparisons difficult, even so, the combat power of the clone was impressive.
If it’s this strong, how powerful is the original?
I had seen Jo Gi-man when he transformed into a dragon before, and even now, the gap in power felt overwhelmingly far away.
As the ‘clone’ paused, glancing at my companions with a hard-to-bear expression, he exaggerated his gestures as he continued speaking.
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