Episode 57: Shadow Giant (1)After walking a short distance, the diverged paths converged again.
Guild members had gathered there.
Seol-hwa was dragged forward by her seniors' hands like a criminal.
"You expect us to believe that?"
This was the response Seol-hwa received after truthfully recounting what she'd witnessed.
"But Gichan is standing right here perfectly fine?"
Isia pointed at the man.
Gichan was the senior who had attacked Seol-hwa earlier.
"B-but he really did attack me first..."
Seol-hwa averted her gaze.
There was no doubt he'd struck first.
"If what you say is true, shouldn't there at least be a body?"
The corpse of the person Seol-hwa killed had vanished without a trace.
Though unjustly accused, she had no way to prove her innocence.
With no defense left, Seol-hwa nervously fidgeted with her fingers.
"She must've killed the Deputy Guild Leader too!"
Agitated guild members shouted accusations.
They'd lost all reason.
Normal judgment had completely left them.
No matter the circumstances, there was no way someone of Seol-hwa's skill could have killed the Deputy Guild Leader.
"Enough!"
Isia's shout instantly silenced the guild members.
"Your story might hold truth. But without concrete evidence, I can't defend you."
She delivered her verdict to Seol-hwa.
It was a reasonable stance - acknowledging Seol-hwa's claims while placating the angry members.
"Therefore, you'll remain excluded from the party until we clear this dungeon. Final judgment will come in court later."
Isia pronounced the sentence.
Exile.
Before Seol-hwa could protest, she was cast out from the group.
The hostile atmosphere prevented her from speaking further.
Seol-hwa couldn't voice the strange phenomena she'd experienced.
The isolated girl slumped in a corner.
Her depressed demeanor was understandable after enduring relentless abuse.
"Don't worry. You've got me."
I comforted her.
Though she appeared alone, she wasn't truly solitary.
"It... it really was a monster, right?"
Seol-hwa's hands trembled.
Guilt still tormented her despite clearly seeing Gichan alive.
"Of course it was a monster. Those were doppelgangers."
I reassured her.
The chaotic situation seemed to have overwhelmed her capacity for rational thought.
"Huh? But doppelgangers look like worms."
"They take different forms in this space."
Though uncertain if they copied abilities, these doppelgangers clearly mimicked appearances.
"This likely connects to the 'God' they mentioned..."
The only possible culprit behind such machinations was the 'God' the Captain had referenced.
"Were Senior Gichan and Senior Hyungwoo even real?"
Doubt eventually consumed everything.
She questioned whether the seniors she'd just met were genuine.
Seol-hwa sat blankly, wasting time.
Confusion reigned - her tangled thoughts prevented forward progress.
"Aren't you the new recruit from last time? Where are the other guild members? Why are you alone?"
The Deputy Guild Leader approached from the opposite direction.
Seol-hwa raised her sword.
A fake. She had to kill it before being attacked.
"She might be real."
I restrained her.
The Deputy Guild Leader before us could potentially be genuine.
Seol-hwa sheathed her sword.
* * * * *
"Things should be better now, right?"
With Seol-hwa exiled,
the atmosphere improved somewhat.
Removing the source of discord had helped.
'She didn't seem to be lying. And this situation feels too orchestrated.'
Isia couldn't relax her expression.
This felt like dancing on someone's palm.
She sensed deliberate manipulation behind Seol-hwa's expulsion.
[-----------]
She clutched her head.
A sharp pain throbbed in her skull.
"Are you alright, Guild Leader? Should I heal you?"
A healer approached with concern.
Isia declined and sent the healer away.
"Ha, never thought she'd be like that. Completely different from her looks."
A guild member badmouthed Seol-hwa.
Others nodded in agreement.
"Stop it."
Irritation suddenly flared.
The tense atmosphere kept unraveling because of their chatter.
"Why? Guild Leader, Yena's dead! Why defend that bitch?"
A sharp-nerved member confronted her.
"Do you really think Seol-hwa could kill Ho-young? The monster that murdered Ho-young is still in this dungeon. So shut up and stay alert."
She issued a warning.
The relaxed atmosphere instantly tensed.
"No more chatter. We clear this dungeon ASAP. Move quickly if you want to live."
Isia barked orders,
regaining control of the situation.
After rallying the members, she led them forward.
"Aaaaagh! Let's find that bitch and kill her now!"
They hadn't walked far when monsters appeared.
Tentacle monsters bearing human forms.
* * * * *
"Huff... Huff..."
Seol-hwa gasped for air.
Her body was battered beyond recognition.
Blood streamed down her arms, dripping onto the floor.
"They can copy abilities too?"
I regenerated my mangled form.
Death had nearly claimed us.
Only by unleashing everything - including Death's Countdown - did we barely defeat the Deputy Guild Leader doppelganger.
Victory came from pure luck.
The doppelganger's incomplete replication gave us an edge.
"If we meet another, we're dead for sure."
A sense of crisis emerged.
If stronger opponents like Isia or her party found us now, we'd be helpless.
My instincts screamed warnings.
We needed to flee immediately.
But we had nowhere to run.
"This confirms the Deputy Guild Leader might still be alive."
The probability of her survival increased.
Yet I had no desire to meet her.
"Wait... does this mean our appearances might have been copied too?"
A terrifying realization struck.
* * * * * *
"Aaaaagh! Let's find that bitch and kill her now!"
A guild member screamed.
Her face was smeared with blood.
"Look at this! It's a monster! Not human at all! Let's kill it!"
She presented a grotesque object.
A portion of some creature.
Tentacle-like in appearance.
Half the party had died to this monster.
One bearing Seol-hwa's exact likeness.
"Not just similar. It's that bitch Seol-hwa!"
Another corrected Isia.
The resemblance was undeniable.
"We can't be certain. This could be the dungeon's nature. Anything can happen inside Dimensional Gates. Don't make hasty judgments before clearing it."
Isia gave the textbook response.
Dimensional Gates were alien worlds.
Earthly logic didn't apply.
The Seol-hwa-looking monster might simply be a monster mimicking her form.
"Still saying that! If we'd killed her from the start, none of this would've happened! Because of you, Guild Leader, half our party died instead of just Yena!"
The members gave her no time to think.
Suspicious glances pierced Isia.
They questioned her leadership.
"We can't follow you anymore! I'm splitting from the group!"
Schism erupted.
Members abandoned Isia.
Only one healer remained at her side.
The rest followed the rebellious member.
"Haha... So this is how it ends?"
Isia laughed bitterly.
A miscalculation.
She'd believed she'd earned their trust.
But their faith shattered instantly.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
Screams echoed from where the members had gone.
Isia rushed toward the sound.
"Kekekekeke."
The instigator cackled madly.
She swung her sword, carrying out a massacre.
A dagger pierced her skull.
Yet another identical woman emerged from the wall to continue slaughtering.
Reality and imitation blurred beyond distinction.
Isia retreated from the carnage.
"Guild Leader? Shouldn't we stop this?"
The healer suggested.
Isia shook her head.
She couldn't distinguish real from fake.
Without knowing where to strike, reckless action was impossible.
'Is this person real?'
Doubt surfaced.
Even the healer might be an impostor.
"Let's split up too."
"What? What do you mean?"
She shook off the clinging healer.
Isia walked forward without purpose.
Confusion reigned.
She didn't know who to trust.
Solitude seemed preferable.
For the first time, she embraced isolation.
After an indeterminable time walking,
the space suddenly expanded.
She strained her ears.
No sounds or signs of life reached her.
Cautiously, she entered the cavern.
Kuuung.
The entrance sealed shut behind her.
A black shadow dropped from above.
The shadow coalesced into a giant's form.
[---------]
The shadow inclined its head toward Isia.
The giant wasn't friendly.
It pried open her mind, forcibly implanting information.
It made an offer.
Become my Apostle, it whispered, and gain immense power.
The cost would be trivial, it claimed.
Sacrifice part of humanity, and I'll protect Earth from other entities.
Isia endured the agony of her violated mind.
"I refuse! I'll never accept such terms!"
She rejected the proposal outright.
She wouldn't gain fame by selling out others.
'Pity.'
The giant clicked its tongue.
The entity rose to its full height.
Isia drew her sword.
Even in death, she'd take this thing down.
Her resolve infused the blade.
The standoff reached its breaking point.
The sealed entrance exploded open.
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