From Noble mtl dot com
Chapter 65
The scene changed.
Yeonhaneul swung the iron hammer.
The scene changed again.
Yeonhaneul swung the iron hammer.
Once more, the scene changed.
Yeonhaneul swung the iron hammer.
Yeonhaneul swung the iron hammer.
Yeonhaneul swung the iron hammer.
Yeonhaneul swung the iron hammer.
:
And the scene changed.
* * *
The monster was agile.
Whenever Yeonhaneul tried to find him, he immediately changed the dream.
Then, he hid in the newly changed dream and played hide and seek with her again.
It was a cycle of hiding, seeking, chasing, and fleeing.
‘How many times has it been now…’
If she could just catch him once, she could end this cycle.
But he didn’t give her that chance.
She had lost count of how many times it had changed.
Yeonhaneul, who had stopped counting at some point, was feeling exhausted.
Unknowingly, she was being influenced by the nightmares he continuously showed her.
It was his scheme to wait for her to weaken and then kill her.
‘It changed again.’
Yeonhaneul could somewhat guess his nature.
He was patient and prioritized his safety in any situation.
Dealing with such a person was not easy.
He would not reveal himself until he was certain of his safety and victory.
‘I have to find and kill him before he changes the dream.’
In the end, to catch him, she had to create a situation to draw him out or strike him down.
Or perhaps, destroy the dream world with the hidden one.
If it was his power, it was possible.
“….”
Above all, there was a gift.
So, although it might be burdensome, if she set her mind to it, there was nothing she couldn’t do.
However.
“…I don’t want to use the gift.”
Yeon Ha-neul hesitated.
Even though she had realized a way to remedy the situation long before, she couldn’t quite make up her mind.
Then, the scene changed.
“Ha-neul, what are you thinking?”
“….”
It was where they had lunch with Do Yeon-woo after the first test.
By the waterside of Geumgang Academy.
Yeon Ha-neul was being asked a question by Do Yeon-woo, who was standing right next to her.
His face seemed genuinely curious about her.
But she wasn’t fooled.
“What kind of girl is it this time? Are you trying to provoke me by showing off who you’re dating?”
Yeon Ha-neul clenched the metal pen.
She was ready to pull out the hammer at any moment.
Then, Do Yeon-woo smirked.
“What? What are you talking about? Who would I be dating?”
“Why? Are you just flirting then? You’re not officially dating yet?”
“I don’t know what kind of joke you’re playing… We’re dating, you and I.”
“…What?”
Do Yeon-woo lightly touched Yeon Ha-neul’s forehead with an incredulous look.
She blinked her red eyes in disbelief at the unexpected words she heard.
And he emphasized once more.
“We are dating. You and me.”
“…Really?”
“Did you dream it?”
“It’s just a dream.”
“What do you mean?”
“This dream isn’t bad at all….”
Yeon Ha-neul murmured absentmindedly.
Do Yeon-woo chuckled and reached out his hand.
She stared at that hand intently.
“…What does this hand mean?”
“What do you think? Let’s hold hands.”
“….”
“We came out for a date and a walk. You don’t dislike holding hands, do you?”
“No, not at all.”
Yeonhaneul shook her head vigorously.
Then, she cautiously reached out her hand and held his.
A smile spread across her face.
“Shall we continue walking then?”
“Yes! Let’s.”
They had to find the guy who must be hiding somewhere in their dreams.
Even though his intentions were unclear, Yeonhaneul decided to hold hands with Dogyeonwoo to relieve some of the accumulated fatigue and walk along the lakeside.
It was then that they heard the sound.
“Dogyeonwoo…? Who’s that?”
It was a familiar voice.
She turned her head and swallowed hard.
“…”
“What are you doing here? Why are there two of you?”
The person who looked exactly like her approached with a distinct and unpleasant expression on their face.
No, it wasn’t just a resemblance; it seemed like a complete copy of herself.
Yeonhaneul was too shocked to react as she looked at her.
“Who are you to be next to Dogyeonwoo? How dare you impersonate me!?”
She pushed Yeonhaneul forcefully.
Yeonhaneul couldn’t resist the force and ended up letting go of Dogyeonwoo’s hand.
In the meantime, the imposter grabbed his hand.
“Dogyeonwoo, I’m the real Yeonhaneul.”
“Haneul, what’s going on…”
“That’s an impostor. It seems I was made into a gift without my knowledge.”
“Really? No wonder things felt strange earlier…”
“No.”
“…”
“I’m… not a doppelganger.”
She clung tightly to Dogyeonwoo, pointing at Yeonhaneul.
Confusion crept into Dogyeonwoo’s eyes.
Yeonhaneul, witnessing the scene, couldn’t deny the existence of that seemingly copied entity even though she knew it was a dream world.
But she wasn’t the only one duplicated.
“Dogyeonwoo! That’s a fake!”
“The real one is here! Don’t be fooled!”
“I’m Yeonhaneul! Who are you guys?”
“Dogyeonwoo, you can tell, right? I’m the real Yeonhaneul.”
“Stay away from Dogyeonwoo!”
“I’m the original. Please believe me.”
“Kyungwoo, I…”
“Who is the real one!?”
In appearance, voice, personality, and way of speaking, beings completely identical to Yeonha appeared from somewhere.
Their numbers continued to grow.
As they swarmed around Kyungwoo, they insisted that each of them was the real one.
However, Kyungwoo couldn’t distinguish and was simply being swayed by them.
“…No.”
Yeonha, who was separated from them, shook her head and said.
“I’m not a doppelganger, I’m not.”
As if trying to convince herself.
Yeonha desperately denied.
“I’m the real one.”
Yeonha contorted her face as if she would burst into tears at any moment.
But no matter how much Yeonha pleaded, the words she uttered were no different from those claimed by the doppelgangers right in front of her eyes.
“I’m Yeonha!”
“Kyungwoo! I’m here!”
“…”
There was no way to prove herself.
No, there was one way.
Yeonha activated the device.
“Device on.”
“…”
It’s simple. Just kill them all.
She just had to kill every single one in front of her until she was the only one left.
That would prove it.
No one would misunderstand then.
“Device on.”
It seemed like they had the same idea.
They also took out sledgehammers.
Yeonha and the others engaged in battle.
Crack!
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
Thud!
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
Thump!
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
Yeonha killed Yeonha.
:
***
“….”
Yeonhaneul opened her eyes.
Once again, she was in a dream.
“It seems endless like this.”
Now she didn’t even bother to look around.
With a desolate tone, Yeonhaneul decided to shatter the dream world itself.
It was something she could resolve by using her own mana and gift.
She activated her gift.
＜GIFT: SPLIT＞
It’s fine. No need to worry.
After all, it’s just a dream.
Even if she activated her gift, it was only happening within the dream.
It wouldn’t reflect in reality.
Even if it did.
“I-I can just kill them.”
Yeonhaneul split.
The exponentially increasing versions of her destroyed the dream world.
They all chanted the same words.
“I am real. I am real. I am real. I am real. I am real. I am real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real. Real.
However, just relying on intuition to kill him outright wasn’t feasible.
Therefore, I deliberately left an opening, waiting for my reflexes to kick in.
And my intuition was right.
Feeling the reflexes kick in, I could thrust the sword into him without hesitation.
“Now you show your true form. It was quite a journey finding you.”
“You…”
The monster I perceived could no longer maintain the appearance of a young man.
The one who had been casting spells on the street had transformed into an old man in the blink of an eye.
The old man from the portrait.
“Now that I have you completely in my grasp, you won’t be able to change the dream midway, nor can you transform back to the sky.”
“…”
“With a frail body lacking muscles, you won’t stand a chance against me, what will you do?”
I gripped the military sword and tensed.
At that moment, the old man who was staring at me suddenly chuckled and retaliated.
“What’s the big deal about this body? If you lack muscles, can’t you just create them?”
“…”
It was right after he said that.
I doubted my eyes.
“As someone who knows how to fuel dreams.”
Thud!
“You don’t think I can’t even create a single muscle, do you?”
Boom!
“As long as it exists within the dream.”
Swoosh!
“My desires come true as I wish! I can become anything!”
“…”
Starting from the facial muscles, the old man’s muscles, which had been writhing, suddenly swelled rapidly.
Expanding massively as if there were no limits, like a balloon, no, like the vitamin C in a hotel room.
As a result, the clothes he was wearing tore apart.
In just a brief moment, the frail-looking old man transformed into a muscular giant.
Shooosh!
“Even like this, do you think I look weak? Look at these muscles!”
“…Are you going to kill me?”
The old man was so gigantic that even when he raised his head to look up, his face was out of sight.
The sound emanating from his body as he spoke was not drowned out by the rain.
In front of the old man, I was as insignificant as an ant crushed underfoot.
I was purely in awe.
But there was no fear.
Not even a hint.
“I have to kill since it’s a kill. With such a big target, hitting it should be easy.”
I raised the military blue sword above my head.
At that moment, an old man lifted his foot as if to trample me.
“Die crushed underfoot just like this!”
“This is my dream. So.”
What the old man wished for was not something only allowed for him.
It is also allowed for me.
What I wish for comes true.
More clearly than an old man who is nothing but an unwelcome guest in my dream.
“Don’t you know you’re a monster?”
Recalling the setting of the game.
I imagined as vividly as possible.
“Outside the Academy City airspace, you know.”
There is an ultimate weapon capable of easily overthrowing the Academy City.
A crystallization of the science and magic of this era, created along with the magic engineering of the Grace Empire.
“There is an artificial satellite that can easily kill someone like you.”
The director of Geumgang Academy, a member of the Contribution Society that has a significant influence on the Academy City at the same time, Star Witch, So Hye-ryul’s staff.
Starlight Road.
Imagining it floating somewhere in space, I lowered my sword.
Right after that.
─────!!!!
A hole suddenly opened in the sky pouring rain.
From within it, a beam of light that annihilated the surrounding area fell.
The giant pillar of light engulfed the old man completely.
“…You’re dead.”
The old man vanished, consumed by the light without even a scream.
The world was dyed pure white.