179 Doppelganger (4)
crack.
Instant dungeons that exist on each level, such as Blood Citadel and Glacier Cave.
There are two main characteristics of cracks.
Essence drop rate increasing exponentially.
And that a special monster called a Guardian gives special rewards that cannot be obtained in normal fields.
“Abman, where is the rift?”
To my question, Mister Bear closed his eyes for a moment and opened them as if he was concentrating on his senses.
“there. It doesn’t seem too far away.”
Yeah, that’s right.
I smiled bitterly.
The probability of successful entry is increased.
Aren’t we already up to stage 27 thanks to the five steps of wisdom on the first day?
[23:45]
The time is not over yet in the 7th day.
It is safe to say that there are few competitors.
The cracks on the 4th floor can only be created at level 25 or higher.
But it just happened nearby?
“Mr. Yandel, of course you are looking for it, right?”
“Of course.”
Cracks are the flowers of the labyrinth.
An opportunity not to be missed if you are an explorer.
Waking up, we quickly cleared the camp with unanimous consent.
And he stood in front of the door in the direction that Abman was pointing.
Whoo-!
After waiting for a few minutes, the light came on the pattern engraved on the stone door. This means that the 4 hour waiting time is over, and you are now ready to open the door.
“Ugh, I hate this… … .”
“I hope it’s not just hallucinations.”
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Misha and Uncle Bear, who have experienced the ordeal, spit out a song in unison. On the other hand, Raven and Ainar responded that it was difficult to understand.
“I would rather be a hallucinogen. I’ve heard that it doesn’t have much effect on people with strong mental powers.”
“Ha ha ha! Then I won’t have any problems!!”
Come to think of it, this will be the first time for these two.
I got a little curious too.
A wizard armed with reason and rationality and a fearless barbarian warrior.
How will these two react?
If you know that, you might be able to tell if my case is unusual or not.
“I chose the Stairs of Patience.”
A 100-meter-long hallway that was just a long one.
As soon as you step into it, your companion disappears and a new background appears.
The pediatric ward where I spent most of my childhood.
The sky beyond the window was bright, and the face of the child lying on the bed was also bright.
‘It’s a hallucinatory world.’
When you take a step in the direction of the child, the surroundings change.
Beyond the window, the sun was starting to set.
A young college student is sitting in front of the bed with a chair.
At one time, I was someone I trusted and followed more than my parents.
‘Ha, is this the beginning again?’
I smiled and took another step.
Then a conversation between the child and the university student began.
The child we were playing with asked if we could play a little more, and the college student refused.
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Maybe it ended there.
However, the child was young.
As he continued to force himself, the college student’s expression hardened in the end. Then, as if something exploded, he jumped up and poured out abusive language.
Those words hurt more than any hospital treatment back then.
Tub.
I took one more step forward, barely leaking through one ear.
I am an adult now.
It doesn’t hurt to hear the same thing.
That day, he didn’t even point an arrow at me saying that something bad must have happened to him.
It was something that could happen in life.
It could be anyone’s fault, but it could not be anyone’s fault.
That’s all.
Tub.
In the car just before the accident.
A burning apartment building.
Alone amusement park.
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My dorm room that was created after becoming an office worker.
Tub.
With each step, the surroundings change, and the person who appears changes accordingly.
Tub.
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Mom, dad, uncle, and ex-girlfriend.
In each place a new person threw me and the words that left a deep scar on me.
But, so what?
‘It’s still easy.’
These are scenes that you can vividly picture in your mind without having to show them as hallucinations.
Now that I’m here, it’s not surprising.
Because it is tolerant of pain.
‘What is this?’
After walking for such a long time, characters that had never appeared before appeared.
[ah! Bjorn, I’m here!]
[Haha, why are you so late!]
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Misha and Dwalkie are smiling happily with their arms crossed. Whenever he greets you, his expression becomes bizarrely distorted as he gets one step closer.
[Without you, everyone could have been happy.]
[Is it okay if you survive instead of me?]
This is a pattern you see a lot in cartoons and movies.
Hey, is there anything newer?
‘Yeah, it’s not my fault. Ask God.’
I did not turn away from their gaze and continued walking silently.
[Bjorn, son of the great warrior Yandel!]
[Give back my friend’s body!!]
In addition to Einar who appeared after that, the connections I made as Bjorn Yandel appeared one after another and said strange things to me.
They were all things I couldn’t remember.
However, it was not unfamiliar.
It’s a thought I’ve done once in a while.
‘Yeah, but not through.’
I went on without stopping.
He didn’t cover his ears or close his eyes.
“The ordeal has been completed.”
Soon the hallucination was over.
I was in front of the door, and suddenly I reached the end of the hallway and the stairs were in front of me.
It’s the same thing with other colleagues.
“Rain, Bjorn… … !”
“If you cry again, you really throw it away.”
“Hey.”
I turned my gaze away from the crying Misha and checked the rest.
Uncle Bear had a dull expression on his face.
He made a look of displeasure, but that’s all.
Ainard was surprisingly well.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah oh… … It was just an eerie experience.”
Well, if you think about it, all barbarians are mentally strong.
Because the barbarians were the first to learn how to fight and win rather than how to run away.
So what about wizards?
“… … .”
The last Raven to check was staring into the air with a blank expression. Even from afar, I could feel my body trembling like an aspen tree.
What did he see?
I was curious, but I didn’t have to ask.
I don’t think I’m going to give you an answer anyway.
“It’s all over now.”
“ah… … Yes. Yes… … .”
Raven came to her senses as she approached and tapped her on the shoulder.
Cold sweat on his forehead.
“I’ll go upstairs and rest for a while, so please be strong.”
“yes… … .”
I pushed my colleagues well and climbed the stairs.
And rested for about 10 minutes.
In fact, even in the game, for this reason, the stairs of patience were not chosen well.
Because stamina will be greatly reduced.
I don’t know if that might have been the reason.
“Abman, where should we go from here?”
“It’s over there.”
After the break, the exploration resumed.
For now, it is decided that cracking is the top priority.
The next thing I chose was the stairway of wisdom, and I cleared the maze in 2 hours.
Then the next stage.
“It’s a portal!!”
A crack was open in the empty stone chamber.
For reference, the color of the vibrating portal is green.
‘It’s a doppelganger forest… … .’
It was the name of the third rift I would explore after Blood Citadel and Glacier Cave.
***
“The character has entered the 4th floor rift.”
***
There are two types of 4-layer cracks.
Golden ruins and doppelganger forests pouring money.
‘… … It’s not a golden relic.’
Effortlessly erased the disappointment, he called the wizard.
“Raven.”
“Reyate.”
As soon as the light sphere floated in the air, a new environment surrounding us caught our eye.
We were locked in a huge iron cage.
The outside seen through the grate is covered in the darkness of the labyrinth and cannot be seen.
“Bjorn! How did this happen!!”
Well, do I have to explain?
After thinking about it, Raven opened her mouth.
“do not be surprised. When the time comes, it will open on its own.”
“yes? What do you mean! Tell me more!”
“It’s because we haven’t filled up all the seats yet. Up to three teams can come here.”
It is different from the first floor crack.
Up to 15 people can enter the doppelganger forest through a total of three portals. If the former was an individual and individual collaboration, this is a team-team collaboration.
“Is there anything written about this place in the book?”
“yes. I’m lucky. I don’t know much about the Golden Ruins.”
Well, if you’ve seen the Rift Clash Records, you can tell Hidden Peace to look at him and take care of it.
No, just leave everything up to the attack?
The worries were brief.
“Good. Then this time you give the instructions. I will follow you all.”
“Are you saying you want to be a leader?”
“There is a saying about obeying the wizard in a place like this.”
“Huh, good. Please leave it to me this time.”
After a little float, Raven widened her shoulders and declared that she would take care of all the troublesome tasks.
I mean, he’s really easy to deal with.
‘If there’s a problem later, let’s do it then.’
With the new team, you need to be careful, as Rottmiller advises to hide your uniqueness as much as possible.
If you install it like before, Raven and Mister Bear will definitely detect something strange.
“Then I will tell you what to pay attention to. Most of the monsters you’ll meet here are probably doppelgangers… … .”
After that, Raven’s briefing continued.
Except for Ainar, everyone listened intently.
It’s all I know, but I listened thinking that there might be some corrections or things I didn’t know.
How long has it been?
“… … I think that would be enough.”
“yes? I haven’t been able to tell you about the herbs here yet… … .”
“Isn’t it okay to do it while it’s going on? First of all, take a break.”
I stopped in the middle of Raven’s endlessly lengthy explanation and took a break.
He went through the ordeal of patience, and the cracks opened, so he couldn’t sleep properly.
You need to stock up on stamina for this game.
Rumble-!
Ainar started snoring as if waiting, and Misha and Uncle Bear sat with their backs against the iron bars.
And Raven… … .
“Something strange. Getting a mirror on the first expedition, cracking the second expedition… … .”
For some reason, he came next to me and was chattering.
After entering the rift, the excitement seems to have disappeared.
“Seeing something like this makes me very lucky. You went to the Blood Citadel last time, didn’t you?”
uh, is that so?
“Yes, you are right.”
“… … You’re kidding me now.”
“No way.”
“You lower the corners of your mouth and say something like that?”
Needless to say, it’s fast paced.
“Okay, I’m going to rest, so you should rest.”
At this point, I ended the conversation and closed my eyes.
Time flew by, and it was the morning of the 8th day.
[07:11]
In other words, about five hours after entering the rift.
Cheolkong-!
The tightly closed window went up.
This means that the entry quota is full.
“Come on, let’s go.”
The full-scale exploration began when I first got out of the iron cage.
“Reyate.”
Raven increased his light sphere magic to three to secure his sight. Then the shape of the cave hidden in the darkness was revealed.
Ainar tilted his head at this.
“uh? Didn’t I say forest?”
“I think I explained it earlier.”
“Oh sorry. I didn’t hear it at all.”
An overly honest answer.
Raven didn’t even get angry.
“… … The forest comes out after this cave is over. So, it’s after all the teams that entered have joined in one place.”
“Right!”
“… … .”
Raven just clenched her fists and trembled.
Somehow, I can empathize with him, but… … .
Right now, I am in Normal Barbarian Mode, where I just have to follow orders.
Yes, sometimes I have to have days like this.
“What kind of life did Mr. Yandel lead?”
“… … Let’s go.”
“Oh, right. Come on. There is no time.”
In line with Raven’s instructions, he moved along the road at a slightly faster speed.
The reason for the rush is simple.
The first chapter in the Doppelganger Forest is the Shadow Cave.
It is a format where you start from different locations and meet other teams in the center.
“We need to get to the center as quickly as possible. That way, you can get rewards from other routes as well. If you are late, it will be the other way around.”
Ultimately, structurally, the final boss will be captured together, but until then, it’s nothing more than a competition.
Who is going out with more?
It depends on what we do.
“What lies ahead!”
As they were running down the straight passage, Uncle Bear felt popular and stopped the party.
After waiting for a while, a man appeared from the darkness.
Tub.
Randomly grown brown hair.
frizzy beard.
A breastplate made of lithium that spanned a muscular body over 2m.
And even a giant shield and a mace.
“It’s Bjorn!!!”
Ainar stared at me, who had grown in two, in turn, and was confused.
Raven couldn’t stand it and shouted.
“I said doppelganger!!!”
“Hey, doppelganger?!”
“Oh really! Now that it’s done, get ready for battle!!”
I think it’s the first time he’s yelled like this.
After all, is there no one who can defeat a barbarian with words?
It was a moment of laughter as I thought about it.
“Behel—la ah ah ah ah!!!”
The doppelganger dared to cry out the name of his ancestor.
At the same time, the body inflates like a balloon.
I needed to be a little nervous.
「The doppelganger has cast [Giantize].」
「The doppelganger has cast [Feral Eruption].」
I’m pretty old