abcnovels
Chapter 178 (Part 1)
Chapter 178 (Part 1)
Chapter 178: Doppelgänger (Part 1)
In the Forest of the Labyrinth, there resides a boss called the Doppelgänger.
Its attack power is not that strong, but it’s a troublesome opponent.
‘Of course, only for those who are encountering it for the first time.’
However, Ryu Min had faced and killed the Doppelgänger countless times.
It was so weak that he didn’t even need to remember how many times he had killed it.
‘With the combo of Crimson Moon and Moonlight Slash, it’s an easy target.’
But Ryu Min had no intention of killing the Doppelgänger himself.
“You should be the one to kill the Doppelgänger.”
“M-me?”
He instructed Ju Seong-tak, who was following behind him, on the strategy to defeat the Doppelgänger.
It was a simple strategy, so Ju Seong-tak could easily nod in agreement.
“Got it? Just do as I said, and you’ll capture it without any problems.”
“Yes. Don’t worry. I won’t disappoint you, master.”
“I hope so.”
At that moment, a monster appeared before Ryu Min for the first time.
Wriggle, wriggle—
It was a venomous slime, commonly found in the Forest of the Labyrinth.
This was also a sign that they were getting closer to the Doppelgänger’s habitat.
“I’ll handle this one since I’m giving up the boss.”
To gain even a little bit of points, Ryu Min stepped forward with his scythe.
Slash—!
He cut it in half before it could spread its venom.
Wriggle, wriggle—
Instead, the slime doubled in number.
‘As expected, physical attacks don’t work.’
The more you cut slimes, the more they multiply.
Annoying as it was, he had no choice but to use magic.
Crackle, crackle—
Holding a scythe in one hand, he generated an electric current with the other.
“Shoot.”
Crackle, crackle, sizzle—!
The slime that was directly hit by the electric current burned away without a trace.
Slimes were immune to physical attacks but took critical damage from magic attacks.
However, no message appeared for killing just one.
[You have killed a Venomous Slime!]
[EXP +0.09%]
[Gold +300]
[Points +30]
It was only after killing both that he received any reward.
‘Even when they multiply, the experience doesn’t.’
If it were possible, he would have stayed in one spot, splitting slimes to milk the rewards endlessly.
“Let’s go. We should be there soon.”
“Yes, master.”
While killing slimes, Ryu Min occasionally used his Clairvoyance to monitor the pursuing group.
The first group he checked on was the Chinese.
‘They’re all flustered since tracking and detecting skills don’t work here.’
Once inside the labyrinth, all connections to the outside world are cut off.
If you take the wrong path all signals will be lost.
‘Looks like they lost the Korean guide and now they’re stuck.’
If you’re not within 5 meters of each other, you can quickly become separated.
Since all paths are connected like a cube, you might meet again, but it could take a long time.
‘I need to remember their location. I might need the Chinese’s help to catch the Doppelgänger.’
Smirking, Ryu Min shifted his perspective.
It wasn’t just the Chinese who were lost and confused.
Ma Kyung-rok’s group was in the same situation.
An Sang-cheol looked panicked after entering to track Black Scythe, only to lose the signal.
‘You shouldn’t follow blindly into unknown places.’
Despite chiding them, Ryu Min smiled, satisfied that everything was going according to plan.
‘But I wonder if Christine is okay.’
He checked and saw that she was still at the initial location, waiting for the others.
As a result, her group of two had grown to ten.
‘She seems to think more people mean more safety… but it’s useless. The Church of Despair will gather that many forces too.’
From the perspective of necromancer John Delgado, it was clear.
He had decided to kill Christine.
‘While Christine waits for her followers, he gathers his cultists to ambush them.’
That would be Ryu Min’s cue to step in.
Intervening in a non-threatening situation wouldn’t provide a good pretext and would make him look crazy.
‘But first, we need to deal with the Doppelgänger and get out of here.’
The appearance of slimes had decreased, indicating they were almost there.
That’s when—
“Is anyone there? Please help!”
A thin, high-pitched voice called from beyond the forest.
Following the sound, they found a woman leaning against a tree, gasping for breath.
“Huff, huff… someone, please… ah!”
Seeing Ryu Min and Ju Seong-tak, the woman brightened.
“T-Thanks God! I’m S-saved! I’m not the only one here!”
The woman, dressed like a player, tried to stand up in relief but fell back with a groan.
“Ugh… excuse me, can you help me? I can’t get up. I hurt my ankle…”
“What happened?”
“I was attacked by a slime. My foot hurts so much I can’t move.”
Her swollen, blue ankle looked like it had been poisoned.
“Hm. Looks like you can’t move.”
“It hurts so much, sob.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Sensing Ryu Min’s indifferent response, the woman became desperate.
“Please, help me get out of here. I’ll do anything. Please.”
“Anything?”
“Yes! Anything. I-I’m embarrassed to say, but if you have desires… I can satisfy them…”
“No need for that. Can you give me all your items?”
“Items? Of course!”
The woman opened her inventory and pulled out some items.
There were a few unique materials and a high-grade magic stone.
“I’ll give you these for now. I’ll give you the rest once I’m saved. How about that?”
“Fine.”
Though he agreed, Ryu Min didn’t even look at the items.
He simply approached her with his scythe.
“What are you…?”
And before she could react, he beheaded her.
Thud—!
Her head, with a shocked expression, rolled on the ground.