Level -99 Archmage - Chapter 67

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 67. Change
In the past, during the Second Night, the trial of Pursuer and Fugitive had unfolded.
People competed, each bearing their own qualifications.
They hunted and were hunted with desperate ferocity.
Yesterday’s ally became today’s enemy.
Given nothing but ‘qualifications,’ they killed one another without hesitation.
Park Chan-woo had pushed his strength to its absolute limit in preparation for the Second Night.
He had no intention whatsoever of wading into the chaos and taking some middling position.
He meant to display overwhelming force, so devastating that none would dare so much as touch him.
‘Everyone is an enemy.’
At least during the Second Night, they were.
Pursuers killed other Pursuers as often as not, and the reverse was equally true.
Pursuers stole Marks from rival Pursuers to swell their roster of Prisoners, while Fugitives turned traitor, joining forces with Pursuers to betray and condemn their fellow Fugitives.
A living hell.
The Second Night that Park Chan-woo remembered was, quite simply, pandemonium.
But now, in the present, the trial had changed.
The name was the same, yet the content was utterly inverted.
‘Most of them became Pursuers.’
The number of Pursuers had swelled dramatically.
In the past, Pursuers had numbered less than ten percent.
It had been far too easy for Pursuers to claim advantageous ground.
Yet now, the vast majority of participants had become ‘Pursuers.’
Those who remained Fugitives—himself among them—were vanishingly few.
In other words.
‘……The past has changed.’
The past that Park Chan-woo remembered had been warped.
Because of his actions, the future had undergone a transformation.
Why?
Why would Aheta, the Lord of the Moon, introduce such an extreme shift in something as trivial as the Second Night?
‘The First Night failed first, after all.’
The First Night, which should have announced his existence, had ended in failure.
All twelve of the Twelve Divine Generals had been hunted down.
And so the name of the ‘Night’ that should have lodged itself in everyone’s minds as terror had become a laughingstock instead.
Of course, at the heart of that failure stood none other than Park Chan-woo himself.
‘I stole Han Shin’s preparations, and I rendered worthless the rewards that Han Shin was supposed to receive from the Tower of Arrogance.’
The preparations that the Lord of the Moon Aheta had laid out for Han Shin.
He had seized the Myriad Blood Immortal Pill.
And that was not all.
In the past, it was Han Shin who had collected the most boxes from the Tower of Arrogance.
Han Shin had gathered fifty boxes and obtained the Prajna Gloves.
But Park Chan-woo had bankrupted the Tower of Arrogance, rendering all those boxes useless.
The Prajna Gloves had gone with them.
‘Aheta, who has never known failure, is failing now, one after another.’
He could say with certainty that Aheta must have lent assistance while Han Shin climbed the tower.
She must have secretly supported him, ensuring his ascent would be swift and effortless.
Yet she had failed.
She continued to fail.
From Aheta’s perspective, it would be maddening.
The Lord of the Moon—a being so mighty that ordinary Creators themselves would not dare challenge her!
Such a monster was now tasting bitter defeat, unable to overcome a mere human.
Unable to properly aid even her own Avatar.
‘Did Aheta target me specifically?’
It was possible.
The possibility that the Lord of the Moon Aheta had identified Park Chan-woo.
It was conceivable that she had sworn, during the Second Night, to kill him without fail.
Although his presence was obscured in the Abyss by Non-existence, he had not escaped exposure entirely until now.
‘If I was exposed, where did it happen?’
He turned the question over in his mind.
For instance…… the first day after returning.
When he had killed the Fallen Demon while fleeing from that trial.
‘There were Creators who watched me with interest.’
At that moment, the Creators surely turned their attention to Park Chan-woo.
That an Awakener who had just entered the Abyss would slay a Level 10 Fallen Demon—they could never have imagined it.
Thanks to that, a considerable number of Creators extended the Apostle Proposal to him.
‘Did Non-existence fail to activate for just a moment, exposing me?’
At the very least, his Non-existence had not been active when he killed the Fallen Demon.
Whether it was because he’d only recently regressed, or because the Apostle Proposal had been activated, or some other reason—he couldn’t say for certain.
Of course, after that, Park Chan-woo resolved to refuse all Apostle Proposals, and from that point onward, no other Creator took notice of him or extended an offer to become an Apostle.
‘Not a single Creator who killed that Fallen Demon sent me another message afterward. If they’d been watching my movements, they would have reacted without fail.’
It meant that after the First Trial ended, Non-existence had functioned properly.
Looking at the absence of further proposals or messages from those Creators at the time, it was clear they themselves didn’t know his true identity.
Had they known, they would surely have tried to recruit him.
Park Chan-woo’s exploits and achievements were incomparable to those of ordinary people.
So was that everything?
‘……No.’
There was one more.
‘A Demon Lord—Gremory of Sorrow. She exists as well.’
In the Abyss where Kim Byeong-han had been sniped.
Park Chan-woo had made a deal with Gremory of Sorrow.
The sole sovereign among the Seventy-Two Demon Lords to be called a ‘Queen,’ her influence within the Abyss is absolute.
She alone is the entity that accurately grasped his true nature.
Surely Gremory wouldn’t have revealed it.
【O human who knows honor. In no distant day, shall my aid reach unto thee……】
Park Chan-woo shook his head inwardly.
The Demon Lord Gremory owed him a debt.
When he gave her Andriel’s Ring as she desired, Gremory had vanished after saying she would help him someday.
There was no way a creature who had become a Demon Lord would unnecessarily reveal his identity to mere ordinary Creators, or even to the Moon Lord Aheta.
Much less, having said she would help him……
‘…It wasn’t Demon Lord Gremory.’
If it was neither the early Creators nor Gremory, he couldn’t fathom it at all.
Whether Aheta truly had discerned him or it was merely coincidence.
Then it happened.
《Ally, a message has arrived from ‘Adora, the Creator of Death.’》
《With ‘Ally’ category Creators, you may freely exchange messages without any penalties.》
《Will you check the message?》
Adora, the Creator of Death!
Adora, who had acquired the qualification of ‘Creator’ through the black witch’s pinky finger, had sent a message.
Park Chan-woo smiled inwardly.
‘She’s managed to enter the Central Abyss.’
The heart of the Abyss.
She seemed to have safely entered that place where countless demons and lords dwelled.
Having originally dwelt in the Abyss Depth with the witches, adapting herself to the Central Abyss wouldn’t have been difficult for her.
Park Chan-woo nodded slowly.
《Checking the message content.》
《’Be cautious. Many Creators participated in the Second Night. Using vast quantities of Coins, they are summoning strange things into the Second Night.’》
《’They are not normal. Harbingers of calamity, beings overflowing with malice and resentment, ominous beyond measure.’》
《’Doppelgängers.’》
《’The Moon Lord has designated them as Fugitives.’》
“…….”
His mind went blank for a moment.
The content of Adora’s message was so far removed from his expectations.
‘Doppelgängers?’
What were Doppelgängers.
Monsters that replicate their targets.
They were among the rarest species, scarcely found even in the Abyss.
If Doppelgängers merely replicated their targets, it would be fortunate—but there was a far more fatal problem.
‘The replicated Doppelgänger must be killed within one hour.’
The time limit was one hour.
Fail to kill it within that window, and instead the person who was replicated dies.
The Doppelgänger completely steals the abilities of its dead target, impersonates the dead target, and continues to replicate others.
I could see why the Doppelgänger was a “Fugitive”.
But…
‘If all Fugitives are Doppelgängers, then why am I one?’
Park Chan-woo’s brow furrowed.
He was human, not a Doppelgänger.
So why had he become a “Fugitive”?
Park Chan-woo studied the “Fugitive’s Rules” once more.
《By resolving quests and other hidden challenges throughout the “Night Abyss,” you can receive additional rewards or significant assistance related to the Fugitive’s abilities.》
《The longer a “Fugitive” survives, the stronger they become.》
《The longer a “Fugitive” survives without becoming a Prisoner, the more additional Contribution you receive.》
《Furthermore, a “Fugitive” can recover the Mark they’ve taken from a “Pursuer” without it being destroyed. When this happens, all “Prisoners” being held are released and set free.》
《At the moment the time limit ends, your Contribution is calculated by summing the score of the number of “Prisoners” you’ve rescued, your survival time, quests completed, and more.》
《The higher your Contribution, the better your “Final Reward”.》
《Tip: One hour after the night begins, all “Pursuers” can use the Map to identify the location of nearby “Fugitives”.》
* * *
The moment they moved to the location marked by the “red dot” on the map, everyone could identify the Fugitive.
Something like a grayish-black slime.
The Doppelgänger shifted instantly into their form as the people drew near.
“What?”
“It turned into a person?”
“That’s me, isn’t it?”
Everything—face, height, build—was identical.
Placed side by side, there’d be no way to tell them apart.
Only the ‘X’ Mark on its chest made it possible to distinguish it as the Fugitive.
“Uh—”
“It’s running!”
The Doppelgängers that had successfully replicated immediately fled the spot.
The replicated people’s faces filled with shock.
《You have been “Replicated” by the “Fugitive Doppelgänger”.》
《Destroy the Mark of the Doppelgänger that “Replicated” you within one hour.》
《If you remain in this state for one hour, you will die.》
Kill or die?
It was enough to drive a person mad.
“No, this can’t—!”
“Catch it!”
The replicated people’s desperation intensified.
But the biggest problem was that their pursuer was still human.
“Got you!”
A first-stage Doppelgänger was weaker than its replicated counterpart.
It could be subdued and captured by force.
‘This is easier than I thought.’
So the Doppelgänger lost its Mark and became the Prisoner of the Pursuer Shin Jin-cheol.
“P-please, destroy the Mark! If you don’t, I’ll die!”
“Why should I do that?”
The problem belonged to the man who’d been replicated by the Doppelgänger.
He had to destroy the Doppelgänger’s Mark within an hour to survive.
A softhearted person might have destroyed it for him…
But the participants gathered in this “Second Night” were all veterans who’d rolled around in the Abyss one way or another.
They thought Earth and the Abyss were completely separate worlds.
Of course, the rules that should apply and the very mindset were different.
Shin Jin-cheol was no exception.
“You son of a bitch…!”
The man at the cliff’s edge lunged at Shin Jin-cheol.
Shin Jin-cheol let out a bitter laugh.
“Idiot. It’s already two on one.”
The Doppelgänger that had replicated the man was already Shin Jin-cheol’s Prisoner.
As the man attacked Shin Jin-cheol, the Prisoner automatically responded and counterattacked.
Using the same skills and weapons as well.
Even an ordinary two-on-one would be difficult, but now a Doppelgänger was fighting back with his own techniques.
The outcome was already decided.
“Aaaagh!”
Shin Jin-cheol and the Doppelgänger struck at the man’s throat.
In that instant.
Whiiiiish!
The corpse crumbled to dust.
All of it was absorbed into the Doppelgänger.
《The Doppelgänger now possesses all the abilities of its replicated target.》
《From this point forward, you can replicate other targets to strengthen your Prisoner.》
“Huh!”
Shin Jin-cheol whistled.
There was no bonanza like this.
A Doppelgänger Prisoner that grew stronger without end!
If he cultivated this one well, he could turn it into a warrior worth a hundred men.
It might even be possible to steal Marks from other Doppelgängers and build an army.
Beep! Beep!
In a flash.
An alarm sounded, and on the Map that appeared in the corner of his vision,
‘…a red dot was drawing closer?’
The red dot was approaching.
A Fugitive.
A Doppelgänger.
“What? Where is it?”
Yet even as it drew near, the Fugitive was nowhere to be seen.
Soon the red dot converged with Shin Jin-cheol’s position.
“Wait, there’s nothing here……?”
Shin Jin-cheol froze.
The red dot and his location were identical.
But there was nothing.
Not a single Doppelgänger, not even an ant in sight.
Was the Map malfunctioning?
Or had something become invisible?
Squelch!
Shin Jin-cheol looked down at his chest.
Something sharp had pierced through his heart.
“Wh……?”
Shin Jin-cheol’s body began to collapse.
His consciousness blurred.
《You have been attacked by Fugitive ???!》
《You have died at the hands of Fugitive ???.》
《Your Mark has been taken.》
《Your Prisoner is now free.》
With Shin Jin-cheol’s death, the Doppelgänger was truly liberated.
The Doppelgänger instinctively turned its gaze toward the Fugitive that had slain Shin Jin-cheol.
‘Strong.’
Though they were both Fugitives, this one was far mightier.
It had killed Shin Jin-cheol with such speed and precision that he never even sensed it.
“Are you… a Doppelgänger?”
But the sense of kinship was faint.
There was doubt as to whether this was truly another Doppelgänger.
‘Replicate it.’
If it was not a Doppelgänger, then replication would be possible.
If replication succeeded, it could grow stronger still.
It might even be possible to kill that thing and fully possess its strength.
‘Replicate, and grow stronger.’
The Doppelgänger had but one purpose.
To replicate every human in this place and become the strongest!
And so the Doppelgänger began to replicate Park Chan-woo.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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