Chapter 648: No.104 Black Death Part 2

Go Hyeon-woo, Han So-mi, and Hong Yeon-hwa stared back and forth between Seo Ye-in and Hologram Seo Ye-in with wide-eyed curiosity.

“They really are identical.”

“Two of them! There are two of them!”

“Wow…”

Dang Gyu-ri and I had spent all of winter break with them, so we’d long since gotten used to it.

But for those three, this was their first time seeing it in person. Until now, they’d only heard us talk about it.

So I turned to Hologram Seo Ye-in.

“Would you mind introducing yourself?”

– Alright.

Chattering Sloth nodded readily.

Then she struck a pose in front of the three of them.

– I’m actually the original.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“!?”

– I was sealed away, and now I’ve finally been released.

At that, everyone’s eyes shifted to Seo Ye-in.

As if demanding an explanation.

But she looked just as bewildered as everyone else, tilting her head over and over.

“…? That’s not true.”

– Actually, she’s the clone.

“…? That’s not true.”

It seemed Chattering Sloth had been waiting for a chance to come out and was making up nonsense just to have a little fun.

Which only made it more entertaining.

I held a fist up to my mouth like it was a microphone.

“So you’re suddenly claiming to be the original. What’s your evidence?”

– I talk more.

“That alone feels a little lacking.”

– The clone doesn’t have enough energy. She can’t talk much.

“So because you’re the original, you’ve got plenty of energy and can talk all you want. Is that what you’re saying?”

– That’s right.

“Very good. Thank you for your statement.”

I nodded slowly, then turned to Seo Ye-in and held the fist microphone up to her.

“Now then, let’s hear the rebuttal.”

“Slander.”

“So you’re saying all of this is nothing but slander?”

“It’s unfair.”

“I understand how you feel, but this isn’t something you can win by appealing to emotion. Your evidence is weak. We need evidence.”

Seo Ye-in reached out with both hands, cupped my face, and made me look straight at her.

Then, her gray eyes sparkled as she declared,

“Truthful eyes.”

“You can tell just by looking into your eyes?”

“The bond with my butler.”

Sure enough, there was an unmistakable sense of trust in her gaze.

I fell silent for a moment before slowly nodding.

Then I put on a completely serious expression.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“…..???”

“I said give me evidence. Why do you keep dodging the question? Are you the clone?”

“…I’m hurt.”

Seo Ye-in looked on the verge of evolving into the Gloomy Sloth again, and Senior Dang Gyu-ri, who had been watching the exchange with great amusement, finally chimed in.

“Quit teasing the poor girl.”

“I couldn’t help myself again.”

But it was too funny not to.

Still holding Seo Ye-in’s hands, I smiled and said,

“Of course you’re the real one. I knew that from the beginning.”

“…I was this close to being upset.”

“We’ve spent too much time together for me to get that wrong. The bond between the young miss and her butler, right?”

“That’s right.”

Seo Ye-in gave a satisfied little nod.

Then I formally introduced Hologram Chattering Sloth to the rest of the party.

“As you can see, she’s not an ordinary clone. She’s fairly independent, and her specs are almost identical to the original’s.”

“Someone nearly as capable as Miss Seo, yet able to act independently… If one had to face both of them at once, it would be quite a difficult battle.”

“Probably. Though for now, she only comes out during quests.”

Maybe someday she’d even be summonable at will.

Meanwhile, Han So-mi was creeping toward Chattering Sloth with all the stealth and excitement of a predator that had just spotted its prey.

She was always trying to stick close to Seo Ye-in, and now that a hologram version had appeared, her curiosity had gone into overdrive.

As soon as she got close enough, she lunged forward, trying to hook arms with her—

– Stay back.

Chattering Sloth casually took a step backward and pushed Han So-mi away.

“Huh?”

– Don’t cling to me.

“Why not?”

– You drain my energy. It’s exhausting.

Han So-mi tilted her head in confusion.

Then she pointed at me.

“But you’re always stuck to Kim Ho.”

– Kim Ho’s fine.

“Why?”

– Because he’s Kim Ho.

“So I can’t?”

– You can’t. Don’t cling to me.

Han So-mi looked genuinely shocked by the firm rejection.

In contrast, Seo Ye-in gave a deeply satisfied nod.

“…That was satisfying.”

***

After the somewhat chaotic introduction to Chattering Sloth came to an end,

We left the abandoned house behind and started moving.

After walking for a while, a familiar marketplace came into view.

Despite the crowds, the streets were eerily quiet, and a heavy gloom hung over the entire area.

People had been disappearing around here with alarming frequency.

Naturally, it was all the Black Death Sect’s doing.

Our eyes settled on the large pavilion in the distance.

Hong Yeon-hwa glanced sideways at me.

“That one?”

“Yeah. We’ll burn the whole place down later.”

Just not yet.

We could storm the place whenever we wanted, but destroying the Black Death Sect would fulfill the dungeon’s clear condition, causing the dungeon to reset.

It was better to collect all the side rewards first.

Last year, we waited at the duck stew restaurant.

Eventually, two low-ranking Black Death Sect warriors would show up.

Their purpose was to drag the waiter away as a living sacrifice.

If we beat them, the owner would reward us with a Dharma statue, and we could strip the two grunts of their uniforms and use them as disguises.

The problem is, our party’s gotten bigger.

Back then, the ones who infiltrated were Go Hyeon-woo and Shin Byeong-cheol, just the two of them, which matched the number of low-ranking Black Death Sect warriors.

This time, however, there were three of us: me, Go Hyeon-woo, and Han So-mi.

That meant we needed one more set of robes.

So Go Hyeon-woo changed direction together with Han So-mi.

“We’ll be back.”

“Yeah. If anything happens, regroup with us immediately.”

“Of course.”

They were going to find some other low-ranking Black Death Sect warriors, beat them up, and strip them of their uniforms.

While they were at it, I figured I’d have them pick up the local specialty as well.

After sending the two of them off, we continued walking through the marketplace.

Before long, a small run-down inn came into view.

Its faded sign read:

<Spicy Duck Soup>.

In front of the shop, several Black Death Sect warriors were arguing with a waiter and a middle-aged man who appeared to be the cook.

Looks like we had arrived a little late.

We’d wasted time making the holographic Seo Ye-in introduce himself.

The middle-aged man desperately tried to stop the warriors from dragging the waiter away.

“P-Please… not my son. I beg you…”

Thud!

One of the Black Death Sect warriors drove a powerful kick into him.

Watching the middle-aged man go sprawling, he turned to the waiter.

“Come with us.”

“……”

“If you keep dragging your feet, I’ll cut you down.”

As the warrior threateningly ran a hand over the sword at his waist, the waiter had no choice but to follow if he wanted to protect the middle-aged man.

Even so, every step felt as heavy as iron.

Meanwhile, I walked over to the middle-aged man and casually made him an offer.

“Want me to stop them?”

“I-If you would…”

“If I would?”

“I’ll give you anything. Anything.”

“No changing your mind later.”

I grinned and looked towards the warriors of the Black Death Sect.

They had already turned their attention to me.

Even low-ranking warriors were still martial artists, so our conversation must have reached their ears.

One of them looked at me and delivered a line I’d heard countless times before.

“Planning to play the hero?”

“I saw an injustice and just couldn’t ignore it.”

Not to mention I couldn’t ignore a hidden piece, either.

Dang Gyu-ri stepped up beside me and chimed in.

Gesturing toward the waiter with a glance, she said,

“We’ve got to make a living too. If you take him away, who’s going to serve the duck stew? You?”

Hong Yeon-hwa nodded as if she found the argument perfectly reasonable.

After all, spicy duck stew was a matter of great importance.

Naturally, the Black Death Sect warriors didn’t see it that way.

They let out dry laughs and spoke one after another.

“So we thought you were heroes.”

“Turns out you’re just a pair of lunatics.”

“At least they look sturdy enough. Should we take them too?”

“Might as well.”

Before either of them could even assume a fighting stance,

Thud!

A heavy blow struck one of them in the back of the head.

Dang Gyu-ri had used Shadow Leap to slip behind him and swing her club.

Seeing his companion collapse in an instant, the remaining warrior’s eyes went wide.

“What the—”

Thud!

Of course, he ended up sharing the same fate moments later.

The gap in strength was so overwhelming that the fight had never really begun.

We dumped the two of them in a nearby alley, stripped off their uniforms, and took them with us.

Then we brought the waiter back to the inn.

“My son!”

“Father!”

The waiter and the cook embraced each other, enjoying their long-awaited family reunion.

I gave them a moment before speaking.

“You said you’d give me anything, right?”

“Ah, y-yes! What can I do for you…?”

As the cook watched me with a hint of nervousness, I walked over to a corner of the inn, picked up a small Dharma statue, and returned.

“I’ll be taking this.”

“…Ah, yes. Go right ahead.”

From the innkeeper’s perspective, he had no idea what it was actually for.

He probably thought he was simply giving away a decorative ornament.

He likely even considered it a bargain for the price of saving his son’s life.

But in reality, this is the most valuable thing here.

It could break certain formations.

The one I’d obtained before had proven invaluable in the [Sealing Demon Chests] and [Gathering of Villains].

And it contains martial insight, too.

It had been carved in a single breath by an unnamed master.

Any martial artist who studied the traces left behind by the sword energy would surely gain valuable insight.

Go Hyeon-woo had certainly benefited from it before, and he still was.

Not that I need two of them.

I could always trade it with the swordsmanship club.

Martial artists tended to lose their minds whenever a fortuitous opportunity was involved.

With that, I carefully tucked the Dharma statue away in my inventory.

Then I turned to the cook and the waiter and asked in a casual tone,

“You still serve duck stew, right? And dumplings?”

“Of course.”

“Would it be possible to make one serving non-spicy?”

I was asking for Seo Ye-in’s sake, since she was hopeless with spicy food, but the middle-aged man replied apologetically.

“I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible. The broth itself is spicy from the start…”

“Can’t be helped. Then can you make one extra spicy?”

That question, of course, was for Hong Yeon-hwa, who could handle spicy food better than anyone.

This time, the middle-aged man’s expression stiffened as he offered a warning.

“Sir, it’s already very spicy as it is.”

“I’ve heard the rumors. But this friend of mine isn’t ordinary either.”

“Then how spicy would you like it?”

“Let’s test the limits of human endurance.”

“…Understood.”

The cook and the waiter exchanged a glance with Hong Yeon-hwa before heading into the kitchen, their competitive spirits fully ignited.

We took our seats at a table and waited.

A little later, Go Hyeon-woo and Han So-mi came through the inn’s front door.

Carrying Black Death Sect uniforms along with an armful of local specialties.

“Hyung.”

“We’re back!”

It looked like they’d taken care of everything as instructed and even finished the errand.

Then, in the next moment, Han So-mi looked at me, her eyes lighting up sharply.

“I just realized something!”

“What is it?”

“This!”

She pointed at several of the local specialties.

Pancakes and candied sweets, among other things.

“Aren’t these the ones you gave us before?”

“That’s right.”

Back in our first year, Go Hyeon-woo had still lagged far behind in skill.

So I’d asked Song Cheon-hye for a favor, giving her these local specialties in return for arranging a friendly spar between him and Han So-mi.

“So they were from the Black Death Sect all along!”

“That’s right. Which means you’ve been an accomplice since then.”

I started brainwashing her again with another completely ridiculous line of reasoning, and Han So-mi’s eyes went wide.

“Huh? But I didn’t know.”

“But now you do, don’t you? You’ve already joined the Black Death Sect, haven’t you?”

“So I got tricked?”

“And since you even bought their local specialties, you’re an accomplice now. There’s no getting out of it.”

“Really?”

“If you get caught, you’ll probably get hit with disciplinary action and a mountain of demerits.”

“That’d be bad.”

“So we’ll have to pull off the perfect crime.”

“…Really? Really? I guess you’re right?”

Han So-mi’s eyes spun in confusion.