Chapter 57. Gunda’s World.

The day after Ganesha and Elizabeth, two *ipboji*, swept through Ji-hyuk’s *jaji*.

Ji-hyuk, who was working in his office for the first time in a while, heard that a guest had arrived around noon.

“Who is it?”

“It’s the healer from Gunda Team.”

“…Gunda Team?”

It was hard to guess why the healer from Gunda Team, not Gunda himself, had suddenly come all the way here. Ji-hyuk wondered what was going on and had the guest brought to his office.

Soon, a young woman entered the office. Ji-hyuk had never spoken to this cute human woman alone, but he had met her a few times before.

“Your Excellency, I’m sorry to bother you while you’re busy.”

“No, it’s okay. …Sit there.”

Ji-hyuk pointed to the chair in front of his desk. This healer, called Jay, sat demurely in the chair he indicated. Her behavior and tone were very feminine. Quite different from the tomboyish Mahushu.

“What brings you all the way here?”

Jay tucked her side hair behind her ear and cautiously looked at Ji-hyuk. Her hesitant tone suggested that something was amiss.

“Well… it’s actually about the team leader-nim.”

“The team leader? Gunda? …What about Gunda?”

“Have you met him?”

“No, not yet.”

“Well, actually, it might be nothing…”

Her expression was definitely not “nothing.”

“Tell me. You wouldn’t have come all the way here for nothing.”

Ji-hyuk saw an anxious look in Jay’s complicated face. He felt something unsettling and urged her to speak quickly.

“It’s okay, go ahead.”

The hesitant healer finally opened her mouth.

“The team leader-nim… is a little… strange.”

“…Strange? How so?”

“No, it’s not that he’s strange in any particular way. It’s just… how should I put it…”

Jay couldn’t get her bearings. Ji-hyuk narrowed his eyes slightly and rested his chin on his hands.

“Calm down and tell me slowly.”

The healer took a deep breath. Then, in a calmer voice than before, she continued.

“It’s just… he feels different from usual.”

“…Could it just be that? He’s a person, how can he always be the same?”

“It’s not like that. It’s not just different, it feels a little unsettling. It’s just… it might just be my feeling… but it feels like the team leader-nim isn’t the team leader-nim.”

“Gunda… doesn’t feel like Gunda?”

“…Yes. I’m embarrassed to say this, but it feels strangely eerie.”

Ji-hyuk’s expression changed completely. He stared intently at Jay. She subtly avoided his intense gaze, afraid that she would be scolded for coming with something trivial.

“You guys went on an expedition this time, right?”

“Yes? …Ah, yes.”

“Did you meet anyone?”

“Who are you talking about?”

Ji-hyuk uttered a single word.

“The Demon Church.”

“The Demon Church? Uh… yes, we met them once. We repelled their surprise attack at night. But it was quite a while ago. About… two months?”

“When did you start feeling that Gunda was strange? Give me a rough estimate.”

“I started feeling something was off about a month ago. And recently, that feeling has become stronger.”

Ji-hyuk was quietly thinking about something, then suddenly jumped up from his seat. Ahㅡ. Jay widened her eyes in surprise.

“Let’s go together.”

“Ah, yes.”

The two soon left the mansion together and got into a carriage. She said she had walked all the way here to avoid his suspicion.

“Could it be… is there a problem? Is it related to the Demon Church?”

“It’s hard to say for sure until I see him.”

The Hero kept his words to a minimum for now. …But if his prediction was correct, it was a more troublesome problem than he thought.

The two men and women fell into thought with their mouths tightly shut. The carriage, which had been running for a while, soon arrived in front of Gunda’s mansion. The two got out of the carriage and strode into the mansion.

Ji-hyuk and Jay headed straight for Gunda’s office. The Hero Gunda was in the middle of his work.

“Ji-hyuk-ssi? What brings you here so suddenly…?”

Gunda looked at Ji-hyuk, who had visited without any notice, with surprised eyes. Of course, on the surface, he didn’t feel any different from the usual Gunda.

“I just wanted to see your face, Gunda, after a long time.”

“I should have visited you first… …But, Jay, why are you here?”

“Ah… th-that’s…”

“I called her. She said she had something to discuss.”

“Discuss? What kind of discussion?”

“It’s about love, she says.”

Ahㅡ.

Ji-hyuk glossed over it, but Jay’s face turned red as if it would explode. She felt like her secret feelings for Gunda had been exposed.

“Yes… let’s both sit down for now.”

Fortunately, the other person didn’t seem to have noticed anything strange yet.

Gunda prepared tea and placed it in front of each of them. Ji-hyuk said he would enjoy it and took the teacup and swallowed the contents. Jay kept glancing at the two of them… .

“But a love problem? …Well, Jay is old enough to get married now, isn’t she?”

“Th-that’s…”

“Jay likes you.”

ㅡㅡ!!

Jay was startled by Ji-hyuk’s sudden confession.

“Y-Your Excellencyㅡ!”

Gunda also seemed quite surprised by the unannounced attack. But he soon regained his composure and burst into a hearty laugh.

“Jay is too good of a woman for me. What should I do?”

“No, that’s not it, that…”

Ji-hyuk stared intently at Gunda from beginning to end, never taking his eyes off him. His gaze examined not only his appearance, but also every corner of Gunda’s interior. …Because he, who had become more sensitive than anyone else, now had the ability to capture even the slightest energy.

After examining Gunda for a while, Ji-hyuk came to a conclusion.

This bastard is a fakeㅡ.

Ji-hyuk’s eyes sharpened as he came to that conclusion. The opponent’s identity was a Demon Doppelganger.

How could a weak Doppelganger swallow Gunda? A man as steadfast as Gunda should have been able to easily overcome the Doppelganger’s temptation…

He must have relentlessly exploited Gunda’s weaknesses. And Gunda couldn’t resist the temptation and gave in.

Fortunately, not much time had passed, so he should be able to get Gunda, who was trapped in the Doppelganger again. …Of course, it would be a bit of a struggle.

Ji-hyuk, having made his decision, suddenly jumped up from his seat.

“…Ji-hyuk-ssi?”

Gunda, who had been talking to Jay about this and that, looked at Ji-hyuk, who suddenly stood up with a frighteningly hardened face, and asked in bewilderment. But Ji-hyuk didn’t say a word and grabbed Gunda’s neck and dragged him to the wall and slammed him against it.

ㅡㅡ!!

“Keuk, keaek.”

The fake Gunda struggled violently. Jay, seeing this, screamed in surprise.

“Quickly, call your comradesㅡ! Hurryㅡ!”

At Ji-hyuk’s shout, Jay quickly ran out of the office. The fake Gunda struggled, asking why he was doing this.

“Even if you imitate me perfectly, you can’t fool my eyes, you fucking demon bastard.”

ㅡㅡ!!

“I don’t know how you sweet-talked Gunda… but you’re dead now.”

As he said that, the fake Gunda began to laugh evilly. The laughter had a chilling effect that made the listeners’ hair stand on end.

“Keuheuhe. You can’t save that human anyway. His world is already complete. He will now live forever inside me. …Trying to kill me? Go ahead and kill me. Then that bastard will be trapped there forever too.”

Wahahahahaㅡ.

The fake Gunda began to laugh loudly. Ji-hyuk was so annoyed by the opponent that he slammed his face against the wall. The bastard’s face was instantly covered in blood.

“Keueut, I, I’m your comrade Hero…!”

“So?”

It was an injury that would heal with healing magic anyway. So Ji-hyuk tortured the fucking demon bastard even more.

Aaaaghㅡ!

The fake Gunda struggled. He scratched Ji-hyuk’s arm with his hands and kicked his body with his feet, but his body, as hard as a stone, was not scratched by such childish gestures.

Soon, Gunda’s comrades rushed in, and they were horrified to see Ji-hyuk grabbing the fake bastard’s neck.

“W-What are you doing nowㅡ!”

Even for Ji-hyuk, this was too much. The fake Gunda ordered his comrades to attack Ji-hyuk.

At that moment, Ji-hyuk glared at them and shouted fiercely.

“This bastard is a fake. He’s not your team leader, he’s a Demon called a Doppelganger.”

“It’s slanderㅡ! Save me quickly. What are you doingㅡㅡ!!”

The comrades couldn’t decide what to do. …But since the team leader Gunda’s orders took precedence, they slowly approached to subdue Ji-hyuk.

At that moment, the healer Jay stepped forward to stop them.

“I, I asked him to do it. Your Excellency came here because of me.”

“…What are you talking about?”

As Jay explained the situation, the comrades finally looked at Gunda with suspicion. Naturally, Gunda protested that it wasn’t true.

“That bitch is also a criminal. It’s a trick to get rid of me. She’s in cahoots with this bastardㅡ!”

At that moment, Ji-hyuk drew his Holy Sword.

ㅡㅡ!!

The Doppelganger groaned when he saw it. Even though he was hiding his demonic energy deep inside, he couldn’t completely ignore the energy of the Holy Sword. So it was only natural that he would be in pain.

Ji-hyuk plunged the Holy Sword deep into the bastard’s thigh.

“Aaaaaaaaghㅡㅡ!!”

Once, twice, three times… As the Holy Sword was repeatedly stabbed, the bastard’s appearance flickered and turned into a black shadow. Ahㅡ. Only then did Gunda Team’s comrades confirm with their own eyes that the bastard was a fake.

Ji-hyuk dragged the bastard to the center of the office. The bastard continued to resist, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t escape from Ji-hyuk’s grasp.

– Monster human, you monster bastard…!

The Demon couldn’t handle this brutal human’s strength. Even though Doppelgangers were weak as Demons, their simple brute force easily overwhelmed humans. But how the hell was this bastard so strongㅡ!

Ji-hyuk told them to quickly bring the chains. And he had them wrap the chains around the Doppelganger’s arms and legs to immobilize him. The entire team had to attack one Demon to barely subdue him.

– You moronsㅡ! His world is already completeㅡ! There’s no way outㅡ!

The Doppelganger laughed creepily. Ji-hyuk punched the bastard’s face one more time.

“Shut up, you bastard.”

He looked at the tightly bound Doppelganger and sighed deeply. …He wondered how things had suddenly turned out this way.

…Was it a punishment for coveting other *boji* while having a master *boji*?

Ji-hyuk cracked his neck to the side a couple of times. The healer Jay asked, sobbing, what to do now.

“I’ll bring Gunda back. …Everyone, don’t act rashly and wait.”

– Keuheuhe. Do you really think you can bring that bastard out? Huh?

“…You just prepare to die.”

Ji-hyuk lightly scoffed at the Demon and glanced at Gunda Team’s comrades again. The vice-captain, the guard, bowed his head to Ji-hyuk.

“Your Excellency, I beg you. Please, save our team leader-nim.”

“I know. Don’t worry and wait.”

– You can’t even enter unless I open it…!

At that moment, Ji-hyuk shoved both hands into the Doppelganger’s chest.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!!

The Demon struggled.

– Aaaaaaaaaaaghㅡㅡ!!

Ji-hyuk forcibly opened the door from the bastard’s body to Gunda’s world.

The wide-open space was as eerie as the jaws of hell. Ji-hyuk looked down at it for a moment and let out a long sigh.

Honey, Si-woo-ya, wait. Daddy will be right back.

Ji-hyuk threw himself into that space.

The vision soon went dark.