episode_0089

89. Dedication.

“Hey, how many times do you think this is?”

The doppelganger was silent for a moment. He stared blankly at Johann before opening his mouth.

“I don’t know. But, judging by the way you’re talking, this isn’t your first time. I’ll ask you instead. How many am I?”

The doppelganger’s expression didn’t change much. Johann let out a hollow laugh. Yeah, that’s like my doppelganger.

“I just met the ninth one.”

“So, I’m the tenth.”

The doppelganger raised an eyebrow.

“Strange, you couldn’t beat the ‘doppelganger’ for a whopping 10 times? Are you really the main body?”

Johann immediately got to the point.

“In about 60 days, we constantly attempted [Order Improvement].”

“Hmm, I see. I finally understand. I know what the previous doppelgangers were thinking.”

The doppelganger stretched his fingers back and forth. It was a familiar gesture and habit for Johann. It felt strange.

He said.

“So, are you going to optimize this time too? How far have you progressed? You must have had some results.”

Johann shook his head.

“You’re wrong. Optimization is over now. Because time is running out.”

“What? What does that… Ah.”

Johann rolled his eyes and looked at one place. The doppelganger couldn’t see it, but Johann could see it clearly.

[Remaining time: 00 days 5 hours 52 minutes 42 seconds]

Before, they gave me 7 days, but this time the given time was ridiculously short. Yeah, from the Tower’s point of view, they must want to finish the 4th floor quickly.

According to what I’ve heard, the Tower instills endless animosity towards the living in the doppelganger. The only living beings in the Colosseum are the doppelganger and myself. Just the two of us. It was obvious where the doppelganger’s animosity would be directed.

For example, while trying to improve the order, the doppelganger attacked Johann. It was only for a fleeting moment and the doppelganger quickly regained his senses, but Johann was quite surprised at that time. To attack himself even with his memories preserved. It seemed that the Tower’s animosity was more significant than he thought.

The doppelganger said.

“I guess there’s a time limit? I can’t see it. How much time is left?”

“Exactly 5 hours 51 minutes 57 seconds left.”

“That’s accurate.”

Johann slowly loosened his fingers. The doppelganger had been doing the same thing for a while, it was like looking in a mirror.

‘He must want to kill me, so his habit came out instinctively.’

But he seemed to be holding on to his reason well. He felt a little bitter. Johann doesn’t give his heart easily to most people, but the doppelganger was a little different. In a way, isn’t he another version of himself?

Johann opened his mouth.

“There’s not enough time to optimize. In other words, there’s only one thing left.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve only seen order improvement in books, isn’t this the first time I’ve embodied it directly? I wonder what kind of results you’ve achieved. I’ll do my best.”

After saying that, the doppelganger rolled his eyes. It was presumed that he had opened the status window. The doppelganger, who had been eating magic toes for a while and using trait enhancement tickets and karma, suddenly stopped moving.

Johann and the doppelganger said at the same time.

“”Let’s start.””

Immediately after, countless blue spheres were created in front of the two men. It was the fastest casting order among the attack orders Johann had.

Johann tended to use magic missiles when opening the battle. This was naturally the same for the doppelganger.

Johann was a little faster in completing the order. But it was almost simultaneous. Soon, the blue oval spheres rushed towards each other.

Piiiiiiing- Kwakwakwakwakwang!!

The collision point was closer to the doppelganger than Johann. This was because the order casting was delayed. Thanks to this, Johann’s viewing angle was quite wide, while the doppelganger’s viewing angle was narrowed. The blue light dazzled the doppelganger’s eyes.

The specifications are the same, but that side didn’t do [Order Improvement]. On the other hand, Johann was able to develop his order through dozens of days of bone-grinding effort. Johann lightly rolled his feet.

Humans tend to rely mainly on sight among the five senses. Now is the chance to obscure the view. The doppelganger faintly visible thanks to the blue light. He created a pit under his feet.

Dig.

But it was blocked. The doppelganger quickly deployed a shield towards the hole, and thanks to that, he was able to stand firmly in place. That was Johann’s aim.

Piiiiing-

“······!”

Magic missiles fly through the blue haze. Johann’s advantage over the doppelganger was not only the casting speed. The speed is natural, and the power and sophistication have also improved compared to before.

In other words, even with the same order, Johann’s order can break through.

The doppelganger gritted his teeth.

“Keueut!”

Jjeoeeong!

He hastily used [Thought Acceleration] to deploy the shield. Perhaps because it was an attack that was beyond his recognition, the consumption of mental power was enormous.

Even in a clearly urgent situation, the doppelganger smiled slightly. Other people might not, but he didn’t feel bad about being inferior to the main body in terms of skill.

A sense of rivalry and a boiling animosity towards the living formed a harmony.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Thank you for recognizing me.”

Hwareureureureuk-

However, it hasn’t even started yet. It is true that the power of magic missiles and digs has increased, but what Johann put his heart and soul into was not that.

Something made of flames was created above Johann’s head. It was what he usually called Fire Arrow.

However, Johann could not readily call it by its original name. Can I still call this an arrow? It is much longer than before, and the shape of the cutting edge is sharply shaped.

It was the most outstanding order among the orders that Johann optimized. Johann redefined the name of the order.

Fire Harpoon.

Immediately after, a change occurred in Johann’s status window. Although Johann couldn’t see it, the name of the skill changed. From Fire Arrow to Fire Harpoon.

It was the moment when the true potential of [Order Improvement] blossomed.

Johann lightly lowered his hand. In response, Johann’s developed order rushed at the doppelganger like a shark. The doppelganger’s eyes widened at the ferocious appearance. A light of admiration flickered over his eyes.

The doppelganger reflexively put his hands together.

“Excellent.”

Numerous water droplets are created in front of his eyes. Not only that, but he also creates a shield. It was a form focused solely on defense. Eventually, the main body’s harpoon and the doppelganger’s barrier collided.

Kwaaaaaaang!

Jjeojeojeok-

A loud noise was heard. It was not the noise caused by the explosion. Johann focused the nature of the order solely on penetration. The range attack power may be a little lower, but it was the best order for one-on-one battles.

And the result was visible.

“······Ku, Keulleoeok!”

The circular arena modeled after the Colosseum. The doppelganger was embedded in the inner wall of the arena made of pure white bricks in a miserable state. With a crimson harpoon hanging from his shoulder.

Sseuseuseu, something yellow fell from the vicinity of the doppelganger’s left shoulder. It was definitely Rock Skin.

If he didn’t have that, he would have become a one-armed man by now, so it was still an efficient order.

The doppelganger continued, gasping for breath.

“Ama, Amazing······. I put on three layers of protection orders······.”

“You were great too. To counterattack in that situation.”

While saying that, Johann stretched his fingers forward. He felt a cold and sharp sensation. He could see an Ice Awl stopped with a gap of about 1M. It was so sharp that the rock skin was falling off little by little even with just a slight touch.

If I had a little more, I would have bled. Johann pulled his hand back.

“What’s great about it, I somehow managed to attack. It wasn’t effective at all.”

“······.”

That was true. For superhumans who go back and forth in fleeting intervals, the difference of 1M was nothing more than a huge wall.

Someone had most of one shoulder damaged.

Someone felt a slight threat, but suffered no damage at all.

That was the extent of the difference. The gap between Johann and the doppelganger. And this was also the possibility of order improvement.

At that moment, the doppelganger took out a long sword from his arms and cut off his shoulder. The mindset of cutting it off rather than vaguely sticking to it. It was indeed like Johann’s doppelganger.

Taat, the doppelganger, who barely landed on the floor, froze his right shoulder using the freeze order. He opened his mouth with a heavy frown.

“Karma is the top priority, but if you have time, improve your orders from time to time. It will be a valuable asset later.”

No, it seems like you’re already seeing the effects. The doppelganger added.

Johann said with a gloomy face. Is it over now.

“······Good job. I received a lot of help in many ways.”

“Haha, what did I do? I just fought.”

“······.”

Johann slowly raised his finger. His index finger was pointing directly at the doppelganger’s heart.

Immediately after, a blue line was drawn between Johann and the doppelganger. The doppelganger blinked his eyes and then lowered his head.

“Heueu······.”

Teolsseok-!

The doppelganger knelt down helplessly. The doppelganger’s vision gradually began to blur. In the distance, he could see the main body wrapped in pure white rays of light. He’s probably moving on to the next floor.

In an instant, the main body disappeared. The doppelganger buried his face on the cold floor. The lives he had experienced flashed through his head like a panorama.

The end of the memory that had been going on for a while was here, the Colosseum. A place where he was almost had his memory deleted and inherited terrible animosity from the Tower. Suddenly, he thought of when he first met the main body.

The memory of killing the main body using angry waves. Keuk keuk, I thought it was a monster, but I didn’t know it was the main body.

‘I hope I didn’t get caught?’

Thanks to Miss Sarah, my acting skills have improved a lot. The main body will probably never know.

“Keuheuheheu······ Keulleok!”

Ah, it’s over now. The doppelganger felt it instinctively. Immediately after, the Colosseum was enveloped in quiet silence.

“······.”

Johann’s order improvement speed was not only due to his talent. It was possible because of someone’s dedication, who had been dedicating himself to the main body in the same place for about 60 days.

In that way, someone who had not even been given a proper name passed away.