That Face Is the Problem - Chapter 37.2
They noticed Jae-gyeong approaching, drawing lines on one of the mirrors from a strange direction that was impossible to tell as opposite or diagonal. But they could not yet tell if it was the real Jae-gyeong walking or the one coming from inside the mirror.
“Jeong Jae-gyeong Hunter!” Yi-hyeon shouted happily. However, Da-sol only looked at Jae-gyeong with his characteristic steady gaze. Only then did Yi-hyeon realize that the figure might be a monster and fell silent, preparing his defenses.
Jae-gyeong noticed them slightly later than Da-sol and Yi-hyeon. Flustered, he stopped. He extended his left arm with the shield forward, protecting himself, seeming to suspect that Da-sol and Yi-hyeon might be monsters.
“He looks like the real Jeong Jae-gyeong Hunter,” Yi-hyeon whispered. Da-sol did not move. He gently pushed Yi-hyeon aside and slowly stepped forward. Jae-gyeong drew closer. Da-sol brushed his hair back.
“Real or fake?”
Da-sol asked in a voice full of certainty that the figure was a fake. But then Jae-gyeong pressed the tip of his tongue against the back of his upper teeth. That was Jae-gyeong’s signal. Da-sol’s signal was brushing back his hair. Da-sol hesitated.
[And you, are you real or fake?]
Jae-gyeong asked warily. He still shielded himself while extending his right arm toward Da-sol.
‘Even after showing my signal, he doesn’t recognize it… That means he’s a fake. But how would he know the real Jae-gyeong’s signal? Did the real Jae-gyeong show the signal to the mirror monster and it copied it?’
Da-sol thought to himself.
In truth, he had recognized immediately that the figure was not the real Jae-gyeong. The figure was walking too confidently to be the real Jae-gyeong. Moreover, the way he spoke. Jae-gyeong, who usually mumbles as if he had a disease that forced him to do so, could not possibly speak so clearly and distinctly.
Da-sol stepped slightly aside.
“Yoon Yi-hyeon, attack.”
As soon as Da-sol spoke, Jae-gyeong fired his dark armor gun at him. However, Da-sol was already protected by his shield, and Yi-hyeon’s flame had already been fired at the mirror Jae-gyeong.
Bang, crash! The mirror Jae-gyeong’s body was partially blown away, and the remaining flesh melted.
[Huh… Da-sol, why…]
The collapsing Jae-gyeong looked up at Da-sol with reddened eyes. Da-sol was startled and lowered his shield.
“No, Hunter!”
Yi-hyeon pulled Da-sol back as if embracing him. The dark armor gun had targeted the spot where Da-sol had been standing, and the mirror behind it shattered. The last attack by the mirror Jae-gyeong monster disappeared entirely.
“If you knew it was a fake, why did you do that! You could have been seriously hurt!”
“…Ah, really.”
“Now is not the time to say that!”
Yi-hyeon thumped his chest in frustration at Da-sol, who seemed indifferent, though Da-sol’s heart was still pounding. When he saw Jae-gyeong’s injured, tearful face, Da-sol instinctively lowered his arm. It was an action even he had not expected.
‘Why did I do such a stupid thing?’
Da-sol wondered as he looked at the shattered mirror fragments. It was a strange phenomenon he could not understand.
‘Could it have been sympathy?’
That made sense. Da-sol was actually the type to feel sympathy for others easily. That must have been why his awakening class was a healer. At that moment, mistaking Jae-gyeong for real and feeling he had to save him was probably because of sympathy. Da-sol bit his lip.
“These monsters are smarter than I thought. They’ve already copied Jeong Jae-gyeong Hunter’s signal. And the real Jae-gyeong also saw other team members inside the mirror. Then the mirror monster probably showed its own signal.”
“Wait a minute. That makes our prearranged signals meaningless!”
“I don’t think it knows my signal yet. Yoon Yi-hyeon Hunter, be more subtle when sending your signal.”
“Yes, yes! This is terrifying. I didn’t expect it even from an S-rank dungeon.”
“How many large guilds have been wiped out in S-rank dungeons? Don’t say such naive things.”
Da-sol responded somewhat irritably and continued walking. Yi-hyeon followed, saying, “Wait! I should be in front!” Da-sol still had the lingering image of Jae-gyeong looking up at him with a half-melted, tearful face.
***
As Da-sol said, the mirror monsters soon learned all the team members’ signals and began copying them. Days passed, and during that time, some team members, believing the figure was real, suffered severe injuries. Among them was Jae-gyeong.
The monster that injured Jae-gyeong was a mirror monster in the shape of Da-sol. This is how it happened.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
