Dungeon Hunter

Pandemonium...he rallied his power and tried to determine the movements of the angels. He had discovered Martin’s death. It was like gunpowder on the brink of exploding.

“My Dungeon Master. The Trees of Life and Death have grown normally.”

Chrisley returned to the dungeon.

She came to see me to report on her mission.

I stood motionless near the Tree of Origin as I watched it. I didn’t answer but Chrisley just nonchalantly continued.

"The emergence frequency of Awakened has more than doubled and their growth rate is quite fast. Roy and Rose’s positions are stable...there are several candidates for a king.”

“Hrmm.”

I took out Wrath and the Emperor’s Sword. Then I wielded the two swords with my eyes closed. I was listening to Chrisley. I just wasn’t greatly interested.

It was what I had been expecting.

"The girin has named seven people as candidates. Two of the humans are Yoo Eun-hye and Edward. The decisive battle will take place on the sacred day with the biggest moon.”

"Will all the humans agree with the outcome of the battle?

“Yes. I’m afraid...”

“I will observe it.”

If the Saviour emerged then it would feel more auspicious. Roy and Rose might be able to move the humans with greater force. My appearance was needed.

I moved Wrath as I made a decision.

Hwik!

Wrath quickly split through the air but I shook my head.

‘Strange.’

I had gone to the Tree of Origin several times to fight against myself. My clone appeared and I used my skills and swordsmanship, yet I always lost.

The clone’s stats weren’t higher...and I lost most of my memories of the fight every time. It was like some type of ‘cognition.’

My memories were scattered. After a few challenges, I tried to remember the feeling with my swords.

In addition, one of my pure stats rose after recalling those memories. Strength increased by one. This was a surprising result.

‘I would need a few months to raise a pure stat by one point using ordinary methods. If one increased in less than 10 days...the possibilities are enough.’

I decided that it was suitable for growing quickly, so I focused more on my fights against the clone.

The person certainly had the same stats and skills as me. However, he seemed to use my power more flexibly than I did.

I tried to make some preparations based on my memories but it was difficult to prepare for the ‘unknown.’

“My Dungeon Master. Are you troubled about something?”

“Have you ever fought with yourself?”

“With myself...”

Chrisley thought about it with a serious expression.

“Recently...there was a similar fight in the training room.”

"Tell me.”

The advanced training room.

Time flowed differently for Chrisley inside the training room.

"I heard a voice in my head the moment I entered. It said ‘only those who are more complete can leave here.’ And...I didn’t know that the flow of time was different, so I trained hard to get out as quickly as possible.”

Her eyes were complicated. It seemed like she didn’t like to be reminded of that time. I didn’t say anything and Chrisley was forced to go on.

"One day, a few days...after 100 days, I realized that I could utilize some skills more properly. However, the door didn’t open because I was far from completion. I felt some heartbreak and memories of my past emerged. I was trapped by the sickness of the heart for over 100 days.”

Chrisley was a dark elf who was rarely shaken. I could hardly imagine that she became so sick of heart that it lasted for more than 100 days.

"However, that sickness opened up another path. I saw the weaknesses in my past. After that, I was able to grow stronger and leave the training room.”

"How did you get over the sickness?”

"That..."

Chrisley sneaked a glance at me before looking away again.

“...I don’t know. It is hard to say exactly what it was.”

My brows furrowed as I squeezed Wrath and the Emperor’s Sword.

In short, her weak parts were highlighted and she was able to strengthen herself by resolving those weaknesses.

I worried about it.

‘My weak parts?’

Sickness of the heart was caused by weakness. I had been worried and distressed but never sick to the heart. If so, I needed to think about my weaknesses.

But...I didn’t have much to say about my weaknesses. Arrogance and high self-esteem were essential elements to me. I had succeeded based on this confidence.

A clear desire to get everything was required to become the devil. I couldn’t allow these things to grab my ankles. No matter how important, it wasn’t more important than my dream.

“My Dungeon Master. Is that the answer?”

"You have given me an idea. Thank you.”

I nodded and continued thinking.

Weaknesses. Me weaknesses.

The weak parts of me?

My pure abilities were low but that wasn’t a weakness in itself. My skills were also highly rated so that couldn’t be the weakness.

‘I will have to think about it.’

It was a completely different direction that I would have never thought about.

I had just been worrying about a lack of swordsmanship.

I closed my eyes and thought deeply.

It was the 31st challenge.

The Tree of Origin encircled me and I appeared in a world of illusion, with my clone facing me.

"It is getting tiresome.”

Although it was my face, I was getting tired after seeing it for 30 consecutive times.

I took out Wrath and the Emperor’s Sword.

My clone also brought out Wrath and the Emperor’s Sword.

"I’m not tired."

The clone spoke.

"You can talk?”

I had no memory of this. However, I didn’t remember much of the last 30 times so he might have spoken.

Yet the answer was surprising.

“This is the first time. I wanted to say that I’m not tired.”

“The first time?”

“You can ask me questions. But you will just forget my answers. Anyway, the result will be the same!”

Hwaaak!

The clone’s swords were surrounded by a dark aura.

It was the manifestation of Dark Sword.

He also ignited Pride’s flames and rushed towards me.

’As expected.’

This was a pattern that had been repeated many times already. I combined the sparse memories and grasped some of the clone’s movements.

Kang!

I returned the same attack.

Anyway, his power and stats were exactly the same as mine.

There was a power struggle for a few minutes.

"You look exactly like me and have the same abilities, yet you are obviously different. A fake. It is obvious if I look closely."

"Is it because I am better?”

The clone sneered. I didn’t react and remained silent.

"The mannerisms and personality...everything except the outside appearance is different. Are you really my clone?”

Aside from his movements, I could infer things from his habits and personality. As a result, I concluded that he was a different person from me. I was cynical but not pessimistic. I didn’t always laugh at others.

However, the clone’s eyes were always filled with ridicule.

“I am me. Nobody else but me.”

Huaaah!

Many cracks appeared in the space.

It was because he focused his magic power on Wrath.

Kuaaaaang!

"Today I will take one of your ‘childhood memories.’ The ‘nightmare’...huhu, you might not know it yourself but there is always a trauma! Completeness is the same as discarding the incomplete parts.”

My head was hit a few times.

A strong pain. I searched through my memories but the fight with the clone was still vague.

‘I can only remember that he spoke.’

It was an approximate dialogue. But there was a question mark about whether he had spoken before.

’Another one. The way he used his magic power.’

I recalled one of the scenes of the battle.

In the final scene, he had let out a burst of magic power. Wrath was used as the focus and it resulted in a new cohesion with Dark Sword.

-Agility has risen by one.

I nodded. Simply remembering it raised my stats like this. It didn’t happen every time, but it was still a quick development.

Over the 30 attempts, my pure stats had risen by three points. If this continued then I would be able to fill up all the remaining potential in a few years at most.

It would be faster if I could try more than once a day, but it was impossible to move the Tree of Origin. I could only fight the clone once a day.

Either way.

"I should challenge again tomorrow."

It wasn’t a pleasant experience. The opponent was still me after all.

I left with the thought of winning.

The 50th attempt.

As soon as I arrived, I faced my clone with a smile.

"Do you remember the battle? Or maybe a memory from your previous life? You look just like a twitching cockroach.”

"That will soon be your appearance.”

“Huhu! That’s funny. That is only if you win.”

The 60th time.

“Nobility! A title only given to powerful demons. But unlike you, I am strong without such titles.”

“What do you want to say?”

“It is funny how you are hanging onto something so meaningless.”

"You are talking nonsense.”

The 70th time...

"Why do you come back? Do you want to change the results?”

“You are asking something obvious. I will be the devil.”

"So you made a promise with the gods in order to return? Are you seeking strength by killing yourself? Funny, funny...”