Chapter 7 – Doppelganger

I wasn’t too late.

Although they were buried under a pile of concrete due to the powerful explosion, I managed to save the lives of the father and daughter.

“Please hide here for a moment,” I whispered to the woman.

“I’ll draw that man’s attention.”

I made sure to reassure her.

Then, I moved the concrete debris and headed outside.

After clearing the rubble as carefully as possible so the two wouldn’t be hurt, I threw a trivial provocation at the bastard.

‘It’s only because I was the one who reported it to the police.’

As a result.

The man was glaring at me with a face full of hatred.

“I’ll kill you!”

Unable to hide his emotions, Seo Gwangjin finally charged at me.

He was a simple man, easy to read.

However, I wasn’t without my own problems.

‘I’m a bit short on mana…’

I had pushed myself to pour all my mana into creating the Magitech Armor, and then spent the recovering mana again to approach this place quickly.

Furthermore, since I had deployed a Mana Shield to protect myself and the two people from the explosion, it was inevitable that I was low on mana.

But it wasn’t a problem. It was certain that Seo Gwangjin had also wasted a considerable amount of mana on that explosion.

‘That’s not how you use it.’

Bluntly blowing everything up like Seo Gwangjin wasn’t the only way. Depending on the method of use, an Explosion Ability User could become an incredibly powerful combatant. Of course, there was no way I’d teach him that.

For now, we simply had to engage in a brawl while both of us were out of mana. And when it came to a brawl, I had my ways.

I casually picked up a steel pipe lying on the ground and held it between the bastard and myself.

My posture was as if I were wielding a sword.

The man flinched upon seeing my refined stance, but soon sneered.

“Just because you’re wearing armor, you’re pretending to know swordplay!”

I wasn’t pretending; I had actually trained in swordplay before regression, but a guy with so little combat experience like him wouldn’t know that.

But why bother explaining?

“Come.”

I just had to show him.

“Fine!”

Tatatat—

Seo Gwangjin approached at high speed.

He had no mana, but he relied on the powerful physical abilities of a Mutant.

And the moment his swinging fist collided with my steel pipe, a loud impact echoed through the surroundings.

Kwang!

I immediately slid the steel pipe and drove it into his shoulder.

Tack!

“Khhk!”

Seo Gwangjin gasped, seemingly surprised.

‘Not the shoulder.’

As we continued to exchange blows, I began to poke various parts of his body, guessing the location of his core.

Tang! Kaang!

And when I stabbed his right thigh—

Pshhh—!

“Aaaagh!”

He let out a piercing scream.

Bingo. With my fully developed abilities, it didn’t really matter where the core was located.

I could simply attack the entire body with overwhelming firepower, and by reading the flow of mana with the Observation Probe—which would be further upgraded in the future—I could pinpoint the core’s location in an instant.

But for now, I simply and persistently stabbed his thigh.

Every time I did, he shrieked as his vital point was gouged.

“Khuuugh!”

“Aaaagh!”

* * *

‘What kind of crazy bastard is this!’

Seo Gwangjin trembled as he felt the shock of his core being attacked several times across his body.

‘I can’t go on like this!’

He thought I was just some idiot wearing Knight Armor, but after a few exchanges, I had found his weakness and was relentlessly stabbing only that spot.

At first, he sneered because I was holding a steel pipe like a sword, but now he felt lucky that it was just a steel pipe.

‘If that were a real sword, I would have died several times already.’

Thinking of death, Seo Gwangjin trembled in fear.

As long as the core survived, he could plan for the future.

‘I have to shake this guy off somehow!’

Seo Gwangjin exerted a force so powerful that his muscles nearly necrotized, instantly shaking himself loose and throwing his body away.

Hudududuk—

And then… he began to run.

‘Monsters, help me!’

Meanwhile, using the small amount of mana he had left, he sent out a signal to call the nearby monsters. Since his mana was so low, there wouldn’t be many, but he hoped they could at least hold that armored bastard back for a moment.

* * *

Meanwhile, I scoffed as I watched Seo Gwangjin flee.

“Does it end like this?”

At that moment, the Observation Probe watching everything from the air sent a warning that Rake Wolves were approaching from the surroundings.

‘He even called the monsters.’

It was laughable.

Hwiik— Kaang!

“Kweeng!”

Sending the approaching Rake Wolves flying with a single strike, I began to follow Seo Gwangjin.

When he turned his head to check behind him, he looked even more horrified to see that the Rake Wolves were of no help.

No, he could never have imagined that they were actually helping me. My Worker Bugs had been steadily approaching this area, and there were about three of them in the immediate vicinity.

Wriggle-wriggle—

They immediately extracted the mana stones from the fresh Rake Wolf carcasses and delivered them to me.

“Good, well done.”

“Ding!”

I fed those mana stones into the Magitech Armor, instantly boosting the mana recovery rate that had just begun to swell.

‘With this much, a simple form transformation should be possible.’

Using the rising mana, I began to flow mana into the steel pipe I was holding.

Kirik— Kirikkirik—

What I was doing now was not the Machine Creation Ability.

I was simply applying the way the material’s shape changes when summoning a machine to transform the pipe into the shape I desired.

Sreung—

As a result, the steel pipe transformed into a fairly decent one-handed sword. Unless it was a very complex shape, a simple form like this was entirely possible.

“Good.”

And I began to run after Seo Gwangjin.

* * *

Seo Gwangjin ran steadily.

“Huff, huff.”

He began to run out of breath, but he couldn’t stop. Whenever he looked back, the armored knight was right there following him.

“Just how long is he going to keep following me!”

The armored man was faster in terms of movement speed, but fortunately, the Rake Wolves had bought him a few seconds here and there, allowing him to barely avoid being caught.

However, to Seo Gwangjin’s relief, the armored knight seemed to have dropped his steel pipe somewhere and appeared to be struggling against the Rake Wolves.

“Good, he must be exhausted now!”

He was just as exhausted himself.

It was when he looked back at the armored knight one last time and then looked forward again. A man he had never seen before was blocking his path, holding a sharp blue sword.

“Wha- what?”

Of course, Seo Gwangjin found the man blocking his path annoying, but he thought:

‘I can’t fight right now. I just need to pass through.’

His life was currently in danger.

There was no reason to fight an unrelated civilian.

Or so he thought.

“What do you mean ‘what’? I’m ‘that bastard’ you’re looking for so desperately.”

That was until he heard the voice.

Pook—

A one-handed sword pierced through the core in his thigh.

“Khhuugh!”

Hearing the voice, Seo Gwangjin realized it was the same person as the armored knight. But the armored knight should have been behind them. He looked back with a confused expression.

‘I wasn’t wrong.’

The armored knight was still far behind. He was only just finishing off the Rake Wolves and approaching.

Then how was this man in front of him?

“Ho- how on earth…”

He couldn’t understand the situation.

“Kh, khhk.”

He simply died.

* * *

Watching the dying Seo Gwangjin, I searched his body for the core.

The mana stones of Mutants were quite large and had a high purity. Using a familiar sword motion, I poked into his thigh, and the mana stone revealed itself.

“Ah, there it is.”

A satisfying loot.

With this, I would be able to grow even stronger.

‘By the way, I didn’t expect him to be so good at running away.’

After following him for so long that it became tiring, I eventually chose to throw the Magitech Armor as a decoy and personally detour to kill Seo Gwangjin.

I took a slight risk, but it was better than letting him get away. On the other hand, in hindsight, I felt it was a good move to have summoned the Magitech Armor.

‘Now there’s one last thing to do.’

This was a great opportunity to attempt to recruit the Water Ability User.

* * *

When I returned to the house where the battle had taken place, the two people were staring at their collapsed home with devastated expressions.

“Ah.”

Seeing me return, the two looked at me for a moment as if glad to see me, but they couldn’t shake the frowns from their faces.

Still, they didn’t forget to offer a minimal thank you.

“Um, uh… thank you.”

“Thank you. It would have been terrible if it weren’t for you, young man.”

“Not at all. I heard a loud noise while passing by and came to check; I’m glad I could help.”

At my answer, he let out a deep sigh and asked, nudging the dead Rake Wolves on the ground with his foot.

“Um… is that armor your ability?”

“Yes. It’s an ability that’s helpful in combat, so I’m really glad I have it.”

“Ahem, I’m truly envious… especially in a world like this these days…”

They must have been in a very difficult situation.

The area was already unsettled after being designated as a Redevelopment Zone.

In the midst of that, not only did monsters appear and attack people indiscriminately, but they had also been attacked by Looters.

In other words, more than anything, they were in a situation where they craved power.

That was why I intentionally framed my ability as being suitable for combat. People naturally look for something to lean on in difficult situations.

Furthermore, since they had now lost their home, they clearly had nowhere to go. To add a bit of prejudice, that was likely why they had stayed in the Redevelopment Zone in the first place.

“What do you two plan to do from now on?”

“I wonder…”

He let out a deep sigh, as if there were no clear solution.

‘Now is the chance!’

I carefully began to speak.

“Um… you two. If it’s alright with you…”

“?”

“There is a place nearby where I’ve temporarily settled. It’s nothing grand, but I can provide water, food, and a roof.”

“Is… is that true?”

“The world is so unsettled these days, it would weigh on my mind to just pass by. You can stay there until you find your next place to live.”

In other words, it was: ‘Just come for now.’

The situation was going to continue worsening anyway.

Having suffered the worst of the worst, it was obvious they would soon reach a point where their survival was uncertain.

Of course, I wasn’t simply doing charity work.

The sooner I recruited the Water Ability User, the easier things would be.

In other words, in a way, we were in a situation where we needed each other.

“Is… is that really true?”

“Yes, of course. Would I joke about something like this? Haha.”

Hearing my firm tone, he seemed to contemplate for a moment. Then, he sought agreement from his daughter, who was listening beside him.

“Um, uh… Sua, is that alright?”

“Hmm… it’s embarrassing, but I don’t think we have any other choice. I’m sorry, but we would be grateful if you could let us stay for just a little while.”

‘Score!’

It hadn’t even been a few days since my Awakening day, and I had already quickly acquired a Water Ability User companion. At this rate, I should almost thank Seo Gwangjin.

Meanwhile, I decided to drive the point home.

“No need to be sorry. But since it’s a temporary shelter… please understand that it’s very humble.”

But ‘just for a little while,’ huh…

I’m sorry, but that’s never going to happen.