Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 89 : Discovery – 3

Chapter 89: Discovery – 3
I took a deep breath and answered.
“Brother. I just found something.”
“Alright.”
“It seems the special Doppelgänger entity, ‘Louis Danahan,’ possesses a sleeping ability. When it attacks its prey, it appears to insert part of its mud into their body to make them fall asleep.”
“Hmm.”
“So, to wake them up, we probably need to destroy more than eighty percent of the entire mud mass.”
Sienne tilted her head and asked,
“More than eighty percent? But we just completely destroyed the Doppelgänger a moment ago, didn’t we?”
“……”
“Ah! Maybe it didn’t actually die. Let’s go back to the cave and check again.”
“No. There’s no need for that.”
My voice turned slightly stiff.
Tremble.
My entire body was shaking uncontrollably.
I recalled the encyclopedia entry about the Doppelgänger.
<It averages 1.5 meters in size and cannot transform into a target exceeding that size, since it must completely cover its target in mud to transform.
It can divide its original body into multiple parts, allowing it to transform into several smaller beings at once.
However, even in such cases, it cannot divide beyond its total amount of mud.>
And then, I remembered the encyclopedia entry about Louis Danahan.
<- Other Notable Traits
: Originally, Louis was 1.8 meters tall, larger than the average Doppelgänger, but after swallowing the first-place reward pill, ‘The Pill that Overdrives Talent,’ he grew significantly.
His current estimated height is 510 meters.>
I spoke again after a deep breath.
“Actually, even ordinary Doppelgängers aren’t limited to transforming into just one person at a time. They can split and transform into several forms simultaneously.”
“……”
“But the average size of a Doppelgänger is only 1.5 meters. It doesn’t have enough total mud to transform into two of us at once. That’s why, when we confirmed it had transformed into Her Highness, we dismissed the possibility that it might’ve also transformed into the rest of the party.”
“Th-then?”
“But… it seems Louis received some pill as his first-place reward recently. And it made him much taller.”
Up to 510 meters.
Enough mud to cover every one of us.
I changed my tone and asked,
“Since when?”
“……”
“No. You don’t need to answer. I think I’ve figured it out.”
“Mason……”
“Now that I think about it, even the time it came to me disguised as Diana was just bait.”
The Doppelgänger had visited in Diana’s form and fled.
That’s why, ‘up until that point,’ we’d believed all of us were real.
It approached me as Diana on purpose—so that I’d believe it.
“The night we returned to Deut Territory after the Frozen Season Quest ended… that night, everyone had already been replaced.”
“……”
“Honestly, it was strange. After defeating Diana, we always stayed together. We never separated for even a single moment. And yet, somehow, Her Highness was switched out.”
“……”
“When you think about it, it’s actually simple. By that point, all of you were already fakes. Her Highness was just unlucky enough to get caught first.”
Now that I think about it, it even makes sense why we lost Diana back then.
At the time, Berseum said she escaped by burrowing underground.
But would the real Berseum’s magic fail to catch someone merely hiding beneath the ground? It was a magic circle prepared over three whole days!
‘No way.’
He simply let her go.
Because that Berseum had been fake—a Doppelgänger.
It was at that moment.
Aina suddenly burst out angrily.
“Ugh, seriously, enough already…! Don’t you think you’re going too far?”
“Aina.”
“How could you say that to the comrades who shared life and death with you? Fine, maybe with Her Highness there was that strange feeling when she didn’t care about you bleeding—but what about me? What’s the supposed ‘discrepancy’ you feel with us?”
“Stop it.”
“No, you stop it! Why? Should I test the power you gave me? Want me to check your soul?”
No.
That wouldn’t reveal anything.
Armelia’s Light of Healing was a ‘visibly verifiable’ ability.
But Aina’s necromancy was not something I could verify myself.
If she said she saw a soul, then she saw one; if she said she soothed a soul, then she did.
Berseum spoke up.
“Alright, alright. You seem quite worked up. Calm yourself.”
“I warned you to stop. Don’t mock me with the faces of my comrades.”
“Come now! If you really doubt us, then test us. Memories or experiences that only we would know.”
“You absorb every memory of the one you copy. How would that prove anything?”
Then Sienne opened her mouth.
“Then conversely, there’s no proof that we aren’t the real ones either.”
“……”
“Please, calm down. Stirring up discord like this is exactly what the Doppelgänger—or even Magireta—would want.”
A shout meant to remind me of our shared enemy, emphasizing solidarity.
“She’s right. I may have joined last, but I still believe our bond isn’t so weak as to be shaken by such trivial doubt.”
“……”
“If you accuse us without clear proof, resentment will remain later. You’re our leader, aren’t you? Please, think rationally.”
A calm persuasion.
“Yeah. This isn’t like you. You’ve always been the kind of person who can convince everyone with reason.”
An emotional appeal.
“I deeply trust the one who saved my daughter. So please, trust me as well.”
An invocation of the past.
For just an instant, I nearly wavered.
Right. I wish they weren’t fakes.
With my eyes, with my ears—I can’t prove they’re false.
I can’t even trust myself.
‘But I can trust the Diary Book.’
I gripped the Diary Book tightly.
And spoke through its secret conversation feature.
[Everyone, raise your right hand.]
……
And of course.
No one raised their right hand.
I let out a hollow laugh and said,
“As for proof—how about this?”
“What do you mean?”
“This blood here, in my bucket. Please, each of you, dip one hand into it.”
“……! Are you really going to do that?!”
“Shut up, Louis Danahan. At first, I felt sorry for you when I heard your story—but I’ve changed my mind.”
With my current ability, there was no way I could take them on.
The Doppelgänger could steal every ability of the one it copied.
I grabbed Armelia’s hand.
Hooked the bucket handle over my forearm.
And while clutching the teleportation bead, I said,
“You really were a perfect match with Edgar.”
“Mason……!”
“You said eighty percent of the mud had to be destroyed to wake my companions? No. I’ll kill all of you instead. Until then, say goodbye to your ex-husband.”
Aina pulled out a needle.
And without a hint of hesitation, she threw it at me.
In my heart, I shouted—
‘I want to go to the Imperial Capital.’
The needle barely grazed my afterimage.
Maybe it was just in my head, but I could almost hear Aina’s voice.
“Damn it. This useless Arcane bastard never helps.”
Aina—no, Louis—who had missed Mason by a hair’s breadth, burst into rage.
The four remaining figures there had already changed to Louis’s face.
Edgar let out a laugh.
“Wow. To think my wife had quadruplets.”
“Shut up. Because of you. Because of you!”
“Hmm… I apologize. Please don’t kill me. I’d really like to participate in the next quest properly.”
“Hearing that only makes me more eager to kill you.”
The four Louis clones stomped toward Edgar.
But there was one thing she had overlooked.
Unlike before, Edgar’s wrist had recovered.
He quietly picked up four nearby pebbles.
And then—
He flicked his fingers, sending the pebbles flying.
Thud. Crack.
Each pebble pierced straight through the chest of a Louis.
“Urgh.”
“I may have seemed weak lately, but I used to be quite strong, you know. You also kn—no, you didn’t know, because I hid that side of myself back then.”
“Ugh. Arcane.”
“Arcane… What a nostalgic name. But now I’m Edgar, so please call me that.”
Louis only bit her lip instead of replying.
Edgar continued.
“Don’t glare at me like that. Seems you don’t die just from a few holes in the chest anyway.”
“Right. I received power from Lady Magireta. I’m not that pathetic, weak thing I used to be! I’m not the fool who gave everything to trash like you!”
“I’m sorry about back then.”
“Shut up. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you.”
Louis produced mud to heal her wound.
Then she started approaching Edgar again.
At that moment—
“Calm down.”
Magireta’s voice.
Louis instinctively froze before her reason could even react.
Magireta floated in midair, watching her with an amused expression.
“Lady Magireta……”
“My order wasn’t to kill Edgar, was it?”
“But this man—”
“Oh, come on. Don’t get all whiny with old stories. You and that man are both monsters. Try to get along, monster to monster.”
“……”
“Hmm. Was that a bit inconsiderate of me?”
“No, my apologies.”
Even as she said it, her expression showed slight displeasure.
Magireta reached out and gently stroked Louis’s head.
“Anyway, good work.”
“Good work? It’s not over yet.”
“You mean collecting Mason’s blood?”
“Yes. Honestly, I should’ve taken that bucket earlier. I delayed it because I was curious what he was going to say—and that turned out to be a mistake.”
“Yes, that part was a little disappointing.”
Louis hesitated before asking,
“I don’t know if I should be asking this… but why didn’t Lady Magireta take the bucket herself earlier?”
“……”
“No, beyond that—why did you even give me this order? You could’ve easily drawn Mason’s blood yourself.”
Magireta answered.
“Was it before the Hide-and-Seek Quest started? Your little brother requested another ‘Shuffle.’ He wanted to make a deal with me.”
“……”
“The price he offered was all his memories up to three years ago. I accepted, and as a result, I got to see every detail of his life.”
Louis looked slightly intrigued.
Edgar was very intrigued.
The two listened closely to Magireta’s words.
“But there was really nothing there.”
“What?”
“It was so ordinary. The third son of a common farmer. When a plague hit the village, his whole family died when he was five. After that, he left his hometown and moved to a nearby territory to find work.”
“……”
“There, he did all sorts of odd jobs to save money, then switched to being a merchant. Later, he bought special products from other territories and sold them at a small street stall.”
“……”
“When he went to the territory where that girl worked as an employee, he had originally gone there just to purchase goods. And there, ‘the current’ little brother was born. That’s exactly where the memories I received ended.”
Louis tilted her head.
“And so?”
“No matter how you look at it, he was just an ordinary human being.”
“……”
“But now he’s going around doing all kinds of bizarre things all on his own.”
“……”
“Do you really not see it?”
She smiled faintly.
“My little brother has a helper.”