Somebody Stop the Pope – 9



Episode 9

3.

[The dungeon you are currently in <The Necromancer’s Laboratory> is undergoing Abyssification.]

[Accordingly the dungeon’s name has been changed from <The Necromancer’s Laboratory> to <Bridgehead of Pride>.]

[If you fail to defeat the Abyss Dungeon boss all areas within a 5km radius will be contaminated by the Abyss. There are currently 2 hours and 7 minutes left.]

“There is plenty of time.”

In about two hours you’ll have time to make the porridge.

I nodded slightly as I read the message window that appeared before my eyes then slowly looked around.

A gloomy dark passageway filled with silence.

The torches installed here and there on the walls create an eerie atmosphere rather than providing lighting.

It’s an underground structure that you would expect to see in the Middle Ages.

I should say that it felt like the atmosphere of the catacombs of some cathedral I experienced in Eden.

“Phew.”

Certainly when I entered the dungeon directly the magic became thicker.

It wasn’t that I felt a strong magical energy all at once but it seemed like the entire dungeon was filled with magical energy not just a specific target.

It seems to be related to the word <Abyss> written in the message window but the important thing is that the magical power of some players was also being detected among these magicians.

Perhaps there were still players left who resisted magic.

I let out a short breath and walked forward quietly.

The winding passageways.

After walking for a while past walls with unknown markings something finally caught my eye for the first time.

Two adult males wearing blue breastplates were sprawled on the floor.

From a distance I thought they were dead but when I looked closely their bodies were intact without a single wound.

However something incredibly bizarre caught my eye.

“There is no face.”

There was literally no ‘face’.

The facial features that a human should naturally have were not where they should be.

Get notified for updates: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

All that stands in place of facial features is a strange black smoke.

Only after checking the condition of the two men could I confirm the identity of the monsters I had destroyed in front of the dungeon earlier.

“Mimic.”

A strange demonic beast that uses magic to knock out its opponents then disguises itself as the knocked-out target and moves forward.

The reason for stunning the opponent instead of killing him was very simple.

The guys’ disguise is a kind of mirror. If there is no object to reflect in the mirror they cannot disguise themselves.

It is a perfect disguise that is undeniable on the outside but because it is a low-level demon it has clear shortcomings.

Mimics cannot speak.

This is because they are guys who don’t have vocal organs in the first place.

At this point I could guess who the mastermind behind this damn situation was.

[The system detects changes occurring in your body.]

[Skills accumulated in <Dimension: Eden> are automatically activated in response to the energy occupying the current space. The system analyzes the skills.]

Mimic is a demon that can never exist alone.

There must be a superior entity that commands the Mimics and they are merely subordinates of that superior entity.

“A doppelganger of the arrogant scout?”

[Keyword <doppelganger> has been confirmed.]

[The leader of the Abyss Dungeon has been revealed to be a <Doppelganger>.]

Doppelganger.

A superior entity that can perfectly replicate the other person just by looking at them unlike a mimic that cannot make a sound.

That guy is probably the culprit behind this situation.

Doppelgangers have poor combat power as their main characters but they can mimic some of the powers of their cloned counterparts making them difficult to deal with depending on the situation.

Of course that only applies to other people not me.

If you blow his head off he’ll die anyway. If you’re lucky enough to survive after blowing his head off you can just crush his entire body.

As soon as I assessed the situation I hurried forward.

Doppelgangers and mimics are hard to deal with even if you know about them but if you get attacked without knowing about them you’re in for a real hell.

A situation where you cannot trust your colleagues.

There is nothing more terrifying on the battlefield than that.

Gyaaaaaaah!

That was when.

A sharp high-pitched scream was heard from far down the hallway.

Being able to scream in this situation means you are either a survivor or a doppelganger.

Let’s go over there first.

Whether survivors are waiting or doppelgangers are waiting.

Because I have nothing to lose.

4.

To conclude there were survivors.

“Oh that scene was good… but what if you suddenly come out of there? Huh? We have to film it again.”

Join our discord and ping me to update more chapters. Discord: https://discord.gg/93rmBjgP6B

That’s quite a lot too.

I smiled awkwardly and said this to the survivors who were looking at me with resentful eyes.

“I suddenly heard a scream and I stopped without realizing it… I’m sorry.”

“…Did our kids at the entrance just let you go? We received a bid for this dungeon and are currently filming so it would be troublesome if you came in without permission.”

I am a survivor but I don’t think the situation was as dire as I thought.

These people were currently filming for YouTube without even knowing what was happening in this dungeon.

Perhaps because it was inside a dungeon unlike outside even the people holding cameras were players and none of the five people present had been consumed by magic.

In fact this is a much more serious problem.

This means that these people still don’t realize what is happening to them.

In other words it also means that the play starring the doppelganger is going very well.

I said to them with a bitter smile.

“When I told him I came to see Mr. Gu Min-su he said he would step aside.”

“Brother Minsu?”

“I made an appointment in advance today. I wanted to come here and see you in person and talk about it.”

“Ah that returnee! That returnee right?”

“That’s it.”

“You should have said that earlier. Hey youngest. The walkie-talkie still doesn’t work? Take this person to Minsu hyung. Didn’t you hear what he said earlier?”

“Oh a new contestant candidate? Of course I heard about it.”

Like Seol Se-myeong who spoke to me outside it seems like they also received information about me.

They chatted with each other for a while and then the man who was called the youngest bowed his head slightly toward me and said:

“I will guide you! Follow me.”

“thank you.”

As he spoke he motioned for me to follow him and I followed him quietly.

After encountering the first group of survivors a fair number of survivors began to appear.

And I also noticed some mimics mixed in between.

One odd thing was that none of them found it strange that the Mimics kept their mouths shut.

It would be strange if someone I was working with suddenly stopped talking but none of them raised an issue.

“That’s right… That’s right! Oh. That’s what I’m saying? You think so too right?”

“You want to go home quickly? Me too.”

No there were survivors who were actually talking to the Mimic who had his mouth shut.

The one-sided conversation was unpleasantly bizarre and I soon realized that it was a phenomenon caused by the magic mixed in the damp air.

This space had already become a theater for doppelgangers.

Although there were still many players who had been consumed by the magic they were already facing the hallucinations as a group.

To their eyes and ears it will seem as if those mimics wearing the masks of their comrades are speaking to them.

The fact that the doppelganger was using this level of collective hallucination also meant that he had gathered a lot of power.

Yeah since I’ve collected that much the magic will flow out of the dungeon.

It was when I was looking around with my eyes shining with interest.

The man who was guiding me smiled and said perhaps misunderstanding my expression.

“There’s absolutely no need to be nervous just because it’s a dungeon. We already have the dungeon under our control. We’ve already captured the dungeon’s boss.”

capture?

What kind of fresh nonsense is this?

“Capture?”

“Ah! That’s how dungeon filming usually goes. If you kill the boss the dungeon disappears. But it’s dangerous to just leave it alone right? That’s why we capture the boss after intentionally disabling it. That way the monsters in the dungeon are also weakened making it easier to find the right angle for filming.”

So you’re saying that for the sake of filming the YouTube video you intentionally made the boss almost die and kept him alive until filming was over?

Sometimes when I see things like this I think that maybe even Satan needs to learn a thing or two from humans.

After listening to the story I realized that this situation was ultimately one’s own doing.

I’ve been filming dungeon content like this for a while now but this time I was unlucky enough to get caught by a doppelganger.

anyway.

He guided me to the boss’s office where Minsu was while telling me various stories.

“Let’s talk inside and see you later. I think it would be great if we filmed together!”

“Yes yes me too. Well then thank you for your hard work.”

The ‘youngest’ one who had fulfilled his duty quickly retreated.

I watched his back as he walked away then quietly entered the room.

Then there.

“Wouldn’t it be better to set the editing point a little differently? Yeah right there. That’s perfect.”

Player K who we have already seen several times in the video.

Mr. Ku Min-soo was having an active conversation with the staff.

He was so absorbed in his work for a long time and then at one point he looked at me and asked me.

“I haven’t seen your face before… What brings you here?”

I don’t know how many times today I’ve been asked this question.

I answered his question with a smile.

“I was introduced to Inwook. My name is Kim Siwoo Inwook’s older brother.”

“Ah! Siwoo! I heard a lot about you from Inwook yesterday! I was already waiting for you to come. You’re much cooler than Inwook said.”

Minsu was the epitome of what is called an ‘in-crowd.’

He was much more handsome than he looked in the video and his voice was a low-mid range that was easy to listen to.

He had a confident smile on his face and then he reached for a folding chair next to him and said.

“You must have had a hard time coming here so why don’t you sit down here for now? Hey guys? After you’ve set up the editing like I said why don’t you step outside for a bit so I can talk to the guests?”

“yes.”

“Thank you. See you later.”

He sent out what appeared to be his subordinates then looked at me and said:

“Because the sense of presence is so important for this content I bring all the editors who can come to the site.”

“Oh so they are players too?”

“That’s right. Many of my friends who have awakened but are not good enough to be hunters apply to me. Not all players are the same. However I make sure to give them a decent salary. Haha… Look at my mind. You came a long way and all I can offer you is mixed coffee? Is that okay?”

“I like mixed coffee.”

“thank god!”

After hearing my answer Minsu skillfully poured coffee into the paper cup next to him.

And then he continued speaking while handing it to me.

“Is Inwook outside because he’s not a player?”

“Inwook wasn’t feeling well today so I came alone.”

“Tsk tsk. I guess I should make some medicine and send it to him. Was he in poor health when he was young? He used to get sick a lot when he was editing my videos.”

When things are awkward between two people the most effective way to have a conversation is to talk about what you have in common.

Just by looking at this you can guess how clingy this person is.

Is this his original personality or did he change while doing the show?

I took a sip of the mixed coffee he gave me and nodded in response.

“He’s a funny guy.”

“yes?”

“Ah Inwook. He was weak since he was little.”

“Haha! I thought so. Well you’re such a nice person. Since you’ve entered the dungeon you must be a player so without further ado let’s talk about work…”

“Before that can I ask you one thing?”

It was a question with a rather sudden timing but Minsu nodded with a smile.

“As much as you want.”

“I’m a bit of a worrier… Are you sure the filming process is safe?”

To my question Minsu nodded as if he understood then walked towards the curtain installed in a corner of the room and spoke.

“It’s understandable since this is your first time in a dungeon. Now let’s take a look.”

As he said this he removed the curtain and soon a translucent blue curtain appeared.

Beyond the curtain ‘it’ was trapped bound with a golden rope.

Minsu continued speaking pointing at ‘it’ with his finger.

“As you can see I always put safety first. There are many scenes that look dangerous in my YouTube videos but in fact all the videos are filmed with me and other combat personnel ensuring safety.”

“I heard from my younger sibling that one of the people got off because he was sick.”

“Oh that person’s chronic illness has gotten worse… If you’re worried about his safety you can take your time watching the filming and decide. I can understand that much since you just got back.”

“Good.”

“There is no reason to force it.”

He finished speaking like that and I got up from my seat drinking all the mixed coffee left in my paper cup.

Then he walked towards Minsu and held out his hand to him saying:

“Okay. Then shall we shake hands?”

“Okay.”

Minsu readily accepted my request to shake hands and shook my hand.

The moment when his snow-white hand finally touched mine.

Whoosh whoosh-!

A white flame rose from my arm and instantly enveloped him and soon a terrible scream burst out of his mouth.

“Eeeeeeeeeeek!”

[Information on the passive skill <Holy Fire> is synchronized.]

“It’s not fun when you’re the only ones fooling us. A play needs to have some kind of twist. Isn’t that right?”

“Kkaaaaaaah!”

I put my mouth near the ear of Minsu who was suffering or rather his doppelganger and whispered quietly.

“How was my acting?”

Our Pope please stop this