I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 37: The Noisy Doppelgänger

Mary walked through the streets, having left her boss room.

Every now and then, she dealt with the Spider Ghosts that had latched onto other entities.

Unlike other ghosts, the Spider Ghosts had a habit of attacking their own kind.

Mary found it irritating.

She wiped the thick fluid off her sharp dagger, frowning.

"My knife is filthy. And so is my mood."

When wandering, one could see all kinds of ghosts. They were mostly indifferent to one another, but sometimes they conversed.

Among the bosses, Mary was one of the few who could actually understand their words.

Ghosts were always searching for someone.

Yet, they themselves had no idea who they were looking for.

It was disturbingly similar to her own predicament.

And it left her feeling unsettled.

"Who am I looking for?"

Muttering to herself, Mary continued slicing through the relentless Spider Ghosts.

She was usually absentminded, but lately, a vivid image of an adult woman kept surfacing in her thoughts, leaving her confused.

Who was this woman, and why did she keep appearing in her mind?

And why did she feel such an overwhelming sense of longing for her?

Mary had no answers.

She imagined herself lost in a forest.

With a sharp slash—she cut through the web blocking her path.

At that moment, she noticed something was obscuring the moonlight.

Mary looked up at the sky.

"...?"

The Spider Ghosts had woven webs between the buildings, using them as bridges.

Behind them, numerous ghosts were being wrapped up and abducted.

A Clock Rabbit, a Clock-Headed Monster, a Fear of Being Chased by Time, a Walking Time Bomb with Legs—

All of them were entities connected to the concept of time.

Mary listened closely.

The time-related ghosts were muttering something.

[Time is flowing twisted. It’s skipping the process and forcing a birth!]

Naturally, Mary didn’t understand a word of it.

She merely tilted her head.

"What are ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) you up to, Spider Lady?"

Her mind drifted to the other bosses.

After a brief moment of consideration, she came to a conclusion.

"Not my problem."

With that, Mary continued walking, still pondering the person she was searching for.

-----

I dodged the doppelgänger Ha-rim's attack.

She swung a strange weapon.

A crude makeshift weapon, haphazardly taped and glued together from various items.

It was nothing like an artifact formed through proper synthesis.

But the power behind it wasn’t something to take lightly.

The performance of the combined items must have stacked, amplifying their effects beyond even artifact-level power.

This isn’t how item crafting works in the game. Even with the reality patch, a mere doppelgänger shouldn’t be capable of coming up with this.

"Enough. Your attacks won’t work on me."

A doppelgänger mimics its target so perfectly that even it might forget its own identity.

If it had copied Ha-rim flawlessly, then its abilities should still be limited by her potential.

That included her physical prowess.

A mere imitation couldn’t overpower me, a being with supernatural strength.

[You're all so selfish. Ella, why did you kill Kyung-min? He won the game, yet you still broke your promise!]

"...Wait, are you following the original route?"

In Chapter 1, Ella was supposed to decapitate Kyung-min.

This was a horror game, a merciless world of despair.

Everyone except Ha-rim was meant to die in the original route.

Might as well check.

Casually dodging, I threw out a question.

"Do you remember what happened to Eun-jung and Soo-ho?"

Rage flickered across the doppelgänger Ha-rim’s face.

Even if it wasn’t truly her, this was the first time I had ever seen Ha-rim angry.

[Soo-ho was stabbed to death! Eun-jung suffocated in a web! You all killed them!]

The fury in its voice rattled me.

For a moment, I felt a crushing guilt, as if I had actually been the one who killed them.

I had to snap out of it. I had never killed anyone.

The doppelgänger Ha-rim shouted, her voice trembling with emotion.

[So...]

But then, the atmosphere shifted.

[You're going to pay the price.]

"?!"

She pulled a bottle from her backpack and splashed its contents toward me.

Holy water...!

I instinctively dodged. The liquid splattered across the floor, soaking the entire hallway.

"Looks like you missed."

Ha-rim didn’t react.

She simply pulled out another item.

A Clear Skies Doll.

The same item we had used to counter the Acid Rain attack from the Junk Demon.

Why now...?

The moment she activated the doll, the holy water scattered on the floor turned into floating droplets.

Because the liquid had spread so widely, it was now practically impossible to move without touching it.

Sizzle.

The holy water burned my skin on contact.

I need to get out of here.

The entire corridor was now filled with floating holy water droplets.

Not that it mattered—I could simply escape through the mirrors.

But the fact that she was using items this way... Not bad.

Just behind the doppelgänger Ha-rim, I spotted the perfect mirror.

I slipped into it, aiming to strike from behind.

But as soon as I emerged, she spun around and swung her weapon.

"Urk?!"

A shallow cut—blood trickled from my skin.

[I placed that mirror there myself, Ella. I knew you’d go for it, being a Mirror Ghost.]

"You—!"

The wound wasn’t deep.

I pulled away and retaliated, slashing at her.

But not a single strike landed.

She dodged everything?

[Ella, you’re easy to read. You may seem calm, but your temper is ingrained in your movements.]

"Shut up, you fake!"

[Right, left. If that fails, go for the torso. And now—]

Her blade grazed my cheek.

She was predicting all of my attacks.

That’s impossible.

A doppelgänger is just a mimic.

It should only be able to copy its target’s potential.

Is this really Ha-rim’s full potential?

Even if I tried to brute-force my way through, she countered before I could act.

Her attacks weren’t just reckless swings—they were precise.

Every move chipped away at me, inflicting small but effective wounds.

This... this felt like I was being strategically dismantled.

Realization hit me like a brick.

A chill ran down my spine.

My attacks weren’t landing, and my swings were getting more frantic.

If I could just land one solid hit—

Just one... and I could bring her down!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

"You little pest!"

I slammed the ground hard, yelling like a classic villain.

Boom! The floor trembled violently.

The doppelgänger Ha-rim must have thought the floor was going to collapse, as she quickly leaped onto the window frame for safety.

Now she was trapped.

"Stay right there!"

Seizing the moment, I lunged at her.

But unexpectedly, she jumped right out the window.

"What?!"

The window now stood empty.

I could only stare blankly.

"What the hell—"

[Luck]

At that moment, something round came flying toward me in a strange trajectory from outside the window.

I twisted my body to dodge, but it adjusted mid-air to match my movement.

I had no choice but to take the hit.

The moment I opened my eyes—I was falling.

Most likely, it was a Frog Egg item from the frog-like ghost.

A cursed item that swapped positions with the target.

From where I had been standing, I could see doppelgänger Ha-rim now staring down at me with a blank expression.

"I'm losing... in terms of creativity?!"

Why the hell was she using it like that?!

She opened a book in her hands and began chanting a spell.

It was an artifact, just like Kyung-min’s magic tome.

From the asphalt below, chains shot out, reaching for me.

She must have judged that simply falling from this height wouldn’t deal enough damage.

Instead, she planned to accelerate my fall using the chains.

"These stupid chains—!"

[Strength. Fades.]

—Chime.

Eun-jung’s bell rang softly.

The purification effect weakened my strength just enough that I couldn’t break the chains.

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I had no choice but to fall, dragged by both gravity and the tightening chains.

"Youuuuuu—!"

The ground rushed toward me.

BOOM!

Dust exploded into the air from the impact.

The shock was greater than I expected.

I staggered as I forced myself up.

"Cough! Cough! Damn it..."

I should’ve jumped into a mirror instead... but I was too caught off guard to think.

By the time I was fully on my feet, doppelgänger Ha-rim was standing behind me, blade at my back.

Ah, shit.

How was I supposed to deal with this thing?

Even if I ran, the doppelgänger would just reappear near Ha-rim.

"How about we talk this out?"

I still had the upper hand in physical ability.

But I hadn't landed a single attack so far.

Without realizing it, my voice came out weaker than I intended.

[If you can still talk after losing your head.]

That’s terrifying.

Are you sure you’re Ha-rim’s doppelgänger?

She raised her sword to strike at my neck.

I prepared to jump into a nearby mirror and escape.

Clatter!

[!!!]

Chains burst out from the ground.

Doppelgänger Ha-rim flipped backward, narrowly avoiding them.

This was Kyung-min’s artifact.

The loud noise must’ve alerted everyone.

As the dust settled, Kyung-min appeared beside me and helped me up.

"Ella, are you okay?"

"...You look kind of cool today, Kyung-min."

"Ahem!"

His face turned slightly red as he quickly looked away.

He supported me as we moved toward the others.

There, Ha-rim stood, waving at me.

"Ella!"

Wow, the real Ha-rim.

You are ridiculously strong. I just got my ass kicked.

"Prepare to fire."

James gave the order, and his squad aimed their weapons.

With this much firepower, no amount of trickery would save the doppelgänger now.

Checkmate.

[What...? Why is everyone alive?]

The doppelgänger Ha-rim looked completely lost, unable to accept her situation.

"...That thing’s a ghost, right, Ella?"

Soo-ho turned to me.

The resemblance was uncanny, aside from a single mark distinguishing them.

Even Ha-rim herself seemed unsettled.

"Yeah. A doppelgänger. You’ve heard of them, right?"

Everyone nodded.

Of course, they had—it was one of the most infamous ghosts out there.

[Why... Why is everyone alive? What kind of ghost are you?! Ah! I don’t get it! I don’t get it! Everyone—look at me! It's me! It's me!]

The doppelgänger Ha-rim suddenly screamed.

Doppelgängers were ghosts, yes, but they also mimicked their target’s thought process.

A tragic ghost—one that didn’t even know it was fake.

The emotions it radiated were neither real nor fake.

[It’s me! I’m Shin Ha-rim! That thing over there is the fake! That doppelgänger is an absolute nuisance...!]

As the doppelgänger Ha-rim took a hesitant step forward, Eun-jung flinched and stepped back.

Soo-ho immediately positioned himself in front of her protectively.

The sight seemed to strike the doppelgänger hard.

Her voice grew more desperate.

[Why are you acting like this, Eun-jung?! Everyone’s acting weird. From the start, keeping Ella by your side is what’s weird! She’s a monster!]

Eun-jung spoke up.

"But Ella is our friend."

[What nonsense are you talking about?! A person and a ghost can’t be friends!]

"Don’t say such awful things about Ella!"

Eun-jung snapped back, angry now.

The doppelgänger Ha-rim wavered at the reaction, stumbling slightly.

Eun-jung looked guilty for a moment.

[This... This isn’t right. You’re all being deceived. There’s no way she would ever protect anyone.]

"Harsh review... Ahem. Anyway, it’s about time you disappeared, don’t you think? Between the two of you, you are the doppelgänger. No one has died here. And I won’t let anyone die. Because these people and I are—friends."

[I’m... the fake?]

Screech—

The doppelgänger clutched her head, mumbling.

[I tried... Every time I lost you guys, I tried... I did everything I could to keep anyone from dying...!]

She poured out her emotions.

[Even when I was scared, I moved forward. Even when I was sad, I kept going. As long as I was alive... As long as I kept moving, I was told that was the most beautiful thing! It’s in Faust, too, you know!]

"....."

[Then why is this the ending?! Why am I the fake?! This is the result I wanted, and yet I’M the intruder?! AAAAAH!!!!]

The doppelgänger screamed, then suddenly locked eyes with the real Ha-rim.

[You over there! You and I—we’re the same!]

The doppelgänger rushed toward Ha-rim.

James prepared to give the order to fire, but I stopped him.

I didn’t want this to end like this.

The feelings in her words—they weren’t hers, and yet they weren’t not hers.

I stepped forward, blocking the doppelgänger from reaching the others.

"Stay away from them."

[...YOU! Why are you protecting them?!]

"How many times do I have to say it? We’re friends. Don’t make me say it again—it’s embarrassing."

[...]

The doppelgänger fell silent.

She looked utterly thrown off by my calm response.

"I’m sorry."

[...?]

I suddenly apologized to her.

"I don’t know if this will mean anything, but I’m sorry. From your perspective, I must be the enemy—the one who killed your friends. I can understand your feelings, at least a little. But you’ve realized it too, haven’t you?"

"These people are alive, and I’m protecting them because I’m their friend. This timeline is different from yours."

"You were scared, weren’t you? You tried your best. But I can’t give you the reward you wanted. So, I’m really, truly sorry."

An empty apology.

There was nothing I could do for her.

In the end, I was supposed to eliminate her.

But upon hearing my words, the doppelgänger’s trembling subsided.

[...This is the first time I’ve ever been apologized to. Just words, and yet... they’re shaking me. Why? Is it because I finally met someone who understands? No... I was just lonely.]

"...Are you crying?"

A teardrop fell from the doppelgänger Ha-rim’s eyes.

[...You’re not lying, are you? You really think of them as friends?]

"I do."

[The truth is... I was exhausted. I’ve been tired ever since Kyung-min died. If I had met you back then... if we had become friends... would everything have been different?]

"...Maybe."

[Hey... could I be your friend, too?]

"......"

I didn’t answer.

The doppelgänger already knew.

[I see. You already have another me as a friend.]

She looked at the real Ha-rim.

[No dark circles. No oversized backpack. No tear stains. And no bandages piling up like barnacles.]

The real Ha-rim stepped beside me and firmly held my hand.

The doppelgänger gazed at the sight bitterly.

[You and I... are different.]

And with that, her body collapsed.

[Time is twisted. Be careful, all of you.]

The moment she admitted she was different from the original—

She lost her identity and was erased.

The remnants of her existence were absorbed into me.

It left a bitter taste.

She was a ghost.

Even knowing she wasn’t real, I still felt affected.

"Ella..."

Ha-rim looked at me with concern.

I reassured her, then sent everyone back to rest.

Finally, I looked down at the item that had fallen to the ground.

"This is...?"

Doppelgängers normally didn’t drop any special items.

But it wasn’t impossible for them to drop something.

This was a rare M.P. item.

The M.P. series—

A collection of ridiculously rare items that could drop from any ghost, regardless of type.

They all had the label M.P. and were infamous for being designed to torment players.

This one was the opposite of Ha-rim’s artifact—it carried the effect of Misfortune.

If equipped, it would make the game exponentially harder by ensuring that nothing ever went in the player’s favor.

"....."

Items were meant to be used.

Even a cursed one could be useful if applied creatively—just like the doppelgänger had done.

So I shouldn’t throw it away carelessly.

"...."

I looked at the others as they walked away.

I thought about my past.

About my senior.

I looked down at the item.

Crunch!

I stomped on it.

I pressed down harder—just in case.

Because you never knew. You never knew.

I never wanted to go back to that time.

That thought alone made my decision for me.