Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 22: Doppelganger.

''...''

That... That was so dangerous. I really underestimated the creatures in this world, huh...

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Name: Aurora              

Race: Owl-kin                    Title: The Underdog

Level: 30

HP: 84/84                    MP: 110/110

STR: 4.6                     INT: 8.2

AGI: 4.7                    STA: 4.3

Skill:[Light Magic Lv.5], [Sharp Claw Lv.5],
[Domination Lv.3], [Ice Magic Lv.4],
[Enhanced Hearing Lv.2], [Stealth Lv.2],
[Inspect Lv.2], [Swordsmanship Lv.2],
[Night Vision Lv.1], [Pain Tolerance Lv.1],
[Heal Lv.1], [Auto Regeneration Lv.1],
[Language Lv.1], [Blink Lv.1], [Acceleration Lv.1],
[Telepathy Lv.1].

State: Normal.

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My level went up by a lot though. Look at those stats...! And I got a cool-sounding title as well.

[Apostle of Light: Nemesis of demons. +0.3 for all stats when facing demons] [Rare]

Decent. I'll equip this one when I meet another demon, then.

auf

''Oh.''

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Smiley runs up to me and nuzzles his way into my feet. I stroke his back in silence. In the corner of my eyes, I see Skely and Ariel go up to me.

''Thank you, Lady Aurora. Truly.''

I look up at the siblings.

''...It was my decision in the first place.''

''We all agreed to it.'' Skely shakes his head.

''Yeah, we have to say thank you.'' Ariel adds.

''Then thank Mister Slen, too.''

Without him, I would've died for sure.

'''' Thank you. ''''

Yes

Mister Slen simply nods. Also, I wonder what happened to him at the last minute.

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Name: Slen               

Race: Slenderman                    Title: --

Level: 23

HP: 71/71                    MP: 75/75

STR: 3.6                    INT: 6.5

AGI: 4.0                    STA: 3.8

Skill: [Invincible Lv.3], [Status Condition Nullification lv.3],
[Slender Walking Lv.1], [Impersonation Lv.1],
[Telepathy Lv.1].

State: Happy.

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Wait, what's going on with skills here...? 

[Invincible: Temporarily set all stats to 9.0. HP cannot be decreased during the activation duration. Skill usage disabled for 30 minutes after the duration ended. Cost: 35 MP, Duration: 15 seconds, CD: 1 hour] [Legendary]

[Status Condition Nullification: Increase the user's resistance to all status conditions] [Epic]

''...Don't tell me.'' I swipe the windows away and look at Mister Slen intently. ''You saved your skill points for emergencies like these?''

To that, he gives me another nod.

Mister Slen is the best...!

---

After catching up on all the stuff that just happened, which can be summed up as Skely getting to level 23 together with Mister Slen while Ariel and Smiley stayed the same, and my side of explanation, it is now time to find our treasure.

''The demon single-handedly defeated all of these golems, huh...'' Ariel mutters, looking at the frozen corpses of golems near us. 

''Why was he here in the first place?'' I ask Skely in particular.

''Well, demons are akin to natural disasters.'' He replies. ''They can appear anytime, anywhere—unpredictable. And they are extremely strong as well.''

''For reference, how strong was the one just now?''

''Level forty-five... It should be somewhere in the middle range. It's not certain though, as we weren't able to peer into its status screen.''

''[Inspect Evasion], huh...''

I might need to use my skill points on increasing my [Inspect] level later, just for opponents like that guy. And maybe have the evasion skill for myself. I have fifteen skill points now, I'm rich. Filthy rich.

''Before you went ahead and buy more skills, Lady Aurora.'' Skely suddenly interrupts my line of thought. ''It should generally be better to focus on leveling up skills you already have instead, now that you have a decent skillset.''

''...I see.''

Fine, fine.

''Regardless... Where's all the treasure?'' I ask.

We've been wandering inside this room for a while now, and I don't see no treasure.

''There has to be something... Ariel, can I as you again?'' Skely turns to the lazily drifting banshee.

''Leave it to me.''

Ariel flies away with that.

Hm, I need to go hunt with Smiley and Ariel later. Their levels are quite lacking compared to us.

'''' ... ''''

''Skely. What will happen to this ice?'' 

''It will melt over time, or you can make them disappear. It usually works in either of those ways.''

I want these to be gone.

''Oh.''

All the ice that covered the cave instantly turns into millions of sparkling particles and disappears into nothingness. That's cool.

After waiting a bit more, Ariel comes back.

''I found something under those golems.'' She reports. ''A casket. Inside is a doll.''

''Anything special?''

''Nope, no traps either.''

''Hm... Let's see it.''

---

We decided to move the golem by hand, as a way to test our strength after leveling up. I was surprised by how strong I was, able to lift golem parts easily.

Either way, after some time has passed, I can finally see the casket that Ariel told us about. The black casket is buried in the ground, only the lid with a silver star embedded on it is visible.

clack

I slowly lift the lid, revealing a bleach-white doll with a rather rough degree of perfection. Its joints are plainly visible, and the size is around... Smiley's size?

Now, the question is, should I touch it or not?

gulp

Curiosity kicks in. I extend my right wing and poke the doll lightly, and at that moment-

''!!''

The doll begins to levitate, radiating a faint silver aura. Strangely, I don't sense any danger, rather, it feels... Familiar?

''Fall back first.'' I grab Smiley and get away from the doll, along with everyone else.

''That aura... Wait, don't tell me...!'' 

''Skely?''

''It might be a doppelganger, Lady Aurora!'' Skely says excitedly. ''Incredible, to think that we would find one here...''

Really?! The one who would copy other people's appearances?

''Is it that rare?''

''We haven't found one for a few hundred years, in our era, at least.''

So they went extinct. Well, not really, there's one here. And judging from Skely's reaction, it doesn't seem to be dangerous. So let's see.

''Oh.''

Right then, the silver aura of the doll extends toward my chest. I can feel a connection being established between me and the doll. A pathway, or something similar.

The doll then slowly flies up to me, and its body starts to inflate. Gradually, its torso grows larger, its limbs stretch out, and a flesh-like membrane begins to generate from the head, covering the joints and everything else.

From its head, silky white hair spurts out, eyes and nose, mouth begin to form on its face. Below, two white wings grow from its waist.

Before long, standing before me is... Me. Exactly the same. It's even wearing the same robe as me.

''This servant is honored to have met you.'' It speaks up with my voice, but monotone. ''Please take care of me from now on.'' It bows respectfully.

''...Was doppelgangers supposed to be servants?'' I voice my question.

''Well, ye-''

''Yes, master.'' It cuts Skely right off, rendering him speechless. ''We were created to serve our masters. My serial number is AEN-035.''

Isn't this just a smart servant...?

---

We decided to teleport back to our cave right after that. After some consultations, I've come to know a few things about the doppelganger.

And apparently, doppelgangers are supposed to be faithful servants who can be found in the wild, just like Pokémons. Their primary role is to infiltrate and spy—anything that requires advanced impersonation.

I also made... Her? My follower, thus gaining my final linked skill—[Deception]. It allows me to fake my status screen to anyone who uses [Inspect] on me. Tested, it worked. Sometimes I feel like it's going too well for me, but looking back at the fight with Suk, I don't really know anymore.

Regardless, now, sitting together in our little cave, we're deciding on what we should do with her. So firstly, her status screen looks like this.

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Name: --                

Race: Doppelganger                    Title: --

Level: 1

HP: 10/10                    MP: 10/10

STR: 2.0                    INT: 6.5

AGI: 2.0                    STA: 2.0

Skill: [Doppelganger-1 Lv.10], [Doppelganger-2 Lv.10],
[Deception Lv.5].

State: Normal.

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Her level is fixed at 1, which is supposedly normal for doppelgangers, according to Skely. 

[Doppelganger-1: Enable the user to perfectly copy other entities' appearances] [Unique]

[Doppelganger-2: Link the user's soul to the designated master's soul] [Unique]

The first skill is straightforward, but the second one is again, a bit ambiguous. But we have Skely. He told me that basically, it allows the doppelganger to survive even if its body is destroyed, and that I can move my consciousness into the doppelganger's body as I want, all because my soul is linked to its soul. I will have to test this later.

All in all, her stats are miserable, and she doesn't have anything other than impersonation skills. So naturally...

''Let's make her infiltrate the human world.''

I stare intently at the motionless, expressionless version of myself. One that could potentially open up my pathway to human society again.