The scene changed.
Yeon Haneul swung her iron hammer.
The scene changed again.
Yeon Haneul swung her iron hammer.
The scene changed yet again.
Yeon Haneul swung her iron hammer.
Yeon Haneul swung her iron hammer.
Yeon Haneul swung her iron hammer.
Yeon Haneul swung her iron hammer.
:
And then the scene changed.
* * *
The monster was quick.
Whenever Yeon Haneul tried to find it, it immediately changed the dream.
Then it hid in the newly altered dream and played hide-and-seek with her all over again.
It was a continuous cycle of hiding, searching, chasing, and fleeing.
‘How many times has this been now…?’
If only she could catch it just once, she would be able to end this cycle.
But the creature never gave her the chance.
Now she no longer knew how many times it had changed.
Having given up counting at some point, Yeon Haneul was beginning to feel exhausted.
She was being affected, knowingly or not, by the nightmares it kept showing her.
It was the creature’s scheme to wait until her strength ran out, then kill her.
‘It changed again.’
Yeon Haneul could more or less guess the creature’s nature.
It was patient, and it valued its own safety above all else in any situation.
Such an opponent was not easy to deal with.
It would never reveal itself until its safety was guaranteed and it was certain of victory.
‘I have to find it and kill it before it changes the dream.’
In the end, to catch it, she had no choice but to create a situation that would draw it out, or catch it off guard.
Or else, simply destroy the world within the dream along with the creature hiding inside it.
With her power, it was possible.
“…”
More than anything, she had her Gift.
So while it would be a burden, if she put her mind to it, it was not something she could not do.
However.
‘…I don’t want to use my Gift.’
Yeon Haneul was hesitating.
Even though she had realized long ago how to break through the situation, she could not bring herself to make up her mind.
Just then, the scene changed.
“Haneul, what are you thinking about?”
“…”
It was the place where she had eaten lunch with Do Gyeonu after the first exam.
The lakeside of Geumgang Academy.
Yeon Haneul was being questioned by Do Gyeonu, who stood right beside her.
The expression on his face, as if he were curious about her, was simply adorable.
But she was not fooled.
“What girl is it this time? Are you trying to provoke me by showing me who you’re dating?”
Yeon Haneul gripped the metal plaque.
She looked ready to draw out her iron hammer at any moment.
At that moment, Do Gyeonu tilted his head.
“What? What are you talking about? Who would I be dating?”
“Why? Then are you just flirting with someone? You’re not dating yet?”
“I don’t know what kind of joke you’re making… I’m dating you. You.”
“…What?”
With a look of disbelief, Do Gyeonu lightly tapped Yeon Haneul on the forehead.
Having heard something she had never expected, she blankly blinked her red eyes.
Then he emphasized it again.
“We’re dating. You and me.”
“…Really?”
“Did you have a dream or something?”
“I am in a dream.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This dream isn’t bad…”
Yeon Haneul murmured vacantly.
Do Gyeonu gave a small laugh and held out his hand.
She stared fixedly at it.
“…What does this hand mean?”
“What else would it mean? Let’s hold hands.”
“…”
“We came out for a walk as part of our date. Don’t tell me you don’t want to hold hands.”
“No, that’s not it.”
Yeon Haneul shook her head vigorously.
Then she carefully reached out and took his hand.
A smile spread across her face.
“Then shall we keep walking?”
“Yeah! Let’s.”
In any case, she had to find the creature hiding somewhere in the dream.
Though she could not tell what its intention was, Yeon Haneul decided to hold Do Gyeonu’s hand and stroll along the lakeside, if only to relieve the fatigue that had built up until now.
It was then that she heard a voice.
“Gyeonu…? What is that girl?”
It was a familiar voice.
When she turned her head, she caught her breath.
“…”
“What are you? Why are you there?”
“…Yeon Haneul? Haneul is clearly here… Why are there two of you?”
Someone who looked exactly like her was approaching, her face twisted with venomous, unpleasant emotion.
No, it was not merely that she looked exactly like her. It was as if she had been copied outright.
Shaken at the sight of her, Yeon Haneul failed to react in time.
“What are you, standing next to Gyeonu? How dare you imitate me!?”
She shoved Yeon Haneul hard.
Unable to withstand the force, Yeon Haneul let go of Do Gyeonu’s hand.
In that brief interval, the girl snatched his hand.
“Gyeonu, I’m the real Yeon Haneul.”
“Haneul, what is going on…”
“She’s fake. I must have made her with my Gift without realizing it.”
“Really? No wonder I thought something felt strange earlier…”
“No.”
“…”
“I’m… not a clone.”
She pressed herself close to Do Gyeonu and pointed a finger at Yeon Haneul.
Confusion entered Do Gyeonu’s eyes.
Taking in that scene with both eyes, Yeon Haneul could not help denying it, even knowing she was inside a dream world.
But that was not the only existence that seemed to have copied her.
“Gyeonu! She’s fake!”
“The real one is here! Don’t be fooled!”
“I’m Yeon Haneul! What are you people!?”
“Gyeonu, you can tell, right? I’m the real Yeon Haneul.”
“Get away from Gyeonu!”
“I’m the original. Please believe me.”
“Gyeonu, I’m…”
“Who on earth is the real one!?”
Beings whose body type, voice, personality, and manner of speech were all exactly the same as Yeon Haneul appeared from somewhere.
Their numbers continued to grow.
As they crowded around Do Gyeonu, they all insisted that they were the real one.
But Do Gyeonu could not tell them apart and was simply being swept around by them.
“…No.”
Standing apart from them, Yeon Haneul shook her head and spoke.
“I’m not a clone. I’m not.”
As if repeating it to herself.
Yeon Haneul desperately denied it.
“I’m the real one.”
Her face twisted as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
But no matter how much Yeon Haneul pleaded, every word that left her mouth was no different from what the clones before her were all claiming.
“I’m Yeon Haneul!”
“Gyeonu! I’m here!”
“…”
She had no way to prove herself.
No, there was exactly one.
Yeon Haneul activated her device.
“Device On.”
“…”
It was simple. She just had to kill them all.
She only had to kill every last one of them before her until only she remained.
That would prove it.
Then no one would misunderstand.
“Device On.”
It seemed they had the same thought.
They, too, brought out iron hammers.
Yeon Haneul and the others fought.
Crunch!
Yeon Haneul killed Yeon Haneul.
Crack!
Yeon Haneul killed Yeon Haneul.
Crush!
Yeon Haneul killed Yeon Haneul.
Yeon Haneul killed Yeon Haneul.
Yeon Haneul killed Yeon Haneul.
Yeon Haneul killed Yeon Haneul.
:
* * *
“…”
Yeon Haneul opened her eyes.
She was inside a dream yet again.
“At this rate, there’ll be no end to it.”
Now she did not even look around.
Speaking in a bleak tone, Yeon Haneul decided to destroy the dream world itself.
It was something she could resolve by using the mana within her body and her Gift.
She activated her Gift.
It was fine. There was no need to worry.
It was inside a dream anyway.
Even if she activated her Gift, it would only be something that happened within the dream.
It would not be reflected in reality.
Even if it was reflected.
“I just have to kill them all.”
Yeon Haneul split apart.
The versions of her that multiplied exponentially destroyed the dream world.
They all muttered the same words.
“I’m the real one. I’m the real one. I’m the real one. I’m the real one. I’m the real one. I’m the real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The real one. The rea…”
“I have to be the real one.”
* * *
Right when the creature attacked me, my evasion instinct did activate.
But even before that, I had already seen through its identity.
I knew by feel. It was intuition.
‘It just… didn’t feel like Haneul.’
The moment I first met its eyes.
The moment I glimpsed the killing intent within them.
I felt as though I were facing someone else.
Even with the girls in the dream, however faintly, I had felt the emotions I felt toward Yeon Haneul. But with this creature, I felt none of that at all.
Instead, it was only repulsive and unpleasant.
‘How dare you wear Haneul’s face?’
That said, I could not simply rely on my intuition and kill it.
So I deliberately left an opening and waited for my evasion instinct to activate.
The result was that my intuition had been correct.
The moment I felt my evasion instinct trigger, I was able to thrust my sword into the creature without hesitation.
“So you finally revealed your true form. I really had a hard time finding you.”
“You bastard…”
Once the monster had been recognized by me, it could no longer maintain Yeon Haneul’s form.
After firing off magic in rapid succession and creating distance, the creature had, before I knew it, become an old man.
It was the old man from the portrait.
“Now that I’ve completely caught you, you probably can’t change the dream midway anymore, and you can’t transform into Haneul anymore either.”
“…”
“With that frail body and those pathetic muscles, you won’t be any match for me. What are you going to do?”
I gripped the Ultramarine Sword and jeered at him.
Then the old man, who had been glaring at me, suddenly snorted and shot back.
“What is wrong with this body? If I lack a few paltry muscles, I can simply make them.”
“…”
It was right after the creature said that.
I doubted my own eyes.
“I, who know how to manipulate dreams.”
Twitch!
“Do you think I cannot make even a single muscle?”
Riiip!
“So long as I exist within a dream.”
Rumble!
“Everything comes true as I desire! I can become anything!”
“…”
Starting with the muscles of his face, the old man’s muscles began to writhe, then swelled rapidly.
Like a balloon—no, like the vitamin C in the hotel room—they grew grotesquely, as if they had no limit.
Because of that, the clothes he was wearing tore apart.
In the span of a mere moment, the sickly-looking old man transformed into a muscular giant.
Swoooosh!
“Do you still think you can say I look frail? Behold these muscles!”
“...Killer.”
The old man was so enormous that even if I lifted my head and looked up, I could not see his face.
The booming sound he made with that body was not drowned out even by the rain.
In front of the old man, I was no different from an ant that could be stepped on without him noticing.
I was purely impressed.
But I felt no fear.
Not even the slightest.
“If they’re killer, then I should kill you. Your target’s bigger, so it’ll be easy to hit.”
I raised the Ultramarine Sword above my head.
At that moment, the old man lifted his foot and tried to trample me.
“Die, crushed underfoot!”
“This is inside my dream. So.”
Having things come true as one desires was not a privilege granted only to the old man.
It was granted to me, too.
Everything would come true as I desired.
Even more certainly than for the old man, who was nothing more than an uninvited guest in my dream.
“You wouldn’t know, since you’re a monster.”
Recalling the game’s setting.
I imagined it as concretely as possible.
“Outside the atmosphere of Academy City, you see.”
There existed an absolute weapon with enough destructive power to easily overturn Academy City.
A crystallization created by the science and magic of this era, along with the magical engineering of the Grace Empire.
“There’s an artificial satellite that can kill the likes of you with ease.”
The wand of So Hyeyul, the Witch of the Stars, who was both the chairwoman of Geumgang Academy and a member of the Contribution Association (貢獻會), an organization with tremendous influence over Academy City.
Starlight Road.
Imagining that thing drifting somewhere in space, I swung my sword down.
Immediately after.
─────!!!!
A hole abruptly opened in the rain-soaked sky.
And from within it fell a ray of light that annihilated the surrounding area.
A gigantic pillar of light swallowed the old man whole.
“…Killer.”
Without even being able to scream, the old man was devoured by the light and vanished.
And the world was dyed pure white.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss