I Escaped the Exile Story Only To Find It Was a Regret Trope

41 – 8# The Reunion with the Redhead Was the Worst (2)

There is such a thing as intuition.

Some people dismiss it, but it is one of the few remaining animalistic traits in humans. Animals use their sharp and keen senses to avoid threats.

If that trait has been passed down to humans, providing some help? At first, he didn’t think much of it, but after rolling around in a fantasy world.

Yushin realized that it was also a truth. And in actual combat, Yushin relied quite a bit on his intuition and saved countless lives.

Of course, relying entirely on intuition is a foolish choice. Some people have poor intuition. But it shouldn’t be completely dismissed as unrealistic.

“I hope my intuition is wrong this time.”

But even Yushin was reluctant to reunite with the Sage. It wasn’t a matter of strength or weakness. The Sage was exhausting to deal with once you met him.

This is usually called a bad match.

From the moment they first met until now, Yushin had found the Sage uncomfortable. It wasn’t just a matter of strength; it was simply that their personalities didn’t match.

Currently, Seolyeon and Yushin were searching for traces of Hyunwoo alone. It was inefficient for the whole group to move together, so they split up.

[Then I’ll go alone.]

[No, that’s not allowed.]

[What does it mean?]

[The opponent is a threat beyond imagination. Never go alone.]

Yushin offered advice born from experience. The sage was adept at magic, but more than that, he could easily break a person’s heart and remake it to his liking.

Of course, even a strong person like Kang Seol-yeon was no exception. They were already at a disadvantage due to a lack of information, and they couldn’t afford to lose Seol-yeon, who was a significant force.

Even that guy Hyun-woo was missing, wasn’t he? According to Yushin’s predictions, based on his experience, the sage would surely exploit that point.

‘Is he worried about me? This is the first time I’ve met someone like this.’

However, Seol-yeon couldn’t help but misunderstand Yushin’s intentions. She felt as if Yushin, who didn’t want to lose his strength, was worrying about her.

This was the first time in Seol-yeon’s life.

She was a strong person who could fight on equal terms with the stern head of the disciplinary committee, student council president Park Ha-yeon. A being at the top of the food chain. Who would worry about someone like her?

It was like a herbivore worrying about a lion in front of it. For Seol-yeon, who had been numb all this time, it was rather a fresh shock.

But Seol-yeon soon shook her head to clear her thoughts. Now was not the time to be swayed by personal feelings. Finding her precious younger brother was the priority.

“Is it really okay to go with me?”

“This is the most efficient way.”

They had left the other side to Athena. In terms of strength, Athena was the strongest in Yushin’s party, and she even had experience dealing with the sage.

The sage would not easily overpower her. If they faced him head-on, they could easily subdue him. At least for now.

Of course, all these predictions could be wrong. The sage could be someone similar. But Yushin hoped his predictions were wrong.

Surprisingly, tracking the missing Hyun-woo and Meina wasn’t that difficult. Especially for Athena and Yushin. There were traces only they could recognize.

“Is this really the right way?”

“Yes. Any problem?”

“But isn’t this place too openly on the main road?”

Seol-yeon’s question was valid. Yushin was currently leading them to the heart of the city. Even though it was a kidnapping, wouldn’t they have chosen a shady back alley?

It was only natural to think so.

But Yushin, who had fought the sage all this time, knew too well. The sage’s nature. He was someone who felt unnecessary superiority in such matters.

[Catch me if you can. I will never hide.]

“This is the right direction.”

“Got it. I have no choice but to trust you.”

Seol-yeon wasn’t oblivious. She could tell that Yushin had noticed something, and from then on, his attitude and the atmosphere had become very heavy.

It had been lighter before.

And Seol-yeon’s insight was accurate. They had moved from a dark fantasy world to a comfortable academy setting, naturally relaxing. It was true that they had been taking it easy.

It was a kind of compensatory psychology.

I’ve suffered so much until now. At least now, I should be able to rest comfortably. However, such idle thoughts vanished with the appearance of the sage.

I don’t know exactly, but the sage is deeply involved in this matter. And that thought didn’t take long to be confirmed. The first thing I discovered was Seolyeon.

Was it because she was family? At first, it felt like I was seeing a hallucination. But it wasn’t. The red hair and the soft, kind smile she showed to her family.

“Hyunwoo?”

Hyunwoo was waving from afar. Reflexively, Seolyeon walked towards Hyunwoo. As if she was bewitched. Yes, Hyunwoo. You were in such a place.

It’s okay now.

Your sister will save you.

However, someone grabbed Seolyeon’s hand strongly as she was walking towards Hyunwoo. Thanks to that, Seolyeon couldn’t move forward. Who dares to stop me?

“Wait.”

Of course, it was Yushin who stopped Seolyeon. Yushin was chasing the sage’s traces while also keeping an eye on Seolyeon. Thanks to being on guard in advance.

This time, Yushin was able to stop Seolyeon in time. But Seolyeon, who didn’t know the situation, glared at Yushin with a cold expression for the first time.

“Let go, my brother is over there.”

“Open your eyes wide and look again.”

“……”

“Is that really your brother?”

Yushin’s single word pierced Seolyeon’s heart like a dagger. Seolyeon, who was glaring at Yushin, raised her head again. Only then could she barely see.

What clearly looked like her brother was actually a monster wearing her brother’s skin. The red hair was already twisted grotesquely here and there.

The eyes and mouth were all empty. Inside, there was only deep emptiness. It kept waving, and that sight was chilling to the bone.

It looked like a non-human entity mimicking a human. Yushin clicked his tongue. Even though it had been a long time since they met again, it wasn’t a very good impression.

“What, what is that?”

“A doppelganger. A type of golem created by magic.”

“A golem? That thing?”

“Simply put, you can see it as a monster.”

A doppelganger is a golem that can take the exact appearance of the other person. However, the difference from the generally known doppelganger is that it is not a living creature.

In the past, when Yushin was in the fantasy world.

The fantasy world was filled with countless deaths every day. Not only countless talents who had not yet blossomed, but even famous heroes.

In other words, the loss of talent was very serious.

The sage thought it was regrettable, so he came up with a way to prevent it. That was the idea of using doppelgangers to replicate talents and use them in battle.

[If we can replicate talents with doppelgangers, we can use them as much as we want.]

[It’s the only way to minimize the loss of talent.]

[Why doesn’t everyone agree?]

It’s true. Only if it hadn’t been used for the sage’s personal purposes. And when it comes to duplicating an existence identical to oneself, how could everyone agree?

“This makes it certain.”

The sage is here. A being that I would rather erase from my memory. I wanted to run over and tear it apart right away. But for now, I couldn’t.

Because Seolyeon, who thought she had barely found her brother again, was visibly heartbroken. Yushin, who had been watching her, sighed deeply and said.

“Calm down, your brother is still alive.”

“Is that true?!”

“Of course.”

The doppelganger was a golem created to prevent the loss of talent. But it had a fatal flaw, which was that the duplicated counterpart had to be alive.

If the duplicated counterpart died, the doppelganger that copied the original would also lose its function. In other words, it meant that the original Kang Hyun-woo was also definitely alive.

However, Seolyeon, who didn’t know that fact, could barely let out a sigh of relief. In fact, Seolyeon still thought that the Hyun-woo in front of her was the real Hyun-woo.

But, having been tricked by the monster’s dirty tricks, she thought he had fallen to the same level as them. But that wasn’t the case. It was just a dirty fake.

The moment she realized that fact.

Seolyeon was already moving.

Bang! Crash!!

Seolyeon’s fist, which had closed the distance in an instant, smashed the doppelganger’s head. The doppelganger couldn’t do anything and fell to the ground with its head shattered.

“Keep moving.”

But Seolyeon didn’t even glance at it.

From noble mtl dot com