Becoming an Extra in a Trash Game

Chapter 42

Everyone’s memory, from the very beginning, was this place…

Why were they brought here, where they were before? It seems they vaguely remember the rest, but even that doesn’t seem certain.

The only thing they know is that they were trapped here for countless nights, being used by someone.

I collected the blood they had spilled profusely, put it in the altar’s vessel, and opened my mouth while keeping the portal to the outside open.

“If you were trapped for so long, why didn’t you try to escape?”

“The magic cast by the Master of the Labyrinth only allows adventurers to pass through.”

“Is that so? Is that why they call you the Baby, the Progenitor?”

“Because I’m the Origin… Those near me, if they die from physical damage, after some time or if I retrieve them on the spot, they return to me as seeds.”

I wondered if that was possible, but before I could ask “What’s even possible?”, I decided to just understand it, since me being here in the first place was the most impossible thing.

“Then, in the case of returned seeds, are they identical to themselves before death?”

“Almost. However, if they eat people and mimic them, they have a mindset closer to the person they mimicked rather than their past memories.”

“Okay, go over there for a moment.”

After hearing everything and asking a few more questions, I gave them potions and food to hold and fell into thought.

‘It’s definitely strange.’

Nothing is clear right now. But if I had to express it, it feels like a hair that’s gotten into your clothes – something insignificant that’s really bothersome.

Their words didn’t feel like lies. But I don’t like the situation surrounding us.

From the fact that the Master of this Labyrinth really exists to the fact that this Master targeted us.

All of it is unpleasant.

‘Should I just destroy it all, really?’

It might be impossible right now, but if I raise Kane well, a 99-floor Labyrinth would be nothing.

While turning things over in my head, I smiled nonchalantly and looked at Kane.

“By the way, how did you know?”

You must have noticed that I induced it with food, right?

Kane answered my question with an expressionless face.

“Breathing pattern. Thinking about it now, they must have copied each other’s habits from being in this space together for a long time. Moreover, they lacked the characteristic feeling of trained individuals.”

“Ah! So that’s what it was… I understand now…”

Huh, I don’t understand at all what he’s saying.

Luna seems to have understood, pouting slightly as her pride is hurt for not noticing it first.

I looked at the rabbit that had become a duck, and for now, pretended I understood too, saying “Ah, I know that, I know,” and then looked at the doppelgangers huddled in the corner, waiting for our decision after treating themselves.

From what I’ve heard, they’re closer to a special race than special monsters.

The most basic condition for distinguishing between monsters and Ain races here is the presence or absence of instinctive hostility towards humans. So even if they can speak the same language, pure-blooded orcs are considered monsters, while half-blood orcs are considered Ain races.

‘But aside from their copying ability, it’s hard to see them as monsters.’

If they had actively hunted people, I might understand, but the reason seven of them were beaten by the three of us, even with Kane, was due to the difference in skill level.

Even if they copy a person’s body and memories, combat is not just about simple body movements but also about intuition, and they were lacking in that.

If they really had hunted humans as they claimed, eating only the corpses pushed to them, they wouldn’t be so sloppy.

Besides, if they had innate hostility towards humans, they would have attacked instead of trying to deceive us with words.

Thinking back to how they were just running their mouths earlier to make us doubt each other, it made me feel like we were the villains.

Well, actually, pretending not to know while knowing everything is the role of an excellent villain, right?

Moreover, even those who had rough attitudes seemed to be tense and afraid if you really looked at it.

“Umm…”

See that? Even at the sound I made while pondering, their eyes widened, watching carefully as if I might order their throats to be cut at any moment.

After being beaten by us once, they seem to have completely deleted the option of rebelling again and seeing them huddled together like that…

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

As Kane narrowed his brow, seeming to feel a bit of displeasure, I smiled, pretending not to have heard, and opened my mouth.

“You should escape from being the youngest too.”

“What?”

Honestly, that’s right. Luna was my maid first, so of course the order of joining would be Luna then Kane, right?

Then naturally, the hierarchy would be me, Luna, and Kane.

Where does the youngest get off putting strength in his eyes?

‘Moreover, to ultimately raise Kane in the monarch tree, separate personnel are needed.’

What is a Monarch? Of course, the term Monarch doesn’t apply to someone who is alone.

Monarch. King. Emperor.

In the end, the condition of being a Monarch is to lead a country. At least a group of a certain size or larger.

Even when playing the Innocent game, when treading the Monarch tree, you had to do the territory battle content no matter what.

‘Then of course a force is needed.’

But if I tell that human-distrusting Kane that he needs to lead someone recklessly?

‘Yeah. It’s a catastrophe.’

My head spun momentarily at the past notification messages that flashed by like a horse lantern.

I’ve been trying to overcome Kane’s communication disorder by making him order at restaurants and do village errands, as he keeps saying “I don’t want to talk to humans,” but that fundamental nature hasn’t changed.

Look at his personality. It would be easy to attract people initially with his innate charisma and charm.

But would it be maintained?

That guy Kane will never be a friendly insider, even if he dies and comes back to life.

He’s limited now because he owes me a debt and has made a vow with me, but basically, Kane is a lone wolf who is aloof and solitary.

It’s useless to forcibly stick people around him. Even if you try really hard.

‘It won’t even exceed 10 people.’

Then how do you ride the monarch tree?

You have to make each of those ten people lead a legion.

‘Let’s go multi-level.’

The answer is multi-level marketing. The only way is to compose the minimum number of people Kane will lead with people who each lead a group or race.

I beckoned to the progenitor of the doppelgangers, whose name was still marked as %$#.

“Do you want to get out?”

“Huh? Yes. I want to get out, but there’s no way.”

Ah, I’m the one thinking of a way.

If I’m here, there is a way. You still don’t know much. I looked at him with that expression.

It’s so convenient to use the Arrogance trait like this. Even without additional detailed explanations, he understands with an expression that assumes there must be something.

Ah, of course, it won’t be the method you’re expecting.

I grinned and opened my mouth.

“Even if you give them unreasonable orders, they can’t betray you? What if they do?”

At my question, the Young man who had looked like he had never thought of such a thing before fell into contemplation for a while, then nodded.

“They will. They all respect me. Besides, for those of my kind who enter within a certain radius of me, I think I can forcibly retrieve the core of about one person per day if I use a lot of energy to the point of exhaustion, either returning them to their original form or by my will.”

“Then, apart from the doppelgangers here. If we meet outside, can you bring them under your command?”

“If there are any of my kind left outside.”

I looked at that docile face with drooping eyebrows, devoid of malice.

“Is it magic that’s used to revive the seeds after they die? What happens if you die?”

“Ah, that’s…”

After asking a few more small things, I smiled brightly.

“Good. Shall we make a contract?”

Charurk.

I turned the Kruger ring once, then took out a divine contract from a large subspace, and suddenly struck by a premonition, I called Kane.

“You need a name to make a vow, right? Kane, you give him a name.”

“Me?”

“Yes. Because he’ll be your junior.”

The reason he didn’t have a name until now was that they didn’t dare name the progenitor themselves.

Naming is done by parents or godparents. From the perspective here, it’s an act done by someone clearly above oneself, like the one they serve.

‘Even in the game, there’s a reason named monsters are different from regular ones.’

“Then, Nerd. Ugh.”

Shut up, you bastard. Are you not going to do it properly?

When Kane frowned as if annoyed and came up with a name that showed a destructive naming sense in response to my words, I immediately kicked Kane’s shin and then made a gesture to wait a moment to the progenitor who was just blinking.

“Think about it properly and say it. Okay?”

He’ll be your arms and legs, my cooking slave, and the future head of the intelligence department, among other things.

Shouldn’t you give him a decent name at least, so you won’t be resented?

“Then, Zero.”

“Why did you name him that?”

Suspecting he might have named him carelessly again, I pressed, and Kane answered with an annoyed face.

“He said he’s their beginning and end.”

Ah, I see. Like a snake biting its own tail. That shape becomes a circle.

After I provided a favorable interpretation, I opened my mouth to him who was looking at me with a stupid face.

“You heard, right? From now on, you’ll be called ‘Zero’.”

[Zero – The Beginning and End of Doppelgangers]

Representative Traits: [Replication(D+)] [Kindness(A)]

Hidden Traits: [Versatility(A)] [Cooking(S)] [Dignity(C+)]

I waved the divine contract at Zero, who had a somewhat strange expression.

* * *

“Excuse me… Are you a demon?”

“You could say that’s close.”

What nonsense, really?

I elbowed Kane’s side to push him back and laughed.

“How could that be?”

Despite my kind smile, Zero’s face doesn’t change from white.

The other doppelgangers behind also look like they’ve lost their country.

Ah, so you should have read the contract carefully before signing. I wrote everything down.

‘Things like obeying until the day you die, or that the compensation is at my discretion, or that the method of rescue is delegated to me.’

This is why people shouldn’t carelessly stamp their seals.

“No… But still. That’s a bit too demonic…”

As Zero mumbled in protest, I shrugged, showing my palm.

“Is there a problem?”

“No… But first killing everyone and turning them into seeds to go out…”

“You can revive them anyway, right?”

“You said you’d kill me too…”

“You said you’d probably come back to life if it’s not death by magic, right?”

At my confident words, Zero answered with a dazed face.

“I said probably…”

“I believe in you, Zero. You can survive. Right? You’re the progenitor after all, aren’t you?”

I patted Zero’s shoulder as he said “he wasn’t confident because he had never died before,” and whispered with a friendly arm around his shoulder like the older guys in a back alley.

“Isn’t this a good opportunity to die once and find out how to revive quickly or something like that?”

For a moment, Luna’s expression became strange, as if wondering if she had heard correctly. She even gave up pretending to monitor with her eyes and opened her mouth while looking at me.

But when I confidently put strength in my eyes, she hurriedly covered her mouth with both hands and turned her head.

What, why, what. Did I say something wrong?

I smiled pleasantly at Zero, who was mumbling that he was happy with his kind even in this prison-like place.

“Don’t worry, I’ll feed you the corpses again when we get out. When you die and come back to life, it’ll be a new world, okay?”

“I need to discuss this first…”

Zero dropped his shoulders and huddled with the other doppelgangers behind him, whispering.

“Young Master… But will it really be possible?”

As I waited for their farewells, I looked at Luna who came close and asked.

“What?”

“Taking them out… Besides, they’re monsters. Aren’t we bringing out a disaster for no reason?”

Well, I don’t think so.

Because if they were really disaster-level monsters, the Evil god cult would have found a way to use them.

‘Moreover…’

The technique the Evil god cult used to infiltrate the Academy and the Imperial Palace. That.

‘No matter how I think about it, it seems like they used doppelgangers to create it.’

In other words, there’s a high probability that the master of this Labyrinth and the Evil god cult ult are connected, and the fact that they didn’t appear until the end in the game means they’re at least not Kane’s enemies.

“If you’re worried, Luna can grow strong and protect me. Right?”

“O-Of course!”

I patted Luna, who nodded with a broad smile and then turned my gaze to Zero, who returned with the eyes of a cow being dragged somewhere.

“Then… I have one request, if I may.”

“What is it?”

At my question, Zero answered dejectedly, as if he had given up on everything.

“Please kill us gently…”