Isaac remembered. In his previous life, Duke Gavin had been looking for a special 'skill'. The man once said that the 'skill' was a terrible scourge for demons, no exception to the Nobles. However, until the end of the game he never found it.
The skill could only be activated in dealing directly with a demon. His name was 'Demon Eater'.
Whoever mastered the skill, they could weaken the demon and absorb their power. However, what made the skill a scourge was, those who mastered it would be immune to demonic magic.
And now, the woman who was unconscious beneath Isaac's feet had it.
'I understand why I couldn't plant a Seed of Mind in your head.'
Isaac sighed. Then, he aimed his gun at Wang Mei's head. He wanted to finish her off right away.
In the previous battle, if their levels were even, it was not impossible that he would win this battle. Moreover, Wang Mei still couldn't control her strength, she was unconscious while fighting.
His index finger was ready to pull the trigger. However, he gave up his intention.
An idea crossed his head.
'If I can't control her thoughts, I can control her feelings.'
Both of his weapons were sheathed. He stripped off the equipment of one of the corpses in that place. Then, he lifted the woman's body and carried her away.
.
.
.
Her head felt dizzy and pain ran through her body when Wang Mei opened her eyes.
"Ugh…"
She tried to get up, then fell again as her body was undergoing excruciating pain. She saw that her whole body was wrapped in bandages.
'I… am still alive…'
She looked around and found herself in a cave.
The memories in her head were replaying like a movie. The last memory she had was the meeting with a mysterious masked figure who had hair like black flames. After that she didn't remember anything.
She thought she was dead.
"You're awake."
A hoarse voice caught her attention. Beside Wang Mei was a man with white hair. His condition was not much different from Wang Mei. He was wearing half-destroyed armor and his body was wrapped in bandages that had blood seeping through.
"You are?" Wang Mei asked in a hoarse tone.
The white-haired man narrowed his eyes. He looked surprised. "You do not remember me?"
"Have we met before?"
Unbeknownst to Wang Mei, the white-haired man grinned.
"Look at this." The man showed the Nine Sky Guild's symbol engraved on his pauldron. "My name is Isaac Constantine, I am a member of your guild, although I am new. But, we met during the Monster Break in Beijing."
Wang Mei felt strange. She felt like this was the first time she had met Isaac. She also never knew that a foreigner had joined her guild. If they had met, she should have remembered him. Isaac's appearance was quite conspicuous, especially his pale white hair.
Besides, she was surprised how a new member could be included in a major operation.
Wang Mei started asking who recruited him to join the guild, and the man answered it was Wang Yi. After hearing her sister's name being mentioned, her curiosity about Isaac turned into panic. She was distracted.
"Wang Yi…"
Wang Mei quickly stood up, instantly, her body screaming in pain.
"Awwww…"
She collapsed again, and Isaac quickly grabbed her body.
"Are you all right, Leader?"
Wang Mei didn't respond. She seemed to be still whimpering in pain.
"You're still hurt. You can't move too much."
Isaac laid Wang Mei down. The two of them were silent for a few moments.
Then, Wang Mei thought of her men.
"Where are the others…Chen Wei…what happened to the battle on the river… aww…damn."
"Calm down, Leader. You should rest."
Isaac's words irritated Wang Mei.
"Tell me where they are?"
Isaac's expression turned grim. He started talking .
At that time, Isaac and three other squads were walking through the forest. Suddenly, they heard the sound of fighting. At first, they thought it was a trap, but when they heard gunshots, they quickly checked it.
They saw dozens of bodies of monsters and humans scattered on the ground. In the midst of that, there was a fierce battle between Wang Mei and the mysterious masked figure.
One of the team members took the initiative to help Wang Mei. Finally, they decided to join the battlefield.
However, unbeknownst to them, the enemy they were fighting was much stronger than they expected. In that battle, they were cornered, even though they won in numbers. The moment Wang Mei lost consciousness, the situation changed drastically.
They were completely slaughtered.
The squad leader, named Feng Hua, took the initiative to save Wang Mei. One of the members would have to go take her away, while the other members would try to distract the opponent.
And Isaac was the one chosen by them.
He ran with Wang Mei who had fainted on his back. He kept running without stopping, until he finally found this cave. He decided to hide and treat the woman's wounds.
"So that's how it is…"
After hearing Isaac's story, Wang Mei instantly became gloomy. Her gaze was fixed on the ceiling of the cave and her clenched fists couldn't stop shaking. Sorrow, grief, regret, shame; all those negative feelings flooded her heart.
It wasn't long before tears started to flow on her cheeks. One of her hands covered her face. She didn't want to look weak in front of her men.
"Sorry… I'm a bad leader… sorry… I'm really sorry…."
Just as she was at her worst, she felt a warm rough hand grip her hand.
"If I wasn't weak… everyone died because of me… if I wasn't selfish"
"No, Leader. Bad things can happen at any time, we never know. You've done your best."
Wang Mei spontaneously gripped Isaac's hand tightly.
The two of them remained together in the cave. Isaac remained silent, while Wang Mei let out all her emotions. The two didn't speak at all apart from holding hands.
After quite a while, Wang Mei's feelings finally improved. He started talking.
"Thank you… uh…."
"Isaac," said the man sitting next to her.
"Ah right, Isaac. I even forgot your name. I'm really bad." Wang Mei chuckled, though it sounded bitter.
"No, don't say that. You're a great Guild Master. There are very few people who can be like you. You are going through very difficult times. I know it's not easy."
Wang Mei smiled faintly. Isaac's words made her feel better.
Kruuuugggh!
Wang Mei's face turned red. At a moment like this her stomach growled loudly. She was really embarrassed.
"Ehem… please don't tell this to anyone."
Meanwhile, Isaac just smiled broadly.
"Okay. Your secret is safe." After that he got up. "I'm going to find some food first. I saw a berry bush earlier."
Wang Mei grabbed his hand. They both stare at each other's eyes. Isaac looked surprised to see Wang Mei looking at him with a serious look.
"You don't have to do that. Go to basecamp, there are people there. I can take care of myself."
Isaac smiled. He showed his wrist, there was a communication device that resembled a circular smartwatch.
"I already contacted Wang Yi. She said she'd take care of it."
Hearing her sister's name being mentioned, relief blooming in her chest. After that she let go of the man's hand.
Isaaac then got up and left the cave.
.
.
.
Now, there was only Isaac alone in the forest. He took advantage of this opportunity to inspect his Dungeon. His hand waved, then a status window popped up.
<Dungeon Status>
[Dungeon Floors : 3/3]
[Monster Boss : 0/3]
[Population : 250,030/300,000]
[Fund : 339,745 zenny]
The last time Isaac checked the funds after rebuilding the Dungeon there were around 50,000 left. If he assumed that he had killed the Nine Sky and Siberian Knights members on Floor 1—except for the 200 that Isaac selected—with each killing of a human, it would result in 125-150 zenny, meaning Isaac had earned around 270,000 zenny in this clearance.
That number did not include the additional zenny generated from Taji eradicating the criminal Hunters in Tokyo and the dead Hunters who were not part of the Clearance operation.
"If I kill 3000 Hunters who are on the 2nd Floor, I can earn around 400,000 to 450,000 zenny. I was able to collect over 1,500,000 zenny before the annual Auction which is 5 months away."
Isaac smiled while imagining how much money he would make. There were three valuable items that he was after in the first year Auction.
For now, he put the matter aside. He needed to deal with Wang Mei and take care of the Heavenly Dragon Guild on the 2nd Floor first.
"Open shop!"
The shop window opened, then he bought a high-class monster.
[You bought the monster 'Doppelganger (B)']
He spent 5000 zenny on the doppelganger. Without wasting any time, he immediately summoned it.
[Input monster 'Doppelganger (B)' on Floor 1]
A humanoid black liquid-shaped monster figure stood before him.
Isaac extended his hand. "Hold my hand."
The monster touched Isaac's hand. Gradually, the black liquid-shaped monster changed to resemble Isaac's appearance. Every detail part like specks, hair, armor scratches, bandages; all exactly the same.
The surprises didn't stop there. The creature also imitated his gestures and speech styles.
"Lord, I am at your service."
<Information>
[Name : N/A]
[Race : Doppelganger]
[Type : N/A]
[Class : B]
[Level : 25]
"Perfect."
Doppelganger was a monster that could imitate other living things. Be it physical, thinking patterns, speech styles, and even tastes. The only thing it couldn't emulate was power.
Isaac planned to use a doppelganger to accompany Wang Mei instead. He wanted to take advantage of this moment to build a relationship with her. Now was the most appropriate time. The woman was in a frail state, and somehow, the memory of their bad meeting was gone, a stroke of luck.
Unfortunately, at the same time he needed preparations to face the last guild—Heavenly Dragon.
'I've made a good first impression, it should be fine.'
Then, Isaac began to explain what the doppelganger needed to do; such as treating Wang Mei's wounds, digging for information, and how to interact with other members if it accidentally ran into them. Isaac even made up a fake backstory about himself for the doppelganger.
After explaining everything, the doppelganger began to carry out its duties. The monster quickly walked away into the forest to look for berries.
"The task here is done. Now on to the next task."
Isaac turned into shards of light and then disappeared.
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