Mystery(6)

Pointed ears.

Short legs.

Animal ears and scaly skin…

The beings surrounding us looked like the beast people of Raphdonia.

But…

“What in the world are these things?”

“Who knows. Monsters… probably?”

They were clearly different from the beast people, like something stuck in the uncanny valley.

Though they resembled the different races in Raphdonia, they also had an alien sense of difference.

“These things… are the most grotesque monsters I’ve ever seen.”

The one with pointed ears had horns on its forehead. Another had short legs but a normally proportioned upper body.

Some had animal ears along with scales all over their bodies, resembling the dragon tribe.

Some had extra limbs attached in strange places, while others had bodies that were perfectly normal except for an enormous head.

And every single one of them had such severe facial asymmetry that you could immediately tell they weren’t “normal” just by looking at them…

“When God created life with clay, it’s as if he tossed monsters into the mix and shook it all up,” someone muttered.

That summed it up perfectly.

As if their entire being had been determined by rolling a random dice at birth.

And a few more defining traits…

[Kyaaaahhh!]

They had enough intelligence to lure enemies, but didn’t seem to possess any language system.

Also…

“Engage!”

“Hold your positions! We need to gather information on the enemy— Huh?”

Contrary to our expectations, they were incredibly weak.

Their heads exploded like rotten fruit when I swung my hammer at them, and their bodies collapsed like autumn leaves.

‘…What the hell?’

Even Amelia was caught off guard. Considering they’d surrounded us while avoiding every member of the scout unit, we had expected them to be much stronger.

“…These guys are a lot less threatening than I thought!”

“Kill them…!”

Once the members realized that the enemies were weak, they began to fight more actively.

I still tried to caution everyone to remain alert and not let their guard down, but…

Crack! Slash! Boom!

Nothing happened even after defeating all the monsters.

‘Why are they this weak…?’

They had slightly superior physical abilities compared to regular humans, but that was about it.

They didn’t use spirits like elves, didn’t utilize numbered items like dwarves, nor did they use the power of spirit beasts.

Nor did they use essence based skills.

However, there was one unusual aspect.

“Raven, did you cast a distortion spell?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Then why are their corpses still here…?”

The field was littered with dozens of grotesque bodies, their heads, arms, and legs mutilated beyond recognition.

“…Are they still alive?”

“Well… they’re not breathing. Their hearts have stopped too.”

After carefully approaching for a closer look, it was clear they weren’t alive. It’s just that their corpses hadn’t disappeared.

“Investigate them.”

After putting the remaining members on alert, I had the mages examine the bodies.

A proper study would require preservation spells and transporting the bodies back to the base, but…

‘No wonder none of them resemble the Barbarians…’

Even with just a quick examination, one fact was obvious.

Excluding their appearances, which looked as if they had been run over by heavy trucks, they shared one trait in common.

“Their hearts.”

Their hearts.

“They’re almost identical to a Barbarian hearts.”

These creatures had the hearts of warriors.

***

Many thoughts were swirling in my mind.

Because during my conversation with Mr. Vampire I’d learned a secret lesson.

[Duke… what race do you think I am?]

[……Of course you’re human, aren’t you?]

In his era, “other races” didn’t exist.

However, Raphdonia’s history claims that other races inhabited this land before the witch’s curse engulfed the world.

How can this be?

Among all the possibilities I considered at the time, the most plausible one was this:

‘A similar, yet different world.’

Just as Earth had theories of parallel worlds, maybe this world is like that too.

A world where one can cross dimensions into labryinth and embark on mysterious adventures.

It’s not entirely unthinkable.

But now… my view has shifted.

[Alchemy, you know. Apparently, it was originally a discipline born to create “humans.”]

Alchemy.

But, something has shifted my thoughts in a different direction.

[Alchemy, you know. Apparently, it was originally a discipline born to create “humans.”]

Alchemy.

[Oh, you didn’t know? Ancient records sell for a high price if you trade them to the royal family.]

Despite how fervently the records were collected, an unusual amount of ancient history had been lost.

[Humans can wield any power—Aura, Divine Energy, Magic, even Spirit Magic.]

The capability of humans to wield all powers from every race.

And…

[It was different from magic or essence. It was as if the voice itself held power. It felt imprinted in my blood and soul from birth, that he was my king, my master.]

The king’s unique ability.

[Ah, come to think of it, the old man from the Mage Tower only knelt after realizing his true identity, following our lead.]

After piecing together various bits of information I had gathered during my journey, it pointed toward one possibility.

Maybe.

Just maybe.

The five races, aside from humans, were all created.

Born out of someone’s necessity.

No, more accurately…

‘The royal family. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.’

Suddenly, I felt like a conspiracy theorist, but when viewed in reverse, it made a disturbing amount of sense.

In a way, the other races were slaves to humans.

Superior physical abilities made them perfect for diving into labyrinths and mining magic stones.

‘Not to mention, they are heavily taxed.’

Sure, there are historical reasons why other races pay more taxes.

But now… even that history feels suspicious.

It’s not that it never happened, but…

‘What if someone was pulling the strings?’

Pushing the other races from the shadows, ensuring events unfolded as intended.

Given the royal family’s vast network of agents, it wouldn’t have been difficult—

“…What are you thinking about so deeply?”

“Just debating what flavor of jerky to eat later.”

I brushed off Raven’s question.

Even if I was convinced, it was still just a possibility…

And if it’s true, it’s too dangerous a secret to talk about casually.

“Ahem. Anyway, cast preservation spells on the remaining corpses and store them securely. You’ll research them thoroughly back at the base.”

“Are you planning to head back immediately?”

“Of course not. We will continue the expedition. We’ve learned nothing concrete about this place yet.”

After the battle and preliminary investigation, I led the team in resuming the exploration.

One day, two days, three days…

As we searched. the area to map it, we encountered countless monsters. There were many mechanical monsters like those in the Pantelion ruins, and even some mechanical giants appeared again.

Among them… were “Doppels.”

“Dopplers” was the name Raven gave to the non human-like monsters—

It was derived from the ancient word meaning ‘other being’.

Raven’s dramatic naming sense aside, the name was quite fitting, at least in meaning, when you thought about it.

“Jandel.”

Whoa, that startled me.

“At least make some noise when you arrive. Did you finish scouting?”

Amelia nodded and got straight to the point.

“During the search, we found an unusual artificial structure leading somewhere. We should check it out at morning.”

“An artificial structure?”

I asked for details, and after hearing everything, I had a sudden, sharp feeling.

That finally, finally, we’d found something of value.

But since everyone was exhausted, I followed Amelia’s suggestion and decided to rest before heading out in the morning.

“Here it is.”

The next day, Amelia led us to an ordinary jungle. At a glance, it was no different from any other area we’d explored.

However…

“…We’ll have to pay more attention to the ground from now on.”

“We only found it because we were lucky.”

I brushed aside the knee-high grass and saw something below.

It was a hatch, like a manhole cover, set into the ground.

It even had a handle for easy turning.

“We didn’t touch it, just in case it was trapped.”

“Good call.”

We had the mages check it, and after some time, we received the all-clear report.

Phew. So we just have to open it?

Click, click, creak—clunk!

As I turned the handle, I heard the lock release, and the hatch opened smoothly.

As expected, it was a cylindrical tunnel with a ladder descending along one side.

‘Depth is…’

A quick check with a light orb revealed the depth to be 20 meters.

But the angle made it impossible to see what was below.

“Then I’ll…”

“Don’t even think about it. I’ll go first.”

Just as I was about to speak, Amelia cut me off and stepped forward.

Her expression made it clear that she wasn’t going to back down.

As we silently locked eyes in a kind of staring contest—

“What’s with the weird hesitation?”

Raven cut in with a smirk.

“I’ll check it.”

“What?”

“Oh, with magic, of course.”

“Ah…”

Amelia and I stepped aside awkwardly as Raven floated a recording crystal down the circular tunnel. It was far safer than sending a person.

But such tools had their limits.

“There’s a straight passage at the bottom, blocked by an iron door.”

With the door in the way, we couldn’t learn more this way.

So…

“…Don’t even think about going in first. I’m the search captain of this expedition.”

In the end, Amelia went down first.

‘She got mad over her weird title earlier, but now she’s like this.’

In any case, she went down the ladder first, followed by a mage. After it was confirmed that it was somewhat safe, it was my turn to descend.

“……”

Even after deactivating Gigantification, the tunnel was uncomfortably narrow. I had to hunch my shoulders, and it was still a tight squeeze.

‘Being a Barbarian sucks sometimes.’

“Over here, Jandel.”

Once I finally reached the bottom, Amelia called out to me.

“No lock mechanism here. And whatever this is made of, it doesn’t scratch even with Aura.”

Hmm, if Aura can’t leave a scratch, it’s practically immune to physical damage…

“What about magic?”

I asked, and the second mage, the vice-captain of the search team, answered cautiously.

“Along with the dimensional severance phenomenon, the presence of another unique mana structure has been detected. However, due to its low density, the chances of it being an offensive trap are minimal. With such a faint mana flow… it’s most likely just used to open and close the door.”

“And?”

“The dimensional severance phenomena isn’t on the door itself, it’s beyond it.”

“Hmm, so Aura doesn’t work because of the phenomena?”

“From what I can tell, yes.”

“A metal that doesn’t scratch even under Aura…”

Tap tap.

I knocked on the door.

I had no idea what was beyond, but the door alone seemed valuable.

“Vice-Captain, Search Team.”

“…Are you addressing me?” He blinked

“Yeah. Can we take this whole thing? Melting it down for armor sounds great.”

“Uh… It’s worth a try. Even if not for armor, it’s clearly a rare mineral.”

Okay, so that’s a yes.

I don’t know why he downplayed the armor idea, but at least he agreed it was worth taking.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the door emitted a faint vibration.

“Jandel, get back!”

Startled by Amelia’s shout, I instinctively took a step back.

But nothing dramatic happened.

Click, click.

Something inside the door clicked and turned. Then, with a clunk, the door swung open smoothly.

「First-level record access privilege confirmed.」

「Entry authorized.」

What the…?

“Any idea why it opened?”

“No. It didn’t react at all when we tried.”

“I see…”

I was a bit stunned, but there are two possibilities now. Either someone inside opened it after hearing my knock…

Or…

‘I unknowingly fulfilled some condition.’

The latter seemed more likely, but that wasn’t important now.

While the mage used a message stone to relay the situation above, I slowly stepped through the metal doorway.

And then—

‘Huh?’

There was a problem.

When I looked back, I saw Amelia pressed right up against the door.

Her hand was flat against empty space, as if she were performing some sort of mime.

Her mouth moved, but no sound came through.

“What? You can’t enter?”

“How the hell did you get in?!”

Sensing something was off, I stepped back out. And after doing some testing, one fact became clear.

“The door is open, but the dimensional severance is still active. I can’t make sense of this…”

For some unknown reason, only I could pass through.

So…

“Then wait here. I’ll take a quick look and come back.”

“What? Wait—”

Before Amelia could start nagging, I slipped back inside.

Whoosh—!

The interior was dark, but activating [Barbarian Candle Mode] helped.

‘Feels like I’m inside a submarine…’

Every surface was lined with steel plates, and pipes and wires ran along the walls.

Clunk, clunk.

After walking straight for about 100 meters with no forks in the path, I found another cylindrical tunnel with a ladder.

But instead of descending immediately, I tried opening a nearby iron door first.

Clunk.

It opened without resistance.

After scanning the interior, I slowly closed and reopened my eyes.

“Whew…….”

A endless corridor stretched ahead.

Rows upon rows of test tubes filled with green liquid lined the walls.

Honestly, it didn’t feel real.

I don’t know why the genre suddenly shifted to sci-fi, but…

‘Dopplers.’

Inside the test tubes, the monsters that Raven had named Dopplers were curled up and glaring at me.

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