The mirror image had first started appearing when challenges were added on top of the Austerity quest.

Since it was almost identical to Seo Ye-in in nearly every way, it had served as an excellent opponent and training partner.

After that, the objectives shifted into cooperation—defeating powerhouses together with the mirror image, or clearing dungeons together.

At that point, the final reward had effectively already been decided.

If there were no intention of continuing to make use of the mirror image going forward, then why bother forcing that kind of cooperation in the first place?

“.......”

Seo Ye-in looked down at the crystallization of all that effort.

Then she turned her gaze toward me, looked at the skillbook, then looked back at me again.

The party seemed to realize what she was thinking too, since they alternated glances between the skillbook and me, and Dang Gyu-ri asked on behalf of the group,

“What happens if you use it?”

“Then my mirror image would come out.”

In other words, Hologram Kim Ho.

The Bond trio exchanged interested looks.

“Two Baby Sovereigns?”

“......!”

“Sounds...... nice.......”

Then Han Somi, who had been watching, cut into the conversation.

“I’m against it! Two lewd demons!”

“Hm, I myself agree to some extent with Miss Han’s opinion. If Kim Hyung doubled in number, I’m not sure the rest of us could handle it.”

Go Hyeonwoo cautiously added a word of support, but the Bond trio still looked very fond of the idea of a Kim Ho copy.

Dang Gyu-ri slightly curled up the corners of their mouth.

“Wouldn’t it actually be better if there were more of him? Then we could split him up. Me and Zhuge Soso get the original, and Ye-in and Yeonhwa get the double.”

“No.”

Seo Ye-in objected immediately.

Then she presented a newly adjusted ratio.

“I get the original.”

“And the rest of us get the double?”

“That’s reasonable.”

Her gray eyes sparkled.

Naturally, there was no way Dang Gyu-ri and Hong Yeonhwa were going to accept that.

The signs were there that the three-way struggle was about to escalate, so I stepped into the conversation.

“There’s something we need to correct first.”

“......?”

“If I had a double, then there’d be one more bus in operation.”

“What.”

Splitting two Kim Hos between people?

That line of thought was wrong from the premise onward.

If there were two of me, then the correct way to see it was that there would be two buses too.

“.......”

“.......”

Without exception, the others all fell silent.

Apparently, now that they’d heard it, it sounded plausible.

Han Somi in particular was looking at me like, As expected of a lewd demon! Even his double would be a lewd demon!

Ignoring all that, I finished explaining.

As I pointed at the skillbook in Seo Ye-in’s hand, I said,

“More importantly, that thing can’t be transferred.”

It had been given in item form, but it was still a quest reward.

And it was also a unique skill custom-made for Seo Ye-in.

Since I was at it, I decided I might as well prove it too.

“Let me see it for a second.”

“......?”

Seo Ye-in tilted her head and handed over the skillbook.

WHOOM—!The instant it touched my hand, it scattered into a mass of light.

Then it reappeared above Seo Ye-in’s hand.

That meant that not only could nobody else use it, nobody else could even hold it.

‘Even if I’d been given the choice, I still would’ve handed it to Seo Ye-in.’

That was the most efficient option.

For example, Dang Gyu-young already had four Gyu shadow undead, and that number would only keep growing, so they had nothing to regret there.

Hong Yeonhwa too already had the casting speed of two ordinary mages put together, so they could turn a battlefield into a sea of fire all by themself.

Of course, it would be even better if they doubled in number, but the added benefit wouldn’t actually be that large.

Another point to consider was that equipment didn’t get copied.

Even if I doubled Go Hyeonwoo, there was still only one sacred relic.

Likewise, there was only one Crow Tree, so Hologram Kim Ho would most likely be unable to chain it together with Octopus Arms.

It wouldn’t be able to run around scattering [Amplification] or [Bestowal] the way I did, so the difference in upper limit would be considerable.

Seo Ye-in, on the other hand, belonged to the ranged-damage-dealer category, where more really was better.

At the same time, she wasn’t all that dependent on equipment. Or more precisely, Hyeseong supplied her with so much that pretty much anything she used was good.

And from another angle, utility was exactly what she had been lacking somewhat, so if she learned Mirror Image, she’d be able to make the best use of it.

Before long, I met Seo Ye-in’s eyes and lightly jerked my chin.

“Go ahead and learn it.”

“Okay.”

WHOOM—!The skillbook turned into particles of light and was absorbed.

A notification like this had probably appeared before her.

[‘Mirror Image’ will be acquired.]

It was a skill with no rank assigned to it.

Instead, it shared the ranks of the skills and traits possessed by the original body.

The mana cost was rather high each time it was summoned or resummoned, and when it used skills, the two of them also tended to share various resources.

Oddly enough, though, aside from certain skills and traits, cooldowns were applied separately.

‘Then what about the super-finisher?’

Would she be able to use a super-super finisher that was twice as strong?

Since the duration was short, alternating one use at a time didn’t sound bad either.

The problem was how the penalty, bad luck, would actually be applied, but that was something we could test out gradually.

Seo Ye-in seemed to be about to summon Fast-Luckless right away now that she had learned the new skill.

But then—

RUMBLE-RUMBLE!A violent tremor shook the entire area, and the sound of collapse rang out from extremely close by.

It was as if the dungeon were giving its final warning.

If we didn’t get out quickly, it really was all going to come down.

So we immediately gathered in front of the teleportation portal.

Dang Gyu-ri drew up their mana and prepared a skill.

“Count to ten, then come out.”

Then they vanished outside the portal.

The outside was still the deep underground layers, so if we wanted to get out without being caught, we had to be even stealthier than when we had entered.

Dang Gyu-ri had gone out first in order to hide themself and cast [Shadow Pouch].

So we exchanged glances, counted to ten exactly, and all threw ourselves out through the portal at once.

FWOOOOOSH!The instant the deep underground layers came into view, a giant shadow pouch swallowed us whole.

Then came that swaying sensation of movement again.

At that, Go Hyeonwoo and Han Somi each offered a comment.

“Elder Sister Dang is showing her skill once more.”

“Senior’s perfect crime!”

At this point, there was no trace left of the fact that Han Somi had once been in the Discipline Committee. She had become a full-fledged accomplice.

Thanks to the repeated brainwashing, “perfect crime” seemed to have become part of her regular vocabulary too.

Just as she said, Dang Gyu-ri appeared to have successfully escaped the deep underground.

With a sound like spitting something out, the shadow pouch expelled us, and the lowest point of Floor C opened up before us.

‘We’ve already cleared all the dangerous parts.’

Now all that remained was going back up to the surface.

Compared to everything we’d already done, that was nothing.

When we came down, Go Hyeonwoo, Han Somi, and I had gone first and waited.

This time, going up, we decided to do it in reverse.

While we stayed hidden inside the shadow shelter, Dang Gyu-ri sent Seo Ye-in and Hong Yeonhwa up to Floor E.

Then they came back down again, picked us up, and brought us along while going back up.

As we passed through Floor D, I suddenly wondered what Song Cheonhye was doing, so I turned my eyes that way.

‘She’s still at it.’

She was still squatting there pathetically in the same spot as before.

Apparently standing there for hours had made her legs hurt.

Even so, her gaze remained fixed on the elevators over and over again.

‘She’s working hard.’

A true model Discipline Committee member.

In that case, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to offer a word of encouragement.

For example, by sending her a message.

*****

Song Cheonhye stared endlessly upward and thought,

‘......They should be showing up soon.’

Statistically, students who sneaked into the underground floors usually aimed for this time range.

Deep enough into the night that vigilance loosened slightly, but early enough in the dawn that it wouldn’t interfere with the next day’s schedule.

She too had a feeling that Kim Ho’s group would appear around this time.

But throughout the entire night, the only people on Floor D had been her and the other Discipline Committee members.

Little by little, suspicion began to raise its head.

‘......Did I read it wrong? Is it not today?’

No matter what, they wouldn’t drag it out by several days.

Every extra day of delay would mean the whole party was wasting time.

Then an even more ominous thought ran down Song Cheonhye’s spine.

‘Or maybe....... did they already pass through?’

Maybe they had shaken off her watchful eyes and entered the dungeon already.

Or maybe they had already finished the clear and slipped back out at leisure.

But Song Cheonhye shook her head hard.

‘There’s no way.’

After winter break, her stealth and tracking abilities had improved dramatically.

And her plan was as close to perfect as it could possibly get.

‘Then why aren’t they coming?’

What, exactly, was the problem?

Where had it gone wrong?

Question after question kept trailing through Song Cheonhye’s mind.

And then, suddenly, a message arrived.

[Kim Ho: What’re you doing]

[Song Cheonhye: What is it at this hour]

[Song Cheonhye: (suspicious hedgehog emoji)]

[Kim Ho: Thought you might not be asleep]

[Song Cheonhye: I am awake though]

[Kim Ho: Working? Discipline Committee stuff]

[Song Cheonhye: I can’t tell you that]

[Song Cheonhye: (firm hedgehog emoji)]

Sharing the whereabouts of Discipline Committee members with ordinary students was forbidden, since it could easily be abused.

Still, since she had been bored anyway, she kept messaging him.

[Song Cheonhye: What about you?]

[Kim Ho: Next to you]

“!?”

Song Cheonhye jolted upright in shock, almost springing off the ground.

Starting with the elevators, she rapidly checked one place after another.

Apparently sensing her sudden commotion, a third-year Discipline Committee member standing a little farther away asked,

“What’s wrong?”

“......Nothing! Nothing at all!”

Song Cheonhye brushed it off roughly.

Even so, she kept scanning the area around her, but—

[Song Cheonhye: There’s nobody here]

[Kim Ho: I hadn’t finished what I was saying]

[Kim Ho: Seo Ye-in is next to me]

“.......”

Song Cheonhye’s fist trembled with fury.

[Song Cheonhye: Is that what you were trying to say?]

[Kim Ho: Of course not]

[Kim Ho: If you’re working, make sure to stretch once in a while too]

Song Cheonhye felt some of her anger fade.

Maybe he really had contacted her late at night because he was thinking of her in his own way.

And it was true that moving around like that had loosened her body up a little.

So after typing up a sharp reply and deleting it, she changed it to something more ordinary.

[Song Cheonhye: Okay]

[Song Cheonhye: Thank you]

Then she let out a small sigh while staring at the elevators.

‘Looks like they’re not coming today.’

If he was sending messages, then that meant he was somewhere else.

In that case, rather than watching only the elevators, it would probably be better for her to go back to making her usual rounds.

But not long after she started walking around like she was on a patrol stroll, Song Cheonhye received unexpected news.

“......It was breached?”

One B-rank dungeon in the deep underground layers had collapsed.

That dungeon had not been up for bid today, so it had to have been an unauthorized clear.

Which meant someone had broken through the security, gone down there, cleared it, and then casually walked back out again.

‘......Don’t tell me it was him?’

If so, then that message just now hadn’t been because he was worried about her. It had been teabagging.

Kim Ho’s face rose in Song Cheonhye’s mind.

Smiling twice as wickedly as usual, saying, Passing right by you~

BZZZZZZZT!Uncontrollable rage made electric current rise from her whole body.

‘That man, seriously!’

Should she go find him and drag him in right now?

But there was no evidence.

Still, if she caught him first, wouldn’t something come out?

Just as Song Cheonhye began pacing quickly in place, burning with plans for the downfall of Kim Ho—

SPLAT,A strange sound came from somewhere.

It sounded almost like a droplet falling, or something sticking to a surface.

She immediately swept her gaze around the nearby area, but nothing stood out.

‘......What was that?’

Had she heard wrong again?

Leaving that uneasy feeling behind, Song Cheonhye moved on.

And so, regrettably, she failed to notice it.

That a small patch of black slime had attached itself to one corner.

And that an eyeball had formed there and was staring at her.

‘Not bad, actually?’