I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 246: Sin and Atonement (2)

I let out a remark while seeing the somewhat unnatural smile on the other person’s face.

“...I got it.”

“You got it?”

At my somewhat random remark, the person tilted his head in confusion.

I looked at his puzzled expression and said again.

“You’re not in your right mind.”

“....”

The sudden attack seemed to have shocked him, and his smiling face froze like stone.

Seeing him at a loss for words, I nodded in satisfaction.

“Now, that’s a face I can start liking.”

“?”

“What. Why?”

“Oh, nothing...”

“Nothing, huh? Doesn’t seem like it.”

Da-eun, sweating coldly, avoided my gaze.

It was the typical response of someone who had something to hide, so I squinted my eyes.

Da-eun often tells me, "Kanna, your thoughts are so obvious on your face," but I wonder if she realizes the same is true for her.

Just like Da-eun can tell what I’m thinking by looking at my face, I can also tell what she's thinking by looking at hers.

Of course, it’s not as detailed or accurate as Da-eun reading my thoughts, but I could at least sense when she was thinking something unnecessary, strange, or sinister.

‘...Hmm.’

Though I don’t know how much significance this really holds...

After all, Da-eun almost always has those kinds of thoughts.

Whenever she gets the chance, she hugs me or runs at me to pinch my cheek, so do I really need to read her thoughts?

...Well, anyway.

Long introduction aside, what I’m trying to say is this.

Contrary to her saying “it’s nothing,” Da-eun is definitely thinking something suspicious.

“....”

“....”

“....”

“Oh, I get it. I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you, just don’t look at me with those eyes.”

“Those eyes?”

“Those eyes, like the ones a cat in boots would give... no, eyes that say ‘if you don’t speak now, I’ll make sure you can never speak again.’”

“...You’re scary.”

There’s no way I could have such a murderous thought towards Da-eun.

If it were something like a “no physical contact for the day,” maybe, but...

As soon as I said that, Da-eun was shocked.

“Such...! How could you think of something so cruel!”

“...?”

Isn’t that a bit of an overreaction?

Even more so than when she thought I was going to make her stay silent forever.

Anyway, my not-really-a-threat threat worked, and Da-eun hesitated before confessing her true thoughts.

“I just thought it was funny to say I liked the same face. It felt kind of narcissistic... I guess.”

“What? That’s it?”

“Yeah, that’s why I said it was nothing, but you made me say it.”

“I said if you didn’t speak, I wouldn’t let you touch me for a day, I didn’t force you to say anything.”

“That’s forcing me!”

Once again, Da-eun is weird today.

I casually passed by her somewhat incoherent words and asked.

“Do we really look that alike?”

“Don’t even get me started. I thought Kanna had a twin sister.”

“Hm.”

Is that so?

I examined the face of the person in front of me, scrutinizing it.

It’s true, we do resemble each other.

I’d rather say we don’t resemble at all, but my conscience hasn’t completely dulled, so I can’t bring myself to say that.

However, that doesn’t mean I fully agree with it either.

“Maybe it’s an alternate world version of Kanna?”

“Are you still pushing that theory?”

Da-eun repeated herself without tiring, just like earlier.

I’ve lost interest in the theory that’s already been disproven, so instead of answering Da-eun seriously, I shifted my focus to something else.

“I don’t believe in alternate worlds or having a twin sister.”

“Right.”

“And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that someone who looks just like me suddenly appeared in front of me.”

“I see.”

“....”

“....”

“...Now that I’ve said all this, I think it’s about time I told you.”

“Oh, so that’s what you were curious about.”

In the end, Da-eun pretended to understand only after I said it directly.

I’m not sure if she genuinely just figured it out or was pretending not to know...

It feels oddly like I’m being manipulated.

“This is my original form,” I said.

“Liar.”

“Yep. I’m lying.”

“....”

“But, it might not be a lie.”

“...If you want to play a riddle game, go somewhere else. I don’t want to do that with you.”

“That’s a bit sad. But, I meant it sincerely.”

Da-eun continued in an emotionless tone, which didn’t seem sad at all.

“I told you earlier. ‘Our’ souls were twisted as a price for the sins we committed.”

“Yeah. That’s why we’ve been emitting a rotten stench everywhere.”

“Heh, a rotten stench. I’m carrying a soul that’s basically like a corpse, so it’s not entirely incorrect. Now, let me ask you something. Do you think a rotten, stinking soul like mine could have a proper body?”

If a soul is like water, the body is the vessel that holds it.

If the vessel has holes or cracks, it can’t hold the water properly even if it’s poured in.

The opposite is also true.

If the rotting stench is already emanating, can you place that dangerous liquid, which melts flesh and bone on contact, into a normal vessel?

The answer is clear.

“No.”

“Yep. That’s the correct answer.”

That’s impossible.

The mind and body must be in harmony to move on to the next stage.

...Or so they say, but that’s an issue before reaching any stage.

The question is whether we can even live as creatures.

“I don’t know what I looked like in the past. It’s too distant a past, and it’s meaningless to recall now, so I’ve forgotten. Maybe I really did have a face that looked just like yours.”

“Terrible.”

“Really? I think it’s fine.”

Saying that, he fiddled with his face.

Seeing the faint smile on his lips, I shivered.

The fact that he was pleased with his face, which resembled mine, and fiddling with it like that made me feel so creeped out.

“Anyway, that’s the way it is. ‘We’ can’t have our original bodies, or even a proper body. Though it may look the same on the outside, the content is completely different. Sadly, I can’t show you.”

“I don’t believe it. Can’t you show me?”

“Sadly, I can’t.”

He repeated it without even batting an eyelash.

It almost felt like he was playing back a recording, so identical was his tone.

But I knew what he was talking about.

The sight he showed me earlier...

The shape of his hand deteriorating and the violet aura appearing, and recalling the final moments of the dimensional beasts I’d killed, it was easy to understand.

Despite devouring everything in sight, he had no digestive organs and only a core floating inside. That couldn’t be considered normal.

“What could ‘we,’ who can neither have a body matching our soul nor create one ourselves, possibly do?”

The answer is—

“Mimicry.”

He said it.

That solved one of my questions.

Why do the invaders from other dimensions look so similar to the creatures in my dimension?

It turns out, it couldn’t have been any other way.

“It’s a trick you can only pull off while having a foot in another world, a means of invasion.”

“So, you look like me because you’ve been mimicking me.”

“Exactly.”

“...Why me, of all people?”

“Because you left the deepest impression on me.”

“You talk like you’ve been watching me for a long time. But this is the first time I’ve seen you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Hearing what I said, he tilted his head as if I was talking nonsense.

“We saw each other recently, didn’t we?”

“What?”

What’s he talking about?

Before I could think of an answer, he spoke the truth.

“We met recently, when I stopped the others’ schemes on the island. Oh, just to clarify, that had nothing to do with me.”

“...No way.”

Hearing his words, I remembered what happened a while ago.

The separation of the factions, and the enormous eye I encountered while resolving it.

I could only guess it was that time.

“...That was you?”

“The image is very different, isn’t it?”

“It’s not something you can just brush off as ‘very different.’”

“Heh.”

Where did that overwhelming presence go, the one that froze my body in fear? And why did he appear in this small, childish form?

“....”

I stopped thinking, feeling like I was berating myself.

“I’m starting to understand a bit.”

He nonchalantly shrugged off my attack, and although my pride was hurt, remembering the hidden nature inside the shell of his body made my wounded pride return, just a little bit.

“Just one question!” Da-eun raised her hand.

Yeah, for Da-eun, she’s been holding back a lot.

It’s about time.

“That... you said the priest mimicked Kanna’s appearance, right?”

“...Priest?”

“You said he was a devout servant... Should I call him by a different name?”

“...No, it’s fine. You can speak freely.”

“Oh, yes... no, okay.”

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Feeling his gaze, Da-eun quickly corrected her words.

“When other dimensional creatures mimic, they usually have more legs or eyes in different places, things that are off. But, I don’t see any of that with the priest.”

“...Oh.”

Her question was surprisingly sharp, unlike the nonsense I had expected from her.

They say even a broken clock is right twice a day. I guess Da-eun has her moments too.

It’s a pity we only have one chance left to see that side of her.

I thought about puffing my cheeks, wishing Da-eun had heard me, and then licked my ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) lips.