Chapter 286: Safe Route Home

The next two days were relatively uneventful.

All we did was walk, kill any Spirit Beast that attacked us, run from those we couldn’t kill, and witness a few too many horrors that would probably scar us for the rest of our lives — the kind of horrors that’d require heavy therapy to move on from.

Uneventful — like I said.

Then there were a few minor incidents, like the time we encountered a tree that screamed when Ray tried to sit on it. We don’t talk about that anymore.

There was also a river of lilac water that reflected everyone’s face except mine.

Juliana said it was probably cursed.

Alexia said maybe it just had good taste. I almost declared war on her for defaming my handsome face.

We moved on.

At one point, Kang swore he saw a floating figure in the clouds. None of us did, but Kang wasn’t the type to lie — which somehow made it worse.

Michael suggested we pretend he hadn’t said anything before the sky got any ideas.

And then, on the evening of the second day, we set up camp.

Kang and Michael went to scout the area, gather firewood, and hopefully find a clean source of water since our supply was running dangerously low.

Meanwhile, I was brainstorming our next course of action.

We’d been heading west ever since we started our journey home.

Because in the west, across the

Lake of Grief

, lay my father’s

Golden Sanctuary

. Once we reached it, we’d be safe.

But that was the challenge, wasn’t it? To get there.

It had been around fifteen or sixteen days since we’d been dropped into this godforsaken region. In that time, we’d managed to cross about twenty percent of the jungle.

Which, honestly, wasn’t a small feat.

As Awakened, our speed on foot was far beyond that of any normal human. But from this point onward, the journey would only grow harsher and deadlier as we ventured deeper into the forest.

We wouldn’t be getting much rest, and the abominations we’d face from here on out would make everything so far look like warm-up fights.

I sighed, shamelessly lounging on a flat rock while the others ignited a small campfire and started dinner preparations — without me lifting a finger.

"If only I knew safer routes," I muttered, scratching my chin. "Damn, I miss the game’s map."

In my previous life, I’d spent countless hours exploring every Death Zone, including

Noctveil Wilds

, to unlock almost the entire game map.

If only I had that now, I could’ve easily plotted a safe path through this cursed forest to the

Lake of Grief

.

Gods, why?!

Why didn’t I get a System or any kind of cheat, huh?

I mean, my life was practically identical to those

’reincarnated-into-a-game/story’

protagonists!

So why wasn’t

I

blessed like them?!

"Hey, Sam! Instead of moping about whatever it is you’re moping about, how about you come help us for a change?" Vince called out.

I tilted my head toward him, eyes half-lidded. "Help you with what? Moral support? Because that’s all I can offer right now."

Vince scowled, stirring the pot of whatever ungodly stew he was making. "Or you use that flashy power of yours to heat up the fire and be useful, huh?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, buddy, but I can’t control plasma yet. I can make lava, maybe — though it’ll drain a lot of Essence. Should I do that?" I asked innocently.

Vince’s scowl deepened.

I chuckled. "Besides, I am being useful. I’m supervising."

Juliana, sitting nearby and cleaning all three of her swords, spoke without looking up. "Supervising what? The rock you’re sitting on?"

"Yes," I replied flatly. "It’s a very well-behaved rock."

Ray snorted. "Sam will make any excuse to avoid work."

Yeah, so apparently they’d all decided to start calling me by my nickname.

I thought about objecting but then remembered how annoyingly persistent they were, so I gave up without trying.

"Careful," I said lazily. "Slandering a highborn is a punishable offense for commoners, you know?"

Alexia let out a quiet laugh from across the fire. "Then

I’ll

say it — you’re a certified slacker."

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "Nobility against nobility. Our forefathers feared such a day would come."

They ignored me — which was fair. I was ignoring myself too, in spirit.

After a while, the scent of burning herbs and technically edible meat was all that filled the air.

The food being cooked was... fine.

Vince was many things — sharp, smart, quick-witted — but a chef, he was not.

Not that it was entirely his fault. We were running low on firewood, and Michael and Kang still hadn’t returned from their little expedition to find more.

They’d been gone for a while. A little

too

long, actually.

I sat upright.

Thankfully, just as I was considering going to look for them myself, Kang stepped through the underbrush.

...But the only problem was, he came back alone.

We all froze.

"Hey, where’s Mike?" Ray voiced the question on everyone’s mind.

Kang frowned at him.

"What do you mean, where?" he said, turning around. "He’s right behind me—"

He stopped.

Because, like I said, there was no one behind him.

"Uh... what the fuck?" Kang blinked. "He was right there just now!"

We all stood up.

Alexia immediately summoned her Origin Card to sense Michael’s aura nearby.

But before she could—

"Guys!"

A familiar voice called out.

We all turned toward the source to see Michael stumble out of the underbrush, panting, scratched, and carrying an armful of firewood.

Everyone exhaled in relief.

"Thank the heavens," Vince muttered. "Do you have any idea how much this idiot freaked us—"

"Guys!"

...And that’s when another Michael stepped out of the same underbrush.

Carrying another set of firewood.

The silence that followed was

deafening

.

Then Ray screamed. "Nope. NOPE. I’m out. This is how horror movies start!"

Both Michaels looked at each other — then at us — equally horrified.

"...What the fuck is this?!" they said in perfect unison.

"Oh, this is bad," I muttered, rubbing my temple.

"Wait— maybe one of them’s a clone?" Lily said, half-stepping back and summoning her Origin Card. "Or, or an illusion?"

"Or maybe they’re both demons wearing Michael’s skin," Juliana suggested calmly. "Let’s just stab both and be done with it."

"What?!" the Michaels shouted together.

Juliana’s expression didn’t change. "It’s the simplest solution."

Lily looked at her with a mix of concern and alarm. "How about we don’t start with murder?"

"Fine," Juliana said, picking up her wakizashi and drawing the blade halfway out. "Then you choose who dies first."

Michael (Number One? Two? Who knew?) looked horrified. "You can’t possibly think I’m fake!"

The other Michael jabbed a finger at him. "

He’s

the fake! Look at his eyes!"

Vince squinted. "They’re both... black?"

"Exactly," the first Michael snapped.

"...Wait, I think Julia’s right! Both of their eyes are black, but the real Michael had brown eyes," Vince said flatly.

"Excuse me, what?" I frowned.

"Yeah," Vince nodded with confidence. "The real Michael had brown eyes."

"You’re an idiot," I said simply. "He’s always had black eyes."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yuh-huh."

Now, in addition to both Michaels shouting over each other and swearing they were real, Vince and I were locked in a heated argument over the guy’s eye color.

At the same time, one Michael started listing past missions to prove his authenticity.

The other then began quoting famous movie dialogues as if they were somehow relevant.

Eventually, one of them summoned a longsword from his Soul Arsenal, and the other took up a fighting stance.

Ray ducked behind Alexia. "This is so stupidly terrifying I can’t even process it."

"Same," Alexia muttered.

Juliana sighed. "Can I stab them both now?"

"Not yet," I said, stepping forward. "Let me handle this."

Everyone turned to me as I approached the two Michaels.

Both were tense, but I could already see the subtle differences — one kept glancing nervously at Juliana’s sword, while the other’s grip tightened on his own.

"Alright," I said casually, crossing my arms. "Whichever one of you is real, answer me this — what’s the safest route to the

Lake of Grief

from here?"

They both paused on the spot.

It was a simple question. And if I was right about what was happening, only the fake Michael would have an answer.

The one on the left looked confused. "Wh–what? How the hell would I know that, Sam?!"

But the one on the right lit up immediately.

"The

Valley of the God Who Eats Is

," he said smoothly. "That’s the safest route out of here. The other creatures don’t roam near it. The God’s asleep right now, so it’s safe. But to reach it, we’ll have to cross the caldera where the Demon is sealed. It’ll be a challenge, but it’s our best bet."

The air went still.

Vince frowned. "The God who... what?"

Juliana’s gaze flicked toward me. "...Young Master?"

My face must’ve drained of color because she slowly reached for her sword again.

The real Michael — the one standing beside Kang — looked utterly lost. "What the hell are they talking about?!"

"The

Valley of the God Who Eats Is

," I repeated quietly. "You mean the

Valley of the Forgotten

? That’s not a route. That’s a graveyard."

Ray turned to me slowly, looking just as bewildered as the rest. "A graveyard for...?"

"For fools who don’t want to exist anymore," I said dryly. "And the caldera he mentioned — that’s where Vaeghar the Moon Eater is sealed. We wouldn’t last five minutes there."

The fake Michael stared at me, his smile stretched just a little too wide — like his face didn’t quite understand how to be human yet.

"Well, you asked. So I just told you. It’s our best chance. Because the other paths are blocked — by the skeleton and the worm." His voice cracked into a shrill laugh. "Now kill it! Kill the fake me! Kill it!"

His head tilted too far to the side in a motion that was jerky and unnatural — like his neck wasn’t used to holding weight.

Juliana’s sword was already out.

"Kill it," I said.

She didn’t hesitate.

With one clean swing, the thing’s head came off — and burst into a rain of writhing black worms that splattered across the campfire.

The rest of its body convulsed, then collapsed into a pile of squirming rot.

Michael screamed. Ray screamed louder. Vince threw the burning pot at it.

Juliana calmly flicked her blade clean. "Messy."

Michael was still hyperventilating when Lily rushed to his side. "It— it looked just like me! How did it— why me?!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "They’re called

Clone Worms

— a hive-mind Spirit Beast. They are not very strong, but they can shapeshift well. One of them latches onto you and learns everything — your memories, your voice, even your mannerisms. Then several of them merge together to take your shape. Unfortunately, they can copy humans, but not their Soul Arsenal. They also confuse their own memories for yours, so you can trick them into revealing things only they would know. For example, a safe route — since they are everywhere in this forest, they know all that is to know about it."

Which, thankfully, worked in our favor.

Maybe the main characters’ plot armor really was kicking in. Or maybe it was just a coincidence we came across this abomination.

Either way, Michael finally began to calm down.

Lily hesitated. "So... what’s this Valley it mentioned?"

"Don’t worry about it," I waved her off. "What we should worry about is the caldera... because that’s where the

Demonic

Spirit Beast I told you all about is sealed."

Everyone either gasped, blinked, froze, or stared at me with varying degrees of disbelief.

Alexia was the first to find her voice. "Sealed... by who?"

I gave her a look. "Who else? The Monarchs. My father. Your grandfather. And a few other Dukes."