After defeating the fake Ran and Lil, I rode my momentum to floor four.
A monster like a floating shadow appeared before me.
“Here already, eh?”
This was what Neptune had told me about. I decided I’d best kill it quickly.
The shadow closed in. It was pretty fast─around C-rank speed, in terms of stats.
I swiftly evaded and fired a growth round from the side. The shadow died without much resistance.
“No drops? This would be a lot easier if it would drop something.” I chuckled to myself. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.
When in shadow form, the enemies here were weak. So weak that I could farm them with ease, at that.
But they’d dropped nothing. The fact that they dropped nothing for me, the only person in the world with S-rank drops, meant that I hadn’t fulfilled the conditions to make them drop something.
Like the slime family, for example─defeating child slimes on their own wouldn’t get you any drops. These shadows were like them; they probably wouldn’t drop anything unless you let them change form.
I walked on and quickly encountered another wandering shadow.
This time, I went on the defensive. I activated my Absolute Rock pebble’s invincibility mode to bolster my SS-rank HP, vitality, and willpower, and loaded a limitless recovery round and prepared to fire it into myself at any time.
Then, I waited for the shadow. It approached and quickly attacked. Immediately after I took the hit, it gradually took on the shape of a human, like a genie coming out of a lamp.
It had changed into me, a fake Ryota with two guns.
It was clearly me. Like, more me than Prince Ryo was. Apart from his total lack of facial expression, it made me think I was looking into a mirror.
The fake me charged.
“He’s fast!” I crossed my arms to guard, but he blew through it and my Absolute Rock invincibility, launching me away.
He was strong, and he even used magic that I typically didn’t bother to use─and said magic was strong, to boot.
I got dizzy. He’d dealt damage to me even through the Absolute Rock pebble.
“Guess I should’ve expected that!” I spat and got away from him.
I’d defeated an Absolute Rock before; the fake me could surely pierce through its invincibility. I cancelled invincibility mode, since it only slowed me down and made it impossible for me to fight back.
I readied my guns and countered. After firing homing rounds as a smokescreen thanks to their tricky arcs, I rushed in and balled my fist.
Just as I tried to swing, though, he disappeared.
“What?!”
Where did he go?!
I searched, but an impact suddenly ran through me.
I lost my sense of up and down. Blood gathered at my fingertips. That was the sensation of being blown away at incredible speed.
“Hup!” I righted myself in midair and fired a trash round to stop my momentum.
When I landed, something dripped on the ground─my blood. Blood spilled from my mouth, showing just how much damage that one attack had dealt to me.
There was no doubt now; the impostor was both stronger and faster than me.
Just like Neptune had said, these were stronger versions of us. Seeing that, I had to grin. I could feel my lips curl upward on their own.
“Thank you, Tennessine!” I didn’t know if they could hear me, but I shouted my thanks to the spirit of this dungeon.
Neptune had judged these imposters the limit of one’s innate talent. I agreed. I mean, I was still just at SS. That stat rating screamed incomplete.
“I can still get stronger.”
The fake me pursued. He aimed his guns and fired two bullets at the same time, fusing them to become a piercing round.
I made a decision. This was a battle against a better me; my decisions had to be instantaneous. Before the piercing round could hit me, I pointed my gun at myself and fired─an acceleration round.
Instantly after, I was in an accelerated world. Now even faster than my imposter, I dodged his bullet and charged in closer.
I saw him trying to point his own gun at himself. Even when slowed down from my perspective, he moved faster than a normal person. He was using his swift reaction speed to try and speed himself up to fight back.
“Not gonna happen!” I swatted his gun away just in time, causing his bullet to miss and hit the ceiling.
Then, I punched the fake. It launched him─but I caught his arm before he could fly away, because I knew what he would do if I let him go. He’d use his bullets to get himself into a better position while midair. I did that often; hell, I’d just done it myself.
That was why I’d stopped him. I’d be in big trouble if I let him get an acceleration round off.
I grabbed, pushed his gun away, and punched him. I repeated this process over and over, gradually dealing damage.
“Tch!”
The fake counterattacked me. Despite me being accelerated, his sharp counter had grazed my cheek.
I’d be at a huge disadvantage without my acceleration round, but this time, I’d come out ahead. It was time to end this. I focused even more, using my speed advantage to overwhelm the fake.
He tried to go invincible using the pebble along the way, but I stopped that as well.
In a thirty-second-long flurry of action, I had managed to defeat the stronger, tougher version of me. I’d done what Neptune had failed to do: defeat a better version of oneself.