Return of the Sword God-Rank Civil Servant novel Chapter 282

It wasn’t a mistake.

It really was Su-ho.

That’s why Su-ho had come to the watchtower.

Because in the previous turn, Su-ho had thrown the Guiyeong Spear at the tower to infiltrate it covertly.

And once the next turn's Guardian Quest began, the system copied everything from the previous turn and applied it to the current players.

Su-ho stood silently in the corridor, staring at Su-ho.

Then, Su-ho approached and walked right past Su-ho.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen him.

He had seen Su-ho.

But the invader Su-ho was currently under the effects of Achromatic Solitude, and what he saw was not a clone identical to himself—but just a typical soldier #1. So he ignored him.

Because who would think a normal soldier #1 could perceive someone under Achromatic Solitude?

‘Unbelievable.’

Watching the retreating figure of invader Su-ho, Su-ho hurled his spear.

The invader, with excellent instincts, twisted his body and dodged the spear, turning to face him.

An utterly baffled expression.

Why?

First time seeing someone unaffected by Achromatic Solitude?

The flustered invader Su-ho asked,

“...Who the hell are you?”

But Su-ho didn’t answer.

Because in the plan he’d devised, he wasn’t °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° supposed to speak to fake-Su-ho just yet.

As Su-ho kept silent, fake-Su-ho let out a scoff and summoned his Blood Weapon, gripping it.

“Fine. Don’t talk. I did wonder why infiltration was going so smoothly—turns out they hid someone this high-level in the watchtower?”

High-level, huh...

It was already surreal seeing himself, but hearing himself compliment himself? That was surreal on a whole new level.

Still, that didn’t mean he was going to go easy on him.

As fake-Su-ho readied his stance, Su-ho summoned his own Blood Weapon in turn.

Fake-Su-ho’s eyes widened.

“Blood Weapon? You have Blood Weapon?”

“...”

Su-ho, again, said nothing.

Which left fake-Su-ho momentarily speechless.

He had a lot to think about.

After a brief pause, fake-Su-ho began activating his skills.

[Blessing activated.]

[Holy Enchant activated.]

[Mana Perception activated.]

[Endurance activated.]

[Enhancement activated.]

[Eye of the Blacksmith activated.]

Fake-Su-ho’s skills burst forth.

No notifications appeared for him, but Su-ho could see them clearly.

Fake-Su-ho might be a “fake,” but he was still Su-ho—from the previous turn.

And then—

[Weakening activated.]

Whoosh!

The moment Weakening activated, Su-ho received a notification as well.

[You have been afflicted by Weakening.]

[All stats reduced by 20%.]

At this point, Weakening was basically Su-ho’s trump card.

It used 70% of his mana to reduce the target’s stats by 20%—a terrifying debuff.

With the casting complete, fake-Su-ho silently stared at Su-ho.

As if to ask: Let’s see if you can copy this too.

Of course he could.

Su-ho raised his Blood Weapon and began activating his own skills, matching him step-for-step.

[Blessing activated.]

[Holy Enchant activated.]

[Mana Perception activated.]

[Endurance activated.]

[Enhancement activated.]

[Eye of the Blacksmith activated.]

Seeing the identical series of activations, fake-Su-ho’s eyes widened again.

His mind must have been racing.

He was probably trying to recall everything from his past life, comparing possibilities.

Was there any monster or player who could mimic him like this?

But that wasn’t the end.

[Weakening activated.]

Su-ho used Weakening just like fake-Su-ho had.

Then, the exact same notifications popped up in front of fake-Su-ho.

[You have been afflicted by Weakening.]

[All stats reduced by 20%.]

Fake-Su-ho’s eyes widened.

Of course they did.

He had surely thought Su-ho was nothing more than an illusion or deception—but Weakening proved it was real.

Why?

Simple.

No illusion could trigger system notifications.

His brows furrowed.

He was deep in thought.

Then he muttered,

“Ha... this is giving me a headache.”

Yeah, no kidding.

You’re a copy of me—down to my skills, stats, swordsmanship... even my memories.

Which meant you were stuck in a dilemma.

Su-ho was a regressor. He knew about the Moon Palace Gate.

He also knew what came next in the second quest.

And fake-Su-ho was a clone of Su-ho—complete with all of that knowledge.

But in fake-Su-ho’s timeline, he had just started the first quest.

So meeting his clone—which shouldn’t appear until the second quest—had to have triggered a mental crash.

Who was this in front of him?

Another Gate entity?

But he had identical skills, and even triggered the same Weakening alert?

So... he was definitely a clone?

Then why was the clone appearing now, in the first quest?

Shouldn’t he show up later in the second?

Wait... could he be the real one?

No, that’s not possible.

There must be information I don’t know.

After all, I’m seeing the Moon Palace for the first time. Everything I know is second-hand.

So the only thing to do now—whether clone or monster—is to kill the guy in front of me.

Having made his decision, fake-Su-ho raised his sword.

Seeing that, Su-ho smirked inwardly.

‘So, he’s finally worked through the identity crisis.’

Now all that remained was the fight.

Because he felt sure he was the original.

And then—

[Mark of Agony has been applied to Palace Soldier.]

Another system alert appeared before fake-Su-ho.

Mark of Agony only activates when a valid hit is landed.

And “Palace Soldier” referred to Su-ho—since that was his current role in the quest.

So fake-Su-ho felt certain.

‘I’m the real one!’

If the enemy were the original, the name would appear as a Player tag.

But the system just called him “Palace Soldier.”

His identity crisis resolved, fake-Su-ho confidently raised his sword.

Su-ho quietly activated healing skills.

[Heal activated.]

[Breath of Recovery activated.]

Seeing this, fake-Su-ho felt even more certain.

He himself rarely used Breath of Recovery—its efficiency was poor.

But his fake counterpart was using it.

Which, to him, was definitive proof that the opponent was a system-generated impostor.

Fake-Su-ho charged, grinning.

“I’ll finish this quickly, you fake bastard!”

Excited, he even used Step of the War God as he rushed in.

Su-ho still said nothing, facing the attacks with silence.

But he didn’t counterattack.

He focused solely on defense and dodging.

As time passed, wounds began to accumulate.

And the more fake-Su-ho saw blood drawn, the more confident he became.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Slice! Clang! Clang!

Su-ho blocked each strike while continuously healing.

Dozens—no, hundreds—of exchanges passed.

Until...

Fake-Su-ho’s Blood Weapon suddenly lost its glow.

The distinctive Holy Enchant effect had faded.

Su-ho met the oncoming blade and leaned in close.

“Looks like you’re finally out of mana?”

“...What the—? You can talk?”

“Of course I can. Anyway, thanks for playing along.”

“What?”

Without giving him a chance to process it, Su-ho drew his sword back and thrust in a vicious counter.

Dodging was impossible.

No one knew Su-ho’s habits and reactions better than Su-ho.

He squeezed out the last of his nearly depleted mana and activated his skills.

[Steel Severance activated.]

[Enhancement applied.]

[Steel Severance's power has increased.]

Two skills layered together.

Fake-Su-ho instinctively raised his sword to block.

But—

SLASH!

Su-ho’s pale Blood Weapon carved clean through him.

[You have defeated the Invader.]

At last, Su-ho had succeeded—

He had defeated himself.