Finally. There are Filyn and Iron. They were waiting for us in front of the extra-large theater we saw earlier.

"About time!" said Filyn, not bothering to hide her irritation. Are we that late?

It turns out we weren't. Filyn was irritated because some type of barrier is preventing her from entering the theater.

"For real?" asked Mira as she tried to punch the invisible wall that Filyn was leaning on...and lost her balance as her fist hit thin air. I tried to touch the barrier as well, but I didn't feel anything.

"What?! Why am I the only one who is left out!?" - Filyn

This is weird. Perhaps...

"Filyn, your race was [Lilth] if I remember right." - Garami

"Yeah, so?" - Filyn

"In that case, maybe this barrier prevents creatures of a certain racial rank and above from entering?" - Garami

The Lilith is a C-rank evolution of the Succubus race. A normal Succubus that has not evolved to match any specific attributes is an E-rank demon, which can then evolve either into a Succubus Elder, a Succubus with a focus on a specific attribute, or a Lesser Liltih, a Succubus with more "Fatale" than "Femme". They're essentially a combat species. And looking at Filyn's achievements up to this point, she is a prime example of her species.

"Gah, I hate those things! They are a stupid Dungeon's attempt to hide something!" - Filyn

It seems that she has experience with Dungeon diving. Not surprising.

"And what is the common point about these restriction-limited areas?" - Garami

"There are several, but the biggest one must be that they all are hiding something crucial." - Filyn

"In other words, jackpot." - Garami

If they're trying to hide something using the Dungeon's half-functioning abilities, then this place is the most likely candidate for the hiding spot.

After some "convincing" by Filyn, the three of Mira, Iron, and I entered the building, leaving Filyn outside by her lonesome. I'm worried... About the fate of the city.

We went inside, and wow. This place is falling apart, but one can still see that this theater used to be one of the most luxurious buildings of its time. I can only think of the fancy hotels we stayed the night at on this island if I had to choose an even fancier building that I've been in. And that includes what I can scarcely remember from my other life as well.

"Garami, I think we've found a secret passage to the castle that transcends space and time." - Mira

"Stop fooling around. Iron, do you know anything about this place?" - Garami

"Negative. No one from the village ever reached this district and had the energy to investigate." - Iron

Fair enough. You have to endure the undead dragon gauntlet to reach this place, so it's no surprise that even the undead would feel too exhausted to do a big search of the area if they survived the dragons.

"There's nothing in the foyer. That would be too easy anyway." - Garami

"If they're keeping stuff hidden here, then we'd need to find some secret entry path on the stage or in the storage area for the props or something. Maybe in the director's office?" - Mira

"Affirmative. I will take the lead-" - Iron

"Wait. Let Garami do that." - Mira

"? Why?" - Iron

"I've got trap-detection and monster-detection skills, and we don't know what may meet around the corner. If something pops up, I'll leave it to you two." - Garami

"Affirmative." - Iron

Good. But is this guy capable of being any helpful? I haven't seen him in action myself, which makes me a little doubtful. So please excuse me for taking a little peek ~...

Name: Iron Tirnog | [Guardian] Race: Living Armor Gender: Male Level: 25/50 Traits: 2 Karma Value: 75 Main Class: Squire Lv.50 (Max) Sub Class: Shield Warrior Lv.44 Sub Class: Sentinel Lv.38 Skills: 35 Titles: 8 Blessings: 0 Aether Points: 8.2 HP: 235/235 MP: 146/146 SP: 152/152 STR: 215 VIT: 342 MAG: 93 RES: 220 SPD: 138 DEX: 134 INT: 95 LUC: 104 LP: 15

Skill List:

Skill List: Ability Skills: [Extra Health Lv.8] [Health Auto-Recovery Lv.50 (Max)] [Massive Mana Lv.4] [Strength Lv.50 (Max)] [Tougher Vitality Lv.10] [Magic Lv.19] [Swift Speed Lv.2] Attack Skills: [Shield Arts Lv.50 (Max)] [Guard Lv.50 (Max)] [Parry Lv.42] [Metal Counter Lv.44] [Ghost Slash Lv.33] Magic Skills: [Summon Phantom: Ghost Sword Lv.15] Active Skills: [Covering Lv.25] [Taunting Lv.19] [Cover Move Lv.7] [Heavy Stance Lv.10] [Energy Warfare Lv.15] Passive Skills: [Sword Proficiency Lv.26] [Shield Proficiency Lv.50 (Max)] [Close Quarters Combat Lv.21] [Armor Proficiency Lv.50 (Max)] [Metal Defense Lv.50 (Max)] [Battle Continuation Lv.50 (Max)] [Weapon Reinforcement Lv.24] [Defense Reinforcement Lv.11] Perception Skills: [Danger Sense Lv.15] [Lookout Lv.39] Resistance Skills: [Metal Resistance Lv.11] [Death Resistance Lv.7] [Undead Resistance Lv.50 (Max)] [Pain Resistance Lv.50 (Max)] Elements: [Metal Element Lv.5] [Undead Element Lv.7] Monster Skills: [Soul Detection Lv.40]

Title List:

Title List: Achievement Titles: [Guardian] [Metal Technique User] [Undead Technique User] Hunting Titles: [Undead Slaughterer] [Monster Slaughterer] [Skeleton Slaughterer] [Zombie Slaughterer] [Ghost Slayer]

HOLY ****!!

"I-Iron, you're goddamn solid...!" - Garami

"He is?" asked Mira, so I showed him a copy of his status page on my Kigal-Note. She nodded sagely without saying any words after seeing that.

"? Why are you stating the obvious?" - Iron

Let's have him focus on the defense...

After settling on our roles, our happy trio entered the theater's dark corridors. Despite the air that fits home at a horror movie, none of my skills made any warnings to me. Remembering that they're not 100% foolproof, I made extra sure not to miss any possible suspicious movements in the dark, but nothing is happening so far.

Eventually, we discovered the doors to the stage, but they were locked. We tried to break ourselves in but to no avail. I considered throwing a Zahhak at it, but that would be wasting my MP, so I refrained.

"There has to be something behind here!" - Mira

"Then look for a different path. Maybe you can get in from backstage?" - Garami

"Good thinking. Let's try there." - Mira

"Question. Isn't there a greater chance to discover something in the theater's mayor's office?" - Iron

"Like the director's room? Or the owner?" - Garami

"Yes. Whatever those are." - Iron

Ignoring Iron's general lack of common knowledge, we decided to skip the stage for now and went to the floors above to find the office.

The building has five floors in total, so we started by searching through the rest of the first floor. Unfortunately, any staff-related doors or other potential entrances to the stage were closed off in the same manner as the main door, so we had to give up in the end and move to the second floor.

Again, we tried to enter the main stage from the balcony seats, but our luck is just as good as on our first try: horrible.

"This is getting tedious." - Garami

"At least it proves something is going on in there. Either that or the doors in this place just suck." - Mira

"Watch your language. Who knows who might...hear...you...?" - Garami

My words started to fail me as "something" emerged from the shadows. A character dressed in a robe with a hood covering most of their face. And underneath that was a pale-white face whose eyes were covered by a black blindfold...

"Eh? Wait, huh?!" - Mira

"... Incomprehensible. There are two Garamis." - Iron

I'd not say there are "two" of us. The other one looks like a bad 2P version of me. She...it is lacking many details that I have. Like how she's holding her scythe, aimed at us. I wouldn't show my intent to attack in such an obvious manner..., "intent to attack"?

*Clang!*

Too close! I had just enough time to transform my dagger into its scythe form to block my copycat's scythe!

"Hostiles!" - Garami

"I can see that." - Iron

After fending off my copy's attack, I jumped backward over Iron's head as he charged forward with his shield ready. My copy tried to attack again, but Iron blocked the darkness-covered scythe with his shield with relative ease. As I landed, I saw Mira in the corner of my eyes as she went around Iron and slashed at my copy's unguarded flank.

A large wound could be seen on my copy, but strangely, no blood came out from it. Instead, sparks like electricity could be seen. A robot?

Not bothering to confirm the identity of my clone, Mira continued to wield her greatsword as she made quick work of my replica. Hey, hey. Aren't you having it a little too easy? It's my face that copycat is wearing...

"Phew, that was a blast~." - Mira

"Aren't you a little too entertained by the motion of killing someone who's looking like me?" - Garami

Whatever. Let's not dwell too deeply on that. It's not gonna be good for my mental health... For now, let's see what this fraudster's real identity is.

As I guessed, it was a robot. Sorta like a robotic mannequin. It fits the general idea of this theater, but for some reason, it feels foreign.

"Iron, you know what this is?" - Garami

"Negative." - Iron

"Really? It sounds like it's your relative." - Mira

"Hmm?" - Iron

Nah. Nobody who can act that confused can be a robot.

"Over there." - Iron

...You didn't listen?

Mira and I looked over at where Iron was pointing...and this is so not my day. Several more copies are emerging from the shadows. And why are they only based on me!? What are the copyright laws in this world doing!?

"Wow. This is like a dream I had come true~." - Mira

"Seriously, stop being so entertained by them..." - Garami

Looking at them from this side, it feels like a bunch of grim reapers from hell that are coming to reap our souls. I need to consider an image change.

Iron went forward and attracted the attention of my clones. I think it's that [Taunting] skill's effect. It collects the aggro of hostile targets in the area. Luckily, the copies are so shady that their only way of attacking is to cover their scythes with dark energies and slash at them. I'm keeping an eye on Iron's stats with [Identification], but I can't see any changes in them. Maybe the copies can't use my Magic Eye skills?

Either that or their blindfolds are simple blindfolds with no effects, unlike mine which improves my line of vision. Meaning they're just in the way!

"Good time to test this baby. [Crystal Confinement]!" - Mira

Mira touched the ground with gusto, which caused crystals to start growing up from it and spreading across the floor, like ice on water that's being frozen. The crystals reached the legs of my counterfeits and started to climb up their limbs, immobilizing them.

This is the T2 skill Mira obtained from the "Bondage-type Skill Orb"! It's not like the crystals are a Petrification-type ailment, so the copies can break themselves free from the crystals given time. Not that our Guild's resident spirit knight is giving them that chance.

Mira and Iron's swords easily cut through my copies. This is so not a thing I wanna watch.

"Master, you better treat people better~. Or else this scene may be your future~." - Bloom

"You're also enjoying this too much..." - Garami

*Swish!!*

"No, I am-*MHH*-!?" - Bloom

"Hold it-!?" - Garami

Something tried to attack me, but I managed to dodge it. It's another one of those copycats, but too bad~. You can't catch me with that speed~. ...Is what I first thought, but then I saw Bloom having been snatched by the copy. AND IT ALSO GOT THE KIGAL-NOTE?!

Hehehe~. I was just joking~. The book will return to me the moment I wish for, and Bloom is just an avatar~. She will reappear by my side any...time...soon...?

"Holy cow, they kidnapped Bloom!!" - Garami

"You sure you shouldn't worry about that all-important notebook of yours?" - Mira

Oh, right. That too.

"Keep these guys occupied!" I shouted to Mira and Iron as I ran after the thieving me...them...the clone!!

Bloom can't return to me, but I can at least know where she is. I think it's part of some of [Gamemaster]'s avatar functions. The copycat is fast, but you can't outrun me, cheater! I have [Demon King] in my skill list, something I doubt a lousy fairy-snatcher such as you could ever copy!!

The thief ran up the stairs to the 3rd floor. I followed them, only to find a giant iron maiden falling down the stairs towards me, the hatch open and ready to accept any "customers". I kept it occupied by using [Nature's Webbing] + [Web Bomb] to give it some wooden mess to chew on instead, the wood having been taken from the staircase.

That iron maiden, was it from [Trap Creation] + the recipes of [Gloom Hell Prison]? As if to answer my question, spiky chains started to come out from the floor after I reached the 3rd floor. Yup, this is Prison stuff. The chains look like something from a goth's wet dream.

I dodged and used [Misdirection] to alter the chains' velocity to evade them all. Getting hit by one of these will result in more than just a time loss.

The thief went further up, so I had no other choice but to follow. And this time as well, another trap came at me. The classic "rolling boulder"!! No, wait. It's just a giant [Poison Ball]. Where did they get the energy to produce that!? A barrier would just make the liquid explode, so I jumped off the stairs and used [Sticky Limbs] to hold on to the wall while the ball rolled downstairs and hit the spiky chains. Hope Mira won't step into that poison pool by accident.

The path clear, I returned to chasing the fairy-napper with gusto. I suspected another trap on the 3rd floor, so I kept [Optical Cover] on to attempt of staying hidden. Nothing came out of the floors, nor the roof, and the walls are clear too. Did they run out of MP with that last [Poison Ball]? If so, let's hope they're too exhausted to focus on their perception skills and try to sneak up on them! Time to show what happens to the idiots who try to kidnap my fairy!!

...Oh, and for trying to steal from me as well, I guess.