Professional Body Double - Chapter 53

I was just your average burnout. Now I’m a kobold in a dungeon where everything wants to eat me—and frankly, I get it. I look delicious.Reincarnated as the weakest possible monster in the worst possible place, I start with nothing but panic, backward knees, and a skill called Civilization Mimicry—which is sealed. Because of course it is.But survival isn't the story.This is the story of what comes after.Of finding meaning in the scraps. Of building law from ashes. Of kindling memory in a place designed to erase.Because even if the world sees kobolds as nothing, I’ve seen what we used to be.And I’m going to bring it back.Firelight by firelight. Burial by burial. One fragile tradition at a time.Because if the world wants kobolds to be nothing?Then I’ll teach it what nothing becomes when it learns to dream.

August Clementine was once Reacher, a wealthy and thrill-seeking businessman who had everything but satisfaction in life. After a fatal adventure, Reacher awakens on a parallel Earth, in the body of the destitute and troubled 19-year-old August Clementine. With his new identity, August finds himself burdened with debt and responsible for his beloved younger sister, Sophia. Desperate to change their fate, August immerses himself in Enders Light, a cutting-edge VRMMORPG that blurs the line between virtual and reality. In this fantastical game world, players can bring specific items that meet certain requirements into the real world and even gain a fraction of their in-game abilities and strength. Stuck at level 12 and unable to progress past his starting village due to a rare armor shortage, August must rely on his wits and determination. A breakthrough comes when he retrieves a mystical purification stone from a river teeming with magical aqua beasts and uses it to cleanse an ancient, corrupted altar. His reward includes the legendary Fruit of Corruption, a priceless item with the potential to grant supernatural abilities in the real world. Caught between the allure of selling the fruit for financial security and the temptation of gaining extraordinary powers, August must make a choice that will define his and Sophia’s future... “What? I gained the ability to extract any item from the game into the real world without restrictions?”

Interview (YGZ – Father, ZZ – Mother, ZW – Son)

1. What is something you carry everywhere with you?

YGZ: A gun.

ZZ: I prefer being indoors, specifically inside a lab.

ZW: Anything that has access to the internet.

2. What is your favorite hobby?

YGZ: Shooting.

ZZ: Experimenting.

ZW: Hacking.

3. What is your worst fear?

YGZ: My wife’s cooking.

ZZ: My lab burning.

ZW: No access to the internet.

4. What is your spirit animal and why?

YGZ: A Bigfoot – has hands to hold a gun.

ZZ: An eagle – has good vision, useful for observing.

ZW: A Spider – can spin a web.

5. What is your biggest regret?

YGZ: Letting my wife escape after our first night.

ZZ: My son being a genius. I chose YGZ to be the father of my child because I thought he was a limbo.

ZW: Not reuniting my parents sooner.

I am a vampire, possessing the body of the villainess in the novel.

I want to live quietly so I can live peacefully.

When I saw the Duke of Esteban, I lost all my reason and bit his neck.

Duke of Esteban just so happens to be the greatest figure in the empire.

I didn’t have enough strength to fight the desire, so I slept with him…

I’m in trouble. Let’s erase his memory and run.

“Your Excellency asked me to convey a message ‘I let you have my neck and body, but you threw it all away and ran.’”

What are you saying?

Does he remember?

Later, there was a strange declaration of war after we met.

“Don’t avoid me and let’s continue to meet. Also, when you need blood, come find me.”

Duke, would you please stay away from me?

It’s hard to breathe because of your taste.