Chapter 53: Fake or Real? (1)

Yes. In front of Rover were two Nanoes. Their looks, their expressions, even the smallest gestures… were identical.

The two Nanoes stared at each other, killing intent flashing across both of their faces, and then…

Crack! Crack!

They both pulled out their guns and aimed at each other, eyes locked onto the other as if, one second later, neither would hesitate to fire and kill the other.

They faced each other without saying a single pointless word, only staring.

Rover was a little panicked as well. The [Intuition] skill wasn’t working. He tried to sense the bond between [Tenant] and [Owner], but that bond appeared on both Nanoes.

He frowned, not knowing what to say in this situation.

The two Nanoes continued to stare at each other, guns pointed straight at each other’s heads.

Rover tried to find any difference between them, but there seemed to be none. The way they held the gun, the way they frowned, their stance, even their expressions and breathing rhythm…

They were like the same person standing in front of a mirror.

“A mirror?!” Rover remembered something and checked their dominant hands. But he had to feel disappointed because both of them were right-handed, the same, not different like he had imagined.

“Master…” Selina tugged at his clothes and whispered, “I can’t tell either, so… try asking her something only we would know.”

Rover nodded slightly and raised his voice. “You two… put your guns down first, can you?”

Both Nanoes glanced at Rover, then spoke at the same time, “She puts her gun down first.”

The two Nanoes: “??!!”

“Don’t copy me!”

They both said it at the same time again, and it made Rover’s head hurt even more. The way they looked at him carried a hint of gentleness and deep affection, something the Thousand-Faced Wraith probably couldn’t imitate so easily.

And their reactions were the same too. So how was he supposed to tell?

Rover frowned and said softly, “I’ll count to three. You’ll both put your guns down at the same time.”

The two Nanoes looked at each other, then nodded.

Rover began counting. “1… 2… 3!”

Both of them stayed perfectly still. Neither lowered her gun.

Rover: “…”

Damn it! I already know one of you is fake, but can you at least give me a little face, okay?

If I give an order and you still won’t do it, how am I supposed to tell the difference?

Both Nanoes pressed their lips together and said, “Rover, I can’t put the gun down. I’m afraid the one impersonating me will hurt you.”

Rover sighed and shook his head, rubbing his forehead, feeling a little… incredulous.

He looked at the Nanoe on the left and said softly, “Fine. You’re Nanoe Number 1. Tell me… where did we meet for the first time?”

Nanoe Number 1 answered immediately, “In the elevator. You pressed the button for the 12th floor and stood behind me. I could even tell you were sneaking looks at my butt for a long time.”

“Alright! Alright!” Rover quickly cut her off, pretending to cough once as he said, “That… you misunderstood.”

Nanoe Number 1 chuckled lightly. “Don’t worry, Rover. I knew you were looking at me, so I pretended to press a few more floors so the elevator would go slower.”

Rover: “…”

Selina glanced at him and whispered, “Master, you really like butts? I thought you liked boobs the most.”

Rover: “…”

’Damn it!’ he cursed inwardly. ’Even that kind of thing she knows?’

Just like Nanoe said, that was when he had just started working at the FLC Group, and it was also the first time he met her.

Back then, as a fresh graduate, seeing a mature, successful woman in office attire, radiating a gentle, refined beauty with a warmth that felt almost motherly, it was impossible for him not to notice.

She was beautiful, so beautiful that it made all the women he’d seen on social media apps feel ordinary.

And that day, Nanoe really had pressed several extra floors to make the elevator ride longer. He also couldn’t understand why, that day, inside the elevator, there had only been him and Nanoe.

Only later did he find out it was an elevator reserved for the company’s senior executives, not somewhere a newbie like him should have been able to enter.

Rover took a deep breath, looked at the Nanoe on the right, and said softly, “Then… you’ll be Nanoe Number 2. Tell me, what was the first meal you brought me?”

Nanoe Number 2 glanced at Nanoe Number 1, then said, “Porridge, with a lot of scallions. Back then I heard you were sick, you took three days off but still didn’t come back to work, so I cooked you some porridge.”

“I also remember you hadn’t showered for three days. You reeked of sweat. I had to go into your place, take your dirty clothes to wash them, and help you hang them out to dry.”

Rover: “…”

He really wanted to cry. Did this even need checking? She even knew details that small.

No. They both knew perfectly well.

Rover refused to give up and kept asking, but both of them answered completely correctly. They even remembered details he himself hadn’t paid attention to.

But when they answered, both Nanoe Number 1 and Number 2 looked a little stunned that the other person had the exact same memories.

Rover scratched his head, feeling like it was impossible to choose. Then suddenly, he noticed something strange.

He looked at his hand. His palm had turned slightly translucent.

“This is…”

Rover jolted, staring at Nanoe and Selina, but they didn’t seem to notice what was happening.

Not just his hand, his entire body had become a little translucent.

“Could it be that if I don’t make a decision quickly, I’ll disappear?” Rover thought.

He remembered what people in the chat had said: if you didn’t make a decision fast enough, you would fail.

But what about Selina? Why wasn’t she fading? And the real Nanoe, wouldn’t she be affected at all?

Rover looked at Selina and the two Nanoes. A terrifying thought suddenly rose in his mind.

Even so, he pretended to stay calm and smiled. “Come here. I have something to say. And I also already know who the imposter is.”

Both Nanoes and Selina looked at him, then walked closer in confusion. The two Nanoes were still wary, but once they approached, both of them lowered their guns.

When the four of them were close enough to feel each other’s breath, Rover said softly, “The imposter is…”

The three of them fell silent, listening. But in that tiny instant, Rover suddenly swung his fist with all his strength.

Whoosh!

A terrifying punch swept sideways with a piercing gust.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Three impacts rang out. Rover’s fist swept across all three of them: Selina and the two Nanoes.

It happened too suddenly. None of them had time to guard, and Rover’s fist slammed into their faces.

However… what was even more horrifying was that their faces didn’t swell or bleed. Instead, a hole opened straight through, and through the hole, their bodies looked like balloons losing air, slowly collapsing, while their eyes still stared at him.

“Just as I thought, all of you… are fake,” Rover muttered.

“Hahahaha… kekekeke… hahahaha…”

Suddenly, shrill laughter burst from the three deflated skins of Selina and the two Nanoes. Their faces twisted to the extreme, so grotesque it made one nauseous.

Rover frowned and shouted, “Thousand-Faced Wraith!”

“Hehehehe… Hahahaha…”

The fog around them shuddered violently, like a calm lake suddenly struck by countless stones, ripples spreading everywhere.

Rover didn’t dare let his guard down, because he could feel it: countless eyes were watching him.

He didn’t even need [Intuition] to sense that.

Those eyes didn’t carry malice, but they carried a kind of madness, as if they wanted him to join them, to become part of them.

Rover felt his heartbeat accelerate, the tension in his chest tightening.

“Hm?!” Rover sensed something and looked up. In the next instant, he saw an eye…

A gigantic eye staring at him, bloodshot, its pupil narrow like a predator’s.

WHOONG!!

“Agh!” Rover cried out in pain.

A high-frequency chime-like noise stabbed into his skull. His head throbbed. He clutched it and collapsed onto the floor, his mind sinking into darkness.

“Rover! Rover!”

“Master!”

“Um…” Rover slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Nanoe and Selina’s faces, filled with worry.

“This place is…”

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