Chapter 174: Forty-Sixth Floor, The World of the Virtuous (7)

Dashing unseen across the rooftops turned out to be surprisingly thrilling. When I watched the bustling streets below, I felt like an assassin stalking a target. On second thought, I preferred comparing myself to a vigilante like Spider-Hominid, patrolling the city to keep it safe.

It feels like a lot of time has passed.

I hadn’t checked the trial window, but judging by the shifting light, I had been searching for at least two or three hours.

Leaping through the air with Footsteps of the Abyss’s ability, my eyes locked onto a figure—an angel in a black suit.

Narrowing my focus, I sharpened my vision to get a better look. My first glance had been correct, as the elegant black suit paired with a crisp white collar perfectly matched the suspect’s.

This was the angel who had lied to us or, at the very least, messed with us somehow. I hadn’t expected to actually find her this quickly. Stifling my excitement, I fixed my gaze on the target and dropped into a deserted alley.

Just before landing from my five-story drop, I used the air as a foothold and touched down lightly. I glanced around, confirming the coast was clear, and finally dispelled Shadow Veil.

The entire sequence took less than three seconds, leaving me plenty of time to resume the chase without losing sight of my target.

I hurried toward the main street.

There she is.

Through the crowd, I spotted her figure again; the crisp white collar worked as an effective locator.

I quickened my pace. If she tried to slip away through some unexpected means, I needed to be ready. Walking casually, I tried to move as naturally as possible while keeping on her trail.

She walked five meters in front of me now. I reached into the mimic and retrieved the Lie Detector.

When suddenly—

Huh?

The angel glanced back without warning. I swiftly turned my head to the left, feigning disinterest, but I could feel her gaze brushing over me.

For an instant, she froze—like a malfunctioning machine—then continued forward. She reached up and massaged the back of her neck as if trying to work out a kink, yet showed no other signs of unease.

Perhaps she had just glanced idly, nothing more. Given the circumstances, however, the sudden turn only heightened my suspicions.

Two meters away now. In her moment of hesitation, I managed to close the gap. She was just within reach.

Stay calm.

Anticipating that she could potentially bolt, I reached out and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. She turned to face me, seeming more curious than concerned. A slight arch of her brow silently asked what I wanted.

What is this?

A flicker of unease stirred within me. Whether she had lied or simply played a prank, I had expected some kind of reaction: surprise, guilt, or perhaps defensiveness.

Instead, her demeanor remained composed, even welcoming. This wasn’t what I had anticipated.

An awkward silence lingered between us before she finally uttered, “Hello. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Ah, I just had a quick question.”

“Of course! Feel free to ask. I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”

Her warm smile and polite tone threw me off balance.

“We met before, right?”

She looked confusedly at me, seemingly unsure how to respond at first. “Excuse me? We’ve met before?”

“You look exactly like the angel my group spoke to at the rabbit fountain.”

“

Hmm

. I’m not so sure about that. I did pass by the rabbit fountain this morning, but I haven’t given any directions to outsiders today.”

I barely managed to hold back a scoff.

Is this a joke?

No, this angel wasn’t joking. She was the one Ha Hee-Jeong and I had been searching for, the angel who could lie.

The Lie Detector stirred, demanding my mana. It seemed obvious what the outcome would be, but confirming it couldn’t hurt.

Better safe than sorry.

I infused the die with mana.

Lowering my gaze, I watched as the sides spun before settling on a word.

“What?” I unconsciously gasped.

Momentarily forgetting the angel’s presence, I rolled the dice back and forth in my palm, double-checking the result. Each side read “True.”

She hadn’t lied.

The angel tilted her head slightly, her eyes flicking toward the dice in my hand. “Is something wrong? Is there a problem?”

I quickly clenched my fist and hid it from view.

“Oh, it’s just... I was so sure that we talked to you, but now I’m starting to doubt myself.”

“Perhaps it’s just a misunderstanding?”

She smiled sheepishly, but I couldn’t bring myself to respond in kind.

Her words were true? Did I imagine the entire encounter?

It didn’t make sense.

“You’re not lying, are you?”

The angel let out a soft laugh. “Oh, come now. Even outsiders know lying here means death.”

She chuckled again, as if my words were a hilarious joke.

I felt too flustered to think straight, but I couldn’t let the conversation end like this.

Hurriedly, I declared, “I get that, but this whole situation has thrown me off completely. Could you say one thing for me, just to clear things up?”

“Pardon?”

“Something like, ‘I haven’t lied,’ or ‘I’m an angel who can’t lie.’”

The angel frowned deeply. “That’s a bit rude. Honestly, I find it a little offensive.”

“I apologized, it’s just... this whole situation has left me feeling disoriented.”

The angel fell silent for a moment, glaring sharply at me. Her displeasure was obvious, and she didn’t even bother to hide it.

When I didn’t respond, she sighed roughly. “Fine. If that’s what you need.”

Meeting my eyes, the angel uttered unwaveringly, “I am an angel who cannot lie.”

The Lie Detector stirred again. I funneled mana into the die and waited.

As it spun, the angel raised her arms and proclaimed in a combative tone, “There. I said it, and I’m still standing. Are you satisfied now?”

Instead of answering, I glanced down at the die. Once again, it confirmed the veracity of her statement

I looked back at the angel, feeling a wave of frustration and disbelief. “I guess I was mistaken.”

“No apology?”

“I’m sorry.”

Just like how someone had described it in a casino, I forced out the apology, but it didn’t seem to help.

The angel shot me a piercing look before exhaling sharply and turning away. “Unbelievable. What a waste of time.”

She walked off, leaving me rooted in place. I didn’t stop her as I had no justification to. My thoughts churned as I struggled to make sense of what had just happened.

That angel had to be the one who “helped” Seo Ho-Su earlier. The odds of another angel wearing the exact same outfit were practically nonexistent. I recognized her the moment our eyes met, despite having only glimpsed her face earlier.

What is going on? Is my memory really failing me?

No matter how much I mulled it over, the thought seemed absurd.

While I wasn’t like Cole, who could recall every detail with uncanny precision, my memory had never been unreliable. In fact, it was sharper than most.

Still, if I wasn’t mistaken, none of this adds up.

The tower had given me the Lie Detector. Not once did I question its reliability. If it confirmed the angel hadn’t lied when she said she couldn’t lie, then it had to be true.

However, my instincts kept screaming that the two angels were one and the same.

I should move first and think later, though.

Likely because I stood stock-still in the middle of the street, I could feel eyes trailing me, the curious angels glancing at my conspicuous actions.

Turning back to where I had come from, I activated Shadow Veil as I strode toward the rooftops. Confused and somewhat lost, my thoughts drifted and ideas swirled in my head, unanchored and directionless. It felt as though my mind had been plunged into fog.

Then, a lightning bolt of inspiration struck.

Wait. What if the liar is a doppelganger

[1]

and mimicked the appearance of the angel I just spoke to?

That would explain everything. It would account for why the Lie Detector hadn’t flagged her words as false.

Angels weren’t all the same. Some could cast magic, while others wielded weapons. Therefore, thinking that one could possess the ability to shapeshift wouldn’t be far-fetched.

Who was to say they couldn’t also lie, either?

I can’t be certain, but it seems highly plausible.

If my hunch was correct, however, then realizing an angel lied after the fact would be meaningless. Even if I memorized the angel’s appearance and tracked them down later, it would already be too late. By then, the liar would have changed forms and disappeared without a trace.

The only way to discern an angel capable of lying was to catch them in the act.

Damn it!

Finding the liar on this floor had already become a lost cause. There went any lead I thought I had.

With only eight uses left on the Lie Detector, I would have to be far more cautious going forward. So far, Sixth Sense had served me well during this climb, but I couldn’t afford to place all my trust in it.

There had been times when even my gut had let me down. I needed to discuss this with Ha Hee-Jeong as soon as she returned.

***

After uncovering the potential existence of a doppelganger, I spent the remainder of my time on the forty-sixth floor observing the behavior of angels. With more than enough gold in reserve, I focused entirely on learning as much as I could about these beings.

My reasoning was simple: I needed to understand angels better if I wanted to track down the one who could lie.

I considered asking Ha Hee-Jeong, but with how long it had been since she cleared this floor, seeing things with my own eyes felt far more reliable.

The information mission proved to be useful, though.

After carefully watching and questioning the angels, it became clear that this world functioned on a strange version of communism. High-ranking angels distributed a fixed amount of gold and food to the rest of the city’s angels.

Because of that, most of them didn’t work, or even needed to.

When I asked the angels about this, they didn’t have any answers. There was no sign of a creative economy, and none of them knew where the gold or food even came from. They simply wandered the city, seemingly unbothered by the details, just like NPCs in a game.

Ding!

The sudden chime of a notification snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned my attention to the translucent screen that appeared.

[Congratulations. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has conquered the forty-sixth floor: The World of the Virtuous.]

[4,000 achievement points have been awarded to all climbers who cleared the forty-sixth floor.]

[Additional achievement points will be awarded based on their remaining gold, deducting three thousand gold.]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s current gold: 44,683. As a reward for placing first among all climbers, all his stats have been increased by 3.]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has been awarded 45,683 achievement points. Total achievement points: 50,734. He will now enter the waiting room.]

As my vision brightened and the faint sensation of floating set in, one thing became clear: something was deeply wrong with this world.

***

「Invisible message: Brusche, the apostle of the second-class god 'Burning Truth,' has disconnected from their host. The angel Levrin has regained consciousness.]

「Invisible message: Bruche, the apostle of the second-class god 'Burning Truth,' has possessed the angel Turen. The angel Turen’s consciousness has been temporarily suspended.]

1. A doppelganger is a shape-changing creature that can perfectly mimic the appearance and voice of any humanoid it has seen, using its abilities to deceive and infiltrate undetected. ☜