The quiet and deserted ambiance continued to press, releasing the inner paranoia from the cage of Ronnie's subconscious. He could feel how the blood was pulsing through his veins, and how the body had put itself into a stressful mode. Nothing was in vain. Several bullets flew past his head. By the pop of the shot, he realized that someone had fired from a pistol. Ronnie got up a little, bent forward, and ran without looking back to the first intersection. All this time, the fire at him did not stop. Around the corner of a small apartment building, he took out a small mirror from his bosom and looked back. Two level seven players were running towards his position, aiming Browning's muzzle in his direction. Ronnie opened the map of the city, oriented himself along the roads, and rushed into the darkness of the alleys.

They fired two shots at random. The bullets hit the brick wall with a metallic, hideous screech. Ronnie was nowhere to be found. They ran forward with their index finger on the trigger, passed two T-shaped intersections, and saw a suspicious shadow flash behind the house two hundred yards away. They smiled greedily and ran across the road to the opposite side and began to sneak forward, checking the dark alley on the right along the way, it was empty. When they passed on, Ronnie got up from the open hatch and began to move stealthily in their direction. Less than two minutes later, the Barrett butt hit one player on the back of the head, and the second - when he turned around - in the nose, causing a slight stun.

Ronnie looked at the nicknames of the players, they were Onzaa and Camerc. He pointed the muzzle of the large-caliber rifle at them and asked:

"You decided to kill me under the guise of hunting the monster and take my weapon, that won’t work?"

They were surprised, threw their pistols forward, turned with their hands in the air, and answered:

"Holy shit! It also speaks our language!"

"Don't kill us, it's better to take us as slaves."

"We'll serve you, O Dark Lord, in the human body."

"What are you talking about, idiots? I'm not a monster."

"Yes, master." Camerc nodded and fell on his face like a believer before God.

Ronnie picked him up and slapped him heartily on the cheek with the back of his hand, took him by the cheekbones, and looking straight into his eyes, said:

"Turn on the HUD and say the same thing again."

Camerc's eyes darted, his mouth opened wide, and Onzaa on his knees began to move back.

"Have you scanned yet?"

"Why was the "unknown monster" announced then?"

"At least they didn't make a mistake with "dangerous"."

"What's your name in the bestiary?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Ronnie rolled his eyes.

"You can see my parameters and level. It's because I'm a player. How can I be confused with a monster?"

"Damn it, then the monster looks exactly like you!"

"You're inadequate. Both of you. The AI told me what he looks like."

Ronnie threw Camerc to the ground and jerked the Barrett shutter, took off the safety and was ready to exercise his right to self-defense, as Onzaa said:

"Stop! Stop! If you’re a player, then we can write a PM to you, right?"

"How will it save you?"

"I'll send you a screenshot from the forum, taken a couple of minutes ago. You'll see the image and believe us and let us go."

Onzaa did so. On the in-game forum, a photo of a creature called a Doppelganger was published in a post about the "Monster in Otron". There Ronnie with palms like a werewolf’s killed two players. The second one - made from the window of an apartment building and updated just now - shows a full-face image, and how he jumped to the height of the second floor.

"What the fuck? How the fuck is that even possible?"

"We didn't even know that a player with the same appearance exists."

Ronnie looked at their frightened faces for a couple more seconds and thought, swore, looked back, and was horrified. In some residential buildings, loopholes were replaced by windows, inside which nothing can be seen except thick darkness. Someone may confuse him again as these two did. One mistake and he will become an eternal slave of the Top Secret guild. Ronnie looked at these ragamuffins waiting for him to use the right to defend and said:

"Take your weapons and follow me. Let's hunt my copy. You'll level up at the same time."

Onzaa and Camerc nodded as if on cue and ran after the temporary commander.

"AI."

"At your service."

"Why does the monster look like me?"

"It’s a monster with a shapeshifting ability."

"That's not the answer to my question."

"I have no other answer for you."

"Plan a route to the place where he was last seen."

"It shall be done…"

Ronnie, along with Onzaa and Camerc, ended up on thirteen Street. There were bullet marks on the road, a bunch of shell casings, and the ashes of dead players. He noticed several hollows twenty yards from the slaughterhouse, similar to the place where he was photographed during the jump. Ronnie went over there, squatted down, and examined the craters. They resembled the footprints of a three-meter giant. Here the Doppelganger pushed off and jumped ... well, well, the monster has more than enough physical strength. Ronnie continued to inspect the site of the battle and after a couple of minutes, he found sand and small drops of black blood.

"Why don't you use "detection"?" Camerc asked.

"Because it has a range of only 600 yards, and the cooldown is 24 hours. If I use this skill now and I don't find anyone, then it’ll bite me in the ass in the future."

From the end of the street, the noise and hubbub of a small group of players were heard, and then they opened fire. Camerc died on the spot from a stray bullet, Onzaa and Ronnie managed to take cover behind a brick column of the bank building.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Onzaa asked.

"Because, they, just like you, forgot to upgrade the intelligence stat."

"But there’s no such stat in the game…"

The players were getting closer and closer, the suppression fire did not stop. 7.62 caliber bullets crashed into the cover, leaving behind smoking craters, others ricocheted to the side. The glass on the second floor of the building broke and showered on their heads, but did not cause any visible damage. He and Onzaa shouted that they were players, but the greed-driven hunters did not hear them over the clang of the moving parts of the deadly machines. They were firing like crazy and insane warriors that were out for blood. They worked smoothly: while the first three reloaded, the second group fired and vice versa.

"AI."

"At your service."

"If I'll kill them, I won't get a fine, right?"

"That is correct. You have activated the right for defense."

"That's what I wanted to hear."