"...Um, who am I...?"
She raised her hands to the sky, a look of confusion on her face.
"What are you talking about, Ray? We've been together from the beginning. Don't you remember?"
"I thought so, but not anymore."
I continued speaking, still holding the nail gun toward her.
"Explain why the gun wasn't in safety mode."
"Dude, Ray...! Seriously, you've gotta trust me! I have no idea why! I don't know why my nail gun wasn't on safety mode... Dude, maybe that doppelganger just pretended to get shot..."
"You know it doesn't make sense. If she pretended to get shot, she could have just stayed on the rooftop, not fallen towards her demise."
As I spoke, I glanced down at the ground where Wendy had fallen. It was a gruesome sight, and my parents had already called an ambulance. People were gathering all over the town.
Finally, the familiar ticking noise that accompanied my victories or defeats against anomalies didn't echo through my ears. The Wendy on the ground was the real Wendy, and this Wendy was the imposter.
"...No, but... I don't understand. I..."
Wendy seemed completely confused.
"Now answer me, Doppelganger. Why did you kill me? How did you know about my regression? What was the meaning of killing me and telling me to go back?"
I pointed the gun at her, shouting, but she seemed unable to comprehend. I could feel it—she was being truthful.
"...I... don't know, Ray. I just... don't understand."
But...
It was weird.
I can sense whether someone is speaking the truth or not. And she is telling me the truth. She has no idea... Unlike last life, she never heard about my powers. Then who...? Who is behind all this? This disgustingly pretentious act? Controlling not only me but Wendy?
And that was the moment my phone started to ring.
Without taking my eyes off the girl in front of me, I pulled out my phone.
[Candy]
"...?"
The time was almost 1 am. Candy should've been sleeping, but... the call was coming from her. Maybe she woke up from the noise that the people were making down there because of Wendy.
I glared at the girl in front of me for a second and received the call.
"Hello?"
[Because she was brave enough to accept the truth.]
"...!"
The voice from my sister's phone was a man's voice. No, a teenager's voice. Not too high, not too low... just the voice of a teenage boy. Did I know anyone with this voice?
...No. Probably not.
[She could accept the truth, that she was fake.]
[WEEE WOO WEEE WOO WEEE WOO]
The sound of the ambulance was heard over the phone. I quickly turned my body and looked down at the rooftop.
The distorted body of Wendy on the ground, emergency medical technicians running all around, townsfolk screaming and looking over all the people taking care of it...
And I could clearly see, a teenage boy standing underneath the street lamp with a phone in his hand.
[But... You'll never accept it. I know that. Because we never started all this because we are some kind of hero or something. We never had a divine, heroic, moral purpose.]
"..."
[We did all of this, just to survive.]
Under the streetlight, the male teenager was looking towards the ground, hiding his face. But...
No. It can't... It shouldn't be.
The voice, it's nothing like mine. He's just trying to...
[When you listen to your own voice, it's always so weird, isn't it? I felt it too when I was listening to you through the eavesdropper.]
"..."
[I'm not giving you the chance to realize and admit it forever. This time, and when we go back, once more. That's it.]
"..."
[Understand? Do you know why?]
The boy slowly moved his head and stared at me.
And his last words echoed through my head like a death sentence.
[Cause I have a party to attend, on Friday.]
-Thud...! Tick!Tick!Tick!Tick!
The moment my eyes met his, my heart felt like something bashed it really, really hard. I frantically touched around my heart, but I was fine.
It was the boy who fell to the ground.
[Thud-]
Over the phone, I could hear him falling to the ground, people around him surprised and running towards him. Candy, my parents... all ran towards him with worry in their eyes.
I staggered backward at the sight.
"...Why... How...!"
[Critical user function failure detected. Life signal... Negative. Commencing respawn sequence at the last checkpoint...]
[Calculating the amount of caused time paradox... 0. Expurgation complete. Restoring Data...]
"What... No, this shouldn't be happening. Why can I see this?!"
As I walked backward, confused... I could hear Wendy's voice.
"Why? What's going on?"
"...He... He says I'm not real. It... it's impossible. No, it should be Impossible!"
"Dude, chill. Talk about it slowly."
Chill as always, calm and steady even when she knew that she is a doppelganger. She's not just a cheap copy acting to be Wendy; she is literally Wendy. Chill, fun-seeking, adventurous Wendy.
And that was the same for me too. I'm not acting. I am the real Ray.
"He... He says I'm the Doppelganger. But... no. It can't be. I..."
Even though my heart was beating with emotions, my brain was interpreting things in the usual way. The usual, rational way... No, I didn't like this...!
While I was muttering to myself, the thunderous sound crossed the clouds, which were moving way faster than usual. No, not only the clouds. The sky, the moon, the sun...
-Krack! Crack!
More thunder noises rang in my ears. Was it always like this when I go back in time?
"...I guess, all the 'real' ones died, and it's only the fake ones left today."
Wendy muttered.
And blinding light flashed down my eyes, filling the world without a shadow.
[Restoration complete.]
'The mountain walked, or stumbled...'
The moment I regained consciousness, I stood up and looked around. Wendy was gazing at me, a magazine in her hands, the gift shop quiet and customerless.
"...I'm back! YES!"
"...Ray?"
"I said I was real, and I am! I am real! I..."
[Last chance.]
I slowly turned towards Wendy's side, where that familiar, disgusting voice echoed in my ears. Wendy held her phone, connected to a call from something.
[Admit it and go away.]
"..."
Ha.
I understand. I fully understand now what the heck is going on.
I'm the copy.
I'm the monster.
I'm the minion of Bill Cipher.
...With all the memories of him.
...NO.
I'm not... I'm not just a copy. I am Ray Chiu.
I am the smartest student in school, and I'm going to a great university, survive, pursue my dreams, and die by natural causes.
I'm not fake.
"..."
Wendy looked at me unfazed as I gritted my teeth. She didn't seem to care at all.
Being shot by a friend was terrible. But... this was something even more.
"...He told you, didn't he? I'm not really sure whether you're the doppelganger Wendy or just Wendy, but I..."
"Ray. Just... give up, man."
I disbelievingly stared at Wendy. She shook her head.
"You know already."
"..."
"You're super smart. You can think faster than I'll ever do. If I understood the situation, you'd already done that like three times. I still don't understand your powers, but... There should be a way to solve this..."
"...No."
I burst out of the gift shop and ran away into the woods.
I just can't stand this anymore.