我在教室被强了好爽

Hiding behind all the time wouldn\'t be of any use; they had to first see what the situation was like in the village.

Isabella frowned slightly, seemingly pondering something else.

"Should we hide here for now, or should we check out the situation at the back mountain first?"

Amelia also couldn\'t help but look at John with some confusion.

Their situation was indeed very critical, primarily because they had been suppressed.

No one knew when the buffs would be lifted, nor what the situation would evolve into, but they had to be prepared regardless.

"Let\'s take a look first. Since there are those disgusting entities in this forest, it proves that there must be other unknown factors at play here; we need to investigate thoroughly."

Even if they wanted to sabotage the sacrificial ceremony, they needed to secure an escape route.

However, this time they didn\'t split up; instead, they began to gather and search everything around them.

John, using his system\'s prompts, saw that there were no red hostile dots nearby.

Instead, there were some yellow dots.

What did these yellow dots represent? John began to lead everyone towards that direction.

But before they could reach these yellow points, Isabella and Amelia stopped them.

"Stop, don\'t go any further."

Isabella\'s expression was very serious as she directly blocked John and the others, leaving Archibald somewhat perplexed.

"What\'s wrong? There doesn\'t seem to be any danger ahead, and those eerie people haven\'t appeared either."

Amelia\'s face also turned grave, and she silently stared ahead, gripping her greatsword as if facing a formidable enemy.

"We encountered duplicates of you when we approached those mounds before."

Leopold was visibly alarmed, looking at John nervously.

If that was the case, then they really couldn\'t go forward!

But John still wanted to check it out.

After all, the system marked it as yellow, which meant neutral—it could be good or bad.

"If we could actually turn these so-called shadows to our advantage, wouldn\'t that be an extra help?"

"I don\'t think this secret realm is without solutions. Since these shadows appear in this forest, I think we should go and see," John stated in a discussive tone, but with an undeniable certainty.

Isabella and Amelia both showed disapproval.

"And the shadows are just too strange and eerie. They match our strength, and dealing with them is really troublesome."

"The worst part is their skills are similar to ours, and only a strike to the heart can kill them instantly. We both nearly fell victim just now."

Isabella really didn\'t understand; knowing that the place was dangerous, why must they go there?

John laughed heartily, "Don\'t worry, I\'ll go check it out. Even if my shadow appears, you all should know how to tell the real from the fake by now. Then the five of us can handle it together."

Seeing John determined to go, the others sighed but reluctantly agreed.

As John walked towards the suspicious mounds, the rest wore expressions of concern.

Isabella and Amelia immediately readied themselves for battle, having previously encountered those eerie shadows, they were acutely aware of how terrifying these replicas could be!

They could almost perfectly replicate themselves one-to-one—whether it was their skill levels, commonly used abilities, weapons, or even their own thoughts!

If this wasn\'t within the secret realm but in the real world instead, it would be incredibly horrifying.

John approached the yellow dot indicated on his system, but in reality, it appeared as a mound made of stones.

These stones looked quite odd, topped with a blank white paper.

Soon, John noticed something was amiss.

He keenly sensed something slowly approaching.

Turning around, he saw smoke slowly rising from each mound.

John stood still, allowing the smoke to coalesce.

In just a second or two, three figures identical to John appeared.

They were the same in every way, from their clothes and the items in their hands to even the expressions on their faces.

John looked at these three figures with curiosity.

If it weren\'t for the system\'s indications, he might have thought these individuals harbored ill intentions towards him.

However, the system clearly showed these three figures as yellow dots.

Does yellow represent neutrality?

Could it mean he could potentially turn them to his side?

But the question was, how to do it?

John tentatively took a step towards one of the figures and noticed that the figure mirrored his step forward.

Whatever expression he made, the figure replicated it as well.

He quickly realized that these indeed were his duplicates.

If he had approached with hostility initially, then they would have reciprocated with hostility.

However, if he maintained a neutral stance or showed goodwill from the beginning, then these figures could potentially be turned to his advantage!

John was somewhat excited by this revelation.

If true, it could solve a significant portion of their problems.

The upcoming ceremony posed a great danger due to their small numbers and suppressed strengths.

But if they had duplicates with strength comparable to their own as allies, the situation would be entirely different.

With this newfound knowledge, John didn\'t hesitate.

He immediately led these figures back to find Isabella and Amelia.

"Why hasn\'t big brother come back yet? It\'s been so long, could he be in danger? Should we go check?"

Archibald paced nervously in place.

It had been over half an hour since John had left, and still, there was no sign of him.

Could something have really gone wrong?

Leopold was also very anxious but forced himself to wait; no one knew what might have happened to John, so they could only wait.

John never undertook actions he wasn\'t sure of, and since he had gone, it meant he was confident he could return safely.

However, they soon looked up to see four Johns walking towards them!

Isabella and Amelia immediately went into combat readiness, while Archibald and Leopold also stared intently in the direction from which John had come.

"Who are you!"

Leopold shouted sternly, his gaze filled with seriousness and vigilance.

John, seeing how alert the four were, smiled slightly.

"The wedding dress fragments."

John didn\'t want to waste time, so he simply uttered the passphrase.

Hearing this, the others briefly relaxed, but their vigilance quickly intensified.

What if even these were fake?

Since John knew about the wedding dress fragments, that should prove he was real.

But why were there several others who looked exactly like him?

John, smiling, recounted everything that had happened, including his discovery.

The group was astonished!

"How... how is that possible?!"

It turned out that these duplicates were neutral from the start.

Only if they harbored malice themselves would the duplicates reflect that malicious intent!

This was like setting a trap for themselves!

After all, anyone\'s first reaction upon seeing a duplicate of their companion would be to kill it!

Who would have thought that these duplicates could actually be their allies?