POV: Third Person
While Zane was resting at the inn, watching system notifications roll in, his clones had already begun stirring up trouble inside the dungeon. After clearing the second floor, they moved down to the third, and then the fourth.
Upon reaching the fourth floor, the clones began encountering more and more adventurers.
Because of this, a commotion started to unfold among them.
Some parties who saw the two identical clones started spreading rumors, and soon more adventurers began noticing their presence.
Besides their identical appearance, many also noticed how strange the clones were.
They were robotic, showed no emotions, and completely ignored anyone who tried to talk to them. It was as if other adventurers didn't exist. They were like monster-killing machines that didn't care about anything else.
Throughout the night, the sightings continued and eventually reached the ears of the gods.
Freya was the first to take action, sending someone to investigate the matter.
Next, Loki was informed about three identical individuals killing large numbers of monsters in the dungeon.
Soon after, more gods began to hear about it.
That night, a hunt for the clones began, but it wasn't easy to track them down. They never tired and kept running endlessly. After a few hours, one of the clones was finally confronted by a high-ranking member of the Freya Familia.
A tall man, incredibly strong.
As soon as Ottar stopped the clone, it became visibly impatient—but then remembered its master's order to flee if a powerful enemy appeared. The master had made it clear: they must not die.
The clone took a step back, and Ottar stared at him.
"Where's the other one?" Ottar asked, but the clone stayed silent. With its limited intelligence, it wasn't even paying attention to Ottar's questions. It only knew one thing—it had to escape.
And so it did.
It turned and ran.
Maintaining a blank expression, it sprinted through the corridors, bumping into some adventurers who recognized it. 'Did I escape?' Chen thought, glancing back.
Then he saw Ottar, his towering figure keeping up effortlessly.
"Why are you running? I just want to ask a few questions."
Chen didn't stop running, and Ottar began to lose patience.
Ottar grabbed Chen with force and slammed him against the wall to restrain him. However, the blow was stronger than intended—so strong it made the dungeon walls shake.
Strong enough to break some bones.
When Ottar looked at Chen, he saw his eyes were white.
"Did he pass out?" Ottar said, preparing to take Chen with him. But before he could, Chen's body began to dissolve before his eyes. Ottar's eyes widened and he let go of the clone.
The rest of Chen's body hit the ground and slowly melted, turning into a strange mass that vanished shortly after.
Ottar kept staring at the ground, shocked by what had just happened.
"A monster? An illusion? Was I tricked?" Ottar looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. He had no idea what had just happened—but he had to report it to Freya.
Meanwhile, back at the inn...
"What?! Chen was killed!? You've got to be kidding me! That idiot must've gone deeper than he was supposed to!" Zane shouted as he jumped out of bed and dismissed his last clone, not wanting to risk losing both.
Zane could create more clones and evolve them again—but evolution takes time.
"Damn it, what the hell happened!?"
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POV: Zane
"This is bad. Chen was my strongest clone, and now he's gone. I want to know what happened. If I summon Chen again, will he be able to tell me what happened?" So, I summoned a new clone.
As I requested, his name was also Chen. I checked his stats and felt a sting in my chest.
[Chen] - LV1
Strength: 7
Endurance: 6
Agility: 6
Dexterity: 6
Magic: 6
Skills:
Thrust LV1
He lost all his power. His skill had probably leveled up too, but now it was back to level one. "Chen, can you speak?" I asked, worried he might've lost the ability to talk—but thankfully, he hadn't.
"Of course, Master."
"Tell me what happened."
"Hm?" Chen tilted his head, confused.
"I want to know what happened in the dungeon! You were destroyed!"
"What do you mean? I was just born!"
"Arrggh!!!" I almost tore my hair out in frustration. I took a deep breath to calm down. "It's fine. I'm getting too worked up over nothing. Chen can evolve again, and now he has even more potential."
Tsk!
I clicked my tongue and told Chen, "I'll call you again soon." Then I dismissed the clone and left the inn room.
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I left the inn and went looking for something to help hide my clones' appearance. I tried a clothing shop first but found nothing. Then I went to a general store that sold all kinds of things.
It looked like one of those Chinatown stores.
They sold everything.
I searched for masks or anything similar—and found them.
Some masks covered the entire face and some only covered part of it. I decided to buy two full-face masks. The problem was, that they looked a bit threatening.
One was a mask that completely covered the face with only three holes: two for the eyes and one for breathing.
But they need these.
So, I bought the two masks. Two masks that cover the entire face. One white and one black.
I went back to the inn, summoned the two clones, and gave them the masks. Once they put them on, they looked great. "You two look awesome. Though you still look too similar because of the clothes, armor, and body build."
But I guess this will do for now.
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Next chapters: Chapter 12 - Shock. Fear. Despair. / Chapter 13 - NeuroLink. Shared experience. / Chapter 14 - I'm being threatened. / Chapter 15 - Freya Familia. You can evolve.