episode_0008

Sector 2 of the lab, a secret room, dawn.

Kalia couldn’t sleep due to the dizzying sensation swirling around her body.

‘Thirsty… hungry…’

It had already been a week since she was subdued by Laplaxia’s mercenaries and dragged here. She hadn’t eaten or drunk properly during that time.

‘I was a fool. Walking right into a trap even when the Brotherhood members told me not to…’

More than a month had passed since her uncle, who had been investigating suspicious activities between Laplaxia and other clans, went missing.

Tormented by anxiety, she rashly rushed in, trusting only a single piece of information of unknown origin that she had overheard. The result of her recklessness, committed despite her comrades and friends trying to stop her, was defeat due to overwhelming odds.

The location she had gone to for clues was ambushed by Awakened forces. Of course, common thugs were no match for her unique ability.

But her overconfidence lasted only a moment before she was subdued by the sudden attack of a giant wielding a hammer.

“Is there really a way out?”

The lab greedily coveted her unique ability, but it wasn’t foolish enough to give a wild beast an opportunity to escape. Various restraints were attached to her body.

Both her arms were bound by restraints that disrupted the flow of Aether, then fixed to the wall with chains, and an electric shock collar was placed around her neck.

Perhaps to drain her strength, there was no nutritional supply other than a weak intravenous drip in her left arm.

Since she couldn’t make contact, she couldn’t hope for rescue from other Brotherhood members. No, Kalia herself had half-given up. She didn’t think the Brotherhood members would be able to find her.

Suddenly, the girl ghost from last night came to mind.

Who exactly was that girl?

‘Hello!’

She heard a voice calling her and lifted her head. Surprisingly, her eyes met those of a cute-looking girl with striking red eyes through the ventilation grate.

The girl, waving her hand excitedly, opened her mouth to say something but vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Did I imagine it?”

Perhaps the girl was the spirit of a poor victim haunting this lab.

As she mulled over her thoughts, Kalia’s ears suddenly detected a strange noise from the ventilation grate directly in front of her. A quiet dragging sound on a metal plate.

“….?”

She looked towards the ventilation shaft, and the sound grew closer. The red-eyed girl appeared between the grates. Kalia’s eyes widened.

“A ghost…?”

***

The next night, as soon as I crawled through the ventilation shaft back into the secret room, I heard a strange sound.

“A ghost…?”

I immediately protested.

“I’m not a ghost!”

To call a cute girl like me a ghost, what an outrageous thing to say…!

No. I’m thinking strange thoughts again. I should stop with the ‘cute girl’ talk.

“…Hey, who are you? Are you from the lab? How are you even in there?”

Kalia questioned me again after my protest. Despite her fatigued state, she was calmly observing me.

“It’s a long story to explain. First, I’m not from the lab. I’m a test subject here.”

“…Are you kidding? How can I believe that? You just popped out of a vent.”

Oh no, Kalia immediately suspected me instead of understanding.

Usually, in novels, people would go, ‘Oh! You’ve come to rescue me! No, I’m caught too!’ and become friends right away, but it seems it won’t be easy here.

“This, this is the proof.”

I showed her the stiff black electric shock collar around my neck. Kalia shook her head.

“I’m wearing one too, you know? It could be an act, a poor girl cosplay. Do I look like an idiot to you?”

“Well, if you don’t want to believe me, there’s nothing I can do.

But Kalia, don’t you think it’s more likely that a poor test subject girl wandered through the vents and encountered you here, rather than a cruel person bothering to crawl through a vent just to tease a prisoner?”

Kalia retorted.

“Don’t joke. There’s no way Laplaxia’s lab security would be that sloppy…”

“Oh! It’s sloppier than you think. It’s thanks to my unique ability.

Ah! And me talking to you. It’s not the ‘real’ me.”

“Not the real you? Then what are you, standing in front of me? An illusion?”

Her sharp gaze swept over me.

“My words slipped. So. What you’re talking to is a doppelganger. A clone, a double, understand?”

At my simple explanation, Kalia briefly gasped, understanding.

“Indeed, I’ve heard there are rare unique abilities that mimic people or replicate appearances.

But I was told they could only imitate looks or actions.”

“Yes, isn’t it amazing? I got lucky somehow.”

Kalia fell into thought for a moment.

“That’s strange. I heard that unique abilities are almost never acquired later in life. Wait… are you…”

“Yep! That’s right. It’s what you’re thinking. I got it through an experiment.”

It didn’t take long for the emotion in her green eyes to change from puzzlement to shock, then to pity.

No, why are you looking at me like that?

“…I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t touch on any uncomfortable memories?”

“Are you worried about me? Thank you! But I don’t remember anything!”

Honestly, I was a little touched. As expected of a main character, she has a kind side too.

Her attitude seemed to have softened a bit. I suddenly remembered something and quickly spoke.

“Oh, right! Kalia. But is there a camera or anything inside?”

“I couldn’t check that while I was confined. Still, don’t speak too loudly. There are guards near the door…”

Kalia, who had been continuing her sentence, paused and stared intently at me.

“Wait. But you. How do you know my name?”

Right. I know Kalia, but Kalia doesn’t know me!

I lied as casually as possible.

“I saw you being dragged down the hallway two days ago while crawling through the vents! They were calling your name loudly.”

“I’ve been confined here for over a week.”

“No, three days! I mean, four days…”

Fury welled up in her emerald eyes. I flinched and averted my gaze.

Oh, I messed up.

Kalia ground her teeth, then frowned and turned her head. Her light pink bobbed hair swished.

It seemed there was no way to talk to this tough-as-nails street girl anymore.

Soon, the doppelganger’s maintenance time ended, and my vision shifted back to the dark bedroom.

This is a big problem.

***

I never expected to encounter Kalia Blaze here.

She’s a character you get by default if you play the game’s story without using currency. But her performance is quite good, and she has no particular flaws, earning her the nicknames “Newbie Savior” and “Reliable Character.”

Her personality is a bit rough and blunt, causing friction with the protagonist, the “Investigator,” at first, but later she shows infinite trust, actively supporting and helping the Investigator.

Her tsundere-like actions and personality, along with her tall and beautiful appearance, were enough to earn her much favor from users.

Title: Kalia new skin out??

Content: Of course it’s out, that’s why I’m posting it LOLOL

└ Kalia noona ㅑㅑ

└ This is true slenderness lolol

└ Noona I’m dying

└ Heugh heugh

But why is she in the lab?

I can’t tell the exact time period, but based on the information I’ve gathered so far, it’s Federal Year 25. Roughly 4-5 years before the main story begins. What could have happened?

I recalled Kalia’s background story that I remembered.

[…A freelance hunter and savior of the streets. She was once a member of the infamous gang, the Osprey Brotherhood, but she left it in disappointment and frustration.

She inherently harbors resentment towards all authority and order, but her hatred for the biotechnology corporation Laplaxia, stemming from her past confinement and suffering as a test subject in a lab several years ago, is immeasurable…]

Right. Now that I think about it, she seems to have had an experience of being kidnapped to a lab in the past.

And of all places, that lab is this one. To think that Violet the witch and Kalia were cellmates in the lab, fate truly works in mysterious ways.

But a variable has appeared.

‘This idiot! Why did I have to get excited and act like I knew her there!’

Based on the game’s settings and my experience talking to her, I came to a conclusion. Instead of hastily claiming innocence, I should approach her calmly and slowly to dispel her suspicions.

With that resolve, I continued to swing my knife at the approaching Skullkit today.

“Roar!”

“Aaaargh!”

This time, I sacrificed my arm and stabbed the knife into the back of its head. Having been bitten so many times, I was somewhat accustomed to the pain now.

[You attacked the opponent’s rear, activating Sympathetic Affinity: Severe Back Injury. Damage increased!]

“Ugh… aaaargh…”

Drooling from the pain, I stabbed the knife into the back of the pseudo-dog’s head. The Skullkit collapsed.

Before, I had to repeatedly grab and stab the struggling beast, but after gaining the Sympathetic Affinity ability, aiming for the back of its head once was enough to bring it down.

This is the greatness of passive skills!

By the way, my clothes and face were covered in blood. I roughly wiped the sweat with my blood-stained hands.

During a short break, I cautiously tried using my ability elsewhere.

‘As expected, there was a path on the floor too!’

Of course, there would be vents or empty spaces on the floor. Whenever I had leftover magic, I continued to generate doppelgangers and scout discreetly.

—————————————————————-

Unique Ability:

■■■■: ???

Lv2 Doppelganger Arts: ???

┖ Doppelganger creation speed and duration have slightly increased.

┖ You can now transfer small objects below a certain weight to other doppelgangers.

—————————————————————-

‘I used it so much that my doppelganger level went up.’

While exploring the vents, I noticed that while there’s a limit to the doppelganger’s creation range, there seems to be no limit to its movement or control range.

The doppelganger’s deployment speed was getting faster than when I first created it. Of course, that’s natural since frequent use leveled up the skill.

However, one thing caught my eye.

‘Transferring objects?’

What exactly does that mean? Could it be that I can transfer items I’m holding between the doppelganger and the main body?

‘Wait, if that’s the case…’

Suddenly, a good idea came to mind. When evening arrived, I didn’t drink the distributed plastic bottle of formula, leaving it as it was.

At night, I crawled through the ventilation shaft again and met Kalia.

“Hi. I’m here.”

Kalia lifted her head and slowly spoke.

“…Okay, I thought about it for a bit after you left. You don’t seem like one of those Laplaxia bastards. Those guys would just use drugs or torture, not put on such a ridiculous play.”

Seeing my face brighten, she immediately continued.

“But I still find you suspicious.”

To Kalia’s guarded posture, I replied cheerfully.

“Then don’t believe me!”

“…What?”

“I think it’s weird to immediately trust someone you just met. Honestly, I think I look suspicious too.

And I don’t expect to clear up that misunderstanding right away either.”

“…Alright. So what are you going to do?”

“Aren’t you thirsty? Or hungry?”

“Do I look fine right now…?”

She grumbled weakly.

Awakened individuals can endure extreme situations longer than ordinary people, but that doesn’t make the pain of hunger and thirst zero.

I decided to try using the improved doppelganger ability I’d gained during the day. I focused, holding the plastic bottle of water I had prepared earlier in my main body’s hand.

It really works.

The doppelganger’s hand held the formula bottle that had just been in my bedroom. Teleportation, that’s incredibly overpowered.

“Can you come closer for a moment? I’ll give you this!”

Kalia looked at me, bewildered. I extended the plastic bottle through the grates. She was surprised.

“Here. Open your mouth!”

I gently poured the formula.

“Wait. Hold on… Ugh… pfft!”

Oh no! My timing was off, and I just spilled it all over her face! Kalia’s face contorted, drenched in water.

“…Hey. Are you an idiot?”

“Sorry! I’ll pour it slowly!”

I gently tilted the bottle. Tiny drops of water trickled one by one into her mouth. How long did she drink like that? Soon, the bottle was empty.

Life returned to Kalia’s haggard face. Giving this to a hungry person was an excellent choice.

“Wow… I feel so much better now… Thank you. But what was that you gave me?”

“Protein powder mixed with formula and vitamins.”

“No wonder it tasted bad.”

She bowed her head in gratitude.

“Alright, thank you for this, truly. But… why did you help me like this? Is it an attempt to win me over?”

I smiled.

“It’s a trade!”

A question mark appeared on Kalia’s face.

“What trade?”

“I’m going to escape from this place. Are you willing to help?”

“…That’s a bit grand. Isn’t that too big a price for a bottle of water?”

“Of course, this is just the beginning. I can help you, and you can help me. It’s not too late to back out after you hear my plan!”

I extended my hand. Kalia’s arms were bound, so instead of shaking hands, she nodded.

“Alright. I’m Kalia Blaze. For now, I’ll listen to your plan. What’s your name?”

“I’m Violet! Nice to meet you! I look forward to working with you!”

The two girls faced each other like this.

Her expression was blunt, but it felt a little softer than when we first met.

I, Violet, have a new companion!