episode_0009

Immediately after a short connection formed between Kalia and me, I excitedly explained my escape plan. I was sure I’d be praised, right?

While I enthusiastically explained, Kalia listened seriously, mumbling, “Hmm, really? Uh-huh.”

“So, you’ll escape this secret room through the ventilation shaft, release the magical beasts inside the lab to cause chaos, take a researcher hostage to open the elevator, go down, and escape through some unknown exit?”

“Exactly! It’s a perfect plan, isn’t it?”

Kalia glared at me as if dumbfounded, then retorted sharply.

“…You really are an idiot, aren’t you?”

“No way! It’s perfect in theory. Honestly, there’s no other way to get out!”

“You’re just going to brute-force your way through all those guards and security facilities? Let’s not even talk about it. Seriously…”

Is that so? I mumbled, barely managing a few words.

“But you’re super strong! Your unique ability is fire-related, so if push comes to shove, you could just burn down the whole lab!”

At my suggestion of arson, Kalia looked at me with a pathetic expression. It reminded me of a teacher looking at a grade 7 student who was insisting on applying to a prestigious university.

Still, isn’t it a good method? Using fire is the optimal way to solve difficult problems.

Kalia’s body is immune to heat, and she’s a capable character who plays a significant role in the original story. A direct frontal assault shouldn’t be impossible.

She sighed.

“I won’t ask how you know about my unique ability. And I’m not as strong as you say… But, Violet. Let me ask you one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Suppose we set a fire as you suggested. What about the others? Not just the researchers. There are other people here, like you, who were brought in for biological experiments.”

Oh, right.

“…Sorry, I didn’t think of that.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. I wasn’t suggesting we try to rescue everyone else either. Just keeping the two of us safe is hard enough.”

Kalia added a few words with a cautious attitude.

“However, I don’t think it’s right for innocent people to get caught up in something we do. More importantly, if that happens, you won’t be safe either, Violet. And it’s uncertain how effective setting a fire would actually be.”

What I thought was a brilliant idea was just arrogance born from the peak of foolishness.

I became disheartened.

“Yeah, thinking rationally, it’s a reckless, idiotic idea.”

Kalia looked at me for a moment, then spoke with a slightly softened demeanor.

“Still, they say a good start is half the battle [a proverb meaning that starting something is the most important and difficult part]. How about we investigate a bit more first and then think about it?”

As she tried to approach me, she was caught by the clank of the chains restraining her arms.

“First, I’d appreciate it if you could find a way to get these off…”

Kalia shrugged her shoulders, looking embarrassed.

“Okay, I’ll try to find something first. Time’s up now. See you tomorrow!”

The time for my clone to disappear was approaching. I waved my hand and vanished.

After returning to my bed, I thought about it again.

Has my intelligence dropped since becoming a girl? I spouted such idiotic nonsense as a strategy.

***

For the next few days, whenever I had a chance, I moved my clones to search the lab’s ventilation shafts, ceilings, and floors.

I can’t even describe how tedious and awful this process was. Dust was a given, and sharp nails or screws protruded from inside the ceiling, constantly scratching me.

If a clone gets hurt, I feel the pain too.

And most of all, those damn cockroaches…

‘Ugh!’

Fortunately, the ceilings and ventilation shafts could withstand the weight of a small girl. If the ceiling collapsed and I fell, I’d have no choice but to go with Plan F.

However, for some reason, the days of being forced to fight or undergo strange psychological tests had decreased lately. There were even days when I just stayed still in my room all day.

On such days, I didn’t see that dog-like ponytail, didn’t get electric shocks, and no one bothered me even when I just lay in bed, which was great!

However, the atmosphere was a bit strange. Researchers would occasionally call me and other teenagers my age for various interviews, or suddenly start taking body measurements, which they hadn’t done before.

‘What? Are they planning to buy me clothes or something?’

Whatever it was, I liked having more free time.

So, whether it was day or night, as soon as my magic power replenished, I had more opportunities to explore.

Ever since I possessed this body, I had constantly been formulating escape plans whenever I had a chance.

But if escaping or breaking out of prison could be done just by thinking about it, the world would already be flooded with escaped convicts.

Moreover, this dystopian world’s inhumane laboratory meticulously controlled the test subjects brought in for experiments.

There were CCTVs everywhere, and we wore collars around our necks that delivered electric shocks. I thought there might be a loophole since the collars weren’t infinite power sources, but they would make us wait by the charging outlet until they were fully charged.

A frontal assault was also an option, but without my clone ability, I was just an ordinary girl, so it would be suicidal.

“Aargh! This is a scam! You said it was a bioequivalence test! This is insane. I’m getting out of here! Get out of my way!!”

“Stand back!”

-Rat-a-tat-tat!

“Aaaagh!”

Gunshots and screams were welcome events that punctuated the monotonous situation in the lab. Today, yet another unfortunate victim emerged.

Here, if you step out of line even a little, they mercilessly shoot you.

What if someone had the ability to withstand bullets?

I’d seen ogre guards come with sledgehammers and personally flatten three-dimensional humans into two-dimensional ones a few times since the muscleman incident.

Wow! Welcome to the 2D world!

After finding Kalia, I’d even considered using her as a vanguard for a forceful breakthrough. If she was at the level of the “4-star Savior for Newbies,” couldn’t she crush those ogres too?

However, Kalia’s physical condition wasn’t good, so it was impossible right now. First, she needed to eat properly before she could do anything.

And by the time I got used to the ventilation shafts and ceilings, I finally managed to find some food.

“No way, a pantry? How lucky…!”

While crawling through the ceiling all night, I saw a new gap where light was seeping through. After carefully lifting a ceiling tile for about ten minutes, it was a small room with a sink and a refrigerator.

I lowered a small cosmetic mirror that I had secretly pilfered with my clone that morning and cautiously examined the surrounding ceiling. There were no surveillance cameras. I carefully climbed down onto the shelves and searched the cupboards and refrigerator.

There were snacks! And they were chocolate chip cookies. So moving!

I grabbed just enough cookies not to get caught, tore open the packaging, threw it in the trash, and transferred the cookies to my main body. The rough texture of the cookie between my fingers felt incredibly vivid.

I took a bite of the cookie under my blanket.

“It’s delicious…”

Actual tears came out at the sweetness of the snack I hadn’t eaten in so long. This is sugar! I never knew there was a snack more delicious than the strawberry Mong Shell I ate in the Chocolate Army…!

Suddenly, the image of a gaunt Kalia, bound by chains, came to mind. As soon as I remembered, I immediately moved my clone and headed towards Kalia’s room.

“Eat this! It’s a cookie!”

I tied a cookie to a string and dangled it down towards her mouth as if fishing. She raised her head and leaned in, swallowing the cookie in one bite.

“I brought cola too!”

I took out an opened can of cola that I had transferred and a transparent plastic IV tube I’d picked up from the trash. This was a solution I found after a few attempts to give Kalia water resulted in disaster, where I poured water on her face due to the height difference when trying to pour it into her mouth.

When I lowered the IV tube, Kalia took the end in her mouth and eagerly sucked down the cool cola. She let out a refreshing sigh.

“Violet, you’re truly amazing. Where did you get all this?”

“This? I got it from the pantry!”

Her green eyes narrowed.

“Aren’t you being too careless? You might get caught.”

“It’s fine, they’ll just think someone else ate it. My clones don’t leave any evidence.”

I reassured Kalia.

Still, I’m glad she didn’t criticize me for giving her cola with an IV tube.

In this way, every night I would roam around, giving Kalia food and secretly pilfering necessary items to stash in the ventilation shafts. I drew a rough map with a pen and paper I picked up from an office.

I don’t know the exact number of floors, but I suspect the total number of floors in the lab I’m in is roughly between three and five.

When I sometimes take the elevator down to lower floors, there are four buttons, but they don’t have numbers, so I don’t know if they’re above ground or underground. Seeing people often coming and going, there seem to be a few more floors above and below.

To summarize briefly, it’s like this.

I’ll arbitrarily call the place where Kalia, most of the test subjects, and I stay the 3rd floor.

Here, there are places like offices, a pantry, dorms, and classrooms. If you go down one floor through the floor, you reach the 2nd floor, where the testing grounds are.

This floor houses various magical beasts in cages, testing grounds where test subjects fight, a warehouse storing weapons like swords, tools, and miscellaneous items, and a room that could be called a server room.

And I found out something while looking at the ceiling of the floor — what I’ll call the B-floor — there was also a room here that could be called the central control room.

The guards were holding coffee cups and munching on donuts in front of CCTV screens packed tightly on the wall.

“A hammer? How lucky!”

After finding the warehouse, I immediately went down at night and took everything I felt I needed: a Phillips head screwdriver, string, tape, a utility knife. I transferred all the items to my main body in the bedroom, then made the clone inside the warehouse disappear.

In this process, I get back some of the magic power I used to create the clone. Finally, I create a clone inside the ventilation shaft and transfer it, and that’s it.

Unfortunately, weapons like the swords used in the testing grounds were all in locked boxes. Hitting them with a hammer would break them, but the sound would be too loud, risking detection.

I also tried transferring the boxes themselves, but it didn’t work well, probably because they were too heavy.

For a while, my exploration was stuck on the 3rd and 2nd floors.

I could create a clone in an empty space on the floor from my main body and send it down, but I couldn’t move that clone to the 2nd floor and then create a new clone on that floor. It seemed I couldn’t create two at once.

Then one day, a breakthrough occurred.

—————————————————————————–

Unique Ability:

■■■■: ???

LV3 Clone Art; ???

└Clone creation limit has been eased.

└…■■■: Under certain conditions, upon ■■, Unique Ability: Clone Art becomes Unique Ability: Ä̴̹̩̞́̐̀%̷̢̨̢͈̗͓̜̰͇̤̳͙̅̃́$̴̭̪̭̼̝̄͛̀̐̂̑̑̾̆̅͌͗̃̚^̷̧̢̛̺̭̣̼̖̣̬̀̾̀̋̎̈͐̾̇̕͝͝͝ͅ&̷̱̩̝̮̭͓͍̪̻̺̔̎͐̔͝Q̷̫̝̺̾̉́̐́̂̊͝ D̸̹̤̳̟͍̦̙̥̮̐̈́́̕$̵̦̥͉͚͕̬̱̪̌͗͛̀͜͜@̶̼̘͎̪̯͈͜͝͝ͅ%̸̧̠͎̺̠̞͔͜͜͝ ̴̨̭͎̲̦̯͘1̷̢̱͙̮̩̤͙̞̺̬̃͋3̴̧̡̛̹͍͓̗̙̹̥́̓͊̅̄͑͜…

—————————————————————————–

‘Finally!’

By frequently using and practicing the clone skill, I achieved a result. The creation limit had been lifted.

Below the status window was a strange description, but the text was corrupted. I had no idea what it meant.

‘Is it a level issue?’

Even the item above Clone Art was blacked out. It was a problem that would gradually reveal itself, so I shouldn’t dwell on it right now.

First, I created a clone at the location of the ventilation shaft on the 2nd floor.

I moved the clone to crawl to the warehouse, then unscrewed the cover and popped out. Now, I lightly scuffed the floor with my foot, looking for a spot that felt hollow.

Perhaps because I had done it so often, I had a general sense of where the floor was hollow and where it was solid. Now, I tried creating a clone.

‘It worked!’

Now, a path to the 1st floor was open.

I spent more time exploring the ventilation shafts on the 1st floor. The first place I found was the office where I had met the bald director. Coincidentally, the bald director had called the researchers and was giving a long speech, spitting as he spoke. Should I listen in?

-You lot, if you have brains, think! There’s no other way! It’s perfectly possible!

-Wait, Director. Did you divert funds from previous budgets? For such a worthless academy…

-Worthless? Don’t you trust me? I’m telling you, it’s perfectly possible! Think of it as social adaptation training. You’ve all been steadily forming attachment bonds anyway. What’s there to stop you?”

-The teenage test subjects have deteriorated social skills due to psychological pressure and the effects of the procedures. Sending them there doesn’t seem likely to yield clear results…

-No, it’s not like they need to get good grades! Just try it! Do you know how much trouble I went through to open a route to get them in there? From identity laundering to manipulating family records? If this goes well, you guys can escape the periphery too. Think about it!

That bald guy must have siphoned off some budget and done something weird. The atmosphere isn’t good.

I ignored it and diligently patrolled other areas.

The 1st floor had an unusually large number of fans inside the ventilation shafts. It was impossible to break the loudly rotating fans. I repeatedly encountered blockages and had to turn back.

While surveying the surroundings, I suddenly smelled a damp, humid wind. The scent of earth, the scent of trees – a familiar aroma.

‘No way?’

Following that damp scent, beyond a large rotating fan, I could see the outside scenery.

“It’s outside!”

Outside, rain was pouring down. The damp, humid, soggy smell, the subtly perceptible scent of earth, trees, and grass. Against the backdrop of the downpour, a cityscape was visible beneath the cloudy sky. A colossal tower standing tall in the middle of the city was striking.

‘The city is closer than I thought.’

A while later that evening, when no one was around, I went to Kalia and explained what I had seen.

“…Really? The city is closer than you thought? Yes, perhaps…”

Kalia, who had been mumbling to herself for a moment, hesitated, then spoke.

“Violet, I know it’s a long shot, but is there any way to contact the outside? We might be able to escape more easily than we think.”

“Huh? Do you have a good idea?”

“Have you, by any chance, heard of the Osprey Brotherhood?”

“Of course I know them well! They’re super famous, aren’t they?”

The Osprey Brotherhood is a gang that appears as an enemy in the original game. There’s no way I wouldn’t know them.

Now that I think about it, I remember Kalia being a member of the Brotherhood. However, due to certain circumstances, she left the radicalizing Brotherhood, and the Brotherhood was set to become a criminal organization.

I had forgotten that this was a time period before the original story. It was a time when Kalia hadn’t yet left the Brotherhood.

“I only just learned today that the Brotherhood is so famous… Anyway, if we can find a way to contact them, we might be able to escape the lab easily. From what you’ve described so far, the number of guards here is surprisingly small.”

“Wow! Really? Then we won’t need to make a complicated escape plan!”

“Yes, since the city is closer than we thought, it’ll be easier to get help from the Brotherhood.”

Listening to her explanation, I was impressed. If this was true, we might be able to escape more easily than I imagined?

It felt like everything was going smoothly.

***

A few days later, I heard something completely unexpected.

One morning, I was called to the lab director’s office.

“Test Subject 10-6-8, Violet, congratulations. You have successfully passed all the tests you’ve undergone so far…”

The bald director called me in front of people and began to ramble.

“Starting the day after tomorrow, you will go out into society outside the lab and have a short adaptation period…”

What is this suddenly about?

“…and this September, for the first semester, you will be enrolled in Lustrum’s prestigious Comprehensive Academy for Awakened Individuals. Now, applause!”

What? What did you say?

The director flapped what appeared to be admission papers in front of me.

I wasn’t the only one flustered. The other researchers also looked somewhat bewildered.

What? What in the world is going on?