episode_0065

“….Ah! We’re here, dude! Don’t be intimidated, straighten your shoulders!”

“Yes, bastard!”

Friends who give me their arms around their shoulders and smile like idiots.

A second family where there was no conflict, and although they were always mischievous, they looked after each other.

A time when it was harder than anyone else’s. Because of them, I was able to endure.

“Okay. I’m so glad I have you guys.”

To them, who were more comfortable than anyone else and made my heart warm.

I move along with an equally goofy grin.

***

As the nightmare continues for several days, I wake up startled and wipe away a cold sweat.

“….Damn.”

When I woke up from a dream, I always wet my pillow with tears and the blanket was damp from the cold sweat that had dripped down all night.

The days were warmer than any other moment and I wanted to go back. In my dream, I was very happy. Because I had friends, there was no need to worry.

Then, when the moment I didn’t want to escape was broken and I returned to reality, I always shed tears.

Was it because they could never be seen again? Or was it because of the pressure that tightened on my heart just by taking a breath?

“……..”

What the hell… I don’t know why it’s like this. Even when the life of the first double body ended, and even now that the life of the second double body ended.

I suffer from endless nightmares. Dreams that are sweeter and more cozy than any other nightmares, but are also vicious and difficult to face.

“….It’s been a few days.”

Now even the sense of time becomes vague. I don’t know why, but I felt broken after my life as a second alter ego ended.

Once I fell asleep, I fell into a deep sleep that I couldn’t escape from. Basically, when I try to sleep, I feel like I sleep for about a day or two.

But the fatigue kept coming. No matter how much I tried to sleep or how hard I tried to shake off the fatigue, I couldn’t solve it.

I didn’t even feel hungry anymore. Even though I hadn’t eaten for over three days, I wasn’t hungry at all.

Am I… broken? No, am I actually human?

In the first place, I fell into this amazing and strange world overnight, and the status window, something that only appears in games and media, appeared before my eyes.

Monsters called monsters exist, and mana exists. Everything was full of strange things.

Why… did I finally start to wonder these questions? Why did I end up in a world I couldn’t understand?

Questions about myself and the reality I live in arise endlessly. But there is nothing that can be solved.

I sigh and quietly look in the mirror. Me on the other side of the mirror. A boy with a youthful appearance, black messy hair, and blood-red eyes faces me.

“Status Window.”

[Name: Venice / Age: 21 / Male / Status: Tired.]

[Unique Ability: Clone Wizard (???): You can summon your clone. The clone’s form and abilities are random, and you can control it like your own body.

You don’t feel the pain your clone feels! If the clone dies or is destroyed, the user can retrieve it again!]

[Due to the death of clone 1, it cannot be used or assimilated.]

[Due to the death of clone 2, it cannot be used or assimilated.]

Already… a year has passed. I came into this world around summer last year, and after a cold winter, the weather is starting to warm up little by little.

But now even the second clone is dead. I don’t meet anyone. I live in loneliness every day.

In the future… will I live like this for the rest of my life and then die? No, did he die?

“….Haa.”

I often feel like an unexplained feeling of depression is taking over my whole body.

Since it was recently that I woke up less often, most of the time I was awake was just lying down alone and depressed.

Isn’t there a time like that? It starts with a sudden onset of depressive thoughts, a time when all kinds of negative thoughts come to mind. I experience that feeling every day, every moment.

When I was living in my alter ego, the emotions that I could not feel even a speck of dust seemed to explode as I returned to my original body. It felt as if the emotions I had blocked couldn’t bear it and were bursting out.

It’s been so long ago that I don’t even remember going to the library, which I barely used to go to, and these days, I don’t even go to the beautiful cliffs because I don’t have the energy.

If I live like this, I feel like living will not be living.

…I think it would be better to die.

That’s right. There is not a single person who recognizes me. There won’t be any more.

Rather than living like this… I’d rather…

Tiring-!

[For you, we have prepared it!]

“….What?”

What stopped the feeling of negativity that had begun to grow endlessly was the mechanical voice that came with a refreshing notification sound.

The machine voice continues speaking in a voice that seems to be suppressing laughter.

[Don’t you want to get another chance?!]

“…Another chance? What… ah.”

[What you think is correct!]

As I look at the past events that suddenly come to mind and the blue window flashing before my eyes, I quietly bring up the status window.

[Name: Venice / Age: 21 / Male / Status: Tired.]

[Unique Ability: Clone Wizard (???): You can summon your clone. The clone’s form and abilities are random, and you can control it like your own body.

You don’t feel the pain your clone feels! If the clone dies or is destroyed, the user can retrieve it again!]

[Due to the death of clone 1, it cannot be used or assimilated.]

[Due to the death of clone 2, it cannot be used or assimilated.]

★[Can be assimilated with clone 3!]★

A one-line sentence in the status window that blinks like crazy, as if asking you to look at me. I look at it quietly.

At the same time, I begin to faintly feel the same magical power as me from an unfathomable distance away. It felt exactly the same as before.

“…….”

[Are you hesitating?! You don’t have to! It’s as simple as writing your story in the same way as your first and second lives!]

…Really? Can you really be given another chance?

The depression and anxiety I’m experiencing right now. And you don’t have to go through nightmares?

“Really… is it really possible?”

[sure! The anxiety and depression you experience. All of those things are not felt in the clone body!]

“That’s right… I did…”

All the emotions I felt while living in my original body disappeared like ghosts when I was assimilated into my alter ego.

Anxiety, depression, self-blame, despair. Just being able to forget all those feelings could be a reason to assimilate.

[You can assimilate with clone 3. Would you like to assimilate?]

When I touch the status window with a trembling hand, the usual emotionless mechanical sound is output.

It was extremely emotionless, but for now, it sparkled like a string pulling me out of a nightmare. I was able to smile faintly.

“Assimilate.”

[Assimilate with clone 3. Fairy tale in operation. 3. 2. 1……]

At the same time, the negative thoughts and emotions that were consuming my entire body begin to disperse and disappear.

….thank you. Status window.

With blurry eyes that are starting to close, I say thank you to Sang Tae-chang, who has not yet disappeared, although I did not say it.

[Thank you! This is… what I’m going to do.]

As if escaping from such a miserable reality, I begin to fall into a deep sleep.

A familiar feeling that I always felt. Magic and magic begin to resonate.

[….kick.]

***

Open your eyes. Now I naturally start looking around.

A well-organized room. Stylish furniture and wonderful decorations show off the elegance without hiding it.

The appearance of the room is so beautiful and clean that it could be said to be the room of an aristocrat. I was sitting on a chair in such a room.

I quietly stand up and walk in front of the full-length mirror in the room.

“….Is this the third alter ego?”

In the mirror, I had shiny black bald-white hair and squinted eyes that looked like something you’d see in a cartoon.

The red eyes that could be seen between the narrowed eyes were like the eyes of a cunning snake.

Wow… what kind of villain does he really look like? Anyone can see that he looks suspiciously like someone who is planning something.

By the way… the third clone seemed to be very rich.

The room was plastered with furniture and decorations that looked out of place, and the clothes she was currently wearing were sophisticated yet ordinary.

Above all, it looked very cramped from the outside, but it was comfortable and not uncomfortable at all, as if I was wearing sportswear.

“Hmm… Is there anything I can find information about?”

Other than the fact that he looked suspicious and seemed suspiciously rich, I couldn’t tell anything about him.

As I sat back down in the comfortable chair and looked around the room, I noticed something similar to a small notebook on the stylish wooden desk.

The notebook was old and did not match the sophisticated look of the room. It seemed like it had probably been used for a very long time.

-xx day, xx month, xx year.

We are going to the square and protesting again today. Today, as always, the gazes on me were the same.

Most people walked away with a look in their eyes as if they were looking at a crazy person, and there were also some who mocked me.

There were only a very small number of people who encouraged and supported me. Nevertheless, I do not stop protesting.

“Hmm…”

Apparently, this was a diary. I look back at the diary, looking at the well-written handwriting.

-xx day, xx month, xx year.

Finally, there were people who were with me. These people, whose faces, identities, and names I do not know, give me an incredible amount of support.

Thanks to this, I was able to add funds to continue my activities. I have to say thank you to these unknown people again today.

….demonstration? activity?

I don’t know what on earth you’re doing. Is it a cult?

-xx day, xx month, xx year.

The eastern part is peaceful again today. However, the absurdity in the peacefulness is not hidden and is increasing.

Why on earth do we have to persecute and discriminate against prisoners? They are also people just like us. It just has a slightly unusual appearance.

.

.

.

As I read the diaries written after that, I was finally able to understand the setting of this alter ego.

Where I am now is the eastern part of the continent. Nobles and lower classes live in separate districts. Although it is virtually the same area, it is safe to say that it is a different world.

Most of the lower class people living in the lower class are said to be prisoners. The discord between the prisoners and the upper-class nobles is getting worse day by day.

Unable to tolerate the increasing evil-filled discrimination and hostility toward each other, the clone body strives every day to eliminate this meaningless hatred.

Anti-discrimination protests, giving to people in the lower class without reason, etc. He is so kind that one could believe that he is a saint.

“…Wait. What does this mean?”

I let out an exclamation as I read the diary, then looked closely at what appeared to be the most recent writing.

-xx day, xx month, xx year.

One of my sponsors said he would send a bodyguard to protect me as I work alone every day.

There’s no need for that… I guess I can’t help it since they forced me to send it even if I refused.

The bodyguard… did you say he was a prisoner? They say it will probably arrive within today.

for a moment. The date on this is… today?

Knock-knock-knock-

At that time, someone knocks on the tightly closed door of my room.

-…What, is there no one? Go in.

“Uh…huh?”

I didn’t even respond, but the nervous voice coming from beyond the door quickly kicked in.

“…What. You were inside. Why aren’t you answering?”

“Yes…yes?”

“I am Carly. You are my master?”

A body brimming with bronzed muscles and two red eyes that do not hide their hostility.

And, most notably, the one with cat ears on top of its head.

She introduced herself as Carly.