The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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The old instructor dragged his feet into the noisy auditorium.

Frederick did not like his job. Many people pondered whether their work and workplace suited them, but he had genuinely grown tired of this job.

As he entered the room, he saw students goofing off in front of him.

Idiots devoid of seriousness and a willingness to learn. Did they know how much their parents had poured into getting them here?

‘It’s not my business to care about the ones who just came to get their diplomas.’

He pushed his irritation aside internally and stood up.

His left arm’s prosthetic creaked.

Back then, it had been a pricey combat-spec model, but ever since retiring from his career as a hunter, he had only used it a handful of times. Now, it served merely to maintain the balance of his body.

‘It’s about time for some maintenance.’

After sustaining severe injuries on the job and retiring, he got assigned here through a friend’s introduction.

Though he wasn’t the type to teach, he did his best as much as he could. He always surveyed the field to stay updated on situations and learned, then conveyed that to his students.

“Thank you, instructor! Thanks to you, my skills have improved tremendously!”
“Look! I think I’m about to reach B-rank!”

The sight of students evolving from blank slates to painting their own pictures gave him a small joy that made his busy instructor life rewarding. The grateful faces of his former students still lingered vividly in his mind.

He worked there for nearly 15 years, and at some point, the academy began to decline.

‘Damn it, I’ve endured this for over five years, that’s plenty. It’s about time to submit my resignation.’

As he infused magical power into the scabbard and slammed it down on the floor, the noisy and playful students began to look at him one by one.

Where did everything start to go wrong? Ever since the number of incoming students began to rise, their quality had dropped, and the decent teachers gradually left one by one.

He told them to pick up practice weapons as he always did on the first day of class.

However, he noticed some students had come to class empty-handed without any weapons. Weapons are the lifeline of hunters, a part of their very being…

When he asked for a reason, the answer was preposterous.

“Upperclassmen told us not to carry them…”

Frederick sighed.

Here we go again, freshie hazing.

As the school filled up with drifters aiming for the academy diploma, its quality took a hit. Tradition and order turned into mere means for braggarts wanting to flaunt their strength.

However, it seemed the higher-ups were not just turning a blind eye but subtly encouraging it.

“…Is this really just some washed-up hunters making a quick buck off of entrance exam students? A private academy reduced to nothing but superficial experiences? I know better than these underqualified instructors!”

‘…In the end, am I not just another one of those underqualified instructors?’

He scoffed inwardly.

He criticized those students and the state of the school, but he himself was not attempting to change anything, just going through the motions, wasting the salary the board of directors threw his way.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

The wrinkles on his face deepened out of irritation as he looked around. Everyone seemed to mimic what they had seen elsewhere, but their foundation was lacking. That cursed social media.

While surveying the students, he happened to meet the strikingly red-eyed blonde girl. She was the one he had hit earlier before class. What was her name? Violet Rugilinn.

She was shouting, “Yah! Yah!” as she swung her sword with all her might.

It was a mess.

“…So it’s that obnoxious brat again! Anyone would mistake her for a commander at this point!”

He huffed in annoyance and guided her.

But surprisingly, she started to follow along earnestly. Before long, the trajectory of the sword she was swinging became more stable.

She beamed at her small achievement and giggled.

‘She learns faster than I expected.’

After a bit of time passed, while checking the students’ sword energy levels, he turned to check on her again.

That fool didn’t seem to have been able to control her unique ability and summoned something that knocked over one of the students.

When he questioned her, she claimed she didn’t know how to generate sword energy. Stunned, he asked how she had even gotten in here.

“…Through special admission.”

Frederick felt a lump form in his chest.

The school had fallen to such a level in just five years. As he turned away with a heavy heart, a newbie spoke up from behind.

“But this is an academy, isn’t it?”

“What did you say?”

“I came here to learn because I didn’t know anything, so why is that a problem?”

He turned around, irritated, to say something back. He locked eyes with her. Those weren’t defiant eyes.

‘Did she really come in here knowing nothing?’

Suddenly, Frederick felt embarrassed.

‘I’m an instructor. Why haven’t I tried to teach her?’

He gave her guidance once more. Since she didn’t seem to understand, he scolded her along with his teachings.

Before long, sword energy blossomed from the sword held by that girl, like a blooming red flower. Frederick’s jaw dropped in astonishment.

‘What the hell is this? She can utilize her unique ability and control Ether? Why has she never been able to handle sword energy up until now?’

The girl jumped with joy, delighted by her success.

“I did it! Hehehe…”

Yes, he liked this attitude. When was the last time he had seen a student this happy about learning something so simple?

The old instructor had one curiosity he wanted to confirm. It was about the fresh newbies who absorbed everything they learned, just like a blank slate.

“This weekend, don’t waste time; practice that. Got it? I’ll check on you!”

“Yeeesss…”

That Violet Rugilinn, he watched her leave outside the gym.

His gaze softened slightly as it followed her.

***

Without a moment to celebrate our victory, we fought non-stop from Saturday morning until noon in the forest.

“Unit 2! Unit 1! Raise your shields!”

“Unit 5, back off! Unit 3, attack!”

“Generate sword energy! Thrust!”

“Kyurulurung!”

“Die! You face-disfigured cat!”

-Whoosh!

“Kyarlong…”

Fighting became considerably easier after learning to generate sword energy. Now, it wasn’t necessary to strike from behind, and our attacks certainly hit the monsters.

“Frederick, the instructor! He might be a bit strict, but he definitely seems competent!”

“Yeah, right! Our swordsmanship and sword energy skills have finally developed!”

Before learning sword energy, our exchanges with the Pelinots and Violet Squad were 0:3 or worse, but after mastering sword energy, we managed to achieve a close balance of 1:1 in battle. It was a satisfying growth!

Of course, sacrifices were inevitable. Just now, Unit 4 had their leg nearly severed while thrusting with a spear against a monster’s claws.

The Pelinot was dead, but we lay sprawled on the ground for a while, groaning.

“Ugh…! My leg!”

“I can’t take it! Let’s regenerate and call it back!”

“Ugh, but the regeneration speed is pretty slow?”

“It hurts too much! Do something!”

We exchanged glances and nodded at each other.

“Ugh… regeneration is slow! It would be better to just behead me or let me die instantly so I wouldn’t feel the pain. When Unit 5 got their head cut off, it didn’t hurt that much.”

“Ugh… wait, should we try that?”

“Since it hurts, let’s try anything…! Huh? Wait! Don’t hit me! Aah!”

Unit 2 swung their battle hammer down onto Unit 4, who was dispersing into dust.

-Crack!

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

“My head hurts… But the pain from my arm is gone!”

Unit 4 quickly faded into a corpse.

Immediately, they were re-summoned. Confused after their head was struck, Unit 4 stared dumbfounded at their legs.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing… Oh, the pain in my leg is gone!”

“Could it be…?”

We discovered an enlightening fact that was as revolutionary as Pasteur’s vaccine or Fleming’s penicillin. When something’s painful, it’s more convenient to quickly eliminate the source of the pain than to regenerate it later.

“With this, we won’t have to worry when an injury occurs? We won’t need to fuss about obtaining recovery potions.”

“Still, we don’t have infinite magical power. Let’s try to regenerate whenever we can.”

“How about finding guns or grenades later? That could speed things up.”

“Good idea!”

After discovering an easy solution for treating injuries, our adventure grew more reckless.

Exchanging three Pelinots, six Skullcats, and four Violets brought us to the brink of an end. In that process, we didn’t bother counting the pitiful mutated monsters that died.

“I found it!”

After exploring all morning and afternoon, we successfully found all the Crystal Flowers. By now, the sun was setting low.

“Achieved! Magic Power 8000!”

“Let’s summon them all!”

Excluding Units 7, who were waiting in the dorms, and 8, who were gathering data, the nearby forest was crawling with 14 Violets.

“Wow! Wow!”

“We’re everywhere!”

Unit 1, standing at the center, placed their hands on their hips and declared, “With this number, we can definitely conquer the dungeon. We’ll take the bus at dawn tomorrow, headed for ‘that dungeon’ to the southwest!”

“Let’s go!!”

Everyone cheered energetically.

“Um…”

One of the Violets raised their hand to ask a question. It was Unit 12.

“…Question, what are we going to do about weapons?”

“Well, our main forces will be armed with three-star weapons, and the rest will fight with daggers or tools.”

Immediately, protests erupted from all sides.

“What? No way! Are you really boasting because you’re the first clone?”

“We all want to carry proper weapons and fight comfortably!”

Unit 9 tried to calm everyone down.

“Okay, okay! Let’s take it easy. There might be better weapons than the Polaris students’ ones lying around in the dungeon.”

Another Violet suggested a new idea.

“Can we possibly replicate weapons?”

Everyone’s eyes focused on her.

“Replicate? What do you mean?”

“Think about it. Right now, we’re all wearing identical uniforms and hoods.”

Everyone nodded. They had known since the research lab that clothes could be replicated.

“Come to think of it, weren’t the costumes items in ‘Crimson Scholar’? Why is this being replicated?”

“Eek? That’s right!”

They had overlooked an important detail. Costumes weren’t just decorations; they were legitimate equipment.

“Why didn’t we think to check the status screen for our clothes?”

Unit 1 quickly checked the status screen.

[Polaris Student Uniform ☆☆☆]
Polaris Comprehensive Academy’s student uniform.
Though it appears to be an ordinary student uniform at first glance, it mixes special composite materials obtained from monsters and the dimensional world, ensuring some level of anti-sword and anti-bullet performance.
The freshness of youth is wrapped in protection.
…

“It’s real?”

“Everyone, check it out. All the clones can display their status screen!”

We all checked our status screens, confirming that we were all wearing [Polaris Student Freshman Uniform ☆☆☆].

“The fact that the uniforms can be replicated means that the equipment we’re holding might also…”

“Let’s try it right now! Unit 2, take out a three-star one-handed sword!”

Unit 4 retrieved the three-star one-handed sword, focusing their mind. The target was the 10th clone standing over there.

Magical power flowed violently, and shining droplets of red ether intertwined, extending toward Unit 10’s hand.

Moments later, a long one-handed sword appeared in Unit 10’s grasp.

“We did it!”

“Is this really happening?”

“Check the status screen!”

We gathered around Unit 10 to see the status screen.

Clearly written was ‘Polaris Practice One-Handed Sword (Arming Sword) ☆☆☆’.

“Okay. Replicating weapons does use some magical power, but with this, it seems we’ve resolved the arming issue.”

“The era of fighting with tools is over!”

While everyone was celebrating, Unit 2 hurriedly urged 7, who was still in the dorm.

-Unit 7! Wallet! Give me the wallet!-

-Why so suddenly…? What do you mean? That?-

“Everyone, pay attention! Look closely! If we can copy items, can’t we do other things too?”

Suddenly receiving Unit 7’s wallet, Unit 2 pulled out a 100-credit bill. Everyone’s red eyes gleamed with greed and curiosity.

“Alright! Give it a try!”

Unit 2 began to randomly replicate the bills and scatter them.

“Money can be replicated!!”

“Hoorayyyyyyy!”

We excitedly grabbed the cash.

However, Unit 12 pointed at one corner of the bills.

“Hey… but everyone, look at this.”

Upon closer inspection, we noticed that all the serial numbers were identical.

The money we held looked exactly the same.

“Oh no… we can’t play the counterfeit money game.”

“Plus, there’s that issue too.”

Unit 7 pointed at the bills scattered on the floor.

Some of the bills were blown away by the wind. The green bills glinted, catching the sunset before disintegrating in the unique light of ether.

“…If we get too far from us, do they just disappear?”

Unit 2 tossed the one-handed sword onto the ground and withdrew away from it. The sword quickly disintegrated into shimmering dust and vanished.

“Wow, we can’t pull off a scam like this.”

“Right, I was hoping to mess around and grab a five-star weapon…”

Unit 2 encouraged everyone.

“Still, confirming that three-star weapons can be replicated is a sure advantage. It’s uncertain whether four-star or five-star weapons can be replicated as well.”

“Problems that used to bother us have been resolved easily like this. Magical power can be secured with herbs or equipment, and we can grow levels. So the remaining issue is…”

“The inventory problem. We can’t just stack weapons inside the dormitory.”

Everyone aggressively agreed.

It would be great if we could carry everything we needed with us, but aside from the seniors’ weapon-wielding bans, the transportation capacity allowed for a single Violet was approximately that of a casual high school girl.

Additionally, it was cumbersome to transfer weapons one by one.

What we needed was an inventory.

An inventory is a magical tool that allows a single person to carry a mountain of belongings as if they were relocating.

This concept is often left under the game’s leniency, like ‘In my universe, gunshots are heard,’ while some games explain the concept of inventory within their settings.

‘Crimson Scholar’ was one of those games.

“We’ll secure that item which the ‘Scholar Officer’ will gather in five years in advance.”

The Violets nodded in agreement.

My target is [Multi-Dimensional Storage Bag].

It was an item that grants inventory functions received by the main character “Scholar Officer” during the early tutorials. It was an ungraded bound item.

“With this, we’ll raid the dungeons plentifully, and one year from now, we’ll leave this school.”

“Comfortably living with warm food and a full belly.”

That was our long-term goal.

Thus, the temporary meeting came to an end. We descended through the darkening forest and headed back to the dormitory.

After some time, Unit 7 delivered an urgent call.

“Hey, guys! We’re in trouble! Bring me some cup noodles!”

“Wha? What’s going on?”

“It’s…! I got caught!”

“Do not tell me…!”

“…Rugilinn, why did you take my snacks without saying anything?”

I found Daphne, sulking in the dormitory.

“I’m sorry!”