The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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The girl who appeared to be the leader treated me very roughly. Getting lifted by my hair was quite an unpleasant experience.

“Do you know Martin?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s our friend Martin. So I came to teach you a lesson.”

“Aha.”

Martin? Is he the punk who boasted that his older sister is the head of the Freshman Management Board? The blond jerk, right? I remember him looking at Daphne with a lewd gaze. So I gave him a few beatings back then.

Was this revenge for that?

“What? Aha? Are you messing with me?”

-Smack!

I have no idea what warranted that slap. Ow, another hit! At this rate, my face is going to swell up like a pufferfish!

[The pain felt by the entity is dispersed among the number of clones, reducing the intensity – Reduction Rate: 5%]

Those damn punks, I could feel a bit of magical power flowing when they hit me. If I didn’t have the ability to disperse pain among my clones, I’d be screaming my head off.

“You said your name was Violet? Do you remember what you did?”

I started digging through my memories.

“I picked your pocket and took your smartphone, right?”
“When we met the second time, I even stripped you of your clothes. Of course, I put them back right after!”

Ah, if I had known this would come back to bite me, I should have hit him harder! I was a bit too lax. I never imagined what I did back then would result in this.

Inside the barrier, I saw Daphne looking distressed, unable to do anything. She was fidgeting her feet, but she couldn’t approach. The ones wielding swords were continuing to poke the barrier, wearing her down. She looked quite exhausted, probably unable to move as all her focus was on maintaining the barrier.

The leader girl poked me on the head with her index finger.

“Are you worried about her? You really shouldn’t have stuck your nose where it didn’t belong.”

But how the heck did they manage to drag her here?

“Trying to act all nice, when I asked for help because my friend collapsed, she followed us into the alley? What a complete fool. Just because she used her Unique Ability a little bit…”

She started rambling without even being asked. That cleared up my confusion.

Daphne was the sort of person who would help someone immediately if they asked for it. These punks exploited the goodwill of a kind person!

“She was trying to flee with her barrier up, so we scared her with our swords, and she froze up. Hey, how long did we hit it?”

“About two hours? It was so sturdy that it didn’t break.”

They were laughing hysterically.

Daphne looked to be in bad shape. Thanks to her Unique Ability, there were no visible injuries, but she looked extremely fatigued. She must have used a lot of magical power.

With each strike, the barrier seemed to wobble. It looked unstable, and it might break any moment now.

“What do you want from us…”

“What do we want?”

The leader girl waved her hand and backed away. The subordinates behind her took out smartphones and showed us the screens.

“See this?”

On the screen were several photos of a girl wearing only her underwear. That’s me, isn’t it?

As I gasped in shock, the kids burst into laughter. Some of them… now that I look closely, were filming everything live on their smartphones.

“Stupid, are you starting to understand the situation now?”

So that’s why I was undressed? Thank goodness there were no other marks on my body.

“How many of you are there?”

“There are twelve of us in total. All Polaris students. Their skill level is unknown. That one who looks like the leader over there… see that Magic Staff?”

“Ha ha! Why are you getting scared already? Anyone would think you’ve already been caught!”

She held out the smartphone with my photo like a trophy, sneering.

“Martin and his sister are really angry. If you don’t want this to spread throughout the school…”

His sister? Was that her doing?

As I listened, I felt stunned. Apparently, their plan was to force me to record an “apology video” and comply with all sorts of ridiculous demands.

“Rugilinn! Don’t! Everyone, it’s my fault. Just let me take the blame…”

Daphne, who was behind me, suddenly broke down in tears. The way she looked, it seemed like she might drop the barrier and kneel down at any moment. Before any more words came out, I pretended to agree with their demands.

“All I have to do is what you say, right? I’ll do it right away. Just please let Daphne go.”

“Really? Then stand up. For now…”

“Is she serious? Hahaha!”

I locked eyes with the sobbing Daphne. I blinked a few times, subtly nodding as if to say ‘stay calm.’

Did she understand?

Reading my signal with a puzzled look, she hesitated but eventually nodded.

The leader girl and her minions surrounded me, watching intently. One of the male students took out his smartphone camera. I didn’t feel embarrassed about being the subject, but I wanted to spit in that malicious face.

“Alright, follow my lead…”

I raised my arms. I formed my right hand into a gun shape, aiming at the arm of the guy with the smartphone. Then I casually opened my mouth.

“Bang!”

“What are you doing…?”

What do you mean what am I doing? It’s a shooting signal!

Three whistling sounds rang out, and bolts from a crossbow struck the male student’s hand and arm in rapid succession.

“My hand! Ugh… AAAAAHHHH!”

Realizing the pain too late, he clutched his arm and screamed. One of the bolts had perfectly skewered the smartphone and his palm. Perfect!

While the sudden turn of events left the gang dumbfounded, a squad of Violets wearing masks stormed inside the building.

“Charge! Charge!”

Bolts flew towards arms and legs as the assault brigade launched their attack. The sudden barrage sent them into a panic, and about three of them were immobilized with bolts embedded in their limbs. Sadly, we couldn’t take them all down. They quickly regained their composure and drew their weapons to shoot back.

Amid the chaos, the Fifth Clone slipped back. Magical particles shimmered and the clothes were replicated over his body. Now all that was left was to deal with the other me.

“Hey! Duck!”

The leader girl pulled out a long staff that was about her height and lightly tapped the ground, enchanting a white magical circle around her gang. The bolts bounced back before they could even reach them. However, while they focused on defense, the assault squad of Violets holding the suppression shields rushed in, covering the ground before immediately engaging in a scuffle with the enemy.

The rear assault squad was the first to arrive. We had to secure Daphne first.

“Charge in!”

The Twelfth Clone and Clone 23 rammed two male students, shields and all. They were the ones who had been mercilessly pounding the barrier, keeping Daphne from resting.

While they were stunned by the impact, eight Violets swiftly followed in, stabbing their limbs and bashing their heads with hammers.

“AAAAAH! AAAAAHHHH!”

“My leg!!”

As they were taken down, we rushed towards Daphne.

“Are you okay? We came to save you!”

“Phew… I’m fine…”

The barrier broke, and Daphne stumbled out unsteadily. With some help, she managed to stand. Looking closely, her magical power was nearly depleted. If we had been any later, it would have been a serious problem. She was too exhausted to walk, so I sat her down nearby to rest.

While securing Daphne safely, the other assault squads engaged the remaining gang members.

“Block them! Block them! Damn it! AAAAAHHH! Aahh!”

“AAAAH! Get back! Hit this! Hit this!”

The resistance from them was stronger than expected. They were blocking with shields and thrusting at us with swords and spears. Our side was starting to sustain losses too. Compared to the ones I had fought before, they seemed to know how to fight a bit better.

But pushing through with numbers, we eventually gained the upper hand.

“Cough… uh!”

Currently, including the Fifth Clone, we had 34 members present, all mobilized at the cost of using all of our magical power along with magical energy supplements.

The surrounded gang members made feeble attempts to resist, but soon fell to the ground.

Only the leader girl with the staff was left. We encircled her.

“…Step aside!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

The gang leader unleashed a shockwave, knocking us over as she began to flee. We chased after her, quickly drawing our crossbows and shooting at her legs.

-Ping! Ping!

“AAAAHHH!”

A shrill scream echoed in the dimly lit building.

“Damn it! Get away! Go away!”

I saw the bolt embedded in her leg. She raised her staff and desperately fired energy blasts at us. Two or three of the charging Violets fell, but over ten others rushed in to restrain her.

“AAAAAH!”

“Alright, let’s try to resolve this through conversation.”

If these damn punks had just acted like thugs, I could have just beaten them up and been done with it, but they seriously took pictures of my underwear and threatened Daphne. If there hadn’t been a barrier, I might have been in a pretty nasty situation. I needed to repay them for what they intended to do to me.

The Fifth Clone, wielding a hammer, approached the leader girl.

Suddenly, another powerful shockwave swept through the room. I thought we had subdued her, but apparently not.

As she raised her arm, a fierce fireball began to erupt from her hand. We panicked and immediately backed away. It seemed she had gathered quite a bit of magical power as the fireball grew from the size of a fist to that of a bowling ball in an instant.

“…Die!”

We scattered in all directions as she hurled the fireball with her last-ditch effort.

“Get down!”

“Run away!”

As I ducked to avoid the fireball and turned back, I realized! I completely forgot something important. Daphne was right in the direction the fireball was flying towards. I could see her terrified face clearly. It was too late to avoid it!

“Ah… No!”

The nearby Violets immediately raised their shields and shielded her with their bodies. The blazing fireball struck us head-on.

I saw a rapidly spreading emerald light. However, it quickly faded and vanished.

-KABOOM!

A loud explosion echoed through the building.

The Fifth Clone rushed in and brought down the hammer upon the leader girl’s head. She straight up fainted. The startled clones dashed toward the scene of the explosion. The Violet who had taken the fireball directly with her shield, Clone 45, shattered into pieces, while Clone 27 behind her turned completely black.

Fortunately, as we acted as shields, Daphne was unharmed.

No, wait!

Daphne was unconscious, lying on the ground. She wasn’t moving.

“She… isn’t breathing! What do we do?!”

At the Fifth Clone’s words, I was horrified as I checked on her.

She was breathing, albeit weakly. I let out a sigh of relief.

But what was the problem? Why wasn’t she coming around? We had blocked the attack!

Blood started to trickle down from her head. It seemed she got hit by the debris.

“Recovery potion! Get out the recovery potion! Right now!”

In a rush, I took the recovery potion from my inventory and injected it into her. Without bandages, I hastily tore my clothes to wrap around her head.

“Daphne’s hurt! What do we do? What do we do?”

“We need to get her to a hospital! But where do we go? The Health Room?”

“First, uh… Irene! Let’s call Irene!”

Clone 17 trembled as they dialed Irene’s number.

“…Violet? What’s going on?”

“Help… Please help!”

The Violets urgently carried the unconscious Daphne outside. The noisy scene just moments ago was now filled only with the groans of the injured gang and the quiet sobs of the Violets.

The remaining Violets were in a state of agitation.

“…She won’t die, right? No way…”

“No, she got a recovery potion, right? She was breathing. She’ll be fine.”

The shocked Violets fell silent.

As my racing heart began to settle down, countless questions surged within me.

Why did Daphne have to get hurt?

It was you all who started this. Even if I stole a wallet, it was me alone who should take the hit. Why?

Unconsciously, tears began to spill from my eyes.

No, maybe it was my fault. It was my mistake.

That’s right, part of this is my fault too. If I had blocked properly, she might not have gotten hurt. Maybe I could have pulled her out quickly from the line of fire? I should have just taken her outside from the beginning.

Was there really a reason to act out like a clown and create a stupid scene? Was I too careless?

Yes, it could be my fault. Daphne got hurt because of me.

Every day, I’ve been nothing but a burden, throwing tantrums and getting on everyone’s nerves, yet she still smiled and went along with it. But I did something foolish again. It might just be my fault she got hurt.

Yes. I was foolish and pathetic! I should have immediately suppressed them so they couldn’t resist. How could I give them a chance to counterattack? Still, the top reason lies with them.

Looking at the gang sprawled before me, I felt bile rising in my throat.

I grabbed the leader girl’s hair and shook her awake. Frustrated, I yelled.

“Ah…?”

“Why! Why did you do this! Why!!”

“Y-you crazy girl! What did I do wrong?”

Her utter shamelessness left me momentarily speechless. What did she just say? I felt lava bubbling inside me. What in the world did she do to act so brazenly?

I ground my teeth. For a moment, my mind cleared and calmed down. I understood what it meant to keep a cool head when you’re very angry.

The Violets silently gathered the fallen gang members. They collected all their smartphones and sent them to the Violet dormitory in the central region.

They took out chains and handcuffs to bind them. After the binding was complete, I began to question them.

I had a lot of things I wanted to ask.

“This is about that Martin guy’s sister, right? Am I right?”

“What? I don’t know…! I didn’t say anything like that…”

The leader girl faltered as she assessed my expression.

Someone seemed to be nudging me from behind. Do it, just do it.

Yes, it’s necessary. I need to provide these scum with a real lesson that digs deep into their bones.

My head spun. I wanted to cry; I was so angry and frustrated. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. But my thought process was astonishingly clear. I wish it were muddy and messy like muddy water. The things I needed to do were too starkly defined. That’s why it felt so bad.

The night air was cold, but it wasn’t enough to cool my anger.

I simply couldn’t sit still.

I pulled out a handful of unused recovery syringes that I had stockpiled from my inventory.

“I’m going to ask questions now, and I hope you give me honest answers. Got it? Tell me exactly who ordered this, where they live, and why they did it…”

“Go fuck yourself, you crazy girl!”

I struck the tip of her finger with the hammer.

“AHHHHH! Don’t! AHH!”

“See the recovery potion here? It’s not even midnight yet. We have plenty of time.”

I swung. I swung. I swung harder. Injected the recovery potion. Hit again. Injected again. The night was long, and the conversation we had was extensive. There were many people I had to talk to. I swung again. Crack, crack!

I don’t even know why I’m doing this.