‘I have finished receiving it, my lord.’
Inside an office at Lair, the clone was receiving the memories of what had happened with BM. After taking in all the memories that had been sent, the clone organised them before sending his own thoughts to Yu Jitae.
‘However… There is one question in my head, which I dare to ask your wisdom of, my lord.’
The clone had the ability to share memories with the Regressor but there were certain memories that weren’t shared. Mainly, they consisted of ‘things that could affect the clone’s personality’ and only a portion of them were shared. It was an arrangement made by the Regressor to enable a smooth operation of the clone.
And memories regarding chimeras also fell into that category.
‘Are you truly wishing to help BM?’ the clone asked.
At the current stage, what Yu Jitae had to be the most cautious of weren’t dragons nor demons. The hostility from the other side of the Horizon of Providence was cumbersome, but that too could be dealt with his abilities.
More importantly, what Yu Jitae had to be the most mindful of was the flow of time being shaken beyond his control. That was also why he need a specific period of time and location in order to kill Wei Yan and Noah.
Due to that, Yu Jitae didn’t share his power or knowledge with others without a good reason since he was an existence that could twist the flow of time.
Fortunately, the flow of the world had its ‘Correction of Cause and Effect’, and the so-called butterfly effect did not exist. However, there were strong ‘causes’ that could resemble the butterfly effect.
Small waves could not dare shake the ocean itself.
But…
‘As you are aware of it, my lord, a human-type chimera has the ability to shake the future.
‘It is very dangerous and very destructive. Even in the previous iterations, it was fortunate that BM had failed on repeat and it is an element that must be eliminated in this iteration as well according to my knowledge.’
Human-type chimeras were dangerous.
They were immensely dangerous hazards whose danger levels could never be assessed. It was evident from how the ones that had brought BM’s alternate world, ‘Arandot’ to destruction was a human-type chimera and its followers.
However, Yu Jitae did not force BM to give up. Instead, he was giving him an opportunity, practically telling him to try it one more time if he was willing to put the underground labyrinth on the line.
That was when Yu Jitae’s thoughts were conveyed.
‘…Yes, my lord. BM was killed by you in the 5th and the 6th iteration, and in the 3rd and the 4th, he committed suicide straight after the Second Great War came to an end.’
The reason BM was killed by Yu Jitae in the 5th and the 6th iterations was for him to plunder the underground labyrinth. However, the clone did not know why BM committed suicide in the 3rd and the 4th iterations.
And right now, that reason was finally conveyed by Yu Jitae.
‘…My. He looked well-mannered but it seems that he was a lunatic.’ the clone gave an empty laugh.
The more riches someone had, the more lingering attachment they had to life. Like how Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, searched for the immortality elixir, BM should have had a lot of attachment to life, considering the amount of time and effort he built up.
However, BM was the type of person who was living the rest of his life as a bonus.
‘Your will.’
That was the end of the story. It was when the clone was deeply contemplating the dangers of a human-type chimera; the reason its lord was trying to help BM, as well as the purpose. Yu Jitae suddenly gave a different order to him.
‘…Ye, yes? A new shadow you mean?’
Yu Jitae ordered him to create a new [Shadow of an Archduke (SS)].
A Level 5 artifact was required to create a new clone and even Yu Jitae only had one spare Level 5 artifact with him. It was hard even for the Regressor to obtain them.
What was the reason for creating a new clone?
As a being containing its own ego, curiosity struck the clone first, but it did not ask what would happen in the future.
The lord was the one creating the plans.
‘Your will.’
And the clone was simply a being that followed those plans.
***
After a week,
A young boy opened his eyes inside the clone’s house. He was a child around 15 years of age and looked similar to Yu Jitae. However, the sharp gaze and atmosphere of the original weren’t there and the child had an innocent appearance.
“Hello.”
Clone 1, who was still wearing the mask of a young female woman, ‘Hashimoto’, greeted the child.
The boy looked up. He was pretending to be tough with a crooked expression but within his eyes was an undisguisable trace of fear.
When their eyes met, the boy looked away.
“Oi.”
“…Yes?’
“Any replies? I greeted. Hello.”
The thorny voice seemed to have surprised him. Clone 2 glanced at Clone 1 before carefully giving his response.
“H, hello…”
Clone 1 felt afresh.
By nature, [Shadow of an Archduke (SS)] was created based on its owner. Himself was a special case and was different, but the boy in front should be similar to Yu Jitae before going through all the vicissitudes of life.
In other words, the boy was Yu Jitae of the first iteration. An innocent boy, defensive and lonely due to growing up without any parents, and a dreaming child who aspired to become a soldier.
“Why, why are you glaring at me.”
“What?”
“I said hello…”
Crossing her arms, Clone 1 stared at the pouting boy.
How could she turn this into something useful?
That was the assignment given to the first clone.
***
The cold snap had ended a long time ago, and even the cherry trees had lost their colour. The asphalt was now warm to the touch as the second quarter of the Campus Competition came to a close.
Yeorum came first again in the second quarter.
“Unni. Congrats!”
“Uh? Ah, yeah.”
“Nn? Aren’t you happy?”
“No, no. I am happy.”
On the outside, she looked composed. She didn’t openly boast about it to Bom or Kaeul, and sheepishly smiled over it when someone complimented her.
“Good work.”
“I know.”
Even when Yu Jitae complimented her, she was seemingly controlling her own excitement.
However, her attitude flipped the moment she left Unit 301. Whenever she came across someone that others referred to as her rival at Colosseo, she called them with a shout, “Oi! Rank □□!” It was so loud that Sophia even ran away without listening to her.
“Where you going! Come here you Rank 7!”
“What you gonna do about it, you crazy bi*ch! Let’s just see if you come first in the third quarter as well or not!”
“No matter what, I won’t come 7th though?”
“…”
Bom finished writing her novel till the end and took it down straight after it ended. Her novel wasn’t that bad in fact, and she even received a call from a small publishing company.
However, she refused the offer.
“It was good. Why did you turn them down.”
“Apparently they’re a bad publisher.”
“A bad publisher?”
“Yes. They take a huge ratio off of a novel that’s not popular and publish it. Actually, my novel wasn’t even that good. It would’ve failed in an open contest.”
He just thought to himself, ‘Is that so’, while Bom started a remake of her own work.
Kaeul, who was now in a better mental state, diligently took her lessons and started playing with her friends again. She also started laughing a lot like before.
The baby chicken and Gyeoul diligently played around and ate a lot. Although they still left the house occasionally, Yu Jitae did not stop them.
No-one inside Unit 301 knew about it, but the baby chicken had its own clear objective and a goal. Despite being a mere furry ball on the outside, it was quite hard-boiled on the inside.
The Regressor decided to watch on for now.
While they were buried in their busy daily lives, he received a call from Myung Yongha.
– Let’s go on the trip. Mister Jitae!
Near the end of the second quarter of the Competition, Yu Jitae requested for a ‘Household Field Trip’ to the education department.
It was a 1-week vacation.
***
Southwestern United States, Nevada.
Las Vegas – the city that was known for gambling and entertainment from days before the New Era.
In the desert north of Las Vegas, which had been a barren wasteland for the last few years, there was now a large man-made lake. And in the middle of the lake was a man-made island called ‘Peace City’, which was recently being highlighted as the best recreation area for soldiers worldwide.
Inside the airplane heading to Peace City, Myung Yongha explained why.
“After the end of the Great War, the military is now at the top of the Establishment, right.”
“Indeed.”
He wasn’t wearing his usual fake mask anymore, and was wearing a fancy pair of sunglasses. As if it was completely unrelated to him, he continued.
“But after being buried in field war for more than 10 years, these soldiers have lives that are way too different from their families and friends. As you probably know yourself, Mister Jitae, there are more than a few around me who have PTSD.”
A story about the soldier who was frightened from the sound of a book falling from the desk and killed his entire family was very well-known. There weren’t that many superhumans who had superhuman-like mindsets.
“Looking around, it’s really sad. I was at least better off because I’m a druid but… In any case. Soldiers who fought hard and protected their families and have money, but are too far from daily lives to spend great time with normal people – that vacation place is built for those people.”
“…”
“What have we learned? It’s all about killing and surviving. The island’s purpose is for us to use that and show our families what we got.”
That was the reason Myung Yongha asked Yu Jitae about his field warfare experience.
For a week, Yu Jitae had to survive with the kids in the deserted island. He had to find food to feed them, and had to build a house.
“Is that place barren? Do you have to cut trees and build houses?”
“Uhahaha! Surely not, right. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for just one person.”
He then suddenly stopped his words.
“Hmm… actually, what is in there? I just heard there was something good.”
Myung Yongha searched for something with his watch.
“Ahh. It’s here. They imitated the interesting environment of a dungeon by bringing interesting insects, plants and animals apparently… It doesn’t include everything they have but it’s already interesting enough that they have a KM-13 tree, right?”
KM-13 was a tree that appeared in S ranked ruin-type dungeons and above. It could survive on any liquid including water, and gave different fruits depending on the liquid.
Yu Jitae gave a nod. He didn’t really understand what would be fun about it, but a new environment and a new life should be able to make the children happy.
They returned to the VVIP waiting room of the airplane.
Myung Yongha’s family was playing with the dragons. Gyeoul was chatting with the first son, Myung Jun-il, while Kaeul was hugging the second son with a sparkling gaze. Meanwhile, Yeorum was lying down on the sofa, scratching her stomach and staring at her watch.
There was also an unfamiliar yet acquainted person. Bom was with Jung Hawon, Myung Yongha’s wife, but there was also an old lady having a chat with them with a smile.
She was Li Hwa, whom Myung Yongha had brought from the Grand Natural Society.
When Yu Jitae came back, Bom’s eyes naturally turned towards him and she waved her hand. Li Hwa also gave a wrinkled smile at Yu Jitae.
“Would you like a glass? Hahat.”
Myung Yongha took out a bottle of champagne, and they clinked their glasses. Yu Jitae then looked at the dragons.
Gyeoul was having her gummies, while Myung Jun-il was sitting right next to her, throwing glances. The child carefully moved his bum and approached her.
Soon, Gyeoul turned towards Myung Jun-il.
“H, hello. Noona…”
“…”
Unlike before where she would’ve stared blankly instead of greeting back, Gyeoul nodded with a faint smile. It was thanks to the etiquette taught by Bom.
“What are you eating?”
“…Gummies.”
“They look tasty.”
“…”
She couldn’t have a lot of gummies these days, because she had long finished the one bought by ahjussi. But today, Bom bought her some to commemorate the vacation and Gyeoul was having the gummies to her heart’s content.
Myung Jun-il, who usually didn’t like sweet stuff, pondered before opening his mouth.
“Umm, noona.”
“…?”
“What’s that yellow one like?”
“…Orange?”
“That red one?”
“…Strawberry?”
“The white one?”
Stopping her hand that was carrying another gummy to her mouth, Gyeoul looked at Myung Jun-il.
“…Why?”
“Uh? No it’s j, just, it looked tasty…”
“…Mhmm.”
“Noona. Can’t you give me that white one?”
Gyeoul smiled.
“…Nn.”
“Uh? R, really?”
He reached out with a bright smile but Gyeoul stared at the child’s hand before tilting her head.
“…What are you doing?”
“Uh? Weren’t you giving me one?”
“…No?”
That was when Myung Jun-il realised. Just then, he asked, ‘Can’t you’ and Gyeoul replied ‘Nn’, saying that he couldn’t.
“Ah…”
Myung Jun-il became sulky.