A secluded chamber at dawn.
Kalia was unable to sleep, tormented by the dizziness swirling around her body.
‘Thirsty… Hungry…’
It had already been a week since she was subdued by Laplaxia’s mercenaries and dragged here.
In that time, she had neither eaten properly nor drank anything.
‘I was so foolish. Even though the Brotherhood tried to stop me, I walked right into the trap myself…’
It had been over a month since her uncle, who was investigating the suspicious activities between Laplaxia and other clans, went missing.
Plagued by anxiety, she recklessly pursued an unverified tip that she overheard by chance.
Despite her comrades and friends trying to stop her, she charged forward blindly, leading to her defeat due to overwhelming odds.
Of course, the grunts were no match for her unique ability.
However, her confidence didn’t last long—she was overpowered by the sudden attack of a giant wielding a hammer.
“Is there really a way to escape?”
The research lab greedily craved her unique ability but wasn’t foolish enough to give the beast an opening to break free.
Her body was restrained by multiple devices.
Both arms were bound with restraints that disrupted the flow of ether and were chained to the wall.
Around her neck was a collar that delivered electric shocks.
The only sustenance she received was a faint drip of IV fluid into her left arm, seemingly just enough to keep her alive but not strong.
Since she couldn’t make contact with anyone, there was no hope of a rescue from the Brotherhood.
No, Kalia herself had half given up.
She didn’t believe her comrades would be able to find her.
Suddenly, the image of the ghostly girl from last night flashed through her mind.
Who on earth was that girl?
‘Hello!’
Hearing a voice calling her, she lifted her head.
To her surprise, her gaze met a girl with striking red eyes and a cute appearance peering at her through the vent grate.
The girl, who was excitedly waving her hand, opened her mouth as if to say something, but disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Was that just a hallucination?”
Perhaps that girl was the vengeful spirit of a pitiful victim wandering this lab.
While she mulled over that thought, Kalia’s ears suddenly caught a strange noise coming from the vent grate in front of her.
It was a faint dragging sound over the metal.
“…?”
When she turned to look at the vent, the sound grew louder.
Through the grate, the red-eyed girl reappeared.
Kalia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“A ghost…?”
The following night, as soon as I crawled back into the chamber through the vent, I heard a strange sound.
“A ghost…?”
I immediately objected.
“I’m not a ghost!”
To call someone as adorable as me a ghost—what a ridiculous thing to say!
Wait, no.
There I go again with these weird thoughts.
I need to stop obsessing over being a “cute girl.”
“…Hey, who are you? Are you from the lab? How are you even in there?”
Kalia asked again, despite her fatigued appearance.
Even in her weariness, she was calmly observing me.
“It’s a long story. First, I’m not part of the lab. I’m a test subject here.”
“…Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to believe that, when you just popped out of the vent like that?”
Ugh, Kalia wasn’t going to believe me right away and started with suspicion.
Normally, in novels, this would be the part where the captive exclaims, ‘Oh! You’ve come to save me! Wait, no, you’re a prisoner too!’ and they’d instantly become friends.
But this wasn’t going to be that easy.
“Here, this is proof.”
I showed her the black, stiff electric shock collar around my neck.
Kalia shook her head.
“That doesn’t prove anything. I’m wearing one too. You could just be pretending to be a helpless girl. Do I look stupid to you?”
“Well, if you don’t want to believe me, I guess there’s nothing I can do.
But, Kalia, isn’t it more likely that a poor test subject girl crawling through the vents just happened to meet you here, rather than someone malicious going to the trouble of crawling in to mock a captive?”
Kalia retorted.
“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way Laplaxia’s research lab security is that lax…”
“Yup! Turns out it’s more lax than you’d think, thanks to my unique ability. Oh, by the way, this isn’t the ‘real’ me talking to you.”
“What do you mean by ‘not real’? Then who—or what—are you? A hallucination?”
Her sharp gaze swept over me.
“Ah, I misspoke. What I mean is, the one talking to you now is a clone. A duplicate, a doppelgänger. Got it?”
At my brief explanation, Kalia seemed to understand and let out a short exclamation of realization, “Ah, I see.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard of rare unique abilities that can mimic people or replicate appearances. But I thought they were limited to imitating appearances or mimicking actions.”
“Exactly! Isn’t it amazing? I got lucky and ended up with it.”
Kalia paused, lost in thought.
“That’s strange. I heard it’s almost impossible for unique abilities to develop artificially.
Wait a minute… Are you saying…”
“Yup! That’s right. It’s exactly what you’re thinking. I got it through experiments.”
The green in her eyes shifted from confusion to shock, then to sympathy.
Hey, why are you looking at me like that?
“…Sorry. Did I bring up a painful memory?”
“Are you worried about me? Thanks! But nope, I don’t remember anything!”
Honestly, I was a little touched.
As expected of a main character, she had a kind side to her.
Her demeanor seemed to soften slightly.
Then, something came to mind, and I quickly spoke up.
“Oh, right! Kalia, by any chance, are there cameras or anything like that in here?”
“I haven’t been able to check while being locked up.
Still, try not to talk too loudly. There’s a guard near the door…”
Kalia suddenly stopped mid-sentence and stared at me intently.
“Wait. But how do you know my name?”
Right, I knew Kalia, but she didn’t know me!
I lied as naturally as I could.
“I saw you getting dragged down the hallway a couple of days ago while I was crawling through the vents! They were yelling your name pretty loudly.”
“I’ve been locked up here for over a week.”
“No, it was… three days ago? Four, maybe…”
Her emerald eyes narrowed with rising anger.
I flinched and avoided her gaze.
Ah, damn it.
Kalia gritted her teeth and turned her head away, scowling.
Her soft pink bob swayed as she moved.
I don’t think I’ll be able to talk to this stubborn street girl anymore.
Soon, my clone’s duration expired, and my vision shifted back to the dark, cramped dormitory.
This is bad.
I naturally held hostility toward all forms of authority and order, but my hatred for the biotechnology corporation Laplaxia, stemming from the ill-fated past where I was imprisoned in a laboratory and tortured as a test subject, was beyond words.
Yeah, now that I think about it, I seem to have had an experience of being kidnapped by a lab in the past.
And of all places, it had to be this lab.
Who would have thought that the witch Violet and Kalia were once cellmates at the lab? Fate truly works in mysterious ways.
But an unexpected variable had emerged.
‘You idiot! Why did you get excited and act like you knew something there of all places?!’
Based on the game’s settings and my prior conversations with her, I came to a conclusion.
Rather than hastily claiming my innocence, I needed to approach her calmly and slowly to dissolve her suspicions.
With that resolve in mind, I swung my sword at the charging Skullkit once again today.
“Gwaaaargh!”
“Auuuuuuuuack!”
This time, I sacrificed an arm and stabbed my sword into the back of its head.
After being bitten so many times, I was starting to get used to the pain.
<Critical Hit!>
[Attacking the enemy’s rear triggered the synergy attribute: Rear Ambush. Damage has increased!]
“Urgh… urrrggh…”
Even as drool dripped down from the pain, I managed to plunge the sword into the back of the strange dog-like creature’s head.
The Skullkit collapsed.
Before, I had to grab the thrashing beast multiple times and stab it repeatedly, but ever since I developed the synergy attribute, it only took one well-aimed strike to its head to bring it down.
This was the greatness of passive skills!
But still, my clothes and face were drenched in blood.
With bloody hands, I wiped away the sweat roughly.
When a brief break came, I took the chance to test my abilities in other areas, keeping my actions discreet.
‘As expected, there’s a path under the floor!’
Of course, there would be ventilation ducts or empty spaces beneath the floor.
Whenever I had spare mana, I kept creating clones and sending them on reconnaissance missions.
Innate Ability:
■■■■: ???
Lv2 Clone Technique: ???
┖ The creation speed and maintenance duration of clones have slightly increased.
┖ You can now transfer small objects below a certain weight between different clones.
‘The more I use it, the more the clone level rises.’
While exploring the ventilation ducts, I realized something.
Although the distance at which I could create a clone was limited, there seemed to be no restrictions on the distance they could move or be controlled.
The deployment speed of clones was also becoming faster compared to when I first created them.
Well, that was only natural—skills improved with frequent use.
However, something caught my attention.
‘Transporting objects?’
What on earth did that mean?
Could it possibly mean that I could move items I was holding between my clone and my main body?
‘Wait, if that’s the case…’
A brilliant idea suddenly occurred to me.
When evening came, I didn’t consume the powdered milk provided in the rationed plastic bottle and left it untouched.
At night, I crawled back into the ventilation duct to meet Kalia.
“Hey there. I’m back.”
Kalia raised her head and slowly opened her mouth.
“…Alright, I gave it some thought after you left. I don’t think you’re one of Laplaxia’s bastards. Those scum would just drug or torture someone; they wouldn’t bother with a ridiculous act like this.”
When she saw my expression brighten, she quickly added more words.
“But I still don’t trust you.”
I replied cheerfully to her wary demeanor.
“Then don’t trust me!”
“…What?”
“Trusting someone you just met is weird anyway. Honestly, I think I look suspicious too. And I don’t expect to clear up your misunderstanding right away.”
“…Fine. So, what’s your plan?”
“Are you thirsty? Hungry?”
“Do I look fine to you right now…?”
She muttered weakly.
Awakened beings could endure extreme conditions longer than ordinary people, but that didn’t mean hunger and thirst became nonexistent.
I decided to test the improved clone ability I had discovered earlier during the day.
Grabbing the plastic bottle filled with water that I had prepared earlier in the evening, I focused.
It actually worked.
In my clone’s hand was the very bottle of powdered milk that had been in the bedroom just moments ago.
Teleportation—it was ridiculously overpowered.
“Can you come up to the bars for a moment? I’ll give you something!”
Kalia stared at me blankly, confused.
I extended the plastic bottle through the bars.
Her astonishment was evident.
“Here, open your mouth!”
I tilted the bottle slightly.
“Wait, hold on… urgh! Bluhhh!”
Oops!
I missed the timing and ended up dumping it all over her face.
Kalia, who had been drenched in water out of the blue, scowled.
“…Hey. Are you stupid?”
“Sorry! I’ll pour it slowly this time!”
I carefully tilted the bottle again, letting the liquid drip down one or two drops at a time into her mouth.
How long did we do that?
Eventually, the bottle ran dry.
A bit of vitality returned to Kalia’s haggard face.
It was a brilliant choice to offer this to someone starving.
“Wow… I feel alive now. Thanks. But what exactly was that thing you gave me?”
“Protein powder mixed with powdered milk and vitamins.”
“No wonder it didn’t taste good.”
She bowed her head slightly to express her gratitude.
“Alright, I really appreciate it. But… why are you helping me like this? Are you trying to win me over?”
I grinned.
“It’s a deal!”
A question mark appeared on Kalia’s face.
“What kind of deal?”
“I’m going to escape from this place. Are you interested in helping?”
“…That’s a big ask. A bottle of water is a pretty small price for such a huge favor, don’t you think?”
“Of course! This is just the beginning. I can help you, and you can help me. Listen to my plan first, and you can back out if you don’t like it!”
I extended my hand.
Since Kalia’s arms were tied, she nodded instead of shaking hands.
“Alright. My name’s Kalia Blaze. I’ll hear you out for now. What’s your name?”
“I’m Violet! Nice to meet you! Let’s work well together!”
The two young women faced each other.
Her expression was still stoic, but it seemed slightly softer than when we first met.
I, Violet, had gained an ally!