The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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The room I entered was the server room. A narrow and dark space cluttered with countless wires and servers.

As soon as I stepped in, I summoned a clone to topple over any furniture or drawers to block the entrance.

I gained just a moment’s respite. After recalling the clone to conserve magical power, I immediately took out two of the remaining healing potions and injected them into Kalia.

Kalia’s condition looked very serious. It was because she was a leading character that she survived that blow.

An ordinary person would have died.

As the potion took effect, she quickly regained consciousness a few seconds later.

“Violet..? What was that earlier… where am I now..?”

“I injected you with a potion. You should be fine now. This is their server room…”

“…Ah, so that’s why there are so many wires.”

I could hear the sounds of several people moving just beyond the door. I had only bought myself a moment.

But there was one answer.

“What are we going to do now?”

“I have my own thoughts.”

I pointed to the vent cover on one side of the server room.

“Goodness… have you never been to any other place?”

“Let’s crawl out of there for now.”

Kalia unsteadily got to her feet. The healing potion worked quite fast.

The bald head of the sergeant, who had been sitting quietly, began to grin.

“Do you really think you little girls can escape here like this? It’s all over! There’s no way you’ll get out!”

“The bald guy has no say here!”

I grabbed a handful of his side hair.

“Ah! You ungrateful brat! It’s all over anyway!”

“Shut up!”

“You little brat who doesn’t even know the grace you’ve been given! Do you have any idea how much I struggled because of you? I pleaded with those entrance exam brokers to get you into the Academy! I even diverted the research lab’s budget to carve out a way!

And you dare to start a riot? If there’s this much commotion in the lab! It will definitely be reported to the higher-ups! Ugh! Stop pulling!”

The bald guy, having lost all sense of reason, just kept babbling nonsense. A piece of trash whose conscience was proportional to the amount of hair on his head!

“I didn’t even report to HQ! I made this mess..! I had it all prepared, and all I had to do was show you off, and you could have thrived! Now it’s all ruined!

Do you have any idea how thoroughly I maintained this secret…? My career…! My life! You, a couple of lab rat brats, ruined it all!”

“Shut up!”

Unable to listen any longer, I hit him in the forehead with the alloy hammer. He clamped his mouth shut from the pain.

“Kalia! Is there any phone call coming in?”

I was talking about the smartphone I had handed her in the hidden room. Kalia shook her head.

“One text did come in. They said they’d arrive in about 20 minutes.”

“Wow. So we just need to run around for 20 minutes! Maybe that ogre… if that big-headed guard leader joins forces with them, we might be able to win?”

She shook her head.

“…That’s impossible.”

“Why?”

Kalia’s face grew dark.

“I told you that I got captured here while looking for the leader of our Brotherhood… my uncle, right?”

I nodded.

“The one who took me down back then… was that guard team leader. The giant kid.”

“What? You lost?”

“Yeah, I got ambushed, but even I can tell he’s no pushover. If I had fought him head-on, I don’t think I would have lost.”

She gazed at her bare hands in despair.

“But in this state with no weapons…”

Come to think of it, Kalia’s main weapon in the game was a one-handed sword. It was strange to compete with just bare-handed fighting like this.

“…Now you understand what your situation is. Anyway, surrender! If you surrender, I can generously let you go right now, 10-6-8!

I don’t know how you managed to fool the researchers with your silly act, but you are the fruits of our project, so you won’t be severely punished.”

The bald head started speaking again.

“That’s funny! Why should I listen to you? You’re just trying to sell me out anyway!”

“They’re saying they’ll send you to an academy that others can’t even dream of attending; how is that not a big deal? You were a surprise gift created by this lab! If the higher-ups see this… you might even go back to HQ again…! Moving is not just a dream…!”

The bald guy’s long-winded rambling through his midlife crisis was something I couldn’t stand.

As I raised the alloy hammer again, Kalia, who was surveying the area, suddenly blurted out.

“Wait. You say Violet and that experiment is a secret? HQ doesn’t know?”

“Oh my, did you think your friend wouldn’t be tracked? You foolish girl. Unfortunately, now that there’s been a riot, HQ will eventually find out. Even if you escape, you’ll be hunted for the rest of your life. Give it up.”

Kalia’s expression twisted. Seeing that, the bald guy sneered even more.

The noise coming from beyond the door was getting louder and louder.

A question mark floated in my mind.

“Then where do you keep the project-related data?”

“Why do you want to know that?”

-Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“Ah! I’ll tell you! It’s all stored in the internal cloud of the lab! All on the servers!”

“Not on the computer?”

“Ugh! Because of security issues, all important data has to be kept on internal servers! That’s HQ regulations!”

“That server? Is it here?”

-Thwack! Thwack!

“Damn it! Of course, there are servers in the server room! Argh!”

A jolt ran through me, as if struck by lightning.

I locked eyes with Kalia. She nodded in agreement.

“Then, let me ask one last thing. How do we bypass the emergency lockdown procedure to get through that elevator?”

I put the hammer up to his face.

“…Vein authentication.”

“What?”

“Palm vein authentication. Only the guard leader and I are recognized, so there’s no way out…”

Oh, I see?

I pulled out the hacksaw I had hidden in the bag.

“…What? What is that!”

“Kalia, can you help me?”

“Okay. It feels a bit off, but… ugh…”

Flames of determination licked around the hacksaw.

“Wait! Don’t! Nooo!”

With just a few cuts, his wrist came off.

Kalia burned it with fire. I picked up the wrist and stuffed it into the bag.

“Ahhh! Save me! Guards! Hurry in!”

The tumult inside grew louder, and heavy footsteps approached once more.

Kalia conjured flames in her two hands.

Then she began to quickly spread fire throughout the server room. Before long, the servers were engulfed in flames.

The bald guy, clutching his severed wrist, screamed in horror.

“Ahhh! So that’s why you asked! No! The servers! The data! My promotion! Ahhh!”

“Violet, it’s not perfect, but this should buy us some time against Laplacian’s pursuit…”

Now we just needed to get out through the vent. I had already torn off the vent cover with my clones.

But Kalia wasn’t coming toward the vent.

“Kalia? Why aren’t you coming? We’re in a hurry!”

She walked through the smoke toward the door.

“Wait! Kalia! Where are you going..?”

She glanced at me for a moment, then shrugged.

“Sorry, Violet. I don’t think I can fit into that vent.”

“What? What are you talking about! Hurry up and come in!”

“When you meet the Brotherhood, tell them Blaze sent you. You’ll be able to count on them for a while.”

She looked at me with a somewhat forlorn expression.

Bang! The door was slammed open. It was the ogre’s doing.

“You idiot! Get in quick!”

“Wait…!”

She prepared to charge. I screamed and reached out my hand toward the vent.

-KABOOM!

Suddenly, the building shook.

“What the hell..?”

I wasn’t the only one surprised. Kalia looked back at me and shouted.

“Violet! Just get in for now…!”

Suddenly, the guards outside became noisy.

“What’s going on? Did the test subjects set off a bomb?”

“Oh no, could it be a terror attack?”

“Everyone get down!”

-KABLOOM!

I crawled into the vent, screaming.

Suddenly, the explosions stopped, and a bizarre sound came blasting through. A strange, yet familiar sound echoed through the metal duct of the vent.

A continuous thumping sound. No, it was something spinning at high speed.

-KAWHOOMP!

The building shook again.

“Ugh… ahhh!”

Suddenly, the vent creaked, and a fragile section of the floor dropped out beneath me. I fell downwards.

“Graah!”

It hurt as I tumbled from the high ceiling, but the loud sound from earlier was resounding again.

‘What the hell is going on?’

I could see it.

The wall of the lab, which had no windows, was blown wide open as if something had been struck.

Beyond it lay the rising morning sky, clouds, and cityscape.

I soon discerned the source of the noise.

‘A helicopter?’

Several helicopters hovered close to the building.

-KABOOSH!

I quickly hid myself.

Several black figures jumped through the hole in the wall and took up defensive positions. Soon, more black-clad individuals began to leap over the gaps in the wall.

Upon closer inspection, they were far more heavily armed than the guards here.

Large rifles were plastered with various accessories; exoskeletal gear extended from their backs to connect to their arms and legs.

Those without guns were carrying long swords or various cold weapons on their backs. They were Awakened Ones.

‘Each one feels like they’re stronger than that ogre from earlier!’

What on earth is the identity of these intruders?

I spotted a symbol with multiple dark red squares on their shoulder patches.

‘Could it be…’

In my memory, there was only one group in this world known for using such symbols.

The Obsidian Legion.

A terrorist organization from the world of Crimson Scholar. These madmen, despite being terrorists, brazenly flaunted their symbols.

“But why the hell have those guys suddenly barged in here?”

This was crazy; why now? Did someone send word for them to invade here?

They slid into the lab with a professional fluidity.

I quickly hid behind a trash can. It was chilling. The next moment, a loud explosion and gunfire filled the lab.

‘Aah! Kalia!’

Once they vanished, I hurried back to the server room.

‘The floor… is gone!’

It wasn’t just a hole; it was blown open as if something had truly exploded.

The first floor was visible below. Was Kalia down there?

I could see corpses of guards sprawled around, possibly casualties from the terrorists, or caught in the explosion.

“First, I need to take this with me.”

<ITEM STAT>

[P-15 Automatic Rifle ☆]

The most basic automatic weapon used by military forces.

Can comfortably take down low-tier monsters.

High scalability, affordable price, and excellent durability.

The greatest strengths of this weapon.

…

A perfectly intact rifle was in my hands. It looked similar to the one I had used in the military.

I removed the magazine and checked if there were any rounds in it. I pulled the charging handle and examined the chamber. I played around with what looked like a joystick. After a bit of handling, I grasped how to use it.

‘It’s heavy…’

The rifle felt heavy in the hands of a girl.

And I also found a rather long sword that a guard had been carrying.

<ITEM STAT>

[Standard One-Handed Sword ☆]

A one-handed sword made from metal at a smithy in the outskirts.

Nothing outstanding apart from its low price.

Once dreamed of being a hunter, they often wear it for show.

…

‘This might not compare to Kalia’s dedicated weapon, but it could be useful just in case.’

I jumped down to the first floor with my clones.

‘If I had more time, I could have searched the first floor.’

The first floor was truly a new and unfamiliar place. I heard a sudden crash sound from beyond the hallway.

‘Could it be? Is Kalia there?’

I dashed toward the source of the noise.

I immediately faced Kalia, who was fighting an ogre.

She was staggering to get back up from the floor.

“Kalia! I’m here!!”

I rushed to save my friend.