Another Beginning

"....Mom, Dad. You know how much they love you, right?"

As always, my parents held me with overflowing love. That warmth made the young me feel as if I were flying through the sky.

"Yeah! I love you too...!"

In that atmosphere—sweeter than candy and warmer than the sun—I smiled brightly once again today.

A dream I hadn't had in a long time, sweeter than cotton candy. No—an instant-melting nightmare.

".....Fuck."

I hastily wiped away the tears that had slipped out without me realizing. Far from feeling good, it just felt filthy.

"...Time to get up."

Warm morning sunlight poured through the window, birds sang as if performing a melody, autumn's colorful hues painted the view, and a cool breeze drifted in.

It had already been three days since my clone body died. After spending most of my time living through that clone, moving in my original body again felt strangely alien.

"....Sigh. What am I supposed to do with the rest of my life?"

[Due to the death of the clone body, use and synchronization are now impossible.]

A wave of helplessness crashed over me in an instant, forcing another sigh from my lips. My clone—the body of the commander of the Ska Mercenary Group—was already dead. I'd tried synchronizing again and again just in case, but I couldn't sense any connection or mana from the clone at all. It looked like I really couldn't use it anymore. Just as the status window said, I had become a human who could do nothing.

"I must have gotten too immersed without realizing it."

The day I first opened my eyes in that clone body, I'd treated it like nothing more than controlling a game character. But as the time I spent as the clone grew longer and precious relationships formed one by one, it began to feel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like the clone was me. Before I knew it... right before its death, I had sincerely wished blessings upon them. The original me would never have even considered such an action. For some reason, in the end, I seemed to have spoken to them as the commander of the Ska Mercenary Group. Not as a clone, but as one person to another. It was like my emotions had exploded without warning. At that moment, I'd even forgotten that my body was only a clone.

"...What a shame."

There were still so many things I wanted to do. I wanted to travel across this vast continent and meet new people. I wanted to taste food as incredible as Villon's cooking. I wanted to explore unknown worlds.

'With this body... it's completely impossible.'

Returning to my original body brought back that crushing sense of powerlessness. Unlike the clone body, which had brimmed with courage and willpower, this one was ruled only by extreme fear and helplessness.

...With a body like this, visiting the village library in front of my house was probably all I could manage. That was exactly why I had tried to experience everything possible through the clone.

"....Haah. I should just go to the library..."

I wanted to shake off the overwhelming powerlessness and despair. It felt like I needed to borrow some books and at least get some fresh air. Dragging my frail, weak body that felt like it might collapse at any moment, I headed for the library.

"........."

The librarian stared blankly into space with her usual expressionless face. I bowed my head in greeting and wandered between the bookshelves.

'Is there anything worth reading...?'

I had spent most of my waking hours in this body reading, so I couldn't find a single book that caught my interest.

"........?"

At that moment, I thought I felt someone's gaze on me from somewhere. An unpleasant... sticky gaze. The sensation of eyes crawling up from my feet made me quickly scan my surroundings, but the library held nothing but me, the librarian, and the books. I even checked outside the windows, yet it was the same quiet, empty village as always.

"...Sigh."

It was probably just my mood after that nightmare, making me feel strange.

"Goodbye..."

"........."

There were no books I wanted to read, and that unpleasant feeling refused to fade, so I left the library right away.

".........."

Even as I stepped out, that unknowable gaze fixed on me did not disappear.

"....Now this will be my only joy in life, I suppose."

An endless horizon. Gentle waves. The softly blowing autumn breeze. A landscape as beautiful as a painting.

...Day after day. No matter how often I saw it, I never grew tired of this view. No matter how heavy my heart or tangled my thoughts, the moment I took it in, everything else vanished like magic.

"What... am I supposed to do with the rest of my life?"

With a body like this, I couldn't do anything anymore. Finding a job was nearly impossible since I couldn't even face people. And my only unique ability, Clone Mastery, could no longer be used.

The one saving grace was that I still had plenty of money left and the village had an incredibly low cost of living. At least I wouldn't starve even if I never worked again.

'....But what's the point?'

I would spend the rest of my days eating, sleeping, and doing nothing. With Clone Mastery gone, only emptiness remained inside me.

"......Let's get a grip."

I still had to keep living. I should muster a little courage... and look for something, anything, to do. The library. The library seemed perfect. The librarian was extremely quiet, and there were no other visitors, so if I pushed myself just a little, I thought I could manage it.

"....Alright! Then I'll ask the librarian!"

....Of course, not today. Tomorrow. I'd already gone earlier, so heading back right now felt awkward.

"Then first, back home..."

Ding-!

The moment I stood up to head home, a familiar alert rang out. At the same time, I sensed a faint trace of mana from somewhere impossibly far away, its location impossible to pinpoint.

'....What is this...'

It felt exactly like the first time I had detected ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mana from a clone body. But... my first clone was already dead. How was this possible?

Almost in a trance, I opened the status window.

[Due to the death of Clone Body 1, use and synchronization are now impossible.]

[Synchronization with Clone Body 2 is now possible!]

".....Huh?"

I rubbed my eyes and spun around in place several times, unable to believe what I was seeing. But the information before me remained unchanged.

"Have I finally gone crazy?"

"Then... what is this...? Clone Body 2? I thought I couldn't use the ability anymore?"

"Ha... haha..."

A bright, mechanical voice I hadn't heard in what felt like forever drew a helpless laugh from me. But it wasn't a laugh of denial—it was filled with joy and anticipation.

"....Good. I can't let this chance slip away."

Just when I thought I was doomed to live as a useless bum, another opportunity had found me! With joy and expectation lightening my steps, I sprinted home in what felt like seconds.

Thump.

"There we go."

It was still midday with the sun high overhead, but connecting to another clone brought a wave of fatigue.

'Thanks, status window...'

"...Then. Let's go!"

I closed my eyes and stopped fighting the drowsiness. My body sank comfortably into the bed as my mind drifted further and further away. The commander of a mercenary group. What kind of 'me' would I become next?

Feeling my mana resonate with the new clone's, I lost consciousness.

Crunch... crunch.

I walked endlessly toward somewhere, clutching something precious in my hand, simply moving forward. My feet sank deep with every step, a fierce wind slammed into me, and my coat flapped wildly. I gripped the coat tightly so it wouldn't fly away.

...At the same time, bone-chilling cold pierced me.

"...Huk!"

What the—where was I? I shivered violently in cold far worse than any Korean winter and looked around.

".....A snowfield?"

A blizzard raged like a storm, making it impossible to see even a foot ahead. The snow I stood in looked at least thirty centimeters deep. I was clutching a small basket tightly.

And...

"...Oh, fuck...!"

It was brutally cold! My teeth chattered uncontrollably and my whole body trembled. The freezing temperature was so severe that even a thick padded jacket wouldn't have been enough, yet I wore only a single thin, ragged coat. The coat itself was patched in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠several places and torn in others.

'.....I need to get inside somewhere!'

Clone body or not, I was going to freeze to death before I could do anything. Was there anywhere nearby where I could warm up, even for a moment? Shivering, I strained my eyes against the poor visibility and scanned the surroundings.

"Is that... a cave?"

In the distance, the faint outline of what looked like a cave entrance appeared on the mountainside. Without thinking twice, I struggled toward it. The snow reached above my ankles and the fierce wind made every step exhausting, but I pushed on.

'.....Nice!'

When I finally reached it, I saw the entrance to a small cave. Looked like people weren't meant to die so easily after all. I pushed aside the black-and-purple curtain decorated with strange patterns hanging across the entrance and stepped inside.

"....Wow. This is a little better..."

It was still cold, but simply being out of the wind made it bearable. I set the basket down for a moment and rubbed my hands together, breathing warm air onto them.

'.....Wait. This smell...'

The moment my nose, numb from the cold, began working again, a familiar metallic stench hit me. It was the same smell I had grown sick of during my time as commander of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Ska Mercenary Group.

"....Blood?"

An intense scent of blood emanated from deeper inside the cave. At the same time, I caught the chemical tang of unknown substances and an indescribable, ominous energy flowing from within.

'What the hell... happened here?'

Following the source of the blood scent, I walked slowly deeper into the cave, guided by the light of purple torches hanging on the walls. The moment I turned the corner, another black-and-purple curtain with bizarre patterns appeared. Beyond it, the stench of blood was overwhelmingly thick. At the same time, I felt an alien energy that defied description—heavy... and evil.

Swoosh—

I flung the curtain aside and stepped through. The blood stench and chemical odor were strong enough to numb my nose. Purple torchlight illuminated strange patterns and objects on a desk.

".....Hah."

On the far side, several people were locked inside iron cages. Every one of them had lost massive amounts of blood, their bodies covered in injection marks. Bruises suggested they had also been beaten.

'....Are they... still alive?'

Their eyes were already dead, devoid of any spark of life, and their bodies showed no movement. They simply sat there, having lost all hope, reduced to nothing but trembling, defeated shells.

What in the world was this place? Faced with such an unspeakably horrific scene, I could only freeze on the spot.