Nightmare
"....Hey, we're here, you idiot! Don't be so down, shoulders up!"
"Yeah, you punk!"
My friends slung their arms around my shoulders, flashing those goofy grins.
There was never any real discord between us—just playful teasing, but we always had each other's backs. They were my second family.
Those were the hardest days of my life. Because of them, I managed to endure.
"Yeah. I'm really glad... you guys were there."
They made me feel more at ease than anyone else, warming my heart.
I grinned just as stupidly and walked forward with them.
After days of the same nightmare repeating, I jolted awake, wiping away the cold sweat.
"....Damn it."
Every time I woke from that dream, my pillow was soaked with tears and the blanket damp from night sweats.
Those days had been the coziest, the ones I most wanted to return to. In the dream, I had been truly happy. With my friends around, worries simply didn't exist.
But whenever that moment I never wanted to leave shattered and I was dragged back to reality, I always cried.
Was it because I could never see them again? Or was it the crushing pressure that tightened around my heart with every breath?
".........."
I... really don't know why this keeps happening. It was the same after the first clone's life ended, and now after the second clone's life has ended too.
I'm tormented by endless nightmares—dreams sweeter and warmer than any other, yet cruel and unbearable to face.
"....How many days has it been?"
Even my sense of time has grown hazy. For some reason, after the second clone's life ended, I feel broken.
When I fall asleep, I plunge into a deep slumber I can't escape. Usually, once I go to sleep, I stay under for a day or two.
Yet the exhaustion never lifts. No matter how much I sleep or how hard I try to shake it off, nothing helps.
Even hunger has vanished. I haven't eaten in over three days, but my stomach doesn't feel empty at all.
Have I... broken? No—am I even human anymore?
From the start, everything about this strange world was bizarre: falling into it overnight, the status window that only existed in games appearing before my eyes, monsters called demonic beasts, the existence of mana. All of it was wrong.
Why am I only questioning these things now? Why did I end up in a world I can't understand?
Doubts about myself and the reality I live in keep rising, but none of them have answers.
With a heavy sigh, I quietly look into the mirror. The boy on the other side stares back—youthful features, messy black hair, and blood-red eyes.
"Status window."
> [Name: Venice / Age: 21 / Male / Status: Fatigued.]
> [Unique Ability: Clone Mastery (???): You can summon your clones. Their forms and abilities are random, and you can control them as if they were your own body.
Clone pain is not felt! If a clone dies or is destroyed, you may retrieve it!]
> [Clone 1 deceased — unusable and unsyncable.]
> [Clone 2 deceased — unusable and unsyncable.]
It's already been a year. I fell into this world last summer, endured a cold winter, and now the weather is slowly warming.
But with even my second clone gone, I don't meet anyone. I live each day in solitude.
Will I... live like this forever until I die? No—will I even die?
"....Haa."
An inexplicable gloom often washes over me.
Lately I've been awake less than asleep, so most of my waking hours are spent lying alone, swallowed by melancholy.
You know those moments when one gloomy thought drags in every other negative thought? I experience that feeling every single day, every single moment.
Emotions I never felt while living as a clone come flooding back the instant I return to my main body—like a dam finally bursting.
I stopped going to the library so long ago I can't even remember when. These days I don't even have the strength to visit the beautiful cliffside.
If I keep living like this, it won't feel like living at all.
....Maybe it would be better to just die.
After all, not a single person knows who I am. And no one ever will.
Rather than living like this... I'd rather...
> [We've prepared something just for you!]
"....What?"
The flood of negative emotions stopped at the sound of a clear notification chime and a mechanical voice.
The voice continued, sounding almost amused.
> [Wouldn't you like another chance?!]
"...Another chance? What do you—ah."
> [Exactly what you're thinking!]
Memories of the past surfaced as I stared at the blue window rippling before my eyes. I quietly called up the status window again.
> [Name: Venice / Age: 21 / Male / Status: Fatigued.]
> [Unique Ability: Clone Mastery (???): You can summon your clones. Their forms and abilities are random, and you can control them as if they were your own body.
Clone pain is not felt! If a clone dies or is destroyed, you may retrieve it!]
> [Clone 1 deceased — unusable and unsyncable.]
> [Clone 2 deceased — unusable and unsyncable.]
> ★ [Sync with Clone 3 available!] ★
One line in the status window blinked furiously, as if begging me to notice it. I stared at it in silence.
At the same time, I felt a faint, identical mana signature from somewhere impossibly far away. It felt exactly like before.
"........."
> [Hesitating?! No need! Just write your story the same way you did with the first and second lives. It's that simple!]
...Really? I can really have another chance?
I won't have to suffer this depression, this anxiety, these nightmares?
"Really... it can actually happen?"
> [Of course! The anxiety and depression you feel—they don't exist when you're synced with a clone!]
"Yeah... that's right..."
All the emotions I'd felt in my main body disappeared the moment I synced with a clone.
Anxiety, depression, self-loathing, despair. Just being able to forget them was reason enough to sync.
> [You may sync with Clone 3. Proceed with synchronization?]
With trembling hands, I touched the status window. The usual emotionless mechanical voice spoke.
Though it was utterly indifferent, right now it felt like a lifeline pulling me out of a nightmare. I managed a faint smile.
"Sync."
> [Synchronizing with Clone 3. Synchronization in progress. 3... 2... 1......]
At the same time, the dark thoughts and emotions that had been consuming me scattered and vanished.
....Thank you, status window.
As my eyes began to close, I silently thanked the still-glowing window I hadn't spoken to aloud.
> [No need to thank me! This is... simply my job.]
I slipped into a deep sleep, escaping that miserable reality.
The familiar sensation I always felt. Mana resonating with mana.
"....Kek."
I opened my eyes and naturally began looking around.
A neatly arranged room. The stylish furniture and elegant decorations radiated sophistication without restraint.
It was beautiful and clean enough to pass for a noble's chamber. I was sitting in a chair inside it.
I quietly stood and walked over to the full-length mirror in the room.
"....So this is the third clone?"
The reflection showed sleek black hair slicked back, narrow eyes that looked like they belonged in a manga.
The red irises peeking through those narrowed eyes resembled a cunning serpent's gaze.
Whoa... I really do look like a villain. Anyone would think I'm up to something shady.
Anyway... the third clone seemed to be incredibly wealthy.
The room was filled with furniture and ornaments that screamed money, and the clothes I wore looked deceptively simple yet refined.
Most surprising of all, they looked suffocating but felt as comfortable as athletic wear.
"Hmm... I wonder if there's anything that can tell me more."
Besides the suspicious appearance and obvious wealth, I knew nothing.
Settling back into the comfortable chair, I scanned the room and spotted something resembling a small notebook on the stylish wooden desk.
The notebook looked worn, out of place in such an elegant room. It had clearly been used for a very long time.
-Year XX, Month XX, Day XX.
Today I protested in the square again. The stares directed at me were the same as always.
Most people avoided me like I was insane. Some openly mocked me.
Those who encouraged or supported me were extremely few. Even so, I didn't stop protesting.
"Hmm..."
This must be a diary. I looked back down at the neatly written pages.
-Year XX, Month XX, Day XX.
Finally, I have people supporting me. Their faces, identities, and names are unknown, yet they provide me with an unbelievable amount of funding.
Thanks to them, I can continue my activities. I should offer my thanks to those mysterious benefactors again today.
....Protests? Activities?
I have no idea what this clone has been doing. Is he part of some cult?
-Year XX, Month XX, Day XX.
The East remains peaceful today. Yet the absurdity hidden within that peace only grows.
Why must we persecute and discriminate against beastkin? They are people just like us—only their appearance is slightly different.
.
.
.
Reading through the rest of the diary entries, I finally understood this clone's circumstances.
This place was the eastern continent. Nobles and commoners lived in separate districts—technically the same region, yet practically different worlds.
Most of the lower district residents were beastkin. The conflict between them and the upper district nobles grew worse with each passing day.
Unable to tolerate the spreading malice and discrimination, this clone worked every day to erase that meaningless hatred.
Protesting against discrimination, freely giving to the lower district residents—his kindness was almost saintly.
"...Wait. What does this mean?"
While reading, I noticed the most recent entry.
-Year XX, Month XX, Day XX.
One of my sponsors is sending a bodyguard to protect me while I work alone every day.
I told them it wasn't necessary... but they insisted, so I suppose I have no choice.
The bodyguard... was apparently a beastkin? They should arrive today.
Hold on. The date... that's today?
Knock— knock— knock—
Just then, someone knocked on the firmly closed door.
-...What, no one's here? I'm coming in.
"Uh... huh?"
I hadn't even answered, yet the irritated voice from beyond the door burst inside anyway.
"...What? You were in here. Why didn't you answer?"
"Y-yes?"
"I'm Kallie. You're supposed to be my master?"
Tanned skin rippling with muscle, fierce red eyes that didn't bother hiding their hostility.
And most striking of all—cat ears perched atop her head.
She introduced herself as Kallie.