Negotiation
“Fuck, what the hell is this.”
As he kept staring, a head emerged from the shadow, followed by a torso and legs, forming a full human shape.
This is… me!
It was an exact replica of himself, aside from the overall black sheen.
“Doesn’t look like what I see in the mirror.”
He felt a bit shocked.
“I really look like such a pushover… no, like a nice guy.”
He’d always thought he was handsome. Every time he came out of the bathroom after taking a piss, or after showering and toweling off, he’d glance at his reflection and think, Damn, whoever’s kid I am, I turned out fine. Not Cha Eun-woo level, but at least Cha Dong-woo. Hell, sometimes he’d shamelessly bump it up to Cha Geum-woo in his mind.
Delusion.
“I look exactly like the type who gets scammed.”
The kind of face those cultists near Downtown Station loved—preaching about trusting the Way, your ancestors are pissed, you need to perform a ritual right now and it costs money.
He sighed.
He’d always thought his life lacked plausibility, but really, it was historically accurate. Born with a sucker face, lived like a sucker.
Anyway, the face wasn’t important right now. The new ability was.
“Did I get some kind of clone skill?”
He absentmindedly touched his stomach. No digestion ability triggered. No massive pain, either. Just a slight itch in his body and an unpleasant twinge in his heart—nothing more.
Black sand had gone up his nose…
Come to think of it, it felt familiar. Like when he’d swallowed an orb. His heart and body expanding, veins burning—just like when his physical stats grew.
Did he absorb something like an orb? Black sand, black orb.
“Both black, huh.”
He used the rune crystal tome to check the ability details. No specifics showed up. But the name was visible.
[Replica: Afterimage]
As expected, it wasn’t from the digestion ability. This new one sat in a completely different slot, just like the gigantification power.
· Pattern: [Radiant Word: Gigantification]
· Pattern: [Replica: Afterimage]
A pattern, similar to the Radiant Word left by Orkan.
‘Replica: Afterimage’ must be the heart monster’s originality ability.
He could guess how it worked and what the info entailed.
Stretching Belhart gear’s collar to check his chest, he understood why his heart had twisted oddly. A shattered mirror-like tattoo was newly etched across his chest. That must’ve caused the brief irregular heartbeat.
The heart monster really was a boss monster.
He recalled info he’d skimmed on the gallery.
Some Backrooms boss entities leave their originality ability as a Pattern upon death.
The conqueror has a chance to receive it, gaining a [Pattern: Ability] power.
Of course, I’ve never experienced it myself.
In that sense, was Orkan some kind of boss entity too?
Nah, no way. Barbarians were born warriors, made for battle. Their ultimate goal: die and ascend to Valhalla. They’d fought boss-level monsters far more often and obsessively than other races.
Orkan’s gigantification pattern probably came from a boss monster. Or maybe a barbarian clan trait.
Unfortunately, no detailed info on the gallery.
Let’s test the ability properly first.
He nodded at his clone. The shadowy figure moved at his will. Not just control—he could share its vision with focus.
This is kinda wild.
Memorizing the control feel, he deactivated it. The clone sank back into his shadow.
Not super efficient, but useful maybe. Unlike gigantification’s massive energy drain, this was a steady trickle. While active, his heartbeat split in half, pounding in two places.
Tough for long fights, but handy in special situations.
Ability check done, he examined the heart monster’s corpse. About 50 high-grade orbs dropped. Lucky—10 were white.
“No gear, huh.”
He swallowed them all, savoring the power surge. Then checked his combat index—way higher than expected.
What the—? By his math, the orbs should’ve bumped him to around 390k. But he gained 50k extra.
…Why?
Answer came quick.
Thanks to the Replica pattern.
When the black sand hit his nose, it felt euphoric, like swallowing orbs. Boss patterns must boost not just abilities, but physical stats too.
“Nice.”
He shook off his hands and stored the corpse in his subspace pouch—insurance, like the raw flesh and blood from the 89th floor. Could trade it later.
Before that, he snapped a proof pic.
Job done, he posted to the gallery while pulling out the Resonance Mirror.
[Newbie Clears 88th Floor]
(Replica Lord corpse photo)
Pretty straightforward lol;;; Nothing special. Took less time than I thought. Anyone could clear it with the right strat?
The heart monster’s true name was Replica Lord, apparently. He hadn’t known before the whites, but 10 high-grades made it clear.
No EatAndDie or Scavenger. EatAndDie busy with their deal, Scavenger on personal stuff.
Then MaxLevelBunny popped up.
Always generous with gold. He was about to reply accepting—
Suddenly BigHandFloater appeared.
She laid on the salt thick.
Infusing mana into the Resonance Mirror, BigHandFloater’s voice burst out immediately.
“No, this is too much, right? You should’ve reported to me first, before the gallery!”
Report?
“Ah, that’s…”
He cleared his throat awkwardly.
“I was just about to turn it on.”
“Hogu-ssi. I’m hurt.”
“Next time, mirror first priority.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
Making money is such bullshit.
As he grumbled inwardly, she continued.
“No injuries, looking fine.”
His nape prickled coldly for a second.
“Fought like hell. Chugged a potion right after to recover.”
“For that kinda fight…”
“Weapon shattered. Nearly died.”
He pointed to the Fissure Hard Sword shards on the floor.
“Uh… yeah.”
She sounded convinced, briefly.
“That bad, huh.”
Her voice shook a little. From the mirror, a faint intake of breath.
She’s shaken. Worried about me?
Nope. The low laugh that followed answered it.
She steadied her breath, then chuckled darkly.
“But you survived in the end. That’s what I want.”
“…Surviving?”
“Yeah. You holding on, enduring, climbing all the way.”
“Why go that far…?”
“If you fall, I’ve got nothing to watch.”
He held his tongue.
Monkey in a zoo, as expected.
He bristled. Sucker treatment in real life and here too. Felt shitty, but he had to endure. She owned a huge stake in his survival.
Honestly, without her, he’d be dead already. This Replica Lord kill too—her advice was huge.
Carrying over a thousand logs solo…
Keeping a straight face, a glowing message appeared. A gold pouch full of coins—her gift.
◈ 50 million gold — 5,000 x 10k gold coins
◈ For 88th floor spectacle — Pass!
“Here’s your promised pay. 50 million gold—worthy show. Sent 5,000 ten-k gold coins.”
“Thank you.”
He bowed. Cursing his situation inwardly. Could’ve given more…
Still, pay received—good enough.
“Hogu-ssi.”
She called.
“You really do look nice.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s what makes it fun. Face that looks like it’ll die fighting but pulls through. I love watching that.”
What. He was thrashing with everything to survive, and that’s entertaining?
Twisted tastes.
Sigh… whatever. She’d helped him endure this far—without her, way harder. He was genuinely grateful for that.
“Then, I’ll end the call.”
“Why? Already?”
“Yes.”
“Too short! Turning on just to turn off?”
“…I think showing the essentials is enough.”
“I don’t like it. Why do you think I sent the Resonance Mirror? To see the fun stuff from the start—”
His stomach twisted.
That’s her acting cute, right?
He hated two things: loud eaters, and people faking cute. No matter how pretty or actually cute the girl—uncute act was unforgivable.
Swallowing it down, she pressed.
“Make the show longer. Pleeease? Pleeease?”
Sigh… Longer meant spilling all his info. Direct life-or-death risk.
Calculating inwardly, he said,
“Then add one more condition.”
“Condition?”
“Want a longer broadcast? Pay for it.”
“Pay… with money?”
“Money’s fine. Gear, orbs, info too. As long as it’s reasonably fair.”
Of course, “reasonable” was totally up to him.