I realized that I had made a mistake. I forgot to update the protagonist's rank in Google Docs in chapter 13, so he went up to rank E twice.
The protagonist's rank is currently C, not D. I've updated the recent chapters.
Don't worry, nothing but the rank has changed. The number of clones and the skills remain the same. It was an error that has now been corrected and doesn't affect the story in any way.
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It was Ais, Tiona, Tione, and Bete. They were probably leaving the dungeon after a day or more of exploration. As soon as they saw me, Ais kept staring, trying to understand what I was doing.
I stared back at her through the mask with my cold blue eyes and said nothing.
"Who is he?" Tiona, standing next to Tione, asked. She was looking at me curiously.
"I don't know. I've never seen him before," Tione replied.
"But that mask… didn't we see a girl wearing the same one before?" Tiona said.
"Shhh, be quiet."
They noticed that I could hear everything, but they didn't care.
Ais stepped forward and walked past me, ignoring me. "Let's go."
They all walked past me, and Bete turned around. Our eyes met. His gaze was full of suspicion. I stayed calm and silent. Bete clicked his tongue and then looked away.
Before Ais's group got out of earshot, I said, "My name is Chen."
They heard me, but kept walking without saying a word. The only one who turned to look back was Tiona.
I smiled at her behind the mask.
And then, Ais's group disappeared from view.
I sighed and kept the smile on my face. "I should approach them using this clone. If I get close to them, I might be able to join the Loki Familia."
This is the perfect moment for a test.
However, I didn't follow them or try to force a friendship. I think it's better to meet them 'accidentally' and try to form a bond naturally.
"Well, now that I'm alone again, it's time to summon the others."
Better to summon them now than leave all the work for later.
I summoned eight more clones in front of me, all wearing masks, armor, and carrying swords.
They were numbered 9 through 16. All of them were level 1, but very strong since they were summoned with half of my current stats.
"Alright, now I need to think about what kind of characters to create. This time, I want to make a character that instills fear in the enemy—or at least makes them cautious."
A tall, muscular, and strong character sounds like a good idea.
"Let me think…"
After a bit of thought, the character that came to mind was Berserker from Fate. I also considered characters like Yuujirou Hanma from Baki and Guts from Berserk. But I decided to go with my first choice.
Though in the future, I'll definitely create the other two as well.
I edited his appearance, trying to remember exactly how tall and muscular he was. "His skin tone is also darker… kind of grayish. I think that's right. His hair is long too."
I made the changes, and his appearance turned out even better than I expected.
I thought he would look more beast-like, like in the anime I watched, but that wasn't the case. He became a tall man, over two meters tall, with a ridiculously muscular build.
So muscular it was unnatural.
But despite his odd physique, his face was well-defined and handsome. With smooth black hair and dark eyes, he looked like a cross between a model and a bodybuilder.
The armor adjusted to his body, turning him into a literal war machine.
The sword didn't change size, so it looked small in his hand.
"You could've resized the sword too, couldn't you, system?" I complained. The Berserker bowed his head. He knelt before me and closed his eyes, showing respect.
"Master. Thank you," he said in a deep voice.
"You may start hunting now." We were on the third floor of the dungeon, so I doubted he'd have trouble.
Then I moved on to the next clone.
Now I wanted to create a female character.
I started thinking about older shows I watched when I was younger.
"Sailor Moon? Someone from Dragon Ball? Maybe a character from Naruto." I rubbed my chin, thinking deeply. "There was an anime I watched a long time ago… I think it was called Sekirei?"
I remember it being a harem anime with lots of cool female characters.
"I don't think the anime had great quality, but the girls were decent enough to use. I just need to remember a few. I recall there was a kid, but that's out of the question."
Then I remembered one character's name. One that stood out because of her emotionless expression. I've always liked characters who don't show much emotion.
I think her name was Akitsu?
I'm almost sure that was it.
"Let me try to remember what she looked like… I think she had short hair. Brown hair?" I began adjusting the clone. It wasn't a perfect copy since my memory is a bit hazy, but I think it turned out fine in the end.
Short brown hair, slightly darker green eyes, and a very attractive figure.
"Most of the girls in that anime had huge breasts."
"Alright, you can go now. Contact me when you reach level 20."
Then I started working on the third clone. This time, another male character—one that's etched into my mind, so I had no problem recreating him.
"Aizen," I said, smiling at him.
Aizen smiled back and placed the mask on his face. Without needing a command, he dashed off to start hunting.
After creating three more clones, I was left with clones 13 through 18. But honestly, I was tired of playing character designer. I just wanted to go home and rest.
So that's what I did.
I told the unnamed clones to begin hunting and gathering experience, then I deactivated NeuroLink and returned home.
Once home, I took off all my gear and took a shower. Then I ate something and lay down on the couch to check my current status.
"I'm leveling up fast."
I had already reached level 26, and my points were almost at 300. Once I hit 400 and rank up my main skill again, I'll start spending some points on abilities.
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POV: Third Person
Bell was walking through the second floor of the dungeon when he noticed a strange figure sneaking around. As he got closer, he saw a small girl with equally silver hair.
'A child?' he thought.
He also noticed pointed ears, which surprised him.
"An elf?" Bell said, astonished. Then, the girl turned to face him.
He finally noticed that she was wearing a mask that hid her face. But even through the mask, he could tell she was very beautiful. Her eyes were cold and sharp.
She stared at him for a moment, then turned and ran.
"Wait!" he tried to follow, but the girl kept running, dragging her large sword across the floor.
Bell tried to keep up with her speed, but couldn't.
"Why is she so fast?!" he exclaimed in disbelief and gave up the chase.
He sighed and turned to leave, but suddenly, a monstrous man appeared behind him. The man, who was easily over two meters tall, walked toward Bell and stared at him.
Bell looked up, their eyes meeting.
The man, also wearing the same mask as the girl, stared silently for a few seconds before walking past Bell without saying a word.
'What is going on here?' Bell was confused.
Two mysterious people he had never seen before, both wearing the same black mask that completely hid their faces.
'But that girl… she's an elf, isn't she? Then why did she have white hair like mine?' Bell kept thinking about it for the rest of the day.
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At the Hostess of Fertility restaurant, Ais's group was having dinner. While they ate and chatted, Tiona brought up the man they had seen earlier that day in the dungeon.
Chen, one of Zane's clones.
But he wasn't the only one she mentioned. She also talked about the others they had encountered on the upper floors, all wearing the same masks and similar gear.
But that man was the only one who said anything. He told them his name.
"Why do you think they're hiding? And why do they wear the same gear?" Tiona asked. "What Familia are they from?"
"You mean those masked weirdos?" Bete replied. "Just ignore them."
"But don't you think they're strange?"
"I just think they're weird. That guy—he's weak. Thinks he's better than he is. I could feel it in his eyes." Bete took a sip of his beer and continued, "I'm sure it's just a small group trying to get attention, nothing more."
"But their numbers are growing," Tione said. "It's becoming common to find masked people in the dungeon. It's going to get out of control."
"Probably a bunch of people copying the mask after the rumors. No one's really worried."
"Hmmm… I wouldn't be so sure," Ais said.
"Why do you say that, Ais?"
"The Goddess seems bothered by it," Ais replied, then fell silent.
Everyone looked at her before continuing the conversation about the masked individuals.
Despite Bete acting uninterested, he was very curious.
Who were those people?
When did they enter the dungeon?
What Familia were they from?
Too many questions, and no answers.
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Read more chapters on my patr eon: patr eon.com/ZhangYe
Next chapters: Chapter 21 - Imposters? / Chapter 22 - Find the original body. / Chapter 23 - You can leave the dungeon.