Chapter 39: Dragon Tattoo

[Inside Kim Seijin's office.]

Kim Seijin dialed a number on his phone. As soon as the caller picked it, he asked, "Did you look into Choi Minho for me? Does it seem like he and the clone guy are hiding something?"

The response came, "From what I found, sir, it seems they don't share that much intimacy. Seems like the clone guy is keeping everything to himself." Then the voice grew louder, more urgent, "Right, sir. I have something to tell you about Choi Minho."

Kim Seijin's brows creased. "What's that?"

"I tried putting a tail on him twice, but...I don't know...I found myself drooling away, losing him."

Kim Seijin's confusion grew higher. "What do you mean...drooling away?"

"Yes, sir," came the response. "The first time, I drove behind him. But, as if I had skipped some seconds or even minutes, he was gone. And my car was already parked...not by myself. The second attempt was when I followed him home. Right, that time, I wasn't drooling. But it was completely surprising that he was no longer inside that house even though I saw him enter. That's what his neighbours said as well — he's somehow strange."

Kim Seijin sighed heavily, and told the person to stop looking into it. That he would handle it. After the call ended, he thought it was high time he recognised that Choi Minho. He doesn't know his face. Most importantly, it was time he knew who he was.

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BRIM!

At that moment, the system screen appeared before Seung's eyes. He couldn't resist the surprise that widened his eyes. This must be why it emphasized the mode of hunting earlier!

"I... have unlocked dual leveling?" he stuttered in surprise. The system displayed a mode of leveling up from two sources. Seung thought that if he really would be leveling up dually, the second source had to be connected to him.

He asked loudly, "That source is my clones, right, system?" His eyes were fixed on the screen, desperately waiting for an answer.

[Yes, you will level up when your clones' stats are completed. But the more the number of clones, the lesser the chances of leveling up dually.]

Seung nodded in agreement. He understood the logic. This mode of ascension was possible only when all the clones' stats were completed. If he had ten clones, the duration of leveling up through them would be very long, unlike now that he only had two.

"What if I summon some and leave others unsummoned? That would be nice if it's possible," he mused aloud.

He sighed heavily, wrapping his palms behind his neck and resting his head in them. He believed leveling up would unlock more features and challenges. Stronger monsters, harder daily missions, and the burden of coordinating many clones.

"With the look of things, the level I would reach can be infinite. It's the same with the number of clones since they are directly proportional to each other," he said in a low, frustrated voice. He swallowed down the initial courage he had felt from having this ability. "Can I possibly control all of them in the future? What if they evolve and develop personal feelings? Would there be a day they would rebel against my orders? And... seek independence?"

His mind raced with questions, but there was no one to answer them.

Creak...

A creaking sound broke his solitude. The indistinct chatter of people in the hallway became clearer, along with their footsteps. Seung glanced at the door and looked away the next second.

"Poof, talk of the devils," he mumbled, his worrisome expression deepening. His eyes were half-closed and gazed at the distant wall. He heard the door closing, and then, multiple steps approached his position.

Two familiar voices greeted him casually, "We're back, master."

At first, Seung ignored them, furrowing his brows more. But then he shook off his worries and glanced at them. Besides, it wasn't as if the summoner had a bad personality that his replicas would inherit, nor were they evil spirits. Not like ghost clones.

"Oh, you've returned. That's nice; well done, little guys," he welcomed them, forcing a brief smile. "Do you guys desire something for your hard work? You know, humans often demand incentives for the services they render. Tell me what you want; I will get it for you."

His eyes contained as much desperation as that of a maniac waiting for others to fall into his trap. He gazed at them closely, and at times, his cheeks rose briefly.

The clones shook their heads in disagreement. "It's our responsibility to serve you, master."

Seung smirked, finally looking away. He nodded, mumbling, "They aren't humans after all. I must have thought too far from reality."

At that moment, the screen reopened, requesting to transport the three of them to the Domain. Seung anticipated what was waiting there. Giant robots, real monsters, or perhaps a new surprise.

He agreed, and in the next second, they were inside. Unlike last time, the sky was clear and overly blue with pure clouds diffusing around. The sun shone brightly, its rays intense and skin-peeling. The initial wilted grasses were replaced by sunflowers, aromatizing the atmosphere with their scent. The distant hills and trees seemed divinely shaped.

"Let's get this done in thirty seconds, system," Seung ordered, pulling his dress closer to his body and blocking the sun's rays.

[Sure. I only need to download your experiences into your clones for enhanced interaction, development, and cognitive strength. For fairness, I will also fuse some specialized skills from them to you, without altering your initial ones.]

[Syncing experiences and creating clones' skills...]

[Skill fusion in progress...]

Seung narrowed his eyes at the clones. It seemed what he was worried about earlier might finally happen. Who knows the effect of fusing his seventeen years of experiences with them?

He sighed. 'Let's just hope it makes them stronger.'

[Done. You can check the new skills in the appropriate section.]

[Are you ready to return or not?]

"No. I have to summon a new clone first," he interposed, his voice dripping with frustration and bleakness. He closed his eyes, exhaled heavily, and concentrated the energy in his body. He felt indistinct pulsations through his veins and joints, which congregated at the center of his chest.

"Emerge!" he shouted, his eyes now glowing with blue light.

Phew! Flash!

A beam of azure light drifted out of his chest, lengthening up to four meters directly ahead of him. This beam drilled the thin air for a while, and later, a new clone emerged, naked.

'Seeing my little brother again! Ew!' Seung thought, looking away with a gentle smile.

In the next moment, he could hear noises again, and his nose caught the smell of disinfectants and cleaning agents. He knew right away that he was out of the Domain. The next thing that caught his attention was the creaking sound of the door. But the new guy was still naked!

"Oh shit!" Seung cursed, quickly standing in front of him. Before he knew it, the other clones joined, standing at his right and left sides.

It was a nurse, a young one at that. Her skin's texture was smooth, and her face was like a semi-sphere. Seung breathed shakily and asked,

"Uhm, excuse me, nurse. Could you please fetch me my belongings?"

The nurse's eyes darted at the three of them with confusion. She looked at them with every hint of suspicion. What she couldn't place her hand on was who they were preventing her from seeing and why. She needed to at least check that out...

"You..." Seung shouted, causing her to stop; he gently caught his breath, and continued, "...will only move an inch if you want to see a man's nude. You don't want to, right? It's creepy and would make you feel like a pervert, won't it?"

"Uhm..." the lady hesitated, swallowing down, "...I will just get you your things." She vanished from their sight.

Later, she brought his backpack. The first clone received it; inside the bag were his sneakers, clothes, and some other things. He knew how much he bled that day, so his belongings being neat and tidy must be the personnel's handiwork. The new clone got dressed.

Lee Seung then unsummoned the other two after they had asked him to resummon them if needed. He knew what the system did had changed them because his clones never talked too much, let alone uttering that kind of statement.

"Let's take a walk through the hospital, rookie," he said, hands wrapped behind his back, and exited the room. The clone followed closely, putting on a nose mask.

The hallway was wide enough to contain six people in a row at the same time. The walls were made of a brown material, which glittered with the pure emission from LEDs fixed to the roofs. There were imprints of different awards won by the hospital, symbolizing their hard work and cooperation over the years.

Outside the hallway cut a corner to the stairway. Seung and his clone took it to the next floor, which was bustling with a crowd of hundreds.

Seung smiled, eyes darting around. "Whoa! This hospital is..."

Bump!

Just then, a shoulder bumped into his chest. His legs stumbled backward.

Gently regaining his balance, he looked up at the figure before him. He felt a hint of sweat clinging to his temples, even with the AC still working.

All he could see was a dark cloak in the shape of a man. 'What's this sensation?'

His hands trembled and his heart began to race. This feeling was very strange. He wanted to get his eyes off the figure as fast as possible; his heart raced more and more as he resisted.

'Is he a Grim Reaper… or a shadow psychopath?' he thought, his heart aching.

The figure before him was that of a man wearing a long black leather jacket and black boots. Seung couldn't see his face because he was wearing a hood. He could only see his wrist...

His brows furrowed and shoulders tensed on seeing the person's wrist. It was a painting of a black dragon. Staring at it for long was even more tempting than the figure. But still, Seung refused to take his eyes off it.

The painting had a large dark background that blended with the dragon's entire body color. It had a big head – almost covering the whole design – as well as glistening black scales. The wings were curled in, as the creature was asleep.

Before Seung knew it, the man had pushed him to the ground as if he were a piece of paper.

The man then walked to the elevator; his demeanor was very intimidating, causing everyone to get out of the way in fear.

"Stop him!" a male voice shouted from a ward about fifteen meters away from the elevator.

Seung's clone helped him up. His eyes glanced towards the source of the voice, and he saw a doctor sprinting towards the elevator, which was just closing.

"Someone, please stop him! He can't escape!" the doctor shouted, speeding up.

Lee Seung silently looked back at the shadowy figure. He was overly nonchalant despite the uproar that seemed to be caused by him.

Slam!

The elevator closed.

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