ZhangYe
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Chapter 21 - Imposters?
🕑 Added 2025-04-15 14:10:21 +0000 UTCPOV: Zane
Only two days had passed, but I was already one step away from reaching level 40. On top of that, most of my clones had already contacted me for their evolutions. These were all clones that hadn’t gone through their first evolution yet — relatively new clones.
Akame, Freiren, Natsu, and Zoro — all of them were ready to evolve.
The other eight clones I summoned two days ago were also getting close to evolving, but today I planned to head into the dungeon to take care of those four. I put on my armor, mask, and held my sword as I took control of Chen’s body again.
I realized there’s no real point in giving him a heads-up. He’s my clone, after all. His body is mine.
As soon as I arrived at the dungeon, I dispelled the four clones and summoned them again right in front of me. They all knelt down before me. I looked at them, smiled.
I'm starting to get used to this.
I placed my hand on each of their heads and triggered their evolutions.
All of their stats were doubled, their levels were reset, and from now on I’ll gain 50% more experience from each of them. They stood up, and I gave them the order to resume hunting monsters.
After they left, a new notification appeared.
[ You have reached Level 38 ]
[ Points +10 ]
[ All stats +3 ]
I smiled behind the mask and opened my skill menu.
[ Do you want to upgrade the “Clones” skill to Rank B? ]
“Of course. Now the real fun begins.”
####
[ You can now have 32 clones! ]
[ You have gained the skill “Equipment Selection” ]
[ You have gained the skill “Self-Destruct” ]
[ The skill “NeuroLink” has evolved ]
[ The skill “Shared Status” has leveled up to 2 ]
I read through all the system messages and, honestly, I expected more. The “Shared Stats” skill leveling up was great since it makes me stronger, but I was hoping for more new skills.
The only new ones were “Equipment Selection” and “Self-Destruct.”
The first one is pretty straightforward: I can now choose my clones’ gear—their clothes, armor, weapons, everything. When I dispel and resummon a clone, it will appear wearing the equipment I selected.
From now on, only newly summoned clones will come equipped just like me.
“I don’t even know if I should still call this skill ‘Clones.’ I’m already changing their appearance and now I’m changing their gear too.” It’s starting to feel more like a summoning skill.
A skill that lets me summon characters from other anime.
I’ve seen something like this in a fanfic before.
“Alright, and the ‘Self-Destruct’ skill?”
[ Clones will self-destruct at your command. ]
“What the hell? My clones are bombs now?” I chuckled and checked my stats.
They’d increased quite a bit, thanks to “Shared Status” leveling up. I now gain 3% of the combined stats from all clones. Still, the growth was a bit underwhelming.
Name: Zane
Level: 38 (EXP: 60/3800)
Rank: B
Clones: 16/32
Strength: 262
Endurance: 254
Agility: 262
Dexterity: 276
Magic: 268
Points: 409
Skills:
Thrust LV10
Fragmented Clones LV8
Mask
Transport
Swap
“Well, I’m way stronger now. If I take into account that one point of strength equals ten in this world’s system, I’m powerful. But one thing still bugs me…”
Why don’t my stats reset when I evolve — they triple instead?
In the original system, when an adventurer levels up, their stats "reset". But that doesn’t happen to me. My stats just triple every time, which is insane. “My evolution is on another level.”
If it keeps going like this, by the time I reach the second evolution (level 3 in this world’s system), I’ll already be stronger than a level 4 or 5 adventurer.
I wouldn’t doubt it.
But for now, better keep my feet on the ground.
“Oh right, I also noticed that my skill levels increased.”
I think the system averaged out the skill levels across all clones and applied that to my own stats. "Thrust" and "Fragmented Clones" are already at high levels even though I’ve never actually used them in battle.
It’s funny.
I wandered through the dungeon using Chen’s body, but eventually, I got tired.
I deactivated the “NeuroLink” skill — which had leveled up again — and just as I was about to step into the bathroom for a shower, I got a message from one of my clones.
[ Master, I need to evolve again. ]
'Hm? Who is it?'
[ It’s me, Zen. ]
'You're already ready for the second evolution?' Took you long enough, actually.
Chen and Zen passed their first evolution a long time ago. They’ve been leveling up more slowly now. Even so, they still gain levels faster than I do.
'Sorry, Zen, I’ll take care of it later.'
[ No problem. ]
I sighed and stepped into the shower for a nice hot bath.
When I came out, another message came through from a clone.
“I really need to tell them to stop messaging me for every little thing.”
[ Master, I’m being followed. What should I do? ]
'Hm? Who is this?'
[ It’s me, Clone 15. ]
'Do you have any idea who’s following you?'
[ I’ve never seen them before. ]
'Got it.'
I thought it might be Ottar again, so I activated the “Senses” skill to see through Clone 15’s eyes. I saw him moving quickly, running from something.
I kept watching and saw him cornered by a few people.
Since Clone 15 still looks like my original self — I was too lazy to change his appearance — I figured I’d better handle this myself.
Should I test out the self-destruct skill?
I also took control of his hearing to listen to what the men were saying. As I listened, I quickly realized they were just curious.
The rumors about the masked adventurers were spreading like wildfire.
I hadn’t been out lately, not even through a clone, so I wasn’t aware.
But I should’ve expected this.
These guys were just curious about us — the so-called mysterious and powerful group clearing the dungeon floors with ease. 'That’s a bit exaggerated, isn’t it? My clones aren’t wiping out all the monsters on the upper floors.'
That’s impossible.
They were chasing Clone 15 just to ask about the group.
So I took control of Clone 15’s mouth and said:
“I’m not part of that group. I just found the mask for sale in a shop and thought it looked cool. Sorry.” I spoke in a monotone robotic voice, but they believed it and left Clone 15 alone.
Masked adventurers have become pretty common in the dungeon now.
Adventurers who aren’t even my clones.
I deactivated “Senses” and told the clone:
'It’s okay now, go back to hunting.'
[ Thank you, Master. ]
'If someone like that shows up again, just say you bought the mask from a shop and aren’t part of any mysterious group. That should get them off your back.'
[ Got it. ]
After cutting the connection with Clone 15, I started thinking about that conversation with the adventurers. “So people are buying masks and pretending to be part of my group?”
I haven’t seen any adventurers wearing masks myself.
'Clones, if you encounter any masked adventurers who aren’t part of the clone group, report it to me.'
I sent the message to all my clones.
They didn’t respond, but I’m sure they got the message.
Comments
Layfon
Thanks for the Chapter
