Novel Lived
B1 | Chapter 21 - Another Clone
Alexia Knight
I just lie on the ground for who knows how long, my wound having regenerated long ago despite me still feeling exhausted as I wait for my soul to regenerate. But eventually I find myself frowning as a System Notification appears in my vision.
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Three days have now passed since the System Reset. All surviving System users will now be given further details about the Tutorials. The Tutorials are split up into ten thousand Blocks, each with billions of people in them. The location where everyone ended up was decided based on the location each user was at prior to the Reset, along with whether or not the user in question had a Legendary Feat. Those with a Legendary Feat were sent into a dungeon located nearby the others who were near them prior to the Reset, in the same Block as them. Those who did not have a Legendary Feat were sent to the same location as those who were within thirty meters of them prior to the Reset. The first runs of each dungeon done by the Legendary Feat holders in said dungeons must be done to completion, making it impossible for the dungeon runner to leave or anyone else to join their instance and help them. This is to challenge them at the System Creator's request to see if they are truly worthy of the Epic Class the Legendary Feats may or may not have given them at the beginning of the Resets. However, after proven worthy of their class through completing the dungeon they were sent to, they may do whatever they wish, just like all the other users. At this point, nearly one fourth of all Legendary Feat holders have been killed in their dungeons. |
My jaw drops open at the answer to one of the biggest questions I've had since the Reset.
I'm here because I have a Legendary Feat? Seriously?
I frown for a moment before sighing.
Guess that's actually a better answer than 'I'm here because I killed the System's Creator' would've been. So I can't really complain.
Another System Notification appears, replacing the first.
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At the end of the first month of the Reset, the Tutorial will come to a close. During this first month, System users may all accumulate points. These points will be used to determine their reward at the end of the Tutorial and may be used to purchase items in the Tutorial shop at that point. Furthermore, users may kill other users to steal a fifth of their total points. Those users killed by another user will simply enter a stasis for the remaining duration of the Tutorial, after which they will be sent to the new dimension just like everyone else. However, this rule does not apply to those who committed suicide in any way with the intention of doing so, including those who have others kill them to avoid a permanent death or those others deciding to kill them with the intension of making them enter stasis to avoid death without their permission. The designation of the 'user' status includes any species Class B and above, while species who are Class C and below are considered 'monsters' by the System. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Identify has been updated in the Reset to be able to identify System Items. New classes have been introduced in the Reset. New skills have been introduced in the Reset. New monsters have been introduced in the Reset, and some of these monsters may potentially evolve into new user species as they reach higher Tiers. Previously attained Legendary Feats aside from the ones kept by users across the Reset have been reset and are available to obtain again. All monsters are set to Tier 1 within the Tutorial and may not grow stronger than that. All dungeons within the Tutorial are set to Tier 1. More changes have been made that will not be revealed now. A Memory of the System's Creator will be sent to each user to act as a guide for the duration of one hour. |
That's a lot of new stuff.
More than I expected.
The notification disappears, following which a flash of purple light shines out of nowhere in front of me before the System Creator appears. Or rather, his memory.
"No, you were right, I'm him," he says, making my eyes widen in shock at his blatant reading of my thoughts. "At this point, any memory sent to you will be one of the original's clones. So you better get used to my reading your mind."
I don't think that'll ever happen.
"Too bad," he comments, almost making me do a double take at him. "Well, now that we're in agreement-"
What agreement?!
"-I can move on to answering your questions! Since that's what I'm here to do, right?" he continues, ignoring my inner shout. "Oh, and you'll only get ten minutes of questions since I'm a clone and not a memory."
My eye twitches and I finally sit up before muttering, "I really hate you…"
"That, I do believe, is a statement and not a question," he says in a sagely tone of voice that has me really wanting to punch him. "Do try not to waste your ten minutes with obviously inaccurate statements."
Is this guy just designed to piss me off?
"No, I'm not," he answers my thoughts, only making me even more angry in the process. "But you should stop wasting your time."
I take a deep breath before letting it out and taking his annoying advice by asking, "Why did you choose me to kill you? There had to have been at least a few Ascendants who already have Legendary Feats and far more knowledge than me who also had an affinity in the quantum element. So why me?"
He stares at me for a few seconds, his eyes flashing as he mutters, "Give me a second while I download the memories of my original from the System…"
It doesn't take long for the flashing to stop before he bluntly answers, "It was because the original was running out of soul to keep the rift open, and he couldn't regenerate more in the void. So he chose the first person with affinity to the quantum element that neared the rift and fit his basic requirements."
My jaw drops open.
That's why?! Just because I happened to be near it and fit the requirements? No large reason for it or anything?
"Correct," he states with a nod, "although I will note that your interesting parents did influence my original's deciding to go ahead and choose you, along with your temperament. Since not just anyone would suit the power you've been given."
I frown at that.
So it wasn't completely by chance then.
"What do you mean by my temperament?" I ask, deciding to comment on the parents thing after this.
"A laidback temperament without any ambitions for ruling the dimension," he states, the man's clone not having moved his eyes from me this entire time. He hasn't even blinked. Which I find rather creepy. "The type of person who would not destroy the dimension I have created, or the System itself with the power they were given."
Wait, so you're saying that if I did end up becoming an Ascendant some day and created some sort of nation, something that I really don't have any interest in, you would take the power away?
He finally moves his head, shaking it once as he says, "No. Having the ambition to do something and doing it are two different things. I do not care if you end up becoming a ruler or even the ruler of the dimension so long as you do not truly wish for that. Although even if you did gain an ambition for it, I would not be able to do anything as I cannot take away your power or undo what has been done. No one can."
My eyes widen at that, and I find myself staring for a few seconds, unsure of what to say.
Guess I really am stuck like this forever. Not that I really wanted to go back. I wasn't exactly attached to my humanity or anything like that.
Also, I guess Astrid and I have clear differences now, so people won't mistake us for each other anymore. Which is nice.
"What did you mean by my parents influencing your decision?" I ask, making him frown for a split second.
The frown vanishes just as quickly though and he answers, "I will not answer that question fully. Just know that both of your parents are Ascendants. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to have a Class B Elemental Affinity in a special element like the Astral element."
Oh. That's… oh.
That's something to think about.
Putting that matter aside for the moment, purely because all it does right now is confirm that Gramps was right about Mom, I ask, "What's the difference between a Quantum Architect like you and a Quantum Reaper like me?"
He actually looks a little surprised by that before smiling as he answers, "One is a builder of the universe and the quantum, the other a destroyer. My class focused on messing with and altering the universe and reality itself. Your class is that of a reaper. A destroyer. A hunter. And a fighter."
So basically yours wasn't a combat focused quantum class and mine is?
The man flinches slightly, probably due to my oversimplification, before he begrudgingly answers, "That is accurate."
I smirk.
"You will never be able to alter or control the System yourself, but should you wish to, you could destroy it once you reach the same level of strength I was at," he continues, seemingly avoiding the subject. "I understand you will never do that, however. And that was the absolute minimum requirement my original had for his killer. Even if he were to have lost his chance to die."
Well, he's not wrong there. The System may be cruel in a lot of ways, but I would never destroy it. Especially considering that we'd all be at the mercy of monsters and all the dungeons would be freed if that happened.
Would basically just be sentencing everyone to death.
But his last words do lead me to one of the most important questions of all.
I narrow my eyes slightly and ask, "Why did you have me kill you instead of free you?"
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