The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

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As I entered the assigned dorm room, a delicate-looking girl with long silver hair cascading down to her shoulders was unpacking her bags.

This girl seemed to be my future roommate. She was so pretty that I admired her without realizing it. Her face turned red upon hearing that she was pretty. It seemed she was quite shy.

‘Wait, would it seem odd to suddenly call a stranger beautiful like that?’

Oh no, I made a mistake. Thinking it over, commenting on someone’s appearance upon first meeting can come off as rude.

First, let’s apologize.

“Um, I’m sorry if my comment bothered you.”

For a moment, surprise and shyness crossed the girl’s face upon hearing my words. She then smiled slightly and replied.

“It’s okay! What you said earlier was a compliment, right? Thank you!”

“Are you really okay? Your reaction seemed a bit off after I said that.”

“No! I wasn’t feeling bad at all. I was just… a little surprised to hear such a comment out of the blue. But I didn’t think you meant anything bad. Right?”

“Exactly! Thanks for understanding!”

Her response wasn’t bad at all. It’s always best to address any issue with an apology.

The girl smiled brightly.

“I’m fine, but please don’t randomly tell others they’re pretty or handsome. Some might take it the wrong way and think you’re making fun of their appearance. Ah! Just to clarify, I was really okay. Don’t worry too much about it.”

“No, I get what you mean. I’ll be careful.”

That’s right; there are people in this world who can’t take compliments at face value.

After a brief conversation, there was a moment of awkward silence between us. I felt like I should say something more, but I didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

What do people usually say in such situations? “The weather is nice? Have you eaten?”

That felt weird. The girl also seemed hesitant to speak up.

Right, I remember that using questions helps to continue a conversation.

I cleared my throat.

“Um, so, did you also just move into this dorm? A freshman?”

“…Yes! I just enrolled in Polaris this year. What about you?”

“Really? No way! Awesome! Yes! I’m also a freshman. Nice to meet you! I’m Violet. Violet D. Rugilinn. What about you?”

Her middle name sounded a bit weird, so I decided to leave it out. And it sounds cool, right? Having a D in the middle makes me feel like I’m from a legendary clan or something.

In response to my question, the girl beamed like a blossoming flower.

“They really do assign the same room to classmates, huh? Nice to meet you, Rugilinn! I’m Daphne Grace!”

Her large sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Wait a sec, Daphne… what? That name sounds familiar.

“Uh, could you repeat that? I’m not great with names.”

“It’s Daphne Grace. Are you curious about how to spell it?… Rugilinn, are you okay? Your expression…”

I forced a smile, trying to conceal my stiff face.

Did she pick up on my weird mood? Daphne looked at me with a worried expression.

“Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I’m fine. Really healthy! Ehehe…”

That was a lie.

The moment I heard her name, I felt a slight dizziness. I staggered as I tried to step back.

“Just a sec, I need to use the bathroom!”

I burst through the bathroom door.

-Splaaash!

Washing my face with cold water, I finally started to regain my senses.

I realized that sometimes, when people are too shocked, dizziness can occur…

‘What a coincidence…?’

Recalling that girl’s identity made my head spin.

Daphne Grace.

A pretty girl with waist-length blue eyes and braided side hair with a gentle appearance.

A girl who habits politeness.

She is a character with significant importance to the story.

And she has a more special connection with ‘me’.

She gets killed by ‘me’.

To put it more precisely, ‘me’ from the future, four to five years later, the Witch of Boundless will kill her.

If it were just a simple killing, I could shrug it off and say she deserved it, but the cinematic cutscene that dealt with her death in the game was rather shocking.

*————————————————————-
-Haha… Look at you, Scholarship Officer. Did you actually keep any of the principles you followed and the worthless bugs you tried so hard to protect? Everything is ultimately futile. Like a snowman in the spring breeze or dew in the sunlight, you’ll crumble to dust without a trace. Enough with the meaningless actions; accept reality.

-…Where is Daphne?

-Ah, that ‘Saint of Salvation’? The girl who screamed ‘Run away, Scholarship Officer!’ while you were scampering away?”

Is this… what they’re talking about?
[The lights dim, and something heavy falls to the floor. After a moment the screen brightens.]

-…..!

-You did well to hold out for a while, but this is how it ends. Watching you flail around trying to save bugs is just too funny, ahahaha!

————————————————————–*

She stepped up to protect people from the terror of the Obsidian Legion. And she sacrificed herself to defend the wounded protagonist, the Scholarship Officer.

Her sacrifice was rewarded with her severed head rolling across the cold floor.

But really, what are the odds of such madness? I never expected to meet that Saint here.

The ‘Saint’ is a title given because of her selfless deeds. And I’m the Witch who takes lives.

What a twisted joke that the victim and the future perpetrator find themselves as dorm roommates!

“Ouch, my head…”

There are indeed some characters released from Polaris Academy.

Therefore, I had considered the possibility of running into them, but I never imagined I would meet her.

Daphne’s origins being from Polaris Academy…

“Ugh… I don’t get it.”

I decided to accept it as it is.

Who knows what bizarre experiences await me ahead; it would just be a headache to worry about every little detail.

I adjusted my clothes and quietly stepped out of the bathroom when I found her anxious blue eyes waiting for me.

“Can I take a look at you for a moment?”

Daphne approached cautiously.

“Huh? Why?”

“When facing a new environment, psychological anxiety can sometimes cause symptoms like headaches or dizziness. I wondered if that might be the case for you, Rugilinn. Let’s take a look…”

Her face turned serious as she closely examined my face.

As Daphne’s gentle touch neared, I unconsciously accepted it. I could sense kindness in every one of her actions.

Her hand wrapped around my palm and wrist while she gently brushed my forehead.

“Hmmm…? How do I look?”

“Your temperature seems normal, and your pulse is fine too. It seems you’re just a bit tense from coming to a new environment. Just hang on a second.”

Her hand on top of my head released a warm, bright green magical energy.

Whoa, this feels really nice and warm. If she keeps this up, I might even fall asleep.

“Oh… I feel like I’m getting better… What is this?”

“It’s nothing too special. I just used my Unique Ability for a bit to release a calming wave of magic. How do you feel? Any better?”

“Wow. This is amazing! I feel like I’m doing better! Thank you.”

The dizziness that had been overwhelming me vanished completely.

As I suspected, Daphne was indeed the kind-hearted person I remembered. Her Unique Ability specialized in recovery, which isn’t that common.

That’s right, I’m me. Let’s not fuss over futures that may not even happen.

– grumble…

Suddenly, I felt hungry. Come to think of it, I hadn’t eaten lunch yet.

“Thanks for the treatment earlier! You said your name is Daphne, right? Are you feeling a bit peckish? Let’s grab something to eat!”

“If you’re okay with it, I don’t mind. It’s already time for lunch… But is there anywhere to eat inside Polaris Academy?”

“I don’t know!”

“Excuse me?”

I pulled out the brochure given to the new students moving into the dorm.

“There’s a map here, so let’s find something!”

With light steps, I exited the dorm.

“Hey? Hey?” Daphne called out as she hurried after me. This kind of thing is all about the fun of discovering it ourselves.

“Let the adventure begin!”

Moments later, we were munching on sandwiches in the cafeteria inside Polaris Academy.

“These sandwiches are really delicious! The prices are reasonable too. I think we should eat here for lunch when the classes start.”

“Nom… Nom… Mmm… True, except for the fact that there are too many cucumber pickles.”

The portion sizes are generous, and they give you a drink. And it’s only 300 credits. It would have been perfect if they left out the pickles.

I disassembled the sandwich and removed all the cucumber pickles.

“It seems like you’re not a fan of cucumbers, Rugilinn.”

“Of course not. Cucumbers are the most useless vegetable in the world… But why do you keep addressing me so formally?”

“Is it my way of speaking? I’ve spoken like this since I was a child, so it has become a habit and it’s hard to drop it now. Is it uncomfortable? I could try to change it from now on…”

“It’s not that I dislike it. I just find it intriguing! We’re around the same age after all.”

In fact, if I considered only our mental ages, I’m nearly ten years older than Daphne. But age hasn’t been a big deal since I became a pretty girl.

So we finished our meal enthusiastically and headed back to the dorm.

The start of the new semester was approaching.

***

For the next few days, life was quite relaxing.

Aside from picking up my uniform from the academy’s uniform shop and buying some minor daily necessities, I’ve just been lounging around the dorm. I found out the reason why they were measuring my sizes at the research lab was for the uniform.

Luckily, after submitting some documents, they provided everything I needed. When I said my name in the uniform shop, they handed it over right away. They mentioned it’s a uniform with some protective features. Truly fitting for a school in a game.

During this time, I explored Polaris Academy. I wanted to compare it to the ruins I remembered from the game.

‘It’s almost identical! There’s a possibility of finding materials and items here.’

The conclusion was that it’s nearly the same as the place I knew, aside from the fact that students have been replaced with ghouls.

The size of Polaris Comprehensive Academy is impressive enough to rival several universities combined.

Moreover, there’s a vast forested mountain and a lake behind the campus. It’s closed off for now, but I’ve heard they’ll open it when classes start, so I should sneak in to collect materials and check treasure chest locations.

I’ve heard weak monsters are released for training in the mountains. It’s a classic case of safety negligence in a fantasy town. There’s even a designated dungeon.

What are they going to do if a dungeon breaks open and floods the area with monsters?

‘What a strange world.’

The world of Crimson Scholar can be viewed positively as having a mentality of chivalry or negatively as being governed by madness.

Rustroom is located on the continent that opened the most gates during the first invasion. Due to that influence, there are still large and small interdimensional dungeons and gates leading there. It can be regarded as a front line.

The reason they placed the Awakened Training Institution in such a location is supposedly in preparation for the second invasion.

‘This is like putting an army officer academy at the frontline.’

To top it off, they also constructed a defense research facility and a tank factory. It seems the game created by someone who hasn’t been through military service has some loose settings.

“Rugilinn, hurry up! The entrance ceremony is about to start!”

In the distance, I could see Daphne waving her hand to call me.

On the first day of September, the day of the semester start and the entrance ceremony. The Polaris Academy was filled with students who had come back from vacation.

‘Where are all the parents?’

Despite it being the entrance ceremony, the area in front of the auditorium where the event was about to begin was filled only with students, staff, and what looked like teachers. Upon closer inspection, everyone was parting ways like they weren’t entering a training facility.

In the games, parents would follow the characters from Aegis Academy or Vesperia Prime Academy and take photos. I guess the culture here is different.

“Hurry up~”

At Daphne’s insistence, I stopped scanning the surroundings and quickly walked over.

There was a bustling crowd in front of the massive auditorium building, characterized by Gothic architectural arches and pointed spires.

I checked inside my coat.

The 2-star alloy hammer I received from the research lab was sleeping in my pocket.

‘In this world, it’s a common rule for strange monsters or villains to crash entrance ceremonies, right?’

If something happens, I’ll break a window with this and escape with Daphne.