Since winter, the entrance exams had been indefinitely postponed. And so once I was discharged from my injuries from that incident, it became sort of a free period for me. But naturally it became boring after being cooped at home with nothing much to do.

Two weeks had passed since I’d obtained this strange ability. My cloning was now at Rank 6. It seemed to have stopped growing just by giving the clones some character. I was now able to communicate with my clones through telepathy, and give separate orders to each one. In short, multi-tasking became possible.

『Cloning』Rank 6

>You are able to create clones of yourself!

>You can share senses with your clones!

Clones created: 0/4

Clones huh. They really look just like me. There’s so many of me.

It came as an afterthought one day, as I was messing around with the clones I had created in my room. Watching one of them doing handstand push-ups with an indifferent face, my eyes widened in revelation.

Why don’t… I use my clones to work for me?

Right. Why didn’t I think about it before? They were the perfect workers.

I could get them to do some part-time work or run errands for me!

I’m a little afraid of getting discovered with this ability, but… hmm let’s make some countermeasures.

In a park, two men in drenched shirts were seated on a bench catching their breaths.

They stare impressively at a boy making a steady pace as he runs into the distance. He was wearing a large sweater to cover his whole body, a hellish get-up for the intents of exercise. This was more apparent from his face filled with sweat and labored breathing, yet he kept those clothes on without stopping. 

“Hey that kid. He’s running again today.”

“Yeah. That’s a dedicated one. I noticed that he’s here every day.”

“What if he passes out, running like that in those clothes…” another man said worriedly.

The boy continued to run without care or concern. And soon he passed by a lake near a residential district. Finally when it seemed like he couldn’t sustain himself, the boy then plopped himself down on a nearby bench to catch his breath. He lowered his head down, and concentrated on regaining his rhythm.

Just then, a hand stretched out before him holding a water bottle.

The boy looked up instinctively, and saw a girl in a skin-tight jogging outfit.

“Hey. Drink this before you continue running.”

The boy stopped moving for a brief moment as if listening to something, before he got up and jogged off once more. Sayu, who had her hands stretched out in kindness, grumbled a little as she watched him leave without a word.

“...What’s with him?” Sayu saw the boy work hard every day, so she thought she’d be a nice person and offer him something for his efforts. Trying not to think too much of it, the girl continued her own jog in the opposite direction.

At the end of the day, the boy returned to his apartment. He noticed another person who looked just like him, seated as they concentrated on a video playing on the laptop. Yet he did not find it strange, as he began taking off his drenched clothing silently and entered the room’s shower.

After he was done, the boy stood on top of the weighing scale and noted down his weight.

Clone 4 had now lost over 15 pounds over a month. It felt taller and slimmer that some of the clothes were starting to feel baggy. Taking all of its thoughts into note, it faithfully conveyed a summary of its day to its main body.

When it was done, he received another instruction. But this time, it wasn’t from the main body.

>Remember to eat more. You’re the muscle out of all of us.

It seemed to be coming from the boy on the laptop; Clone 3, the caretaker. He had conveyed those words without even looking at him. Naturally, because all of the clones were connected telepathically.

Just in time, another clone enters the room.

Clone 2. He was wearing muddied canvas like a blue-collar worker. In his hands were two bags of packed food. The clone placed them on the coffee table, and then handed an envelope with its paycheck to the caretaker. With this, Clone 2 had finished his day too.

“...One, two, hook! One, two, hook!”

>Rotate your hips.

“One, two.. hook!”

>Two more sets.

“One, two, ...hook!”

… … …

As I sat on a railing with a drink in my hands, I stared at Clone 1 doing some jabs at unbelievable speeds. Seems like it’s still learning footwork, but its punches were getting more steady as it continued to perfect its stance. But that was a few hours ago. As the sky turned dark, its punches slowly began to lose steam.

Naturally, clones weren’t made of infinite stamina. Even if they didn’t complain about all of the physical stress I put them through, they were still considered biological creatures and would be hindered by their own bodies. Thinking it was about time to wrap up, I leapt off the railing.

“Number 3, you can stop watching boxing videos now. Join the others for dinner. And Number 1, let’s head back.” There was no particular reason why I decided to speak out loud since my instructions would be conveyed with a thought. Maybe it was still hard to dissociate the clones from actual people. It felt more natural if I treated them as conversational partners.

Number 1, who I’d begun to train as a fighter for fun, nodded as if it’d read my intention and spoke out loud. And Number 3 spoke into my head.

“Yes, master.”

>Yes, master.