The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City

Chapter 89: Violet’s Rest. And…

Chapter 89: Violet’s Rest. And…

Unfortunately, Violet couldn’t sleep well that night.

The reason wasn’t anything else. We suffered a crushing defeat.

In the dormitory, Violet No. 150, fiddling with a tablet, lost a game.

“Ugh!”

I almost threw the tablet in frustration but held back.

Instead, I vented my anger by punching the bed repeatedly.

Then, I snapped out of it when I heard a voice from below.

“Violet, are you feeling unwell?”

Peeking under the bed, I saw Daphne in her pajamas, yawning while looking up at me.

I quickly reassured her, who was tilting her head curiously, and went back to my spot.

I had forgotten Daphne was below. It felt awkward to admit I had thrown a tantrum over a game, so I dodged the subject.

“Goodnight, Violet…”

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and returned to bed.

Violet No. 150 pulled the blanket over her head and tried to swallow her frustration.

The game loss from earlier kept replaying in her mind.

Even the watching Violets chimed in.

“That’s so annoying!”

“We lost because of that guy’s politics!”

“Blue team’s fault!”

The reason for our collective frustration was clear. It was the game Violet had recently become obsessed with: Spy Catch.

As you know, I’m an Awakened.

Compared to ordinary people, Awakened individuals possess multiple times the physical capabilities.

These physical abilities aren’t limited to strength; they also include reaction speed and dynamic vision.

Thus, Violet, who had grown adept at using magic, had game control skills that overwhelmed Earth’s professional gamers.

When I activated magic throughout my body and played seriously, I could even take on AI.

For that reason, games in this world of Trist, the setting of Deep Crimson Academia, have difficulty levels and modes specifically for Awakened players.

It’s a countermeasure since the game is full of human aimbots who dodge pixel-perfectly without thinking.

Of course, not everyone played games. If you wanted to enjoy your enhanced physical abilities, sparring with swords was often more entertaining.

In any case, in a world of superhumans, electronic games evolved to focus on intellectual fun.

You can tell just by looking at the computer game rankings here: from first to tenth place, they’re all trading card or turn-based games.

*Spy Catch,* the game I was playing, also emphasized strategy and deduction.

As the name suggests, it’s a game about finding a spy hidden among the citizens.

From its name and rules, you could deduce it was similar to Earth’s “Mafia Game.”

It was fun. But today, I ended up losing five rounds in a row.

Worse yet, in two consecutive games, I was caught as the spy by some annoying player.

“I can’t lose!”

Encouraged by the other Violets, No. 150 started a new game.

“Ah! It’s that guy again!”

Unfortunately, the same annoying player appeared this round.

12greatblackveil412: … purple1v is probably the spy. Just vote once, or drop me instead. Got it?

maru12va1: Voting now.

purple1v: No, it’s not me! I swear!

arphabc86pas: Seems suspicious.

-purple1v was the spy!

And I lost again.

“Ugh! No way!”

“That 12great guy got me again!”

As the game ended and I was about to leave, the player commented in the lobby.

12greatblackveil412: Is it you again? Stop being so obvious as the spy, lol.

12greatblackveil412: Honestly, dumb players shouldn’t play as spies.

We were furious. Hearing the guy’s taunts, the Violets decided not to let it slide.

“Everyone! Assemble!”

Regardless of location, all the Violets grabbed their devices and logged into the game.

Thankfully, this game didn’t discriminate between devices.

The Violets in the central dorms booted up laptops.

The Violet staying in the guest room at Irene’s house grabbed her smartphone, created a new account, and logged in.

A total of eight Violets created new accounts and joined the game.

Spy Catch has a maximum of 10 players per game.

After multiple attempts, more than half of us managed to join the same room.

With five of us, we could easily sway the majority opinion.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the annoying player was in the room.

None of the Violets were spies this time. We initiated a vote shortly after the game started.

“Let’s eliminate him!”

“He’s definitely the spy!”

purple1: Hey, everyone, do you see Blue? Blue’s the spy.

12greatblackveil412: What nonsense is this?

afvafd123: Yeah, sounds shady, based on what he’s saying!

qwertyui123456: If you’re a citizen, let’s vote unanimously!

12greatblackveil412: Are you crazy?

zxcvbn: Voting in agreement~

Swept up by the Violets’ persuasion, other players also voted in favor.

The guy was eliminated.

12greatblackveil412: You trash!!

-12greatblackveil412 was not the spy!

Unfortunately, he wasn’t the spy.

But since five Violets weren’t spies, it meant the spy was among the remaining players.

In other words, if we eliminated everyone else, we’d catch the spy.

“Just press the agree button. Got it?”

“Got it!”

With that annoying player out of the way, everything went smoothly.

We voted out every other citizen before the spy could make a move, securing a win.

“We should’ve done this sooner!”

“Let’s keep doing it next time!”

After savoring a single victory following a streak of losses, we couldn’t stop.

The Violets continued playing with multiple accounts.

“Five wins in a row!”

With such perfect teamwork, the other players were helpless.

Sometimes, one of the Violets ended up as the spy.

In those cases, the citizen Violets worked together to protect the spy Violet as much as possible.

“That guy keeps stirring things up.”

“I’ll assassinate him next turn, so No. 52, take one for the team!”

“Got it. Avenge me!”

By playing through the night as a team, we secured a clean 10-game winning streak.

“Let’s keep doing this from now on…”

“Goodnight…!”

The Violets drifted off to sleep in high spirits.

The next day, I received a message.

[Boss! The items you requested have arrived. – Boss]

[Please contact me at your convenience once you see this message. – Boss]

“Finally!”

The equipment I had been desperately waiting for was here.

The perception-disrupting devices crucial for our activities had arrived.

I had asked for several, if possible.

“Make sure to wear your wig! And don’t forget to put on makeup the same way as last time!”

Violet No. 200 donned a pitch-black wig and thick makeup, just like when visiting Stygian Rain, and headed to meet the brokers. There was no need to reveal her true appearance immediately.

“Was everything quiet last night? Any suspicious activity?”

“There weren’t many people coming and going, and nothing strange happened inside.”

No. 120, who had been observing the office from a nearby rooftop, responded.

These brokers came from the underworld. They couldn’t be fully trusted, so the Violets had been covertly monitoring them 24/7.

“Some idiots tried to pull something stupid, so I dealt with them.”

“These gangsters sure are persistent, sending people all the way here.”

It seemed Leslie, the boss, wasn’t lying about being on bad terms with the gangs.

Thugs sent by gangsters occasionally came to the central office, attempting to stab people in the gut.

Most of them were unawakened, but one time, a C-class hunter-level awakened troubleshooter showed up, requiring us to handle it quietly.

As I entered the office, the waiting boss greeted me with excessive enthusiasm.

“You’re here, boss! Good morning. Care for a cup of tea?”

“No, let’s get straight to the point. The items?”

The boss placed a box on the desk. Upon opening it, I saw a variety of equipment emitting faint magical auras.

“These are perception-disrupting devices sourced from a workshop associated with a clan. While I couldn’t secure the mask-shaped items you were looking for, their performance is guaranteed. Please test them, and let me know if there are any issues.”

After testing their performance, I found the quality decent.

They were usable right away.

Thanks to my all-purpose status window, I could instantly assess the quality of these items.

“Three-star quality! Perfect.”

“This should make it impossible for anyone to figure out who we are.”

Satisfied, we took all the perception-disrupting devices with us. Since they were essentially gifts from these guys, it was better to take everything.

“Do you have any updates on the people I requested information about?”

“The process is going smoothly. Just a little more time, please.”

“Got it.”

Although I couldn’t fully trust them, seeing how they handled things, I decided to raise their trust rating in my mental status window by one level.

After confirming a few details, No. 200 left the office.

“This should do…”

Violet checked her status window. It was necessary to take a look to decide on the next steps.

“It’s been a while.”

“Let’s go through it carefully.”

<CHARACTER STAT>

Name: Violet Dunhind Rugilinn

Alias: Pest Control Specialist

Status: First-Year Student at Polaris Integrated Academy

Lv: 30

HP: 4400/4400

MP: 40100/40100

Skills and Knowledge:

<Polaris Standard Hunter Swordsmanship> Lv2

<Ether Emission and Manipulation> Lv2

<Basic Magic> Lv1

<Explosives Crafting Skills>: Lv1

Unrevealed Technique: ???

Unrevealed Combat Style: ???

Unique Abilities:

<Collective Intelligence> Lv3

<Dynamic Consciousness/Identity-Linked Clone Technique> Lv3

A new ability has been added!

Synchronicity Traits:

Backstab Proficiency – Increases damage when attacking enemies from behind.

Weakling Extermination – Increases damage when attacking opponents with low health.

···

Our power had increased significantly, and our magical reserves had reached an astounding level.

The massive extermination of cockroaches had resulted in an incredible boost. Levels… What was the max level in this game again? Was it 85? 90?

“My memory is hazy… It was patched during the prologue of the second season…”

The notable aspect was the unique abilities. A new one had been added.

Upon checking, I found a new entry.

<Dynamic Consciousness/Identity-Linked Clone Technique> Lv3

The mana consumption for creating clones has been slightly reduced.

The ‘Hibernation’ ability has been added.

“Hibernation, huh…”

I would have to check what it did later.

Interestingly, there were broken entries among the skills we had learned.

What were those about?

It might be something that unlocks under specific conditions.

Regardless, the Violets were growing steadily.

However, it was still insufficient to execute our grand plans. We needed more magic.

“It’s time to collect all the Crystal Flowers.”

“Alright, let’s engage in some righteous thievery.”

Since we had obtained the perception-disrupting devices, it was time to test them out.

With the field trip only a few days away, we needed to handle this quickly.

The deep forest of Chloris was a trickier place than expected.

To break through it easily, we needed more clones.

More magic, more clones, and more power.

The Violets began strategizing.

“If it’s at Aegis Specialized Academy…”

“We might see those people.”

The goal was simple: steal the Crystal Flowers from Aegis Specialized Academy.

At this point, I wondered which playable characters might be attending there. I was curious.