’What a stroke of bad luck... the main body is completely weak-ass, a pure support-based talent.’
[ You don’t have to stress over it, Host. As long as you can acquire resources, everything will work out fine in the end. ]
’..Thanks for the rare bit of encouragement, man.’
Urek was genuinely in a tight spot.
Even though his cloning skill wasn’t limited by form...allowing him to replicate anything from a single cellular structure to a completely perfect duplicate
His true physical body would always remain baseline weak.
That fact alone was a massive weakness.
"Hmm... what if I just pilot a perfect copy of my own human form? Keke that would be completely broken."
Urek already began strategizing.
Since his primary body was far too fragile for direct combat, his best course of action for now was to hide in the background.
"Fuck... are you crazy, man? Why are you talking to yourself?" a passerby close to him muttered, drawing back.
"Oh... sorry about that. I just remembered an embarrassing moment from my life," Urek replied smoothly, offering a carefree look as he kept walking.
The stranger hadn’t done anything inherently wrong; he was just unlucky enough to witness a lunatic chatting with an invisible interface.
....
Night had completely fallen by the time Urek exited the underground arena.
He had observed more than enough, and now it was simply a matter of execution.
"That was absolute carnage! Heh... another jackpot tonight. Guess it’s time for a massive feast and finding a total sucker to bleed dry!" a thug who resembled a literal rodent with protruding teeth snickered.
He was riding high after hitting a lucky streak on his ring bets.
"Hmm... how about sharing a piece of that fortune with a poor soul like me?" a voice echoed directly into his ear, forcing him to instinctively leap backward.
"Who the fuck are you?!" The man whirled around, creating some proper distance between them.
"I am merely a poor soul, just as I stated. Is that not sufficient?"
"You piece of shit! Don’t play games with me or I’ll blow your head off!" The thug aggressively unholstered his weapon, a sleek magitech pistol that channeled volatile arcane energy instead of traditional lead bullets.
"Oh, man... I haven’t done a single thing to you, yet you are treating me with such hostility? How could you be so cruel to someone as pitiful-looking as me?"
Urek walked leisurely out of the shadows, hands stuffed casually inside his pockets.
He wore his formal, crimson-red suit, which perfectly complemented his ruby eyes and matching hair.
’Damn... I look so incredibly cool right now. How many aura points did I just farm, System?’
[ Dammit, Host... how are you supposed to farm aura when you keep breaking character to interrupt the goosebumps scene? ]
’Are you sure I ruined it?’
[ Dead sure... ]
’...’
Urek wanted to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, but as the old saying goes:
You just have to commit to the bit.
He had already broken the tension, and there was nothing he could do to reverse it, even with the aid of his villain monocle.
"Stop right there! You’re actively begging for death, you bastard!" The rat-faced man aimed the barrel straight at Urek’s face.
He was clearly an experienced killer; his grip didn’t waver in the slightest... well, except for his slightly trembling legs.
"Don’t raise your voice, man. Unless you want a parasite to crawl inside your body."
"You’re still not backing off?! Fine, then die!"
Bang!
The sharp discharge of the firearm echoed violently down the narrow alleyway, forcing nesting rodents and insects to scatter in a sudden panic at the burst of noise.
"Heh, a total amateur trying to intimidate a professional like me? Pui! You’re dead history now..." the thug muttered, spitting on the ground as he stared down at the collapsed target he had just shot.
He didn’t give a damn about the corpse.
He could easily report the kill to his boss, who would smoothly handle the legal clean-up.
It was a shame his hard-earned gambling winnings would likely go toward paying off the favor, but that was infinitely better than facing imprisonment... or getting publicly beheaded.
"Whoa, that guy definitely died. What a truly pitiful soul." A voice suddenly materialized directly behind his shoulder.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"You piece of shit! Are you playing mind games with me?! Me, the great Rat?!" the thug screamed, firing wildly into the dark.
"Tsk...not playing along. Of course, we are playing you."
The criminal’s legs instantly wobbled at the sight before him.
Standing under the dim light was a man wearing a basic civilian tunic, sporting crimson hair and ruby eyes.
It was the same individual he had just gunned down.
The man was smiling warmly at him, proving the three close-range shots had been entirely useless. Everything he did was entirely futile.
"KEKEKE, ahh... how I thoroughly live to see that kind expression on a pitiful ugly face."
The man clad in the formal red suit casually stood back up from the pavement, dusting off his jacket as if nothing had occurred.
But the nightmare didn’t end there.
From another shadow, a third version of the same man emerged, wearing an identical, wicked grin.
"How pathetic, how utterly laughable... oh, my great Rat, just look at your miserable display..."
"W-what... what the hell are you?!"
"That is entirely the wrong question to ask, great Rat."
"That is entirely the wrong question to ask...great Rat."
"That is... entirely the wrong question to ask, great Rat."
The three identical men spoke in perfect, overlapping succession.
The synchronized, grating tone was so psychologically grueling that the thug’s knees completely gave out, causing him to collapse onto the asphalt.
"The real question you should be asking is... why are we here?"
The Urek wearing the crimson suit stepped forward, a diabolical smile stretching across his face...an expression that looked capable of devouring anything whole.
His ruby eyes made the criminal feel as though his entire soul was being swallowed into a void.
"I-I didn’t do anything wrong to you! Please... just let me go... I am begging you!"
"Oh, how incredibly tragic. You have no idea how desperately I wish to salvage your wretched soul... but unfortunately...?"
"W-what? I swear I never crossed you!"
"Of course you didn’t, of course... keke. Oh, but I am just so deeply curious about the body you secretly buried on the outskirts..."
"...."
"Oh... did that finally register in your mind? I knew you were an intelligent fellow, great Rat."
"I-I didn’t mean to do it..."
"Hahaha... naturally! Without a doubt... You totally didn’t mean it..."
Urek closed the final bit of distance between them, staring directly into the criminal’s eyes.
The thug’s gaze was completely bloodshot as he aggressively ground his teeth in absolute terror.
"Because you laughed while doing it. You thoroughly enjoyed the process, and above all, you didn’t care about the consequences. Oh, my great Rat... just look at what you’ve done."
"Pl-please.... I’m... begging you... I w-will... I will never do it again... just spare my life!".