Hyun-jun's jaw dropped.
“D-Duplicate?”
Duplicate objects?
Did such an ability exist in the world?
“No, more importantly, does this even make sense? A Trait changing?”
The surprise was only momentary.
A greater bewilderment belatedly surged in like a wave.
Hyun-jun had been very interested in the field of Anomalous Spaces and Awakened since he was young.
So he had more knowledge than most people in the industry, and he immediately realized that what had happened to him was no ordinary thing.
“There's no way it could change. This has never happened before.”
An event without precedent in the 30-year history of Awakening had happened to him.
It was a first, but rather than his heart pounding, only his curiosity grew.
“How is this possible? Why did this happen exactly when I turned twenty-five? And what was that System message in the first place? Soul? Engraved? Covenant? Why is the Trait named Primordial Eye? Usually they're more intuitive.”
The question marks went on endlessly, ones he couldn't even make guesses about, let alone answer.
After muttering to himself for a while, Hyun-jun let out a deep sigh.
“This is frustrating. Not a single thing is clearly resolved.”
Unable to get even a hint of an answer, his curiosity subsided.
Hyun-jun's interest returned to the newly acquired Duplicate Skill.
“Duplicate, huh.”
Just from the description, he couldn't tell how amazing it was.
But at the very least, it seemed much more useful than a Skill like <Physical abilities increase when fighting birds.>
“I should test it out.”
Hyun-jun looked around.
Suddenly, a growling sound rang out from his stomach.
Hyun-jun's gaze naturally turned to the cake he'd placed on the desk.
“Should I try it on this?”
One cake wasn't enough anyway.
“Will it really duplicate?”
Half in doubt, Hyun-jun used the Skill.
[Select a target to duplicate.]
A blue energy formed in his eyes.
At the same time, a blue outline began to sparkle around the cake.
“Duplicate.”
As he said it in a low voice, a new cake appeared along with a message that the chocolate cake had been duplicated.
“......Oh my god.”
Hyun-jun was stunned, his mouth hanging open.
It was truly an identical cake, as if he'd copied and pasted it on a computer.
“Sniff, sniff.”
Unable to shake his doubts, Hyun-jun picked up the cake and smelled it.
“It smells the same too.”
Could it even taste the same?
Hyun-jun carefully took a bite of the cake.
His eyes went wide at the rich chocolate taste in his mouth.
“......”
Without a word, he took a bite of the original cake too.
Appearance, texture, taste, smell, feel, and so on.
Not a single thing was missing; it was all the same.
He couldn't tell which was the original and which was the copy.
“This is seriously insane.”
There were various abilities in the world, but he had never heard of an ability like this.
This too was an unprecedented Skill, just like the change of Trait.
“Is this enough to turn my life around?”
Hmm.
If the Skill had no restrictions, maybe.
But because of the 24-hour restriction, he wasn't quite sure yet.
For now, it seemed he needed to try using the Skill in more varied ways.
Growl.
“......Before that, let me fill my stomach first.”
Hyun-jun frantically wolfed down the two chocolate cakes on the spot.
“Burp.”
He let out a satisfying burp.
His hunger was somewhat relieved.
“Hmm. The portion's a bit lacking.”
Should he have duplicated one more?
Savoring the chocolate taste lingering on the tip of his tongue, Hyun-jun pondered how to use the ability.
“Where and how should I make use of this Skill?”
Hyun-jun's top priority was money.
So he immediately turned his mind toward making money.
“The first thing that comes to mind is a short-term rental business.”
It meant duplicating expensive items, such as luxury goods, lending them out, and getting paid.
The Skill itself had a 24-hour time limit, but that was a problem that could be solved by splitting the rental period into hours.
“The biggest obstacle is that I'd have to go find the originals.......”
Did it really have to be the real thing?
As a test, Hyun-jun went online and searched for a luxury watch.
[Select a target to duplicate.]
He used the Skill, but no blue outline appeared around the watch photo on the screen.
“So this doesn't work.”
The original absolutely had to be a physical object.
The rental business was on hold for now.
The next thing that came to mind was tickets.
“If I got one concert or event ticket, duplicated it, and sold them...... that's just fraud.”
Pass on this one too.
What was something that wouldn't cause problems even if he lent or sold it?
His thoughts followed one after another.
Several ideas came to mind, but none clicked.
“It'd be nice if I could use it to get stronger as a Hunter.”
Money followed strong Hunters.
But growing stronger with the Duplicate Skill was difficult.
“Even if I duplicate Runes right now, they'll disappear after 24 hours.”
Runes, the source of an Awakened's power.
There was no reason he couldn't duplicate them, but once again, he was blocked by the wall of the time limit.
“I could be as strong as 10 Runes for 24 hours.......”
Even so, there would be no dramatic change in income.
Even eating 10 Runes, he'd still be F-Grade in the end.
“I could become the ace of manual labor, at least.”
The time limit.
That one limitation was far too big a barrier.
“If only that weren't there.......”
At that moment, the cake he had just eaten flashed through Hyun-jun's mind.
“Come to think of it, what happens to the duplicated cake?”
The cake would also disappear after 24 hours.
But it had already been eaten and was gone.
“Does only the cake disappear from inside my body?”
That would be kind of weird.
Let's test it.
According to the description, the duplicate could be removed at will even before the time limit passed.
“I guess I can just think of it as deleting it.”
Hyun-jun thought in his head about removing the duplicated cake.
[No duplicate exists to remove. Cannot remove.]
“......It can't?”
A message saying it couldn't be removed because the duplicate to be removed did not ‘exist.’
That meant a duplicate with no physical form would not disappear even after time passed.
“Wait a minute. Then wouldn't this work on Runes too?”
Runes were absorbed into the body and engraved into the Soul Circuit.
In other words, just like the cake, their physical form disappeared.
“......”
Silence settled over the quiet semi-basement room.
Amid the flowing cold air, excitement slowly began to fill Hyun-jun's face.
“Duplicate a Rune, absorb it, duplicate again, absorb it.......”
If he absorbed enough Runes, he could grow his Soul Circuit.
When the Soul Circuit grew, the Trait Skill would also grow.
“Then the Grade restriction would go up too.”
He could go from F-Grade to E-Grade, and from E-Grade to D-Grade.
Since the number of Runes required was considerable, it wouldn't be easy, but if the Duplicate Skill also applied to Runes, it was a different story.
“10 a day. 300 in a month. At least 3,600 in a year.”
As he muttered, Hyun-jun's lips trembled.
“Even S-Grade...... isn't a dream......?”
The S-Grade Hunters, of whom only a few existed in the country.
Each one was called a walking corporation and a force on the level of national power.
“I could stand shoulder to shoulder with them......?”
The first thought was that it was impossible.
But the Duplicate Skill and the fact he had just confirmed were clearly painting that impossible future.
Hyun-jun imagined it.
A future where he became an S-Grade Hunter after endlessly duplicating Runes.
He could wear luxury brands instead of ragged old clothes.
He wouldn't have to watch drunks urinating in the street outside his window anymore.
He wouldn't shrink back for no reason whenever he went to the hospital's billing department.
He could pay the hospital bills and walk out proudly.
“......Why does it all feel so modest?”
But he couldn't help it.
That was all he could think of right now.
“I could buy Hyun-ah a laptop as a graduation present, and pay all her college tuition. I could even give her pocket money without holding back!”
The wings of imagination he'd freely spread whenever it was time to sleep.
To someone else, it might be ordinary everyday life, but to Hyun-jun, it was no different from a delusion.
That had been the case until just yesterday.
But now, all of it might become reality.
“Ha.”
Hyun-jun clutched his chest with a trembling hand.
His heart pounded painfully, as if it would burst through his ribs.
“Not yet. It's still too early to celebrate.”
Hyun-jun slowly steadied his breathing.
He remembered the old days.
The despair he'd felt when, after Awakening, he'd made a huge fuss rejoicing that his hardships were over, only to realize that wasn't the case.
The feeling of flying through the sky had lasted only a few dozen minutes, but the mental shock from it had lasted for weeks.
This time, it would be worse, if anything, not better.
“I have to verify it first.”
Duplicates whose physical form disappeared weren't removed, but he couldn't be sure that rule applied to Runes too.
First, let go of expectations and confirm it for certain.
“I need a Rune.”
Since there was a restriction on duplicable Grades, he needed an F-Grade Rune to test the Skill.
“A place where I can get a Rune right now.......”
The Exchange came to Hyun-jun's mind.
Naturally, the Exchange handled Runes too.
The one problem was that even though he'd worked there for four years, he couldn't carelessly access the Runes.
Ordinary items could be recovered even if stolen, but once a Rune was absorbed, it was over, so their management was extremely strict.
F-Grade Runes were no exception.
“Sneaking access is practically impossible.”
Having worked there for a long time, he also knew the tight security well.
If he exploited the loopholes, it wasn't impossible, but the chance of failure was high.
One wrong move and he'd become a criminal with no way out.
“F-Grade Runes aren't that expensive, so there's no need to take that kind of risk.”
He'd just buy one.
He could make that much of an investment.
“And if my hypothesis is wrong, I can just sell it back.”
Hyun-jun put his hand in his pocket and tightly gripped the 250,000 won he'd received as his daily wage.
With this money, he should be able to buy one.
“Let's hurry.”
He had to confirm it before midnight.
If it became certain that the Rune wasn't removed, it would be most efficient to use up all of today's duplications.
.
.
.
“Oh, Hyun-jun?”
The tired-looking Branch Manager was among the night-shift staff.
“You haven't gone home yet?”
“I had some work left. What brings you here? Did you leave something behind?”
“No. I came to buy a Rune.”
“A Rune? Ah, come to think of it, you were an Awakened too. But didn't you quit Hunter work entirely?”
“I'm going to try again.”
The Branch Manager had always cared about Hyun-jun a great deal.
When you worked with someone like that for about four years, you ended up having deep conversations.
She lowered her voice with a serious face.
“Did your mother's condition suddenly get worse?”
The Branch Manager knew Hyun-jun's circumstances well.
Hyun-jun smiled gently and shook his head.
“It's not that. Thanks to a government subsidy coming through, I can afford to buy Runes. I'm going to put together the Beginner Setup and try going the Hunter route.”
Of course, there was no such thing as a government subsidy.
But since he couldn't tell the Branch Manager everything, he made up a plausible excuse.
“Ah, really? Thank goodness~ What Rune are you looking for?”
“Hmm.......”
There were many kinds of Runes.
But among them, there were five Runes needed to raise the Grade of a Soul Circuit.
Strength, Agility, Stamina, Mana, and Willpower.
These were the Runes called the Five Major Runes or Stat Runes.
“Do you have any Runes of Strength in stock?”
“Just a moment~”
The Branch Manager checked the inventory on her smartphone.
She shook her head with a regretful face.
“What should I do? We don't have Strength.”
“What about Stamina?”
“Stamina...... oh dear, the last one we had sold five minutes ago.”
Hyun-jun clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Since I'm testing it anyway, I wanted to go with Strength or Stamina, which are useful for manual labor.’
Mana or Willpower wouldn't be of much use.
At this point, he had no choice but to go with Agility.
“You have Agility, right?”
“Yeah. We have that one. There are three left.”
“I'll just buy one.”
“Just one?”
“I'm going to put it together slowly. How much is it?”
“It's 270,000 won, but I'll knock off 20,000 won just for you.”
“You don't have to do that.......”
“Something good happened to you, so it's a congratulatory gift~”
“Thank you.”
Hyun-jun handed the Branch Manager the cash.
Following the Branch Manager's instructions, a staff member brought a small case.
Hyun-jun received the item from the Branch Manager, box and all.
“I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay~ Get home safe~”
Hyun-jun left the Exchange.
After moving to a secluded place, he needlessly glanced around and then opened the case.
A small stone engraved with unknown characters revealed itself.
“Wow.......”
Hyun-jun marveled quietly.
“I never thought the day would come when I'd own a Rune.”
Of course, whether he could keep owning it was uncertain.
If the experiment's results differed from his expectations, he would have to send this Rune back into the Exchange's arms.
“I hope we can be together forever.”
Hyun-jun prayed earnestly and activated the Skill.
A blue outline lit up around the Rune.
He carried the duplication through.
[You have duplicated <F-Grade Rune of Agility>.]
Now it was time to absorb the Rune.
The method was simple.
He just had to swallow it like a pill.
Hyun-jun took out the water bottle he'd brought from home.
It was water he'd filled up at a mountain spring.
“Please......!”
Hyun-jun swallowed the Rune with the water, praying desperately.
The foreign-body sensation, like a thick pill going down, disappeared past his esophagus.
[<Duplicated F-Grade Rune of Agility> has been engraved into the Soul Circuit.]
Absorption was a success, at least.
Now it was time to finish it.
He thought of removing the Rune.
[No duplicate exists to remove. Cannot remove.]