Chapter 190: Chapter 59. The Fight With Myself (2)
At this point, both of us resembled each other so much that it was hard to tell who was whose clone.
I was getting more complete, and the clone was becoming more incomplete.
At the same time, I was becoming more indifferent.
Emotion left me, and calmness filled its spot. As a result, my moves became cleaner and more concise like a machine.
The fight was getting fiercer. The clone was getting weaker, and I was becoming more powerful.
Despite the improvement, I felt empty inside.
At some point, I was convinced that if such a transformation continued, I would become completely emotionless, and even my blood would turn cold. I did not want to be like that, even though such a change could make me stronger.
At this rate, I would eventually lose myself by getting stronger, and I did not want that. I wanted to stay as myself and get more powerful.
“I want to become the Dark Lord and laugh at the world,” I thought.
Getting to the throne was only a part of the goal. I wanted to ultimately enjoy myself after I became the Dark Lord.
Without any emotions, I won’t be able to feel anything, even if I became one. I did not want to lose my emotions.
“I need to keep my emotions,” I thought.
The clone suggested that if I wanted to become perfect, I would have to let go of the parts that were imperfect. In other words, it implied that I needed to abandon my emotions, which were imperfect aspects of mine, to become more powerful and ultimately become the Dark Lord.
Should I get rid of my emotions, I would rather not become the Dark Lord. Although they were causes for imperfection, emotions drove me to return to this life and led me all the way until here.
I had been pushing myself to get better and enjoy the feeling at the top. If emotions were gone, half of my goal was gone, too.
Thanks to my emotions and pride, I had high self-esteem, which I was quite satisfied with. I had never considered that part of me as imperfect, but the clone suggested that my pride was also one of my weaknesses.
I did not buy that, nor did I want to change myself.
“I don’t like it,” I thought.
The repetitive fights with my clone were very cumbersome. As the clone resembled me, it took away some of my characters, and I had to put a lot of effort to fill the void that the clone had created.
[Your agility dropped by one.]
When I filled that void, my statistics were returning to those from before. However, I could not care less. Without emotions, everything was meaningless, even high statistics.
Regaining my original statistics took a lot of time and effort, but in the end, I was able to retain my previous abilities.
The clone seemed surprised that I returned to my previous state.
“You fool. You cannot gain unless you let go. You have come so close to perfection, but you abandoned it yourself.”
Its words sounded offensive, but the clone looked surprised.
Despite the condescending tone, the clone’s eyes were full of surprise, questioning me about my decision to return.
I could easily read its mind because I had become very similar to it.
“I am getting rid of a lot of things.”
I snickered. I had worked so hard to get perfect, but now I was abandoning what I had gained from that process.
Then the clone started to grind its teeth.
“You’re voluntarily trying to be imperfect! You’re foolish!”
“That’s funny. Wasn’t it you who wanted to become stupid?”
I stopped smiling and stared at my clone.
Every time I fought this clone, it changed. The changes were not dramatic, because it took away what consisted of me one by one.
At first, I could not notice such changes. However, when it had taken dozens of aspects of my character, I started to realize the difference.
One of the changes was the variety of facial expressions.
“Don’t you want to be perfect? One must forsake imperfection to pursue perfection! Don’t you want to be more powerful?”
Hurrying, the clone asked me.
“I do want to become more powerful. However, I don’t think I am imperfect.”
Although the clone had taken many parts of me, I considered none of them to be my weaknesses. The clone was indeed a bit different from me; it thought that some of the characteristics, which it had taken from me, were my weaknesses.
When I finished talking, the clone started to go mad.
“You’re imperfect! You can’t even beat me!”
“Of course, I don’t think I am perfect, either.”
The more the clone got mad, the more relaxed I became, and the more I was convinced that I was going in the correct direction.
“If you’re neither perfect nor imperfect, what are you? Do you think you can become the Dark Lord when you’re nothing but a mediocre demon?”
“You’re such a loser. I have different standards from you.”
I pointed at the clone with Rage and the Sword of the Emperor.
Clenching its teeth, the clone spoke.
“Never! You will never beat me unless you become perfect!”
“Now I realize that you have been my weakness.”
Thanks to this clone, who was surprisingly different from me, I learned an important lesson.
I took a deep breath.
Then I laid Rage and the Sword of the Emperor on the ground.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to become more powerful, and I will be. However, I will never sell my soul.”
Then I smiled slightly.
“I know that a part of me is very narrow-minded. I don’t know where it is, but please return it to me now.”
The clone was similar to but different from me at the same time. All this time, I had not known the reason, but I finally found the reason. The clone was not a copy of myself, but it was merely a concoction of what had fallen off of me.
The parts of me, which I had considered as “weak,” fell off of me. One of them included the narrow-mindedness, which I could see from the clone.
The clone, whose face was exactly the same as mine, looked very shaken.
“Letting go is the fastest way to become perfect. You know that yourself, don’t you? Isn’t that what you learned after you confronted the gods and returned to this life? I know that you know this because what the gods told me carried that message. But I wonder why…”
“You’re asking why I didn’t become perfect.”
“Yes, why, that is my question. I showed you the other side of your mind. In fact, I was the representation of the other side! Why are you still hesitant?”
Now the clone had revealed everything. It was calling itself the other side of my mind.
I shook my head.
“If the gods were perfect, they would not have asked me for help. The very fact that they asked for my help implies that even the gods themselves were not perfect. Anyway, I don’t want others to determine my fate, even if they are the gods. I will pioneer my own path.”
The experience from the previous life was merely a reference. This life was indeed different from the previous life. Not everything worked out, but I was getting closer to my goal.
If I weren’t so sure about myself and my goal, I would have hesitated. However, I had changed, and now I was more convinced about my plan than ever.
“You will regret this. I just separated myself out from you, and you could have been perfect… As soon as you admit me as a collection of your weaknesses, you cannot go back.”
“If you are really the concoction of my weaknesses, I would rather admit you, so that I can analyze my weaknesses even better.”
“Nonsense! You’re talking nonsense!”
“They said that I am too young and that my pride will lead me to destruction. However, everyone who said that died at my hands.”
Oculus was one of them, and I killed him.
The winner became the justice, and the loser died. In other words, whatever Oculus said to me was bullshit.
“…Fine. If you insist, go ahead and perish.”
My clone, who gave up on persuading me, walked to me helplessly.
Relaxed and smiling, I opened my arms.
The clone came back into me.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a small fairy.
“Y-you have woken up, master!”
“It’s you, Lyhee.”
Putting my hands on my forehead, I stood up. I was inside a small wooden building, which seemed to be located in the Dark Elves’ town.
“It has been three days since you passed out. Lyhee has been very, very concerned.”
The fairy wiped her tears with her fingers.
“Three days… Has anything happened in the meantime?”
“Krithli stopped by. The Tree of Life and Death has successfully grown, and seven candidates have been nominated for the sage king. Lyhee was told that two of them are humans, whom you also know.”
“Krithli told me about that months ago.”
Lyhee blinked her large eyes.
“Huh? That’s funny. Krithli told Lyhee that the news has only been a few days…”
There seemed to be a miscommunication. I got curious and asked some questions.
“Lyhee, what’s the date today?”
“It is September twelfth. It’s getting colder. Lyhee doesn’t like being cold and wishes that the winter won’t come.”
“September twelfth?”
“What’s the matter, master?”
“Nothing.”
I frowned a bit.
The day that I went to the Tree of Origin and fought with my clone for the first time was September ninth. I had gone through many rounds of fight with the clone, but it had only been three days.
And I felt that I had received Krithli’s message a long time ago.
“Am I foreseeing the future?” I thought.
I had obtained Martin’s eyes, but I had never transplanted them. However, it seemed that I had gained some of the demon’s abilities.
I could not explain why the time did not pass by much.
“Is this some kind of effect of the power of Domination?” I thought.
Perhaps, the power of Domination could have been activated when Martin died. I had killed a large number of monsters and message boxes flooded in. In the midst of so many messages, I could have missed the notification for the power of Domination.
“Wait… if time has not passed much, my statistics must have not changed, too,” I thought.
I remembered that I was able to increase my statistics while fighting my clone. Although I purposely decreased some of them in the end, I had put in much effort to increase them. I felt bittersweet after realizing that everything was just a dream.
“I need to look at my status window,” I thought.
I opened my status window to confirm that nothing had changed.
Name: Randalf Bruciel
Occupation: Archduke of Devildom (Dungeon Master)
Title:
* Dungeon Hunter (The remaining statistics increase by one when the user conquers a new dungeon or hunts a demon.)
*Unbreakable Warrior (Ex U, increase all statistics by two points)
*The first one to be blessed by a fairy (U, mana +6)
*The Owner of the Origin (Epic, increases all statistics by three points)
*Undead (Ex U, increases intelligence and health point by five points)
*The Ruler of the Underworld (Legend, all of the statistics increase by five points. Every skill below the epic grade improves by 0.5 points)
Statistics:
Strength 89 (+20) Intelligence 96 (+15) Agility 85 (+20) Health point 90 (+20) Mana 100 (+16) Potential (456+93/570)
Remaining statistics: 14
Electrical power: 21 GW
Comments: Randalf is the Owner of the Underworld. The Heart of the Hell Lord has been completely awakened.
Skills: Combination of All Things (Ex U), Mind’s Eye (Epic), Dark Sword (Epic), Sentiment du Fer (Epic, Passive), Attacking Spirit (Epic), Pride (Epic), Depravity (Ex Epic), Power of Domination (Ex Epic, Passive), Commune with Spirits (Epic, Passive)
Skills that are activated and items that are in effect: Pride (Strength +7), Indolence (Agility +7), Pride (Health point +7), Sentiment du Fer (Strength, agility +3)
[Before and after comparison]
Strength 105 Intelligence 107 Agility 100 Health point 107 Mana 113 Potential (434+93/555)
Strength 109 Intelligence 105 Agility 105 Health point 112 Mana 116 Potential (456+93/570)
I was shocked after I checked my status window.
“My statistics have changed…”
The numbers had increased a lot. The total increase was more than twenty points.
I could not help but laugh.
“I did not expect any of this,” I thought.
Before I checked the status window, I had hoped that I would be happy if the statistics did not drop at least. The fights with my clone were all dreams, and I expected that my statistics would reset.
However, I was wrong, and fortunately, all of my statistics increased.
“I cannot believe that even my potential increased,” I thought.
I did not do much to increase the statistics.
All I did was admitting some aspects of myself which I had been too careless to notice.
Some could say it was a moment of enlightenment, but I would call it rediscovering myself. Then another thought occurred to me. The system did not seem to notice the change, and I suspected if the changed statistics were perhaps my true statistics.
“There is nothing to worry about. Everything is working out fine,” I thought.
I smiled slightly.
The clone said that it would watch me fall, but everything was opposite to what it said. Instead of getting worse, my statistics and abilities improved.
“Master?”
Lyhee asked me curiously.
“Release the spirits. The time has come, and we will make them create contracts with humans.”
“Yes, master, as you wish. However, master…”
“What is the matter?”
“Somehow you look much better than before, master. Hehe.”
“I don’t have time for bullshit.”
“But you really do look much better!”
Lyhee puffed her cheeks and complained. Then the fairy started to work on the task that I had assigned her.
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