2025-10-30 17:54:14(Submissive) 5 – The Clone Who Ran
The early sun painted the sky in soft oranges and pinks, casting long shadows over the park paths. Trees rustled gently in the breeze, their leaves whispering secrets from a world where nature still remembered peace. And through that park, a figure ran. Thump. Thump. Thump. Shoes smacked against the paved path with steady rhythm, not hurried but firm. A wide, round man with sweat sticking to his shirt sprinted down the trail. Or so it looked, until you realized something felt... off. It wasn't Kim Do-hyun (김도현). It was Number 1. The clone. His steps were too perfect. His eyes too empty. Not robotic, but focused. Pure will. A body pushed to its absolute edge, but a mind that didn’t care about rest. Two old men sat on a park bench nearby, cracking sunflower seeds and watching him jog past. "That guy again," one said, squinting under his cap. "You see him? That crazy one. Comes here every morning. Runs till sunset like a machine." The other grunted. "No one runs like that unless they're running from death. Or chasing it." Further down the path, a short old lady waved a hand, smiling gently. "Boy, wait! Here, take some water. You’ll collapse if you keep pushing like this." She reached into a cloth bag and held out a small plastic bottle. Her fingers shook a little from age. But the clone didn’t break stride. He turned his head slightly, just enough to make eye contact. Then he frowned. Not with anger. Just... disinterest. He ran faster. Leaves flew up behind him. The woman stood frozen, water bottle still held out. "That one's strange," she whispered. Back home, in a second-floor apartment stacked with game posters and half-eaten ramen bowls, the real Kim Do-hyun (김도현) stood shirtless before a mirror. He stepped on the digital scale. Beep. The numbers glowed. 92.3 kg He blinked. He stepped off, rubbed his eyes, stepped back on. 92.3 kg He blinked again. "No way," he mumbled. "That’s twenty kilos... gone?" His fingers pinched at his belly. The soft rolls had shrunk. His face looked slimmer. His neck wasn’t swallowed by fat anymore. He raised his arms. They looked... stronger. A bit of tone, not just marshmallow. And he hadn’t moved in weeks. He grinned. "This... this is the life." A blue window popped up before his eyes. [Stats Updated] [Stamina +0.1] [Reflex +0.1] [Agility +0.1] He whispered slowly, like tasting fine candy. "Plus point one... for free." He tapped a finger to his forehead. His clone was still out there. Still running. And everything it did came back to him. He threw on a hoodie, slumped into his gamer chair, and scrolled open the skill logs. His talent had rules. He had spent the past few weeks testing and observing, watching his clone from security cams, tracking its patterns, even attaching a smartwatch to check heartbeat and GPS. Now, he understood a few things. One: The clone's pain and exhaustion didn't transfer back to him. Not even a whisper of soreness. It could collapse from heat stroke, vomit from fatigue, pass out from overwork — and Do-hyun would be eating potato chips, watching cartoons. Two: If pushed too hard, or left with zero energy, the clone would vanish in a puff of smoke. Not violently. Just like steam meeting cold air. Silent. Gone. But it could be summoned again after the cooldown. Three: The clone's body changed with him. As Do-hyun got in shape, the clone did too. It mirrored him exactly. Fat melted off both. Muscle started to show. Four: Distance didn’t matter. Do-hyun could send mental commands from across the city. He once tested it during a bathroom break and watched the clone stop mid-sprint, kneel, and start praying beside a lake. It freaked out a couple walking by. And five: A clone could never summon a clone. He tried it on Day Ten. The clone tried to mimic his own summon pose. It failed. Error message. Blue light flickered. A buzzing sound. Then reality rejected the action like a virus. [Illegal Command. Clone-summoning cannot stack.] He had stared at that line for a long time. If clone-summoning could stack, he thought, it would break the world. One man becomes two. Then four. Then eight. Then sixteen. Infinite copies of one mind, all doing different tasks. Reality would collapse. He had laughed. Then cried. Then ate more ramen. But now? Now he felt powerful. His phone buzzed. A message from Park Joon-ho (박준호). Yo. Did you really lose twenty kilos or are you lying to your mirror? Do-hyun replied: Mirror's scared of me now. I look like a proper main character. Joon-ho responded quickly. You mean a background character who glitched into the main role. Do-hyun chuckled. He sat back and looked at the ceiling. Then said in a low voice: "Let’s test how far I can go." He called up the skill window. [Talent: Cloning – Level 1] [Type: Summoning] [Maximum active clones: 1] [Energy drain: Moderate] [Control range: Global (linked by mind)] [Cooldown: 24 hours upon dismissal or failure] He gazed at the words. His eyes were fixed on the top. Level 1 That was the ability to level up. The clone's physical activity increased his stats. Perhaps other activities would increase his magic stat. Or reflex. Or even unlock passive skills. But how? He had to experiment. Do-hyun got up and stretched. He gazed upon the disordered room. Dirty bowls. Squashed soda cans. Worn clothes. This was a cave. A nest. He had lived small. But now? He was beginning to feel large. Number 1 slowed in the park. The sky was orange, nearly red. The sun was bleeding into the mountains way beyond the trees. Slowly the birds flew in the air, homeward bound. The clone's breath was ragged. His shirt was plastered against his chest. His shoes were wet with sweat and dust. People stared. A little girl whispered to her mom, "Mommy, is that man okay?" The mother smiled. "He’s fine, honey. Just... very dedicated." The clone halted at last by a bench. He leaned forward, on his knees. He blinked. Once. Twice. Then he disappeared. A little smoke puff. Gone. At the apartment, the bracelet of Do-hyun was glowing. [Clone dismissed. Cooldown started: 24:00:00] He smiled and nodded. "Good job, Number 1. See you tomorrow." The room was silent once more. But within him a fire was kindled. And it was not going out soon.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Episode 48
Episode 48 – Midnight Reflection and New ResolveThe hazy night air wrapped itself around them like a cool cocoon as Kim Do‑hyun (김도현) slowly opened his eyes to the night sky. His vision blurred, then cleared, revealing a handful of faint stars peeking between the rooftop buildings. He lay on the cold pavement, the city’s faint hum under his ears, breathing shallow and slow. The taste of dust mingled with adrenaline in his mouth. Faint cobblestones pressed into his cheek. His body felt heavy as if someone had dumped a sack of stones inside him, even though relief had come in the form of unconscious reprieve minutes ago.Kim Do‑hyun's head rang with echoes—system messages still floated through his consciousness like ghostly whispers: Level 3 unlocked… can summon three clones… reflex increased… strength... speed... endurance… vitality… He could almost taste the data flood: metallic, electric, sweet with possibility. But the cost had been steep; his own body
Episode 47
E47: The Rising Flame and the Fall of ThreeThe roar of the explosion hadn’t fully faded when a thick curtain of smoke rolled across the battered street like a slow gray tide. The charred air reeked of scorched asphalt and burnt polyester, sharp enough to sting the nose and burn the throat. Rubble and splinters of shattered sidewalk lay scattered around the impact crater, and at its center, something massive had been hurled back.Kim Do-hyun (김도현) was still hunched low near the ground, his hands bracing his knees, lungs wheezing with each shallow breath. His ribs ached from the last brutal strike he had taken, and his abdomen still felt like a twisted knot of fire from where that mountain of a man had crushed him. His fingers were trembling slightly, half from adrenaline, half from pain, but his eyes were steady, locked on the aftermath.Out from the dispersing smoke came the sight that snapped everyone's attention—the fat boss, the towering bruiser who ha
Episode 46
E46: The Mammoth ChargesThe heavy thud of footsteps against the cracked pavement made the air tremble with unease. The fat, hulking man who had been calling the shots—now shirt shredded down the side, exposing skin that looked almost unnaturally dense and veiny—was moving forward with a kind of terrifying calm. Despite his absurd size, there was no sluggishness in his step. No hesitation. Just pure, mechanical intimidation.Kim Do-hyun (김도현) stood his ground. Or at least, he tried to.Inside his chest, his heartbeat was thumping like a drum on the edge of snapping. His muscles were shaking—not from fear, but from pain that had begun catching up to him like a debt collector. The last blow from the Tarzan-looking brute hadn’t just knocked the wind out of him. It had rattled something deeper. A nerve maybe. Or his spine. He couldn’t tell anymore. His vision flickered at the edges like a TV losing signal. Even the breeze on his skin felt distant now
episode 45
Episode 45 – Burn, Break, SurviveKim Do-hyun (김도현) stood his ground, his knees slightly bent, posture low, body angled sideways to reduce his exposed area. His muscles were tensed, not in fear but in readiness. His lungs pulled in tight, steady breaths as he tracked every movement in front of him. Oh Min-joo (오민주) stood behind him, her hands trembling, face pale with a cocktail of fear and adrenaline swirling behind her eyes. But despite her visible anxiety, she bit down on her bottom lip, drawing a tiny drop of blood, and made her decision.With a sharp inhale and a flick of her wrist, she conjured another radiant sphere of flame into her palm. This time, the glowing orb pulsed with a concentrated, unstable intensity — like a miniature sun packed tight with fury. She shouted, voice cracking but fierce, “Step back, or I swear I’ll burn straight through you!”She didn’t wait for them to laugh again.The sphere shot forward like a missile, trailing
episode 44
EPISODE 44 – Fire in the PalmThe tension in the air was like thick molasses. Every second dragged with weight, and every breath felt loud. Kim Do-hyun (김도현) remained in his fighting stance, heels anchored into the stone beneath him, knees slightly bent, shoulders lowered, eyes locked forward with calm intensity. His right arm stayed loose but ready, and his left hand hovered near his waist, prepared to either block or grab depending on how the next second unfolded. He could hear his own heartbeat now, thudding in rhythm with the tension rising around him. The muscles in his neck flexed, and the breath that passed through his nose came out like cold steam.Then it began.The first guy to charge looked like a living jungle beast. Long black hair whipped around his face in wild tangles, like vines shaken by a violent gust of wind. He had no shirt on—just a sleeveless combat vest half-zipped and stained with what might have been sweat or old blood. His arms w
episode 43
EPISODE 43 – A Crowd Gathers, and Trouble UnfoldsThe plastic bench Kim Do-hyun (김도현) sat on wasn’t particularly comfortable, but it served its purpose. It was old, slightly faded from years of sun exposure, and bolted into the stone pavement of the city park’s open square. Around him, trees swayed softly in the humid night breeze, their broad leaves whispering overhead like gossiping spectators. Streetlamps dotted the walkways, casting golden halos over patches of grass and the winding concrete paths. From somewhere nearby, the smell of warm fishcakes and spicy tteokbokki drifted from a food stall, mixing with the distant noise of traffic and quiet conversations.He exhaled heavily through his nose and leaned back, neck stiff, trying to recover from the constant clone hopping he had been doing. His mind still buzzed faintly from the gun practice session earlier. The recoil of the Desert Eagle, the sharp sting of air against his clone’s cheek, the incredi
You may also like
Soul Avatar
Japhel14.9K viewsDivine Cultivator: Rebirth of the God Emperor
Dragonix Loki40.7K viewsXianXia : Sovereign of the Gods
kalki_gsk19.3K viewsTHE FUTURE IS BEHIND.
Jaydee15.3K viewsDefiant
Remnis Luz2.0K viewsROOM 49 IS CURSED
A.B STELLAR261 viewsI Destroy the Empire
Infared897 viewsHealing Skills
Tricia best641 views