It is now a ruckus. No wonder why Author forced to shut our mouths when the arrow spinned because it knows that it will be chaotic and full of questions that it won't give us a direct answer.
Author ignored us and counted. "20 ... 17 ... 14 ..."
Perhaps it was counting down in completing the process of Fortwen's brain. We also could not approach Fortwen because our feet seemed to be glued to where we were standing.
"12, 11, 10"
"Everyone, we have to fight." Firstwen's encouraging words.
"But how? We're all going to die!" Twelf panicked.
"9, 8, 7"
I closed my eyes. I should control my panic. I may not look like it, but my heart trembles. Must think. Just be calm. This is the Wealth Level where our intellectual skills are measured. It means, not pure fighting where strength is needed, but also the brain. If the boys use their physical strength, then the girls will use their mental strength.
"We can't even move right now, and the clock's ticking!" That was Sevenzen, the boy with tanned skin and dreadlocks.
"L-Leaders, what should we do?" Twentieth is nervous, too.
"6, 5, 4,"
I can tell who's speaking with their voices while closing my eyes.
We are 21 and will fight against 11 human-looking and 1 real human with the brain of a monster. We have no weapons for defense or offense. Come to think of it, we can't do anything, but...
"Go in pairs, then scatter after the count. Run and hide as far as you can. Get something in the kitchen to protect you." I heard Third suggested.
"I don't buy this!" Sixth reacted.
"3, 2"
We are human, and they are just clones!
"One!" I boldly opened my eyes after Author's countdown.
Author's hologram went missing. The process has been completed with Fortwen and her clones. I noticed that we are now free to move. The clones' eyes were still closed while standing. I can no longer determine which of them is real because they have changed position very quickly. They all look identical to one another. The 11 clones were exact copies of the original Fortwen before she transformed with a monster brain. The only difference is that their eyes turned red, rendering them emotionless, or rather the eyes of a monster with bloodlust.
"W-We can't open the kitchen cabinets and drawers. We can't get the knives!" Sixth exclaimed. Now, this is more problematic.
"Some of you shall go into pairs and run! The others will try to fight," Firstwen commanded us.
Some girls ran away in pairs, and some of the boys tried to keep their composure. I stared at the clones that were coming at us. We moved away from the clones.
I learned something recently from what First said. "I waited for everyone to sleep before going here. But someone discovered it." Thanks to him, it brought me an idea.
Speaking of sleeping, the monsters are waking up gradually. Now, there are two monsters who have opened their eyes halfway.
"Second!" Aeith shouted.
"S-Stay away from them, please," Fourth begged.
"C'mon, Fourth. Let's go while we still have time!" Fifth insisted on his sister, and they fled.
I heard a girl crying in the corner, it was Forzen. She was sitting near the kitchen alone.
"Aeith, take away Forzen here and hide!"
Aeith ran towards us. She held Forzen's hand, and she stood. "Stop crying there, cotton candy." Aeith glared at me. "Hey, Second. Don't you dare try anything that would kill ya!"
"Go on. Keep yourselves safe."
"Tell that to yourself, too!" Then they ran upstairs.
I can't promise Aeith that, so I can't say it.
For some reason, I can't take a single step away from the clones. I was overwhelmed, which kept me from moving my legs and feet. I admit that I am scared right now, but there's a hint of courage that resides within my fear. The monsters are going to run at me. I remained standing still until I felt like there was a heavy object in my right hand. It felt weird and I was surprised by what it was.
The monsters, even Fortwen have become a monster too. All 12 of them have awakened. They moan angrily and look gruesome.
They started attacking and chasing some of us.
"Hya!" I defended myself against the two clones approaching me with the weapon I was holding that wasn't present before.
That's right, we all automatically have weapons in our hands. My discernment was partially correct. I predicted that Author would give us a bit of advantage to make it fair, but I don't know how. This game is not that unfair and unreasonable, so we were also given a weapon. Author was just calm earlier, averting our questions and worries about how to fight and survive this stage.
How did I find out? It was Neinuko in the first stage. There was a strategy to beat the monster, so I thought that most likely, this one also has. It's not reasonable if we don't have weapons while fighting the clones in a closed area, which is the castle. There are no holes or exits for an escape leaving us with no choice.
I'm not sure whether my weapon is a sword or a dagger. It is short to be a sword but quite long to be a dagger, with a length of about 20 inches. It is double-edged with silver metal and a sharp tip. I looked at the others, and we had two different weapons but only one for each. Either we get a short sword or a long slender spear. Most of them have a spear with a long sharp tip while the others also have a dagger like mine. Guess, we were given random weapons from the two options.
"Whooo! We're going to beat them!" Ninezen shouted with amusement while raising his dagger. How can this guy be amused while we're in the middle of a clone-slash zombie fight?
Some of the boys focused more on attacking, while some of the girls volunteered to fight to oversee the defense. We were able to counter their attacks with the help of the weapons that we currently have. There are only five monsters left. I did not expect that we had already knocked down seven clone monsters.
"Stop!" Third, one of our leaders stopped them from killing the remaining five. "We don't know yet which of them is real!" ,
We forgot an important mission. Wrong, we shouldn't have just focused on the fight. We should have also thought about where the real Fortwen was. We were too preoccupied and focused on a minor mission rather than the major one.
They stopped and didn't know what to do, neither did I. If we don't kill them, they will kill us. We might even kill Fortwen. But what if one of the seven who died earlier was Fortwen? I noticed the remaining five clones didn't seem ordinary. They seemed to be twice as strong as the others who had already died making us quicker and stronger than the previous seven.