The rain in Sector 7 always tasted like rust.
Lin pulled his hood tight, shielding his face from the acidic drizzle. He stood at the back of the line outside the Iron Fist Guild, clutching a crumpled resume. He had been waiting for six hours.
"Next!"
The shout came from a burly man guarding the entrance. Kane. A Rank-E Hunter known as 'The Vulture'. He had a nasty scar running down his cheek and eyes that looked for weakness like a scanner looked for barcodes.
Lin stepped forward. "I'm applying for the porter position. I can carry—"
"Name?" Kane interrupted, not looking up.
"Lin."
Kane paused. He glanced at the scanner on his wrist. It beeped a low, pathetic tone.
[Target: Lin] [Rank: F] [Strength: 12]
Kane snorted. It sounded like a dying engine. He snatched the resume from Lin's hand, crumpled it into a ball, and flicked it onto the muddy ground.
"We need porters, kid. Not baggage," Kane sneered. "A Rank-F? You'd die from the air pressure inside a Dungeon. Scram."
The Hunters in line behind Lin laughed. It was a cruel, sharp sound.
Lin didn't scream. He didn't clench his fists or yell about dignity. He just looked at the ball of paper in the mud.
Paper quality: Low. Recycling value: 0.05 Credits. Waste of time: 360 minutes.
"Understood," Lin said. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
He bent down, picked up the muddy paper, and put it in his pocket. 0.05 Credits was still money. He turned and walked away into the rain.
Home was a metal container stacked on top of fifty others in the Slums.
As soon as Lin walked in, his wrist communicator buzzed. The red light pulsed like a heartbeat.
[Alert: St. Mary's Hospital] [Patient: Lin Rou (Sister)] [Status: Critical] [Life Support Balance: -2,000 Credits] [Warning: Services will be terminated in 24 hours.]
Lin stared at the holographic text. The numbers reflected in his dark eyes.
2,000 Credits. For a Rank-E Hunter like Kane, that was a night of drinking. For Lin, it was an impossible mountain.
He sat on his cot, his stomach growling. He grabbed a packet of compressed biscuits from the table. Expired: Three months ago.
He ate it anyway. Fuel was fuel.
"I need money," Lin whispered to the empty room. "I don't care how. I just need money."
Suddenly, a sharp pain spiked in his skull. It wasn't a headache. It felt like someone had driven a hot iron spike into his brain.
Lin fell off the cot, clutching his head. His vision blurred. The world spun.
And then, the blue screen appeared.
[Ding!] [System Error... Soul Resonance Detected.] [Initializing Awakening Process...] [1%... 50%... 100%]
[Congratulations! You have Awakened.] [Class: Hidden Class - Legion Commander]
Lin gasped, lying on the cold metal floor. The pain vanished as quickly as it came. He sat up, blinking at the floating text that only he could see.
"Legion... Commander?"
He tapped the air. His status panel expanded.
[Name: Lin] [Rank: F] [Class: Legion Commander] [MP: 60/60] [Skills:]
Shadow Clone (Lv. 1): Create a copy of yourself.
Cost: 500 Kcal / Hour.
Current Limit: 2.
A skill. He finally had a skill.
Lin stood up, his heart pounding for the first time that day. "Shadow Clone."
Whoosh.
There was no smoke, no flash of light. A shadow detached itself from Lin's feet and rose up. It solidified into a human shape.
In a second, another 'Lin' was standing in front of him. It looked exactly like him—same dark hair, same worn-out clothes, same deadpan expression.
"Punch the wall," Lin ordered.
The clone didn't hesitate. It spun and threw a haymaker at the metal wall of the container.
CRACK!
The sound was sickening. The metal wall dented inward, leaving a fist-sized impression. That was the force of 12 Strength—enough to break bone.
And bone did break. The clone's right arm snapped at a grotesque angle. The forearm bone poked through the skin.
But the clone didn't scream. It didn't even flinch. It just stood there, arm dangling uselessly, waiting for the next order.
Lin stared at it.
[Feedback Received: Profiency +1] [Pain Transferred: 0%]
"It has my strength," Lin muttered, his mind racing. "But it has no durability. A glass cannon."
And most importantly... it felt no pain.
He could send them to die. He could send them into traps. He could send them to places no sane Hunter would go.
[Warning: Calorie Level Low.]
Lin felt a sudden, ravenous hunger hit him. It was worse than before. His body was burning energy to sustain the clone.
He dismissed the clone. The shadow melted back into the floor.
"I need food," Lin realized. "And to get food, I need money."
BANG!
The door to his container was kicked open. The lock shattered.
Rain and wind blew in. Two men stepped inside, followed by a familiar, bulky figure.
Kane. The Vulture.
"Well, well," Kane stepped in, wiping mud off his boots. He held a metal bat in his hand. "I heard a rumor, F-Ranker. They say your old man left you a watch before he died. I bet it's worth a few credits."
The two thugs behind Kane grinned, cracking their knuckles.
"Hand it over," Kane sneered. "Consider it a 'late fee' for wasting my time this morning."
Lin stood up slowly. His stomach was twisting with hunger, but his mind was crystal clear.
He looked at Kane. Rank E. Bounty for illegal break-in: None (the police didn't care about the Slums). Equipment value: Steel Bat (500 Credits), Leather Armor (1,000 Credits), Wallet (Unknown).
Lin's eyes shifted to the shadows in the corners of the room. He had enough energy for one fight.
"You're right," Lin said softly.
"What?" Kane frowned.
Lin looked up. His eyes were cold, like a butcher evaluating a piece of meat.
"You are worth a few credits."
[Skill Activated: Shadow Clone x2]
Behind Kane, two shadows silently rose from the floor, their eyes glowing with a pale, hungry light.
("Enjoying the massacre? Drop a Power Stone to feed the Clone Army!")