Day 428 in this world
Day 42 at sea
The ocean stretched endlessly before Seaneight, right up to the continental divide—a phenomenon that defied every natural law from the old world I came from.
Why?
Because the sea's waves didn't flow together at all!! Picture this: the waves from my continent's side crash into that shimmering thing, and then, past that weird barrier, waves from the other side crash into it too…
What does that even mean?! Everyone says it's normal, but to me? It's insanely abnormal… An invisible wall? No… I'm starting to worry. Scratch that—I've been worried for ages…
The armored lead ship, tethered and pushed by every other vessel, inched closer to that point… slowly, steadily, ever nearer.
"…This feels… bad."
Seaneight (me), standing at the ship's bow, began to tremble, clutching her chest as her heart raced. Her instincts screamed that crossing that barrier would trigger something. She instinctively stepped back two, three paces…
Scared, Seaneight? …Yeah, something about that thing terrifies me… I'm scared for Seaneight too…
Let me set the record straight. Some of you might be thinking, "Why's this story's hero freaking out like this? You a coward or what?" …Haha!
Sorry, folks! Yes, I'm a total coward!
Back in my old world, I was just a shut-in NEET. Even my WFH job? Pure cowardice. Not social anxiety keeping me indoors, but a deep-seated sense of defeat from past failures. Every time I had to compete with equals or superiors, you know that feeling, right?
Sure, I had skills from school, work, reading novels, watching anime, and mingling with cheaters online. I could spot scammers in my job, and in this isekai, I seem full of ideas. But that's because I'm like a mastermind behind a screen—not the guy throwing punches at cheaters in person! That's why I aim to cheat as hard as possible and picked my five current skills. (Remember that near-rape scare? I barely survived! Scared to death! Being "normal" sucks… And look at Grace's state now!)
If you're asking, "It's just one of your bodies, why care?" …Ugh, I'll admit it again: I don't see these "conscious" bodies as just bodies! To me, they're like people. Even if they're clones, each conscious clone has 49% of its own identity. Over time, despite sharing my mind and being cloned from the same mold, they've become almost different people, with their own quirks and personalities.
That's why, lately, I avoid sending conscious bodies into high-risk zones. If I must, I guard them closely, ready to swap in a mindless clone to die in their place if their HP hits zero or disaster strikes…
Mindless clones? They're a pain to control. I'm already juggling several, splitting my mind to puppeteer them while role-playing their parts to seem authentic. Otherwise, they'd act on raw instinct and lifeless memories, like I mentioned before… (Hmm… maybe it's time to test letting a conscious body control a mindless one, like I did with Ragna.)
As for those monsters I copied? I haven't sent mindless clones to deal with them either, because I wanted to tackle them with this fleet in one go…
I rambled a bit, but the scene in front of me hasn't even passed a second. Hope you get why Seaneight (me) is freaking out right now…
Whoosh! Thud!
No turning back now. We've come this far—nothing left to lose. Let's do this!!
Rumble!
The armored lead ship sailed straight into the shimmering continental divide!
Nothing seemed off with the ship itself…
…Swoosh…
And then it reached where Seaneight stood…
"Ugh…"
Crack! Pop!
A violent shock tore through Seaneight's deep consciousness the moment her body touched that shimmering point…
And my worst fear came true.
Seaneight's POV went dark… I couldn't contact or control her body at all.
It felt like being booted out—like when a game server goes down for maintenance. I tried to reconnect, feeling like it almost worked but didn't, as if a message popped up: "Unable to connect to server." What the heck is this…?
End of Chapter 53
Unable to Connect to Server