Around the time she advanced to her second year of middle school.
Ever since she first awakened to her Gift, Yeon Haneul had often used Division for her own convenience.
While she hung out with Do Gyeonu, she would send her duplicates on errands, assign them cleaning duty, or make them do her homework….
She felt no hesitation whatsoever in using her Gift.
Neither Hong Yena nor Do Gyeonu stopped her.
Rather, they actively encouraged it.
"The experience from your duplicates seems to fully revert to you? Then that means if you deploy your duplicates in training, you can multiply your efficiency several times over. This is broken. To think such a Gift exists in this world…. Haneul, you… were truly born with blessed talent."
"Right…. To think Division had such an effect…. I'm honestly jealous. Must be nice."
"I agree…. Let's start using Division during training too from now on. We need to get used to your Gift anyway."
And so.
Under the pretext that it would help with training.
Empowered by Hong Yena and Do Gyeonu's support, Yeon Haneul abused her Gift, reaping all manner of benefits.
She was entirely unaware that her duplicates possessed egos of their own, and that the closer a duplicate was to her, the stronger its ego became….
That was how the incident occurred.
"Then shall we begin training?"
"Yes, sounds good."
"Yes! I'll make duplicates right now."
The summer three years ago.
Do Gyeonu and Yeon Haneul, welcoming the school break, had come to a mountain in Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, for an intensive training camp.
Hong Yena, who was leading the two, ordered them to begin training as soon as they unpacked at the lodging.
At this, Yeon Haneul activated her Gift as if it were only natural….
Unlike Seoul, the surroundings were wide open, and there were no onlookers.
And out of a sudden curiosity to test the limits of her Gift.
She ended up calling forth dozens upon dozens of duplicates until the mana inside her body ran dry.
The result was chaos.
Taking advantage of Yeon Haneul's weakened state, the duplicates broke free from her control, each asserting their own ego.
"No! Why do I have to do it? You do the laundry. You cook too!"
"I want to hang out with Gyeonu too! Don't make me work!"
"Are you the only Yeon Haneul? I'm Yeon Haneul too!"
"No, I'm Yeon Haneul, got it?"
"I'm Yeon Haneul! You guys get lost! All of you are fakes…."
"What? You're the duplicate! I'm the real Yeon Haneul!"
"U-um, guys… don't fight…. Let's all get along…."
"…."
The duplicates acted of their own accord.
They refused to obey her control, even insisting that they were the original.
Startled by the duplicates' rebellion, Yeon Haneul hurriedly tried to cancel her Gift.
But it didn't go as she wished.
Because she had nearly exhausted her strength, and pushing her Gift to its limit had brought about a backlash.
It seemed she wouldn't be able to control her Gift until she had recovered somewhat.
Hong Yena and Do Gyeonu reached a conclusion.
"It can't be helped…. It will be inconvenient, but we'll have to live this way for the time being. It's a good thing we aren't in Seoul; if this had happened in Seoul, it would've been a much bigger headache…."
"Haha, right…. We're lucky it's just us. The lodging we rented has a great hall, so we won't have to worry about separate sleeping arrangements either."
"Ugh…. I'm sorry…."
"I'm sorry…."
"I'm sorry, Master."
"Sob…. I'm sorry, Master…."
"Sorry…."
"…."
At Hong Yena and Do Gyeonu's sighs.
The Yeon Haneuls apologized in unison.
The two, unable to tell who was the original, gave bitter smiles.
No, actually….
It was possible to distinguish some of the duplicates.
Because there were duplicates whose appearance, personality, speech patterns, mannerisms, and skill differed subtly from the others.
Moreover.
'…Her magic power is low. She's a duplicate.'
Do Gyeonu could also check Yeon Haneul's physical abilities through her status window.
Even so, Do Gyeonu and Hong Yena deliberately did not single out the duplicates.
Because they didn't want to hurt them needlessly.
Because when they eventually returned to the original, those experiences would also become hers.
'Time will resolve this anyway. Let's wait until Haneul can control her Gift again.'
So let's not discriminate against the Yeon Haneuls, but treat them equally without prejudice.
Hong Yena and Do Gyeonu made this secret pact behind their backs.
In reality, things proceeded as expected.
As time passed, duplicates began to appear whose mana had run out and could no longer maintain their existence.
"Ah, no…."
"I'm… real, so why…."
"G-Gyeonu…."
"…."
The Yeon Haneuls gradually decreased in number.
The Yeon Haneuls still alive couldn't help but tremble with anxiety as they watched them perish.
Because they were tormented by the relief that they were the original after all, and the terror that they might still not be.
As even more time passed….
"…."
When their numbers had dwindled to around twenty.
The Yeon Haneuls excluding the original could feel themselves weakening, and though they didn't want to admit it, they had to.
That they were duplicates, not the original.
Even so, they didn't show it and clung to a sliver of hope.
As if mocking that hope.
"Ah, aah… no, don't do this…. G-Gyeonu…! I'm real! I'm telling you, I'm real!"
"Master! Please save me! Something has gone terribly wrong! I'm the real one, so why…."
"Why me! Why am I the fake!? I'm real, I'm telling you I'm real! So please…."
"…."
Annihilation arrived without fail.
The vanishing duplicates despaired.
Each time, Hong Yena, Do Gyeonu, the original Yeon Haneul, and the duplicates alike couldn't help but feel anguish.
In particular, the duplicates became haggard and twisted by envy and jealousy toward the original.
That was why they clung to Hong Yena and Do Gyeonu all the more.
"Gyeonu! Why do you only care about her? Are you saying I'm a fake right now?"
"Praise me too, Gyeonu. Don't only do it for her…."
"Master! I can do better than that fake!"
"…."
If one cannot prove oneself to oneself, one can only rely on others.
The Yeon Haneuls longed for the two to acknowledge them, to prove that they were real.
From this point, the tragedy accelerated.
When they had dwindled to around ten.
The Yeon Haneuls' nerves were stretched razor-thin.
"I'm real, I'm real, I'm real…. I have to be real."
The weakening duplicates felt as though they were living under a death sentence.
Though there were individual differences, annihilation was imminent for all of them.
They collapsed mentally.
The original was not safe either.
"I'm real. Am I… real? Huh? Huh? Ah… I-I really am…."
As the experiences of the duplicates who perished in despair seeped into her soul whole.
The original Yeon Haneul lost all certainty in her own existence.
Moreover, the fear of annihilation was deeply engraved upon her.
Around this time.
"There's only one real one anyway. So… if I kill everyone except me… then I can become the real one."
The Yeon Haneuls, broken beyond repair, erected walls of caution against one another and harbored murderous intent.
The conflicts that had thus far been limited to raised voices escalated from simple acts of violence to drawing blood from one another.
Finally, some who faced imminent annihilation reached extreme decisions.
They decided to kill every other Yeon Haneul by any means necessary.
And thus.
"Kyaa! What do you think you're doing!?"
"Die! Die! You have to die! If only you were gone, if only you were gone…!"
The tragedy reached its climax.
On a night of drizzling rain, when people had fallen into a deep sleep.
One Yeon Haneul set fire to the great hall.
The great hall, its escape routes thoroughly sealed, was engulfed in flames in an instant.
Inside, she tried to kill the others indiscriminately.
Of course, they did not go down without a fight.
After three or four who were slow to react or weak-hearted were killed.
The ones who came to their senses all fought to protect themselves.
And they were swept up in madness.
"You think I'll die easily!? If someone's dying, it's you!"
"You crazy bitches… did you think I couldn't use magic!?"
"Are you picking a fight with me?"
"…Yeah, that's right. Just like you said, I just have to kill you all. Except me. Then… I'll be the real one."
The great hall blazing with a conflagration was a veritable hell of self-cannibalism.
Until only one person remained alive.
The Yeon Haneuls fought a bloody battle.
"Haneul! Yeon Haneul!"
"What is going on…."
Hong Yena and Do Gyeonu arrived late and tried desperately to stop them, but to no avail.
The Yeon Haneuls shook off the two and continued their life-or-death battle.
When the great hall began to collapse, the battlefield shifted beneath the night sky.
Summer fields overgrown with vegetation, forests shrouded in deep darkness, the night sky with raindrops swirling….
They used their surroundings as their stage and employed every means at their disposal.
And so, only one person remained.
"Ah…."
By killing herself.
Yeon Haneul, who had experienced killing for the first time in her life, sobbed like a madwoman.
Relieved to have survived, yet confused about whether she had been the original from the start or a duplicate who had killed the original.
She couldn't tell.
Especially as the experiences of the duplicates flowed into her.
That was why she asked Do Gyeonu.
"Gyeonu."
"Haneul, you…."
"I'm real, right? I'm… the real one, right? There's no one else… but me, right?"
"…."
Immediately after, Yeon Haneul lost consciousness.
This was.
The summer day from three years ago that she, Do Gyeonu, and Hong Yena had experienced.
* * *
"I'm Yeon Haneul too, so why…. No…."
I don't want to die.
I want to live.
She, who had barely survived a bloody struggle of killing and being killed where only one could remain, ran without thinking.
'I have to run, quickly….'
There was now only one Yeon Haneul left besides herself.
Sorrowfully and frustratingly, she knew she couldn't defeat the other.
There was a difference in skill.
So she had to flee far away.
If her survival were discovered, the other would try to kill her.
And perhaps….
Though she didn't want to think it….
Do Gyeonu and Hong Yena, who had decided to recognize the other as the original, might join in.
If she were betrayed by them, who meant so much to her, she felt she would despair even more.
To her, it was nothing but fear.
It was terror.
'No, I don't want to disappear.'
Therefore, solely to survive.
She dragged her injured body, cutting through the darkness without stopping for a moment, and descended the mountain.
She didn't know where she was going or where she should go.
She had only the single-minded desire to escape as far as possible to avoid any potential pursuit.
After running day and night for several hours, as the sun gradually began to rise.
Swoosh.
"Ah…."
She had reached the end, with nowhere left to go.
It was the sea at Taean.
Originally, after the training camp ended, she was supposed to come sightseeing here with Do Gyeonu and Hong Yena.
"…."
As if possessed by something.
Covered in blood and sweat, she walked onto the sandy beach.
The high tide soaked her shoes and legs.
Even so, she didn't retreat and stared blankly at the sea.
Perhaps because it had rained during the night, the sea viewed with her back to the rising sun was endlessly murky and dark.
A bitter smile escaped her.
"What the…. It's not pretty at all."
It was the first sea she had ever seen in her life, and she had been looking forward to it so much….
She muttered lowly.
Emotions surged up within her.
She couldn't endure it any longer.
"Sob…."
Tears streamed down her cheeks, haggard from the night.
She cried sorrowfully.
Her sobs were buried by the wind and waves, unable to spread far.
'What… should I do now…."
She was no longer Yeon Haneul.
She couldn't become Yeon Haneul.
She had no home to return to.
Then who was she now?
She found the answer.
"I am…."
The sound of waves, the smell of the sea.
She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and raised her head.
She directed her gaze beyond the endlessly stretching sea, wide open around her.
Determination dwelled in her red-rimmed eyes.
Before she knew it, her hair turned black and her skin began to take on a dark hue.
"…Sea. Yeon Bada."
If she couldn't become the sky.
Then she would become the sea, if only for a brief while.
Like the murky sea stretched before her eyes.
She made her decision.
* * *
"…Don't call me by that name."
Yeon Bada—with black hair and dark skin, clearly distinguishable from Yeon Haneul now.
She furrowed her face as if unwilling to hear another word.
Then she perked up her rabbit ears and stepped back, putting distance between us.
She had noticed my friends' presence.
Before long.
“As I thought… it was a trap.”
My friends arrived.
Yeon Bada looked at them with visible displeasure.
Especially toward Yeon Haneul, her gaze was filled with hostility.
Meanwhile, they seemed more than a little surprised to face Yeon Bada.
“She really looks like Haneul….”
“So she really is Yeon Haneul’s doppelganger.”
“….”
Go Eunbi, Yong Haerang, and the others murmured.
Without bothering to respond, I observed Yeon Haneul and Yeon Bada.
Neither looked to be in a good mood.
The two did nothing but glare at each other as if locked in a clash of momentum.
No words passed between them.
Left alone, the silence seemed poised to stretch on indefinitely.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘As expected, I have no choice but to step in….’
Though that had been my intention from the start.
I opened my mouth to mediate between them, but….
“So what exactly….”
“Gyeonu, stay out of it.”
“Yeah, stay out of it.”
“….”
Yeon Haneul and Yeon Bada, who had kept their mouths shut until then, cut me off almost simultaneously.
It was an attitude as if drawing a line—this was their own affair.
I was taken aback.
Then, Yeon Haneul spoke.
“Why are you doing this to me.”
“What? Why am I doing this? You really don’t know? Isn’t it obvious?”
Yeon Bada scoffed as if exasperated.
Then she retorted with a sneer.
“Because I hate you. Because I loathe you to death. That place was originally mine. But you snatched it all away—did you think I’d just stand by and watch? You fake.”
“…The fake is you. I’m the real one.”
“No, I’m the real one.”
As Yeon Bada surged with momentum, Yeon Haneul responded, unwilling to be outdone.
When Yeon Haneul took a step, Yeon Bada moved as if to say, “Exactly.”
Striding forward like that, the two stopped when barely any distance remained between them.
“This works out perfectly. I was planning to find you and settle the score soon anyway.”
“Oh, really? It’s not because you thought you’d lose again and were planning to assassinate me from behind?”
“…Shut up, fake.”
“You’re the one who needs to cut it out. It’s disgusting.”
“So your true colors are finally showing? Is that really okay? Gyeonu is here, you know. He must be shocked to hear you speak so harshly.”
“Hmph, shocked? You don’t know, do you? Gyeonu likes me even when I’m like this. What about you?”
“You….”
“What, fake?”
“….”
There was no room to intervene.
Yeon Haneul and Yeon Bada exchanged words with chilling intensity.
My friends and I had no choice but to watch the two in bewilderment.
Then, Yeon Bada lost ground in the argument.
Momentarily at a loss for words, she clicked her tongue sharply.
The initiative shifted to Yeon Haneul.
Yeon Haneul urged her with composure.
“Say what you need to say, quickly.”
“…Fight me. This time, we’ll finally find out who’s real.”
“And the loser?”
“What? Worried? They die.”
“…Fine. Good.”
She seemed to ponder for a brief moment.
Yeon Haneul nodded.
I Became the Childhood Friend of a Mid-Boss