The Genius of Cloning in the Academy City-Chapter 99: Violet’s Dinner! And the Next Day…

I inspected the tent I had pitched.

Now that I looked at it, it was massive.

A 24-person tent was abnormally large for just three girls to sleep in.

“This… we’ll just say the three of us carried it over. What do you think?”

“It’s too big! There’s a bed, a table… This isn’t camping, it’s like sightseeing. Nobody’s going to believe we carried this ourselves.”

Irene, who had been looking around our dwelling, spoke up.

“…I’ll just say I brought it. I can explain it’s a test product provided by a company I have a contract with, and the clan let me take it. There are surprisingly similar products, though not quite this big.”

“That’s a good idea!”

Thanks to Irene, I had a plausible explanation prepared. If other students came later, I’d just say that.

There was still plenty of time until bedtime. We changed clothes and started to relax.

First, I needed to take a bath.

After walking through this humid jungle for hours, I was drenched in sweat and wanted to freshen up.

I recalled how happy my friends were when they saw the shower facilities.

“What temperature should the water be?”

“A little lower than body temperature.”

“Not too cold! Make it warm.”

Once the request was received, Violets stationed at the central lodging began preparing large water containers, which they loaded into their inventories.

The Violet inside the jungle dungeon retrieved and placed them.

These were poured into the portable shower tank we had prepared earlier.

My friends took turns entering the shower tent. Just in case anyone tried to peek, we set up double-layered curtains for extra privacy.

After a while, the girls returned to the tent, looking refreshed and clean.

“Here, drink this!”

“This feels like a camping trip, not an educational field experience. I feel so much better.”

Irene took a sip from the cold water bottle I handed her and sat on a folding chair.

She had swapped her combat coat and tactical vest for a much lighter outfit of shorts and a T-shirt.

“This is so comfortable! Who knew I’d experience such luxury? Violet, you’re the best!”

Daphne, after drying her hair, collapsed happily onto a portable bed.

She looked a little tired, which made sense after exploring the harsh tropical forest nonstop all day.

Moreover, she had relatively low stamina for an Awakened. In contrast, Irene showed no signs of fatigue.

Awakened individuals generally had superior abilities compared to non-Awakened, but there were personal differences even among them.

I also flopped onto my bed.

Come to think of it, dinner time was approaching.

What should I prepare for dinner to make it memorable?

The Violets outside the dungeon started debating.

“Let’s eat ramen! I’ve always wanted to cook ramen on a camping trip.”

“No way. The instant ramen sold in Academy City is all Japanese-style. Even the spiciest one here is milder than mild ramen.”

“Then how about ordering takeout?”

“That’d ruin the fun of cooking.”

The reason Violets were having this discussion was simple.

We could share not only the taste of food but also the emotions we felt while eating it with other versions of ourselves.

Special food in a special place brought unparalleled joy to our lives.

Especially when it was a meal shared while camping with beautiful friends. How could it not taste amazing?

“We have lots of ready-to-eat meals and canned food, right? Let’s use those.”

“That works.”

I poured an assortment of ready-to-eat meals and canned goods onto the table.

The sound caught the attention of my two friends, who turned toward me.

“Let’s have these for dinner today.”

Daphne got up from her bed, walked to the table, and picked up a pouch of instant meatballs.

“All instant food, huh?”

“It’s convenient, isn’t it?”

“You don’t really want this, do you? I was thinking of cooking myself.”

“Cooking?”

When I asked, she started pulling out cooking tools and ingredients from thin air.

Now that I thought about it, Daphne also had an inventory I’d given her.

“Thanks to the relic Violet gave me, I can carry things like this around.”

She began taking out pasta, vegetables, and various other ingredients.

I hadn’t considered using an inventory to store fresh ingredients.

“Well, we usually eat instant food all the time.”

“I’m planning to make pasta for dinner today. What do you think?”

“It’s my first time having pasta in a dungeon. I’m all for it. Is there anything I can help with?”

“Then, Irene, could you organize these ingredients? And Violet.”

“Yes?”

“Please bring the plates and forks and set them on the table.”

Soon, Daphne started cooking.

She chopped vegetables on a cutting board, prepared ingredients, and boiled water.

Tonight’s menu was oil pasta.

Judging by the smell, it was going to be delicious.

But something still felt missing. Was this enough?

After some thought, I realized the best meal for camping.

Meat!

“No, this won’t do. Someone from the outside team, bring meat! Lots of it!”

“Wasn’t there an unused barbecue grill at Kalia’s house? Bring that too!”

The Violet inside the tent dashed out.

“Violet, what are you doing?”

“Meat! Let’s have a barbecue party!”

“Where did that even come from?”

My friends, who had stepped outside the tent, looked at me in confusion. In the blink of an eye, I had prepared everything for grilling meat.

The beef sizzled on the grill, releasing an irresistible aroma.

“A tent wasn’t enough, and now meat…”

Their jaws dropped.

A little later, the pasta Daphne had prepared was relegated from the main dish to a side dish.

On the table, perfectly grilled steaks piled up, oozing with juices.

“Let’s eat!”

The girls blinked at the feast in front of them, then grabbed their forks and dug in.

“Is this yours? Your team’s tent?”

Granite asked.

“Yeah! To be precise, it’s Irene’s. It’s an advanced special tent being tested.”

Hearing my answer, Lucian nodded as if he had expected it.

“As expected, Irene is someone who’d own such expensive equipment.”

Lucian’s team examined our tent for a while. Their gazes were mixed with amazement and envy.

Then Lucian came to his senses and called Levi and Granite, irritated.

“Hey, come on. Are you going to sleep outside?”

“Alright, we’re coming…”

“Hurry up, will you?”

I watched Lucian’s team set up camp from my chair.

The three moved to a spot a bit further away, opened their bags, and unfolded small, single-person tents.

Three tiny tents, just big enough to lie down in, appeared.

Then Lucian pulled a long stick from his belongings and began drawing various runes around the tents.

“What’s he doing?”

“That’s bug-repelling magic. That one’s waterproofing, and that’s moisture-proofing. It’s a complex setup, but he’s skilled.”

Daphne answered while tidying up the table.

Before long, Levi took out a burner and began boiling water. Judging by the setup, it was for combat rations that required hot water.

I continued watching them, but something seemed off with Lucian and the other two.

“Uh, here’s your dinner…”

“I don’t want it. Eat it yourselves or don’t, I don’t care.”

“But you must be hungry. Wouldn’t it be better to eat something?”

“I said I don’t want it! Leave me alone!”

Levi brought Lucian’s portion of the combat rations to him.

But Lucian, with a sullen expression, refused to eat.

Even when Granite tried to intervene, Lucian remained irritated and shut himself inside his tent.

The two stood dejectedly in front of his tent, not knowing what to do.

I approached them.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, Violet…”

I led the two over to our tent and asked for the details.

They both seemed embarrassed.

“What’s with him?”

Granite answered in a tired voice.

“Honestly, it’s our fault he’s mad.”

“Your fault?”

I recalled the situation earlier when the Crawler Tides swarmed.

The two began explaining slowly.

“All day, we ended up relying on him for everything.”

As I listened, it was just as I had expected.

It turned out the two had a terrible time during the educational field experience, leaving everything to Lucian.

“I guess I underestimated this field experience. I thought it’d be fine as long as I carried my gear.”

Their equipment wasn’t suitable for the dungeon environment.

It was all lacking.

“From guiding to fighting, Lucian handled everything for our team.

While he led the way, we couldn’t contribute at all.”

On top of that, their personalities seemed to worsen the situation for Lucian.

“With Crawlers charging overhead, I was so scared I couldn’t aim properly.”

I remembered the time when Lucian saved Levi from a duel after she was picked on by seniors.

She had always been timid.

Then I wondered, what was Granite’s issue?

“I was the same. Honestly, it’s embarrassing to admit, but… I’m terrified of bugs.

This place is swarming with them; it’s unbearable…”

“Seriously?”

Granite was nearly 2 meters tall.

And yet, despite his size, he admitted to being scared of bugs.

I couldn’t understand.

Spotting a beetle crawling on the ground, I picked it up and showed it to him.

“Even this?”

“Ugh, ugh! Please get rid of it. I’m begging you!”

Seeing his face turn pale, I quickly flung the beetle away.

“Anyway, it’s our fault.

Lucian has every right to be mad after dealing with deadweight like us.”

“We’ve just been a burden.”

Irene, who had been listening quietly, spoke up from behind.

“So, what do you want to do about it?”

“I want to apologize to Lucian.

And for the remaining time, I want to do my part as much as possible.”

“Me too…”

Irene let out a brief hum, her expression serious as she asked the two a question.

“First of all, did you two at least bring proper secondary weapons?”

“Uh, secondary weapons…”

“You mean these?”

They showed Irene their jungle machetes and hand axes.

Irene shook her head.

“Those are tools, not weapons.

And with unsuitable gear, what help could you be?

Did Instructor Frederick say anything to you?”

“Ugh…”

The field experience site had low difficulty, so they might’ve gotten away with it, but their reaction suggested they had been severely scolded.

“Did you really think this field experience would be so easy?

What will you do if your main weapon breaks in a dungeon more dangerous than this?

You should’ve at least brought a backup blade.”

Irene was right.

Even Daphne, who hadn’t needed it yet, carried a one-handed sword at her side.

Realizing their mistakes, the two couldn’t lift their heads in embarrassment.

“Still, you know what you did wrong.

If you try to do better from now on, it’ll be fine.

Violet, do you have spare weapons to lend them?”

“I do!”

I went into the tent and retrieved two swords, a small crossbow, and a rifle I wasn’t using.

These were one-star weapons I had collected from defeating various creatures.

“I’ll lend these to you, but return them when we get back!”

“Thanks. I don’t deserve it.”

“S-sorry for being such a burden…”

Daphne, seeing what was happening, also came out of the tent.

“Now, don’t be too down on yourselves.

You know what you did wrong, right?

Go apologize and show Lucian you’re serious about doing better.

He’ll forgive you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Of course.

Even if he doesn’t forgive you immediately, he’ll change his attitude when he sees your effort.”

Daphne’s encouraging words brought some life back into their expressions.

They may have been incompetent, but they weren’t malicious.

At least they understood their mistakes and wanted to improve.

The outcome would depend on their actions from here on.

Suddenly, I thought of the steaks we had earlier.

Had they eaten dinner?

I remembered the combat rations they had prepared.

Curious, I checked and saw that they were the same tasteless, cheap kind I’d eaten before.

Eating something like that would only worsen their mood.

“Should we help them out?”

“They did carry us to the infirmary when we passed out drunk. Consider this paying them back.”

I thought of the leftover steaks.

Surely, good food would help.

“Hey, do you want some steak?”

“Steak? What do you mean?

Now that you mention it, there was a bit of a grilled meat smell earlier…”

I handed them untouched, warm steaks along with snacks and ice cream.

The two approached Lucian’s tent with the food.

“Lucian, uh…”

“I said leave me alone… Wait, what’s that smell?”

A minute later, he came out of the tent, his eyes widening.

“What is this…”

I watched as the three began talking cautiously.

Lucian took the steak and food and disappeared back into his tent.

Watching this unfold, my friends commented.

“Do you think this will work?”

“That depends on what they do from here on.”

I idly observed Lucian’s team’s tent.

Before long, the three were sitting together, talking.

I wondered how things were going.

They were eating the ice cream I’d given them and talking calmly.

“I’m just here for the ice cream, so don’t get the wrong idea!

There’s nothing to talk about with you two.”

“Anyway, sorry. We’ll do our best for the rest of the time.”

“S-sorry!”

“…Just don’t hold me back.”

Lucian grumbled.

Judging by the atmosphere, things didn’t seem too bad.

That’s a relief.

Time passed, and night fell over the dungeon.

I lay on my bed and tried to sleep.

Who knows how much time had passed when the alarm woke me up.

I rubbed my eyes and got up.

Something felt different—clammy.

I frowned.

“What’s going on?”

I tilted my head.

The place was shrouded in thick fog.

“How unusual, fog.”

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

“Let’s pack up first.

We don’t have much time left to return.”

We quickly packed our things and left the safe zone.

Lucian’s party must have packed and left earlier since they were nowhere to be seen.

The way back was eerily quiet.

With zero visibility, I deployed clones.

Using them as scouts, we made our way through the jungle.

Eventually, noises resembling voices from students grew closer.

Through the mist, I spotted Lucian’s team and the warriors I’d seen yesterday.

Looking at the students’ faces, I sensed something was wrong.

Their expressions were filled with bewilderment.

“Ahhh! The gate!”

“Calm down.

It’s probably a temporary issue.”

Some people screamed.

As I got closer, I saw the reason.

The gate, which should have served as an exit, was glitching like a broken CRT screen.

“Why does something always go wrong wherever I go?”

“Just a coincidence!”

It seemed like there was some sort of curse where accidents followed me.

The gate of the Cloris Forest had shut down.