The dungeon has been parasitized

Chapter 136: Conspiracy?

Klein was stunned for a good ten seconds before he came to his senses.

The second body...inherits all abilities...transfers souls regardless of distance...

These words, put together, were like a sledgehammer striking his head, shaking his very soul.

This ability to create a clone means it's not simply about having an extra henchman.

This means that as long as the clone exists, Klein has an extra life. Even if his main body is destroyed, he can continue to live as long as his soul is transferred to the clone.

Moreover, "the clone and the main body do not share magic power" - this is equivalent to doubling the magic power pool directly. When the magic power of one body is exhausted, you can switch to another body to continue fighting.

This skill... is absolutely amazing!

In a sense, Klein's offspring are both clones and the original body, but the offspring have a fatal flaw: they are limited by Klein's soul transfer.

If he goes too far away, Klein will lose contact with the plantation, just like when he accidentally fainted after parasitizing a fish and drifted to the swamp. In the swamp, Klein was isolated and helpless, unable to return to the plantation.

If he gets too far from the plantation, any slightly stronger monster could crush Klein. The reason he has survived to this day is that he can always return to the massive trunk of the plantation.

Because of this problem, Klein never dared to travel far, and even when he did, he relied on seeds to pave the way.

But seeds are always limited, and the distances you can go are also very limited. For example, when going to the rat tribe's stronghold, Klein used up almost all the seeds he had accumulated.

The clone perfectly solves this problem. With just 100 magic points, it can teleport regardless of distance, meaning Klein can go to even farther places!

Klein even began to imagine future scenarios—his main body would be stationed at the plantation, while his clones could control monsters to go to very, very far places, and even if they were surrounded and killed, they would only lose a body.

However, Klein quickly forced himself to calm down.

A clone is a disposable item...

In other words, clones are extremely valuable, as clearly stated in the skill description; once a clone dies, it cannot be recreated.

However, the ability to create clones is very important, and we must carefully consider how to use them.

We shouldn't get carried away with our success.

Klein felt he was getting a little too excited, so much so that he couldn't think of how to use the clone skill for a moment.

Suppress your excitement and re-examine all the abilities you've just acquired.

The recycling solved the magic problem, the clones solved the survival and mobility problems, and combined with the five options selected earlier, this upgrade has far exceeded expectations in terms of combat power.

If Klein was previously a plant lord rooted in the plantation, now he finally has the capital to expand outwards.

After his excitement subsided, Klein recalled the text that appeared when he opened the panel.

"Detected that the reincarnated person has come into contact with... an object under incorrect circumstances... and gained special skills, accelerating the mission..."

These texts are like that strange mission; it seems there are many parts that haven't been shown.

What does "error situation" refer to?

Klein could only think of his chaotic task panel; perhaps the error message referred to this?

And what kind of object did he come into contact with? Since Klein's upgrade this time was due to contact with the Black Tower, then the object of contact should refer to the Black Tower, right?

Then you can acquire special skills to speed up the quest.

It seems that Klein was detected touching the Black Tower, so he gained a skill that is very different from the skills he had previously acquired, and the ability is also very, very special.

Since it's meant to speed up the mission... it seems like it's actually a special reward?

By connecting all the information, Klein seemed to be able to find a clue.

Since the garbled text is related to the mission, and the appearance of these words is related to the Black Tower... does that mean the mission is related to the Black Tower?

Considering the strange attraction the Black Tower had previously exerted on him, this is probably the truth.

With that in mind, Klein opened his mission panel and carefully examined the mission description.

The reincarnated one's mission: ...▒▒▒...

[Data corrupted... Node found... Proceed to ground... Data corrupted.]

[Unable to resolve]

[??????Sky?????]

[Completion Rate]: 70%

The mission description... has changed?!

An additional paragraph of text appeared: "...found...node".

What did you find?

What is a node?

Klein could only think of the black tower. The mission changed because the black tower was found, and after finding the black tower, the description of "node" appeared. So, the black tower was probably the so-called node.

However, the task was clearly not simply "finding the Black Tower," because even though Klein found the Black Tower, the completion rate of the task remained unchanged.

What does it mean exactly...?

There are too few clues. All we know is that the Black Tower is related to us, and we have no idea about the earthquake before.

But as long as we keep finding the Black Tower, the mission should be able to move forward, right? Great!

Klein felt a mixture of excitement and confusion, but suddenly, a strange chill sent a shiver down his spine.

No... no...

Why am I so invested in this mission?

Why would I look forward to completing a task?

What I should care about is my own survival. What I want is to protect Yanami and continue living with her... But why? Why did I so desperately want to go on an adventure to find the Black Tower? Why did I want to complete that strange mission?

A sudden fear from the depths of his soul overwhelmed Klein's thoughts.

He recalled the feeling he had when he saw the Black Tower, the involuntary urge to get closer, which seemed strangely similar to the feeling he now had of wanting to complete his mission.

The mission is something etched into his soul—he is a reincarnated being, and the description of this mission has been bound to the "mission of a reincarnated being" from the very beginning.

Suddenly, an idea that Klein didn't want to face popped into his mind.

Could it be that... I was originally like a machine with a pre-programmed routine, following the program to complete my tasks, which is why I inexplicably wanted to get closer to the Black Tower that was related to the task?

But because the task was a garbled string that could not be deciphered, I had not been able to complete it. That's why I was able to continue doing what I wanted to do in the plantation according to my own will.

If one's mission is to contact the "node," namely the Black Tower, then staying in the plantation all along is clearly contrary to the mission, and the fact that the Black Tower is attractive to one seems to prove this point.

I should be drawn to the task by its allure, rather than merely surviving on the plantation.

Therefore, the system gave itself a "special skill" - [clone].

With this skill, even if Klein prefers to live a secluded life, having a second safeguard means he can complete missions without worrying about the danger to his life.

Therefore, the purpose of the special ability [Clone] is to "accelerate the mission".

Everything seems to be connected, but there's always a feeling that something is missing.

Klein kept thinking until his thoughts became a jumbled mess.