The heavy door creaked open. Everyone took a cautious step forward, nervousness filling the air. But unlike the rest, Gen was visibly excited. Ray, on the other hand, looked a little scared.
"Hey Ray, stay with me, alright? I'll protect you," Gen said with a reassuring smile.
Ray nodded slowly. "Alright…"
"Sam, you too. Stay behind me and don't cry, got it?" Gen instructed firmly.
"Hmm… okay," Sam replied, trying to stay composed.
As they stepped inside, another door opened — the one holding the clones. They began to pour in one by one.
"There are a total of 150 clones in here," announced Master Harry. "Let's see how many you all can defeat in the next 60 minutes."
At first, everyone hesitated, trembling in fear. But as the clones charged at them, survival instincts kicked in. One by one, they began attacking in desperation.
Ray faced one of the clones head-on. But as he looked at it, he froze. The clone's face reminded him of his mother. Memories rushed in like a tidal wave, and he couldn't bring himself to strike.
Just as the clone lunged at him, Gen intervened, pushing it back and slicing it down.
"What the hell are you doing?! This is not the time to be lost in thought, idiot!"
"That… that looked like my mom…" Ray murmured, his voice trembling.
"Shut up, man! That's just a clone. That is NOT your mom. She's not here. Snap out of it, Ray!"
Ray blinked, coming back to his senses. "I—I'm sorry. I just… remembered her all of a sudden."
"You can be emotional later. Fight now. Or I won't be able to keep saving your ass every time," Gen said sternly.
"Sam, stay with him until he's ready. I'm going after more clones," Gen ordered, rushing ahead.
Ray and Sam stood in the corner, trying to regroup. Suddenly, a clone noticed them and began moving toward them. It approached with cold, mechanical steps. Sam stepped in front of Ray, trying to be brave — but his hands were shaking. He stood there like a wall between Ray and the clone, unable to act.
Ray noticed and stepped up. With one swift strike, he decapitated the clone. Tiny droplets of blood splattered onto Sam's face.
"Sam! Are you okay?" Ray asked, breathing heavily.
Sam's eyes widened, and he shook his head in fear. "I can't do this… I can't kill anyone. I'm not strong enough…"
"Sam, just stay close to me. You don't have to fight. Just stay with me."
They moved forward together. Meanwhile, Gen had already taken down three or four clones.
"So, you guys finally caught up," Gen said with a grin. "Come on, let's take them all down."
Ray began to fight slowly, growing more confident with each strike. Sam, however, still couldn't bring himself to attack anyone.
Suddenly, three clones pinned down one boy.
"Master! He's in danger!" someone shouted.
"We should go help him!" Harry urged.
"No, Harry," Master Magnus replied coldly. "If he can't save himself, he can't save anyone else. Let's see what he does. Whether others help him or not, I want to observe."
The boy was struggling, desperately trying to escape.
"I—I can't do this… someone please help me! Master! Anyone! Please don't let me die!"
"Shut up!" Magnus yelled. "Stop whining and FIGHT!"
Gen, Ray, and Sam's attention turned to the commotion. They rushed over to help. Sam pulled the boy away while Gen and Ray cut down the clones attacking him.
"Pff… These were so weak," Gen said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Thank you… no one else was coming to help me. I thought I was going to die," the boy said, his voice trembling.
"Don't worry. We've got your back," Ray said with a reassuring smile. "Stick with us. The four of us can defeat them all together."
"Yeah, alright, friends. Let's go," the boy said, relieved.
"See, Master? He survived," Harry said.
"Yes… I saw," Magnus replied, eyes narrowing.
"What's that boy's name? He's already killed ten clones."
"His name is Gen, Master," Harry said. "He's quite strong. His weapon is also more powerful than the others."
"Looks like we've got a promising fighter this time."
Now the four of them moved together like a team, taking down clone after clone. Some clones, however, were noticeably stronger — brutally injuring other trainees, making them unable to continue the fight.
Ray and Gen decided to help the others and split into two teams — Gen and the boy, and Ray and Sam.
"Ray, you'll handle it, right?"
"Yeah, Gen. I remembered why I came here — to protect others. So that no one else loses their loved ones like I did."
"Good," Gen smiled. "Then go and take them all down."
Seeing Gen's team working together inspired the rest. They began forming teams of two or three and started helping one another.
Just then, a particularly strong clone attacked Gen, biting his arm hard. Two more clones jumped him, dragging him to the ground.
"Master! Gen's been captured by clones! We need to help him!" Harry yelled.
"No, Harry. Don't. We're not helping anyone. Let them fight. Whether they live or die — that's their battle. There are others down there. If Gen is meant to live, someone will save him."
"GEN!" Ray screamed.
"Come on, Sam. We've got to help him."
Before Ray could reach him, a bodybuilder-type guy leapt in, attacking the clones. He killed two of them, while Gen finished off the remaining two.
"Damn, those were tough ones," Gen muttered. "Thanks, brother, for the help. But I could've handled them."
"No problem, man. My name's Gary. I'm the strongest one here — I'll kill them all!" he said and walked away confidently.
"Gen, are you alright?" Ray asked, concerned.
"Yeah… I'll be fine."
"There's a lot of blood coming from your arm. And your leg's badly injured too. Where's that guy who was with you?"
"Oh, yeah! Where is he…?"
They looked around and saw him fighting a clone. "Wait here — I'll help him," Ray said and rushed in.
"Even the girls here are fighting really well," Ray noted, impressed.
"You're right," Gen nodded. "Only ten minutes left. I think all the weak clones are down now. Only the medium and strong ones remain."
"Yeah… these are tougher. But we can do it."
The Four of them — Gen, Ray, Sam and the boy fought side by side, slaying clone after clone. Gen, however, continued to fight solo, taking on multiple clones at once.
"What's your name?" Ray asked one of the new teammates.
"My name's Max. Thanks again for saving me. I even called for Master, but no one came — except you guys."
"No worries. From now on, the four of us are a team," Ray said with a smile.
"Alright. Time's up," a voice echoed through the room.
"Well done, everyone. Out of 150 regular clones, you all managed to defeat 80. We also had 20 strong clones mixed in — we didn't tell you that before. So, there were 170 in total, and you managed to take down six of the strong ones."
"The highest kill count is 28, by Gary — two of them were strong clones. Second is Gen with 24 kills, one of which was a strong one. And third is Deo, with 16 kills — one strong, taken down with his team."
Everyone headed to the rest room to relax.
"See you all at 6 p.m."