Chapter 8 – Warehouse Monster
The next morning, the air was cold. Fog clung to the sidewalks. The warehouse was still waking up. Some workers had not even arrived yet.
But the clone was already inside.
He had clocked in early, again. He always did. Never complained. Never asked for a break. He just started moving crates. Every box was heavy, but he did not seem to notice.
Today, something felt different.
Everyone who saw him now treated him like a ticking bomb. They stepped back when he passed. They whispered more than before. They had watched the way he dodged Jin-sung's punch. It was not just fast. It was too perfect. Like someone who had trained for years.
That was not something a normal person could do.
In the corner of the warehouse, Jin-sung rubbed his shoulder. He had not said a word all morning. His pride still hurt. Worse than that, his fear had started to grow. That guy Jeon Dong-gil was no ordinary kid.
"Maybe he's one of those rare cases," one of the older workers muttered. "You know, awakened but hiding it."
"Hiding it here?" someone replied. "Why work in a place like this?"
"Maybe he's testing something," the older worker whispered. "Or maybe he's running from something."
Inside his tiny apartment, Kim Do-hyun scrolled through online awakening forums. His clone was working. That meant he had time. Time to learn, read, and plan.
His chair creaked as he leaned forward.
One post caught his eye.
"Strange Awakening Cases: The Warehouse Monster"
His heart skipped.
The thread had just started. Only a few replies. But one of them mentioned Crazy Monkey Logistics. One even mentioned the name Jeon Dong-gil.
Do-hyun's stomach tightened.
It was happening faster than he expected.
He checked the stat panel again. The numbers were still climbing.
[Stamina: 4.18 → 4.22]
[Reflex: 5.23 → 5.25]
[Agility: 4.0 → 4.03]
That was great news.
But the bad news?
People were noticing. Even online.
He grabbed his notepad and flipped to the danger list.
He added a new line.
Do-hyun chewed the end of his pencil. His fingers tapped against the desk. This was the price of getting stronger too fast. If the clone became too good at anything, people would talk.
And if someone from the hunter system found out, he would be done for.
"Keep it quiet," he mumbled. "Stay small. Keep the pace slow."
But it was already too late for that.
The clone was a work machine. It had no fear, no hesitation, and no ego. It just followed orders. Do-hyun had told it to be the best worker at the warehouse.
And it listened.
Down at the loading docks, a supervisor came by with a clipboard.
"Hey, you, Jeon Dong-gil."
The clone turned to face him.
"We're short on hands for the night shift today. You're staying, right?"
The clone nodded once.
"Good," the man said. "Didn't even need to convince him. Kid's a machine."
Another man nearby shook his head.
"I don't trust him," he muttered. "Something ain't right about that guy."
But no one said it loud enough for the clone to hear.
And the clone? It just kept working.
At sunset, Do-hyun went to the park to walk off some of the stress. He wore a hoodie pulled over his head and jogged lightly along the gravel path.
His face was slimmer now. His belly had shrunk. His legs no longer dragged. Every time the clone trained, his own body changed. Not instantly, but over time. As if his clone's pain became his progress.
He passed the old benches. The same old lady was there again, sitting with her thermos. Her name was Choi Mal-soon. She always smiled at him.
"Good to see you again, young man," she said.
He nodded politely.
"You're losing weight. I almost didn't recognize you."
Do-hyun gave a weak smile and jogged past. He felt awkward talking to people. But what she said was true. The numbers were real.
He had already lost more than ten kilograms. Maybe closer to twenty now.
His cheekbones were sharper. His arms looked tighter. His back no longer ached when he stood for too long.
And still, all he had to do was give an order.
While his clone worked at night, he could rest. While the clone lifted boxes, he could research. And when he got tired of people, he could stay hidden.
But he was not the only one watching.
Far above the streets, on the top floor of a tall tower, a man in a long coat looked down at the city lights.
His name was Yoo Seung-jin.
He was not just rich or powerful.
He was the first person in the world to clear the Odin Tower. The first jumper. An S-rank so famous even little kids knew his name.
And he was watching a strange new file on his monitor.
His assistant stood nearby. Seo Ye-rin held a tablet and scrolled through data.
"This one's interesting," she said. "His clone works nonstop. But the summoner's stats keep increasing. It's not supposed to work like that."
Seung-jin's eyes narrowed.
"What's the name?"
"Kim Do-hyun."
He smirked.
"Put a team on him. Quiet ones."
Ye-rin nodded. "Undercover?"
"Of course," he said. "And keep his profile buried for now. No official flag."
He turned back to the window.
"If this kid's really breaking the system, then I'll be the one to break him first."
---
That night, the clone stayed behind as ordered. The cold wind blew through the open warehouse doors. The metal roof creaked. Lights flickered now and then. Some workers had already left for the day. Only the clone and a few others remained.
Jeon Dong-gil, the name Do-hyun had given to the clone, moved from one corner to another without stopping. He lifted crate after crate and stacked them in neat rows.
The night shift workers had a slower pace. Most of them were older. Some were students. A few were former soldiers looking for side work.
They all noticed him.
"Hey, that's the guy from the day shift, right?" one of them whispered.
"Still working? Man, he doesn't even drink water."
"I saw him earlier too. He didn't even go home. What is he, a robot?"
Someone tried to talk to the clone.
"Yo, Dong-gil. Want to take five?"
The clone turned. His face calm. Voice flat.
"I am fine. I will continue."
Then he went back to work.
That answer gave people chills.
One guy said, "He talks like a machine. No slang. No jokes. Just all serious."
Another replied, "I swear he doesn't blink much either."
At the security station, a guard rewound the camera feed.
He pointed at the screen.
"Look at this," he said. "He dropped the box, right? But then his arms snapped out and caught it mid-air like some martial artist."
Another guard whistled.
"That kind of reflex? You don't see that in labor jobs."
"They said he's not awakened," the first one added. "But look at this speed."
Word was spreading. Fast.
It was no longer just workers talking. It was guards, cleaners, and even a few local delivery drivers who passed through the warehouse. Everyone had their own version of the story now.
Some said he could move things twice his weight.
Others said he never got tired.
A few even said they saw his muscles bulge under his shirt like a trained fighter.
That part was almost true.
Because of all the clone's hard work, Do-hyun's own body was changing quickly. And the clone, being a perfect copy, showed those changes even faster.
Do-hyun watched it all through the system panel. He sat in his apartment. The lights were off. Only the glow of the monitor lit the room. His stats blinked at the corner of the screen.
[Reflex: 5.25 → 5.28]
[Stamina: 4.22 → 4.26]
[Strength: 7.1 → 7.13]
The changes were small but constant.
The biggest difference?
He did nothing. The clone did all the work.
He leaned back in his chair. The springs squeaked. He stretched his arms. They felt a bit tighter now. Less flabby.
He stood up and checked himself in the mirror.
He could actually see the curve of his shoulder now. His chin looked sharper. His belly? Still soft, but it was smaller.
"Okay," he whispered. "So the more he works, the more I change. That part makes sense."
But then he stared at the mirror again.
"It's going too fast."
He turned to his desk and opened his notebook.
Another warning.
He flipped back to the earlier pages. The first list of clone rules. He had written them all when the clone first appeared.
Clone Rules:
Feels real
Obeys thoughts
No pain transfer
Can be far away
Cannot summon more clones
Clone disappears if pushed too hard
Those rules still held. But he was starting to discover something new.
Rule number seven: If the clone becomes too perfect, it becomes a threat.
Not a threat to him. A threat to the world around him. Because the world did not like things it could not understand. The awakened system was strict. The government was careful. Hunters did not allow strange skills to go unchecked.
The wrong person asking the wrong question could ruin his entire life.
He paced the room slowly.
"I need to dial it down," he said.
But he already knew the truth.
He would not.
He liked the way his clothes fit better now.
He liked how food tasted sweeter after exercise.
And he loved that he could do nothing while his body grew stronger.
His phone buzzed.
It was a message from the warehouse system.
Subject: Outstanding performance record
Jeon Dong-gil has completed 138 percent of the average work quota for today.
Reward bonus: ₩45,000 added.