The Graystone Forest was normally dangerous due to the many species of beasts that inhabited it, many of them quite powerful.
However, during the day, while still dangerous, it remained at a level where even weaker adventurers could enter and complete some missions.
That changed once night fell.
That was when some of the most lethal species began to hunt, and even the outer edges of the forest could become dangerous. Because of that, no one hunted at night, unless they were part of a strong group, or stayed strictly within the outer perimeter.
That was how things usually went.
But a certain someone did the opposite.
Thud.
With a heavy sound, several beasts collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
The one responsible for it all was none other than Evan, inside his clone's body.
"Hmm, F-Rank beasts aren't even a challenge anymore. I should stop wasting time on these and focus on E-Rank ones," he muttered to himself after cutting down three Advanced-Stage F-Rank beasts as if he were slaughtering chickens.
It was clear his current level of strength was far beyond prey like this.
He had attacked them just to get used to this body, but quickly realized they were simply too weak. So he finished them off and decided to hunt something stronger.
He opened his status screen, where the system messages appeared:
[Ding! You have killed an F-Rank (Advanced Stage) Wildfang Jackal!]
[You have gained +140 ESS]
[Ding! You have killed an F-Rank (Advanced Stage) Wildfang Jackal!]
[You have gained +140 ESS]
[Ding! You have killed an F-Rank (Advanced Stage) Wildfang Jackal!]
[You have gained +140 ESS]
Evan couldn't help but notice that the ESS distribution had now reversed.
He was receiving 70%, while his clone got the remaining 30%.
Normally, his own kills would grant him 100% of the ESS, but since he was inside his clone's body, the system still split it, this time with the larger share going to him.
While checking, he noticed additional messages at the bottom, ones that weren't directly from his own kills:
[Ding! Your clone's summons has killed an F-Rank (Early Stage) Wild Wolf!]
[You have gained +5 ESS]
[Ding! Your clone's summons has killed an F-Rank (Early Stage) Wild Wolf!]
[You have gained +5 ESS]
Seeing those, Evan didn't know what expression to make.
Compared to what he got from the clone's own kills, these were scraps. They would have been useful when he was an F-Rank, but now they were like a drop of water in a bucket.
Still… it wasn't bad.
After all, it was passive ESS.
He had let the summons roam the forest's outer edges and hunt for themselves, so they'd grow stronger and generate ESS for him in the process. He'd told them to collect mana cores from every beast they killed, but to leave the bodies, those had been piling up a little too much in his storage.
At this point, unless it was an Advanced stage F-Rank or an E-Rank beast, he didn't care about the corpses anymore.
The reason the ESS from summons was so low was simple: the system divided it among the three summons first, passed what remained to the clone, and from that Evan received only one-third.
After all those cuts, it ended up being a miserable +5 ESS.
'Well… as they say, even a mosquito's meat is still meat' he thought,
only to cringe at himself a moment later.
'Hell… since when did I become this cringe?'
Shaking his head, Evan pushed the thought aside and focused back on hunting.
It didn't take long for him to detect a stronger presence, most likely an E-Rank.
With his clone's [Death Sense], he could perceive the life energy of all creatures within a certain radius.
It worked best against beings close to death, but worked well against those with strong vitality too. The stronger the creature, the more intense the life energy, which was how he was able to determine it was E-Rank.
'This one should do.'
He moved, covering nearly 200 meters in a flash, and reached the spot where the beast was. The moment he arrived, he saw it, and the rest of the scene along with it.
'Well… that's one huge monkey,' he muttered, observing the destruction around it, clearly caused by the beast.
He also noticed it was fighting a girl, perhaps a few years older than him.
He could tell she was F-Rank, mid-stage.
It didn't take much to understand what had happened.
The girl was on the ground, covered in wounds, unable to move due to a broken leg.
Seeing her like that, Evan couldn't help but feel a hint of pity.
From her expression, it was clear she had almost completely lost hope.
It was a look he was very familiar with.
Back in his previous life, almost everyone he had met in his similar situation, wore the same expression.
They had given up on life.
But perhaps that wasn't entirely true for her.
He could see a certain flicker in her eyes, desperation, perhaps for her own life, or worry for something else entirely, he didnt know.
Nor did he care.
Looking at the beast before him, he could tell it was an E-Rank, mid-stage, very close to reaching advanced stage.
The perfect prey.
A faint glint flashed in his eyes as he completely concealed his presence.
Using [stealth], he moved forward silently as a thin, elongated blade materialized in his right hand.
Stealth was one of his clone's abilities, but after watching it used so many times, and now being inside the clone's body itself, Evan had grown familiar enough with it to activate it on his own, without needing his clone to step in to help with this.
He had already noticed the strong aura of death his clone constantly emitted, a constant problem, as most beasts would bolt at the slightest trace of it instead of standing their ground. Not ideal for hunting.
So, over the past few hours, he trained himself to suppress it, and after some trial and error, managed to bring it under control.
Combined with stealth, he could now close in without making a sound.
The White Ape had been looming over the wounded human with something almost like contempt when a cold shiver shot down its spine, every survival instinct firing at once, screaming that it was in danger.
It spun around immediately, alarmed, and spotted a figure already just a few steps away, mid-swing, blade coming down. It threw both enormous arms up to shield itself.
Its arms were as lethal as they were thick and durable, built for exactly this kind of defense. There was no way the attacker could land a meaningful blow against them.
And it didn't.
Because just as the beast turned to guard against him, the attacker smiled, and vanished.
Before it could even react, something shifted.
The world tilted.
And then it saw it, another White Ape, identical to itself.
Headless.
For a brief moment, confusion filled its eyes. Then, slowly, realization set in.
That body… was its own.
And as its head fell, the last traces of life faded away.
[Ding! You have killed an E-Rank (Mid-Stage) White Ape!]
[You have gained +350 ESS]