Ryūhei could feel the cool breezes course toward him. The wind shifted yet a point or two and blew stronger. Raindrops drenched the world accompanied by lightning striking here and there. It was grand to see how the wind awoke, bent the trees, and drove the rain before it like a cloud of smoke, and to hear the solemn thunder and to see the lightning.
With this kind of weather, Ryūhei doubted that the customer would come to his shop to buy the novel he just published. Likewise for the game.
The publishing company building has become three levels. Even though the outside appearance wasn't that different from before, a lot of things had changed inside.
The first floor is a shop that sells manga and novels, the second floor is used as an office space, and the third floor is used for sleeping.
2 hours passed unknowingly. And at that time, there were only a few customers that came. Because the rain had not died down in the slightest, many people were reluctant to leave their homes other than to buy food.
'Perhaps, it's better if I complete that technique. So, I can release more manga.'
With that in mind, he immediately teleported to the usual cave at Mt. Tianheng. The cave was just below the peak of Mt. Tianheng. Normally, not many people would find the place as it was covered in vines and moss. But because Ryūhei often went to Mt. Tianheng to train every day, he accidentally found a cave that had quite a large space.
This time, Ryūhei did what he had done the previous day, creating a new technique using cursed energy. Although the technique is not that new in the fictional world.
Ryūhei already used various ways to perform the technique so that it can be realized, starting from testing hand seals, formations, and incantations. And he was on the verge of success yesterday.
A few hours after that, Ryūhei laughed in joy.
"With this, I can finally enjoy myself like a boss!"
Ryūhei immediately formed a hand seal. While doing so, he opened his mouth,
"Emerge from the darkness, mirror of the dark, spirit curbed, pneuma surge, by dictum darkness, heed these words, do as I command!"
That was the incantation of his new technique.
And magically, a dark entity arose from his shadow and formed a figure that was no different from Ryūhei, from the energy, appearance, attire, and even equipment.
It was a doppelganger technique, a technique that Ryūhei just created. And naturally, it was inspired by the Shadow Clone Technique from the Naruto manga.
Different from the Shadow Clone Technique which was formed by combining spiritual energy and physical energy which was called a chakra, Ryūhei's technique used cursed energy and physical energy. And there was a clear difference between his doppelganger and the Shadow Clone from Naruto.
It was the energy capacity. The original Shadow Clone Technique divided the energy evenly between the user and clone(s). However, that was not the case with Ryūhei's doppelganger. His cursed energy was completely undivided. In fact, he only needed to spend 5% of his energy per doppelganger. Moreover, his doppelganger shared the same amount of energy as his own. In addition, with his eyes, he could recover his energy in no time. Likewise with his doppelganger.
This was kinda broken to be honest.
Imagine if ten of The Hollow Technique: Purple were launched at the same time. That would be mind-blowing.
However, that was not his true purpose for creating that technique.
What he wanted was simple, drawing more manga.
He already bought a lot of the manga from the system market. However, all of them were the first volumes. If he wanted to read the next volume, what he needed was to print and sell them. Too bad his manpower wasn't enough.
Nibi and Eni might be helpful now, but he can't rely on them all the time because there are still lots of interesting manga he hasn't released yet. Furthermore, his aim wasn't just Liyue, but the world. If he only had 3 people to draw manga, then he wouldn't be able to open branches in other nations. That was why he was trying to create a new technique, which he didn't expect to create a broken technique.
At first, he wanted to create zombies, just like Qiqi from the Bubu Pharmacy. However, he threw out that idea since it was kinda creepy if the company was full of zombies.
However, when he thought about the clones from Naruto, he began to find a way to create that technique. In just half a month, his hard work in creating the technique paid off.
Ryūhei turned to his doppelganger.
"Follow me!"
"Roger!"
Then, Ryūhei teleported back to the shop along with his doppelganger who also used the same teleportation technique by marking Ryūhei's cursed energy.
The moment Ryūhei appeared at the office, Nibi widened his eyes. Ryūhei could see the surprise in her eyes since she didn't wear her usual blindfold due to his order. Not just her, even Jiu couldn't believe what she saw.
"Hey, did you split your soul fragment to create another you? I feel a sense of déjà vu here."
"Pffttt. What are you talking about?" Ryūhei replied with a hearty laugh. Then, he clapped his hand while muttering, "Release!"
In that instant, his doppelganger fell into the shadows and disappeared completely.
"..."
Jiu couldn't respond after seeing that. Honestly, that was her first time seeing such an ability. Ignoring her surprise, Ryūhei turned to Nibi.
"Wake Eni up!"
"Yes!"
Nibi stood up from her seat and walked toward where Eni curled up on the couch.
"Hey, wake up, lazy bum!"
Eni didn't wake up immediately. She covered all of her body with the blanket instead.
Getting annoyed, Nibi flipped the couch.
"Ack!" Eni instantly opened her eyes. "What are you doing? Don't you know that it's Sunday? Don't you know that workers also need a day off?"
"Who are you kidding? It's Tuesday! It's a weekday! Are you looking down on your job?"
"You're the only one I'm looking down upon!"
Hearing their bickering, Ryūhei didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed.
*Bonk*
Ryūhei smacked their heads simultaneously.
Ryūhei had been feeling headaches lately thanks to their behavior. Their characters indeed became like human beings. And they also formed their own personalities after obtaining Ryūhei's memories from that time. However, they always fought with each other due to the sense of rivalry.
After all, both of them had similar power, the same chips, and the same origins.
Still, he wondered how such a thing could have happened considering it was something that went against logic.
Aside from their rivalry, which always ended up in fights, they still did the job perfectly, from drawing manga or everything else, just as Ryūhei expected.
"Stop your noisy and useless bickering! I have something to say."
Both of them pouted because Ryūhei hit them. However, Ryūhei didn't care slightly about their expressions.
"Tomorrow, I will return to Inazuma to see the situation. If possible, I will open a new branch there. Otherwise, I will go to Mondstadt."
Hearing that, Eni immediately turned around to prepare.
"Then, I'll prepare immediately!"
"Me too!" Nibi didn't want to be left out either. So, Nibi followed Eni. However, before they went upstairs, Ryūhei stopped them.
"Wait! You two stay!"
"Why?" Both of them asked in unison.
"No reason. You two should stay here." Ryūhei didn't give a clear reason.
Eni and Nibi looked at each other. Then, Nibi voiced out.
"I knew it. Master missed his darling. So he didn't want her to see us."
Eni also nodded in agreement.
"That's right. Master probably wanted to snu snu without being disturbed by us. Don't worry, Master. I won't disturb you. Just bring me along to Inazuma!"
However, after Eni said that, Nibi rejected her idea.
"No, you should leave Eni in Liyue! Bring me instead, Master!"
Eni was naturally irked after hearing that. She turned to Nibi.
"What did you say? Are you picking a fight?"
"Fight? Do you think I won't dare to fight you?"
However, Ryūhei's expression darkened upon hearing those two. In that instance, he raised his index finger, then a glowing red orb formed at the tip of his index finger. It was the Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.
Sensing something dangerous Eni and Nibi turned to Ryūhei as they widened their eyes.
"Master, stop! Please don't do it or this building will be destroyed!"
"That's right, Master! We won't argue anymore. Please stop!"
Looking at them, Ryūhei retracted his cursed energy. And this made two of them sighed in relief.
Only Jiu didn't seem to care about them since she didn't want to get involved.