I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism! - I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 69

“Can you pull her out?” Mara asked nervously.

I had been staring at the box for nearly five minutes before her patience waned. I had been examining my status, trying to see if any skills could help out. Unfortunately, even after ten minutes of looking it up and down, I couldn’t find anything that would aid in breaking someone out of a magic box. In the end, magic was my weakest attribute.

“I’m going to have to enter the trap myself.”

“Eh? You want to enter the trap?” Mara cried out.

“I need to understand it more, and I can’t understand it unless I enter it.”

“Wh-what if… what if you can’t get back out.”

“That’s a possibility.”

“Then, forget it! I won’t let you risk your life! Even if I have to let her die, I won’t risk your life!” She broke into tears, grabbing my shoulder like she thought I was going to jump into the box.

I looked up at her and shook my head. “You don’t need to worry. I won’t be risking my life.”

“That’s… really?” She had been prepared to argue more when I made my announcement.

“Well, I’m not sure if this will work, but I’ll try.” I separated my cells and then began to change them.

After about a minute, I had duplicated my body. I was attempting something I had never done. It was a full-body Mitosis. I was trying to split into two multicellular clones. I had all of the skills to do this. I had Metamorphosis and Mind Division.

By all accounts, I should be able to control two of myself at once. As for how I expected to continue to control myself inside the box, there was Cloud Control and Anatomical Separation. Add to that Detached Automatism, and I was confident I could be both inside the box and not inside it at once. Even if the part inside died, my consciousness outside would remain. Of course, that was only a last resort. I hoped I’d be able to come out of it alive.

Mara watched closely as my pupils doubled, and then soon my eyes doubled. I had two noses and two mouths. Slowly, my body continued to split until there were two of me. One body grew out of the other, or perhaps they simply split from each other, and then there were two. Mara’s eyes were as wide as can be.

“You… can even do this…” She spoke quietly to herself.

“There is a limit to my abilities.” The left version of me spoke, which turned out to be the one still holding the box. “It mostly comes to inexperience. I’ve never had to use them in this manner, so I’m not sure until I try.”

“I-I see… so you’re inexperienced… like me.” She blushed.

I decided to pretend I didn’t understand the thoughts going through her head. It was easier that way.

“Stand back.” The right version reached out and touched Mara, causing her to jump. “I’m going to open the box now, and I don’t want you being pulled in by accident.

“That… I see…” She finally took one of my hands and I led her a bit away while the other me figured out how to open the box.

“Alright.” I sighed, feeling like this was all going to be trouble.

I pressed the button and with a click, the box swung open. I felt a force of suction, but I didn’t fight it as my body was pulled into the box. There was a strange warping sensation as my body was sent through. On the other side, I stumbled out.

Frowning slightly, I first looked around. I appeared to be in the courtyard of some kind of palace. The courtyard was all dead and bones of many living things could be seen. Ornate glass windows, pillars, and spires appeared in every direction I looked. It was a rather decadent place. Behind me, I had entered through a massive archway, but the entrance now appeared to be rock with no way of returning.

“By my guess, that archway only shows a door when the box is open, and if you try to exit through it, the astral winds will tear you apart,” I spoke out loud.

That seems to be an accurate prediction.

“Hmm? Me?”

I am the you outside. It appears that whatever separates us prevents our mind from working smoothly as one. It’s effectively split our mind into two for the moment.

“I see, so I won’t be able to sense what is going on outside of the box.”

Any more than I will be able to sense what is going on in the box. Once the barrier is no longer between us, our experiences will combine.

“Or, I’ll die,” I responded. “There are no problems outside?”

There are none. We are returning the box to the caravan and waiting for the knights to wake up. Tyler has already started showing signs.

“That is troublesome. I do not see the woman in here. It isn’t some white space, but a castle.”

It is best if you just get on with it. We’re the same person, so I’ll have to trust you to do your part, and you need to trust me to do mine. Let’s not repeat the Binary Fission incident.

“You have the upper hand anyway. I’m trapped inside a death box.”

It’s not so simple. Check our status. It has been halved. In other words, you’re half of me. I’m not confident what your destruction would do to me. It may cause significant damage.

“In that case, I’ll be careful. Thanks for the heads up. I’ll contact you once I’ve found the girl.”

Speak to you soon.

It wasn’t that strange having a conversation with myself. It had been that way when I had been a bacteria making endless clones of myself. I hadn’t expected the magic of this box to cause my body to split, but thankfully my skills allowed me to control both sides at the same time, even if they were having different experiences. I decided to take my advice and ignore what was going on outside the box. I had to focus on what was going on here. I began to look around, specifically on clues to wear Erika had gone. I wasn’t so foolish as to yell out for her in this mysterious place. I could attract any number of dangerous enemies.

The courtyard was a dead zone. I could tell without searching that Erika wasn’t there. I walked over to a nearby door and tried to open it, but naturally it didn’t open. I thought about smashing one of the windows, but that would also make noise. I wondered how Erika had managed to get out unless she had locked one of the doors herself. That’s when I noticed a second-story balcony window was open. It wouldn’t be too difficult to climb up to the balcony. In fact, with my stats, I could probably jump up to it. However, I hadn’t practiced finetuning such movements and I could just as easily end up on the roof, so I decided climbing was the best choice. As long as I didn’t squeeze too hard, there was no risk of causing any damage.

I went over to a pillar and climbed up to the second floor, reaching the balcony. From there, I walked into the adjacent bedroom. There was a large image of a valiant man holding a sword. By my best guess, he’d be the owner of this estate. My only question was whether someone had taken the estate and put it into the box, or whether the box had been built with the estate inside. Either way, I had a feeling this place wasn’t a simple trap. It was far too ornate for that.

I searched through a few of the rooms, finding nothing more interesting than a dusty table or a cobwebbed bed. Just where did Erika go? Unless, the box sent each person to a random prison, and this was the one I had ended up inside. That would be very unfortunate. I hadn’t even considered such a possibility. It appeared like I was still far too naive when it came to this world. The next door I opened turned out to be a large two-story library. I entered from the second story. As I walked in, I became aware of some movement. Carefully, heading down an aisle, I came to an edge overlooking the first floor.

On the first floor, Erika was sitting there, looking at books. When I made a noise, she looked up at me. She was startled for a second, but when she realized who I was, she broke into a smile.

“Quick, come down here!”

I frowned. “You do know we’re in a trap, correct?”

“I don’t think this place was intended as a trap. There is a secret to this place, and if we can find it, we can escape!”