Chapter 1446 - Jake Thayne (2) (Patreon)

Jake opened his eyes in the real world, still perplexed about what he’d seen just before exiting the World of the Exalted Prima. Before he even stood up, Jake opened his recent notifications and was confused to find nothing out of the ordinary there.

Frowning, Jake opened his status to check his skills, and when he got to Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter, things were... weird.

[Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter (N/A)] – Unavailable

This was not a situation Jake had ever encountered before, or even read about; then again, if it had ever happened to someone else, would they have written it down? Either way, Jake’s confusion was at an all-time high as it seemed like the skill had broken. In some ways, it wasn’t too different from when he’d fucked up Palate, except it didn’t feel like the skill was broken. He also didn’t detect anything amiss with his soul, and perhaps the oddest was how he retained the instinctual knowledge of how the skill worked.

“Perhaps in a transitional state of some kind?” Jake asked himself out loud, with primarily the rarity being ‘N/A’ making him think that. Anyway, rather than spiral down the rabbit hole of theories about what was happening, he did the most obvious thing he could after seeing the skill appeared broken:

He used the skill.

Activating Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter, Jake fully expected something unforeseen to happen. For the skill to bug out, fail to activate, threaten to tear his soul in half... anything, really. Which was why the result took him by surprise.

Out of his body emerged a cursed version of himself, looking and feeling no different from before he entered the World of the Exalted Prima and had his reunion with Sim-Jake. Frowning in utter confusion, Jake scanned the shadow in every way, once more finding no changes.

Something has to have changed, Jake told himself as he tested the durability of the Eternal Shadow. Sim-Jake had been far more durable, so this one would be too, right?

Except it wasn’t. Jake broke it with a single attack, meaning its durability was exactly the same as before. For a few seconds, he stood there, staring at where the curse energy dispersed before closing his eyes and entering his Soulspace to inspect what the hell was going on.

Appearing within his inner world, Jake instantly honed in on the representation of Eternal Shadow in there, and... nothing.

Jake felt a rush of panic as the humanoid form representing both the curse energy of Eternal Hunger and his Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter were gone from his Soulspace. However, he quickly realized that while their physical representations were gone, all their Records remained, though they’d lost their form.

When he tried to summon both of them, he wasn’t sure what to expect, yet once more found himself surprised as he effortlessly succeeded. The cursed humanoid shadow appeared, making Jake nearly shout in disbelief as he questioned what the hell was going on, until he realized they weren’t exactly the same.

While the curse energy was identical in every way, the shadow itself was different. It appeared less physical, kind of reminding Jake of the finger he’d absorbed. In other words, powerful concepts related to the simulated world had likely been mixed with the skill.

However, this realization – though it was more a theory than anything – didn’t exactly help Jake much, as he was still flummoxed. Had he failed in upgrading the skill? Wait, what had happened to Sim-Jake?

Jake was in a bit of a panicked state, about to enter the World of the Exalted Prima once more, when he felt something... something that made him hesitate.

Still standing inside his Soulspace, he turned to look at the Eternal Shadow in there, vaguely getting the feeling it wanted him to wait. It didn’t move, didn’t outright communicate anything, but Jake instinctively just felt like he should wait. It was an odd feeling, as if the thought itself had emerged from his own mind, yet didn’t entirely originate from himself.

He had no explanation, but he had a good feeling this was related to Sim-Jake, so Jake simply nodded and waited, continuing to explore if he could find out exactly what he’d done with his skill.

--

Miranda stood frozen for about a full second as ‘Jake’ looked at her. His eyes behind the mask were the same as before physically, still giving off that orange glow and beastly intent, but they also felt... colder. Like with a single glance, he’d instantly sized her up and deemed her inferior and nothing more than prey, which was enough to make a shiver run down her spine.

Yet at the same time, it was clearly Jake’s aura. Her exclusive skills meant to communicate with him had formed a powerful karmic connection, also clearly telling her that this was Jake. Even William wasn’t powerful enough to fool her, so unless some A-grade shapeshifter had appeared, everything told her she was looking at Jake.

No, not even a god could have taken his place, because Miranda clearly felt that he was the Chief Administrator, meaning that nothing, perhaps not even the Exalted Prima, could be standing in front of her wearing his skin. A possibility she hadn’t even considered.

Meaning it was Jake... but not really Jake.

This storm of thoughts and confusion flooded Miranda’s mind, which is why she stood frozen for a little while before taking action as she silently summoned energy around her as ‘Jake’ stopped looking at her and instead raised a hand towards the ceiling as he slowly opened and closed it.

“This is peculiar,” he muttered as sparks of arcane energy appeared around his hand, followed by it suddenly glowing dark green from what Miranda recognized to be Touch of the Malefic Viper.

“Very peculiar,” he muttered again, still not paying her any mind, as he was too preoccupied with whatever he was doing. He even went so far as to close his eyes for a few seconds before he opened them again.

“I see...”

Finally, he turned back towards Miranda as his mask was made invisible, revealing his face. His eyes remained familiar yet foreign, and the smirk on his face was ever-so-slightly different from how Jake usually did it, making Miranda remain on alert.

“Miranda Wells, I believe? Yes, I remember you. His reliable assistant, though sometimes it feels more like you’re his babysitter, taking care of every little thing. Then again, if he insists on having an organization and influence through that, it’s probably the best way of doing it. Outsourcing to those who are actually competent so we can focus on what matters,” the fake Jake said, his way of speaking also slightly different, with his words making it clear he wasn’t even trying to act as if he was the real Jake.

She didn’t feel any sense of danger, though, making Miranda confident enough to ask:

“Who are you?”

The fake Jake smiled before chuckling.

“My birth certificate said Jake Thayne before the integration, and right now, my Status says the same,” he replied. “Though that isn’t what you’re truly asking, is it?”

“No, it was not,” Miranda said, though she was quite confused.

“Yet it is the answer. I’m Jake Thayne, Progenitor, Chief Administrator, Chosen of the Malefic Viper, Harbinger of Primeval Origins... man, we’ve collected a fair share of titles, huh? And all that without mentioning the most important one,” he said before taking a deep breath. “But fine, I have a feeling I’ll be needing your help, so let me clarify the situation. I’m Jake Thayne, though from another simulated reality. A discarded one that was created during the Myriad Paths event, and with the help of the Jake you know, I managed to enter the real world, though I couldn’t remain for long, and my consciousness only recently reawakened. That’s the gist of what’s going on. Ah, and as for the Jake you know, well, he just left the World of the Exalted Prima without me disappearing, which is why I find this entire situation quite peculiar.”

Miranda stared at the man who claimed to be a simulated version of Jake as she tried to process all the information he’d just offloaded on her. There was a lot to unpack, and she had so many questions, yet after hearing it all...

“That does sound like something Jake would have done, though I find the prospect of two Jakes utterly exhausting,” Miranda muttered before letting out a loud sigh. “Now, what should I call you? Because referring to you as Jake would feel very weird.”

“A good question I have given no thought to at all, as I never considered this scenario. My other self usually refers to me as Sim-Jake as a way to distinguish, so you are free to do the same until a better name is decided,” Sim-Jake said, though Miranda had to agree the name wasn’t great. Then again, wasn’t it only to be expected that a name Jake had made up was less than great? Either way, she would have to work with it for now.

“Then I’ll do just that, Sim-Jake,” Miranda said, definitely finding that name weird. “I also hope to better understand how exactly you are here and the meaning of your presence.”

“Oh, that I’m also trying to figure out,” Sim-Jake smiled. “I existed in the form of a skill for a long time. The cursed shadow you may have seen him summon. Now, however, after he left the World of the Exalted Prima, I’m no mere shadow, but as real as I can be.”

As if to prove his point, Sim-Jake unleashed his aura, which certainly rivaled Jake’s own in every aspect. He clearly reveled in the sensation, with Miranda giving him some space to do so, while also giving herself time to mentally process everything that was going on.

After a few seconds, Sim-Jake calmed down again and threw her a look. “Your stoic demeanor is truly admirable. I can see why you’ve been such a valuable asset to us and our Path.”

“Thank you, and you should tell your other self that he should also try positive reinforcement once in a while. Does wonders for work morale,” Miranda answered with a smile. “I also still have plenty of questions for you that I hope you’ll answer.”

“Of course,” he answered before waving his hand to summon a table and a set of chairs. “And with that, I also confirmed I have his spatial storage here in the virtual world.”

“Good to know,” Miranda nodded before sitting down with what appeared to be a simulated clone of her boss. Definitely one of the weirdest things she’d ever done, but for some reason it didn’t faze her much.

The following conversation proved very enlightening, as Miranda gained a clearer idea of exactly what she was dealing with while she and Sim-Jake both explored who he was. For all intents and purposes, it seemed as if he was just Jake, but with the personality of his simulacrum. He had all the skills, stats, titles, and Bloodline; everything was the same, except for one small thing...

“My resource pools do not appear to be recovering; in fact, they are slowly dwindling, likely to sustain my existence,” Sim-Jake said, having likely discovered that to be the case about halfway through their conversation. “It’s slow, especially when I’m not doing anything, but it will be a problem should I enter a fight.”

So that was one limitation for sure, though Miranda had some ideas. Their conversation continued as Miranda also learned a bit more, not just what she was dealing with, but who Sim-Jake was, as despite him also being Jake, he was a lot different from the one she knew. As she’d already noted, he was a lot colder, but he was also calmer. She wouldn’t say he was particularly charismatic or charming, as quite frankly, he was more unsettling than anything.

Hearing his backstory, something he proved surprisingly open about, she began to understand why. Having lost his family and everyone he cared about, Sim-Jake grew up to be very different, which naturally reflected a lot on his personality. The simulacrum himself put it quite succinctly:

“Jake was a hunter who, through family, learned to become human, having to then rediscover who he truly is through the integration,” Sim-Jake said, leaning forward to look Miranda straight in the eyes. “That’s the difference between us. I never got that lesson.”

Miranda met his gaze as she nodded. “I only know him after the system, though from what I heard, he was quite different before the integration. Now, though, I will say you two are quite similar. At least you’re both incredibly self-confident to the level of arrogance.”

“Confidence that is earned. No, a birthright,” Sim-Jake said with a smile.

“Alright, you might be slightly more arrogant,” Miranda shook her head.

Sim-Jake just smiled at her, clearly finding this entire encounter amusing. Miranda held herself back from commenting on it, as she understood. Wasn’t this effectively the first conversation he’d ever had with a real person? From what he said, since he and Jake were effectively the same person and shared memories to some extent, the two talking couldn’t even be considered a proper conversation.

“I should also add that I can vaguely feel that Jake considered joining the simulation earlier, though I managed to stop him. Not entirely sure how I relayed my request for him to delay entering, nor how I knew he wanted to enter, but that’s just another mystery to add to the pile,” Sim-Jake said casually.

Miranda nodded. “So Jake is in the Seat of the Exalted Prima and ready to reenter the simulated world. I do wonder what will happen when he decides to enter.”

“My guess is that I’ll disappear,” Sim-Jake shrugged. “You know what? Let’s test it out.”

--

Jake had been chilling inside his Soulspace, analyzing the cursed shadow in there extensively while waiting for Sim-Jake inside the World of the Exalted Prima. Through his analysis, he did discover some things, especially when he tried to touch his shadow.

When he did so, Jake vaguely perceived that he was in a familiar room. The one he had exited the simulation from. There was a set of chairs and a table there now, though, with a woman sitting opposite Jake himself. The image was unclear, but Jake could barely make out the aura that made him believe it was Miranda.

His method of perceiving what was going on reminded him of the information his Sphere of Perception provided, leading him to believe he was effectively tapping into Sim-Jake’s sphere within the simulation.

If that were true, Jake had so many more questions, as it made zero sense that one could perceive space within a simulated world. Then again, was Jake perceiving space, or was he just getting a copy of the information his clone received? Yeah, again, way too many questions about how the hell this simulation stuff worked.

As Jake was still busy trying to figure things out on his end, he vaguely felt his Eternal Shadow reach out to him, communicating for him to enter the World of the Exalted Prima. Jake didn’t give much thought to how he knew what the shadow communicated; he just accepted it as he exited his Soulspace and reentered the World of the Exalted Prima.

--

Miranda watched as Sim-Jake closed his eyes for a few seconds. He remained still until his demeanor suddenly shifted slightly, and when he opened his eyes again, he had a look far more familiar than before.

“Jake?” she asked, for some reason feeling a bit nervous.

“That was trippy as hell,” Jake muttered, looking around before regarding Miranda. “So what I saw was accurate, huh? And these memories... mine, but not mine... is this how Sim-Jake usually feels?”

Miranda wasn’t sure exactly what Jake was experiencing right now, but she did know one thing:

“We really need to work on that name.”

As well as a truckload of other mysteries and things to figure out, all while dealing with the fourth phase of the World of the Exalted Prima event, which had just begun. Having two Jakes to deal with certainly didn’t help either, plus she had a feeling she and ‘Sim-Jake’ would get to know one another, especially if her little theory of what kind of existence he was to the virtual world proved true.