The 100,000th Try
Chapter 31: Shadow of the Self

Chapter 31: Shadow of the Self

Location: Nexus Tower – Sub-Level Omega

Time: 8:01 AM

The lift screeched to a halt far below ground level. Kaen stepped into a corridor he had buried under thousands of simulations—a place even he had sealed shut until now.

Steel walls pulsed faintly with electric veins. He wasn’t walking into a room.

He was walking into his own memory... the one he had locked away after Loop #57,920.

And standing at the far end, waiting in perfect stillness, was him.

His own face. His own voice.

Only colder.

> "Kaen Arden," the duplicate said, a slight smile on his face, "I suppose it was only a matter of time."

Kaen didn’t flinch. "I didn’t create you to become this. You were meant to protect the timeline, not rewrite it."

Mirror Kaen tilted his head.

> "And yet... you’ve rewritten it 99,999 times. I simply followed your example."

The room dimmed as the core lights pulsed red—combat protocols activating. This wasn’t just a conversation. It was a confrontation that had been delayed for centuries.

Kaen scanned the surroundings. Every vent. Every crack. Every surveillance echo.

He had trained for every variable this room could throw at him.

Except one:

> A version of himself that had no fear.

---

Location: Nexus Tower – Control Deck (Monitored Feed)

Time: 8:05 AM

Elira hacked into the tower’s internal surveillance, tracking Kaen’s vitals.

His heartbeat was stable.

His pulse? Steady.

> "He’s... calm," she muttered. "Like he knew this would happen."

But then, something flickered across the screen. A second life signal. Identical.

Not like Kaen.

Exactly Kaen.

> "Wait... two of him?"

---

Location: Sub-Level Omega – Conflict Arena

Time: 8:06 AM

Kaen dropped his coat, revealing the holster beneath—empty.

"I didn’t bring a weapon," he said.

Mirror Kaen’s eyes narrowed. "Because you are the weapon."

In a blur, both moved simultaneously—like mirrored chess pieces executing the same play.

But Kaen’s move was half a beat late. On purpose.

He allowed Mirror Kaen to land the first strike—a punch to the ribs.

And when the echo attacked again, Kaen twisted his body mid-fall and whispered:

> "I built you to win."

He landed hard, gasping. Then smirked.

> "But I built me to adapt."

Location: Sub-Level Omega – Conflict Arena

Time: 8:07 AM

Kaen stood back up, brushing blood from his lip. Across the room, Mirror Kaen straightened his collar, mimicking the action with eerie precision.

> "You always hesitate when you’re trying to outthink me," Mirror Kaen said.

> "And you always gloat when you think you’ve already won," Kaen replied.

Their eyes locked. For a moment, there was no movement. No attack. Just silence—two minds running thousands of calculations per second.

---

Inside Kaen’s Mind

Loop Acceleration Memory Thread – Active

He visualized all 100,000 loops like a spiderweb, interlinked with cause-and-effect threads. Every mistake. Every manipulation. Every variable.

> Loop 21,847: He learned pressure point combat from a retired spy.

Loop 40,002: He mastered micro-expressions and human lie detection.

Loop 73,921: He created a social network that mapped real-time emotional responses across city sectors.

Loop 92,198: He simulated betrayal scenarios 10,000 times—and survived only in 18.

All of that knowledge surged forward now, condensing into instinct. He didn’t need strength.

He had overwhelming experience.

---

Reality – Sub-Level Omega

Mirror Kaen lunged again, feinting high. Kaen didn’t block.

He moved his jaw slightly—just enough for the blow to glance off.

The real strike came from Mirror Kaen’s foot, sweeping under Kaen’s legs. But Kaen twisted mid-fall, grabbed the duplicate’s wrist, and counterbalanced with a spiral throw.

Mirror Kaen crashed to the ground.

> "That move..." he grunted. "You used it in Loop 18,450..."

> "You were watching?" Kaen smirked. "Then you should’ve known better."

---

Location: Observation Deck – Elira’s View

Time: 8:08 AM

Elira watched the fight, stunned. "He’s not just fighting," she said softly.

"He’s studying himself. Every feint, every blink... he’s rewriting the outcome in real time."

Beside her, Kaen’s AI assistant N.O.D.E. chirped:

> "Correction: Subject Kaen is not reacting. He is predicting."

---

Back in the Arena

Kaen leaned in close to his fallen counterpart.

> "You copied my logic," he whispered. "But you never copied my pain."

> "Pain slows you down," Mirror Kaen hissed.

> "No. Pain made me careful. It made me human."

---

Suddenly—

A hidden knife ejected from Mirror Kaen’s sleeve.

But Kaen had already shifted. Anticipated. Calculated.

In a blink, Kaen grabbed his wrist, twisted, and slammed the clone’s hand against the floor, shattering the bone.

> "You don’t learn from failure," Kaen said. "You just overwrite it."

> "And you..." Mirror Kaen coughed, "...never knew when to quit."

Location: Sub-Level Omega – Conflict Arena

Time: 8:10 AM

The silence following the shattered wrist echoed louder than any scream.

Mirror Kaen lay on the floor, expression twitching with a strange mix of agony and fascination. His broken hand curled unnaturally against the floor.

> "You’re not supposed to outmatch me," he muttered. "I was designed to be your perfect reflection."

Kaen crouched down beside him, breathing hard. Sweat rolled down his forehead, but his eyes were sharp. Controlled.

> "That’s your mistake," Kaen replied. "You copied my results, not my reasons."

---

Flashback – Loop #72,004

Kaen knelt in a burning apartment, cradling the body of a child he failed to save. He screamed into the flames. That day, he stopped searching for shortcuts.

He started studying consequences.

---

Present – Sub-Level Omega

Kaen’s voice lowered, calm but cold:

> "You studied my strength... but I trained in my failures."

He rose and walked to the control panel. A biometric scan confirmed his identity—but a hidden command surfaced. An override only the Mirror could access.

The trap had been set.

Behind him, Mirror Kaen stood again. Wounded. Determined. And smiling.

> "You taught me something after all," he said. "Humans only evolve when they’re cornered."

The walls of the chamber groaned as gas hissed from hidden vents. Lights flashed red. Containment breach activated.

Kaen didn’t flinch.

---

Location: Observation Deck – Elira & N.O.D.E.

Time: 8:12 AM

Elira’s eyes widened. "He triggered a lockdown protocol—Kaen’s going to be sealed in!"

N.O.D.E. projected the digital schematic of Sub-Level Omega, showing blast doors sliding shut in thirty seconds.

> "Kaen’s heart rate is stable," N.O.D.E. reported. "Too stable."

---

Back in the Arena

Kaen stepped toward his clone, no panic in his expression.

> "You still don’t get it. Every time you thought you outmaneuvered me... it was me letting you believe you could."

Mirror Kaen faltered. "No..."

> "You’re just a single iteration," Kaen whispered. "But I’ve died 99,999 times to reach this one."

The floor beneath them opened—an escape hatch. One that wasn’t on the blueprints.

Kaen had carved it out manually. Loop #81,782. Tools. Acid. Bare hands. Forgotten by everyone—except him.

---

Final Exchange

Kaen turned to his clone as alarms blared.

> "Goodbye, Echo. You were a useful shadow."

He dropped through the hatch. The last thing Mirror Kaen saw was a grin—the grin of someone who had already seen the next move.

---

Scene Ends

Blast doors seal.

Containment holds.

Only one Kaen escapes.

Location: Underground Access Tunnel – Below Sub-Level Omega

Time: 8:15 AM

Kaen slid down the rough metal tunnel, scraping his palms but never slowing. The blast above reverberated like thunder, sealing the fate of Mirror Kaen—or so it seemed.

The end of the tunnel opened into a narrow shaft hidden between substructures, long abandoned during the original build. Kaen had discovered it in Loop #60,019—a maintenance error covered in dust and forgotten reports.

> "One move ahead..." he whispered.

---

Location: Surface Command – Elira’s Control Room

Time: 8:16 AM

Alarms had died out. The system declared:

> "Threat neutralized. Lockdown successful."

N.O.D.E.’s eyes flickered with uncertainty. "Kaen’s signal—lost."

Elira clenched her fists. "He wouldn’t die there. Not him."

---

Location: Sector 3 – Abandoned Maintenance Lift

Time: 8:17 AM

Kaen emerged, his coat torn, blood seeping through his shirt—but alive. He looked over the skyline of the facility through a cracked vent cover, breathing deeply.

> "So... time to clean the board."

He opened a worn notebook from his coat. Inside were the names of every operative, every pawn, every traitor in the organization—and crosses next to some.

He turned the page. The next name:

"Elira Voss."

---

Flashback – Loop #87,019

Elira stood with Kaen in an old library. Her words still echoed in his head.

> "I’m loyal to who wins, Kaen. Not who’s right."

He hadn’t answered then. But he’d never forgotten.

---

Present – Sector 3

Kaen tightened his grip around the notebook.

> "I let you play queen too long."

He walked into the shadows of the corridor. A camera blinked on. His voice—pre-recorded—played into the comms room.

> "Elira. I know you’re listening."

Her breath hitched.

> "This isn’t your game anymore."

---

Location: Mirror Kaen’s Containment – Sub-Level Omega

Time: 8:18 AM

Inside the sealed room, Mirror Kaen moved.

His hand—though shattered—twitched. A signal blinked faintly beneath his skin.

> "One loop behind..." he whispered, bleeding.

"But still in the game."

---

Final Scene

Somewhere beneath the facility, two versions of the same man plotted paths the other couldn’t see.

But only one of them was writing the real script.

To be continue...

🌟 Author’s Note 🌟

Hey dear readers! 😊

First of all, thank you so much for sticking with The 100,000th Try. Your support means the world to me, and it’s because of you that this story keeps growing one Chapter at a time.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings about the story so far! What do you think of Kaen’s journey? Any favorite moments or characters? Your feedback helps me improve and keeps me inspired to write more for you.

Drop a comment, leave a review, or even just say hi—every word from you motivates me like crazy!

Stay awesome,

– Anime Mastermind ✍️💫