Chapter 5

Chapter 5
What in the world did I just hear?
Who dared to call himself Dopamine Addict?
“…Who did you say you were?”
When I shot the question back, SafetyNo8, the self-proclaimed Dopamine Addict, gave a gentle chuckle.
“It seems you recognize me. Well, I was quite well-known on the community forums. You came all this way following my walkthrough guide, didn’t you?”
What on earth was with that arrogant tone?
Was he genuinely trying to copy my identity right now?
And he was not finished yet.
“I gather you woke up possessed out of nowhere and suddenly recalled my guide. Still, this is my strategy. I would appreciate it if you departed right now. After all, I already possess the dog tags.”
This little jerk… I prayed there were not any more of him lurking in the other zones.
Sure, I was impersonating another player myself. But not only was this guy stealing my identity—he was running some absurd roleplay and acting like my very own guide belonged to him. That crossed a line.
I had never intended to fault other players for utilizing my walkthrough. If you already knew the solution, why wouldn’t you take advantage of it? Copying my strategy was not their fault.
My original intent had been to gently dismantle this fake impostor’s act and then dispatch him off to military enlistment, just like ShutInYeobo. But the impersonator did not stop there. He continued talking as though he were doing me a massive favor.
“You possess the nerve to recall and execute my guide, so you clearly understand quite a bit regarding the Safe Zones. What do you say? Care to work under me, much like this companion here?”
So that was his game plan. If another player showed up seeking the Commander after him, he intended to recruit them.
Which meant the individual beside him, Taejeong Taese Beyonce, had likely arrived for the illegitimate-son path and wound up partnering with the phony instead.
“Summon the Commander.”
“Hmm… You do not appear foolish enough to cling to a lost cause. Do you have something else in mind?”
“As you noted, I do not possess the dog tags. The Commander will figure out soon enough that I arrived here and encountered you. What will you state when he inquires why you simply dismissed me?”
“Well…”
“Summon the Commander. Then I will testify regarding you to him.”
“You will testify?”
“The greater the number of individuals who swear your name is Heydam Goodman, the better it works out for you, correct?”
Hearing that, he blinked slowly a pair of times.
“May I interpret that as you accepting my proposition?”
“I am not enlisting under you.”
He offered a slight smile, laid his right hand across his chest, and spoke with practiced smoothness.
“Very well. I shall summon Father for you.”
…This guy had only been possessed for a single day and he was already this deeply invested in the roleplay?
“Taejeong, I am going to retrieve Father. Keep our visitor company for a moment.”
“Yes, hyung-nim!”
While I stood there wearing an expression of pure disgust, the impersonator left me with Taejeong Taese Beyonce and exited the chamber.
I inspected the fellow up and down, then inquired,
“You showed up for the bastard route too and got hooked by that clown?”
“Ah, no. I woke up in the exact same location as Dopamine Addict hyung-nim right from the beginning.”
He woke up beside the fake?
When I woke up, ShutinYeobo was right beside me as well…
Perhaps the starting points were paired off. Two people to every spawn point.
So SafetyNo8 had begun impersonating me the exact second he got possessed here?
“Why trail after him instead of enlisting?”
“I did not really care to go through military service once more…”
Oh-ho. A veteran, then.
He addressed me with formal language and had fallen for the impostor’s act, leading me to assume he was just another young shut-in like ShutInYeobo. It was good to learn otherwise.
He possessed some decent build to him—properly trained, he would make a reliable tank. Furthermore, he looked obedient enough. I could understand why SafetyNo8 was keeping him around.
“You are not furious with Dopamine Addict?”
“What?! W-why would I resent hyung-nim… I am his follower!”
“I heard people got possessed because of the address he published.”
“Ah, that matter. Yes, I am aware.”
Taejeong Taese Beyonce smiled with genuine fondness.
“Even experiencing possession like this is entirely thanks to Dopamine Addict hyung-nim.”
“Thanks… to him?”
“Simply being capable of clearing the bastard route alongside the hyung-nim I idolize is enough to make my heart pound.”
So this one was completely unhinged as well…
A foul-mouthed guy, a fake identity thief, and a social outcast who could not distinguish a video game from reality. Why were all my guide subscribers like this?
…No. Perhaps it was simply because every single person who played Safe Zone was a basement-dwelling shut-in to begin with.
“So you are merely following Dopamine Addict around because you are a fan?”
Taejeong Taese looked straight into my eyes and replied in a deadpan, serious tone.
“Dopamine Addict hyung-nim is the ultimate all-zone clear player. Once you get possessed into this realm, there is no reason not to follow him.”
Hmm… So he had made a cold, calculated decision after all.
“If you wish to survive the apocalypse, you had better execute whatever Dopamine Addict hyung-nim commands as well. There is—”
What… what kind of reputation did I possess?
Was that the reason this phony was speaking in such an unbearable tone?
Goddamn it…
“If assisting Dopamine Addict in achieving success with his strategy is sufficient to make you my ally, then are you standing on my side?”
Taejeong Taese blinked in confusion but answered on pure instinct.
“Huh? W-well, naturally…?”
“Splendid. I will assist.”
“Oh—thank you!”
The second this fellow discovered I was the genuine Dopamine Addict, he would switch to my side.
The real dilemma was determining what to do with SafetyNo8… Letting him continue roaming about as Dopamine Addict and drawing hostility in my place did not sound entirely disadvantageous.
These two had landed in Cola, meaning even if they were possessed because of me, they could still manage to survive. But what about the ones who dropped into other zones? What if the individuals who landed in Knife emerged alive?
I genuinely wanted to avoid getting stabbed for no apparent reason…
“Someone who recognizes you has arrived?”
A low, gravelly voice echoed from outside the room, followed immediately by a face I had viewed to the point of exhaustion while playing the game appearing before me.
Jet-black hair slicked back without a single stray lock, a black eyepatch marked with the crossed cola-bottle insignia, and a white coat draped over his shoulders, heavy with medals and military badges.
The Commander of the Cola Area, Hayden Goodman, fixed his remaining black eye on me with an intense, piercing gaze.
Simultaneously, a message materialized.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
The effect of the title ‘Friend of Luna Moon’ is applied to the target.
EFFECT AMPLIFIED
Because you possess ‘Luna Moon’s Ring’, the effect is applied at 2x.
Hmm?
What precisely changed when the effect doubled?
“…Your Excellency?”
The impersonator’s voice addressing the Commander dragged my gaze away from the notifications. When I looked up toward him, Hayden was staring directly at me as though he had spotted a ghost.
Yet the earlier sharpness had vanished entirely from that gaze.
It was the expression of a man who had just crossed paths with a long-lost lover…
“…You look identical to her.”
Ah.
So the affinity boost had transcended simple favorability—did I actually resemble Luna Moon in his eyes right now?
That played out perfectly for my purposes.
I did not waste the opportunity. I casually lifted the hand wearing the ring toward the Commander.
“Mother instructed me to display this to you, Your Excellency.”
I noticed the impersonator visibly panic, but he clearly possessed no clue what I was holding up and did not dare intervene.
The Commander lowered his posture, then dropped directly to one knee upon the floor. Only then did the fake realize something had gone disastrously wrong; all the color drained straight out of his face.
Hayden stared at the loose ring resting upon my finger for an extended duration before turning a freezing, murderous glare upon the impersonator.
“Explain yourself.”
“W-what do you mean—”
“You claimed to be my son, Heydam Goodman. Yet this ring rests upon another boy’s hand. You brought me a pair of dog tags and called them—”
“What? The dog tags serve as proof— Ah, no, that ring belongs to me! I did not even realize that kid had filched it!”
SafetyNo8 pointed a frantic, shaking finger straight at me and hollered.
“Th-that is right, I informed that boy regarding Mother too! And now he attempts to deceive Your Excellency—”
“Silence!”
The Commander bellowed the command and ripped the dog tags right off the fake’s neck.
The chain snapped with a dull click, and SafetyNo8 groped frantically at the empty space in sheer panic.
“I-I am Heydam…”
“You would do well to shut your mouth right now.”
The sheer authority embedded in Hayden’s voice forced the impersonator to snap his jaw shut right in the middle of his excuse.
At the very least, he was not entirely dense.
“I presented this ring to Luna Moon as a keepsake prior to our marriage. If you had genuinely misplaced it, you would have mentioned the fact the very moment you approached me yesterday. More importantly, when this boy produced the ring just now, your expression indicated you possessed zero idea what it was. I know not what possessed you to approach me carrying her dog tags… but should you persist in your deception, I shall not spare you simply because you claim to be a child. Do you comprehend?”
“Th-that is…”
SafetyNo8, completely rattled, began stammering incoherently in Korean.
“Th-the guide explicitly stated dog tags…! Wait, did it fail to mention dog tags? But the sole personal belonging of Luna Moon located inside that grave consisted of the dog tags…!”
He muttered frantically like a madman, then snapped his head back toward me as realization finally struck.
“You… who on earth are you?”
“Who do you think I am?”
The exact moment SafetyNo8’s eyes widened in horror, a brand-new system message emerged.
STRATEGY FAILED
Player ‘SafetyNo8’ has failed the strategy.
So the system even announced failed strategies publicly.
SafetyNo8 could not view the floating text—he still had not unlocked his system interface.
I was just about to suggest he halt this nonsense and simply enlist when the next line flashed.
WARNING
Eliminating the player who failed the strategy.
In the split second that followed, SafetyNo8, standing right in front of me, toppled forward heavily as though someone had flipped an off switch.
“…Huh?”
The room plunged into absolute, deathly silence.
No… it cannot be…
As if confirming my sudden sinking dread, additional messages scrolled past.
ITEM TRANSFER
Ownership of items transferred to ‘Dopamine Addict’.
Inventory – Luna Moon’s Ring
There existed only a single scenario within the Safe Zones where a player’s belongings transferred over to someone else.
A successful player kill…
“Hyung-nim!”
Taejeong Taese shrieked in panic and rushed directly to SafetyNo8’s side, but from where I stood, it was already painfully obvious the man was gone.
“Hyung-nim! Hyung-niiim!!”
The Commander, briefly shaken by the abrupt collapse, recovered his composure and shoved Taejeong Taese away from the fallen body.
“Step aside. I shall take him to the medical unit—”
Midway through lifting SafetyNo8 up, he must have realized the man was already deceased; his words faltered for a second. Still unwilling to officially pronounce death right in front of us, he simply hoisted the body out of the chamber and vanished.
So failing a strategy resulted in actual death.
What transpired following death, though?
Was that the absolute end of it?
Or did you return to reality, just like ShutInYeobo and I had discussed earlier?
If I had known for certain, I could have requested him to pass along a message to anyone who stopped by the convenience store next time… once he died and went back home…
It provided much more mental comfort to believe he had returned to reality rather than accept he was simply erased permanently. So I opted to believe that version.
I glanced over at Taejeong Taese. He sat frozen upon the floor with a hollow, vacant expression, staring blankly toward the direction the Commander had departed.
“Dopamine… why did Dopamine Addict hyung-nim suddenly…”
I observed him quietly for a moment, then spoke in a flat tone.
“First of all, that guy was never Dopamine Addict.”
“What did you just utter?”
“That fellow was not ‘Dopamine Addict.’ He utilized the username ‘SafetyNo8,’ in case you were unaware.”
“What are you talking about?! Just a minute ago you stated you would assist Dopamine Addict hyung-nim…!”
“I did assist.”
“That makes zero sense… Wait. If that person was not Dopamine Addict, then who on earth…”
Confusion quickly gave way to a dawning realization across Taejeong Taese’s face.
“C-could you possibly be… no, hyung-nim?”
“Yeah.”
I looked him straight in the eye and confirmed it.
“I am Dopamine Addict.”
…I genuinely should have chosen a much cooler username.