Chapter 56

Chapter 56
A girl dressed in white resembling mourning garments wore long ebony-black hair that streamed down her back. The Love Area player called Shin directed her gaze toward the north, deep in reflection. Dopamine Addict had completely vanished from sight since that incident. Ever since the community discovered the existence of another Dopamine Addict, the public chat channel had frozen entirely. She had suggested a gathering out of anxiety that remaining disconnected would permanently sever ties with fellow players, but the Beer Area player Ssapasuble strongly opposed the notion, which derailed her plan.

Even Shin felt somewhat unsettled by the reality that two separate Dopamine Addicts existed. She possessed zero clue who might be impersonating him or why, nor could she gauge what the authentic one intended by maintaining absolute silence. More troubling still was her nagging premonition that the pair had already encountered one another, leaving her intensely on edge. While she could ignore others, leaving Dopamine Addict unmanaged posed far too high a risk. Shin hoped to avoid making an adversary of the All-Zone Conqueror if possible, yet Dopamine Addict demonstrated zero inclination toward collaborating with other participants. The clearest evidence was that despite a second Dopamine Addict emerging, he had offered the rest of the group zero explanation.

Consequently, she had dispatched one of her Love Area players over to the Cola Area, fully aware that Dopamine Addict would easily pierce through the ruse. Lacking insight into his schemes, she found herself completely unable to concentrate on anything else. She had verified long ago that this universe possessed zero boundaries. Ordinarily, the barriers isolating each territory would have allowed participants to safely develop their characters leading up to the Second Apocalypse, despite any resource imbalances among zones. That luxury no longer applied. Consequently, should Dopamine Addict choose to advance with a force, virtually no player besides those belonging to the Unicorn Area possessed the strength to block him.

“What are you mulling over so deeply?”

The sudden sound shattered her concentration, causing Shin to pivot. A young boy featuring dark brown hair and green eyes lay sprawled across the floor, his wrists bound tightly behind his back while a yellow paper talisman adhered halfway to his forehead. He must have thrashed frantically trying to remove it, leaving only a fraction of the paper clinging to his skin. He blew upward against it to clear his line of sight and spoke again.

“You can plot all you want, but Dopamine Addict remains entirely out of your league. How long do you expect to keep deceiving everyone by calling yourself a Manshin or whatever title you fancy?”

Shin responded simply by narrowing her gaze into a slight frown. Home Protector observed her with obvious disapproval before continuing. Shin dismissed his remarks with a wave of her hand and stepped closer.

“Just how much information do you possess regarding Dopamine Addict?”

“How much? Why would you even care?”

“Judging by the way you continue talking back while tied up as my prisoner, you seem thoroughly convinced he will eventually show up to rescue you.”

“I happen to understand him much better than you do, yeah.”

A faint smirk threatened to form on Shin’s lips at the cocky response, but Home Protector’s expression quickly turned more serious.

“That is precisely why I doubt he will come.”

“…You actually believe he won’t come to your rescue?”

“I am talking back because it is obvious you have zero intention of actually harming me.”

“And what makes you draw that conclusion?”

“If I were to perish, ownership of the meteor item would transfer directly to you, triggering my system shutdown and expelling me from the chat network. Everyone else would instantly realize someone stole my meteor item, and Ssapasuble would likely lose control and wreck the entire submarine. That is why you haven’t simply executed me, but keep me restrained instead.”

“You certainly aren’t as dense as I originally assumed.”

“You’re the one acting dense.”

“Brave words coming from a captive whose pistol I confiscated.”

Shin retrieved the seized meteor pistol from her robes and playfully pointed the barrel at Home Protector. Acquiring the meteor item had allowed her to uncover two distinct mechanics. First, if a system-unlocked participant relieved another of a meteor item, neither the original owner nor the thief could store it inside their inventory. Second, the victimized player’s chat interface became permanently linked to the thief. In short, keeping the player alive meant item ownership remained tied to them while preserving the system functions, but chat transmissions could only reach the person who took the weapon. That specific reason explained why she had kept Home Protector breathing this long.

Her initial instinct had been to eliminate him immediately, claim ownership, and feign ignorance. However, Ssapasuble had strictly banned player interaction prior to the Second Apocalypse, and once Home Protector’s chat access became restricted, he could no longer broadcast alerts. Moreover, Dopamine Addict had disappeared from the chat interface long ago, meaning Home Protector’s sudden silence failed to raise suspicions among the others.

“All you ever focused on was scheming to survive by latching onto Dopamine Addict, which is precisely why you walked right into this trap.”

Shin twirled the trigger casually while looking down at Home Protector, then withdrew the weapon and slid it back into her garments. Depositing it into her inventory would have been far more convenient, but since legal ownership technically remained with Home Protector, she had no choice but to carry it manually. In truth, had Home Protector simply kept the pistol secured within his personal inventory, she never could have snatched it so effortlessly. What a fool. He could have safely stored it away, yet he chose to wear it visibly for the aesthetic appeal and ended up losing it.

Shin had worn her own meteor earring openly during the early days, but it safely rested inside her inventory now. As she adjusted her attire while reflecting on his pathetic miscalculation, Home Protector flashed a knowing grin.

“You also believe Dopamine Addict won’t travel all the way out here to bail me out, right?”

Naturally, Shin never entertained the notion that Dopamine Addict would engage in such an inefficient rescue mission. When she merely stared at him in silence, Home Protector pressed on.

“He won’t come to save me, but he will certainly show up to ruin your plans. That is simply the kind of person he is.”

Shin offered no counterargument. Regardless of what Home Protector claimed, she already knew with absolute certainty that Dopamine Addict would eventually track her down. That ruthless individual would undoubtedly attempt to conquer every single zone in this realm as well.

“In that case… my only choice is to hope the disruption he brings turns out to be a pleasant one.”

She hoped that Dopamine Addict had not surged quite as far ahead as her fears suggested, and that he was not as completely unhinged as she dreaded. Clinging to that slender hope, Shin once more directed her vacant gaze toward the northern horizon.

—

“Just as you stated. I, too, serve as a messenger who received a direct divine revelation.”

“Ooooh!!”

I delivered the fabricated claim without even blinking, prompting Omoknuni to gaze upward at me with unfiltered awe. I rested one leg casually across the chair, assuming an even more arrogant posture than before, and went on.

Omoknuni brightened with a sudden surge of excitement before studying me with a slightly perplexed expression.

“You know my identity… yet you claim ignorance as to why I traveled all this distance to find you?”

Perhaps I should have pretended omniscience regarding that detail as well. I was hardly a professional fortune-teller. Come to think of it, this fellow had mentioned the term ‘Manshin’… Could the Love Area player known as Shin actually be a genuine shaman? That revelation would certainly account for utilizing the designation ‘Manshin’ instead of a standard cult leader title. A shaman operating inside a ruthless survival simulation like Safe Zone sounded entirely fraudulent no matter how one analyzed it, but that detail held little importance at the moment.

“Are you…”

I prepared to ask if he harbored doubts regarding my identity when the Luna’s Ring adorning my finger suddenly erupted in brilliant illumination.

“Hhk!”

Omoknuni gasped sharply in astonishment and tumbled backward onto his seat.

What on earth is happening!

My internal shock matched his entirely. I possessed zero explanation for why the accessory, which had remained completely dormant throughout our encounter, suddenly activated with such intensity, yet I forced myself to maintain composure and raised the glowing band toward Omoknuni.

“…Do you question my authenticity?”

The embedded moonstone radiated an auspicious brilliance that commanded instant reverence, causing Omoknuni to vigorously shake his head from side to side while a trace of fear flickered within his eyes.

“N-no, absolutely not. There must be a deliberate reason you questioned my purpose for traveling here.”

The instant his reply concluded, the radiance emanating from the ring abruptly subsided.

Did the intelligence inhabiting this ring just bail me out?

I was well aware that the ring possessed an independent will, but this marked the absolute first instance it provided direct intervention on my behalf. So alongside shifting between hot and cold temperatures, it possessed the ability to illuminate itself as well. Reflecting on past events, it had floated into the air while glowing brightly during our very first meeting, implying it could achieve levitation alongside emitting light. What purpose I was supposed to serve with those traits remained a complete mystery.

Before I could voice another thought, Omoknuni dropped flat onto the floor before me in a full prostration.

“I recognize that reality. What led her to dispatch you here?”

“To gather intelligence regarding Dopamine Addict… concerning yourself…”

“Me?”

Sending an actual human player solely to unearth information about my activities was entirely unexpected. Anyone who thoroughly analyzed my public progression guide could easily deduce that I would adopt the ruthless route around this phase of the game. Even so, she still deployed an operative to investigate me? My prolonged absence from the public chat channel must have unsettled her nerves significantly.

“Um…”

Omoknuni watched my expression carefully before speaking with extreme caution.

“Word reached me that Dopamine Addict secured the All-Zone Conqueror privilege gifted by the deity…”

“And?”

“Is it… is it accurate that despite holding that power, you flatly rejected cooperation with our faction?”

At those words, a quiet smile curved the edge of my lips. Exceptional instincts. Shin had never so much as initiated a private message with me, yet she possessed absolute conviction that I held the All-Zone Conqueror privilege. Beyond that, she had already briefed her subordinates regarding my refusal to cooperate. At a minimum, she had successfully deciphered my underlying strategy, which explained why she went to the extreme length of sending an agent to monitor my movements.

With boundaries completely erased, leading an armed force inward would trigger total ecological collapse. Naturally, I harbored zero intentions of executing such a destructive strategy while novice players still populated the lower tiers. My true objective involved absorbing the remaining territories following the Second Apocalypse once those populations finished developing—rather than steamrolling participants who were currently scrambling merely to stay alive.

Shin… this particular individual might actually prove quite interesting.

Valuable players deserved preservation. Operating entirely alone would have sufficed previously, but the emergence of the Unicorn Area player completely altered the landscape. As long as that adversary drew breath, eliminating other players simply to loot their meteor items represented a suboptimal strategy. He would inevitably wait for me to collect every single item before ambushing me to steal the lot. Consequently, I required the remaining players to retain their meteor items and willingly align with my objectives.

Very well then… shall we test a different approach?

I maintained an inscrutable expression and resumed speaking.

“I never claimed I refused to cooperate. If anything, I have a question for your group. Why haven’t all of you chosen to cooperate with me?”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that statement…”

“Only I possess the capability to halt the Second Apocalypse.”

Omoknuni raised his gaze toward me as though I had uttered something entirely absurd. I maintained a completely serene expression as I elaborated.

“The artifacts that store the divine revelations. Collect every single one, and you unlock the power required to stop the Second Apocalypse. That constitutes the true nature of the All-Zone Conqueror privilege bestowed upon me.”

“The power capable of halting the Second Apocalypse…?”

“Return and deliver that message to the Manshin.”

I allowed one corner of my mouth to curl upward into a sharp smirk.

“Ask her whether she intends to submit to the ultimate will of the divine.”