Chapter 6

Chapter 6
So then… the actual Dopamine Addict is not the deceased hyung, but rather the living one?

I had figured TaeJeong TaeSe would not accept it right away. Lacking a system of his own, believing that I was Dopamine Addict ought to have required some persuasion. Yet, surprisingly, the concept that the Dopamine Addict he trusted had failed a route and stepped down proved easier to digest than processing that the boy the commander had just acknowledged as his son was the genuine article. He gave in quite readily.

“Ah. That… actually clears up a lot.”

“What felt off to you?”

“Mostly the way he spoke…”

Thank goodness. So he did not find my actual manner of speaking overly unbearable.

“How on earth did you figure out that guy was Anjeon8yeok?”

“I have a system. I ran a Character Inspection on him.”

“A system?! I yelled status window and nothing happened hyung, you actually possess one?”

“It seems to activate only once specific conditions are fulfilled.”

I reflected upon the system message that popped up just prior to mine unlocking.

SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
You have taken one step closer to the secret of the apocalypse…

Connecting that notification with everything occurring at the time, the prerequisite for unlocking a system had to be linked to the meteor items.

Aside from the ring, I was aware of roughly eight other items crafted from meteors. Exactly one for each Safe Zone. Every single piece was vital for clearing its respective zone.

If only the individuals who secured those items could activate a system, the total count of players capable of unlocking one would be precisely nine.

I told TaeJeong TaeSe that I possessed a system to demonstrate that I was the player ahead of him, making him easier to manage. However, I had zero intention of revealing that only nine people would ever acquire one. For one thing, it remained merely a theory.

“Whoa…! A system… You really are different, hyung…!!”

He stared at me with wide, gleaming eyes for the moment. Yet human greed knows no bounds. An event item where only nine existed across the entire globe? Any Safe Zone player would commit murder to get their hands on one.

I had already confessed to being Dopamine Addict, but I still needed to keep that specific detail under wraps.

“You have experienced it yourself. Players who have yet to unlock their systems cannot read other people’s information. Therefore, I do not intend to broadcast that I am Dopamine Addict unless it becomes necessary.”

“Why not?”

“Not every player out there is as friendly toward me as you are. If they have already unlocked their system, there is nothing I can do, but if they haven’t, I prefer keeping my identity concealed. From now on, you will address me as Heydam Goodman, not Dopamine Addict. Understand?”

“Ah—yes, sir. Understood. But if it is someone on your side, I am allowed to tell them, correct?”

That precisely explained why I was locking down his tongue in the first place.

“Hmm… Actually, there is already one other player assisting me with my route aside from you.”

“Oh? Who?”

“A fellow called ShutInHubby.”

“Ah—that foul-mouthed… I mean, that gentleman with such a colorful vocabulary!”

So he turned out to be a known user within the community as well. Infamous for all the wrong reasons, judging by that reaction.

“For particular reasons, I told him I was T-balnom. So do not let him know I am Dopamine Addict yet. I will inform him myself when the appropriate time arrives.”

“By the way, T-balnom is likely here too.”

“What?”

“Not in the Cola Area—some other zone. I spotted him.”

“You saw him?”

“Well, after you published that final guide, the heavy users began disappearing one by one. Following that, a strange rumor started circulating.”

“What kind of strange rumor?”

“That the heavy users were vanishing because of the convenience store address you had been spreading. Once that leaked, everyone scrambled to grab the address and investigate the location themselves.”

Seriously? Just play the damn game. Why did they all have to stampede into a convenience store and get mass-possessed?

“I happened to be one of them. Someone else was already inside the store, so we introduced ourselves. He mentioned he was T-balnom.”

Ah. So that was what he meant by spotting him. That confirmed T-balnom’s possession. And since he was not in the Cola Area, TaeJeong TaeSe must have noticed what item he had purchased as well.

“What did he buy?”

“Um… I believe he bought a knife…”

A knife? So T-balnom wound up in Knife?

…In that nest of psychopaths?

“Why on earth would you go to a convenience store and buy a knife?”

“He said it looked cool because it served as the symbol of a hidden zone. A Knife guide had already been published, so he figured he would attempt clearing that next. He probably was not planning on getting possessed and clearing it from the inside, though…”

He had practically dug his own grave.

“So his starting zone is Knife… Is he even still alive?”

“In that sense, keeping your identity as Dopamine Addict a secret is probably the right call. I landed in Cola, but if you only ever gave the location to one person—Home Protector—exactly how many people went to that store?”

Still, it was a convenience store located in Korea. Hopefully, no overseas users got possessed.

I despised overseas users. I had witnessed those wretches take my guides, machine-translate them without authorization, and publish them as their own work.

“If T-balnom purchased the knife first, you could have avoided getting possessed, right?”

“Huh? How?”

“When you get possessed, the clerk smashes you over the head with a barcode scanner. If you had watched him crack T-balnom’s skull, you could have simply turned around and walked out…”

TaeJeong TaeSe looked even more perplexed.

“He hits you over the head with a barcode scanner? I got possessed on my way out of the store.”

What?

The others did not get clocked by the scanner?

Then what personal grudge did that clerk harbor against me specifically to bash my skull in?

Do not tell me ShutInHubby received the polite, gentle possession treatment that these guys got?

I felt strangely aggrieved.

“Um…”

TaeJeong TaeSe inquired cautiously.

“The dead hyung—no, Anjeon8yeok-nim… is he truly dead?”

“Who knows. Isn’t it easier on the heart to just assume he logged out?”

“Mmm…”

His expression conveyed that it was not easier on the heart at all, no matter how he tried spinning it.

“Concentrate on the route for now. Survival comes first. And we must prepare for the apocalypse.”

“You are right… I do not wish to become a burden to you either, hyung. I will work hard.”

“Good. If the commander ever grows suspicious of you, tell him you genuinely believed Anjeon8yeok was the real Heydam Goodman. You were fooled as well. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

I had barely finished sealing TaeJeong’s lips when the commander strode into the room, making no effort to conceal how shaken he appeared. A child a few moments prior had suddenly died—naturally, he was rattled. Yet the boy had been impersonating his son and attempting to deceive him, so any genuine pity in his gaze remained thin.

The natural response here was to inquire about the fate of the boy.

“What about that boy? What happened to him?”

“…He did not look well. I sent him away.”

Interesting. He chose to lie instead of admitting the boy was dead.

Was it because he thought I would feel guilty if I knew? Was he afraid I might assume the boy perished from my own harsh questioning? Or simply because he did not want me to fear him?

Whichever the reason, the fact that he lied meant he was taking my feelings into consideration—which indicated that the commander had thoroughly and truly accepted me as Heydam Goodman.

TaeJeong TaeSe might as well have been invisible. The commander spoke while looking exclusively at me.

“Things have grown a bit strange, but… you really are Heydam. Luna Moon’s child, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

Relief swept across the commander’s face, followed by a warmth in his gaze that had been entirely absent before.

“You may not believe me, but I have spent all this time searching for you and Luna Moon… That little boy claimed Luna Moon passed away long ago. Is that true?”

“It is.”

A flash of disappointment crossed the commander’s features.

“There is a grave for my mother behind the Slums. I would appreciate it if you visited her sometime.”

“Why only come to me now?”

The commander asked as though he genuinely failed to comprehend.

“Did she resent me? Did Luna Moon instruct you not to seek me out even after she was gone…?”

Why only now? Because I got possessed yesterday, that is why. I am not even your actual son.

There was no need to answer that. All I needed to do was keep my lips pressed tight and drop my gaze, as if some painful circumstance had kept me away.

Never mind. Finding me could not have been easy. You must have thought I abandoned you.

He was filling in the blanks himself in the most flattering manner imaginable. Silence truly was golden.

“I failed to keep my promise, and as a consequence, you lost your mother. I want to make up for those lost years.”

There it was. The exact line triggered when clearing the Bastard Route. The commander’s pledge of compensation. The next line would inevitably be his declaration naming me his heir.

“Remain here, and should there be anything you desire, speak freely. Starting today, I will make you my successor and bestow everything I own upon you.”

The second those words finished, system messages erupted before my eyes.

SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
You have successfully cleared the route.

NEW QUEST
Three Rewards

Route cleared. The Three Rewards route is now available.
Please select your rewards with the utmost care.

Progress: Three Rewards 0/3

Three Rewards. A sub-route linked to the Bastard Route.

The commander stated he would grant me whatever I desired and name me his successor—yet that was not entirely sincere. Depending on what I requested, he would evaluate my character and capability, ultimately deciding whether I was fit to inherit or not.

The first reward I needed to request was already predetermined.

“What I desire is… for you to visit my mother’s grave frequently.”

“Now that I know where she rests, of course I will.”

SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Three Rewards 1/3

The exact second the commander agreed, one of the three rewards was expended.

Once the commander accepted a reward as a promise, he never broke it. However, should you ask for something he could not grant, the route failed immediately, making careful choices essential.

Asking him to visit Luna Moon’s grave frequently served a dual purpose. It projected the image of an innocent child… and the more frequently he visited her resting place, the more widely known it would become that he favored me. Furthermore, dispatching the commander to Luna Moon’s grave meant he would also inspect conditions within the Slums and pacify public sentiment. In short, it constituted a reward geared toward building succession legitimacy.

The remaining two rewards needed to showcase my character and my ability, respectively.

Within the game, freedom of choice remained constrained enough that decisions never took long. Now that this had transformed into reality, the options had multiplied exponentially, causing me to hesitate slightly.

If only a loop system existed—I would have tested every single combination. A real shame.

“More importantly, you need to eat. You have not partaken in a proper meal for quite some time, I imagine…”

The moment the commander uttered those words, something felt wrong.

…Huh?

It hit me all at once—ever since I became possessed within this world, I had not experienced hunger. Not even slightly. And that felt profoundly bizarre.