Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Reflecting on it now, an entire day had slipped by since my possession without a single bite of food crossing my lips, yet my stomach remained completely free of hunger. The thought of eating had not even crossed my mind, nor had any need to use the restroom arise. Furthermore, the sharp, sudden darkness that had overtaken Taejeongtaese’s facial expression when meals were mentioned still lingered vividly in my memory.

“Now that I examine you closely, you are still lingering here,” the Commander remarked.

Whether it was because my gaze drifted toward Taejeongtaese or some other realization, the Commander finally acknowledged that another person was present and shifted his attention. The moment their glances locked, Taejeongtaese instantly dropped to his knees right where he stood. He was likely preparing to voice the exact excuse I had suggested earlier, claiming he had simply been misled.

“I truly had no idea! I am so sorry, I am so sorry… I was merely hungry… I am an absolute fool! I am the most wretched wretch beneath the heavens!”

Ah, right. This individual was incapable of speaking English as well.

“I am deeply sorry…!”

Taejeongtaese’s apology lacked any clear structure, yet the raw earnestness behind it seemed to register. The Commander fell silent for a brief interval, a contemplative look crossing his features. It was certainly aggravating that the boy had arrived in the company of the imposter posing as his son, but the Commander himself had been deceived as well. What alternative action could a child have taken? Moreover, the actual mastermind behind the deception had just perished as though struck down by divine retribution. Imposing punishment upon the surviving companion presented an awkward dilemma either way. If I were to urge mercy, he would comply, but requesting that he forgive the fellow and permit him to remain at the Commander’s residence might potentially subtract from my Three Rewards.

Fortunately, the Commander likely harbored no desire to cast Taejeongtaese out into the open either. Should the boy wander outside and carelessly begin discussing the illegitimate son, complications would inevitably follow. Likewise, if rumors spread that the fraudulent child accompanying them had met a grim fate within the Commander’s domain, it would spell trouble.

Carefully choosing my words, I broke the silence.

“Um… if you merely accompanied us because hunger drove you, why not partake in a meal here before your departure?”

Directly petitioning the Commander carried the risk of reducing my reward count, whereas an indirect suggestion bypassed that penalty. In essence, it was a passive maneuver designed to hint at my preference and prompt him to act accordingly. The Commander regarded me with a faint expression of surprise.

“You are stepping forward to shield that child?”

“The conditions outside are bitterly cold and barren…”

When those words came from me—someone who, until moments before, had been an equally frigid and famished outcast—something within the Commander seemed to shift. He reached down to help Taejeongtaese back to his feet and instructed him to remain and share the meal with us.

“There are numerous inquiries I wish to make regarding your past survival and the fate of Luna Moon… but we shall postpone those detailed discussions until after dinner. I must step away briefly, as urgent matters demand immediate attention if you are to reside here moving forward.”

Come to think of it, even back when I used to play the game, the Commander’s schedule had always been packed tightly, making private meetings an extreme rarity. If he intended to seek me out again later this evening, I needed to formulate my second reward request in advance.

“A servant will fetch you once the meal is prepared. Wait here patiently… and should anyone disregard or question your presence, you have full permission to handle them however you see fit.”

Following those parting instructions, the Commander exited the chamber once more. Taejeongtaese expelled a long, heavy breath as the accumulated tension finally evaporated from his frame.

“I really should have applied myself more to studying English.”

“A child speaking with total fluency would actually feel far less authentic.”

Ever since the apocalypse descended, countless youths had been deprived of proper education. Individuals like myself or Anjeon8yeok, capable of constructing coherent sentences, were the genuine outliers.

“By the way… do you happen to lack the sensation of hunger as well?”

At my inquiry, Taejeongtaese blinked in surprise.

“Ah, so talking about hunger was merely a pretext. I genuinely wondered if hyung was the only one exempt from feeling hungry.”

“Wait, are you saying Anjeon8yeok didn’t experience hunger either?”

His expression turned solemn as he pressed on. It appeared that hyung had not consumed any actual food in this realm yet either. Once you experience it yourself, you will understand.

What could that possibly mean? Was the nourishment prepared here truly that repulsive? Well, this reality was undeniably plagued by a catastrophic food deficit…

Before long, a servant materialized to guide us toward the dining hall, leaving just the two of us—Taejeongtaese and myself—at the table. The attendant uttered only the phrase “His Excellency will join you late in the evening” before disappearing entirely from the room.

Taejeongtaese fixed his gaze upon the spread of food arranged across the table as though it were absolute refuse. Why such an extreme reaction? Despite his disdainful expression, every single dish before us appeared entirely ordinary. Naturally, given the post-apocalyptic setting, the abundance fell far short of generous standards, and the fact that the majority of the meat originated from extraterrestrial entities lurking outside the containment zone might unnerve some individuals.

Food scarcity remains the single greatest crisis of the apocalyptic era. Within the game environment, most safe zones sustain their nutritional needs through monster meat harvested beyond the perimeter walls or via flora cultivated on alien carcasses, relying only on rare successful subjugations to gather wild greens or fruits. Corpses are routinely discarded outside precisely so proliferating monsters can supply sufficient meat sources. Everyone understands that these creatures thrive by consuming dead bodies, leaving no alternative option; one must eat simply to survive.

While occasional non-player characters expressed disgust toward the meat, none of the established residents found the act of consuming monster meat inherently bizarre. Although select sectors managed total self-sufficiency behind their barriers, achieving that feat within the uniquely freezing Cola Area was utterly impossible. A modest greenhouse might exist tucked away inside the Commander’s estate, meaning the consumption of fruits or vegetables independent of monster byproducts served as a luxury exclusive to high-ranking officials.

The meal currently presented before us comprised cornbread, potatoes, string-bound boiled meat, and a salad combining at least two distinct types of vegetation. As far as sustenance went, it was exceptionally high quality. Yet Taejeongtaese continued to wear that desolate expression. Could the issue genuinely lie in the flavor profile…? Wondering this, I scooped a portion of the salad directly into my mouth.

The meals in this world vastly surpassed my initial expectations.

Following the conclusion of the meal—though I remained uncertain whether the experience could truly be classified as eating—Taejeongtaese and I were escorted to a lounge area furnished with plush sofas, where tea and light refreshments awaited us. Neither of us reached for the offerings. With a grave expression, I broke the silence.

“This is not a matter of whether things taste pleasant or unpleasant. Describing the process as absorbing feels far more accurate than eating.”

The reasoning behind my declaration stemmed from a distinct physical sensation: the exact instant the food touched my lips, a surge of warmth dissolved and permeated my entire physique. Water, meat, everything functioned identically to the game mechanics, where nourishment was never truly digested in a conventional sense, but instead converted into glowing blue particles and dissipated.

“Did you and Anjeon8yeok experience the exact same thing?”

“Indeed. We shared a meal with the Commander last night. Both of us were so utterly startled that we stared in shock at the other non-player characters eating normally. Hyung—no, Anjeon8yeok instructed us to keep our composure and mimic chewing motions so we could get through it without drawing suspicion.”

“What on earth…”

Did they truly need to program such a mechanic to mirror the video game so precisely?

A multitude of perplexing anomalies kept piling up. First came a body devoid of hunger cues. Even though I had forced myself to absorb a few items moments ago, I felt no sense of satiety whatsoever. Perhaps the reality was not that we lacked hunger, but rather that our physical forms had no biological requirement for food to begin with.

The minor abrasions lining my fingertips provided another clue. The previous night, while digging up Luna Moon’s grave entirely by hand, my fingertips had been raw and shredded, yet following the meal, they had completely regenerated without a single scar remaining. Taejeongtaese’s eyes widened in astonishment, indicating he had not encountered this phenomenon.

“Wait, is that actually true?”

“Did this not occur for you guys as well?”

“Hmm…” He paused to deliberate before shaking his head. “Frankly, I am uncertain. We weren’t carrying any injuries to begin with…”

“Conducting a test will give us our answer much faster.”

“Pardon?”

I reached over to grab a fork from the tea table and drove the tines firmly into the back of my hand.

“Are you out of your mind?!”

Taejeongtaese let out a horrified shriek from beside me, but I ignored him and immediately shoved a cookie from the table straight into my mouth. The baked treat vanished the very second it made contact with my lips, and a wave of warm energy swiftly permeated my veins.

“…Ah.”

After a brief pause, I watched the puncture wound knit itself back together. While the pace was somewhat deliberate, it undeniably confirmed that consuming provisions accelerated healing.

“Very well. Now it is your turn to stab yourself.”

“What?!”

“We need to verify whether this capability belongs exclusively to me or extends to other people as well.”

“N-no, but using a fork…”

Taejeongtaese hesitated for a prolonged duration before finally steeling himself and driving the fork into the back of his own hand with enough force to draw blood. He made an enormous commotion while frantically popping a cookie into his mouth, and true to form, the injury on his hand began to slowly seal itself shut.

Within the harsh landscape of the apocalypse, eliminating the need for daily sustenance constituted an immense advantage. Once the Second Apocalypse officially commenced, even basic provisions like these would become nearly impossible to acquire, and hunting dangerous monsters for food was far from simple. Yet we were freed from the obligation to eat unless specific injuries necessitated healing. Furthermore, sustaining damage merely required us to ingest food—or rather, simply bring it into contact with our lips—to trigger complete recovery. The exact limits regarding how severe a wound could be mended by a corresponding amount of nourishment remained to be tested, however.

Restoring bodily integrity through food consumption was an obvious game mechanic, but seeing it manifest directly within physical reality was staggering. I had initially assumed we were thrust into this world completely devoid of any unique advantages. Yet from the very beginning, every player had been endowed with specific perks.

No, perhaps not fully fledged privileges. Taste played an exceptionally crucial role in the human experience, yet every player had been assigned a physical vessel incapable of perceiving flavor entirely—beings who ingested nourishment strictly for regenerative purposes. Did that not make us resemble tools far more than living creatures?

I began to suspect a deliberate underlying purpose behind our selection for this possession. The status window that unlocked exclusively upon approaching the Secret of the Apocalypse, the specialized perk granted solely to me as a veteran player who had cleared all zones, and now this restorative faculty tied to meals—all these pieces pointed toward a calculated design.

Just who orchestrated this, and for what grand objective? Why target shut-in losers like us out of everyone else? Whether it involved uncovering the core mystery of the apocalypse or discovering the true impetus behind our displacement, I intended to unearth the answers as I continued progressing through the game.

I had successfully navigated the Bastard Route, and I now recognized that this physical build possessed phenomenal cost efficiency. For the time being, I would treat that as a satisfactory outcome.

Or so I foolishly believed.

Later that same night, the Commander sought me out, inspected the tips of my fingers closely, and spoke with a distinctly trembling voice.

“This regenerative capability… it proves beyond a doubt that you truly are the child of Luna Moon.”