Chapter 89

Chapter 89
I went to all that trouble sending you away, and here you are again… is that it?

The statement left an excessive amount of room for interpretation, sounding as though he was claiming responsibility for chasing me off or as if he had already known of my past presence here.

I stood up gradually from my resting spot, keeping a suspicious eye on him.

“What do you mean, you went to all that trouble sending me away?”

Hearing this, he appeared somewhat puzzled, rolling the thought over in his mind for a moment before letting out a soft sigh and decreasing the altitude of the hoverboard.

“If you don’t know what I mean, then that RoomCorner Honey guy really didn’t say a single word.”

“What?”

Why is RoomCorner Honey coming up right now?

Could the fact that RoomCornerHoney knew about this cavern have been linked to this individual all along?

While I remained standing in contemplation with a frown, Dopamine Addict stepped off the hoverboard and strolled over at an easy pace. My hand moved automatically toward the dagger at my hip before I checked myself. He hadn’t given the impression of wishing me harm previously, nor did he now.

Relaxing my posture, I asked casually,

“So what is it that RoomCornerHoney failed to tell me?”

RoomCorner Honey had asserted that his familiarity with the cavern was the reason he could dispatch a rescue squad, yet that explanation had felt flimsy even at the time. Prodding him for the true source of his knowledge would never have yielded a straight answer, prompting my return to the cavern to investigate personally. I simply had not anticipated that Dopamine Addict from the Unicorn Area would drop by.

Between RoomCornerHoney and this other Addict… no, that title was too long. From this point forward, I would just refer to him as Ttopamine Addict.

Regardless, if any real connection had existed between RoomCornerHoney and Ttopamine Addict, why conceal it from me?

Ttopamine Addict offered no reply. For some reason, he merely stared into empty air before turning back to me with a faint smile.

“Check your messages.”

A message notification suddenly materialized before my vision akin to a system prompt.

MESSAGE

Dopamine Addict

RoomCorner Honey, send a rescue team here. Exact location is……

A transmission drafted under my own game handle had found its way to me.

The shock was minimal.

So he unlocked the auxiliary system after all.

The sole explanation for how he could message me without a registered friendship was through the purchase of a note from the shop.

Once it became obvious that I had reviewed it, Ttopamine Addict continued.

“I dispatched a note with those exact contents to RoomCorner Honey.”

The identical note sent to RoomCorner Honey?

If he truly had transmitted that message to RoomCornerHoney—dating back to when I had passed out in the cavern, prior to unlocking RoomCorner Honey’s system for him—it implied that notes could reach any player regardless of whether their system was accessible.

Well, the item specification explicitly mentioned players who aren’t friends rather than players who’ve unlocked the system.

Based on the message, Ttopamine Addict had posed as me while messaging RoomCorner Honey, who had fallen for the deception entirely and deployed a rescue unit to the coordinates provided by this individual.

Several inconsistencies still remained.

“How could you possibly know to direct him to send a rescue party? No—how did you even realize I was present here and track me down?”

Even as I posed the question, Ttopamine Addict merely observed me with a slight curve of his lips and eyes rimmed with heavy fatigue.

“And… if you actually transmitted that note, why has RoomCorner Honey kept silent about it until now?”

“That particular inquiry I can address.”

So the initial two questions were off-limits.

Ttopamine Addict glanced once more into empty space, prompting a second message to materialize.

MESSAGE

Dopamine Addict

And don’t mention getting a chat from me to anyone—including me. Taejeong Taese Beyonce cannot find out. This is a secret just between you and me.

I stood dumbfounded for a brief moment before asking,

“So… he stayed quiet even around me because of a childish message like that?”

“He resembled a youngster craving attention.”

That was difficult to dispute.

“Though frankly, even after sending it, I figured someone of his temperament might still run around blabbing. Yet he never uttered a single word to you either. Far more tight-lipped than I anticipated.”

My own surprise stemmed from the fact that RoomCorner Honey had received such a message without ever dropping the slightest hint to me. What astonished me even more was that Ttopamine Addict had burned a hundred points on RoomCorner Honey solely to ensure my rescue.

No—the reality that he spent an additional hundred points at the shop simply to clarify this single detail was remarkable in its own right.

I had no way of knowing the extent of his stockpiled points. Yet one fact remained undeniable.

This person held zero intention of causing me harm. If his arrival had been intended to inflict damage, wasting points to patiently address my inquiries made no sense. Furthermore, his opening remark—I went to all that trouble sending you away, and here you are again—indicated he had come to verify my safety.

Why does he continually feel the need to ensure I am developing properly?

Up to this point, investigating him had been impossible, causing me to deliberately push the thought aside. Yet he had approached me entirely of his own volition. This opportunity could not be squandered.

I directed my question at Ttopamine Addict,

“You. Are you truly Dopamine Addict?”

“You checked the system and still refuse to believe it?”

He appeared genuinely perplexed, causing me to frown.

“Merely reading Dopamine Addict on the system interface doesn’t guarantee my trust.”

“Why not?”

Why not, indeed. Posed through his mad-scientist character avatar, he genuinely looked unhinged. Nevertheless, my response was honest.

“I happen to be Dopamine Addict. Therefore, your identity as Dopamine Addict as well feels bizarre.”

“What aspect of that strikes you as bizarre?”

“Because that would imply you are… me.”

Ttopamine Addict broke into laughter as though finding the notion genuinely amusing. Was this individual genuinely committing to a mad-scientist act?

“That’s precisely accurate. I am you.”

“What?”

“My concealment of the fact never happened. During our last encounter, I mentioned that starting in the Cola Area would have led me to poison Meursault first.”

He had indeed made that remark. That explained why the pronoun usage had felt misplaced.

“Are you an artificial intelligence?”

“An intriguing hypothesis. Yet incorrect.”

“Then am I the artificial intelligence?”

“A fascinating theory. Also inaccurate.”

Ttopamine Addict lowered his gaze as though the dialogue were growing tedious.

“When I state that I am you, the meaning is literal. Neither of us constitutes a duplicate or an impostor.”

I stared at the individual claiming we were both the genuine Dopamine Addict before challenging him,

“State my name.”

“Your name?”

“My actual name. If you are truly me, you should possess that knowledge.”

“Ah… correct. You wish to verify whether your memories align with mine. That should put an end to your skepticism. Very well…….”

He stroked his chin as though rather enjoying the proposition, then stated,

“My real name is… Lee Dam.”

My heart plummeted like a falling stone.

Lee Dam. That happened to be my actual name.

No—wait.

A name could be retrieved from game profile registration data. He might have looked up that much information purely to construct a thorough disguise as me…

Yet following that—

“The name is Lee Dam, derived from neither my paternal family name nor my maternal one.”

His statement continued seamlessly without pause.

“The consideration of the illegitimate-son path for clearing the Cola Area stemmed from that very name. Haydam. Examining it, the similarity to my own seemed striking.”

Nothing that followed carried any deception. Not regarding my family name. Not concerning the illegitimate-son clearance route. Never once had I spoken of either to anyone else.

“What further evidence do you require to believe I am you? The fact that Mother was overly preoccupied running a gaming enterprise designated as Salvation Project to care for me? That the identity of the man meant to serve as my father remains unknown to me, leaving me uncertain of his biological status? Or that the pursuit of dopamine essentially boiled down to securing happiness, exactly as I promised Mother—”

“Cease!”

The exclamation escaped before I could stop it, causing me to flinch and lower my voice.

“Stop talking. That is sufficient.”

Further proof was unnecessary. This individual was me. Without a doubt, he was me.

“None of this makes sense.”

The words I finally managed to force out brought a snort from Ttopamine Addict.

“Not that your disbelief persists—now you simply fail to comprehend?”

“If you are genuinely me, why were you transmigrated into an adult physique?”

“Hmm… moving past that point enters territory beyond my explanation.”

He could declare without hesitation that he was me—yet remained unable to account for why his transmigration occurred as an adult?

“Could you perhaps be… the parallel-world version of me who selected the unicorn doll at the convenience store?”

At that, he widened his eyes in an exaggerated display of surprise before slowly shaking his head.

“That keen insight must be a trait inherited from being me.”

Ha… simply listening to this person speak began to illuminate why others found my presence so exasperating.

He absorbed the jibe smoothly, let his smile soften slightly, and spoke in a subdued tone,

“However, the twenty questions regarding my identity conclude at this point……. My only motivation for proving it was to prevent you from wasting time on pointless speculation.”

His answers were provided solely to keep me from squandering time doubting his identity as me? Why did this person desire my survival to such an extreme degree? Dismissing it merely as self-preservation felt insufficient… some alternative motive seemed to be at play.

Inquiry would yield no answers either way.

“Our conversation is finished, so return to your respective Area. Remaining here is unsafe.”

Unsafe here?

“The individual who somehow consistently determines my precise coordinates and arrives on a hoverboard is far more alarming, if you ask me.”

“Haha.”

Despite claiming to be me, our personalities appeared rather distinct. This particular version genuinely seemed a bit eccentric.

“You have no intention of explaining why this location is dangerous either, do you?”

That prompted merely a smile in response.

A soft sigh escaped me, followed by a brief moment of hesitation before I spoke,

“If you truly are me, a specific detail requires your awareness.”

“Something requiring my awareness?”

If this person was authentically me—if he was Lee Dam—then the Lee Dam residing in the Unicorn Area needed this information as well.

Regarding Luna Moon. Regarding our… our mother.

“My suspicion is that Mother was transmigrated into this realm.”

“Ah.”

His reply came devoid of the slightest emotional flicker.

“Luna Moon, you mean.”

I was the one left staring blankly.

He possesses that knowledge as well?

Come to think of it, his unlocking of the auxiliary system preceded mine, making it perhaps unsurprising. Yet the Area he transmigrated into was the Unicorn Area. My own approach toward the truth of Luna Moon had only been possible due to my transmigration into the Cola Area. How had he managed to uncover the truth of Luna Moon being our mother from within the Unicorn Area?

The anomalies did not stop there. He turned around to direct a question of his own toward me.

“Given that extent of knowledge, did you awaken big brother as well?”

“What?”

“You know, the entity residing inside the ring…….”

So he even possessed awareness that an ego inhabited Luna Moon’s Ring.

Judging by his tone, however, visual confirmation of Luna inside the ring did not appear to have taken place. Yet if even he referred to the entity as big brother, Luna truly seemed to be Haydam.

“How do you possess knowledge concerning Luna?”

“Luna?”

Only then did his expression contort in dismay as he clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Don’t tell me… you assigned the name Luna to big brother? Isn’t that rather cruel……? Are you some sort of scumbag?”

Hearing such an accusation from him while he stood in that character model left me speechless.

“My awareness of him being big brother was absent. Is he even actually big brother?”

“Your possession of the ring is apparent… yet you failed to bring him along. That was an oversight. An encounter with him was desired.”

“How did you come to know about Luna in the first place?”

“Does that mean your additional unlock has already been completed?”

As if lacking any desire to pursue further discussion regarding Luna, he shifted the topic. The refusal to answer my questions coupled with an insatiable curiosity of his own proved intensely annoying—yet since he was also me, cursing him out amounted to spitting into the wind.

Perhaps my personality was genuinely unpleasant.

“Your unlocking of the additional system this rapidly was unexpected. Because you awoke big brother…? You’ve surpassed my progress.”

“What are you implying? Your unlock occurred first.”

An unreadable smile crossed his face, the distinct expression worn when covering up a slip of the tongue.

My steady gaze remained fixed on him for a moment before I stated,

“If your awareness encompasses Luna Moon being Mother, along with the completion of your additional unlock, you surely recognize this fact as well, correct?”

“Recognize what?”

“The identity of the entity who transmigrated us through the Safe Zones is…….”

Ttopamine Addict nodded as though anticipating my exact words, leading us to speak in unison.

“Mother.”

“Father, actually.”

A brief hush settled over the space.

“What?!”

“What?!”

Astonished exclamations echoed through the cavern in absolute synchronization.