Chapter 2 – Enlist

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“…So, you also chose Cola at that convenience store, right?”

A blonde-haired, red-eyed boy nodded his head rapidly at my question.

Unlike me, who had a typical Asian customization of black hair and black eyes, the guy with the Western customization was surprisingly someone I knew.

“Your nickname is… CornerHoney? That foul-mouthed guy?”

“Did you really have to add ‘foul-mouthed’? Show me anyone on an online community who doesn’t swear at least that much.”

People who throw curses at just anyone like you are called social misfits… No. Forget it.

CornerHoney and I.

After putting our heads together to assess the situation, this place was definitely .

The two of us woke up in Safe Zone Cola.

Possessed into a game together at the same time…

‘Does that even make sense?’

Everything was too vivid to deny reality.

“But why is your nickname CornerHoney? Did you make a typo while trying to type CornerBully?”

“It’s a witty twist on CornerBully, and you don’t even get it.”

I really didn’t know which part was supposed to be witty.

“Then what is your nickname?”

“Me?”

I was about to say ‘Dopamine Addict’ for a moment, but I changed my mind and gave someone else’s nickname.

“…T-Bastard.”

T-Bastard was a player who steadily left questions on my guide posts.

The reason I didn’t bother to give my real nickname was because I had blocked CornerHoney right before being possessed here.

It couldn’t be helped in order to avoid an awkward situation.

Since we were possessed together, we would have to cooperate whether we liked it or not, so there was no need to make an enemy of him already…

“T-Bastard? I think I’ve seen it in the community. Then did you also get the convenience store address from HomeProtector?”

Did he get the convenience store address from HomeProtector?

I had wondered how CornerHoney knew about that convenience store and ended up possessed.

So that bastard HomeProtector had been spreading the address I gave him around?!

And this guy came to the convenience store after seeing that address and got possessed.

…Wait.

‘Then does that mean there could be other players possessed in this game besides us?’

Don’t tell me even T-Bastard, whom I was impersonating, was here?

…No, the player named T-Bastard was someone who absolutely loathed online socializing, so there was no way he would have received a PM with the address from HomeProtector.

Even if he had received the address, he wasn’t passionate enough about this game to go out of his way to find the convenience store.

But if it was HomeProtector, who distributed the address PMs, the story would be different.

“HomeProtector could be somewhere here too.”

Perhaps having the exact same thought as me, I heard CornerHoney murmur softly.

“Should we look for HomeProtector to see if he’s here too?”

However, I didn’t think HomeProtector would be in the same zone as us.

And for good reason.

“HomeProtector is a heavy smoker, so he probably chose Cigarette.”

“That makes sense.”

Nodding his head as if convinced, CornerHoney let out a small sigh as if he remembered something.

“That bastard is here too…”

“That bastard?”

“Dopamine Addict. I mean that attention whore.”

“…”

When my expression stiffened, CornerHoney, perhaps interpreting that stiff expression as hatred toward ‘Dopamine Addict,’ eagerly continued.

“He was the one who posted the convenience store address first. So wouldn’t that bastard have been possessed too?”

“…Probably.”

“Where was his main starting zone again? Was it Unicorn? It serves him right to think he’s probably suffering and regretting after falling into the zone with the highest difficulty by now.”

“…”

It really seemed like a good decision not to introduce myself as Dopamine Addict.

No, but I didn’t think I had ever had any direct trouble with this guy…

CornerHoney smirked for a moment, then soon asked me with a gloomy expression.

“By the way… what do we do now? If we really got possessed into the game, do we have to clear it?”

Although it was just a zone with slightly lower difficulty, he seemed to have belatedly realized that he was also possessed inside a game.

“It’s better to prepare for the apocalypse than to do nothing. Anyway, if this is truly inside the apocalypse game, this world will perish soon.”

“Why did this happen to me… If I meet that bastard HomeProtector, he’s dead.”

How many people did HomeProtector distribute the address to?

How many of us were possessed here?

For some reason, CornerHoney and I had the same starting location… but there could be other players who dropped into Cola.

Well… once the Second Apocalypse began, we would naturally meet other players too.

‘…But isn’t it survival by zone starting from then?’

Although my thoughts wandered to the possibility of having to fight other possessed people at the risk of my life.

That was still a distant story.

And since this was now ‘reality’ rather than a ‘game,’ maybe we wouldn’t have to engage in a survival match where players kill each other.

In the game, the bastards from other zones were all enemies, but if it was between possessed players, the story would be different.

Would Koreans really try to kill each other…?

…I didn’t know. Let’s think about this problem later.

CornerHoney also seemed to be thinking about something, and then he asked me.

“But if it’s game possession, would we be able to use the game system as well?”

Immediately, CornerHoney began to shout keywords like ‘Status Window’ and ‘Inventory’ into the empty air.

But nothing happened.

“Ha, fuck… they possess someone as they please, and there are no perks?”

“Come to think of it, did you see that?”

“That?”

“The thing that pops up when starting. The revelation.”

“Ah… we didn’t have that either.”

The ‘revelation’ was a single sentence.

Originally, the moment they opened their eyes in the starting zone, the player should see the following sentence.

[The world will perish soon. Prepare for the end.]

However, when I woke up inside this game, I did not see such a sentence.

Judging by CornerHoney’s reaction, it seemed he hadn’t seen it either.

“Does this mean we really have to clear it empty-handed? And in the body of a child? Does that make sense? I’m sure I lived a good life…”

As I stared at him intently, CornerHoney flinched and avoided my gaze.

“Ha, fuck, I should have sworn a bit less…”

Seeing how even that murmur just now started with a curse, you were beyond help.

“What are you going to do from now on? T-Bastard, have you played the Cola zone? Up to which zone have you cleared?”

“Me… up to Unicorn.”

In reality, I had cleared all the way to Knife, but since Dopamine Addict was the only one who cleared the hidden zone.

Even though I lowered the scale a bit, CornerHoney looked at me with eyes that could not trust me.

“Don’t lie. Clearing all the way to Unicorn is only done by Dopamine Addict and a few crazy bastards who follow his guides, so what… Ah… I get it. You just read that bastard Dopamine Addict’s guides and are trying to act like you know things, right?”

…Strange.

For someone who hates me, this guy seems to know too much about me?

He knew about my guides, of course, and even the clearance progress of my followers.

Come to think of it, when I posted my final guide, this guy also showed up and commented right after HomeProtector.

Could it be that this guy didn’t actually hate me…?

I threw out some words to subtly test him.

“I am indeed a follower of Dopamine Addict. I just didn’t participate in community activities, but I have memorized all of Dopamine Addict’s guides.”

“Y-you memorized all of them?”

Because I wrote them.

CornerHoney’s lips twitched as if he had something to say, and then he asked in a small voice.

“You… then do you also memorize that bastard’s Knife guide?”

“Of course I do.”

“…Really? That’s a relief.”

A relief?

“Didn’t you also see that guide? I think you left a comment.”

Perhaps those words pushed his button, as CornerHoney flared up and his face turned red and blue in an instant.

“I was… reading that guide, and I got blocked by that bastard, fuck…! I left comments and clicked upvote on his guides every single time before that, the son of a bitch…!!”

Ah…

So it wasn’t that he hated me.

In other words, he had built up a one-sided sense of intimacy with me, and then got upset after being blocked.

He consistently upvoted my guides?

Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.

“Geez, it’s good that you’ve memorized all the guides, but why did I have to be possessed with a follower of Dopamine Addict of all people…”

“If you don’t like it, clear it on your own. More importantly, you asked me earlier what I was going to do, right?”

I casually ignored CornerHoney’s words and continued.

“From now on, I’m going to become a ‘bastard child.'”

* * *

The ‘bastard child’ strategy.

That was one of the guides for Safe Zone Cola that I had already posted in the community.

In this Safe Zone ‘Cola,’ there was a warlord group that was the ruler and protector of this place.

The ‘bastard child’ strategy meant becoming the ‘bastard child’ and ‘successor’ of the warlord’s commander, Hayden Goodman.

Becoming his ‘bastard child’ and ‘successor.’

To put it simply, Hayden Goodman was like the Grand Duke of the North of this place.

Since Safe Zone Cola was also located on the outskirts of the continent, in a snowfield area, it wasn’t a wrong comparison.

As soon as I brought up the bastard child, CornerHoney clicked his tongue.

“Right, you did read Dopamine Addict’s guide. That’s that bastard’s ‘bastard child’ strategy. Hey, forget it. A game and reality are different. Is Dopamine Addict’s guide something a human can actually do?”

I also knew that my guides, which always pursued high stimulation, were non-mainstream.

Since Safe Zone Cola was a zone with low difficulty, one could survive until the apocalypse well enough without taking the unreasonable risk of becoming a ‘bastard child.’

But is there a saying ‘high risk, high return’ for nothing?

We might have only one chance to clear this.

During this period, we had to get everything we could possibly obtain.

To do that, the position of Commander Goodman’s successor was absolutely necessary.

“If you’re scared, clear it separately.”

“W-who said they’re scared? I’m just asking if it’s feasible.”

Feasibility…

“If it’s the bastard child strategy, you have to deceive the commander. If you get caught lying, your head could literally fly off.”

“In other words, you’re scared.”

“No… Yeah, honestly, I’m scared. This isn’t a game anymore. I could really die.”

CornerHoney’s ‘fear’ wasn’t incomprehensible either.

We were suddenly possessed into a game.

And as a ten-year-old child in an apocalyptic world where it wouldn’t be strange for someone to die right this moment.

It was natural to be afraid.

Yet strangely… I was not afraid.

I didn’t know whether it was confidence from clearing all the way to the hidden zone, or because being possessed inside the game still didn’t feel real.

On the contrary, ever since entering the game, I had been feeling… a strange ecstasy all along.

‘I thought there would be no more dopamine left to gain from this game.’

Perhaps CornerHoney hated me so much because I was this kind of person.

Anyway.

“Anyway, the one who will deceive the commander is me… and well, I don’t care if I die doing it.”

“What?”

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll return to reality if I die.”

I spoke like this, but the probability of that was low.

It was merely words to comfort the anxious CornerHoney, unlike me, for whom a life-or-death situation acted as a buff.

Such anxiety must not be left neglected.

It would be problematic if CornerHoney, a chess piece in my plan, made an unexpected move.

At the mention of potentially returning to reality upon death, CornerHoney momentarily showed a tempted expression.

Judging by his expression, he seemed to be thinking, ‘Should I try dying once?’

Fortunately, there was no need to stop him.

He quickly lost heart, as if lacking the courage to put it into action.

“What if I can’t return and really die…”

“Dying from failing to clear the game or dying from getting caught lying is pretty much the same. Anyway, I’m going to start clearing it now. Follow me or not.”

“…Hey!”

Stopping me as I tried to leave without regret, CornerHoney hesitated slightly before asking in a small voice.

“Between you and me, who is going to be the bastard child?”

“I told you. I’m going to be the bastard child from now on.”

“Why do you get to do the good thing!”

Didn’t he say just earlier that he could die if caught lying?

Well, the reason I insisted on stepping forward to be the bastard child was partly because I doubted his intelligence to pull off acting like one, but there was also another decisive reason.

The fact that Commander Hayden was an Asian with black hair and black eyes.

CornerHoney was a Western customization with blonde hair and red eyes.

I was black hair and black eyes.

“If you claim to be the commander’s bastard child, as if he’d believe you.”

CornerHoney seemed to have only just checked his customization status, as he startled and muttered a small curse.

“Geez, why did I get possessed with this customization…”

“Hey kid, why is your customization like that when you’re Korean? You looks-obsessed bastard.”

“It’s because my original starting zone was Love, dude!”

So this bastard wasn’t in his main starting zone either.

The Love zone was originally a place where lookism was rampant, so it made sense for him to have such a pretty boy customization.

“Anyway, I will play the role of the bastard child.”

“Then what should I do? It’s not like the bastard child strategy particularly needs someone else’s help.”

Aha.

So this was the reason he wasn’t pleased with the bastard child strategy.

The bastard child strategy was one that could be done alone.

Among some of the other strategies, there were those where one had to induce help from NPCs, and CornerHoney probably wanted to play cooperatively by taking on the role of an NPC.

But I preferred solo play.

At least for now, I had no intention of joining forces with him.

However, as it was a world where the apocalypse was foretold, he was also needed.

Because the residents of the zone had to believe the fact that the apocalypse would come in ten years in order to prepare.

He would have to help me convince the people of this zone later.

‘To do that…’

He would also need to gain the trust of the residents.

I asked CornerHoney.

“By any chance, have you completed your military service?”

“What? No? I just turned twenty.”

He just turned twenty?

No wonder he seemed like a kid.

“It’s great that you haven’t served yet.”

“What is great about that?”

Smiling brightly at CornerHoney, who still hadn’t grasped the situation, I spoke.

“You, enlist.”