Chapter 21 – Realization

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After the barbecue party, I started basic training with Tae-jeong.

Unlike CornerHoney, who was building up his basic training in the military, I thought Tae-jeong, who was merely a mansion servant, wouldn’t have time to train, so I called him over and started together with him, but.

“…Why are you so good at this?”

Tae-jeong’s shooting skills were the worst.

But his physical movement skills were no joke.

Although his body was still young, his basics were more than just solid—should I say they were almost… at an athlete’s level?

At my words, Tae-jeong smiled awkwardly.

“I originally exercised a bit…”

That was not just “a bit,” though?

“Brother, you are even more surprising than me. Did you also exercise before the possession?”

“No way. I was just an unemployed bum.”

The reason my basics looked solid was thanks to the ‘Title’ I inherited as a reward for clearing all zones.

Of course, this title didn’t actually increase my physical abilities themselves.

While it was possible to arouse a specific NPC’s favor or increase proficiency with a title, training to improve physical abilities had to be done separately.

The title ‘Magic Bullet Marksman’ that I used while catching the medium-sized monster didn’t increase my physical abilities either.

The ‘Magic Bullet Marksman’ title was something you could obtain when you hit a monster’s gem with only one shot ten or more times in a row.

If you shot a gun while wearing this title, the first six shots would absolutely never miss, but there was a kind of curse attached that the seventh bullet would definitely hit the person dearest to the player.

In other words, it was a title that controlled the player’s ‘luck’ rather than their physical abilities.

However, in the game, the ‘person dearest to the player’ was simply the NPC with whom they had built up the most favorability, so it did not act as much of a detriment.

Since I had raised the favorability of NPCs who were useless to me at the time and used them as sacrifices for the Magic Bullet Marksman title.

There were many comments saying that this was a strategy that would make even Satan cry, but the bastards who left those comments probably used it just like me.

‘But this isn’t inside a game right now.’

If it meant that the NPC with the highest favorability toward me would die like in the game, then as of now, Commander Hayden was the most likely to be hit by the seventh bullet.

But if other players were also included, the story could change.

Leaving CornerHoney aside, Tae-jeong had a strong goodwill toward me.

Conversely, instead of someone I raised favorability for, a person I genuinely cherished might become the target.

In that case, the one who died would be Commander Hayden or Meursault.

I felt sorry for Tae-jeong, but right now, those two were more necessary to me than the other players.

The reason I used the ‘Magic Bullet Marksman’ title despite the risk was to appeal my shooting skills to Meursault.

‘I shot three times at the target paper and once at the hippopotamus-pig, so do I have two shots left now?’

Actually, my basic shooting skills were not bad enough that I didn’t even need to use such a title.

In the first place, this title was something obtained only by hitting a gem about the size of a finger joint embedded in a monster’s body ten times in a row.

In the case of a stationary target, I only received the title’s help for the first shot, and hit the rest with my own strength.

Although I did use about two more shots because they asked me to shoot at moving targets as well.

Actually, the safest way was to grow my physical abilities, including shooting, through personal training so that I would no longer use the ‘Magic Bullet Marksman’ title, but…

‘I’m curious to see who it will hit when I fire the seventh bullet.’

I knew I shouldn’t kill someone just for a test, but since getting hit didn’t necessarily mean death, I couldn’t help but want to test it.

‘Should I make Tae-jeong get the Magic Bullet Marksman title and test whether the seventh bullet flies toward me or not?’

Even if it really flew toward me, I at least knew how to avoid fatal wounds.

For now, I would pass over this issue.

The important thing was that titles alone could not cover physical abilities, especially stamina.

‘While it was possible to make my physical abilities rise quickly with just a little training by using auxiliary titles like ‘SSS-class Recruit,’ I must not neglect basic training.’

“Even though you were an unemployed bum, you move your body so well… As expected, you are someone who will succeed no matter what you do, Brother.”

…After wrapping up the morning training with Tae-jeong, whose respect for me seemed to have deepened for some reason.

In the afternoon, I tested eating various things to grow the healing ability possessed by the player.

As a result, I learned that meat was much more effective than cookies, and compressed foods like canned food or beef jerky were far better than plain meat.

‘Do I need to make something like the Fasting Pill that appears in martial arts novels?’

It was a relief that compressed food was more effective.

Of course, since I had an inventory, I could carry a large amount of food as long as the inventory allowed, and it seemed the food placed inside the inventory didn’t spoil either, but.

Tae-jeong and CornerHoney, who couldn’t open their status windows, had limits on the food they could carry.

The fact that the food they carried could spoil was also a problem… I hadn’t checked yet whether healing was possible even after eating spoiled food.

Since it was disgusting, I should test it on CornerHoney during the next regular meal.

‘If it can heal even if it’s spoiled food.’

Just what would the system count as ‘food’?

I tried placing a stone near my mouth after self-hypnotizing that it was ‘food,’ but it did not turn into blue particles and disappear like other foods.

Which meant there was a clear standard for food unique to the system…

‘I’ll look into that later… For now, I should start by preparing portable rations.’

Combat rations existed in this world too.

However, since they were only issued to soldiers, I, who hadn’t officially enlisted yet, had not actually seen the combat rations of this world.

The servants of this mansion were only servants after all, not soldiers, and since there was a separate organization managing the combat rations of the Cola zone, it would be difficult to obtain combat rations through the servants.

In times like this, I should utilize the NPCs available.

Conveniently, I had Meursault, who was currently under suspension.

“Meursault, do you happen to have any combat rations?”

When I went and asked Meursault, who was still busy processing paperwork due to the labor shortage despite being suspended, Meursault looked at me with a dumbfounded face.

“Why that look?”

“Because Young Master is the first person to come and shake me down for combat rations.”

His way of speaking had been getting rougher since I took him hunting last time.

I felt like I needed to go out to the subjugation battle quickly, achieve merits, and get a rank so Meursault would speak politely to me.

“However, I do not have combat rations.”

“Why? Because you’re not a combat soldier?”

“I have no reason to go to the battlefield, but also because they taste terrible. I think I only ate combat rations back when I was a private.”

Meursault said so and stared at me blankly.

“I do not know why Young Master, who likewise has no reason to go to the battlefield, is suddenly looking for combat rations, but…”

Meursault, who seemed to think about something for a moment, nodded.

“Since I also have something to check, would you like to go to the research institute together?”

The research institute.

The official name of the research institute Meursault was talking about was the Zone Security Research Institute, a place where research contractors developed general military supplies, excluding weapons, such as combat rations and combat uniforms.

Although I had only wanted to check the effectiveness of combat rations, it didn’t seem bad to stop by the research institute and see if they had the technology to make something like the players’ Fasting Pill.

But why on earth was Meursault making such a suggestion?

“Originally, I was going to go after my suspension was lifted… but if I go along as Young Master’s escort, I can handle it more quickly.”

So he needed a pretext to visit the research institute while suspended.

Regardless of what Meursault’s ‘business’ was, as soon as I faced the military police at the checkpoint before entering the research institute, I froze.

This was because the expressionless military policeman saluted as soon as he saw Meursault, but tears were streaming down from one of his eyes.

However, I was not particularly surprised by the sight of him crying itself.

Because he was an NPC I knew.

‘The son of the deceased Lieutenant General Batom.’

But it seemed this NPC wasn’t originally a military policeman at the research institute.

Was his post transferred when Lieutenant General Batom died?

“I am sorry about your father.”

I thought Meursault was a real crazy psychopath, but Lieutenant General Batom’s son replied calmly.

“No. I am the one who is sorry for showing such an unsightly sight. Your identity has been verified, so you may go inside.”

I also knew that NPCs had families.

But it was the first time I faced the family of an NPC after killing them and saw their crying face.

That too in the possessed reality, not a game.

A long silence flowed even after we passed the checkpoint and went inside, and the first to speak was Meursault.

“It might be meddling, but…”

Why start with such a preface for whatever he wanted to say.

“To make you feel a bit more at ease. Batom abandoned that child as soon as he was born.”

At those words, I, who was walking ahead, stopped in my tracks and looked back at Meursault.

Meursault also stood in place and continued speaking.

“At the time that soldier was born, Batom wasn’t a lieutenant general. Therefore, that soldier was also abandoned and grew up as an orphan, and I understand he only found out recently that Batom was his father. Still, he sheds tears because Batom is his father, it seems.”

Batom’s abandoned son… was there such a setting?

Well, although I knew all the NPCs’ names and posts, it didn’t mean I knew the history between them.

More surprising than being a child abandoned by Batom was the fact that Meursault meddled in my business.

A fact that mattered little whether I knew it or not.

That Daphne fanatic actually brought up unnecessary words just to ease my mind.

“There is also one fortunate thing.”

“What is it?”

“Because I received an order to dispose of him if he seemed to hold even the slightest grudge against Young Master. Since I can only feel a look of resignation on that soldier’s face, it is fortunate that an innocent young man does not have to die.”

So your business was executing rebels?

…I thought Commander Hayden was a Northern Archduke.

Am I perhaps playing the role of some northern dictator’s child?