Chapter 3 – Exhumation

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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There were several reasons I recommended enlisting to CornerHoney.

First of all, since we were possessed into an apocalyptic game, we had to learn how to use firearms.

In the game, you could shoot a gun just by pressing the space bar, but reality would be different.

Second, because players basically started as ‘orphans.’

In other words, a state with no one to care for you and no home to return to.

It was better to enlist even if just to resolve the matter of food and shelter.

The reason Safe Zone Cola’s difficulty was low was also because the force managing this zone was a ‘warlord group.’

‘If he just enlists, he’ll cover the basics.’

Well, in case of an emergency, he might be mobilized as a soldier and get caught up in dangerous work.

The reason this world was divided into nine safe zones.

It was to preserve humanity from the ‘alien creatures’ that existed outside the zones.

Because the setting was that the First Apocalypse, the ice age, began from a giant meteorite that fell from the sky, and alien creatures began to spread from that meteorite.

Therefore, in all zones except for the ‘Beer’ zone that fled into the sea and the ‘Unicorn’ zone that launched itself into the sky, they regularly set out to subjugate the alien creatures around their zones.

If he enlisted in the military, he would naturally have to participate in that subjugation event.

If he survived, he could get promoted step-by-step and even reach the position of commander.

Of course, due to rapid promotion, he could be accused of being part of a coup faction and get killed at the commander’s hands.

This problem could be fully resolved if I was recognized as the commander’s bastard child and became the successor.

“Enlistment… Well, okay.”

Perhaps because the enlistment strategy was a common one, CornerHoney also accepted it without any particular resistance.

It was a relief that this guy had not served in the military yet.

Had he been a veteran, he would not have easily accepted the option of going to the military twice.

Enlisting in Safe Zone Cola was not a difficult task.

A place that accepted even a ten-year-old child as a soldier, as long as they could hold a gun.

Since that was how a child survived in the apocalypse.

I was trying to get him enlisted first before going to start my own strategy in earnest.

But two problems arose.

One was, unexpectedly.

No, perhaps naturally, this world was not patched with Korean.

Originally, was a game for which a Korean version was never released.

The reason community guide posts were active was also because the scripts were translated and posted along with the guides.

I self-studied English solely to post guides for this game.

Thus, it was actually not surprising that there was no Korean patch.

‘Possessing someone without even giving them a translation skill is quite cheap, though.’

Having suffered a possession that lacked commercial ethics—no, web novel ethics—we had to converse with the NPCs… that is, the residents of the zone, in English, and the enlistment application had to be filled out in English, but since this guy CornerHoney couldn’t speak English, I had to write it for him.

And seeing that the soldiers did not find it strange when CornerHoney and I conversed in Korean, I realized something.

It seemed that the setting where various nationalities gathered in the zone after the apocalypse and came to use diverse languages was also reflected in this world.

In the game, it was only a setting, and all NPCs used English.

CornerHoney was indignant.

“They possess us into a game and don’t even give us a Korean patch?!”

It was clear that whoever possessed us into this game wanted to see us suffer miserably.

“I don’t speak English… How will I live in the military?”

“Once you enlist, you’ll become a ‘yes-bot,’ so you won’t need English.”

Well, he wouldn’t literally only say yes, but at times like this, it was rather a relief to be in the body of a ten-year-old child.

Since speaking clumsily would be understood to some extent…

The next problem was that a ‘name’ had to be written on the enlistment application.

“I never even thought about needing a name.”

In the game, we were called by the nicknames we entered.

But under the circumstances of possession, it would be weird to introduce oneself as ‘Dopamine Addict,’ ‘CornerHoney,’ or ‘T-Bastard.’

As for me, I could just use the name of Hayden Goodman’s bastard child as is, but CornerHoney would have to build a name of his own.

In the midst of this, CornerHoney shook his head as if it was too bothersome to worry about something like a name.

“The name has to be an English name too, right? Just make one up for me.”

“Well… fine.”

I, too, had no time to spare on naming CornerHoney, so without much thought, I wrote down a name for him in one swift stroke and submitted the enlistment application.

Since it would take some time for the enlistment approval to come through, we decided to talk more about what to do next.

“First… once you enlist, we can’t move together for the time being. Let’s reunite after each of us establishes ourselves in this zone.”

“What is the standard for being established?”

“Well… first, when I get recognized as the successor, I’ll call you. I’ll tell the commander later that I had a kid who was like a brother to me when I lived as a street orphan, and have you called to the commander’s residence.”

I added, as if giving a warning.

“Work hard in the military. No matter how much I try to call you, if you are trash-tier, I won’t even be able to get you in through connections.”

“You’re thinking I’m going to be trash-tier right now, aren’t you?”

I casually ignored his reasonable doubt and continued.

“And since this place seems to be English-based like the game, make sure to write down stories about the apocalypse or important information in Korean.”

“That won’t be difficult.”

Hmm… Come to think of it, what are the players who are probably in other zones doing right now?

Since I didn’t know when I might run into another player… I should think of a code of conduct for when I encounter another player from now on.

It would be best if players cooperated obediently like CornerHoney… but there would surely be players who wouldn’t.

“But are you really going to try the bastard child strategy?”

Whether CornerHoney truly found the bastard child strategy untrustworthy, or just didn’t want to enlist alone, he asked me with an anxious expression.

“Can’t you enlist with me? You can speak English and seem smart. Seeing how you asked if I hadn’t served yet, it seems like you have… If you’ve been there once, wouldn’t you be able to do military life better?”

This bastard is saying terrifying things with such an innocent face.

* * *

Had a few hours passed like that?

When the soldier who showed up to grant the enlistment approval called the name written on the application, CornerHoney regretted leaving the naming to me.

“Is the name Darling Outsider, correct?”

The soldier’s question was in English, but CornerHoney also seemed to immediately realize that ‘Darling Outsider’ was a call for him.

“D-Darling… what?”

“You still look young… and you’re enlisting?”

As the soldier continued to ask in English, CornerHoney—no, Darling Outsider—looked at me with pleading eyes.

I whispered to him softly.

“You just have to reply ‘yes’ unconditionally to whatever the soldier asks.”

“Does that make sense? No, more importantly, my name is ‘Darling Outsider’? Are you serious?”

I thought it was a name that perfectly localized ‘CornerHoney.’

“It’s better than Darling Hikikomori.”

“What kind of bullshit is that!”

Anyway, since it was already registered under that name, it couldn’t be undone.

“Crazy bastard, I think that soldier is laughing too while calling my name…”

This time, CornerHoney’s analysis was correct.

Because the soldier who called CornerHoney was twitching the corners of his mouth, holding back his laughter.

“Darling Outsider, your answer?”

As I whispered to just answer first, CornerHoney answered with difficulty, barely parting his lips.

“Ha, crazy… Yes…”

“You are indeed trying to enlist in the military?”

“Y… es!”

“Good. Follow me.”

“Y-yes!”

CornerHoney—no, Darling Outsider—faithfully followed my advice, became a yes-bot, and left with the soldier.

He seemed to have developed a small grudge against me due to the naming, but he would forget all of that once he experienced military life.

Now… from here on, it was solo play for a while.

First, I had to find a grave.

The former lover of Commander Hayden Goodman.

The grave of the pitiful woman, buried alongside the ‘token of the bastard child.’

* * *

To speak of Commander Hayden Goodman, he was originally from another zone.

One of the soldiers who went out to the subjugation battle saved him when he was collapsed, and Hayden joined the Cola army to repay that debt.

Hayden, whose abilities were more outstanding than expected, quickly rose to a high position in the military, and the commander at the time, who thought highly of him, introduced his daughter to Hayden.

A simple story of how Hayden married the commander’s daughter and reached the position of the next commander without much difficulty…

This was the story known to the public.

And the owner of the grave I was trying to find now was ‘Luna Moon.’

She was the soldier who saved Hayden in a subjugation battle in the past.

Actually, the reason Hayden joined the Cola army was also because of Luna Moon.

Because he fell in love with Luna Moon, who had saved him.

Luna Moon and Hayden were lovers, and they even had a child together, but Hayden got engaged to the commander’s daughter for his career.

While leaving a promise that once he became the commander, he would recall Luna Moon and the child soon to be born.

Then, did he recall Luna Moon after becoming the commander? That was not the case either.

Rather than not keeping the promise, he couldn’t keep the promise.

Because Luna Moon had suddenly vanished.

Even at the time of playing Safe Zone, the commander of this zone was searching for his lover and child.

Without knowing that Luna Moon had died and was buried in a grave even before their child was born…

The important thing was that I knew the location of that grave.

Luna Moon after parting with Hayden, hid her identity and went into hiding in the slums to avoid any potential check.

A military doctor, she spent her time helping the residents of the slums even while pregnant, which was the very reason a decent grave was made and left for her after she died.

Usually, when a person died in the safe zone, the corpse was thrown outside the zone, making it a unique case.

Since the monsters outside the zone did not distinguish between the living and the dead, they would stay quiet for a while after sharing and eating the corpse.

Even so, the fact that her grave remained inside the zone meant she was a very good-natured person, enough to be respected by everyone.

‘The problem was that her goodness became poison, though.’

An epidemic spread in the slums where she stayed, and while people with healthy bodies had left the slums long ago, she alone remained to care for the sick.

Naturally, not long after, she was also infected by the epidemic and died.

The sick, moved by her good deeds, dragged their aching bodies to create her grave on the outskirts of the slums.

Since she herself died of the epidemic, and it was a grave made by epidemic patients, even now that time had passed, no one tried to go near her grave.

A place where the name written on the grave was a pseudonym, and people avoided approaching or mentioning it.

This must be why Commander Hayden couldn’t find Luna Moon either.

It was regrettable, but for a player who had to dig up her grave, it was the optimal condition.

I found and gripped a moderately hard piece of scrap metal that looked good for digging the ground, and hid on the outskirts of the slums until it got dark.

The reason I was being this careful despite it being a grave that people did not approach.

Was because it was precisely because it was a place where people did not approach that my visiting the grave would stand out instead.

A ten-year-old kid heading toward a grave where no one visited, with scrap metal in his hand.

It was perfect for sticking in someone’s memory.

‘If a witness report ever comes up later saying they saw me going to dig up Luna Moon’s grave, it will get troublesome, so I must be careful in advance.’

Thus, taking care not to stand out to others and walking the dark night path, when I reached the grave.

Feeling her grave, I realized that something was wrong.

‘The soil is… soft.’

It made no sense for the soil on a grave buried long ago to be this soft.

Unless someone had dug it up once and covered it with soil again.

I hurriedly dug up the grave.

Since it was ground that someone had already turned over once, digging with my hands was enough.

When I dug up the grave and opened the coffin lid.

Seeing that the dog tag, which should have been hanging around the skeletal neck of Luna Moon, had disappeared, I realized it immediately.

‘Another player got here first.’

It seemed there was another player in this zone besides CornerHoney and me.

‘Someone else is trying the bastard child strategy as well.’

Things have become interesting.

Probably, if I go to the commander’s residence tomorrow morning, I will run into another player who came to clear the bastard child strategy.

But the one to succeed in the strategy will be me.

Because the true token of the bastard child still remained inside the coffin.