Chapter 48 – CornerHoney

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Safe Zone nickname ‘CornerHoney’.

Raised under businessman parents, he had never been lacking materially even once, but.

Because his body had been weak since childhood, he couldn’t even attend school properly due to repeating admission and discharge from the hospital.

Although he could go to school after growing up to some extent, his personality was twisted enough that it was difficult to make friends normally.

Because his parents, doctors, nurses, and even his ill-tempered older sister always yielded everything to the sickly him, he had never learned what consideration was.

He tried to correct his personality belatedly, but on the contrary, he ended up suffering a kind of school violence where his wealthy environment was extorted.

The parents, who learned that fact, immediately had him drop out and brought him home.

-Yeobom-ah. It is fine even if you don’t go to school, don’t go to college, or don’t have a job. You can live while doing what you want to do.

CornerHoney also did not fail to know that it was because his illness was not completely cured, that it was a miracle he was still alive, and because of the doctor’s advice to let him spend the remainder of his life in comfort.

‘What I want to do…’

He wanted to go to school, and he wanted to have friends of his age.

His parents asked why he hadn’t said he was being bullied, but.

CornerHoney had just not even realized it was bullying because the times when those kids occasionally shared snacks as if out of generosity, or turned around and waited for him when he walked slowly, were so precious.

‘But since I won’t live long anyway, I don’t want to worry my parents…’

Thus, CornerHoney came to not go outside the house.

And he had ended up becoming a hikikomori game addict who vented on the internet the anger he couldn’t release toward his parents or peers.

‘Dopamine Addict’s strategy guide is uploaded!’

Dopamine Addict.

The Middle-Aged Men Dating Simulation Game he was forced to play by his older sister.

‘Dopamine Addict,’ one of the players of ‘Apocalypse: Safe Zone’ which was clearly made as an homage to that game, was one of the people CornerHoney admired.

Because even when hearing comments that it was a trash-personality strategy guide, the sight of him steadfastly releasing his guides to the community looked cool.

And he also envied that he ended up mass-producing a large number of followers with that trash-personality strategy guide even though he didn’t seem to try to get along with other people in particular.

‘I want to get close to him too.’

To get close to Dopamine Addict, CornerHoney executed the conquest method he learned from the dating sim.

‘Other people support him while calling him hyung-nim, hyung-nim, but I must approach differently.’

Because only by giving the impression of being different from other people would Dopamine Addict also show interest in him.

Such a sociopath-like strategy guide uploader who enjoyed attention would surely like a certain type of person.

CornerHoney left a comment with confidence.

CornerHoney: Fuck, isn’t this crazy? How are we supposed to follow this? You psychopathic bastard.

‘Heh.’

A skill to naturally raise the other person up within rough words.

The top 3 words that a guy who uploaded this kind of moralless strategy guide wanted to hear most.

A comment appropriately mixing ‘the writer seems like a psychopath,’ ‘isn’t this crazy,’ and ‘only you can do this kind of thing.’

Since he used such high-level skills, he thought Dopamine Addict would also soon have interest in him.

Without even knowing that the swear comments he left like that were being deleted at Dopamine Addict’s hands, CornerHoney, who regularly left recommendations and comments on the strategy posts, was…

‘I got blocked…?!’

Only after being blocked right after the Knife strategy guide was uploaded did he realize that something had gone wrong.

“Why!! Why on earth!!”

CornerHoney cried more sorrowfully than on that day when he was forced to separate from his friends due to school violence.

After not even logging into the game for a few days due to depression, when he created a sub-account and entered the community, an unexpected story was circulating.

‘The heavy users disappeared?’

When he hurriedly checked Dopamine Addict’s account, he also had no login record for the past few days.

‘This person wasn’t seen for days at a time originally, though…’

While examining the login records of other heavy users as well as Dopamine Addict, CornerHoney was startled to see that HomeProtector, who pointlessly pretended to be close to Dopamine Addict, also had no login record.

‘Th-this person isn’t entering the game? Is he really missing?’

CornerHoney, who began to dig into the heavy user disappearance case, was able to receive a convenience store address from another player before long.

The Safe Zone collaboration convenience store address that was inside the post Dopamine Addict uploaded right after blocking him.

CornerHoney headed straight to that convenience store, and right at the moment he bought just one cola and came out due to its looking like nothing special, he was possessed.

Although days of entering the military under T-Bastard’s coercion and rolling like a dog while receiving training followed, actually it wasn’t that bad of a life.

Since the possessed body was not only healthy but even possessed a self-healing ability.

And moreover, the player he thought was T-Bastard was the real Dopamine Addict.

‘As long as Dopamine Addict is on my side, the apocalypse is not a problem.’

Thanks to that guy really succeeding in the bastard child strategy and becoming Young Master Haydam, military life also became comfortable.

“A Furry Crocodile’s tail was just flying in front of my eyes, and at that moment Haydam blocked my front, and thud!”

“Gasp, no way!”

“That’s correct. Haydam got hit by the tail in my stead.”

At those words, one senior soldier who was listening to CornerHoney’s adventure story(…) shouted in excitement.

“Crazy, then are you saying that the injury he was rumored to have sustained during the struggle with that Furry Crocodile was sustained while trying to protect you?!”

“That is exactly it.”

“Wow, awesome!”

At that, another senior asked without hiding a suspicious air.

“Nonsense. Why someone useless like you?”

“I told you, didn’t I? That Haydam promised since long ago to appoint me to an important position.”

“No, I mean. Why appoint you? For someone who has an amazing person like Major General Meursault by his side.”

At those words, CornerHoney glared at the senior.

“I can’t tell you in detail, but I have an amazing talent.”

“What talent? The talent to make people angry?”

“It is indeed irritating that a punk who hasn’t even corrected his civilian tone yet talks of talent.”

“Are you doubting Haydam’s discernment right now?”

“Th-that’s not it, but…”

Since CornerHoney had already been called separately by Haydam several times, the suspicious senior muttered vaguely.

The other seniors also knew at least that Haydam and CornerHoney were in a quite close relationship, so they had treated him as useless but did not bully him ever since the day the first pork belly party was held.

Just then, a soldier who came out of the barracks found CornerHoney, approached, and said in a loud voice.

“Hey, Outsider. You have an outing.”

Hearing that, CornerHoney put on an arrogant expression.

“Oh dear. Talk of the devil and he is sure to appear. It seems Haydam is calling me again.”

“You say strange words sometimes. What is a tiger? Are you talking about a butterfly tiger?”

“Why would a butterfly tiger appear when talked about?”

Lightly ignoring the words of the foolish game NPCs who didn’t even know South Korean proverbs, CornerHoney asked the soldier.

“Is it the commander’s residence again?”

“No.”

The soldier who approached handed an outing pass to CornerHoney and said.

“It’s an errand this time. You are from the slums, aren’t you?”

“Ah, yes.”

Thinking of Haydam’s words that he wrote down as an orphan from the slums on his military application form, he nodded, and the soldier continued.

“He wants you to go to the slums and bring something.”

“Bring… what?”

“He said you would know what to bring once you arrive at the slums.”

Know once you arrive at the slums…?

‘Did Dopamine Addict make me do this?’

At this point, the only person who would bother to send him on an errand to the slums was Dopamine Addict, but.

Since it seemed that guy would have told him directly instead of going through a soldier like this, CornerHoney questioned him even though he knew it was an action a soldier shouldn’t do.

“Whose command is it?”

Sure enough, the soldier immediately turned serious and stared straight at CornerHoney.

“Why are you curious about that? Depending on whose command it is, are you not going to go?”

In an instant, CornerHoney felt a surge of anger and wanted to throw himself on the ground, shouting, ‘Do you know who I am! I ate meals and went hunting with the commander’s son, you punk!’ but.

The soldier in front of him was of the line of the executive who was promoted to lieutenant general this time.

That was, as a subordinate of the pro-Daphne executive, it seemed Haydam’s name value wouldn’t work.

“A-Ah, no. I will go.”

CornerHoney answered, barely holding back his desire to act trashy.

Thinking that anyway, he knew the slums of Cola Zone better than any other resident in this world, so there would be no problem.

* * *

While preparing to go observe the military academy graduation ceremony, I came to hear an absurd story from Meursault.

“Darling Outsider is not in the barracks right now?”

“Yes.”

“He must have deserted at last.”

I said it as a joke, but Meursault had no change in expression.

“…Eh? Really?”

“That is a bit ambiguous.”

“What do you mean by ambiguous?”

“According to other soldiers, they say he went on an errand to the slums.”

“An errand?”

I furrowed my brows and asked.

“Who else besides me would make him run an errand?”

“They said they don’t know who ordered it.”

“Did you go to the slums?”

“Yes. But when I went, he had already moved to another place.”

“He moved to another place? A soldier deserted, is it okay to just leave him be?”

“Since his outing pass says return before midnight today, they told me to wait until then.”

“A child disappeared… no.”

Come to think of it, this is an apocalypse world-view.

It wouldn’t be strange for a boy soldier to disappear.

Although I thought CornerHoney wasn’t a real child but a player, so he wouldn’t be in great danger.

‘Did he say he was twenty…?’

From my perspective, twenty was indeed a child, though.

‘I should go find him after the graduation ceremony is over.’

While I was thinking that, Meursault read my mind like a ghost and said.

“I will prepare a vehicle when the graduation ceremony is over.”

“…Yeah. I’ll count on you, Meursault.”

I stopped putting on my jacket and asked Meursault.

“But are you really going to participate in the subjugation battle?”

“I don’t know why everyone is so worried. I am also strictly a soldier.”

“That’s because you’re doing something you didn’t do before.”

“I went out to subjugation battles in the past too. Although it was the very rear.”

“You said you’d move with me this time. At the very front.”

“I calculated it in my own way.”

“What calculation?”

“The calculation that it would be safer by Lord Haydam’s side than the very rear.”

“…”

It wasn’t a wrong calculation, though.

If he is sticking by my side like this thinking it’s safe, I won’t have anything to say to Daphne if something goes wrong with this guy later.

Well, though I doubt anything major will happen…

“But what kind of plot did you make with Cadet Plato?”

“A plot? If anyone heard, they’d think I’m plotting some conspiracy for the kids’ graduation.”

“You are plotting.”

Meursault, having retorted like that, tilted his head and muttered.

“Kids’ graduation? When he is more of a kid…”

“Meursault, are you going to keep mumbling? We’ll be completely late at this rate.”

“Are you really not going to tell me what you plotted?”

“Go listen.”

Refusing like that, I said to Meursault while wearing a playful smile.

“Come to think of it, Meursault, you aren’t from the military academy, are you?”

“Yes. As you know, parent connections are important for the military academy.”

Although orphans exceed eighty percent in this zone, a bourgeois group that accumulated wealth exists even in the midst of that.

The children of high-ranking executives like Plato.

Adopted children who receive sponsorship from executives like Bones.

The only ones who can enter the military academy are such kids.

The reason Meursault, who enlisted as a boy soldier and rose tenaciously to the position of major general, is obsessed with family is probably also because of that unreasonable structure.

“Parent backing… I really hate that kind of thing.”

“Pardon? Isn’t it deception for someone who exploits parent backing more than anyone else to say such words?”

“That might be so.”

“Wait, don’t tell me you…”

Toward Meursault, who seemed to have noticed something, I smiled broadly.

“Plato’s speech. Look forward to it.”