Chapter 5 – I Am the Real Dopamine Addict

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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What did I just hear?

Who is Dopamine Addict?

“…Who are you?”

When I asked back, SafetyZone8, the self-proclaimed Dopamine Addict, let out a chuckle.

“You seem to know who I am. Well, I was quite famous in the community. Didn’t you also come all the way here after reading my guide?”

What… What is with that annoying tone…

Don’t tell me he’s imitating me right now?

The guy’s words didn’t end there and continued.

“I understand that you recalled my guide after being suddenly possessed. But this is my guide after all, so I would like you to go back now. Since I have the dog tag anyway.”

‘A bastard like this… there aren’t more of them in other zones, right?’

Although I was also impersonating another player.

Not only impersonating me, but acting as if my guide was his own with a bizarre concept-play was crossing the line.

Originally, I had no intention of blaming another player for following my guide.

After all, there was no reason not to try it when they knew the correct answer.

Even if they followed my guide, it wasn’t that player’s fault.

So, I had planned to properly smooth over the other player’s fake bastard child act and then get them to enlist like CornerHoney…

The imposter didn’t stop there and spoke as if doing me a favor.

“Seeing that you have the guts to remember and execute my guide, you seem to know quite a lot about Safe Zone. How about it? Working under me like this friend here?”

This guy was planning to recruit any player who came looking for the commander after him.

Then did Taejeongtaesebeyonce over there also come to try the bastard child strategy, only to end up joining hands with the imposter?

I stared the imposter quietly and answered.

“Call the commander.”

“Hmm… You don’t seem foolish enough to cling to something impossible… Do you have something else in mind?”

“As you said, I don’t have the dog tag. The commander will soon find out that I came here and met you. What will you say to make an excuse if he asks why you just sent me away?”

“Hmm…”

“Call the commander. Then I will testify about you to him.”

“You’ll testify?”

“The more people there are to testify that your name is ‘Haydam Goodman,’ the better it is, right?”

At my words, the guy blinked slowly a couple of times.

“Can I assume that you are accepting my proposal?”

“I won’t work under you.”

At that, the guy chuckled softly, placed his right hand on his chest, and spoke gently.

“Very well. I will call ‘Father.'”

…Isn’t this guy getting way too immersed when he’s only been possessed for a single day?

“Mr. Tae-jeong, I’ll go call Father, so please chat with this person for a moment.”

“Yes, big brother!!”

While I stood with an exasperated expression, the imposter left me with Taejeongtaesebeyonce and walked out of the room.

I scanned Taejeongtaesebeyonce up and down, then asked.

“Did you also come to try the bastard child strategy, only to get caught by that guy?”

“Ah, no. I woke up in the same place as big brother Dopamine Addict from the start.”

Woke up in the same place as that imposter?

‘I also had CornerHoney by my side when I woke up…’

It could be that we have the same starting locations in pairs of two.

Then that bastard SafetyZone8 impersonated me as soon as he got possessed here?

Hmm… In a world full of players possessed because of the address I posted, if it were me, I would absolutely never impersonate myself… He doesn’t seem to be a very smart guy.

“Why did you follow him instead of enlisting?”

“Because I didn’t want to go to the military again…”

Oho. A veteran.

Since he used honorifics with me and also fell for the imposter, I wondered if he was a young kid like CornerHoney, but it was a relief.

Seeing that he has some build, if raised well, he seems like he would play the role of a tank properly, and he looks gentle.

I think I understand why SafetyZone8 kept him around.

“Don’t you resent Dopamine Addict?”

“What?! Wh-why would I resent big brother… I’m a fan of big brother Dopamine Addict!”

“I heard we got possessed because of the address Dopamine Addict posted.”

“Ah, that story. I know it too.”

Taejeongtaesebeyonce spoke with a pleased smile.

“Being possessed like this is also all thanks to big brother Dopamine Addict.”

“Thanks… to?”

“Just being able to realize the bastard child strategy together with big brother, who is my idol, makes my heart race.”

“…”

This bastard was also out of his mind…

A foul-mouthed swearer, an imposter, and a social misfit who couldn’t distinguish between reality and games.

Why are only guys like this subscribers of my guides?

…No. It might be because the guys who play Safe Zone are all corner shut-ins.

“So you’re moving together with Dopamine Addict simply because you’re his fan?”

Taejeongtaesebeyonce stared at me, then spoke in a serious tone.

“Big brother Dopamine Addict is the all-zone clearer. Since we are possessed into this world, there is no reason not to follow him.”

Hmm… He made a relatively cool-headed judgment.

“You should also do as big brother Dopamine Addict says if you want to survive the apocalypse. Not only is there no player superior to big brother, but he is also someone who would mercilessly abandon even a fellow player if they get in the way of his clear. If you read big brother’s guides, you know it, right? Just how bloodless and tearless he is.”

No… What are you talking about? Was that my image?

Is that why he also speaks in such an annoying tone?

‘Ah, geez…’

“As long as I help ‘Dopamine Addict’ succeed in clearing it, are you on my side?”

At my question, Taejeongtaesebeyonce was bewildered, but answered in a daze.

“Huh? Uh, of course…?”

“Good. I’ll help.”

“Ah, thank you!”

This guy Taejeongtaesebeyonce would stand on my side once he found out I was Dopamine Addict.

The disposal of SafetyZone8 is the problem… but it might not be bad to let him keep acting as Dopamine Addict instead of me and draw aggro.

Since these guys dropped into Cola, it was tolerable for them even if they got possessed because of me, but what about those who fell into other zones? What if the guys who fell into a place like Knife survived and came out?

I don’t want to get stabbed for no reason…

“You say someone who knows you came?”

Just as I heard a growling, husky voice outside the room, a face I was sick and tired of seeing while playing the game appeared before my eyes.

A man with black hair neatly slicked back without a single stray strand, a black eyepatch engraved with the crossed cola bottles symbol, and a white coat adorned with dangling insignia slung over his shoulders.

The single remaining black eye of Hayden Goodman, the commander of the Cola zone, stared at me fiercely.

At the same time, a message popped up.

[The ‘Friend of Luna Moon’ title effect is applied to the target.]

This message was expected, but.

The message that popped up in succession was something even I hadn’t expected.

[Since you possess ‘Luna Moon’s Ring,’ the effect is applied twofold.]

‘Hmm?’

What changes if it is applied twofold?

“…His Excellency?”

At the voice of the imposter calling the commander, I took my eyes off the message and looked up at the commander, who was staring at me with an expression as if he had met a ghost.

However, the same fierceness from earlier did not remain in his eyes.

It was as if he was meeting a long-lost lover…

“…You look like her.”

Ah.

Did it surpass a simple rise in favorability and make me look exactly like Luna Moon?

It works out well for me.

Without missing the opportunity, I subtly raised the hand wearing the ring toward the commander.

“Mother told me to show this to His Excellency.”

Hearing my words, the imposter was visibly flustered, but since he didn’t know what I was showing, he couldn’t rashly step forward either.

As the commander lowered his posture and knelt with one knee on the floor, the imposter also realized something was wrong and turned pale.

After staring at the loose ring on my finger for a long time, the commander turned to the imposter and spat out in a cold tone.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“I… I don’t know what you mean…”

“You claimed to be my son, Haydam Goodman. Yet this ring is in someone else’s hand, not yours. Even though you brought a mere dog tag as a token.”

“What? The dog tag is the token… Ah, no, that ring is mine! I didn’t know that kid had stolen it either!”

SafetyZone8, desperately making excuses, pointed his finger at me and shouted.

“Y-yes, I even told that kid the story about Mother! And now he’s trying to deceive His Excellency—”

“Shut up!”

The commander shouted fiercely and snatched the dog tag hanging around the imposter’s neck.

The dog tag snapped weakly, and the imposter groped the place where the dog tag used to be in great panic.

“I, I am Haydam…”

“You had better keep your mouth shut.”

As the commander spoke with a terrifying momentum, the imposter immediately shut his mouth when he was about to make more excuses.

At least he had some sense.

“This ring is a token I gave to Luna Moon before marriage. If she had truly lost it, she would have told me when she came to find me yesterday, and above all, when this child took out the ring just now, you had a face that didn’t know what it was. I don’t know what you were thinking bringing her dog tag to me, but… if you deceive me any further, I won’t let it slide even if you are a child. Understood?”

“H-how…”

SafetyZone8, flustered, began to babble in Korean.

“Cle-clearly, the guide said it was the dog tag…! No, did it not say dog tag? But in that grave, the only belonging of Luna Moon was the dog tag…!”

Mutters like a madman, SafetyZone8 stared at me as if he realized something.

“You… who are you?”

“Who do you think?”

The moment SafetyZone8’s eyes widened.

Once again, a system message appeared.

[Player ‘SafetyZone8’ has failed the clear.]

It seems system messages pop up even when a clear fails.

Because SafetyZone8 hadn’t opened his system, he didn’t seem to see the message floating in the air.

Just as I was about to suggest to him to stop doing useless things and enlist.

[Eliminating the player who failed the clear.]

“What?”

The next moment.

SafetyZone8, who was standing in front of me, collapsed forward as if his switch was turned off.

“…Uh?”

The room fell dead silent.

‘No… way…’

As if to confirm my ominous premonition, the next message followed.

[Ownership of the items is transferred to ‘Dopamine Addict.’]

[Inventory – Luna Moon’s Ring, Luna Moon’s Dog Tag]

In Safe Zone, there was only one case where a player’s belongings were transferred.

When a PK succeeded…

“Big brother!”

Taejeongtaesebeyonce, startled, rushed to SafetyZone8, but to my eyes, SafetyZone8 had already breathed his last.

“Big brother! Big bro!!”

The commander also seemed momentarily taken aback by the unexpected situation, but he soon pushed away Taejeongtaesebeyonce, who was clinging to SafetyZone8.

“Step aside. I will… take him to the medical room.”

Although his words paused briefly mid-lift as he realized SafetyZone8 was dead.

Perhaps unable to declare him dead in front of us, the commander simply carried SafetyZone8 and disappeared out of the room.

‘Do you die if you fail a clear?’

What happens if you die?

Is that the end?

Or do you return to reality as I discussed with CornerHoney?

‘If I had known in advance, I could have told him to pass the story to the guys who visit the convenience store next time if he died and returned to reality…’

Rather than thinking he was completely dead, it would be more comforting to think he died and returned to reality, so I chose that path.

Looking over at Taejeongtaesebeyonce, he was sitting with a blank expression, staring in the direction the commander had gone.

“Dopamine… Why did big brother Dopamine Addict suddenly…”

I stared at him quietly and said offhandedly.

“First of all, that guy is not Dopamine Addict.”

At those words, Taejeongtaesebeyonce snapped his head up to look at me.

“What did you just say?”

“That guy is not ‘Dopamine Addict.’ I don’t know if you know this, but he was a guy who used the nickname ‘SafetyZone8.'”

“What do you mean?! Just earlier, you clearly said you would help big brother Dopamine Addict…!”

“I did help.”

“What… No, if that person wasn’t Dopamine Addict in the first place, then who on earth…”

Taejeongtaesebeyonce, who was panicking in confusion, made a face as if he realized something.

“C-could you… no, big brother?”

“Yeah.”

I stared straight at him and spat out.

“I am Dopamine Addict.”

…I should have made my nickname something cooler.