Chapter 53 – Intersection

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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CornerHoney’s older sister… The company she worked for was my mother’s company?

And my mother’s company was the company that made the first series of this game, Safe Zone, which I possessed?

It was all stories that were not easy to accept, but this was what I asked CornerHoney first.

“You were possessed by a game made by your sister’s company, and you didn’t even find it strange?”

For a moment, I was out of my mind at the thought that my mother might be involved.

I asked because it was utterly unbelievable that this bastard had been so relaxed even though he knew from the beginning that he was possessed by a game related to his sister, but CornerHoney replied with his characteristic innocently stupid face.

“I told you, the one made by my sister’s company was the first series? Online Safe Zone is probably about the fourteenth series if you count them?”

I don’t think the series number is that important…

“Have you never thought that maybe you got possessed because it was a game your sister worked on?”

“It’s not a game my sister made.”

What is he talking about now?

“Didn’t you just say your sister worked at the Salvation Project?”

“It’s true my sister worked at that company, but she probably wasn’t involved in the production. My sister is a doctor.”

“A doctor?”

“I told you I was originally weak, didn’t I?”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“My sister became a doctor to cure me. It was strange that she suddenly said she was working at a game company, though.”

First of all… this guy seems like he won’t be of any help.

If he was the type to just think “that’s a bit strange” when his doctor sister worked at a game company, it was obvious that he wouldn’t think much of it even if he was possessed by a game made by the company she used to work for.

But does that mean my mom employed a doctor at a game company?

“Why would a game company need a doctor?”

“I heard she did advisory work regarding medical issues, but I don’t know the details.”

“…”

Since I also didn’t know much about my mother’s company, there was no way CornerHoney would know the details about his sister’s workplace.

‘I thought there would be some connection from the moment Luna Moon had my mother’s face, but…’

Earlier, I had once speculated whether the game called Safe Zone was an imitation of this world.

That someone had created a passage connecting to this world in the form of a game.

‘Maybe that was my mother’s company.’

Perhaps it was rather a relief.

If I thought that Luna Moon having my mother’s face was not because my mother and Luna Moon were the same person.

But simply because she had the face of the person who produced this game, I felt like I could shake off my discomfort even just a little.

What was certain was that being possessed in this world was not a coincidence.

Because at least CornerHoney and I were deeply related to this game.

Although I didn’t know about the others.

I pondered for a moment and then spoke.

“My family member also worked at that company.”

Since it seemed a bit dangerous to tell CornerHoney of all people that it was a company set up by my mother, I decided to only reveal that a member of my family was connected to that company.

“What? Really?”

CornerHoney was startled, and only then did his expression turn serious.

“Then… is our possession also related to that company?”

Yes, you bastard. Now we are speaking the same language.

“It is too coincidental to say there is no connection. We’ll have to investigate from now on what kind of impact this exactly had on our possession.”

“How are you going to investigate?”

“There is Tae-jeong. And I must ask other players if they know about the Salvation Project.”

“Ah, you said you can use the chat system, right?”

Just how many people would know about the Salvation Project?

There might be players who, like me, knew about the Salvation Project but didn’t know its connection to this game.

Since most players were game addicts, there would probably be many who didn’t even know what kind of workplaces their family members worked at.

There would probably be guys who didn’t think much of it, like CornerHoney.

Maybe there was already someone who guessed the reason they were possessed.

Since the system-unlocked players connected to me, whom I had identified, were only a tiny minority among the possessors.

“If there is an intersection among the players… we might be able to find out the reason we were possessed, and maybe even a way to return.”

The words about being able to return were meant to instill some motivation in him, but CornerHoney’s expression was still dark.

“A way… to return?”

“Why? Is there a problem?”

“Actually, I don’t really want to return.”

“What?”

Come to think of it, when I said he might be able to return if he died, this guy also hesitated for a moment and then dropped it.

Was he not worried about it going wrong, but contemplating whether to return or not?

Since he said he was originally weak in body, it was not incomprehensible.

Since I also suffered from chronic dopamine deficiency in reality, I didn’t miss reality that much either.

Come to think of it, Tae-jeong also said he was happy to be possessed and play the game.

As for T-Bastard… he did seem to want to return.

“But didn’t you say your sister even became a doctor to cure you? It seemed you had a good relationship with your family too. Isn’t that better than dying a dog’s death here?”

“Even if I return, I won’t live long.”

Oops.

I didn’t really want to hear such a heavy story.

“It’ll be longer to live if I survive the Second Apocalypse in this body instead.”

“I-is that so…?”

I thought that perhaps the players possessed here might have another intersection besides the Salvation Project.

The thought that they might be guys whose lives in this world are better than in reality.

* * *

The first thing that welcomed Plato, who returned home after completing his military academy graduation ceremony after about six years, was Anton’s angry roar.

“What on earth did you do in your graduation speech?”

Anton was in a terrible state, as if he had rushed over from somewhere in a hurry.

Instead of pointing out his father’s attire, Plato retorted nonchalantly.

“If you were so curious, you should have come to the graduation ceremony.”

Then, Anton yelled out with a face that looked like his blood pressure was rising.

“You rascal! I already heard those words from Lord Haydam!”

“Did you return after meeting Lord Haydam?”

Plato, wearing a startled expression for a moment, smiled faintly and nodded.

“If you had such an important appointment, it makes sense that you couldn’t come to the graduation ceremony. I understand.”

“Y-you rascal…”

Anton had a face of being too dumbfounded to speak, but soon realizing that getting worked up would only be his loss, he took a deep breath and flopped down onto the living room sofa.

“…I hear you received a standing ovation in your graduation speech?”

“Did Lord Haydam tell you?”

“Yes. He said I would regret not seeing that sight for a long time.”

Plato had a very happy face at the fact that Haydam had praised him to his father Anton.

“It seems to be true that you received a standing ovation. I thought you had a bad relationship with your peers?”

“Everyone’s hearts for the zone were not different from mine.”

At those words, Anton’s brow furrowed slightly.

“You mean… you made a speech for the zone?”

“Yes.”

For Anton, who thought that at most he would have spouted nonsense like let’s all be loyal to Lord Haydam in his graduation speech, this was a highly unexpected and ominous story.

Because it meant he had made a quite political speech at the graduation speech venue where the commander, who came to deliver the congratulatory address, was also present.

But his son didn’t look like he had been shot.

Above all, thinking that it was a task ordered by Haydam and thus wouldn’t have looked bad to the commander, he asked.

“What kind of speech did you get a standing ovation for?”

“I said that from now on, not only the children of a few executives or sponsored children, but every eleven-year-old child must be admitted.”

“What?!”

It was not only the commander who came to the graduation ceremony.

It was a place where executives, who could be called the ruling class of this zone, also came.

Pointing out the privileges they and their children enjoyed in front of those executives?

And that too, by his own son who was at the very pinnacle among those executives?

‘H-Haydam, this brat…!’

Anton noticed that all of this was Haydam’s strategy just by hearing up to that point.

The prohibition of executives from participating in the subjugation battle was indeed a move to exclude them.

But to think he would use the children of the class he was trying to exclude to raise a rebellion right in front of them.

That he received a standing ovation from the cadets for that speech meant that other graduates also agreed with Plato’s opinion.

Since they clearly saw with their own eyes that their own children and the cadets they sponsored supported Plato’s opinion, it would be difficult to claim that all of this was Haydam’s political attack.

“Wait, what about the Lord Commander? What did the Lord Commander say?”

“The Lord Commander naturally supported our opinion as well. Because he said that after the subjugation battle ends, admission to the military academy will be conducted through an examination rather than a recommendation system, and eligibility to apply will be given to every eleven-year-old child in this zone.”

“What? That was decided so easily?”

“He told us to speak if there were objections on the spot, but no one raised any.”

“Heh…!”

Only now could Anton barely understand what Haydam’s words meant when he said he would regret not going to the graduation ceremony for a long time.

If he had been present, it wouldn’t have passed so easily.

Anton also had a considerable number of sponsored children.

For executives, making their own children officers was important, but making sponsored children officers was also extremely important.

When a child they sponsored became an officer, they naturally became part of their faction, and that child would in turn sponsor an orphan to raise young officers and give them power.

This was the kind of system that had maintained factions in this zone.

Yet Haydam had smashed it with a single graduation speech.

And that too, by using his own son.

‘To think he would exploit another’s son to the bone just for a single adjutant position…!’

If things went on like this, he and Plato would become targets for other executives.

Of course, if Haydam backed them, there would be no worries, but would he take responsibility properly?

To trust Haydam, the words spoken by Darling Outsider, that boy, weighed on his mind.

—Does he really say he will make Plato his adjutant? Have you checked properly? If it’s Haydam, he’s more than capable of scamming you over an adjutant position.

‘As expected… I can’t trust him. I must prepare a safety device.’

The saving grace was that the admission method of the military academy had changed from recommendation to examination.

Since they didn’t completely forbid sponsoring children or refuse admission to the children of officers, there were plenty of opportunities for them as well.

Because there was no rule saying that there would be no corruption just because it was an exam.

‘Meeting and coaxing a few professors would be no trouble at all.’

And as if mocking Anton’s thoughts.

A few days later, the commander announced the creator of the military academy exam.

“The creator of the first entrance exam is Haydam.”