Chapter 54 – The Importance of Early Education

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After the graduation ceremony ended, there was a deployment of the newly appointed officers for the subjugation battle.

This time, the existing unit system was completely overturned, and only a small number of personnel carefully selected by me and the commander were scheduled to be divided into ten teams and deployed for the subjugation battle.

Instead of all ten teams moving at once, they decided to go out for searches in a fan shape centered around the zone.

Of course, since the members per team did not exceed ten, they were not to engage in combat with monsters directly in that state.

The operation was to gather back at the base camp after the search, share the locations and movement paths of large-class monsters, and then begin the subjugation.

The commander was in Team 1, taking charge of the center along with experienced soldiers, while I decided to move with the newly appointed officers in Team 10.

“The subjugation battle is just starting, yet why is he telling me to set the exam questions too?”

“Do not complain too loudly, Lord Haydam. The team members will hear.”

At Meursault’s words, the team members looked elsewhere with faces pretending they had heard nothing.

Why is this fellow Meursault not going to Team 1 led by the commander, but instead discouraging the newly appointed officer kids in Team 10?

For reference, Plato has had his ability recognized and is leading other newly appointed officers as the team leader of Team 9.

CornerHoney, whom I shoved into the subjugation teams, seemed to be somewhere in Teams 3 to 8, which were made up of ordinary soldiers.

Among the guys in my team, would the ones I knew by face be just Lucas and Bones?

Perhaps because those two did not have a good relationship with me, when I looked at them, they were startled and disappeared, saying they would go further out to search.

The area we were assigned to search was the edge of the zone where there should originally be a barrier, a place where the appearance of large-class monsters was also remarkably low.

It was suitable for newly appointed officers with no real combat experience, and it was also the perfect search site for me, who had come to inspect the barrier.

While the barrier was still not in sight, Meursault spoke.

“By the way… I did not know you would go so far as to make Cadet Plato do such a thing.”

“What do you mean by such a thing? It’s not like I made him do anything bad.”

“But, didn’t you do it knowing? That Cadet Plato would face difficulties in the future because of that graduation speech.”

I gave Meursault a wry smile.

“Since when did you care so much about others? And they are no longer cadets, but second lieutenants now.”

The graduates of the military academy, including Plato, were now clearly officers with the rank of second lieutenant, not cadets.

Of course, since they were guys who hadn’t even accumulated experience, their ranks were practically meaningless…

“However, it seems they ultimately couldn’t decide on Lord Haydam’s rank.”

I had also thought the commander would decide my rank by the time the subjugation battle started.

Whether he noticed that I was already speaking informally to Meursault, who was a major general, or because giving me an ambiguous rank would obviously lead to mutiny, the commander did not give me a separate rank.

Well… since it would be ambiguous either way, just labeling me as ‘Team Leader’ might have been the best choice.

“Don’t worry about Plato. His dad is the boss, so what could possibly happen.”

“You are quite cold-hearted.”

“Meursault. Plato himself is the type of guy who would make others uncomfortable, not someone who would take it.”

“That… is true.”

Meursault closed his eyes gently, perhaps recalling the graduation speech that had exposed my past the other day.

Whether to call it a relief, it seemed the commander decided not to hold him accountable for that matter.

Of course, he might have already scolded Plato where I wasn’t looking… but at least Plato’s limbs were intact before going out for the subjugation today, so nothing major must have happened.

“Even my mind went blank back then.”

“It’s a relief it passed well.”

Meursault nodded with a face convinced that worrying about Plato was in vain, and then continued.

“I understand that I shouldn’t worry about Plato, but…”

“But?”

“Conversely, I would like to say that you shouldn’t trust Plato too much either. Because such unexpected behavior is unlikely to occur only in small matters like a graduation speech.”

I also know that Plato’s sudden actions occasionally cross the line…

Meursault’s nagging time is particularly long today.

Having spoken as if participating in the subjugation battle was no big deal, he must be a bit nervous.

“Still, you were also a bit touched, weren’t you?”

“Me?”

“No? You were also clapping really hard, though?”

“Ahem… Ah, you there. Let me see you for a second.”

Meursault cleared his throat awkwardly, looked toward a direction where it was unclear who on earth he was speaking to, and walked off somewhere.

‘That guy is really not honest either.’

Meursault was an NPC who had started as an ordinary soldier because he couldn’t enter the military academy, rising to the rank of major general on his own.

He must have been pushed around this way and that by graduates of the military academy until attaining that rank.

Even after rising to that position, he must have been ignored by the officers those people sponsored and raised.

But now that those deep-rooted evils had been eliminated, he must feel completely refreshed.

Worrying about Plato, unlike his usual self, must also be due to a sense of debt for handing over what he should have done to a young cadet.

Meursault said Plato would face difficulties in the future for having him do such a thing, but conversely, he didn’t seem to notice yet that because he had Plato do it, he was able to treat him without prejudice despite being the son of Anton, the head of the pro-Daphne faction.

‘Anyway, Anton must have known that the exam creator was me, but there is no reaction…’

At that moment, the team members walking ahead became noisy.

“What is it?”

“Lord Haydam, Lucas and Bones…”

“Move aside.”

Since the names of the guys who had deliberately gone far away to search to avoid making me uncomfortable were mentioned, I pushed past the team members and stepped forward, wondering if they had been injured.

“…What?”

Held in the hands of those two was something that shouldn’t be here.

* * *

Love Zone player, Shrike.

Before being possessed, he was a survival expert, and he caught the eye of the Love Zone’s deity, player ‘God’, to take on a special mission.

It was to go to the Cola Zone and dig up information about ‘Dopamine Addict’.

For that purpose, the deity’s intention was that even torturing Cola Zone NPCs would be permitted.

Shrike had asked what if the Cola Zone NPCs didn’t know about Dopamine Addict, but according to the deity, Dopamine Addict was targeting the bastard child strategy, so he just had to dig information about ‘Haydam Goodman’.

‘As expected, the deity knows everything!’

Although some impious players seemed to doubt the deity’s abilities, Shrike trusted the deity implicitly.

That was why he had gladly set off on the grueling journey, traveling in a child’s body from the Love Zone to the Cola Zone.

As a player, Shrike also had a certain amount of knowledge about the Cola Zone.

He also knew that around this time, Cola Zone NPCs would swarm outside the zone for monster subjugation.

However, a major ordeal befell Shrike, who arrived at the Cola Zone just in time.

‘There are… fewer soldiers than I thought?’

Though he didn’t know what had happened, the Cola army, which originally should have poured out in massive quantities, was nowhere to be seen.

The only ones occasionally visible were soldiers who seemed to be patrolling in pairs.

‘This is problematic…’

As the saying goes, to hide a leaf, hide it in the forest; Shrike had planned to blend in among the numerous soldiers as if he were a recruit.

But with the numbers being this small, a child like himself would stand out.

Did Dopamine Addict involve himself in troop management?

If their start was the same, Dopamine Addict would also be a mere ten-year-old child, yet he was already at the level of moving the army.

‘I think I know why the deity told me to find out about Dopamine Addict.’

Honestly, Shrike had looked down on Dopamine Addict’s followers in the Love Zone a bit, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he understood why they insisted on confirming whether Dopamine Addict was on their side.

While ‘God’, the leader of the Love Zone, was at best moving players like himself, Dopamine Addict was already moving an NPC army.

‘First… I must change the plan.’

Originally, he had planned to blend in with the soldiers and dig up information by asking “What kind of person is Lord Haydam?” but pretending to be a soldier was out of the question.

‘But I am a player. I can easily manipulate Cola Zone NPCs as much as I want.’

It was a fact known to all players that Cola Zone NPCs had lower intelligence compared to other zones, but had good character in return.

Currently, he was in the form of a ten-year-old child.

What if the Cola Zone NPCs saw a child like himself wandering in this snowfield?

If he complained that he had injured his foot and couldn’t move, they would surely approach and try to help him without much suspicion.

At that moment, he would slash the throat of the one who approached first, then subdue and drag the remaining one away while he was panicking.

‘Since they seem to be patrolling in pairs, it’s perfect to kill one and keep one alive to dig up information.’

They probably wouldn’t even guess that a ten-year-old kid could harm them, or that they, trained soldiers, would be defeated by an injured child abandoned in the snow!

He was very much looking forward to what kind of expression they would make when they realized they had been tricked.

‘This is why I play Safe Zone.’

Possessing a ten-year-old’s body might seem like a detriment at first glance, but as a veteran player of Safe Zone, he knew how to utilize this body one hundred percent.

No matter how much Dopamine Addict was in the Cola Zone, the intelligence of the zone’s NPCs was an issue that couldn’t be helped.

If he screwed over Dopamine Addict using the Cola Zone NPCs here, the Love Zone followers would also shut their mouths…

Completely unaware of his impending doom, Shrike lay collapsed in the snow, waiting for the Cola Zone NPCs to approach.

“—Lucas.”

Soon, a thick, husky voice was heard not far away.

“If my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, I see a brat collapsed in the snow over there.”

“What?”

Groaning as if injured while holding his knee collapsed in the snow, Shrike thought.

‘If it’s Lucas, is it that newly appointed officer… The guy who came with him is Bones, just hearing his tone.’

Shrike, having quickly grasped the identities of the approaching Cola Zone NPCs, cheered inwardly.

Lucas and Bones were guys who had just become newly appointed officers.

‘They’ll be easy to deal with.’

Since Bones was a guy who was rough-mouthed but soft-hearted, even if Lucas died right before his eyes, he wouldn’t easily bring himself to attack a child.

On the other hand, although Lucas was rational, he was a guy who handled everything by the book, so he had to be killed first.

‘Kill Lucas, and torture Bones.’

Having sorted it out like that, Shrike covered his mouth with his shoulder out of their sight and smiled faintly.

‘Guys who are coming out to a subjugation battle for the first time are no match for me.’

Thinking so, he waited for them to come closer…

Something was strange.

‘These guys… why aren’t they coming closer?’

Unable to overcome his curiosity, Shrike pretended to writhe in pain and glanced in the direction of the voices.

Standing there were Lucas and Bones, looking down at him with gazes colder than sheets of ice.