Chapter 94 – Daphne (4)

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[Dopamine Addict: To my room right now.]

As soon as I returned to the commander’s residence, I sent a chat to summon CornerHoney to my room.

Since the incoming students who passed the entrance exam had come up to the center to prepare for admission, CornerHoney was currently staying in Tae-jeong’s room in the commander’s residence.

Thanks to the system I had opened up, we had shared minor stories using the chat system in the meantime, but the story about Daphne should be told face-to-face.

Not long after I called him, CornerHoney threw the door open and walked in without knocking, as always.

Seeing me sitting on the bed, CornerHoney immediately asked like this.

“Did you call me because Daphne died?”

This guy must have also heard the news of Daphne’s death.

Well, had he been elsewhere it might have been different, but since he was in the commander’s residence, there was no way he wouldn’t know even if he tried.

At any rate, if he already knew Daphne was dead, it didn’t seem like it would be difficult to bring up the story.

While I was pondering for a moment how and where to start telling him that the deceased Daphne seemed to be his sister, that bastard CornerHoney said lively with innocent eyes.

“Dopamine Addict, did you poison her?”

“No way.”

Perhaps because the Cola Zone walkthrough I posted on the community started by killing Meursault and Daphne first, CornerHoney seemed to think I was involved in Daphne’s sudden death, so I denied it immediately.

“There is no reason for me to kill her at this point. You remember that Daphne is a player, not an NPC, right?”

“Of course. But even if it’s a player, you’d kill them if they get in your way.”

Shin Eun-jo was like this too… why does everyone think I will harm a fellow player?

The only player I have PK’ed so far is exactly one person, SafetyZone8, and even that wasn’t what I intended.

As I’ve said time and again, the picture I want is to show an overwhelming difference in strength and make them yield.

Because this is no longer a survival game that ends only when all but one player are killed.

When we don’t even know exactly what the logout system is, harming players with my own hands and leaving only NPCs in the world would just be boring.

Anyway.

“I called you because I have something to ask about Daphne.”

“…Me?”

CornerHoney showed a look of great surprise that I was asking him about Daphne.

“I haven’t even run into Daphne since possessing a body here.”

“That dating sim Daphne possessed. You said your sister had played it too, right?”

“Suddenly talking about my sister?”

Though he tilted his head when I asked about his sister while talking about Daphne, CornerHoney answered obediently.

“Of course my sister played it too. Since it was my sister who made me play that game.”

“By any chance, do you remember what the nickname your sister used in the dating sim was?”

“My sister’s nickname?”

CornerHoney looked at me with an absurd gaze.

“I do remember, but you are asking something really out of the blue.”

What I heard from Meursault was only that Daphne’s player was originally a doctor and had a sick younger brother.

Whether it was really CornerHoney’s sister was merely a conjecture.

Therefore, before telling him that Daphne seemed to have logged out after dying and that she was likely his sister, I needed to confirm if they were indeed the same person.

Fortunately, since CornerHoney said he remembered the nickname, we could confirm it quickly.

“Tell me what the nickname was. Then I’ll tell you why I’m suddenly asking this out of the blue.”

“Geez…”

CornerHoney furrowed his brow for a moment, then relaxed his expression and spoke.

“My sister’s favorite character was Meursault. It was probably Meursault’s Wife… or Meursault’s Spouse. It must have been a nickname like that.”

‘It is indeed the same person.’

The confirmation was complete.

CornerHoney was confused about whether it was Wife or Spouse, but there was no way there was another player using the nickname ‘Meursault’s Wife’ who happened to have similar conditions to CornerHoney’s sister.

“First of all… listen without getting surprised.”

“What kind of story are you trying to tell?”

“Daphne didn’t die, she must have logged out.”

“She didn’t die, but logged out?”

CornerHoney showed a look of surprise for a moment, but soon spoke with a face that didn’t feel much emotion.

“It is interesting, but is that something to warn me not to be surprised about?”

“The problem is that ‘Meursault’s Wife’ was written in Daphne’s player status window.”

“……?”

As if unable to understand what my words meant, CornerHoney’s head tilted slightly to the side.

I waited until he understood, and soon CornerHoney straightened his head and asked me.

“What… does that mean?”

This was not asking back because he really didn’t know what it meant.

He must have realized by now that my bringing up Daphne first, and then asking about his sister, was to tell him that the player possessing Daphne was his sister.

But even so, it is hard to immediately accept the fact that the NPC we knew was family.

It was the same for me when I learned that Luna Moon might be my mother.

“If you doubt my words, go ask Shin Eun-jo. Because she is the only one besides me who checked Daphne’s status window.”

“Am I understanding this correctly right now? Are you really saying that Daphne’s player was my sister?”

“Yes.”

CornerHoney stared at me with a blank expression.

“Why haven’t you told me until now?”

“Because I also only found out today that she was your sister.”

“No, if you had at least told me the nickname in advance, I would have known! Who Daphne was! Why only after she died…”

The guy, who looked a bit confused, stared at me with a suspicious gaze.

“You… aren’t lying, are you?”

“What?”

“You only ever think about lying!”

“What would I gain by lying that Daphne is your sister?”

“Not that! Didn’t you already know but didn’t tell me? Didn’t you know she was my sister and yet didn’t tell me?”

Of course, even if I had known in advance, I wouldn’t have told CornerHoney.

Because if Daphne, who had already spent over ten years in the zone, and CornerHoney conspired together, my position could become endangered.

Since CornerHoney knew me well, it was no wonder he suspected me.

But this time, I really didn’t know.

I didn’t hide it on purpose.

And if I had found out Daphne’s identity at least after CornerHoney blocked the gun barrel Shin Eun-jo pointed, I wouldn’t have hidden it and would have told him.

“I really didn’t know.”

“Does it make sense that you only found out after she died?”

“There were words she left to Meursault like a last will right before she died.”

“A last will?”

“That she was actually a doctor, and had a sick younger brother.”

To this, I added one more word.

“And that she will definitely return.”

At the story that she left words of returning, CornerHoney’s eyes shook for a moment.

“She will return, what does that mean again? No, before that. How do you know she logged out?”

“It’s a long story to explain, but it is not an impossible story. If she died here, there is a high probability she logged out… returned to reality.”

“It’s absurd enough that Daphne was my sister, but you want me to believe that she returned to reality by dying?”

After all kinds of emotions swept over CornerHoney’s face once, he spoke in a voice full of distrust.

“…I can’t believe it.”

“Why can’t you believe it?”

“How can I trust you after everything I’ve seen! You deceived me from our first meeting, saying you were T-Bastard!”

Right, that did happen.

Is this what the boy who cried wolf feels like?

It’s not that I don’t understand CornerHoney’s reaction.

If his family was close by and he only found out after she died, it was understandable that he would find me suspicious.

Since logging out wasn’t something I witnessed directly either, but was merely a conjecture.

However, there is one thing I cannot just let pass.

“But… don’t you also have something you didn’t tell me?”

“What? Me?”

“When I fell into the crevasse.”

When I said that, as expected, CornerHoney flinched and shut his mouth, looking as if he had a guilty conscience.

“Sending the rescue team to the cave wasn’t your idea. Why did you hide the note you received?”

“……”

CornerHoney remained quiet for a moment and then asked me.

“…How did you know? That I received a note?”

This bastard.

He hadn’t forgotten to speak of it; he was truly hiding it.

“Why didn’t you speak up? Even you should have known a note flying in when you don’t even have a status window is suspicious. Why did you hide it? No, why did you lie that you sent a rescue team because it was a cave you knew?”

“Because I also knew it wasn’t you.”

“What?”

“Not you, Dopamine Addict. I also knew that it was a note sent by the impersonating player of the Unicorn Zone, so I didn’t say anything.”

It was unexpected that he not only knew it wasn’t sent by me, but also knew exactly who sent it.

“In the first place, you call me Outsider and Tae-jeong as Tae-jeong. But in the note, the nicknames ‘CornerHoney’ and ‘Taejeongtaesebeyonce’ were written in full, so I thought that guy sent it. Because only that guy checked my and Tae-jeong’s status windows before leaving.”

“Wait. So you sent the rescue team knowing that it was a note sent by the Unicorn Zone player?”

“He said that even if he tried to kill me, he had no intention of harming you. So somehow, it felt like you were really in danger, which is why I sent the rescue team. The reason I didn’t tell you was…”

At that part, CornerHoney hesitated as if knowing it was his fault, and then continued in a voice as tiny as an ant.

“…Because I thought I’d get scolded.”

“Are you really a grade-schooler?”

“I thought you would grill me so hard if I told you I sent a rescue team believing the words of an impersonator!!”

I would have really done that, so I have nothing to say.

“So what happened to my sister? Is there a way to confirm if she really returned safely to reality?”

“You said it yourself. That your sister suddenly quit being a doctor and attended the Salvation Project.”

“What does that have to do with it?”

“She went back and entered that company. To make the Safe Zone.”

At those words, CornerHoney wore an expression for a moment as if he had been struck by a hammer.

“That…”

CornerHoney barely managed to open his mouth and speak.

“That is just your guess… It might be different from your thoughts.”

Although he was saying that, his look of disbelief was fainter than a moment ago.

All that was needed was a little bit of certainty.

I decided to tell my mother’s story here.

I didn’t know how it would be received that my mother created this game…

But if I didn’t talk at this timing and it was revealed by someone else later, this guy would never trust me again.

Now is the time to speak.

“I mentioned last time that my family also attended that company, right? The Salvation Project.”

“You did. What, is your family Luna Moon or something?”

Huh? He is sharper than I thought.

“…Why that face?”

It must have been a random guess, as CornerHoney furrowed his brow and finally spoke with a face of realization.

“Is it real? Is Luna Moon really your family?”

“Yes. Just like your sister, I think she returned to reality after dying in the game and set up the company called Salvation Project.”

“She ‘set up’ the Salvation Project?”

“That is why I am saying your sister must have returned to reality too. Since she was also engrossed in making the game like someone possessed.”

“No, then are you saying your sister developed the Safe Zone series?”

“Not my sister, but my mother.”

“What? M-mother?”

CornerHoney clattered as if he had heard something unexpected.

Sure, it must be shocking that the NPC whose son I am pretending to be was actually my real mother…

“Th-then your mother played a d… dating sim…? And named her nickname… Luna Moon?”

That’s what you’re surprised about?

…No, but why is the embarrassment mine to bear?