Chapter 99 – Player Highlight Video (3)

===================

Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Immediately after confirming Taejeongtaesebeyonce’s face inside T-Bastard’s highlight video.

I immediately called Tae-jeong and asked.

“Are you really the national athlete Kim Tae-jeong?”

Of course, it might have been a somewhat hasty and indelicate question, but…

I was originally a fan of player Kim Tae-jeong.

There was no particular reason for being a fan, other than that he was simply the best at soccer in Korea.

I think I mentioned before that I transitioned to gaming after fanboying over the Premier League.

Originally, I watched the K-League, then transitioned to the Bundesliga when Kim Tae-jeong transferred overseas, and after the doping incident broke out, I moved on to the Premier League.

To think that such a Kim Tae-jeong was possessed in Safe Zone together with me.

How could I not call him out immediately to verify?

It didn’t seem like a big secret that Tae-jeong was a national druggie… no, soccer player.

If he was a soccer player, he would have no connection to my mother, so I was also curious how he ended up possessed inside this game.

‘But to think I would hear that dreadful foreign player’s in-game nickname from Tae-jeong’s mouth.’

I mentioned this before, but I dislike foreign users.

Because not only did those bastards copy my walkthrough posts without permission, but they also acted as the original authors as if they were their own original walkthroughs.

Among them, mikisoccer.

This bastard was a guy who translated my walkthrough posts into English within almost a day whenever I uploaded them, stamped his own signature, and uploaded them to the US community.

At that time, I wondered how an American could speak Korean so well, but if his real body was Micky Parker, it makes sense that his English-Korean translation was fast since he was a second-generation Japanese-Korean.

Of course, I had naturally sent a polite message to mikisoccer.

Saying that since it was my walkthrough, he should either credit the source properly or take the walkthrough down.

But mikisoccer’s reply was concisely shit-like.

[mikisoccer: eng plz]

Lest there be any misunderstanding, I had sent it in English.

Knowing I was Korean, he deliberately tried to scrape my nerves by babbling ‘English please,’ implying my English skills were poor.

So I resolved.

Even if I couldn’t stop the unauthorized copying, I would only upload walkthroughs that this mikif*cker bastard could absolutely never copy.

At that time, my walkthrough wasn’t that difficult, but as I designed walkthroughs that even the thief couldn’t execute, it became a more complex and vicious walkthrough.

The latest news I knew was that that Micky-sucker guy uploaded a walkthrough for the Love Zone which he couldn’t even clear himself, only to be ridiculed by other American players.

Even so, it didn’t satisfy me, so I thought I would definitely pay him back someday, but to think that guy was Tae-jeong’s friend.

“So my friend’s in-game nickname is mikisoccer… Wait, brother!”

Tae-jeong, who was about to answer reflexively, held onto me with a face that absolutely couldn’t understand.

“I told you, I am that Druggie Kim Tae-jeong? Is this the time to ask about my friend’s in-game nickname?”

Honestly, mikisoccer’s story was more interesting to me than the story of Tae-jeong truly never having done doping.

No, more than that, if this guy was really Kim Tae-jeong, he seemed to be ten years older than me, but was it okay to let him keep calling me brother…?

“By any chance, do you not know me…?”

“No. I was a fan of yours.”

“You were a fan of mine?!”

Tae-jeong stared at me with an even more despairing expression.

“Then… you must have been very disappointed in me. No matter what I say, it will be hard for you to believe me, but I really…”

“No, well. If you say it’s not, then it’s not.”

“Pardon?!”

Tae-jeong, even more flustered, only gaped.

I sighed softly and explained.

“Under the circumstances where we are even possessed in a game, why would anyone hide that they doped? So I don’t think it’s a lie.”

“F-for that reason…”

“Actually, even when they said you doped, I thought it was too out of the blue. I was just more disappointed that Kim Tae-jeong retired instead of explaining properly.”

“That… I apologize. It didn’t feel good to me either because it felt like I betrayed the fans’ trust…”

Muttering so, Tae-jeong quickly became sullen and quiet.

Hmm.

It wasn’t that I was disappointed because he betrayed my trust, but rather that I turned away because I could no longer get dopamine, but anyway.

“That guy mikisoccer or mikisucker, he is your friend, right?”

“Yes…”

“And that his real identity was the actual professional player Micky Parker playing in the Bundesliga?”

“That’s right.”

‘mikisoccer… I thought it was a nickname parodying player Micky Parker, but it was actually him.’

No, why would a successful soccer player go as far as carefully translating and copying the walkthrough of a pitiful Korean player playing a game that didn’t even have a Korean patch into English?

“What zone is that bastard in right now?”

“Pardon?”

At my question, Tae-jeong tilted his head as if flustered.

“Uh… Micky plays in the Bundesliga.”

“I know.”

“A guy in Germany wouldn’t have any reason to come to that convenience store and get possessed, though…”

Not at all.

Just listening to the story Tae-jeong told, it was not difficult to guess that that guy Micky Parker must have also been possessed.

“That guy was a reader passionate enough to copy all my walkthrough posts; there’s no way he missed the convenience store link.”

“Pardon? Even so, I don’t think a guy in Germany would come all the way to Korea because of that convenience store, though?”

“It wouldn’t be just because of the convenience store.”

I pointed my finger at Tae-jeong and spoke.

“Because you disappeared.”

“Ah…!”

“It’s already been a few years since player Kim Tae-jeong retired, and if he kept checking on your life through texts for that long period, he must have really worried about you. What if such a you doesn’t reply to chats or look at texts, and stories are coming out in the community that the veteran players who visited the convenience store went missing?”

At that, Tae-jeong was startled and wore a face of realization.

“D-did he visit? That convenience store?”

“There is a high probability he did.”

Since he was a guy persistent enough to copy all my walkthroughs, it was clear his obsession with checking Tae-jeong’s life was also considerable.

Tae-jeong looked worried that the Micky-sucker guy was also possessed because of him, but it was none of my business.

I just need to catch the guy who copied my walkthrough posts and beat him up.

“What do you think he chose?”

“Pardon?”

“Micky-suc… what do you think Micky Parker chose at the convenience store?”

“Uh… Micky is a professional athlete anyway, so he wouldn’t have chosen food. He doesn’t eat just anything. Naturally, he wouldn’t have chosen cocaine either.”

Candy, Cola, Cigarette, Beer, Chicken, and Cocaine are all excluded?

Then all that’s left are Love, Unicorn, and Knife…

‘If Micky-sucker was in the Love Zone, what is the probability that Shin Eun-jo didn’t know?’

As long as he was a guy who copied all my walkthroughs, he was a confirmed attention whore, so if he dropped in the Love Zone, he would likely behave erratically instead of following Shin Eun-jo.

On the other hand, if he dropped in the Knife Zone, he was highly likely already dead…

While I was contemplating, Tae-jeong spoke carefully.

“Uh… in my opinion, I think he might have chosen the unicorn doll.”

“A fully grown adult man choosing a doll there?”

“Because he is American.”

I didn’t know what connection there was between Americans and unicorns, but if Tae-jeong thought he dropped in Unicorn…

“Then he must be in the other Dopamine Addict’s hands.”

“Other Dopamine Addict? …Don’t tell me, are you calling the Unicorn Zone player that?”

“We don’t need to worry about Micky-sucker.”

“It’s mikisoccer, not Micky-sucker… Rather than that, we don’t need to worry? Even though he is together with that impersonating player?”

“Yes.”

If it were before it was verified that the other Dopamine Addict was really ‘me,’ I might have suspected if Micky-sucker was the other Dopamine Addict…

Now that it was certain that the other Dopamine Addict was me, there was no way Micky-sucker would go around impersonating me in the zone where he is.

When I turn seventeen and leave the zone, I should take a look at that bastard’s face.

“If you say so, brother… that is a relief. Because I would feel so sorry if something happened to Micky.”

“……”

Since that guy was also me, he would have retaliated as soon as he discovered Micky-sucker, meaning I didn’t need to care, but…

Thinking Tae-jeong would be shocked if I said so, I just wore a smile.

“No, but really. Are you really going to just let my being a druggie pass?”

“Yes.”

It’s just that it was an event from which I already got all my dopamine years ago, so I have no interest.

Tae-jeong stared at me with an extremely moved face.

To think the soccer player I was a fan of was looking at me with that kind of face, the feeling was…

good!

* * *

My feeling good was one thing.

Now it was time to wrap up the matter of Daphne properly.

Since the commander knew Daphne was a player and thought I was also a regressor, he didn’t seem very shocked.

Although I was slightly worried about Meursault, due to his denial of reality, his faith in me… or should I say, religious devotion,

was filled with the thought that I would solve it somehow, and he was living his daily life as usual.

Meursault was a guy who worked steadfastly to defend the zone even in the game when Daphne died, although he despaired.

How long he would endure in that state was unknown because I poisoned him to death not long after too, but…

Anyway, even if Daphne died, Meursault got by somehow, whereas Anton did not.

Since he was an NPC who followed and died in the game if Daphne died, the person whose mental state was most dangerous right now was Anton, not Meursault.

Therefore, I came to visit Anton, who was currently hospitalized in the hospital.

Whether Anton really tried to die as soon as he heard the news of Daphne’s death, a thick rope mark still remained around his neck.

His face was a mess from how much he had cried.

His white hair, which was always neatly combed back, was also disheveled.

Anton stared at me with a resentful gaze.

“Are you satisfied now…?”

Trembling the hand gripping the hospital bedsheets, Anton spoke to me.

“You really played this old man well.”

Hmm.

It seems he thinks Daphne’s death is my doing.

“Your real purpose lay elsewhere after all. To think you pulled off such a thing while I was deceived by your snake-like tongue and couldn’t pay attention to Lady Daphne… You are truly clever. You are truly cruel. Lady Daphne truly believed in you… If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have rather divorced her with my own hands and let her leave far away.”

I just stood still and listened to the words of resentment Anton poured out.

It wasn’t unbearable to listen to, and I also needed to hear Anton’s honest feelings.

Anton coughed a few times, looking so exhausted and weary that he wanted to die right away, but…

even so, he asked in a low voice with a face that seemed to have words left to say.

“How far do you plan to take revenge?”

When I tilted my head slightly as if not knowing what he meant, Anton added.

“Where does this revenge go… and to whom does it extend? Daphne, who stole the commander-in-chief from Luna Moon? The commander-in-chief, who married Daphne despite having a child? The pro-Hayden executives who didn’t stop them despite knowing they were lovers? The pro-Daphne executives who chased Luna Moon away for Lady Daphne? By any chance… by any chance…”

Anton trembled his voice with an extremely fearful face.

“Does the target of that revenge… also include my son… Plato…?”

“Does Plato belong to the targets of revenge too?”

“Lord Haydam, please…!”

I had only lightly asked back, but Anton turned pale and almost jumped off the hospital bed to prostrate before me.

“Plato… not that child. I raised him without giving affection on purpose, thinking that someday, someday this kind of thing would happen. He is a pitiful child. Please, can you not end it with my life? Can you not spare the children? How much that child Plato respects you… how much he likes you…!”

Ah.

‘I see why he tried to commit suicide.’

Since he thought I killed Daphne for revenge, he naturally thought I would take revenge on him too.

So he must have hoped that if he died first, the revenge wouldn’t extend to Plato.

Looking at Anton prostrate before me, I fell into thought for a moment.

‘What should I do…’

In fact.

I had intended to tell him, if he was in great despair, that Daphne was actually possessed by a player and was not the Daphne he cherished and raised.

Well, even if I told him so, if Anton replied that Lady Daphne is still Lady Daphne even if she was possessed, I wouldn’t have anything to say, but…

Even if I tried to tell him that I would handle Daphne somehow like I comforted Meursault, it wouldn’t work on Anton, who had relatively less faith in me than Meursault.

‘I must tell him that I am not the one who killed Daphne.’

But revenge… what about the revenge?

Should I say here that I have no intention of taking revenge?

The moment I promise not to take revenge on Plato,

where is the guarantee that Anton won’t feel relieved and die?

I need Anton right now.

Having already killed Josef, I cannot afford to lose Anton as well.

Meursault seems fine for the time being, but I don’t know when he might explode, and if Anton dies, problems will also arise for Plato.

If so…

“You seem to be misunderstanding something.”

As I opened my mouth, Anton, who had been prostrated, raised his head to look up at me.

His face was drenched in tears from crying in the meantime.

“I am not the one who killed Lady Daphne. I have no intention of killing Plato either.”

At my words, Anton looked at me with eyes filled with disbelief and confusion.

“Then… why did Lady Daphne…”

“I don’t know that either. I have to find out from now on.”

“……”

Anton remained silent with a face deep in thought, then carefully opened his mouth.

“Was it really… not your intention to take revenge?”

“No.”

I denied it flatly.

“I will take revenge. Since I came back for revenge.”

At that, Anton stood up with a considerably flustered face.

“Wh-what do you mean by that? You clearly said just now that you wouldn’t kill Plato…!”

“I won’t kill him.”

“Does that mean Plato is not a target of revenge…?”

“No. Plato is included.”

“What on earth are you saying since earlier…!”

As if thinking I was playing with him once again, Anton’s voice grew louder.

As if checking Anton, I held out one hand in a gesture to be quiet, and then spat out.

“The target of my revenge is this zone.”

Anton furrowed his brow as if doubting his ears.

“…What?”

“I will take revenge on this zone that caused my mother to die, made me grow up as an orphan, and made me return on my own feet.”

“What on earth does taking revenge on the zone mean?”

Raising one corner of my mouth slightly to smile at Anton, I spoke.

“I will become the commander.”

“…Pardon?”

Instead of being surprised, Anton wore a face unable to grasp the intent of my words.

“Of course you would…?”

Judging by his reaction, his face was saying, who else would become the commander if not me, the commander’s sole successor.

I kindly added.

“It means I have no intention of quietly waiting for my father to hand it down.”

“Wh-what does that…”

“Anton.”

I spat out, pointing my finger at the sky.

“I will usurp the position of commander.”