LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 13 - Self-Introduction
Chapter 13 Self-Introduction
The ego dwelling in this ring surely knew Luna Moon and Hayden.
Otherwise, the title “Friend of Luna Moon” wouldn’t work, nor would it react to Commander Hayden.
But my deduction hit a dead end there.
I didn’t know any NPC who could be sealed in such a ring among those who knew Luna Moon and Hayden.
Moreover, a friend of Luna Moon who was happy to see Hayden?
“There was no such NPC in the Safe Zone. At least, not in the game I played.”
This ‘world’ definitely had differences from the game.
This world was not completely identical to the ‘Safe Zone.’
I had to remember this going forward.
Anyone who thought they knew everything could ruin everything.
For now, I decided to think about this matter slowly.
The ring that only emitted light when I first found it and warmed up whenever I met Hayden was otherwise just an ordinary ring.
I doubted it had any abilities besides warming up, so I didn’t think it would harm me.
Setting aside thoughts about the ring, I lay on the bed and reviewed the system again when I realized something I had forgotten.
“I ignored HomeProtector’s friend request all day.”
Considering that we were possessed in a game where people died without a second thought, it seemed the person who possessed us was quite malicious to create a system with a soft-sounding feature like ‘friend requests.’
Opening the public chatroom, it seemed other players hadn’t chatted much since morning either.
“Or maybe they could chat one-on-one if they were mutual friends.”
Since HomeProtector had sent me a friend request, other players might have also become friends and chatted one-on-one.
“Hmm?”
When I opened the friend request list to accept HomeProtector’s request, I saw that other players had also sent me friend requests.
—
[Friend request received from HomeProtector. Do you accept?]
[Friend request received from ‘God’. Do you accept?]
[Friend request received from ‘IWon’tCryThat’sCardio’. Do you accept?]
[Friend request received from ‘Dentist’. Do you accept?]
—
Dentist, who seemed very cautious, sending a friend request first was unexpected.
“‘Sapppossible’ and ‘Addict’ didn’t send friend requests.”
It was either because they didn’t feel the need for one-on-one conversations or they were secretly wary of me.
After accepting only HomeProtector’s friend request, I hesitated for a moment before sending a friend request to Tbalrom.
—
[Tbalrom declined your friend request.]
—
What?
A blunt rejection?
“This bastard was watching everything while pretending not to.”
Clicking my tongue, I received a one-on-one chat from HomeProtector.
—
[HomeProtector: What took you so long to accept?]
[DopamineAddict: I was busy strategizing.]
[HomeProtector: Were you strategizing in the Cola Zone?]
—
Since this guy was my subscriber, he probably knew what strategy I would use.
Just like I knew what strategy HomeProtector would use in the Cigarette Zone.
—
[DopamineAddict: Are you strategizing the disciple?]
[HomeProtector: Yeah, I was scared we might be in the same zone while strategizing.]
[HomeProtector: So, is your possessed name Hayden Goodman?]
[DopamineAddict: Yeah, what did you name yourself?]
[HomeProtector: Sherlock Holmes lol]
—
What a shameless jobless guy.
—
[DopamineAddict: By the way, why did you spread the convenience store address?]
[HomeProtector: It was interesting! I didn’t expect us to all get possessed just by spreading a convenience store address.]
—
Well, it wasn’t something predictable.
—
[DopamineAddict: Other players think I spread it.]
[HomeProtector: It’s a misunderstanding. You’re famous, so your nickname stuck in their heads.]
—
Right… thinking about it, HomeProtector wouldn’t have known anything.
I was the first to post about the convenience store.
Most of the players in the public chatroom didn’t seem to have much malice towards me, at least on the surface.
Tbalrom was just unfortunate enough to fall into a zone that bred bad feelings.
“Come to think of it, ‘God’ isn’t dissatisfied even though he’s in the Love Zone.”
The NPCs in the Love Zone are all… maniacs.
Different from the Knife Zone NPCs but still maniacs.
But what did he mean when he said other players decided to serve him?
I did have a ‘Cult Leader Strategy’ in my Love Zone guide, but that was only applicable to NPCs.
—
[HomeProtector: So, what are you going to do?]
[DopamineAddict: About what?]
[HomeProtector: About the Unicorn.]
—
Unicorn.
My main zone.
The system was open to only eight people: Candy, Cola, Cigarette, Beer, Chicken, Cocaine, Love, and Knife.
The Unicorn Zone player might not have opened the system yet, but it seemed more likely that the zone had no owner.
While it was a pity that there was no player to work hard and develop the zone in my place, the geographical advantage remained.
I only needed to prepare for flying monsters in the Unicorn Zone, making it worth setting up a secondary base.
HomeProtector probably asked because he thought the same.
But I pretended not to understand.
—
[DopamineAddict: Why are you asking me what to do about Unicorn?]
[HomeProtector: Don’t pretend. You’re going to take it over when the second apocalypse starts, right?]
—
Why ask if you already know?
—
[HomeProtector: Don’t be like that and take me with you to Unicorn.]
—
“Hmm.”
As I mentioned before, it’s hard to shelterize low-difficulty zones.
Knowing that the Cigarette Zone wasn’t suitable for making a shelter, HomeProtector probably wanted to stick with me instead.
But.
—
[DopamineAddict: Is there any reason for me to take care of you?]
[HomeProtector: Wow, you’re really cold. No wonder you’re rumored to be a sociopath in the community;]
[DopamineAddict: ㅗ]
[HomeProtector: You need someone to manage the zone anyway. My nickname is literally HomeProtector. I’m an old hand in the Safe Zone.]
[DopamineAddict: If you’re an old hand, why don’t you try taking it over yourself? You could do that too.]
[HomeProtector: No. I’d rather work under you than become your enemy. I’m serious.]
—
HomeProtector’s response was a bit disappointing.
“I thought it would be exciting to fight fiercely over the Unicorn with this guy…”
Even though I was disappointed, I did need someone to manage the zone.
I had planned to entrust that role to my honorable father, Commander Hayden Goodman.
“But it wouldn’t hurt to have insurance.”
Pretending to join me but eventually betraying me could also be quite thrilling.
—
[HomeProtector: Just so you know, I have no intention of betraying you. If I had such grand dreams, I wouldn’t be living as a jobless person.]
[DopamineAddict: Disappointed…]
[HomeProtector: Bastard]
[HomeProtector: I’ll tell you something good.]
[DopamineAddict: Something good?]
—
I asked, but instead of a reply, I received a system message.
—
[HomeProtector has requested an item trade.]
[Trade item: Cigarettes (12)]
[Do you accept?]
—
“An item trade window!”
I quickly accepted.
Even though I wasn’t a smoker, I wanted to confirm if I could trade with someone in another zone.
After accepting the trade, a cigarette icon appeared in my inventory with the number 12.
“So, you can exchange items even across different zones.”
At first glance, it seemed like a feature for players to help each other out.
But considering the resource gap between low-level and high-level zones, trading meant the lower-level zone player would inevitably have to give up resources to the higher-level zone player.
Who would help others without any conditions?
Even HomeProtector was giving me items because he wanted something from me.
—
[HomeProtector: While you were ignoring my friend request, I chatted one-on-one with other players and found out about this.]
[HomeProtector: You should be grateful.]
[DopamineAddict: Thank you, sir.]
[HomeProtector: Alright, I’m going to sleep now. See you.]
[DopamineAddict: You sleep quite early, sir.]
[HomeProtector: I became a new country child, rejuvenated to ten years old, cured of nicotine addiction, and now I sleep at 10 PM. Bye.]
—
After HomeProtector went to sleep, I sent another friend request to Tbalrom, but it was bluntly declined again.
“The fact that he rejected means he’s alive.”
HomeProtector wanted to leech off me, but why did Tbalrom refuse my help?
I needed him to survive to get a one-shot kill item…
… Hmm, maybe he rejected because he suspected I had ulterior motives.
—
—
The next day was busy from the morning.
The commander planned to officially declare me as his son at the officers’ meeting, and the servants meticulously groomed me, paying attention even to my cuticles because I needed to meet the other officers.
It was a somewhat new experience.
In the game, once you succeeded in the illegitimate child strategy, the system automatically notified NPCs that you were the commander’s illegitimate child, skipping the troublesome process of introductions.
“We’ll be entering during the officers’ meeting.”
Meursault, who seemed to be my dedicated handler despite being the commander’s aide, briefed me on today’s operation.
“The officers are
completely unaware of your existence. The key point of this operation is to make them acknowledge your existence before they finish processing their thoughts and judgments. So, feel free to act impulsively, as you did when you met me. But remember, too much attention could draw excessive interest, so greet them politely but…”
While I was getting ready, Meursault seemed more intent on controlling every wrinkle in my brain rather than focusing on my appearance, trying to implant model answers, but I ignored him.
Seeing that I wasn’t taking in any of it, Meursault soon gave up and stared at me as I finished my grooming, muttering.
“You really look just like His Excellency when your hair is pulled back.”
Only Western NPCs like you would think so.
For the record, I had no overlapping features with the commander except for my black hair and black eyes.
“Luckily, you don’t resemble your mother’s side. I won’t doubt the bloodline.”
Good thing I didn’t resemble my mother’s side.
The commander immediately said I looked like Luna Moon when he saw me.
“Come to think of it…”
The only image of Luna Moon I remembered was her skeleton in that grave.
Since the commander said I resembled Luna Moon, she must have been an Asian like me.
An Asian, rare in this world, and with healing abilities.
“Luna Moon might be like us too…”
No, but the assumption that Luna Moon was a player was hard to support.
At least through that convenience store, we all had the same starting point, albeit with different entry times.
If Luna Moon were a player, it meant she possessed the world ten years earlier than us.
That raised questions about why she alone possessed ten years earlier and why she appeared as an NPC in the game.
Well, she was definitely related to the ‘Secret of the Apocalypse’ or something.
We would find out the truth eventually as we continued to strategize.
While heading to the officers’ meeting room at the top floor of the mansion, Meursault reminded me once more.
“You must be careful with your words and actions at the officers’ meeting. They are all like vipers. Don’t be too arrogant or look too weak.”
Ignoring all the advice, he still kept talking enthusiastically.
It seemed my thoughts showed on my face because Meursault glared at me lightly and said.
“You must also be careful not to let your thoughts show on your face. Understand?”
“Yes, I understand. But how should I balance not being too arrogant or too weak?”
“Hold the line precariously but don’t hold back on speaking your mind.”
“So, what does that look like?”
“You’re doing great now. Just keep it up.”
This guy had a subtle way of mocking.
Anyway, since even the aide permitted it…
Let’s have a fun self-introduction time with the officers.