A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 2. Enlist

—

“…So, you also picked a cola at that convenience store?”

The blonde boy with red eyes quickly nodded in response to my question.

Unlike me, with my typical black hair and black eyes of an Asian avatar, the guy with the Western avatar was someone I knew.

“Your nickname is… BangguseokYeoBo? That foul-mouthed guy?”

“Do you have to emphasize the ‘foul-mouthed’ part? Who doesn’t use that kind of language in an online community?”

People who swear at anyone like you are called social misfits… No, forget it.

Me and BangguseokYeoBo.

After putting our heads together to understand the situation, we concluded that this place was definitely .

We both woke up at the Safe Zone Cola.

Two people getting trapped in the game at the same time…

‘Does that even make sense?’

Everything was too vivid to deny reality.

“By the way, why is your nickname BangguseokYeoBo? Did you typo while trying to write BangguseokYeopo?”

“I cleverly twisted BangguseokYeopo, but you didn’t get it.”

I really don’t see what’s clever about it.

“What’s your nickname then?”

“Me?”

For a moment, I was about to say ‘DopamineAddict,’ but changed my mind and gave another person’s nickname.

“…Tbalrom.”

Tbalrom is a player who regularly leaves questions on my strategy guides.

I didn’t give my real nickname because I had just blocked BangguseokYeoBo before I got trapped here.

I had no choice but to avoid an awkward situation.

Since I got trapped here with this guy, we would have to cooperate whether I liked it or not, so there was no need to make enemies already…

“Tbalrom? Sounds familiar from the community. So, did you also get the convenience store address from HomeProtector?”

Did I get the convenience store address from HomeProtector?

I wondered how BangguseokYeoBo knew about that convenience store and got trapped in the game.

So, HomeProtector had been spreading the address I gave him?!

This guy came to the convenience store after seeing that address and got trapped.

…Wait a minute.

‘Could there be other players trapped in this game besides us?’

Could it be that the real Tbalrom is also here?

…No, Tbalrom was someone who hated socializing and wouldn’t have received the address note from HomeProtector.

Even if he did, he wasn’t enthusiastic enough about the game to visit the convenience store.

But if HomeProtector was spreading the address…

“HomeProtector might be somewhere here too.”

BangguseokYeoBo murmured softly, seemingly thinking the same thing.

“Should we look for HomeProtector?”

But I didn’t think HomeProtector would be in the same zone as us.

And for good reason.

“HomeProtector is a heavy smoker, so he probably picked cigarettes.”

“Makes sense.”

BangguseokYeoBo nodded as if convinced, then sighed as if he remembered something.

“That bastard is here too…”

“That bastard?”

“DopamineAddict. That attention-seeker.”

“…”

Seeing my expression harden, BangguseokYeoBo, assuming my grim face was due to hatred for DopamineAddict, continued excitedly.

“That bastard was the first to post the convenience store address. So, wouldn’t he be trapped too?”

“…Probably.”

“Where was his base again? Unicorn? Thinking about him being dropped in the highest difficulty zone and regretting it now is satisfying.”

“…”

It seemed like a good idea not to introduce myself as DopamineAddict.

Wait, but I don’t remember having any direct conflicts with this guy…

After grinning for a moment, BangguseokYeoBo looked at me with a serious expression.

“So… what do we do now? If we’re really trapped in the game, should we start strategizing?”

It seemed he was finally realizing that he was also trapped in the game, even if it was a lower difficulty area.

“Preparing for the apocalypse would be better than doing nothing. Anyway, if this is really the Apocalypse game, the world will soon end.”

“Why is this happening to me… If I meet HomeProtector, he’s dead.”

How many people did HomeProtector share the address with?

How many people are trapped here?

For some reason, BangguseokYeoBo and I ended up in the same starting place… but there could be other players who picked cola too.

Well… once the Second Apocalypse begins, we’ll naturally meet other players.

‘…But then, won’t it be survival by zone?’

I considered the possibility of having to fight other players to the death but decided it was still far off.

And since this is now ‘reality,’ not a ‘game,’ there might not be any need for players to kill each other.

In the game, people from other zones were all enemies, but with other trapped players, it might be different.

Would Koreans really kill each other…?

…No idea. I’ll think about it later.

BangguseokYeoBo seemed to be contemplating something too, then asked me,

“So, if we’re trapped in the game, can we use the game system?”

Immediately, BangguseokYeoBo started shouting keywords like ‘status window,’ ‘inventory,’ into the air.

Nothing happened.

“Ha, damn it… trapping us in the game and no special perks?”

“Did you see that?”

“That?”

“The message when you start. The revelation.”

“Oh… didn’t see that either.”

The ‘revelation’ is a single sentence.

Usually, as soon as a player wakes up in the starting zone, they should see the following sentence:

[The world will soon end. Prepare for the apocalypse.]

But when I woke up in this game, I didn’t see any such message.

Judging by BangguseokYeoBo’s reaction, he didn’t see it either.

“Do we really have to survive with just our bare bodies? And as kids? Is this even possible? I thought I lived a good life…”

As I stared at him, BangguseokYeoBo flinched and looked away.

“Damn it, I should’ve sworn less…”

From the way he started his muttering with a curse, I knew there was no hope for him.

“What are you going to do now? Tbalrom, have you played in the Cola zone? How far did you get?”

“Me? Unicorn.”

Actually, I cleared up to Knife, but only DopamineAddict cleared the hidden zone, so…

I lowered the stage, but BangguseokYeoBo still looked at me with disbelief.

“Don’t lie. Only DopamineAddict and a few crazy followers who swear by his guides cleared up to Unicorn. What… Oh… I get it. You just read his guides and pretended to know.”

…Strange.

This guy seemed to know a lot about me for someone who supposedly hated me.

He knew my strategies and even the progress of my followers.

Come to think of it, when I posted my last strategy, he was one of the first to comment after HomeProtector.

Maybe he doesn’t hate me but…

I decided to test him.

“I am a follower of DopamineAddict. I just don’t participate in community activities but have memorized all his guides.”

“You… memorized all that?”

Of course, I wrote it.

BangguseokYeoBo, looking like he had something to say, hesitated, then asked in a small voice,

“You… then do you also know his Knife guide by heart?”

“Of course.”

“…Really? That’s a relief.”

A relief?

“Didn’t you read that guide? I think I saw your comment.”

As if pressing a button, BangguseokYeoBo’s face turned red with anger.

“I was reading it but got blocked by that bastard… Damn it…! I always commented and liked his guides, that bastard…!!”

Ah…

He doesn’t hate me.

In short, he developed a one-sided attachment to me and got upset when I blocked him.

He even said he liked my guides?

Maybe he’s not such a bad guy.

“Damn it, memorizing the guide is good, but why did I have to get trapped with a DopamineAddict follower…”

“If you’re unhappy, strategize alone. By the way, you asked me what I’m going to do next?”

I ignored BangguseokYeoBo’s complaints and continued,

“I’m going to become a ‘Bastard’.”

* * *

‘Bastard’ Strategy.

It’s a strategy I already posted on the community as one of the Cola Safe Zone strategies.

In this Cola Safe Zone, there’s a warlord who is both the ruler and protector of the area.

The ‘Bastard’ strategy is about becoming the ‘bastard’ and ‘successor’ of the warlord, Hayden Goodman.

Hayden Goodman is essentially like the Grand Duke of the North in this place.

The Cola Safe Zone is on the outskirts of the continent, in a snowy region, so it’s not an incorrect analogy.

As soon as I mentioned the ‘Bastard’ strategy, BangguseokYeoBo clicked his tongue.

“I knew it. You read DopamineAddict’s guide. The ‘Bastard’ strategy is his. Hey, stop it. The game and reality are different. How can anyone follow DopamineAddict’s strategies?”

I know my always high-stimulation strategies are considered fringe.

In the Cola Safe Zone, you can survive until the apocalypse without taking the risk of becoming a ‘bastard.’

But there’s a reason why they

say high risk, high reward.

We might only get one chance to strategize.

We need to get as much as we can during this time.

To do that, I need the successor position of Commander Goodman.

“If you’re scared, strategize alone.”

“Who said I’m scared? I’m just saying, is it feasible?”

Feasibility…

“To follow the ‘Bastard’ strategy, you need to deceive the commander. If you get caught lying, you might literally lose your head.”

“So, you’re scared.”

“No… Yeah, honestly, I’m scared. This isn’t a game anymore. We could really die.”

I couldn’t blame BangguseokYeoBo for being scared.

We were suddenly trapped in a game.

An apocalyptic world where people could die at any moment, in the bodies of ten-year-olds.

It was understandable to be scared.

But strangely… I wasn’t scared.

Maybe it was confidence from having cleared the hidden zone or not fully realizing we were trapped in the game.

On the contrary, since entering the game, I had felt a strange exhilaration.

‘I thought there was no more dopamine to get from this game.’

Maybe that’s why BangguseokYeoBo hated me so much.

Anyway.

“I’m the one who will deceive the commander… and if I die, it doesn’t matter.”

“What?”

“Who knows? Maybe if we die, we’ll return to reality.”

I said this, but I knew it was unlikely.

I was just saying it to reassure the anxious BangguseokYeoBo.

This kind of anxiety shouldn’t be left unattended.

If my pawn BangguseokYeoBo acted out, it would be troublesome.

BangguseokYeoBo seemed tempted by the idea of returning to reality if he died.

Seeing his face, he seemed to be considering ‘trying to die.’

Luckily, I didn’t need to stop him.

He quickly looked discouraged, lacking the courage to follow through.

“What if we can’t go back and really die…”

“Failing the strategy and dying or getting caught lying and dying, it’s all the same. Anyway, I’m going to start strategizing now. Follow if you want.”

“…Hey!”

BangguseokYeoBo called out to me as I walked away, hesitated, then asked quietly,

“Who’s going to be the bastard, you or me?”

“I said, ‘I’ will be the bastard.”

“Why do you get the good role?!”

Didn’t he just say he could die if he got caught lying?

Well, the reason I insist on being the bastard isn’t just because I doubt his intelligence to play the role, but there’s also another decisive reason.

Commander Hayden is an East Asian with black hair and black eyes.

BangguseokYeoBo has blonde hair and red eyes of a Western avatar.

I have black hair and black eyes.

“They’ll believe you’re the commander’s bastard?”

BangguseokYeoBo seemed to realize his avatar’s appearance and swore softly.

“Damn, why did I get trapped in this avatar…”

“You idiot, why does a Korean have that kind of avatar? You fool.”

“My original starting zone was Love, idiot!”

So this guy wasn’t even in his starting zone.

The Love Zone is known for its beauty standards, so it makes sense he has this pretty-boy avatar.

“Anyway, I’ll be the bastard.”

“Then what should I do? The bastard strategy doesn’t need any help, right?”

Ah.

So, this was why he didn’t like the bastard strategy.

The bastard strategy can be done alone.

Some other strategies require NPC assistance, and he probably wanted to play cooperatively as an NPC substitute.

But I prefer solo play.

At least for now, I have no intention of teaming up with him.

However, since the world’s end is inevitable, I’ll need him.

In about ten years, the zone people need to believe in the coming apocalypse to prepare.

Later, he’ll have to help me persuade the zone people.

‘So…’

He needs to gain the zone people’s trust.

I asked BangguseokYeoBo,

“Are you by any chance a military man?”

“What? No? I just turned twenty!”

Just turned twenty?

No wonder he seemed like a kid.

“Unenlisted, good.”

“What’s good about that?”

I smiled at the still clueless BangguseokYeoBo and said,

“You, join the military.”