A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 42. Watching a Fire from Across the River

[Addict: God, do you really think I wouldn’t recognize you? I’ve seen you in the community.]

[Addict: You didn’t used to talk like that.]

[Addict: Why are you pretending to act all sweet and innocent now?]

It seemed that Addict knew the player named ‘God.’ Based on the fact that God didn’t deny not usually speaking like that, it seemed their current demeanor was indeed fake.

[Addict: Even if the newbie Dentist doesn’t know, anyone who’s paying attention can tell that you guys aren’t regular players.]

[Addict: Let me make this clear. Any player who crosses into my zone will be considered an enemy.]

I agreed with Addict in the sense that anyone who crossed into my zone would also be an enemy… But seeing how intense his reaction was, it seemed Addict felt fear toward the other players. Well, if someone was suddenly possessed in a game world, and the other people who were also possessed happened to be social misfits, it was only natural to feel anxious.

[God: Why are you so prickly?]

After a brief pause, God sent a message.

[God: What could we possibly gain from being hostile? I agree that DopamineAddict won’t be any help to us, though.]

Sharp insight.

[Sapppossible: I’m against meeting up too.]

Sapppossible, who had been quietly observing the situation, finally spoke.

[Sapppossible: Besides, I’m still underwater.]

[Sapppossible: With my current level of influence, I can’t just come ashore whenever I want.]

[Sapppossible: If any of you are planning to conspire together, know that I won’t let it go unchecked.]

[God: Conspire? What are you talking about?]

[Sapppossible: If any of you make contact before the First Apocalypse,]

[Sapppossible: I’ll sink this submarine straight to the bottom of the ocean, so keep that in mind.]

Sink… the submarine? Sapppossible kept sending messages.

[Sapppossible: I may not be able to bring the submarine ashore, but I can easily punch a hole in it and sink it.]

[Sapppossible: Even if this sub sinks so deep that we can never retrieve the meteorite-powered engine again, I don’t care—go ahead and meet up if you want.]

[God: Wouldn’t you die too if you sink the sub?]

[Sapppossible: Whether I die in isolation or by drowning, the outcome is the same.]

[God: Wait, are you serious?]

Even God, who had suggested the meeting, seemed taken aback by Sapppossible’s extreme stance.

[Sapppossible: You guys need the meteorite item in my zone, don’t you?]

[Sapppossible: It’s not just my idea, right?]

[Sapppossible: Maybe if we collect all the meteorite items, we might be able to go back home.]

Huh.

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: Uh, I’ve never thought about that?!]

[Dentist: If we gather all the meteorite items, we can go back? Is that part of the game?]

[Sapppossible: Musclehead and newbie, stay out of this.]

I didn’t exactly agree with Sapppossible’s theory… but it seemed that the other veterans had different opinions.

[Addict: I… I also thought there had to be a reason why the meteorite items are so powerful…]

[God: It’s not without reason. If the system unlocked after we interacted with the meteorite items, then it’s clear they hold some kind of power.]

A brief silence fell over the chatroom before God sent another message.

[God: Well… I guess there’s no other choice.]

[God: So, Sapppossible, not only are you refusing to meet with us, but you’re also against others meeting up as well?]

[Sapppossible: Exactly! If any of you interact or team up before I come ashore—]

[Sapppossible: I’ll sink the meteorite item in the Beer Zone along with the submarine.]

Sapppossible… He didn’t seem this extreme before. After being trapped underwater since the possession, his mental state must have become unstable. The other players seemed to believe in the theory that collecting all the meteorite items would allow them to return home. Hmm. I was a bit skeptical. I was also trying to collect the meteorite items, but only to conquer this world. I didn’t think gathering them would send us back home.

Whether I wanted to go back home or not aside, I had a gut feeling this world wouldn’t let us go so easily.

And then it happened.

‘He’ sent a message.

[DopamineAddict: Well, that’s going to be a problem.]

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even though the message was under my username, it wasn’t me who sent it.

‘The player from Unicorn Zone!’

The next message from the imposter followed quickly.

[DopamineAddict: I’ve already met someone ^^]

‘That bastard?’

He’d said he wouldn’t harm me, but that message was clearly intended to screw me over.

Sensing that things would only get more complicated if I intervened, I decided to watch the situation for a bit. Sure enough, the other players were thrown into confusion by DopamineAddict’s sudden appearance.

[Addict: DopamineAddict?]

[Dentist: Why are you just showing up now?]

[God: What do you mean you’ve already met someone?]

[Sapppossible: What’s your game? Were you the one who sent that last message?]

[Addict: But there’s no guarantee that the one who just sent the message is really DopamineAddict, is there?]

The players grew more suspicious, and then a cautious question came from the Chicken Zone player.

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: Uh, is this really the DopamineAddict we know…?]

I waited to see how the imposter would respond.

[DopamineAddict: ^^]

He replied with just a smiley emoticon.

Was this guy seriously trying to impersonate me?

[Sapppossible: This bastard isn’t DopamineAddict.]

‘Did they figure that out just from that?’

However, it seemed the other players had also realized that the message didn’t come from me, as they quickly started wrapping up the chat.

[Dentist: Let’s refrain from chatting in this room. There’s someone watching who we don’t know.]

[DopamineAddict: Haha.]

[God: Agreed. The meeting is off, so if anything happens, let’s discuss it one-on-one.]

[Sapppossible: Hey, where did DopamineAddict and that HomeProtector bastard go? Did they die?]

After that, the Unicorn player stopped sending messages, and the public chatroom quickly went quiet. As soon as the second DopamineAddict appeared, everyone scattered. It was clear that the presence of this imposter was a huge source of unease for the other players.

Although the imposter hadn’t caused any serious harm yet and had revealed the lack of barriers between zones, there was something ominous about their mere existence. I couldn’t shake the feeling that someday, they would ruin everything.

Just then, I received a message from Tbalrom.

[Tbalrom: Is that imposter talking about the player they met… you?]

[DopamineAddict: How did you guess?]

[Tbalrom: Because the imposter wouldn’t care about anyone else but you.]

It was a reasonable assumption. But still…

[DopamineAddict: What I meant was, how did you figure out that it was an imposter?]

[Tbalrom: They were even more annoying than you usually are.]

Wait… does that mean I’m normally annoying?

[Tbalrom: Did the imposter come to you first?]

[DopamineAddict: Yeah.]

[Tbalrom: You seem fine, so nothing serious happened?]

[DopamineAddict: Well, I got hit by one of their bullets, but they said they didn’t plan to hurt me.]

[Tbalrom: What are you talking about?]

[DopamineAddict: I’m talking about the imposter. You said they mistook you for me because they knew about our conversation.]

Tbalrom went silent for a moment, seemingly checking the chat logs from before, and just as I was starting to get bored waiting, he responded.

[Tbalrom: After receiving the message that zone interaction was possible, I asked them if they had learned anything.]

[Tbalrom: Then they said, ‘You’ve always threatened to kill me, so why are you asking me now?’]

[Tbalrom: That’s why I thought it was you. They knew I always said I’d kill you. Other players joined the chat after that, so they wouldn’t have seen our earlier conversations.]

Before becoming friends with Tbalrom, he had sent me death threats through the public chatroom.

‘Could it be that the imposter was in the room from the beginning? Before Tbalrom and I even entered the chat?’

It had taken me a day to unlock the system. If they landed in the Unicorn Zone, they might have unlocked it before me. After all, the meteorite in the Unicorn Zone… is the floating island itself.

‘But how did they know that Tbalrom kept threatening to kill me afterward?’

Tbalrom had declared in the public chatroom that he wanted to kill me, but after that, he stopped showing up in the public chats. I had even initiated contact with him myself. A player unfamiliar with our relationship might have thought we weren’t on bad terms.

So, the response, ‘You’ve always threatened to kill me,’ wasn’t something the imposter could have guessed.

‘Did they hack the system using Unicorn’s advanced technology?’

No, if they could see our conversations, there would’ve been no need to confirm anything in person.

‘They can’t see our chats.’

But they somehow knew that Tbalrom wanted to kill me.

…What was going on?

Even if this imposter was some remnant of AI or a version of myself from the past, that would still only be the “old me.” The conversations between Tbalrom and me happened here, in this world. The only ones who would know those details were me and possibly my future self.

‘I really don’t get what this imposter is.’

[Tbalrom: What’s up? Did you figure something out?]

[DopamineAddict: No, I’m completely stumped.]

[Tbalrom: Are you sure it’s okay to leave this imposter alone?]

[DopamineAddict: I’ll think about it some more.]

[DopamineAddict: Oh, by the way, there’s no barrier between zones. Want to come over to mine?]

[Tbalrom: No.]

A flat refusal?

[Tbalrom: I could handle the people in my zone, but I’m not sure I could take on a giant monster while traveling to your zone. I also doubt you’d come all the way here to rescue me. As you said, I’ll stay hidden and strengthen myself until I’m ready to leave.]

At first glance, it sounded like a realistic decision to stay put and wait until he grew stronger…

‘Is this guy suspicious of me?’

If he really wanted me to help, the first thing he would’ve done was ask if I could come to his zone. Instead, he said he would build his strength and then come out. It seemed like he had figured out that I was after the items and wanted to meet on equal footing when the time came.

Well… It might actually be more fun to face him when he’s stronger, so I decided to let it be.

[DopamineAddict: Alright. Let me know if you need anything.]

[Tbalrom: Need something? Hmm…]

Usually, when I offered, he would disappear, but today, he didn’t vanish right away. It seemed like he really did need something.

[Tbalrom: Actually, there is something…]

[DopamineAddict: Oh? What is it?]

[Tbalrom: I’m out of soap.]

[DopamineAddict: …What?]

Soap?

[Tbalrom: Yeah, soap. And I could use a toothbrush and toothpaste, too.]

[Tbalrom: Why aren’t you saying anything? You there?]

[DopamineAddict: Hahahahahahahahahaha!]

[Tbalrom: Screw you.]

[DopamineAddict: You’re such a neat freak, man. Hahahahahahaha!]

[Tbalrom: Stop laughing.]

[DopamineAddict: Hahahahahahahahaha!]

[Tbalrom: When I get out of here, I’m going to kill you.]

This guy’s really something else.

* * *

“Well, this sucks.”

God from the Love Zone sighed deeply as he closed the public chatroom.

“I didn’t expect the player from the Beer Zone to be so adamant… What is DopamineAddict even thinking, staying quiet?”

To be honest, God had expected DopamineAddict to show up if they arranged a meeting between the players.

After all, he was planning to steal the meteorite items from the other players.

That was the whole reason God had wanted to arrange the meeting in the first place.

‘Could it be… he doesn’t need the meteorites? No way…’

As he pondered, God shook his head.

“Anyway, I need them. All the meteorites from every zone.”

To achieve that, he couldn’t risk provoking the Beer Zone player. If the guy really sank his meteorite to the bottom of the ocean, there would be no way to retrieve it.

“So, for now… I’ll just have to keep it hidden that I’ve met with another player. But… I guess it’s fine since it’s not like we’re collaborating or joining forces.”

After mumbling to himself for a while, God glanced at the ‘player’ tied to a chair.

Smiling softly, he asked, “What do you think, HomeProtector?”