Chapter 100

Branching Point

Anton could only stare at me with his mouth hanging open, unable to find anything to say in response to my bold declaration of usurpation.

‘He must think I’m insane.’

I had openly confessed to an officer from a different faction—not even Meursault—that I intended to seize my father’s position.

His reaction was understandable.

But the timing was perfect.

‘It’s time to begin the usurpation route.’

First of all, I had no intention of choosing the meek option of inheriting the position only after the Commander died.

Now that the barrier was gone, there was no telling when people from another zone might invade.

I could not simply wait for the Commander to grow old and feeble before handing the position down to me.

Of course, even with the barrier gone, official interaction between zones had been blocked by Ssappossible’s submarine hostage situation.

Besides, the other players were probably too busy clearing their own zones to concern themselves with anyone else just yet.

Unless they were in a zone like the Cola Zone, which was ruled by military factions and could be controlled entirely by taking the Commander’s seat, or a zone like Shin Eunjo’s, where the players had coordinated their possession from the very beginning, they would remain overwhelmed until the Second Apocalypse.

That meant I had to become Commander and establish control over the zone before the Second Apocalypse arrived.

For now, I had managed to gain some influence by declaring myself a regressor and appealing to the Commander.

But I could not continue solving every problem by persuading him like this forever.

Things would also become far more complicated if the Commander realized before I took control of the zone that I was not truly a regressor—or that I was not “Haydam,” but a “player.”

That did not mean I intended to imitate some hero from a game and say, I am succeeding the throne, Father.

What I wanted was for the Commander to realize that handing his position over to me would be more efficient, step down peacefully, and then help manage the zone as my father, Hayden Goodman.

To make that happen, I needed the officers to support me.

And now that Josef, the highest-ranking officer of the pro-Hayden faction, was gone, Anton was the only person capable of persuading the others.

Besides, Anton harbored no small amount of resentment toward Commander Hayden.

He might be too stunned to think properly right now, but once he regained his composure, he would surely welcome the idea of the Commander’s own son usurping him with open arms.

He would quickly calculate how much he stood to gain by helping me.

“Are you in your right mind?”

After a long silence, Anton finally spoke with a horrified expression.

“The moment you told me this, you became a traitor, even if you are His Excellency’s biological son.”

‘He doesn’t mean a word of that.’

I knew Anton far too well.

He had already begun calculating the implications of my usurpation.

He was only pretending to be horrified in order to gauge how serious I was.

“Go and tell His Excellency.”

I replied without erasing the smile from my lips.

“Tell him his son is planning a coup. Though I’m not sure he’ll believe you.”

“At the very least, I could plant suspicion in his mind.”

“I wonder.”

When I looked directly at him, I saw Anton swallow dryly.

I stared at him for a moment, then placed one hand against my cheek and spoke in an exaggeratedly innocent tone.

“There’s no way I was serious about usurping him. I only said it because it looked as though Anton might entrust Plato to me and kill himself at any moment otherwise.”

Anton flinched and stepped back when my tone changed without warning.

It seemed he could already predict what I would say next.

“—If I told Father that, would he really be able to doubt me? Right now, you don’t look particularly willing to stay alive, no matter how one looks at it.”

“Not everything will go according to your will, Lord Haydam…!”

It seemed Anton’s resistance might drag on, so I cut him off sharply.

“Sorry, Anton, but you already lost. You lost the moment you let me discover how much you care about Plato.”

Even Anton could not keep his expression from crumbling at those words.

A flash of despair crossed his face.

“You intend to use Plato as leverage… to force me to live?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“As long as you cooperate with me, no harm will come to Plato. I like capable people. I like capable people who are loyal to me even more.”

Anton now openly wore the expression of a man calculating which choice would benefit him most.

After thinking for a long time, he cautiously asked,

“Do you truly… genuinely intend to make my son your adjutant?”

“My promise to make Plato my adjutant was no lie.”

Then I gently added something Anton would enjoy hearing.

“Wouldn’t you rather remain alive long enough to see Plato become the Commander’s aide?”

Anton considered it for a moment before finally giving his answer.

“For now… I will pretend I heard nothing.”

I grinned.

Saying he would pretend he had heard nothing “for now” meant he would not tell the Commander that I dreamed of usurpation.

In other words, he would not stand in my way.

He had not yet said that he would actively cooperate, but Anton was intelligent enough to understand that he could not leave Plato in my hands and still side with the Commander.

With that, I had taken the first step on the usurpation route.

After all, I had promised to protect Commander Hayden.

I had never promised to protect his position.

Even if he was not truly my father, he was still the man my mother had loved.

I would work hard so that he could retire as soon as possible and spend the rest of his life in peace.

Was that not the truest form of filial piety?

***

[Meowng…]

Luna, who had been receiving pets from Shin Eunjo, suddenly shivered.

Shin Eunjo lowered her head and looked down at her.

“What is it, Lady Luna?”

[I feel like… my little brother is having ominous thoughts again.]

After saying that, Luna stood up and stretched as though trying to shake off the unpleasant feeling.

Shin Eunjo watched her quietly.

‘By “little brother,” she must mean Dopamine Addict.’

Ever since Dopamine Addict had permitted her to stay in the Cola Zone, Luna—the so-called divine proxy—had never left Shin Eunjo’s side.

It was obvious that Dopamine Addict did not trust her and had assigned Luna to act as a surveillance camera.

Even so, living with Luna was not unpleasant.

Part of that was because Luna was a soft, white kitten with squishy paw pads.

More importantly, because Luna was known as Haydam’s cat, the NPCs of the zone neither suspected Shin Eunjo nor treated her carelessly.

In other words, Luna was not merely a means of monitoring Shin Eunjo.

She was also a means of protecting her from the NPCs of the Cola Zone.

‘Without Lady Luna, I wouldn’t have understood even half of what Stay-at-home Wifey said.’

In exchange for handing the Meteor Pistol over to Dopamine Addict, Shin Eunjo had received information about the Unicorn Zone player.

The problem was that Stay-at-home Wifey had been the one relaying that information.

The more Shin Eunjo spoke with that player, the more frustrated she became.

‘The ability to make someone die of frustration without a shred of malice…’

Fortunately, Luna had listened to the entire conversation and declared that her little brother’s fraudulence had gone too far.

She then gave Shin Eunjo a concise explanation on Stay-at-home Wifey’s behalf, allowing her to learn what the Unicorn Zone player looked like.

For that reason, Shin Eunjo had no major complaints about living with Luna.

However, she had always wondered why Luna referred to Dopamine Addict as her “little brother.”

She had restrained herself from asking about Dopamine Addict because she did not want to appear suspicious.

This time, however, Shin Eunjo could no longer hold back.

“Lady Luna… why do you call Dopamine Addict your little brother?”

She asked as cautiously as she could.

Luna widened her round blue eyes, as though wondering why she would ask something so obvious.

[Because he’s my little brother?]

‘It doesn’t seem like she simply calls him that because he’s younger…’

If that were the case, Luna would not have gone out of her way to say “my little brother.”

‘A player whom a divine proxy calls her little brother…’

As far as Shin Eunjo was concerned, Dopamine Addict was connected to the CEO of Cthulhu Games.

He had to be.

Their appearances were far too similar.

Their atmospheres were alike.

Even the way they spoke was almost identical.

Living in the same zone as Dopamine Addict had only strengthened her certainty.

At first, she had suspected they might be the same person.

‘But if Dopamine Addict is the son or avatar of the CEO of Cthulhu Games, everything makes sense.’

His absurd stats.

His unbelievable speed in clearing the game.

Even the fact that a divine proxy called him her little brother.

‘The CEO of Cthulhu Games… seemed like the being who created this world, practically a god.’

No.

Come to think of it, the CEO of Cthulhu Games had spoken about “Father” in front of her.

Perhaps that “Father” was the true god.

That was also why Shin Eunjo had never doubted Dopamine Addict’s claim that Luna was a divine proxy.

She believed Dopamine Addict was the son of a god.

“Lady Luna.”

[Meowng?]

“Do you happen to know a man with black hair and black eyes… someone with a slightly unhinged air about him?”

Luna blinked twice at Shin Eunjo’s question, then answered confidently, as though she knew exactly whom Shin Eunjo meant.

[Dopamine Addict!]

“No, no. Not that lunatic. Someone slightly less insane.”

[Commander Hayden.]

“Not an NPC from this game!”

[Meowng… You and Dopamine Addict keep using the word ‘NPC,’ but all I know is that you’re players who possessed people in this world!]

‘Damn it…’

Luna spoke about players so naturally that Shin Eunjo had assumed she knew at least something about the real world.

Apparently not.

Perhaps, as a divine proxy, she only knew as much as she needed to fulfill that role.

‘Then she might not know the CEO of Cthulhu Games either…’

Even so, Shin Eunjo refused to give up.

“Let me summarize. Black hair, black eyes, pale skin, a naturally smiling face, both eyes intact, not a child, and he looked to be in his mid-thirties… No, forget the age. A lot of time has passed since then, so he may look different now. Anyway, he speaks similarly to Dopamine Addict and Commander Hayden, but he feels more cheerful than either of them. And he isn’t from this world.”

[T-That’s difficult…]

Seeing Luna struggle, Shin Eunjo searched for another distinguishing trait.

Then something occurred to her.

“His favorite word is ‘Father.’”

[What does it mean for ‘Father’ to be someone’s favorite word?]

“He says everything is according to Father’s will… or because of Father?”

[He sounds like Bones.]

“They’re completely different!”

So Lady Luna did not know him either.

‘I wanted to meet him one more time…’

Shin Eunjo had originally come only to observe Dopamine Addict.

The reason she had abruptly changed her mind and decided to remain in the zone was that she suspected the man might appear again if she stayed near Dopamine Addict.

Half resigned, Shin Eunjo muttered,

“That man told me I never received a divine calling because Father took a liking to me… I want to properly ask what he meant by that.”

She had spoken only as though venting to herself.

But Luna’s ears suddenly perked up.

[Ah, that Father.]

‘That’ Father?

“Do you know him?!”

[I don’t know the man you’re talking about, but I know the ‘Father’ who likes you.]

“H-How do you know? What kind of person is that Father?”

Luna tilted her head.

[Father isn’t a person!]

“H-He isn’t human? Ah, is he a god? So he really is the god of this world?”

[Not exactly. Father is one of the gods outside this world—the Outer Gods.]

The instant Shin Eunjo heard the words “Outer Gods,” she realized this had something to do with Cthulhu mythology.

There was only one problem.

Shin Eunjo knew almost nothing about Cthulhu mythology.

‘It would be stranger for a Korean shaman to know Cthulhu mythology in detail!’

Still, Shin Eunjo felt encouraged.

She had finally moved one step closer to understanding that man.

“So ‘Father’ really was a god, not a human. A famous god, famous enough that even a ‘divine proxy’ like Lady Luna knows him… If such a god liked me enough to prevent me from receiving a divine calling, then that means my talent as a shaman must actually be incredible, right?”

[…You seemed comparatively sane, but now I understand why you got possessed too.]

“What is that supposed to mean?”

[Meowng—You wouldn’t understand even if I told you! Just keep petting me.]

“Yes, yes…”

Luna flopped back onto Shin Eunjo’s lap and resumed receiving pets.

For a moment, she glanced at the wavering stream of light that stretched down from the unfathomably distant reaches of space and connected to the top of Shin Eunjo’s head.

Then she pretended not to notice and closed her eyes.

She only hoped that when these children grew up and learned everything, they would not hate her too much.

***

Six years later.

The spring of my seventeenth year.

“Captain Haydam.”

At the voice, Luna and I simultaneously looked up from the documents and turned toward the door.

Major General Plato, dressed in a pure-white military uniform, spoke.

“All players are standing by for deployment.”