Chapter 104

Seventeen Years Old (4) Stay-at-home Wifey—or rather, Han Yeoreum—was a healer capable of healing himself. By now, he no longer needed to hold Star Candy in his hand. As long as it was stored in his inventory, he could heal himself automatically. That was why I had brought Han Yeoreum up here instead of Taejeong. No matter how much Taejeong and I practiced, we couldn’t heal unless we brought food to our mouths. But around three years after being possessed, Han Yeoreum became capable of healing others without even touching them, and the speed of his self-healing was second to none. That was why the Fake Dopamine Addict was wrong to consider Han Yeoreum an obstacle. Of course, his brain still didn’t work very well…. “Urgh…!” The knife Han Yeoreum had driven forward with all his strength was hovering in midair, leaving only a paper-thin gap between its tip and the back of Mickey Parker’s neck. Mickey Parker’s ability had stopped it just before it could sink in. “How are you still alive…?!” However, judging by the veins bulging on Mickey Parker’s neck, he clearly hadn’t expected the player he thought he had already finished off to ambush him like this and had only barely managed to block it. ‘This guy still can’t properly control his ability.’ He had been impressed by how well I controlled my own power, so it seemed he could only manipulate small pieces of scrap metal, like incoming bullets, at best. ‘Then I’ll have to overpower him with brute force.’ Deciding that greater force might push the knife through, I reached toward his neck. Mickey Parker realized what I was trying to do, flinched, and quickly dodged away. Han Yeoreum naturally toppled forward over me with the knife still in his hand, and I shoved him aside. After falling face-first onto the floor, Han Yeoreum shouted indignantly, “What the hell is with that bastard?! Why doesn’t a knife work either?!” “It’s his ability. If he can stop bullets, why wouldn’t he be able to stop a knife?” “Ha… then what was I supposed to do?” “You should have strangled him from behind.” “Oh.” I gestured for Han Yeoreum to hurry up and stand, then pulled a length of wire from my inventory and wrapped it around my hand. But in the meantime, Mickey Parker had…. Dropped to his knees in front of us in an oddly demure posture. …What? “What the hell?” Han Yeoreum voiced my thoughts aloud and stared at him warily. Mickey Parker put on a servile smile. “Sorry. It seems I misunderstood.” “…What?” “The player Haydam said would get in the way. It must have been someone else, not you. Hahaha, honestly. I mistook you for someone else and committed such an offense. Please forgive me.” What the hell was wrong with this bastard? Han Yeoreum frowned at the same time as me. He clearly had plenty to say, but opened his mouth as though this was the first thing he needed to ask. “No… who’s this ‘Haydam’ you keep talking about?” The truth was…. I still hadn’t told Han Yeoreum my real name. He had never asked in the first place. The only reason I knew his real name was Han Yeoreum was because that bastard had arbitrarily told me to call him by his real name, claiming it was enough for his seniors to call him “Darling.” Now that Mickey Parker had mentioned the name Haydam, I had even more reason not to reveal my real name to the other players. Doing so would only prove that the Fake Dopamine Addict and I were the same person. I wondered whether Mickey Parker might reveal first that the Dopamine Addict of the Unicorn Zone and I were the same person. Unexpectedly, Mickey Parker glanced at me once, then answered without the slightest change in expression. “Haydam is… my boss. I mean the Dopamine Addict of the Unicorn Zone.” “So Haydam must be that impostor’s real name.” Even though Han Yeoreum called him an impostor, Mickey Parker showed no reaction. I still couldn’t tell whether he knew that the Dopamine Addict and I were the same person and was hiding it, or whether he genuinely didn’t know we were identical. When I took no immediate action, Han Yeoreum looked at me and asked, “What are we doing with this bastard?” “What do you think?” I tightened my grip on the wire. “I’m going to strangle him, so cover me.” “Wait, wait!” Mickey Parker urgently raised both hands and stood up. “I never finished introducing myself earlier. I’m Mickey Parker, the pilot of this airship.” At those words, I lowered the wire I had raised. “You’re the pilot?” “If he sent only the airship, who would fly it? That’s why he called me a gift.” “Hmm….” ‘It’s true that none of us can pilot this thing.’ In the game, NPCs would operate it once the system verified you. But there were no such NPCs now. Even with an automatic navigation system, it could only perform simple functions like following predetermined routes or parking in midair. He had charged at us like a lunatic from the start, so I assumed the Fake Dopamine Addict had called him a gift just to screw with me. Apparently, he had actually sent him as a chauffeur. I still didn’t understand why he had chosen a mentally unstable player I disliked and sent him as the pilot. In any case, judging by what had happened earlier, Mickey Parker at least didn’t seem to intend to harm me. If anything, he seemed desperate to earn my recognition…. He was a plagiarist and the Fake Dopamine Addict’s sub-player, but maybe I could make use of him for now. “Hey, are you seriously going to use that lunatic as the pilot?” When I stopped showing any intention of attacking and fell into thought, Han Yeoreum seemed to realize that I was considering accepting Mickey Parker. He spoke in an openly displeased tone. “How can you trust that bastard enough to let him fly? You think your dad’s really going to let you visit the other zones aboard an airship piloted by a Unicorn Zone player?” “Oh.” My eyes lit up at Han Yeoreum’s words. “That’s a great idea.” “What? What did I even say…?” Han Yeoreum trailed off and looked at me with disgust. “We’re screwed…. He’s having another insane idea.” “…Therefore, Captain Haydam Goodman, Second Lieutenant Darling, and Second Lieutenant Taejeong have been abducted by an unidentified airship.” “…” After hearing Major General Plato’s report, Commander Hayden Goodman pressed one hand against his throbbing temple. “I don’t understand what I just heard.” “My apologies.” Plato did not look particularly apologetic. “Start over from the beginning. What exactly happened to my son?” If it had been Meursault, he would have realized that Commander Hayden was only asking again because he found the report unbelievable and would have offered his opinion on the necessary response. Plato, however, maintained his usual clear-eyed expression and faithfully repeated the report from the beginning. “I will report again. During reconnaissance for the subjugation campaign, an unidentified airship appeared overhead. Captain Haydam ordered us to shoot it down if he did not return within thirty minutes, then boarded the airship with Second Lieutenant Darling. Ten minutes after they entered, lightning struck the airship twice from the sky. It remained quiet for approximately another ten minutes. Then a platinum-blond man, estimated to be 192 centimeters tall and in his early twenties, appeared on top of the airship and lowered a rope. A rolled-up piece of paper was tied to the end. The Players concluded that it was a message from Captain Haydam. While they were checking its contents, Second Lieutenant Taejeong climbed the rope. At that moment, the airship abruptly gained altitude and flew away, disappearing into the clouds.” He added that the Players had hesitated to shoot the airship down because three people were already aboard, and it vanished from sight during that hesitation. The Commander stared at Plato in disbelief, then looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand. “…And this paper you brought me is the message that came down from the airship?” “Yes, sir.” The paper contained the following message, written in unfamiliar handwriting. [We will be looking after your son for a short while. If you wish to have him returned safely, follow the instructions below. Do not pursue the airship. Reinforce the borders between zones. Entrust Plato with serving as acting captain. Regarding supplies, instruct Meursault to… (Remainder omitted) If you faithfully follow these instructions, you will be able to see your son again soon. Do not skip meals, and please avoid overworking yourself.] “…” As Hayden read the letter, he felt another headache beginning. The handwriting belonged to a stranger, but no matter how he looked at it, this was not the kind of note a kidnapper would leave. What kind of kidnapper abducted someone while leaving detailed instructions for managing the aftermath? “Was my son truly ‘kidnapped’? Because this looks far more like my son hijacked an airship and ran away from home.” “My apologies. I am not certain. However, the note says Captain Haydam will return soon if we follow his instructions… I mean, if we follow the kidnapper’s instructions. So I believe that would be the correct course of action.” Commander Hayden narrowed his eyes at Plato. The entirely reasonable and justified suspicion arose that this man had also helped disguise his son’s escape from the zone as a kidnapping. ‘Haydam, you little… I stopped you from leaving the zone, and now you’ve gone this far.’ Haydam had kept trying to leave the zone, so Hayden had given him the rank of captain specifically to restrict his movements. It was irritating enough that Haydam had staged a fake kidnapping to avoid punishment, but Hayden was also deeply hurt that his son still refused to explain why he needed to visit the other zones badly enough to do all this. He couldn’t even begin to guess where Haydam had obtained the airship used in the kidnapping act. Should he have properly questioned the origin of the hoverboard when Haydam suddenly returned with it before? But regret was pointless. The airship carrying Haydam had already left the zone. Even if this was a genuine kidnapping rather than an escape, Hayden found himself strangely unworried about Haydam. He only felt sorry for the unidentified man unlucky enough to become entangled with his son. “Haah….” Yes. This had always been bound to happen one day. Commander Hayden released a deep sigh from the depths of his abdomen, placed the letter face down on the desk, and spoke. “We will do as Haydam… no, as the kidnapper instructs. Reinforce the borders between zones. Major General Plato, you will serve as acting captain in Captain Haydam’s absence.” “As you command.” The Commander looked suspiciously at Plato as he responded. “You truly had nothing to do with this, correct?” “If I had known, I would have gone with them.” “…You may leave.” After Plato departed, the Commander looked toward the sky in the direction his son had presumably disappeared. It was an irritatingly clear day. I had needed an excuse to leave the zone, and the Fake Dopamine Addict had sent me a player capable of kidnapping us. Mickey Parker truly had been a gift. I felt sorry for the father burdened with such a terrible son, but the airship carrying us was cruising smoothly. There was only one very minor problem. “You don’t know Taejeong?” I alternated between Taejeong and Mickey Parker with an incredulous expression. Mickey Parker had declared that he didn’t know Taejeong, but Taejeong looked equally confused. “The Mickey I knew didn’t use a character model like this either….” Wait. Then where was the Micky Soccer Taejeong knew? ‘Judging by how offended he became when I called him a plagiarist, he’s definitely the Micky Soccer I know….’ Why didn’t the two of them recognize each other? Or were they pretending not to? ‘What would they even gain by pretending to be strangers?’ “Holy shit… I don’t know this mountain of muscle. Is his supernatural ability just muscles?” Hmm…. Maybe Taejeong had simply grown so much that Mickey Parker couldn’t recognize him. A suffocating awkwardness settled over us as Taejeong and Mickey Parker continued failing to recognize each other. Then an announcement came from the airship’s system. [We have arrived above the Candy Zone. Would you like to descend?]