Chapter 108

Candy (4)

Ah.

If he had recognized me as Hayden’s son the moment he saw me, then he must have concluded that someone who had spent his entire life in another zone could not possibly know Dentist.

“There seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

“I clearly told him I didn’t remember him. But he kept calling me his senior, so I merely assumed he might have been my junior at the military academy and went along with it.”

“…Fine. That’s something I can confirm with the Saint.”

Argon studied me as though trying to judge whether I was telling the truth, then asked in a slightly less hostile tone,

“Then what is the heir to another zone doing all the way out here?”

I answered truthfully.

“I came to meet the Saint.”

“How do you know about him?”

“How could I not? I’ve been traveling through every zone in search of people like him.”

“People like him?”

“People who crossed over from another world.”

Judging from Argon’s expression, he clearly knew that Dentist was from another world.

“…And what do you intend to do after finding them?”

“I’m going to send them back to their original world.”

Argon’s reaction to that was strange.

He did not look surprised or think that my words were absurd.

Instead, I sensed an inexplicable fear from him.

“Are you saying you possess the power to send those people back?”

“No.”

“You don’t?”

He seemed relieved when I told him I did not possess such power.

I stared at Argon and continued.

“I don’t. But I need to meet people like them first if I’m ever going to discover a way to send them back.”

“Why would some pampered brat destined to become the next commander go around doing something like that?”

This time, he sounded genuinely unable to understand, so I answered without hiding anything.

“Because of my mother.”

“I know a little about your mother.”

“You do?”

“Wasn’t she the forgotten hero of the Cola Zone?”

So that was how NPCs from other zones remembered her.

“But why would that hero be the reason you’re doing this? What connection does she have to sending people from another world home?”

“My mother was also someone from another world.”

Argon’s eyes widened.

It seemed this was something he had not known.

Without blinking, I continued.

“I can’t tell you the details, but… my mother never managed to return to her homeland. She was buried in this foreign land and reduced to bones. I will not allow anyone else to suffer the same fate.”

Argon fell into thought for a moment before slowly speaking.

“The Saint… That child often said he wanted to go home as well.”

“Then if you would allow me to speak with him for a while—”

“But if that’s the case, then you need to leave even more.”

I looked at him, unable to understand what he meant.

Argon spoke coldly.

“I’m not saying your intentions are wrong. But the people of our zone depend heavily on that child.”

“You mean…”

“You can condemn me for sacrificing the few for the many if you like. I’d have nothing to say in my defense. But as the person responsible for this zone, if sacrificing that one child is enough to keep the zone alive, then I will gladly do it. You’re old enough to understand that your father would be no different from me.”

So he meant that they needed to exploit the Saint for the sake of the zone, and I should not even think about sending him home.

Fine.

At least he was not trying to hide behind hypocrisy.

I could understand Argon’s position to a certain extent.

After all, I was not going to take responsibility for everyone in this zone.

But bringing my father into it crossed the line.

“My father may be a dictator, but he is not the kind of man who forces one child to bear everything. Don’t speak carelessly about my father.”

“I’m not so sure about that. It doesn’t look that way to me.”

Why was he looking at me as he said that?

Did he think my coming all the way here as a child was Hayden’s decision?

I had run away from home…

No, I had merely been kidnapped and brought here.

“In any case, the Saint is an asset of our zone. So stop whatever you’re planning and leave.”

I stared silently at Argon for a moment.

He met my gaze briefly, but then looked away as though facing me had become unbearable.

It did not seem to be guilt over exploiting the Saint.

“You’re afraid of me.”

Argon’s shoulders flinched.

“Who would be afraid of a child like you?”

“If that isn’t the case, then I don’t understand why you’re so determined to drive out the heir of another zone when I can’t even send the Saint back immediately. Why are you so desperate to make me leave?”

“…”

Perhaps realizing that I would not move until I received an answer, Argon finally spoke after a brief silence.

“…You said you didn’t know which zone your father came from.”

“Yes. Does my father’s birthplace matter?”

“Of course it matters.”

Of course it did?

“Your father’s homeland was none other than the Knife Zone.”

For a moment, I was speechless.

‘So Commander Hayden came from…’

The Knife Zone?

That place full of natural-born psychopaths?

‘Well, it wasn’t as though that dictatorial mindset could have originated in the Cola Zone.’

“Do you understand now?”

Argon no longer bothered hiding his aversion toward me.

“I cannot trust that bloodline. We have nothing but bows and arrows, while your people are armed with guns! If you remain any longer, I will consider it a threat.”

“For now… I understand.”

I still did not see what my father’s birthplace had to do with me.

But I could hardly use force against someone trembling in fear of a mere seventeen-year-old.

Since this was a low-difficulty zone, I had already expected them to dislike the arrival of outside forces.

Had it not been for the newbie, I would never have come to a place like this.

A stagnant zone that pursued neither development nor change and simply rotted where it stood.

“However, we can’t leave immediately. We’ll stay somewhere away from the zone for a while before departing. We won’t approach the Saint or the zone without permission, so you can rest easy. That much should be acceptable, right?”

“That much… I’ll allow.”

We would return to the airship and devise a new plan.

A plan for how to tear apart and rebuild this pathetic zone—

and take Dentist with us.

***

After Haydam Goodman left, someone came to see Argon, who remained alone with a troubled expression.

“You’re here, Troll.”

Argon looked at him as though he had been waiting.

“You were right. He was dangerous.”

“Was he?”

The person who had come to visit Argon was one of the NPCs who had been fighting the One-Horned Jaguar.

No.

He was the player called “Zone Troll.”

When Zone Troll had first awakened in the Candy Zone inside the body of a child, he had despaired upon realizing that he had been transported into Safe Zone without a status window or translation skill.

‘I should’ve studied English harder!’

Regret was pointless now that he had already been thrown into another world without even a Korean language patch.

He had struggled immensely because he could not communicate with the NPCs, and during that time, another player had stolen the Miracle Child starting route from him.

He had assumed that he was the only person transported here and had taken his time, only to lose the opportunity.

‘Two people were transported here at the same time…’

Unable to unlock the system, Zone Troll had remained completely unaware that multiple people had been transported into the game.

After the other player stole all the attention, Zone Troll had made survival his immediate priority.

He decided not to offend the Miracle Child player.

Only after learning enough English to communicate did he discover the other player’s identity.

‘That bastard… is a newbie?’

He had no idea how a newbie could still exist in Safe Zone.

The newbie did not seem to know what he was supposed to do in the game and made no attempt to conceal the fact that he was a player from another world.

‘Damn it. If I’d gotten the Miracle Child start, I could’ve lived comfortably while using these pathetic-zone NPCs as slaves… Hah… Still, he’s a newbie, so I should help him.’

Zone Troll was a veteran of Safe Zone, so the fact that he was a newbie had softened him at first.

Initially, he had intended to help him.

But after watching him get worked like a dog by Argon while earning the Saint title, he abandoned that idea.

That was when he learned that Argon, whom players had praised as a paragon of good character, was actually a lunatic willing to exploit even a child for the sake of the zone’s interests.

‘If Argon finds out I’m a player, he’ll work me to death too.’

The clueless newbie was being exploited by mere NPCs because he had foolishly drawn attention to himself.

Why should a player sacrifice his body to protect NPCs who were nothing more than fragments of game data?

‘If I had my main character, I would’ve taught those NPC bastards who think they’re superior to players a lesson.’

The problem was that he had been transported into Safe Zone without any special advantages.

Zone Troll had no desire to be ground down like the newbie.

He had concealed the fact that he was a player and remained as inconspicuous as possible while benefiting from the Saint player’s efforts.

Powerless and possessing nothing, Zone Troll wanted only one thing.

If he could not return to his original world, then he wanted to die painlessly before the Second Apocalypse arrived.

That was all.

To someone like him, the appearance of players from another zone was anything but a positive sign.

He had instantly realized that the outsiders were players and approached Argon, whispering that nothing good could come from allowing outsiders into the zone.

‘So the two of us weren’t the only ones transported here.’

And how had they crossed into another zone when there were still three years left before the Second Apocalypse?

What had happened to the barriers?

Zone Troll was confused by everything and hoped that the suddenly appearing players would not disturb his peaceful existence.

“They said they’d remain outside the zone for now, so we’ll have to strengthen the surrounding patrols.”

“Ah, yes. Of course. They weren’t ordinary fighters. They might try to seize our zone by force…”

“No. They may be even more dangerous than that.”

Zone Troll had been relieved that Argon had decided to drive them from the zone after confirming they were dangerous.

But then Argon said something unexpected.

“We almost lost the Saint.”

“What do you mean?”

“They said they came here to return people from another world to their original world.”

“…What?!”

Zone Troll shot to his feet, letting out a shrill cry.

“W-What do you mean, return people from another world to their original world? I-Is that possible?”

“They claim they don’t possess such power. But would they have crossed through hordes of monsters and come all the way here if they had no idea how to send him back? Or perhaps they merely intended to lure the Saint away with such words.”

Zone Troll was bewildered.

The players he had driven away by sowing discord had actually come here to send people like him back to their original world?

‘Considering they came all the way here and can control lightning, they definitely didn’t seem like ordinary players…’

Should he chase after them right now, reveal that he was a player, and ask for help?

While he hesitated, Argon’s next words drove into his ears like a wedge.

“Hayden is as vicious as ever. Sending his son to steal another zone’s assets…”

‘Hayden? His son? Was that player Commander Hayden’s son?’

Hayden of Safe Zone was the dictator of the Cola Zone.

And if that player was his son…

‘He’s the player doing the illegitimate-child route!’

Zone Troll had thought it strange that the player had customized himself as a black-haired, black-eyed Asian.

So that was because he was pursuing the illegitimate-child route.

Zone Troll’s thoughts began racing.

If that player had continued the illegitimate-child route until the age of seventeen, then there was a high chance he would become the next commander.

In that case, their arrival might be his final opportunity to escape this backward zone, which had not advanced beyond bows and arrows, and move to a more developed one.

Even if they did not know how to return to the original world, he could at least live in better conditions than he did now.

But if he wanted their help…

‘I need to give them something they want.’

With that thought, Zone Troll stared darkly at the Candy Zone.

To hand over the Saint and move naturally into another zone without exposing himself as a player…

‘This zone needs to disappear first, doesn’t it?’

***

“Hey! Wake up!”

After returning to the airship with Han Yeoreum without achieving anything, I had fallen asleep while thinking of a way to take the Saint with us.

A rough hand shook me awake, and I groggily raised my head.

“What is it…?”

“Come outside!”

After saying only that, Han Yeoreum hurried up to the deck.

Wondering whether something had happened to the airship, I rubbed my eyes and followed her.

The moment I reached the deck and saw the horizon burning bright red, all traces of sleep vanished.

The surroundings were completely dark.

It was nowhere near sunset.

Taejeong and Mickey Parker were already standing on the deck, staring at it.

When I appeared, they turned toward me.

“It’s been like that for a while.”

“That’s the Candy Zone over there, right?”

“Our newbie is burning alive!”

This is insane.