A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 3: Grave Digging

There were several reasons I suggested that BangguseokYeoBo enlist.

First of all, since we were now inside the Apocalypse game, he had to learn how to use firearms.

In the game, you could shoot just by pressing the space bar, but reality was different.

Secondly, players started the game as orphans.

In other words, they had no one to take care of them and no home to return to.

Even just to secure food and shelter, enlisting was a good idea.

The reason the difficulty level in Safe Zone Cola was low was because the force managing this area was the military.

“As long as you enlist, you’ll at least get the basics.”

Of course, in an emergency, he might be mobilized as a soldier and get caught up in dangerous situations.

The reason this world was divided into nine safe zones was to preserve humanity from the ‘alien creatures’ existing outside the zones.

The first apocalypse, the Ice Age, began with a giant meteor falling from the sky, and alien creatures started spreading from that meteor.

Because of this, all zones, except for the Beer Zone that fled into the ocean and the Unicorn Zone that floated into the sky, regularly conducted extermination events around their perimeters.

If you enlisted in the military, you would naturally have to follow those extermination events.

If you survived, you could be promoted step by step up to the commander level.

Of course, due to rapid promotion, you might be seen as a threat by a coup faction and end up killed by the commander.

This problem could be easily resolved if I got recognized as the commander’s illegitimate child and became his heir.

“Enlist… well, alright.”

Perhaps because enlistment strategies were so common, BangguseokYeoBo accepted it without much resistance.

It was fortunate that he had no military experience.

If he had already served, he wouldn’t have accepted the choice of going through military service again so easily.

Enlisting in Safe Zone Cola wasn’t difficult.

As long as you could hold a gun, even a ten-year-old child could become a soldier.

That was how children survived in the apocalypse.

Before I officially started my strategy, I intended to get this guy enlisted.

Two problems arose.

One was unexpected.

Or rather, it was obvious that this world wasn’t patched in Korean.

Originally, wasn’t a game released in Korean.

The reason community strategy posts were active was because people translated scripts while posting strategies.

I learned English on my own just to post strategies for this game.

So, it wasn’t strange that there was no Korean patch.

‘It’s unfair not to give me translation skills along with possession.’

Because I was possessed without the ethics of a web novel, I had to converse with the NPCs… that is, the people in the zone, in English and fill out enlistment applications in English, as BangguseokYeoBo couldn’t speak English, so I had to write it for him.

And from the fact that the soldiers didn’t find it strange that BangguseokYeoBo and I were speaking Korean, I realized that this world reflected a setting where various nationalities gathered in the zones after the apocalypse, using various languages.

In the game, this was just a setting, and all NPCs spoke English.

BangguseokYeoBo was furious.

“They make us possess a game and don’t even give us a Korean patch?!”

Whoever made us possess this game clearly wanted to see us suffer.

“I can’t speak English… how will I survive in the military?”

“Once you enlist, you’ll become a yes-bot, so you don’t need English.”

Well, he wouldn’t literally just say yes, but in this case, it was fortunate he looked like a ten-year-old child.

Even if he spoke awkwardly, people would somewhat understand…

The next problem was that the enlistment form required a ‘name.’

“I didn’t even think about needing a name.”

In the game, I was called by the nickname I entered.

It would be strange to introduce myself as ‘Dopamine Addict,’ ‘BangguseokYeoBo,’ or ‘Tbalrom’ after being possessed.

For me, it was simple because I could use the name of Hayden Goodman’s illegitimate child, but BangguseokYeoBo needed to come up with a name.

BangguseokYeoBo shook his head, annoyed at the thought of coming up with a name.

“I have to make an English name, right? Just come up with something for me.”

“Well… alright.”

I didn’t have the time to spend on naming BangguseokYeoBo either, so I quickly wrote down a name and submitted the enlistment form.

Since it would take some time for the enlistment to be approved, we decided to discuss our plans further.

“Once you enlist, we won’t be able to move together immediately. Let’s reunite after each of us secures a position in this zone.”

“What does it mean to secure a position?”

“Hmm… I’ll call you once I’m recognized as the heir. I’ll tell the commander I had a brother-like child during my orphan days and bring you to the commander’s residence.”

I added with a sense of warning.

“Work hard in the military. Even if I call for you, I can’t pull strings for someone incompetent.”

“Do you think I’ll be incompetent?”

I ignored his reasonable question and continued.

“And since this place seems to be based on English like the game, make sure to record important information or stories about the apocalypse in Korean.”

“That won’t be difficult.”

Hmm… Come to think of it, what are the other players in other zones doing now?

I should think about protocols for when I encounter other players, as I don’t know when that might happen.

It would be best if the other players cooperated like BangguseokYeoBo… but there will also be uncooperative players.

“Are you really going to proceed with the illegitimate child strategy?”

BangguseokYeoBo asked anxiously, as if he was skeptical of the strategy or just didn’t want to enlist alone.

“Can’t you enlist with me? You speak English, you seem smart, and since you asked if I had military experience, it seems like you served before… If you’ve been there once, you should do better in the military, right?”

This guy made a scary suggestion with an innocent face.

* * *

After a few hours had passed.

When the soldier who came to approve the enlistment called the name written on the form, BangguseokYeoBo regretted leaving the naming to me.

“Is your name Darling Outsider?”

The soldier’s question was in English, but BangguseokYeoBo seemed to immediately understand that ‘Darling Outsider’ referred to him.

“Da, Darling… what?”

“You look quite young… Are you enlisting?”

As the soldier continued to ask in English, BangguseokYeoBo, no, Darling Outsider looked at me with a desperate look.

I whispered softly to him.

“When a soldier asks you a question, just answer yes.”

“Are you serious? And my name is ‘Darling Outsider’? Seriously?”

I thought it was a perfectly localized name for BangguseokYeoBo.

“Isn’t it better than Darling Hikikomori?”

“What nonsense!”

Anyway, the name had already been registered and couldn’t be undone.

“Damn, the soldier seems to be laughing at my name…”

BangguseokYeoBo’s analysis was correct.

The soldier who called Darling Outsider was trying hard to suppress a laugh.

“Darling Outsider, is that correct?”

When I whispered for him to just answer, BangguseokYeoBo reluctantly opened his lips and answered.

“Da, damn it… Yes…”

“Are you sure you want to enlist?”

“Yes… Yes!”

“Good. Follow me.”

“Yes, yes!”

BangguseokYeoBo, no, Darling Outsider, diligently followed my advice and became a yes-bot, leaving with the soldier.

He might have a small grudge against me for the name, but he would forget about it during his military life.

Now… It was time for some solo play.

First, I needed to find a grave.

Hayden Goodman’s old lover and the one buried with the ‘proof of the illegitimate child,’ the pitiable woman’s grave.

* * *

Speaking of Commander Hayden Goodman, he originally came from another zone.

One of the soldiers who went out for the extermination found him collapsed and saved him, and Hayden joined the Cola Army to repay the favor.

Hayden, who was more capable than expected, quickly rose to a high position in the army, and the then-commander, who had a good impression of him, introduced his daughter to Hayden.

After marrying the commander’s daughter, Hayden easily ascended to the position of the next commander.

This was the simplified version of the story.

The owner of the grave I was about to find was ‘Luna Moon.’

In the past, she was the soldier who saved Hayden during the extermination.

In fact, Hayden joined the Cola Army because of Luna Moon.

He had fallen in love with Luna Moon, who saved him.

Luna Moon and Hayden were lovers and even had a child together, but Hayden got engaged to the commander’s daughter to advance his career.

He left Luna Moon with a promise to bring her and their soon-to-be-born child back once he became commander.

But after becoming commander, he didn’t bring Luna Moon back.

Not because he broke his promise, but because he couldn’t.

Luna Moon had suddenly disappeared.

Even when I played Safe Zone, the commander was still looking for his lover and child.

Not knowing that Luna Moon had died and been buried before their child was born…

The important thing was that I knew the location of her grave.

After part

ing with Hayden, Luna Moon hid in the slums to avoid potential threats.

Despite being pregnant, she helped the slum residents as a military doctor, which was why she had a proper grave after her death.

Usually, when someone died in a Safe Zone, their body was thrown outside the zone, but her case was unique.

The monsters outside the zones ate both the living and the dead, so throwing out corpses calmed them for a while.

Even so, her grave remained inside the zone because she was so respected and loved by the people.

‘But that kindness ended up being her downfall.’

An epidemic spread through the slum where she lived.

Those who were healthy left early on, but she stayed to take care of the sick.

Naturally, she soon caught the disease and died.

The patients she had moved made her a grave outside the slum, moved by her kindness.

Since she died of the disease and the grave was made by the patients, no one approached it, even now.

The name on the grave was an alias, and the location was avoided and unmentioned.

That’s why Commander Hayden never found her.

It was unfortunate, but for a player like me who needed to dig up her grave, it was the best condition.

I found a piece of scrap metal that looked sturdy enough to dig and waited near the slum’s outskirts until nightfall.

Even though the grave was in a place where no one came, I had to be careful.

Because it was a place no one visited, I would stand out when I went there.

A ten-year-old child holding a piece of scrap metal heading to an unused grave would be memorable.

‘If there were any witnesses later saying they saw me digging up Luna Moon’s grave, it would be troublesome, so I had to be cautious.’

As I walked down the dark path, I felt something was off when I touched her grave.

‘The soil is soft.’

The soil on an old grave shouldn’t be this soft.

Unless someone had already dug it up and covered it again.

I quickly began digging.

Since someone had already disturbed the ground, it was easy to dig with my hands.

When I opened the coffin after digging up the grave, I saw that the dog tag on Luna Moon’s skeletal neck was missing.

I realized immediately.

‘Another player was here first.’

It seemed there was another player in this zone besides me and BangguseokYeoBo.

‘Is someone else trying the illegitimate child strategy?’

Things were getting interesting.

If I went to the commander’s residence tomorrow morning, I would probably meet the other player attempting the illegitimate child strategy.

But I would be the one to succeed.

The true proof of the illegitimate child was still in the coffin.