Chapter 24

 Another Player

I had always assumed Daphne was an NPC.

And yet—

[Name: Meursault’s Wife
攻略 Route: Merry Bad Ending—Hayden
Affiliated Region: Cola
Equipped Item: Violet Eyes of Enchantment
*This player uses a different version of the system. Friend requests are unavailable.]

Setting aside the absurd nickname “Meursault’s Wife”…

Her route was the Merry Bad Ending—Hayden?

Even I, who had cleared every region, had never heard of such a route.

‘What does it mean that she uses a different version?’

At the very least, it was clear that my system was a higher version than Daphne’s.

I could view her character profile, but she did not seem capable of viewing mine.

‘Wait a minute….’

Daphne in this world was a player using a different version of the system.

Lunamoon was suspected of being a player.

Daphne and Lunamoon knew each other.

Which meant—

‘There’s a high chance Lunamoon was also a player using a different version from mine!’

Just as Taejeong, Stay-at-home Wifey, T-Bastard, and I had all entered this world together—

Daphne and Lunamoon might also have been players who entered the game at the same time.

Though calling them “possession classmates” sounded ridiculous.

‘If they entered this world before us, it would explain a lot.’

The information about Lunamoon that I had never known.

Daphne’s behavior, which differed from what I remembered.

If they had been players rather than NPCs, it was only natural that they would differ from the versions I knew.

The problem was why players like them had appeared as NPCs in Apocalypse: Safe Zone.

“Haydam?”

When I merely stared at her in silence, Daphne looked slightly suspicious.

“Why are you staring at me like that? As though something is floating above my head?”

‘Would an ordinary person say that just because someone stared at them? Is she testing whether I can see the system? Or was it just an innocent remark?’

Now that I knew Daphne was a player, everything she said seemed suspicious.

I thought for a moment.

‘Should I reveal that I’m also a player?’

But there was nothing to gain from telling Daphne right now.

I did not even know what it meant to be a player using a different version.

Why would I reveal my hand to a veteran player who had entered this world before me and effectively secured the position of the region’s mistress?

It would also be disastrous if Daphne told the Commander that I was not Lunamoon’s son, but merely another player.

‘A way to extract Daphne’s information without revealing that I’m a player….’

Naturally, I would use Lunamoon’s name.

Once I escaped the effects of the item called the Violet Eyes of Enchantment, Daphne’s emotions became plainly visible in her eyes.

What I saw was unmistakably goodwill.

Had she disliked Lunamoon, she would have shown hostility toward me as well.

But if she was a player who looked at me with such warmth, then unlike in the game, there was a high chance she held no aversion toward Lunamoon’s child.

I lowered my head slightly in apology.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Staring above people’s heads is a habit I inherited from my mother.”

“A habit you inherited from Lunamoon?”

“My mother would sometimes stare above my head or other people’s heads.”

“……”

Daphne’s expression turned strange as she considered my words.

I did not miss the opportunity.

“And the reason I came to you in such a rude manner was to deliver my mother’s final words.”

“Lunamoon’s… final words?”

At the mention of Lunamoon leaving a message for her, Daphne’s eyes shook violently.

It was not fear or displeasure.

I could see a considerable amount of expectation in her gaze.

‘Then….’

“Could you send everyone else away? She said it was something I should tell only you, Lady Daphne.”

Daphne immediately turned to the servants.

“Everyone, leave the mansion.”

“Lady Daphne!”

The servants, who had been watching our confrontation in confusion, stared at her in shock.

“You cannot possibly accommodate a child who climbed over the wall however he pleased!”

“No matter how young he is, we cannot leave the two of you alone!”

“It’s fine. Leave.”

When it became clear Daphne would not listen, the servants changed targets and began fiercely criticizing me instead.

“Young Master Haydam! Unless you came here to insult Lady Daphne, please leave immediately.”

“Request a formal audience and speak with her properly!”

I had requested a formal meeting ages ago. What were they even talking about?

Daphne looked back and forth between me and the servants before letting out a small sigh.

“Now that even my own servants refuse to obey me… I suppose I can understand why this child climbed over the wall. He must have thought that a pathetic woman who cannot even control her own household would be incapable of punishing him for trespassing.”

“L-Lady Daphne…!”

“That was not our intention…!”

The servants exchanged frantic glances.

Apparently deciding that retreating was the wiser choice, they bowed deeply to Daphne and filed out of the mansion in an orderly manner.

When the last servant closed the lobby doors, silence settled over the residence.

‘That is not the reaction of someone who was hostile toward Lunamoon.’

Had Daphne been wary of me, she would never have sent everyone away and remained alone with me.

Even if I looked like a ten-year-old child.

I did not know what relationship Lunamoon and Daphne had shared, but if both of them had been players, there was a high chance they had been allies.

And yet Daphne had chosen to hide rather than seek me out, despite everyone believing I was Lunamoon’s son.

‘She still cares about Lunamoon and had been waiting for her to come back, yet she never approached Lunamoon’s son first.’

I detected a faint trace of guilt in the way she looked at me.

‘She did something wrong to Lunamoon.’

Once I reached that conclusion and thought back on the situation, it was only natural that Daphne would feel guilty toward me.

Lunamoon had originally been Hayden’s lover.

But Hayden had married Daphne, and as far as Daphne knew, Lunamoon’s son had spent years wandering through the slums as a result.

Had Daphne driven Lunamoon, a fellow player, away and married Hayden in order to clear the region?

Was that the story?

Then the words Daphne wanted to hear were obvious.

“My mother….”

I kept my eyes fixed on Daphne’s violet pupils, carefully observing her reaction.

“She said she forgave you. She said she knew it wasn’t your fault.”

Daphne recoiled sharply and took a step backward.

“…That’s a lie.”

It seemed those were indeed the words she had longed to hear.

But she would not believe them so easily.

“You made that up to gain my favor, didn’t you?”

Her voice trembled.

I replied with a level of shamelessness that impressed even me.

“Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“Because there is no way she would forgive me so easily.”

Daphne furrowed her brow and bit down on her lip.

“She never believed me, even when I told her I had no choice if I wanted to clear the route, that it wasn’t something I wanted to do. She was the one who abandoned me so coldly when I begged her for help!”

“Of course, my mother also said you would not believe me easily. She told me to say this if that happened.”

It felt ridiculous to say the word aloud in such a serious situation.

But I knew nothing would be more effective in convincing Daphne.

“Meursault’s Wife.”

“T-That’s…!”

Daphne’s face flushed bright red.

She looked like someone whose most embarrassing dark history had just been exposed.

If I ever returned to reality, I promised myself never to choose a nickname carelessly again.

“H-How much did Lunamoon tell you…? Do you even know what we really are…?”

As expected, Lunamoon had been a player using the same version of the system as Daphne.

Suppressing my laughter, I answered politely.

“To tell the truth… my mother passed away while she was explaining it, so I never heard the full story. Please, as my mother’s friend… would you tell me?”

Daphne seemed to know what I was about to ask.

Her gaze remained fixed on my lips.

I slowly finished my sentence.

“Tell me about the ‘players.’”

***

“Before we begin….”

Since she had sent every servant outside, Daphne personally prepared the tea and refreshments.

Despite being a possessed player, she had lived in this world for so many years that every movement—from boiling the water to steeping the tea—looked completely natural.

After pouring tea into my cup, Daphne spoke with a quiet sigh.

“I hope you will not be too shocked after hearing everything. Your mother truly loved Hayden, and you were born as a result of that love. You are the fruit of a love that transcended dimensions.”

Well…

I was not the fruit of their love.

I was merely a fraud pretending to be that fruit.

Still, if I wanted to hear the rest, all I could do was nod obediently.

‘Hm?’

For some reason, Lunamoon’s ring had felt slightly warm for a while now.

It felt different from the warmth it gave off whenever I was near Commander Hayden.

When I was with the Commander, it seemed happy to see him and reluctant to part from him.

But now…

It felt almost excited.

And nervous.

“Where should I begin…?”

Daphne leaned back against an antique sofa decorated with gold-leaf floral patterns.

“First, the word ‘player’ refers to someone who has possessed a body in this world.”

“Possessed a body?”

“Lunamoon and I were not originally people of this world. One day, we suddenly found ourselves possessing characters inside a certain ‘game.’”

“……”

Possession inside a game.

So they had also entered this world while playing a game.

Daphne stopped and studied my reaction.

“…It must be difficult to believe. Hearing that your entire world exists inside a game.”

She apparently thought my silence came from the shock of learning that this world was a game.

But I was simply curious.

What game had Lunamoon and Daphne been playing?

‘Daphne was also transported into a game. Yet she uses a different version from us… Does that mean she entered one of the older Safe Zone titles?’

Safe Zone had a fairly long history.

It had begun as a pixel game around ten years ago, and now the series existed in both console and online formats.

I had played the newest installment, the online game Apocalypse: Safe Zone.

“What game was it?”

“What?”

“If the world I live in is part of a game, I’m curious what kind of game it was.”

“……”

Daphne did not answer for a long time.

For some reason, she seemed reluctant to reveal it.

But the identity of the game they had entered was important.

If it was not part of the Safe Zone series, then there might be other players who had entered this world through entirely different games.

“Was it such a horrible game that you cannot bring yourself to say it?”

“N-No. It’s just… the game is a little embarrassing to talk about….”

An embarrassing game?

“……”

It could not be because the Safe Zone series was some embarrassingly obsessive otaku game.

“Well… it was a….”

“A…?”

Daphne continued hesitating until she finally squeezed her eyes shut and confessed.

“…A handsome middle-aged man dating simulation game….”

“…Excuse me?”

A handsome middle-aged man dating… what?