Chapter 41

A Reputation Growing All on Its Own

After finishing my private meeting with the Commander and returning to the military academy, I sensed an inexplicable feeling of unease.

‘…What?’

Why were the cadets staring at me with such intense gazes?

I got the answer from Plato, who was standing in front of my private room.

“They aren’t intense gazes. They’re looks of respect, Lord Haydam.”

I furrowed my brow at Plato’s words.

“Why would they suddenly respect me?”

“Because of the results of the latest training simulation, many cadets have come to respect you.”

Ah. Because I had won another training simulation by eliminating every member of the opposing team?

‘They looked down on me when I won last time, but now that I’ve won twice in a row, they must have realized it wasn’t just luck.’

Even so, respect seemed a bit much.

“I suppose it’s fortunate that they acknowledged the result of the training this time. But I don’t think my strategy was impressive enough to earn anyone’s respect.”

I had won in the end, but as the Commander had pointed out, I had used a young child as bait.

It was hardly the sort of strategy the military academy’s cadets would view favorably.

No one would have found it strange if they had condemned it as cowardly or unethical.

Yet the cadets I had passed earlier had looked surprisingly warm toward me.

Plato’s next answer was also rather strange.

“I was waiting here to apologize to you about that.”

“…Pardon?”

He wanted to apologize for something that had earned me respect rather than criticism?

“First, tell me what you’re apologizing for.”

“I failed to keep my promise to you.”

“My promise?”

The promise I had made with Plato…

Did he mean his promise to become my adjutant after graduation?

“Are you saying you can’t become my adjutant?”

“No. I very much want to do that.”

Then what was he talking about?

“Then which promise did you fail to keep?”

“You asked me not to tell anyone about your injury.”

It had been such an insignificant matter that I had already forgotten about it.

“I did.”

The moment I answered calmly, Plato bowed at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

“I’m sorry. I told the other cadets that your injuries had not yet healed. After hearing that you still took part in the training despite your condition, all to protect another cadet’s honor, they came to respect you regardless of your age. It was my mistake.”

Hmm.

The content of his apology was rather strange.

In other words, even though I had never asked him to, Plato had gone around improving my public image among the other cadets.

‘Things worked out because Plato is a stubborn idiot who values his personal convictions more than his promises.’

Even within the military academy, Plato was known for being inflexible.

The other cadets probably understood better than anyone that he was not the type to praise someone with empty lies.

Because the words had come from Plato, they must have sounded even more sincere.

Thanks to him, my image had improved, and Plato himself now felt indebted to me for breaking his promise.

It was a good outcome all around.

Still, it would be better to act magnanimous here.

“Don’t worry about it. Even if you hadn’t told them, everyone would have noticed eventually.”

“Lord Haydam…”

“If it still bothers you, there is one thing I’d like to ask of you.”

Acting magnanimous was one thing, but I still had to collect what I was owed.

Plato asked with an almost delighted expression.

“What would you like me to do?”

Then, a moment later, his expression darkened.

“Unless you’re asking me to go around badmouthing you again…”

He already looked frightened that I might order him to spread more malicious gossip.

Apparently, going around insulting us had been deeply incompatible with his personality.

Of course, I had no intention of making Plato do that again.

This incident had made it perfectly clear that he had no talent for speaking ill of others.

“Nothing like that. The graduation ceremony is coming soon, isn’t it?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

Plato spoke with a proud expression.

“I’ll soon graduate from the military academy. Once I complete my first subjugation battle, I’ll be allowed to choose my affiliation. When the time comes, I will apply to become your adjutant, Lord Haydam.”

I didn’t even have a military rank yet, but he was already talking about applying to become my adjutant.

Well, I was expected to receive a rank starting with this subjugation battle.

I had no idea what rank my dictator father intended to give me, but since I would be assigned as an operations officer at what would likely be battalion level, perhaps I would become a captain or major.

But what I wanted to ask had nothing to do with what happened after graduation.

I had already decided that this guy was going to become my adjutant.

“What I want to ask isn’t about after graduation.”

“Then…?”

“I heard that you’ll be giving the graduation speech at the ceremony. Is that correct?”

Plato looked surprised by the unexpected question.

“The graduation speech?”

“Yes.”

“I am giving it, but… what exactly would you like me to do?”

Plato was already beginning to look uneasy.

I smiled at him.

“There’s one thing I’d like you to do during your graduation speech.”

***

After sending Plato away, I collapsed onto the bed in my private room.

‘Now I can finally rest.’

I had spent some time hospitalized after being shot by that Unicorn player.

But there had been far too many eyes watching me in the hospital for me to truly relax.

Come to think of it, I had constantly needed to put on one performance after another even at the Commander’s residence.

This private room might actually be the only place where I could truly feel free.

‘That reminds me, I also need to come up with a countermeasure against that Unicorn player.’

He had said that his target had been Stay-at-home Wifey and that he had no intention of hurting me—“yet.”

But I couldn’t simply sit back and trust that he was currently well disposed toward me.

That was when a notification rang from the public chat room.

[God: I have a proposal for everyone~]

‘A proposal?’

God, the player from the Love District.

There was something strangely unsettling about him.

It felt as though he were deliberately forcing himself to speak with an overly energetic tone.

Since Home Protector had also said that he found God uncomfortable, I probably wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

‘He hasn’t done anything particularly noticeable until now… and suddenly he has a proposal?’

God’s following message was a subject that interested me as well.

[God: Listen, I confirmed that there are no barriers between districts around the Love District!]

That was fast.

Had he already traveled all the way to the district boundary where the barriers were supposed to be?

‘The closest district to the Love District is… the Cigarette District, where Home Protector is.’

After the First Apocalypse, only a small amount of land remained habitable for humanity.

Excluding the Unicorn District, which was a floating island, and the Beer District, which was a massive submarine, all the remaining districts were clustered on a landmass roughly the size of the Korean Peninsula.

If the Cola District in the far north was somewhere below North Hamgyong Province, then the district closest to us would be the Cocaine District, around the location of Gangwon Province.

The Unicorn District floated somewhere above that, while the Knife District was located around Busan.

The Love and Cigarette Districts were around Gyeonggi Province, while the Chicken and Candy Districts were somewhere near Jeju Island.

In any case, Home Protector’s district was the closest one to God’s Love District.

Yet even after God announced that there were no barriers, Home Protector did not appear in the chat.

‘He usually checks every message immediately…’

Maybe he was no longer unemployed and simply couldn’t be the first to show up anymore.

Still, it seemed unlikely that Home Protector just happened to be busy at the exact moment God sent a message like this.

He hadn’t sent me any messages lately, either.

‘Either something happened to him, or he has already made contact with God… It has to be one of the two.’

When no one responded, God sent another message.

[God: So I want to make all of you a proposal~]

God stopped there.

Only then did the other players begin to appear one by one.

[Dentist: What kind of proposal?]

[Junkie: Is it… related to there being no barriers?]

[TotallyPossible: Just tell us what the proposal is.]

It seemed the others had been watching God’s messages as well.

God answered their questions.

[God: Let’s meet!]

Meet…?

‘What is he thinking?’

I apparently wasn’t the only one taken aback, because the chat fell silent for a moment.

Junkie was the first to question him.

[Junkie: You want to meet…?]

[Junkie: Do you mean meet in person?]

[God: Yeah! Aren’t you curious about each other?]

[Junkie: What would we even do after meeting?]

[God: Eat together and talk, I guess?]

[God: Hasn’t anyone here ever attended an offline meetup while gaming? Haha.]

He wanted to meet the other players just to hold an offline gathering?

[ImNotCryingThatCountsAsCardio: Oh! I’ve never been to an offline meetup before. Sounds like fun!]

The player from the Chicken District responded positively, but the others did not react well to God’s casual suggestion.

[TotallyPossible: Your brain must be full of flowers.]

[Junkie: I never attended offline meetups even before this…]

[Dentist: I hate to say this, but I suspect you have many cavities.]

A flood of harsh comments appeared.

TotallyPossible seemed to think God had made the suggestion simply because he was a carefree idiot, but I had a different opinion.

‘There’s no way he would have checked whether the barriers existed this quickly without a reason.’

God clearly had some objective in mind when he proposed this meeting.

The fact that he had investigated the barriers beforehand made it obvious that there was intent behind his actions.

‘Why does he want to meet the other players?’

Had I discovered that the barriers were gone, the first thing I would have done was strengthen my defenses.

I had no intention of contacting players from other districts until the Second Apocalypse arrived.

At present, all of us were ten-year-old children with little power or influence.

I doubted anyone would want to reveal themselves to another player in that state.

‘God… What are the chances that this guy has an adult body like the player from the Unicorn District?’

While I was questioning God’s motives, Junkie spoke first.

[Junkie: I’d rather you honestly tell us if you have some kind of objective.]

[God: An objective?]

[Junkie: You’re acting incredibly suspicious right now…]

[God: Oh my~ I only made the suggestion out of goodwill.]

God responded shamelessly even after Junkie called him out.

[God: We’re comrades in destiny who were suddenly transported into a game one day.]

[God: If we can’t trust each other, how are we supposed to stop the apocalypse together~?]

[Junkie: How am I supposed to trust you—or anyone else in this room—enough to meet in person? We only recently discovered that there were two Dopamine Addicts in this chat.]

Ah, was I being brought up again?

[Junkie: Dopamine Addict is a famous hedonist…]

That was news to me.

[Junkie: No, more importantly, even after all the confusion about there being two Dopamine Addicts, he never offered a single explanation. That proves he has no intention of cooperating with us.]

[God: I don’t think Dopamine Addict will act cooperatively either~]

[Junkie: And that T-Bastard in the Knife District? It was strange from the beginning that he only communicated with Dopamine Addict. Home Protector, who still hasn’t shown up, is also famous for being one of Dopamine Addict’s followers. TotallyPossible is the same.]

[TotallyPossible: Why are you dragging me into this when I’m just sitting here?]

This was the first time I had seen Junkie talk so much.

[God: Hey, I did say at the beginning that I was a fan of Dopamine Addict, but~ I’m still an innocent player—]

While God tried to make excuses, Junkie suddenly said something unexpected.

[Junkie: God, you seem to think I don’t know who you are.]

[Junkie: But I know you.]