Chapter 94

Daphne (4)

[Dopamine Addict: Come to my room. Now.]

As soon as I returned to the commander’s residence, I sent Stay-at-home Wifey a message and summoned him to my room.

The successful applicants were currently staying in Central to prepare for enrollment, so Stay-at-home Wifey had been sharing Taejeong’s room at the commander’s residence.

Thanks to the system I had unlocked, we had used the chat function to exchange minor updates, but the matter concerning Daphne was something I needed to discuss face-to-face.

Not long after I called him, Stay-at-home Wifey barged through the door without knocking, as usual.

The moment he saw me sitting on the bed, he asked bluntly,

“Did you call me because Daphne died?”

So he had already heard about Daphne’s death.

Well, he had been staying at the commander’s residence. It would have been harder for him not to hear about it.

In any case, if he already knew that Daphne was dead, bringing up the subject might be easier.

I was briefly wondering how I should tell him that the dead Daphne appeared to have been his older sister when Stay-at-home Wifey spoke cheerfully, his eyes shining with innocent curiosity.

“Dopamine Addict, did you poison her?”

“Of course not.”

Perhaps because the commonly circulated攻略 strategy for the Cola Zone began by killing Meursault and Daphne, Stay-at-home Wifey seemed to think I had something to do with Daphne’s sudden death.

I immediately denied it.

“I have no reason to kill her now. You remember that Daphne was a player, not an NPC, don’t you?”

“Of course. But you’d kill even another player if they got in your way.”

First Shin Eunjo, and now him…

Why did everyone assume I would harm another player?

The only player I had ever PKed was that one person from Safe Zone Eight, and even that hadn’t been intentional.

As I had repeatedly said, what I wanted was to display an overwhelming difference in power and force my opponents to submit.

This was no longer a survival game that would only end once a single player remained alive.

We did not even know exactly what the logout system was. If I killed all the players with my own hands and left only the NPCs behind, the world would become unbearably boring.

Anyway.

“I called you because I have something to ask about Daphne.”

“…Me?”

Stay-at-home Wifey looked genuinely surprised that I would ask him anything about Daphne.

“I’ve never even met Daphne since possessing this body.”

“The dating sim Daphne possessed. You said your sister played it too, right?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about my sister?”

He tilted his head because I had abruptly brought up his sister while discussing Daphne, but answered without resistance.

“Of course she played it. She’s the one who made me play the game.”

“Do you happen to remember what username your sister used in the dating sim?”

“My sister’s username?”

Stay-at-home Wifey stared at me as though I had asked something absurd.

“I remember, but that’s a really random question.”

All I had heard from Meursault was that the player possessing Daphne had originally been a doctor and had a sickly younger brother.

The idea that she was truly Stay-at-home Wifey’s sister was still only a theory.

Before telling him that Daphne seemed to have died, logged out, and might have been his sister, I needed to confirm whether they were truly the same person.

Fortunately, Stay-at-home Wifey remembered her username, so it would be easy to verify.

“Tell me what it was. Then I’ll explain why I’m suddenly asking.”

“Seriously…”

Stay-at-home Wifey furrowed his brow for a moment before relaxing his expression.

“My sister’s favorite was Meursault. Her username was probably something like MeursaultWife… or MeursaultsWifey.”

‘It’s definitely the same person.’

The confirmation was complete.

Stay-at-home Wifey could not remember whether it had been “wife” or “wifey,” but there was no way another player happened to use the name MeursaultWife while also having circumstances identical to his sister’s.

“First… don’t panic. Just listen.”

“What are you about to tell me?”

“Daphne didn’t die. She probably logged out.”

“She didn’t die, but logged out?”

Stay-at-home Wifey looked briefly surprised, but soon responded with little emotion.

“That’s interesting, but is it really shocking enough that you need to warn me not to panic?”

“The problem is that Daphne’s player status window listed her name as ‘MeursaultsWifey.’”

“……?”

As though he had failed to understand what my words meant, Stay-at-home Wifey’s head tilted slightly to one side.

I waited until he understood.

A moment later, he straightened his head and asked me,

“What… are you saying?”

He was not asking because he genuinely failed to understand.

By now, he must have realized that I had first brought up Daphne and then asked about his sister because I intended to tell him that the player possessing Daphne was his sister.

Even so, immediately accepting that an NPC we had known was actually a member of his family would not be easy.

I had reacted the same way when I learned that Lunamoon might be my mother.

“If you doubt me, go ask Shin Eunjo. She’s the only person besides me who checked Daphne’s status window.”

“Am I understanding this correctly? Are you seriously saying the player possessing Daphne was my sister?”

“Yes.”

Stay-at-home Wifey stared blankly at me.

“Why didn’t you tell me until now?”

“Because I only found out she was your sister today.”

“No. If you’d at least told me the username earlier, I would have known! I would have known who Daphne was! Why did you only tell me after she died…?”

Looking somewhat confused, he regarded me with suspicion.

“You’re… not lying, are you?”

“What?”

“All you ever think about is how to bullshit people!”

“What could I possibly gain by lying that Daphne was your sister?”

“That’s not what I mean! You didn’t already know and deliberately keep it from me, did you? You knew she was my sister, but you chose not to tell me, right?”

Of course, even if I had known earlier, I probably would not have told Stay-at-home Wifey.

If Daphne, who had spent over ten years in this zone, conspired with Stay-at-home Wifey, my position could have become dangerous.

Stay-at-home Wifey knew me well enough to understand that, so his suspicion was reasonable.

But this time, I truly had not known.

I had not deliberately concealed it.

Besides, even if I had only discovered Daphne’s identity after Stay-at-home Wifey stepped in front of Shin Eunjo’s gun, I would have told him rather than hiding it.

“I really didn’t know.”

“Does it make any sense that you only found out after she died?”

“Just before she died, she left Meursault something resembling a final message.”

“A final message?”

“She said that she had actually been a doctor and that she had a sickly younger brother.”

I added one more thing.

“And she said she would definitely return.”

Stay-at-home Wifey’s gaze trembled briefly at the mention that she had promised to return.

“What do you mean, return? No, before that—how do you know she logged out?”

“It would take a long time to explain, but it isn’t impossible. If she died here, there’s a high probability that she logged out… and returned to reality.”

“It’s already ridiculous enough that Daphne was my sister, and now you expect me to believe she died and returned to reality?”

A storm of emotions swept across Stay-at-home Wifey’s face before he spoke in a voice filled with distrust.

“…I don’t believe you.”

“Why not?”

“After everything I’ve seen, how am I supposed to trust you? From the moment we first met, you lied and told me you were T-Bastard!”

That was true. I had done that.

Was this how the boy who cried wolf had felt?

I could not blame Stay-at-home Wifey for reacting this way.

If a member of his family had been nearby all this time, only for him to discover it after her death, it was natural that he would find me suspicious.

Besides, the idea that she had logged out was only my theory. I had not witnessed it personally.

However, there was one thing I could not simply overlook.

“Still… aren’t you hiding something from me as well?”

“What? Me?”

“When I fell into the crevasse.”

At those words, Stay-at-home Wifey flinched and closed his mouth, as though I had struck a nerve.

“Sending a rescue team into the cave wasn’t your idea. Why did you hide the note you received?”

Stay-at-home Wifey remained silent for a moment before asking,

“…How did you know I received a note?”

This bastard.

He had not merely forgotten to mention it. He had genuinely been hiding it.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Even you must have realized that receiving a note when you didn’t have a status window was suspicious. Why did you hide it? No, why did you lie that you sent a rescue team because you already knew about the cave?”

“Because I knew it wasn’t from you.”

“What?”

“I knew it wasn’t you, Dopamine Addict. I knew the impersonating player from the Unicorn Zone had sent it, so I didn’t tell you.”

I had not expected him to know not only that I had not sent it, but exactly who had.

“You always call me Loner, and you call Taejeong just Taejeong. But the note said ‘Stay-at-home Wifey’ and ‘Taejeong Taese Beyoncé.’ It used our full usernames. I figured that bastard sent it because he was the only one who had checked both my and Taejeong’s status windows.”

“Wait. So you knew the note came from the Unicorn Zone player, but you still sent a rescue team?”

“That bastard said that even though he wanted to kill me, he had no intention of hurting you. So I had a feeling you might really be in danger, and I sent the rescue team. The reason I didn’t tell you was…”

At that point, Stay-at-home Wifey hesitated, apparently knowing that he was at fault, and continued in a voice barely louder than an ant’s.

“…I thought you’d yell at me.”

“Are you seriously an elementary schooler?”

“I knew you’d rip me a new one if I said I trusted the impersonator and sent a rescue team!”

I had nothing to say, because I probably would have.

“So what happened to my sister? You said she returned to reality. Is there any way to confirm whether she returned safely?”

“You told me your sister suddenly quit being a doctor and started working for Salvation Project.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“She returned to reality and joined that company. To create the Safe Zone.”

At those words, Stay-at-home Wifey looked as though he had been struck on the head with a hammer.

“That…”

He barely managed to open his mouth.

“That’s only your theory… You could be wrong.”

That was what he said, but his distrust had faded somewhat compared to a moment ago.

All he needed was a little certainty.

I decided to tell him about my mother.

I did not know how he would react to learning that my mother had created this game, but…

If I failed to tell him now and he later learned it from someone else, he would never trust me again.

Now was the time to speak.

“I told you last time that someone in my family also worked at that company. Salvation Project.”

“You did. What, is Lunamoon your family or something?”

Huh?

He was sharper than I expected.

“…Why are you making that face?”

Apparently, he had only thrown out a random guess. Stay-at-home Wifey frowned, then suddenly looked as though realization had struck him.

“Seriously? Lunamoon is actually a member of your family?”

“Yes. Just like your sister, I think she died inside the game, returned to reality, and founded the company called Salvation Project.”

“She ‘founded’ Salvation Project?”

“That’s why I’m saying your sister probably returned to reality too. She was also obsessively devoted to creating the game, as though she were possessed by something.”

“Wait, then are you saying your sister developed the Safe Zone series?”

“Not my sister. My mother.”

“What? Y-Your mother?”

Stay-at-home Wifey rattled in surprise.

Yes, I supposed it was shocking to learn that the NPC whose son I had been pretending to be was actually my real mother, but…

“Th-Then your mother played a… a dating sim? And used the username… Lunamoon?”

That was what shocked him?

…No, but why was I the one feeling embarrassed?