I Am Dopamine Addict

I had posted a guide for the Cola Area illegitimate-child route on the Safe Zone community boards.

That did not mean I had written down everything I knew.

My guide said only that you had to dig up the grave and take Luna Moon’s belongings.

Any player who reached this grave before me would have read that and assumed the belonging in question was her dog tag.

Of course, simply taking the dog tag was more than enough for any Asian kid to be accepted as the illegitimate child. Commander Hayden, still wracked with guilt over abandoning his lover and their child, would take in an Asian child holding Luna Moon’s belongings without much suspicion.

There was one thing to watch for, though.

The commander I knew was only a game setting. The commander of this world might very well cast a doubtful eye on a self-proclaimed bastard child.

But I knew of a token perfect enough that even he could not question it.

The real token Hayden had given Luna Moon was not a dog tag. It was a ring.

A ring set with a fragment of the meteor that had brought ruin to this world — a moonstone, forged from that very stone. A token that could never be forged.

The reason I left it out of the guide was… simple whim.

The ring lay inside the mouth of Luna Moon’s skeleton. She must have died with it clenched between her teeth so that even if grave robbers came later, they would not take the ring from her.

Knowing it was the real token, I still never wrote ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it into the guide. The first time I found it, I used it once and never again.

…If anyone asked why I had pried open a skeleton’s jaw when the dog tag alone would have been enough, I would have no good answer. I hadn’t gone looking on purpose. While I was digging the grave, moonlight had struck the bones, and something had flashed between the closed teeth.

It left me a little uneasy, so every time I ran the Cola route after that, I came back to this grave. I paid my respects. I poured out liquor.

In the Safe Zones, repeating the same action earns you a Title. How else would I have ended up with something as absurd as Friend of Luna Moon?

“Anyway… Originally I was only going to take the dog tag. But someone already beat me to it, so I’ve got no choice.”

I folded my hands for a moment and offered Luna Moon a prayer of apology. I had never gone this far while playing the game, but facing an actual skeleton made me feel I ought to apologize properly.

“Sorry for disturbing your rest, Luna Moon. And sorry in advance for pretending to be your child. In return, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I become Hayden’s heir, I’ll truly think of him as my father, and I’ll do everything I can not to die in the apocalypse.”

When the prayer was finished, I reached for the skeleton’s mouth — and something strange happened.

Luna Moon’s bones seemed to blaze with light, and the ring rose from the empty sockets of her eyes. The moonstone at its center, usually a dull gleam, shone with a brilliant radiance.

“Wh-what?”

There was never an event like this before.

Afraid someone might see the light and come running, I snatched the ring up in both hands to hide the glow. The instant it touched my skin, a whispering voice reached me.

Before I could react, messages began to cascade across my vision.

“This is…”

That simple UI. No doubt about it — Safe Zone system messages.

When I had spoken with RoomCornerHoney, I had thought there were no privileges of any kind. Both the System and the privileges must have required specific conditions to unlock.

Why acquiring Luna Moon’s ring counted as one of those conditions, I still didn’t know.

First I checked what parts of the System had opened.

There’s a chat function too? Once that opens, will I be able to talk with other players?

A message blinked at me, urging me to check the privilege. I wanted to dig deeper into how much of the in-game System I could actually use, but…

Confirm.

The moment I thought it, the message opened and the privilege details appeared.

Oh.

The All-Zone Conqueror privilege was Title Inheritance.

As I’d mentioned, repeating the same action in a Safe Zone created a Title. Starting a new run wiped stats, skills, and inventory — but Titles alone carried over. Their effects were tied to the repeated behavior that had earned them. Wear Friend of Luna Moon, for instance, and NPCs friendly to Luna Moon warmed to you far more easily.

I’m meeting the commander tomorrow, so Friend of Luna Moon is the one to equip.

Only one Title could be worn at a time. From the endless list, I activated Friend of Luna Moon.

Running a clear without Titles might have been fun too…

If whatever had dropped us here was handing out privileges like this to stop the apocalypse, maybe it actually wanted us to succeed.

But if this is an All-Zone Conqueror privilege… that means everyone else is stuck winging it from scratch.

I decided to set aside the intentions of whoever had possessed us for later.

The ring that had been blazing so brightly had already faded back to its usual dull color. Without thinking much about it, I slipped it onto my finger. Sized for Luna Moon’s hand, it was naturally far too loose on mine — and at that exact moment, a message activated.

……?

That message only appeared when an NPC affected by the Title was nearby. But the graveyard was dead silent. The only ones here were me and Luna Moon’s skeleton.

I tilted my head, pulled the ring off, and put it back on.

The message returned without fail.

……?

Something felt off, but lingering any longer at the grave risked being spotted on the way back. If the Title effect was applying, then whoever it was had to be an NPC favorably disposed toward me.

I made sure the coffin lid was properly shut, packed the earth carefully over it once more, and left the graveside.

Has the guy who took the dog tag already headed for the commander’s residence?

It pained me a little that I would have to drive out of the residence, with my own hands, a poor, sharp-eyed, diligent player who had only been following a perfect guide.

Tonight I would sleep in the ruined cathedral. At first light, I would go to the commander’s residence.

Two soldiers stood guard before the commander’s residence.

Even so, getting in was not difficult. Hayden had ordered them to admit anyone who claimed knowledge of Luna Moon.

When I approached the main gate, the soldiers showed no particular wariness.

“Hold it right there. What business do you have at the commander’s residence?”

I recited the same line I had used when playing the game.

“I heard His Excellency is searching for a certain woman and child. I have something to tell him about that.”

“Hmm?”

The two soldiers exchanged looks. They did not seem suspicious of me so much as awkwardly put out.

“His Excellency did say that anyone with knowledge of those two was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to be let in, regardless of station, but…”

“Things have gotten a little strange. Yesterday a boy about your age said the same thing and went inside. Only…”

The soldier glanced around, then lowered his voice.

“He hasn’t come back out since. Something must have happened inside… I wouldn’t recommend going in right now.”

Oh? Were they actually worried I might go in and never come out?

This zone’s difficulty was low, so the NPCs tended to be decent people — but these two really were good soldiers.

Still. So the dog-tag guy did get here first.

In any case, the fact that the player ahead of me had not come back out meant the illegitimate-child route worked in this world too. I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠half-feared that, unlike the game, even a token would get you thrown out.

No reason to hesitate any longer.

“I appreciate the warning, but that only makes me more certain I need to go in. The boy you mentioned… I think he might be someone I know.”

“Ah. Looking for a friend, then?”

“Not a friend, exactly. But if I tell His Excellency what I know, I should be able to bring the boy out with me.”

Not bring him out so much as drive him out, but still.

The two soldiers still looked a little worried, but as soldiers they had to follow the standing order — admit anyone with knowledge of Luna Moon and her child. They nodded as if they had no choice, patted me down for anything suspicious or sharp, and opened the small visitor’s gate set into the edge of the main doors.

Unlike last night, Luna Moon’s ring no longer glowed; it looked like cheap jewelry. Even though the oversized band hung loose on my finger, the soldiers showed no real interest. The boy who had gone in ahead of me had probably been waved through without anyone examining the dog tag closely either — written off as an early enlistee. The NPCs in this zone were good-hearted, but their intelligence was generally not high.

Through the visitor’s gate, a sign pointed guests in a certain direction. Following it led around to the back of the mansion, where a soldier sitting in a small booth startled at the sight of me.

“…Strange. Never thought I’d receive a visitor this young two days in a row.”

He meant the player from yesterday, then.

“Kid. What’s your purpose in visiting the commander’s residence?”

“I know about the people His Excellency is looking for.”

The soldier’s expression turned odd.

“…So what the young master said was true. Someone really did come.”

“……?”

That was not the reaction I had expected.

Young master…? Someone really… did come?

Was “young master” referring to the player who had entered yesterday?

The soldier jerked his chin toward the interior.

“Go inside and wait. Don’t know why, but I was told not to just send you away.”

“…….”

Apparently the player who had taken the dog tag was waiting for other players as well.

I was curious about players other than RoomCornerHoney myself, so I went in without protest and waited for him to arrive. What came into the room, however, was not one person.

One was an Asian kid with black hair and black eyes, same as me. The other was an Irish-looking kid with red hair and freckles. The Irish one already had enough bulk that it was hard to believe he had started at age ten.

I still recognized both of them as players — because I used the unlocked Character Info function to check their data.

I knew both of them. They had left comments even on my final guide post. Both dropped into Cola… well, free Cola was hard to pass up.

TaejeongTaeseBeyonce was one thing, but Anjeon8yeok? Hadn’t this guy said he only read my guides for fun? Why was he following my route instead of enlisting?

“Hello.”

While I just stared at the two of them, the one who had apparently taken the “illegitimate child” role — Anjeon8yeok — spoke first. Luna Moon’s dog tag hung around his neck.

“You’re a player, right?”

I nodded, and Anjeon8yeok smiled as he added,

“No need to be on guard. In case you didn’t know, this place has no language patch — so if we talk in Korean, no one here will realize we aren’t from this world.”

He was sharing information freely, so he seemed friendly enough toward other players…

“Why were you waiting for other players?”

“You’re impatient, aren’t you? That can wait until after we’ve introduced ourselves.”

His words made something click.

Their Systems aren’t unlocked, so they can’t see my information.

In that case, I could just bluff the way I had with RoomCornerHoney and claim to be T-balnom.

—Or so I thought.

“I’ll go first, then.”

Anjeon8yeok opened his mouth and said something completely unhinged.

“I’m Dopamine Addict.”