A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 10. The Cause of Mass Possession

Meursault Pendleton was an orphan, just like any other child in the zone.

The army had begun enlisting child soldiers to save as many children as possible.

At some point, children were abandoned at birth, raised by previously abandoned children, and when they came of age, they joined the army and raised the next group of abandoned children.

Therefore, being an ‘orphan’ in the zone wasn’t a significant flaw.

None of the children resented the fact that they were orphans.

But Meursault had a wish that the other children didn’t have.

Although all orphans had no surnames, Meursault alone created and attached the surname ‘Pendleton’ to himself because of that wish.

The only reason he made up a surname was because he wanted to have a family to pass down his surname to.

Of course, orphans also lived together as families, but the family Meursault wanted was a little different.

A family that wasn’t just orphans—a grandfather, a grandmother, a father, and a mother, a spouse who was raised loved by them.

He wanted to have grandparents for the children born from that spouse.

And to show the grandchildren a photo and say, ‘This is your great-grandmother.’

That was Meursault’s ideal family.

And in Meursault’s view, there was only one woman in the zone who could make his dream come true.

That was Daphne Goodman.

The commander’s daughter.

Her surname, ‘Goodman,’ was inherited from her family for generations.

Just that alone made her a very ideal spouse.

Meursault dedicated his whole life to the army to marry her, living frantically.

But when he came to his senses, there was a stranger standing beside her.

‘Hayden? I’ve never heard that name among the orphans I know. Is he really from our zone?’

When the commander married his daughter to Hayden, Meursault despaired.

He didn’t want to take another woman as his spouse now.

He wanted to retire and rest, but he couldn’t.

Although he failed to marry Daphne, Meursault was regarded as the most talented person in the current army.

The fortunate part was that Hayden was a man worthy of loyalty.

Apart from the issue of Daphne.

As Hayden’s aide, Meursault had to watch Hayden and Daphne’s married life up close.

At first, he thought it was a punishment.

But soon, Meursault realized he still had a chance.

He noticed that Commander Hayden and Daphne Goodman did not love each other.

They were simply married out of necessity.

Upon learning this fact, Meursault was so thrilled that he did the craziest thing in his life.

He confessed his feelings in front of Commander Hayden.

“If Daphne is happy, I wouldn’t step in. But you don’t love Daphne, Commander. Daphne doesn’t love you either! This marriage is invalid!”

Hayden, despite his aide’s sudden insubordination, didn’t lift his eyes from the documents and responded.

“I heard the rumors, but you’re really crazy. You work well, though.”

“Don’t change the subject, Commander. I have dedicated myself to the army for far longer to marry Daphne. Now that my father has passed away, you must acknowledge my contributions.”

“Meursault.”

Only then did Commander Hayden take his eyes off the documents and look at Meursault.

“Daphne doesn’t love you either.”

The commander added in a calm tone, as if pointing out a misaligned outfit.

“You don’t love Daphne either.”

At that moment, Meursault felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

He had always dreamed of marrying Daphne and thought he loved her.

But he couldn’t refute Commander Hayden’s point.

If the conversation had ended there, Meursault might have given up his feelings and stepped back, but Commander Hayden’s words didn’t stop there.

“But yes. You’re not wrong about the marriage being invalid.”

“Not wrong?”

“Meursault. As you said, Daphne isn’t my woman.”

“What?”

And the next words were the craziest thing Meursault had ever heard in his life.

“Someday, my woman and her child will come to find me. Daphne knows that too.”

“Daphne knows? What on earth…”

“You should pray that the child grows up safely and inherits my position, Meursault. That way, Daphne will also be free.”

He had married the most noble woman in the zone and risen to the commander’s position, yet he had another woman and child?

It was an absurd story, but knowing that Hayden wasn’t one to speak nonsense, Meursault believed him and waited quietly.

For at least 2-3 years.

When neither woman nor child had appeared after ten years, Meursault gave up waiting and began to think of becoming the commander himself and marrying Daphne.

But then, like a lie, he heard news that a boy claiming to be the commander’s son had appeared yesterday morning.

The boy was very polite, calm, and mature, making Meursault dream that he would inherit the commander’s position and marry the soon-to-be-free Daphne.

However, when he heard that the boy was fake and another real son had appeared within a day, Meursault sensed things would not go smoothly.

Once a fake appeared, there was no guarantee the new boy wasn’t fake too.

‘But… what is this?’

When he first saw the child, he seemed like an ordinary boy.

But at some point, the child’s demeanor suddenly changed.

The words that poured from the child’s mouth after that were far beyond expectations.

“Are you still thinking of marrying Daphne Goodman?”

“……!”

The familiar tone.

The child added in the commander’s characteristic indifferent tone.

“But you’re still not sure if you love Daphne?”

Meursault looked at the boy before him as if he had discovered a bizarre creature.

It was ridiculous to think that the commander had revealed his secrets to such a young child in a single night.

Yet somehow, he felt like he was talking to Hayden Goodman, not a stranger child.

“Com…mander?”

Meursault muttered unconsciously, then clamped his mouth shut in shock.

Calling someone else commander was blasphemous.

The boy merely smiled, as if amused by the audacious slip.

“That’s right. The commander told me.”

“Ah……”

Did he not realize his mistake?

Meursault somehow felt the boy was slyly letting his slip pass.

But the boy’s words didn’t end there.

“But I… understand.”

“Understand what?”

A child understanding his immoral and inappropriate feelings towards his superior’s wife?

Even Meursault knew his feelings were not righteous.

Commander Hayden hadn’t blamed him because Meursault’s feelings for Daphne didn’t matter to him, not because he understood them.

Yet the boy used the word ‘understand.’

Just as Meursault was about to think the boy was ‘ridiculous.’

“You just want to create a family, don’t you?”

The boy’s next words shook Meursault to his core.

“Not just any family, but one with grandparents, parents, a spouse raised with love from them. And to create grandparents for the children born from that spouse. To show the next grandchild an old photo saying, ‘This is your great-grandmother.’ Such a family.”

Meursault’s eyes widened.

“H-how do you know that…?”

When Meursault stammered and asked, the boy gave a bitter smile.

“Because I was an orphan too.”

Meursault realized, as if struck by lightning, that he had finally met someone who truly understood him.

* * *

‘Was I too over the top acting like I understood?’

Meursault, who had suddenly changed his attitude, apologized for his rudeness and asked me to tell him anytime if I had any discomfort while staying at the mansion.

It would have been just right if it had ended there, but the fool went off saying he would bring me a list of suitable spouses to build an ideal family with and disappeared…

‘I’m only ten years old; why talk about spouses?’

In the game, I thought what kind of NPC was this and ended up poisoning him.

Despite his eccentricity, he was the second most capable man in this zone after Commander Hayden, so I had to keep him close.

‘Daphne Goodman has had a rough life.’

Forced to marry by her father, with a husband who had another woman and child, and a madman persistently wanting to marry her despite not loving her.

I started to feel a bit sorry for her, given how many times I had poisoned her in previous rounds of the game.

This time, I should keep her alive and let her abilities shine.

It’s definitely not because I lack useful NPCs.

At that moment, a system message appeared before my eyes.

[‘God’ has entered the public chatroom.]

‘Oh.’

It seemed another player from a different zone had obtained a meteorite item and unlocked the system.

I had expected other players to enter the chatroom soon.

It was the third day already, and not having a system opener in low-level zones like Candy or Beer meant something was wrong.

But the messages didn’t stop at one and kept appearing.

[‘Dentist’ has entered the public chatroom.]

[‘Sapppossible’ has entered the public chatroom.]

[‘IWon’tCryThat’sCardio’ has entered the public chatroom

.]

[‘Addict’ has entered the public chatroom.]

‘What’s this? All at once?’

It seemed more than one person had obtained a meteorite item last night.

After all, failing to get one by the second day was almost equivalent to failing the strategy.

Even so, not all of them would have unlocked the system simultaneously… Maybe the system waited until morning to let them enter the chatroom?

But then, the last entry message showed a very familiar nickname.

[‘HomeProtector’ has entered the public chatroom.]

‘That bastard!’

The cause of mass possession.

HomeProtector had entered.