LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 20 - Overwhelming Victory
Chapter 20. Overwhelming Victory
[Tbalrom has sent you a friend request.]
[Do you accept?]
A friend request from Tbalrom had arrived. Honestly, it was a bit bewildering.
‘He outright rejected my friend request before?’
What change of heart made him send me a friend request now?
‘Well… it’s obvious. He’s probably on the brink of death.’
He had held out better than I had expected, but it was only natural for Tbalrom to reach out to me. The strategy he was attempting was none other than mine. Given that one of the strategy’s components was ‘cannibalism,’ Tbalrom was highly likely to fail. Though I created the strategy, it was premised on in-game play. Even I couldn’t actually commit cannibalism.
‘…Why do my ears itch?’
Anyway, I accepted Tbalrom’s friend request and sent him a message.
[DopamineAddict: So, now you feel like talking to me?]
I thought Tbalrom would hurl curses at me even when on the brink of death, but he sent an unexpectedly calm message.
[Tbalrom: It seems I can’t come to kill you.]
[DopamineAddict: What are you talking about?]
[DopamineAddict: Did you fail the strategy?]
[Tbalrom: I couldn’t secure food.]
[Tbalrom: I didn’t want to resort to cannibalism, no matter if it’s in a game.]
[DopamineAddict: …….]
As expected, he was blocked by the cannibalism part. He sent me numerous friend requests because of it. If he hadn’t rejected my friend request, he wouldn’t be on the brink of death now.
Because.
[Would you like to request an item trade with Tbalrom?]
[Please place the items you want to trade in the trade window.]
Players who are friends can trade items through their inventories. This was why I had persistently tried to send Tbalrom friend requests. It was obvious to anyone, even someone like BangguseokYeoBo, that Tbalrom would run out of food. I pushed a pack of cookies I had been eating earlier into the trade window that appeared before me.
[Trade Item: Cookies (15)]
While I waited for Tbalrom to accept, a message from him arrived instead of an acceptance.
[Tbalrom: Was trading between players… possible?]
[DopamineAddict: Only if you’re friends. Just accept it.]
[Tbalrom: Why are you helping me when I said I’d kill you?]
[DopamineAddict: Didn’t you send a friend request asking for help? Just accept it.]
[Tbalrom: No! I just thought it was the end…]
[DopamineAddict: If you’re not going to accept it, I’ll just leave.]
[Tbalrom: …Could you be a bit more kind if you’re going to help?]
‘What a demanding guy.’
After a brief silence, Tbalrom sent another message.
[Tbalrom: I still plan to kill you if I survive here. Will you still help me?]
[DopamineAddict: Of course.]
I needed his meteorite item, and if he died here, I would have to go to the Knife Zone to retrieve it.
[Tbalrom: Why…?]
[Tbalrom: Why would you help someone like me…?]
‘It’s problematic if he develops a fondness for me.’
I only intended to make Tbalrom owe me a small favor, not to dispel his desire to kill me. Even I would feel guilty if Tbalrom developed any goodwill toward me, making it difficult to steal his items later. I needed to provoke him a bit now.
[DopamineAddict: Because you’re already at the brink of death and can’t pose a threat to me?]
[Tbalrom: You bastard.]
[Tbalrom: I’ll survive here and kill you.]
[DopamineAddict: Just accept it.]
[Tbalrom has accepted the item trade.]
‘What a troublesome guy.’
It took so long just to accept an item trade.
[DopamineAddict: Let me know if you need anything else.]
[Tbalrom: Just one question.]
I thought Tbalrom would disappear again after receiving the item, but unexpectedly, he asked me a question.
[Tbalrom: What would you do in this situation?]
[DopamineAddict: What situation?]
[Tbalrom: Being critically wounded and isolated, unable to find food except through cannibalism.]
Was he curious about what I would do if I were in the same situation as him?
[Tbalrom: Would you resort to cannibalism to survive?]
[DopamineAddict: No matter what, I wouldn’t resort to cannibalism.]
[Tbalrom: So, you would die preserving your dignity as a human?]
[DopamineAddict: No?]
[Tbalrom: No? Are you saying you would have resorted to cannibalism?]
[DopamineAddict: I would hide and survive for 10 years without eating, then come out when the second apocalypse begins.]
[Tbalrom: What?]
[Tbalrom: Didn’t your strategy suggest killing all the residents before the second apocalypse?]
[DopamineAddict: That was just for the game to earn the title. How could I kill them all with a ten-year-old’s body? Impossible.]
[Tbalrom: …….]
[DopamineAddict: Did you get hurt trying to actually kill everyone?]
[DopamineAddict: By the way, you said you’d kill me but were using my strategy to clear the game?]
[DopamineAddict: Are you my fan too? LOL]
[DopamineAddict: …Why aren’t you answering?]
[DopamineAddict: Hey.]
[DopamineAddict: Hey.]
‘This guy went silent again.’
Fortunately, he didn’t seem like the type to stubbornly stick to his pride and die. He would contact me again when he was about to die. For now, I decided to leave Tbalrom alone.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t accepted other people’s friend requests either.’
Aside from HomeProtector, I hadn’t accepted friend requests from other players yet. I considered helping the newbie, the Dentist, but if he couldn’t even clear the lowest difficulty Candy Zone alone, I didn’t feel inclined to help him either. If he came looking for me during the second apocalypse, I’d gladly assist him then.
‘I’ll keep an eye on the other players.’
Since our last conversation, the public chatroom had been eerily quiet. They were probably only using the 1-on-1 chat function now. Information shared with everyone loses its value. While I could maintain friendly relations by accepting other players’ friend requests, I had no information I wanted from them. I had no intention of living peacefully with them, claiming to be comrades or anything.
‘If this is a game, I want to win overwhelmingly.’
By now, they should realize that if they want to be treated as ‘equals,’ they have to deal with me accordingly.
—
Safe Zone Love.
Nickname ‘God’ was still staring at the status window, waiting for the acceptance notification that never came. The DopamineAddict, who persistently ignored his friend request. Although he had approached DopamineAddict claiming to be a fan, God, knowing him well, could somewhat guess what he was thinking.
‘DopamineAddict is fundamentally a hedonist. Ignoring friend requests means… he has no intention of playing peacefully.’
At least the good news was that DopamineAddict had landed in the Cola Zone, not the Unicorn Zone. If DopamineAddict had been in the Unicorn Zone, no player could have overturned the game. God felt greatly relieved when he found himself in the Love Zone, which was an ideal environment for his abilities. The key to conquering the Love Zone was ‘love.’ Depending on the strategy, it could mean romantic love, familial love, fan love for an idol, or reverence for a deity. The strategy of ‘cult’ from DopamineAddict’s Love Zone strategy was what God had referenced.
Since other players in the Love Zone also knew of DopamineAddict’s ‘cult’ strategy, they didn’t follow it exactly. When he accidentally acquired the meteorite item and saw the status window, he realized that by slightly adapting his original profession, he could easily manipulate the other players as his pawns.
“Great Shaman, what does the deity say?”
Asking him such questions, another player looked at God. Smiling, God’s original profession was a shaman. Though not a true shaman, he was a fake who hadn’t received any divine blessings. However, conning people wasn’t something anyone could do.
God had been perceptive since childhood, understanding people’s psychology and anxieties, and providing them with the words they needed to hear was as easy as moving his tongue. By luck, he was the first to obtain a meteorite item and unlock the status window, keeping its existence a secret from the other players. He then began deceiving the other players, claiming he received revelations from the deity by foretelling their situations or pulling items from the inventory.
And these players, believing God to be the real deity’s prophet, were constantly anxious because of the DopamineAddict. Therefore, God declared he would receive revelations about DopamineAddict, sending him a friend request. One player, growing impatient, asked again.
“Did DopamineAddict say he would help us?”
Their anxiety stemmed from knowing DopamineAddict was among them. Believing they couldn’t win against him in a survival game, they wanted assurance that he wouldn’t harm them. However, DopamineAddict ignored God’s friend request. God thought this was a bad sign.
‘DopamineAddict is inherently selfish. He’ll live for his own pleasure here too
.’
Meeting DopamineAddict was a decade away. God could have lied, claiming DopamineAddict would help to calm the players, but he didn’t.
“DopamineAddict won’t help us. He ignored the deity’s revelation.”
In a situation where most players acknowledged DopamineAddict’s abilities, raising expectations for his help wasn’t beneficial. These players would need to fight harder to survive, thinking DopamineAddict wouldn’t assist them. One player, who disliked DopamineAddict, grumbled.
“That damn DopamineAddict. Why worry about him when he’s just another player now?”
“Are you an idiot? The Great Shaman explained before. DopamineAddict possesses privileges as a former zone conqueror!”
God’s claim about DopamineAddict having privileges as a former zone conqueror was merely speculation.
‘But DopamineAddict surely has some former zone privileges.’
Whatever those privileges were, they probably allowed him to open the status window first. In case he knew more, God tried speaking to HomeProtector, who seemed close to DopamineAddict, but HomeProtector was only thinking of leeching off DopamineAddict during the second apocalypse.
‘Foolish guy. Why would DopamineAddict bother with someone like him?’
DopamineAddict would surely not leave other players alone, especially those with meteorite items. Knowing there was a secret to the meteorite items, DopamineAddict would likely try to collect them all. Even out of simple curiosity about what would happen after gathering all the meteorite items, he would hurt other players.
“DopamineAddict won’t save you. So, everyone must prepare.”
God shook his meteorite earring and declared before the other players.
“Spread the rumor to the zone people that in 10 years, the deity’s messenger will descend and punish the unbelievers.”
This rumor followed DopamineAddict’s cult strategy, proving its effectiveness. Disappointed players who hoped for DopamineAddict’s help, and those with ill feelings towards him, didn’t seem to object to God proceeding with the ‘cult’ strategy.
With a satisfied smile, God continued.
“I don’t mind being called a crazy cult shaman for the next 10 years. When the second apocalypse comes, and monsters flood in, everyone will crawl at our feet.”