A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 31. Two Dopamine Addicts

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[Sapppossible: So there are two Dopamine Addicts?]

Two Dopamine Addicts?

‘What on earth does that mean?’

I checked other chat rooms and saw that messages had also come from HomeProtector and Tbalrom, in addition to the public chat room. I decided to check the most recent messages first.

[HomeProtector: What the heck are you doing that you’re not checking the chat?](+6)

[Tbalrom: Who the hell are you?](+3)

Even Tbalrom sent me a direct message?

‘What happened while I wasn’t checking the chat?’

It seemed like I needed to go through the public chat room first to understand the context of their messages, so I left their messages for later and decided to start with the public chat room.

“Meursault, I’m going to take a quick break.”

“What? But you’ve only mentioned that the core of your strategy is efficiency; how can you take a bre—”

Leaving the clearly reluctant Meursault behind, I moved to my room and scrolled up through the chat logs to read what had transpired. It seemed the issue began last night.

I lay down on my bed and started reading the chat from last night.

The first message came from Addict, a player from the Cocaine Zone.

[Addict: Um, I got a strange message…]

[God: A strange message?]

[God: What do you mean by strange?]

[Addict: It’s suspicious no matter how you look at it… Has anyone else received something similar?]

[God: As if we’d know if something strange was going on—does anyone else know anything?]

[Addict: If no one else got it, I’ll just deal with it myself…]

[Dentist: Are you talking about a message from someone claiming to be ‘Dopamine Addict’?]

[Addict: That’s right!!]

‘Someone claiming to be Dopamine Addict?’

This kind of impersonation was something Safe8 had already attempted. Is there someone else pretending to be me now?

I continued reading.

[Dentist: I was also wondering how to take it.]

[God: Hmm, actually, I received that message too.]

Now that God had admitted to receiving the message, other players who had been silent started appearing in the chat room.

[Sapppossible: Huh, so I wasn’t the only one who got it?]

[HomeProtector: Yeah, I got it too.]

[Addict: So, did everyone get this message?]

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: Huh? What message are you talking about? I didn’t get anything.]

[HomeProtector: I thought it was a fake, so I didn’t even open it.]

[HomeProtector: What did it say?]

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: Am I the only one who didn’t get it?]

[God: I thought it was too suspicious, so I was going to ignore it, but now I’m curious who sent it since everyone got it.]

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: I’m telling you, I didn’t get anything!]

[God: The message I got said this: ‘Exchange with other zones except for Unicorn Zone is possible.’]

[God: But the sender’s ID was ‘Dopamine Addict.’]

[Addict: That’s exactly what I got! Not a single word different!!]

[Sapppossible: But are you sure that message really came from Dopamine Addict?]

[HomeProtector: I’m telling you, it wasn’t Dopamine Addict; it’s definitely a fake.]

[Sapppossible: How can you be so sure?]

[HomeProtector: Because Dopamine Addict accepted my friend request.]

HomeProtector seemed oddly proud of that.

[HomeProtector: If that ID really belonged to Dopamine Addict, it would’ve been sent as a 1:1 chat, but it’s blocked.]

[Dentist: He accepted your friend request? He ignored mine.]

[God: He ignored mine too. ㅠㅠ]

[HomeProtector: If you received a 1:1 message, shouldn’t you have been suspicious? You can’t send a 1:1 message unless you’re mutual friends.]

Oh, his reasoning is solid. Experience really counts for something.

[Addict: That’s why I said it was suspicious!]

[Sapppossible: But why does everyone assume it’s an impersonation? It could be the real Dopamine Addict, right?]

[Addict: How can he send a direct message when we’re not friends?]

[Sapppossible: If it wasn’t Dopamine Addict, do you have any friends who would send you such a message?]

[Addict: …….]

Come to think of it, neither Addict nor Sapppossible had sent me a friend request before. Does that mean Addict hasn’t made friends with anyone?

[Sapppossible: Listen, he’s different from us. Maybe full-zone conquerors have special privileges that let them send direct messages even without being friends.]

[God: But why is Dopamine Addict staying silent~? Is he not checking the chat~?]

[Dentist: If he’s the type to ignore friend requests, I doubt he checks the chat regularly.]

That sounded a bit sarcastic.

[HomeProtector: So why would that jerk, who doesn’t even accept friend requests, bother sending you all a message like that?]

That’s not sarcasm, just outright criticism.

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: But if it’s not Dopamine Addict, who would send such a message, and for what purpose? And why impersonate Dopamine Addict?]

[God: Right~? Before the Second Apocalypse, weren’t we supposed to be cut off from other zones?]

[HomeProtector: Well, in the game, there was a blue barrier that prevented us from crossing… But…]

[Sapppossible: But now this is reality, right? Maybe there’s no barrier between zones?]

[Addict: Ah! Then maybe Dopamine Addict figured that out and sent us a heads-up?]

[HomeProtector: I’m telling you, it wasn’t Dopamine Addict.]

[Sapppossible: Even if it wasn’t him, shouldn’t we check if we can really cross into other zones? Couldn’t we just see if there’s still a barrier?]

Hmm, I haven’t checked the far end of the zone yet, so I haven’t confirmed it myself. I’ll have to check it out during the upcoming subjugation battle.

But the real issue isn’t whether the message is genuine or not.

Scrolling down, I saw that some other players had also recognized what the real problem was.

[God: Even if it wasn’t Dopamine Addict, it’s still an issue~]

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: What’s the problem?]

[God: Remember that only players who’ve unlocked the system can use this chat room?]

[HomeProtector: Ah.]

[HomeProtector: If it wasn’t Dopamine Addict…]

[HomeProtector: Then that means another player has unlocked the system?]

[God: And considering there’s only supposed to be one player per zone in this chat room~]

[Dentist: The player from Unicorn Zone.]

[God: You’re quick on the uptake, newbie. That’s right, the only one left is the player from Unicorn Zone. And the message even had a hint in it.]

[Sapppossible: ‘Exchange with other zones except Unicorn Zone is possible’…]

[HomeProtector: So, what? The player from Unicorn Zone impersonated Dopamine Addict to send this message?]

[Sapppossible: But is impersonation even possible? You can’t change your ID, can you?]

I also think it’s likely that the player from Unicorn Zone sent the message. I don’t know how they avoided being detected in the public chat room or how they managed to use the ID ‘Dopamine Addict,’ but if the fundamental rule that only the player who first touched the Meteorite item in each zone can unlock the system hasn’t been broken, then the only possibility left is the player from Unicorn Zone.

However, I couldn’t figure out why the player from Unicorn Zone would bother impersonating me and sending that message, or why the message mentioned excluding the Unicorn Zone.

If interaction between zones is possible, there’s no reason Unicorn Zone should be excluded. Even though no zone has the technology to reach the floating islands in the sky, the Unicorn Zone isn’t that high off the ground. A tall staircase from the Cocaine Zone, directly beneath it, should be enough to facilitate interaction.

So, that message…

‘It seems more like a warning not to approach Unicorn Zone yet.’

But why didn’t they send a message directly to me?

And did they mention that they didn’t send one to that cardio-obsessed guy in the Chicken Zone either?

Why didn’t they send a message to just the two of us?

This raised some questions, but they became irrelevant due to a message Addict sent below.

[Addict: But… I just noticed something strange.]

[God: Something strange?]

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: There’s something stranger…?]

[Addict: I’ve seen it before, but I didn’t pay much attention to it… Look at the participant list in the public chat room.]

The next messages were sent a little later.

[HomeProtector: What the… is this?]

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: No way…]

[Dentist: This… can’t just be a simple glitch, right?]

‘

Check the participant list in the chat room?’

I opened the list to check the IDs currently in the public chat room.

[Dopamine Addict

Tbalrom

God

Dentist

Sapppossible

IWon’tCryThat’sCardio

Addict

HomeProtector]

Eight people in total, listed in the order they joined the public chat.

‘Nothing seems off…’

But then I read the next chat message and realized what was strange.

[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: Wait… There are 8 people, not counting me… So, including me, that makes 9…?]

Excluding me… 8?

[God: This is getting creepy.]

[Addict: I’ve seen it before, but I thought it was just because the person who created the chat room had their name listed twice at the top.]

‘Listed twice?’

Does that mean other people see my ID listed twice?

If there are 8 people excluding me, and my ID is listed twice…

‘Does this list not show your own ID?’

I calmly clicked on the ID at the top of the list, ‘Dopamine Addict.’

If it wasn’t another person, it should open my profile.

But…

[Would you like to send a friend request to Dopamine Addict?]

‘What the…?’

The ID at the top of the list wasn’t mine.

This was clearly another ‘player,’ not me.

[HomeProtector: This is kind of unsettling.]

[HomeProtector: So there have been 9 people in this chat room from the start?]

[Sapppossible: So does that mean there are two Dopamine Addicts?]

The chat ended there.

As if everyone had become unnerved, the public chat fell silent.

I also left the public chat room to check the messages that the other players had sent me.

First, I opened the 1:1 chat with HomeProtector.

[HomeProtector: Hey, lol]

[HomeProtector: Did you ignore everyone else’s friend requests but accept mine? lol]

[HomeProtector: You should check the chat room. It’s chaos right now.]

[HomeProtector: That’s not you, is it?]

[HomeProtector: Hey.]

[HomeProtector: What the heck, check the chat already.]

[HomeProtector: What are you doing that you’re not even checking the chat?]

“…”

I wondered what to reply, then decided to keep it brief.

[Dopamine Addict: That’s not me.]

HomeProtector seemed to be sending a ton of messages in response, but I opened Tbalrom’s chat next. As I quickly read through his messages, I realized it was a good thing I opened his chat next.

Because…

[Tbalrom: Dopamine Addict, are you seriously saying that wasn’t you?]

[Tbalrom: If it’s an impersonator, how does it know everything we discussed in our 1:1 chat?]

[Tbalrom: I even had a conversation with that bastard, thinking it was you, because we were already friends.]

[Tbalrom: Who the hell are you?]