LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 37 - The Game Begins
Chapter 37: The Game Begins
“Hayden! Why did you set such a condition?!”
After planning to stay at the Academy for a while, I was assigned a private room and started to unpack. As expected, the cadets who had lost to me wasted no time rushing to find me as soon as the morning assembly ended.
Behind the desperate-looking cadets, Plato gave me a respectful nod before being obscured by the others.
“Hayden, saying that we lose if just one person dies?!”
“After you single-handedly killed all of us, how are we supposed to win with such a condition……!”
“We never agreed to this in the first place!”
“If we lose again, we’ll have to drop out for real.”
“Hayden, you have no idea how much we’ve been ridiculed because we lost to you.”
“……”
I looked at them with pity.
“So that’s why Lucas was so aggressive earlier. It all makes sense now.”
“What?”
“After hearing the conversation between Cadet Lucas and me earlier, it seems you all still haven’t learned anything.”
I put down the box I was holding and sighed.
“If you’re being criticized by the other cadets, that’s all the more reason to accept this training.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“A cadet who thinks about defeat before even facing a challenge deserves the criticism they’re getting. Don’t you think so?”
“Well, that’s….”
These guys were desperate enough to come looking for me, but now they realized just how shameful their actions were, their faces turned red, and their voices quieted down.
‘They may seem like fools, but in the game, these NPCs had high stats.’
The reason I chose to conduct the training simulation with this group was because they would become influential NPCs after graduating from the Academy.
They were just a bit shaken by losing to a ten-year-old… for now.
These cadets needed to graduate successfully and become my future subordinates. Finding officers of their caliber wouldn’t be easy.
It was time to offer some encouragement.
Putting on a gentle expression, I spoke.
“Do you know why I specifically chose you all for the training simulation?”
The cadets looked at me with puzzled faces, not understanding the intention behind my question.
The answer came from Plato, who was standing at the back.
“Because we are the top cadets.”
Nodding at Plato’s timely assist, I continued.
“I still believe you are the top cadets in this Academy. And I want the other cadets to realize that too.”
“Are you saying you’re partnering with us for the training simulation to prove that?”
One of the cadets spoke cautiously.
“But… we were so utterly defeated by you… do you really think we can win with such difficult conditions…?”
“The enemies know it’s a difficult condition too. Just like you thought it was impossible for me to take you all on alone, right?”
The cadets’ faces flushed again, likely recalling how they had underestimated me during the first simulation.
“Why do you think I was able to beat you?”
“Uh…”
No one answered right away, but then someone hesitantly spoke up.
“Because we were fooled by your acting…”
That wasn’t the answer I was looking for, so I asked again.
“Why did you fall for my acting?”
“Because we assumed it was genuine.”
“And you believed it was genuine because you underestimated me.”
“We apologize for underestimating… Ah!”
As they continued to connect the dots, the cadets looked at me with expressions of realization.
“You were easily deceived by me because you thought that no matter what I did, you could handle me. The enemy will unconsciously think the same. ‘As long as we kill just one of them, we win.’ We’ll exploit that.”
“Exploit it?”
“We’re going to throw fairness out the window.”
“How can you say that so boldly….”
“Luckily, you were so embarrassed by losing to me that you didn’t tell them how it happened, right?”
“No, it wasn’t because of embarrassment. Major Meursault ordered us to keep quiet—”
“Good job.”
“Excuse me?”
“We’ll make them suffer just as you did.”
“…Why should we make them pay for what happened with you?”
They didn’t understand my point about being underhanded, but that was okay.
After all, deceit was something all humans carried within them.
“All you need to think about is winning. By any means necessary.”
* * *
Since the cadets offered to help with unpacking, the task was quickly finished.
The problem was… while the other cadets left, Plato remained behind.
“Plato, aren’t you leaving?”
“…….”
What’s this? Does he have something to say?
Given that he waited until the others left, it must be something important.
After a long pause, Plato finally spoke.
“To be honest, I heard from my father.”
“Heard what?”
“That you were injured outside the zone….”
‘So, he knows I was hurt.’
The Commander had issued a gag order on that matter.
It seemed Anton’s information network was more extensive than the Commander thought.
Then again, with all the commotion during my admission to the infirmary, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to deduce that someone had been injured outside the zone.
Since I hadn’t shown my face for a few days afterward, it wouldn’t have been difficult to figure out who it was.
It didn’t matter if Anton knew I was injured.
After all, it was an injury I could heal at any time.
I had deliberately not fully healed my injury so Meursault wouldn’t get suspicious… but if it became an issue, I could always heal it immediately.
What I was curious about was something else.
“Do you also know how I got injured?”
I asked, curious if he knew about ‘that guy,’ but Plato immediately shook his head.
“No, not that… I think it was just a guess based on your hospitalization.”
So, they figured it out based on the admission records.
He doesn’t know I was attacked by someone from another zone.
‘Who the hell was that guy…?’
Even while recovering in the infirmary, I had thought about him.
‘I still have no idea.’
He had the same appearance as my Unicorn starting character.
But unlike other players, he appeared as an adult.
It wasn’t just an impersonation—his character profile clearly displayed the name ‘Dopamine Addict.’
On top of that, he had a title I’d never seen before, also called ‘Dopamine Addict.’
And the Unicorn Zone was originally my base.
In some ways, he seemed more authentic than the real thing.
‘Can I even call that an impersonation?’
In the case of Safe8, who had previously tried to impersonate me.
He had introduced himself as Dopamine Addict.
But this guy didn’t just introduce himself—he ‘proved’ that he was Dopamine Addict.
‘But if he wasn’t impersonating me, then what was he?’
Just as Daphne and Luna Moon were both players and NPCs.
Could it be that, as a former zone conqueror, I was also fixed as an NPC in this world?
Or was it a remnant of the player AI?
For now, nothing was certain.
The only fortunate thing was that, if the system was telling the truth, that guy was friendly toward me.
‘At least, he doesn’t think I’m an imposter pretending to be Dopamine Addict…….’
I wasn’t sure.
To be honest, I wanted to message Tbalrom and have him relay the entire conversation he had with that guy.
But I couldn’t reveal to Tbalrom that I had made contact with him yet.
It had only been a few days since it was revealed that there were two Dopamine Addicts in the public chat room.
Who would believe me if I said I met the guy now?
They’d more likely think it was some stunt I pulled for attention.
Everyone seems to think I’m an attention seeker……
‘But Plato…’
Anton must have told him because he’s his son, but Plato came straight to me with the information.
The Commander probably told him about the gag order too.
Was my offer to make him my lieutenant that appealing?
“Hayden?”
Plato cautiously called out to me, looking worried since I had gone quiet.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You haven’t been discharged for long. Maybe you should postpone the training simulation…”
“……”
Even the Commander doesn’t worry about me this much after finding out I have healing abilities.
I should use this opportunity to leave a better impression on Plato.
“You’re worried about me. Thank you.”
Pause slightly here.
“I didn’t tell anyone else, but… I’ll be honest with you, Plato. My injury isn’t fully healed yet.”
“You’re not fully healed yet?!”
I had deliberately left it unhealed, of course.
I narrowed my eyes slightly, giving a resigned smile.
“Actually… while I was in the infirmary, I heard about what you and the others were going through.”
“What we’re going through?”
“That you’ve been mocked by the other cadets because you lost to me. So, I asked my father to bring me back.”
“You came back because of us?”
“If I can restore your honor, my injury is nothing.”
Plato looked shocked.
“Why… would you go so far…….”
“I trust you’ll keep this between us. I know you wouldn’t want to feel indebted to me.”
“Hayden…”
Good.
Now, it’s time for you to say what I want to hear, Plato.
“I’ll give my all in this training. I’ll do anything for you, Hayden.”
I responded as if I had been waiting for those words.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Plato, you’re excluded from this training.”
“What? I’m excluded?”
“It’s an 8-on-
8 match, so we need to keep the numbers balanced, right?”
“But I…”
Plato hesitated, unable to openly say that he was superior to the other seven cadets.
“However, I do have another task for you.”
“Oh! There’s another mission. Please tell me what it is.”
I smiled brightly and asked.
“Are you good at spreading rumors?”
* * *
On the day of the training simulation.
Cadet Lucas of Team B spotted Team A, Hayden’s team, waiting not far away and clicked his tongue.
“Those seven idiots actually showed up at the training ground. I thought they’d run away.”
At Lucas’ words, another cadet from Team B shook his head.
“What’s the point of showing up? I noticed they weren’t even looking at Hayden earlier.”
“What? We’re about to start the training, and they’re still sulking about losing to Hayden?”
“They kept complaining that it wasn’t their idea.”
A younger cadet listening in asked cautiously.
“But why isn’t Plato-senpai on that team? Isn’t he the best of them?”
“You didn’t hear?”
“Hear what?”
“Plato gave up on that team. Said they’re hopeless.”
The cadet who asked the question looked shocked.
Plato was known for being the kind of cadet who always ensured no one fell behind during training.
“Plato-senpai gave up on them…?”
“I’ve never heard Plato badmouth anyone before.”
“This is pathetic.”
“What was Hayden thinking, setting those conditions….”
As the murmuring Team B cadets started to feel sorry for Hayden, Lucas stomped his foot to get their attention and said.
“Listen up. I’d like to say we should go easy for Hayden’s sake, but you all know those idiots lost because they underestimated him. So we’re not letting our guard down. We’re going all out. Got it?”
“Yes, Lucas-senpai!”
But the resolve of Team B’s scouting unit quickly turned to shock when they discovered something they never expected to see.
It was Hayden, tied up tightly with ropes.