LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 41 - Growing Fame on Its Own
Chapter 41: Growing Fame on Its Own
After finishing my private meeting with the commander, I returned to the academy, feeling an inexplicable sense of discomfort.
‘…What is this?’
Why were the cadets looking at me with such sticky gazes?
The answer came from Plato, who was standing in front of my private room.
“They’re not looking at you with sticky gazes. It’s admiration, Haydam-nim.”
Plato’s words made me frown.
“Admiration? All of a sudden?”
“Due to the results of the recent training simulation, many cadets have come to respect you, Haydam-nim.”
Ah, because I won the simulation again by eliminating the entire opposing team?
‘Last time I won, they ignored me, but now that I’ve won twice in a row, I guess they realize it wasn’t just luck.’
But admiration? That seems excessive.
“I’m glad the results of the training were recognized, but it wasn’t such a remarkable strategy to be worthy of admiration.”
Even though I won, as the commander pointed out, using a child as bait wasn’t a tactic that the cadets would look upon positively.
It wouldn’t be surprising if they criticized it as underhanded or unethical.
Still, the reactions of the cadets I encountered earlier had been quite warm.
But Plato’s next words were even stranger.
“I’ve been waiting to apologize for something related to that.”
“…Excuse me?”
Apologizing about admiration? What’s there to apologize for?
“I’ll listen to what you have to say first.”
“I failed to keep the promise I made to you, Haydam-nim.”
“A promise?”
The promise with Plato… Could it be about him becoming my aide after graduation?
“You’re saying you can’t become my aide?”
“No, I really want to do that.”
What the…?
“Then what promise didn’t you keep?”
“You asked me not to tell anyone about your injury, didn’t you?”
Oh, that.
I’d forgotten because it wasn’t a big deal.
“Right.”
As I replied casually, Plato immediately bowed at a 90-degree angle.
“I apologize. I ended up telling the other cadets about it. I mentioned that your injury hasn’t fully healed yet. After hearing that, the cadets began to admire you for participating in the training despite your condition to uphold another cadet’s honor, regardless of age. It’s my fault.”
Hmm.
Something about this apology seemed off.
In essence, without me asking, Plato had enhanced my image among the cadets.
‘Looks like Plato values his beliefs more than keeping promises, which worked out well.’
The other cadets would know better than anyone that Plato wasn’t the type to falsely praise someone, given his rigid nature at the academy.
Since it came from him, it must have sounded all the more sincere.
Thanks to Plato, my reputation had been boosted, and at the same time, he relieved himself of the guilt of not keeping his promise.
It seemed things turned out well.
But it’d be better to act like a bigger person here.
“If that’s the case, don’t worry about it. Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, they would’ve noticed sooner or later.”
“Haydam-nim…”
“If it really bothers you, there’s one thing I’d like to ask of you.”
It’s one thing to act magnanimous, but I should still get something in return.
Plato looked at me with a face that brightened with joy.
“What would you like me to do?”
But then his expression darkened again.
“Please don’t ask me to gossip behind people’s backs again…”
He looked so worried that I might ask him to spread rumors again.
It seemed he really hated doing that sort of thing.
Of course, I no longer planned on making Plato do such a task.
I’ve learned from this experience that Plato’s not good at gossiping.
“No, it’s not that. The graduation ceremony is coming up, right?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
Plato said with a proud expression.
“We’re graduating soon. After we complete our first subjugation, I’ll be able to choose my posting, and when that time comes, I’ll definitely apply to be your aide, Haydam-nim.”
Even though I didn’t have any rank yet, he was already saying he’d apply to be my aide.
Well, I would be getting a rank after the upcoming subjugation.
I wasn’t sure what rank my dictator father would give me, but as a staff officer, I’d probably be around a captain or major, given the size of the battalion.
But the favor I wanted wasn’t about what happens after graduation.
This guy becoming my aide was already a settled matter.
“What I want to ask has nothing to do with what happens after graduation.”
“Then…?”
“I heard you’re giving the graduation speech. Is that correct?”
Plato looked surprised by my words.
“The graduation speech?”
“Yes.”
“I am giving it, but… what do you want me to do?”
Seeing his anxious expression, I smiled as I spoke.
“There’s one thing I’d like you to do during the speech.”
After sending Plato off, I collapsed onto the bed in my private room.
‘Finally, some rest.’
I had been shot by that Unicorn player and spent some time in the hospital.
But with so many eyes on me there, I couldn’t rest properly.
Now that I thought about it, even at the commander’s residence, I was constantly acting and reacting, so this private room might be the most free space I had.
‘Come to think of it, I also need to figure out what to do about that Unicorn player.’
He had said that his target was BangguseokYeoBo, not me—at least not yet.
But I couldn’t just trust that and leave things as they were.
Just then, the notification for the public chat room rang.
[‘God’: I have a suggestion for everyone~]
‘A suggestion?’
God, the player from the Love Zone.
He gave off a weird vibe.
It felt like he was forcing himself to act all excited.
Even HomeProtector had said he felt uncomfortable around him, so I wasn’t the only one who sensed it.
‘He hasn’t done anything noticeable up until now, so why is he suddenly making a suggestion?’
God’s next message sparked my interest.
[‘God’: So, I’ve confirmed that there’s no barrier between zones in the Love Zone!]
That was quick.
He had already gone as far as the zone boundaries where the barriers were?
‘The zone closest to the Love Zone is… HomeProtector’s Cigarette Zone.’
After the First Apocalypse, the land humans could live on wasn’t vast.
Aside from the floating Unicorn Zone and the large submarine Beer Zone, most zones were crammed into a landmass about the size of the Korean Peninsula.
If we placed Cola Zone at the northern end, just below Hamgyeongbuk-do, the closest to us would be Cocaine Zone around Gangwon-do.
Above it, Unicorn Zone floated, and Knife Zone was positioned somewhere near Busan.
Love Zone and Cigarette Zone would be somewhere in Gyeonggi-do, while Chicken and Candy Zones were down near Jeju Island.
In any case, God’s Love Zone was closest to HomeProtector’s zone.
Even though God said he had confirmed there were no barriers, HomeProtector hadn’t appeared in the chat yet.
‘Normally, he’d be quick to respond…’
Maybe it was because he wasn’t a full-time slacker anymore, but I doubted it was a coincidence that HomeProtector was busy when God sent that message.
It had been a while since I’d heard from him.
‘Either something happened, or he’s already made contact with God… it must be one of the two.’
With no one responding, God sent another message.
[God: So, I have a proposal for all of you~]
God’s chat message stopped there.
Soon after, other players began to appear one by one.
[Dentist: What kind of proposal are we talking about?]
[Addict: Does it have to do with the fact that there’s no barrier?]
[Sapppossible: Just tell us what the proposal is.]
It seemed like the others were also paying attention to God’s messages.
God answered the question about his proposal.
[God: Let’s meet!]
Meet… in person?
‘What kind of suggestion is this?’
It wasn’t just me who was taken aback; there was a brief pause in the chat with no further messages.
Addict was the first to respond.
Addict: You mean… meet in person?]
[Addict: Are you suggesting we meet face-to-face?]
[God: Exactly! Aren’t you all curious about each other?]
[Addict: And what are we supposed to do once we meet?]
[God: We could have a meal and chat?]
God: Haven’t any of you ever done an offline meetup while gaming? Haha.]
So, he wanted to meet just for an offline gathering?
[IWon’tCryThat’sCardio: Oh! I’ve never done an offline meetup before. It sounds like fun!]
The player from the Chicken Zone responded positively, but the others weren’t as receptive to God’s casual proposal.
[Sapppossible: What are you, living in a field of flowers?]
[Addict: I’ve never done offline meetups, and I’m not starting now…]
[Dentist: I don’t mean to be rude, but I suspect you have a lot of cavities.]
Despite the flood of negative reactions, Sapppossible seemed to think God was making this suggestion because his head was full of whimsical ideas, but I had a different opinion.
‘There’s no way he confirmed the lack of barriers this quickly without a reason.’
God must have had a specific objective in proposing this meeting.
The fact that he checked whether or not there were barriers between zones before suggesting the meeting made it clear that there was an ulterior motive.
‘Why would he want to meet with the other players?’
If I had confirmed that the barriers were gone, my first move would have been to reinforce security.
I had no intention of meeting other zone players until the Second Apocalypse arrived.
After all, we were all still in the bodies of ten-year-olds with limited strength and resources.
Who would want to face others like this?
‘Could God also be an adult in his real body, like that guy from the Unicorn Zone?’
As I grew more suspicious of God’s intentions, Addict spoke up again.
[Addict: If you have some sort of agenda, why not just be honest about it?]
[God: An agenda?]
[Addict: You’re acting really suspicious right now…]
[God: Oh my~ I’m just being nice and making a friendly suggestion.]
God replied slyly, unfazed by Addict’s suspicion.
[God: We’re all in this together, suddenly thrust into this game, right?]
[God: How are we going to stop the apocalypse if we can’t even trust each other?]
[Addict: How am I supposed to trust you, or anyone in this chat, for that matter? Especially after we just found out there are two dopamine addicts here.]
Oh, am I getting dragged into this again?
[Addict: That dopamine addict—he’s a well-known hedonist…]
Famous for that? That’s news to me.
[Addict: And despite the uproar over the two dopamine addicts, neither of them has bothered to clear anything up. Clearly, they have no interest in cooperating with us.]
[God: I doubt the dopamine addict would be cooperative either~]
Addict: And what about that guy in the Knife Zone, Tbalrom? The fact that he only communicates with the dopamine addict was weird from the start. Then there’s HomeProtector, who’s famous for being a follower of the dopamine addict, and now Sapppossible too.]
[Sapppossible: Why am I being dragged into this for no reason?]
This was the first time I’d seen Addict talk this much.
[God: Look, I might have said I was a fan of the dopamine addict at first, but I’m just a regular, well-intentioned player—]
As God tried to explain himself, Addict interrupted with an unexpected revelation.
[Addict: God, do you really think I don’t know who you are?]
[Addict: I know who you are.]