A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 46 How

Before the executive meeting, I went to find Daphne.

I wanted to inform her that Meursault would be participating and also ask her about the *miyunshi*.

“Meursault is going to participate?”

As expected, Daphne looked surprised.

“He hasn’t taken part in a single subjugation battle in the last 10 years… I guess Hayden’s arrival has caused a change in him. He’s not someone who acts emotionally.”

She seemed surprised, but her reaction was calmer than I had anticipated.

Considering she uses a nickname like ‘Meursault’sWife’, I thought she’d be against her favorite person doing something so dangerous.

“Are you okay with Meursault going to the subjugation battle?”

“If it’s something Meursault wants… and if perhaps… Meursault gathered his courage after seeing Hayden…”

As she said that, Daphne clasped the teacup tightly in her hands.

“If Meursault returns from the subjugation battle… I was thinking of confessing my feelings.”

“…That sounds like a death flag for Meur… I mean, never mind.”

Seeing Daphne’s face turn serious the moment I mentioned a death flag, I quickly changed my words.

“I’ll do my best to handle Meursault somehow. So, on that note, could you perhaps help as a player?”

“As a player?”

“I’m not entirely sure what kind of powers you have, Daphne.”

Daphne let out a small laugh at my words.

“Being a player doesn’t mean I have some great power. I do have an appearance-boosting item, but all it does is raise people’s favorability.”

“Is that so?”

‘But Luna Moon…’

As if reading my thoughts, Daphne continued.

“Luna Moon was such an amazing person, it’s no wonder Hayden got confused. But it’s true, apart from gaining favorability, there’s nothing in *miyunshi* that helps in combat.”

In other words, Daphne had survived all this time without any special abilities.

Honestly, if she had any special powers, I would feel more at ease. But knowing that she got this far purely through her own efforts made her presence feel even heavier.

If it turned out she was lying… that would mean she didn’t trust me.

Maybe because my expression darkened, Daphne gave me an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help… I do have healing abilities, but it’s not something that would be useful for Hayden.”

So, she does have healing abilities like Luna Moon.

It seemed she didn’t purposely hide it from me but simply didn’t mention it because she thought it wouldn’t help.

“Oh, it’s something like—”

“I know.”

Before Daphne could explain her healing ability, I interrupted her.

“I inherited that ability from my mother.”

At those words, Daphne looked at me in surprise.

“Th-that ability is hereditary?”

Since my healing power would eventually be discovered sooner or later, it was better to reveal it now.

Once people realized my wounds healed unusually fast, Daphne, who had the same ability, would figure it out soon enough.

It was better for me to take the initiative.

Before Daphne could become suspicious of my ability, I flashed a soft smile and delivered an emotional line.

“Every time I use this ability, it always feels like my mother is watching over me.”

Just as I expected, Daphne looked moved.

“Oh…! I’m sure that’s true. It must be the legacy Luna Moon left behind for Hayden!”

Daphne’s gaze toward me became even more affectionate, as if she trusted me more, knowing I was Luna Moon’s son.

‘I think surviving for ten years with just an appearance-boosting item is more impressive.’

Just as I was feeling a sense of admiration for Daphne, who had survived in this game world for a decade without even being able to taste food, her expression suddenly turned serious.

“You must miss your mother.”

“Of course… I’m sure every child misses their mother.”

Hearing my response, Daphne’s expression seemed to shift as if she had made a decision.

“In fact… I’ve been preparing a gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. Anton recently informed me that there isn’t a single photo of Luna Moon left.”

‘Anton?’

It didn’t seem like Anton would casually mention something like that to Daphne.

If it were just Daphne preparing this gift on her own, it might not be concerning, but if Anton was involved, it probably wasn’t meant with the best intentions.

“I was told to keep it a secret until the executive meeting… but seeing Hayden miss Luna Moon so much, I felt like telling you now.”

She was telling me despite being instructed to keep it a secret?

Times like these made me grateful that Daphne was a player.

It seemed she felt more comfortable confiding in me, a fellow player, than Anton, who had been by her side for a decade.

I bet Anton didn’t expect that after all those years, Daphne would end up favoring me, the son of his rival, over him.

“We’re working on a portrait of Luna Moon. So that whenever Hayden misses her, he can look at it.”

‘A portrait of Luna Moon?’

When you think about it, gifting a portrait of a deceased mother to a grieving child isn’t a strange idea.

But the fact they chose a portrait of Luna Moon…

‘They’re suspicious of me.’

The truth is, it wouldn’t be difficult to find out that I was suspicious just by asking around the slums near her grave.

After all, I did practically fall from the sky.

It seemed Anton was planning to show me Luna Moon’s portrait to confirm whether I was really her son.

Looks like it’s time for me to visit Luna Moon’s grave.

* * *

When I told Daphne that I wanted to visit my mother’s grave after a long time, she immediately lent me a car and a driver.

After arriving at the slums where Luna Moon’s grave was located, I told the driver to wait outside the slum and swapped my title to “Mask of the Extra,” which made my appearance more inconspicuous.

Then I changed into clothes I had stored in my inventory, out of sight of others, before entering the slums.

The streets were much cleaner compared to my last visit when I had come to dig up the grave. It seemed that the commander’s frequent visits had prompted them to maintain the area better.

I roamed the slums, looking for someone whose appearance didn’t quite match that of a typical slum dweller.

If Anton had obtained information from this place, there must be a slum resident whose life had improved as a result.

As expected, I eventually spotted an old man wearing clothes made of fabric that was far too luxurious for someone living in a slum.

The old man, already well-supplied with food, didn’t even glance at the jerky I offered. Instead, he took a fragrant handkerchief I had been casually carrying, and then spilled everything he knew.

“Some people from the military came and asked if I knew a child named ‘Haydam.’”

“Did they come to investigate that child?”

“Yeah. When I said I didn’t, they asked if a black-haired, black-eyed child had ever lived in this village.”

The old man glanced at me, but he didn’t seem to find anything unusual about my hair or eye color.

Good thing I had worn the title that blurred my features.

To the old man, I probably looked like someone with slightly dark brown hair.

“Did such a child live here?”

“No. If there had been a black-haired child, I would remember, but I told them I’ve never seen one.”

“And what did they say?”

“Then they asked if I knew anything about the owner of that unnamed grave over there.”

The old man clicked his tongue as he spoke.

“The grave is called ‘the unnamed grave.’ How would I know who’s buried there? Sure, some high-ranking folks have been coming and going frequently lately, but I told them I had no interest in getting involved with such people out of curiosity.”

“Did they leave peacefully after that?”

“No. They were persistent bastards.”

As the old man stroked his pocket, it became clear that he had been paid quite handsomely before he started talking.

“They kept pushing, so I told them I remembered an old geezer who passed away recently used to claim that the person in that grave was some noble who cared for the people when the plague hit. But I also added that he was so old his mind wasn’t right, so who knows if it’s true.”

“And after that?”

“They asked something really strange.”

“Something strange?”

“They asked if I knew anything about signs of the grave being dug up.”

The old man laughed as if the question itself was absurd.

“Who in their right mind would admit to knowing that? They must think that black-haired kid, Haydam, was digging up the grave of someone important and is now being hunted for it…”

Hmm. It was an incorrect, yet not entirely wrong, assumption.

“Oh, one last thing. When I told them the unnamed grave had been there for a long time, the soldiers’ expressions changed, and they left.”

Hmm.

I’d heard everything I needed.

“I see. Thank you for sharing that with me. Please, take the jerky as well.”

“Well, if you’re offering…”

I said goodbye to the old man, who was now grinning from ear to ear, and made my way to a secluded area to change back into my usual clothes before heading toward Luna Moon’s grave.

Even though my business was done, I had to leave a trail of someone visiting Luna Moon’s grave, so it wouldn’t look suspicious that I had come here.

As I ventured further into the village, Luna Moon’s grave was no longer just a barren mound of dirt.

Some flowers, ones you wouldn’t expect to find in this snow-covered apocalyptic world, had been laid in front of the grave, and as soon as I saw them, the ring on my finger began to heat up again.

‘Come to think of it, this ring… it’s linked to an NPC related to Luna Moon.’

Considering I was pretending to be Luna Moon’s son, I had been rather neglectful.

‘I’ll make sure to visit the grave more often.’

I absentmindedly thought this as if speaking to the ring, and in response, the moonstone on the ring briefly shimmered.

I smiled faintly at the ring and then turned my gaze back to the grave.

Despite the commander’s frequent visits, the dirt around the grave still looked soft and disturbed, evidence of when Safe8 and I had dug it up.

‘The signs of the grave being dug up… I can just say Safe8 dug it up while impersonating me.’

The commander had seen that guy bring Luna Moon’s dog tags, so he wouldn’t doubt my words.

‘An old grave… that doesn’t prove anything.’

In a world destroyed by the First Apocalypse, no one had the technology to accurately date when the grave had been made.

That’s why Anton was planning to test me by gifting a portrait of Luna Moon instead of relying on the grave.

He probably thought I wouldn’t recognize Luna Moon’s face.

And indeed, all I knew was what Luna Moon’s skeleton looked like.

But now that I knew they’d show me her portrait, I could prepare and act accordingly.

‘Still, it’s odd that the people in the slums don’t know a child named Haydam.’

I could explain it by saying Luna Moon had hidden me.

I’d have to claim that Luna Moon had only died recently.

Even if there were elderly villagers who remembered Luna Moon treating the plague, the commander knew that Luna Moon had healing abilities, so my story would sound more believable.

With everything now prepared to counter Anton’s trap, I headed to the executive meeting.

But the moment I saw the portrait that Anton revealed…

I realized something was terribly wrong.

‘…How.’

How could *that person’s* face be in the portrait?

The face of my real mother.