A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 49 Graduation Speech

“Damn it, why is the pre-ceremony event an hour long?”

Bones grumbled as he flopped into the middle seat in the front row after the pre-ceremony had finished, entering the graduation hall.

“Hah, finally graduating from this miserable school.”

Bones had worn a suit, forced to for the occasion, but judging from his expression throughout the pre-ceremony, it was obvious he found it uncomfortable.

“Who the hell came up with the idea of making us wear suits for graduation?”

Lucas, also in a suit, sat next to Bones with a tired face and said, “At least loosen your tie a bit.”

“No can do. General Max is watching us.”

“Man, I can’t tell if you’re a delinquent or a model student.”

“You should be saying that to him, not me.”

Bones tilted his head in a certain direction, and Lucas followed his gaze.

There, Plato was standing, neatly dressed in a suit, scanning the room as if searching for someone.

Lucas frowned and asked, “How does he look like a delinquent?”

Just then, Plato noticed the two of them, his face lighting up as he approached. Bones and Lucas groaned in unison.

The image of Plato, who had recently scolded them for exposing Haydam’s injury and told them to feel ashamed, overlapped in their minds.

Since that incident, both of them had felt uncomfortable around Plato, but the man with the clear-eyed madness seemed completely unbothered as he approached and spoke.

“Have you seen Lord Haydam?”

Already agitated from hearing Haydam’s name since the training simulation, Bones jumped from his seat.

“Are you nuts? Why would you ask us that?”

“He said he’d definitely come today, but I don’t see him.”

“What the hell? Haydam isn’t a graduate, so why would he come here?”

“He said he was coming to observe.”

“Is Haydam your dad or something?”

“Has Captain Anton arrived? I didn’t see him at the pre-ceremony.”

Lucas, calming down the irritated Bones, asked, “Now that you mention it, I didn’t see him either.”

Plato tilted his head slightly and briefly answered, “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him.”

Bones made a face like he couldn’t believe it.

“You’re looking for Haydam before your own dad?”

“Right. I wonder if Father knows where Lord Haydam is.”

“What the hell is wrong with this guy?”

Bones gave up on the conversation, looking exasperated, and Lucas took over.

“Anyway, we haven’t seen Lord Haydam. If he comes, wouldn’t he be with the Commander?”

“That makes sense.”

“But seriously, why would Lord Haydam come here?”

“To watch my graduation speech.”

“You—what…”

Lucas almost said, *What do you think you are?*, but swallowed the words.

He couldn’t understand why Lord Haydam would come here to watch this guy’s graduation speech.

But given that they had done the training simulation together twice, maybe they had become close like brothers.

…Though when he looked at Plato’s behavior, it felt less like brothers and more like a dog waiting for its master.

‘Haydam must know Plato is Captain Anton’s son… So, does that mean he doesn’t care about factions?’

Lucas, being a cadet supported by a neutral officer, neither aligned with Daphne’s nor Hayden’s faction, didn’t have to worry much about who Haydam was close with.

But it irked him that even Haydam seemed to look favorably on Plato, someone Lucas had never managed to beat during their time at the Academy.

“If Lord Haydam is really coming to watch, shouldn’t you head to the waiting room now? You can’t mess up your graduation speech.”

Lucas politely told Plato to get out of his sight. Plato checked the time and nodded.

“You’re right. Thanks for the advice, Lucas.”

After Plato thanked him and left, Bones started grumbling again.

“Did you see that? That guy is more scheming than me. He’d even abandon his own dad to get ahead.”

“Come on, it’s not like that. They’re close, so it’s not strange for Lord Haydam to come to see his graduation speech.”

Lucas, trying to stay neutral, replied, and Bones scoffed.

“Hah, it’s ridiculous. What kind of graduation speech would he give? He’s the kid who threw a tantrum and did an 8-on-1 training simulation because he didn’t want to enter the Academy.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Lucas widened his eyes, hearing this for the first time, and Bones, realizing he had let something slip, quickly covered his mouth.

“Ah, crap. I wasn’t supposed to say that…”

“Are you saying Lord Haydam did a training simulation because he didn’t want to enter the Academy?”

“I didn’t hear it directly.”

Bones glanced around before leaning in to whisper in Lucas’s ear.

“Don’t tell anyone, okay? I heard it from General Max. The Commander told Lord Haydam to enter the Academy, but Haydam said it was a waste of time and wanted to prove that he was better than any cadet.”

“And that’s why he did the training simulation?”

“Yeah. And in the end, he proved it—twice.”

Lucas, with a stiff expression, closed his mouth, and Bones, sensing his discomfort, backed off.

“Well, it did feel like we got shown up, but after seeing that kid in action, I couldn’t even be mad.”

Bones, noticing Lucas’s expression, chuckled.

“You look like you got scratched, huh?”

“I’m not feeling great. I’ll admit I don’t have much to say after getting trounced by him.”

“…This might not be my place to say this.”

Bones spoke lightly, but for once, there was a hint of hesitation in his voice.

“Since we’re graduating, maybe it’s time to set aside your pride.”

Lucas could guess what Bones was trying to say but pretended not to understand.

“What pride?”

“The request for the training simulation… You did that because of your pride, right?”

“It wasn’t just about me—”

“Yeah, right. Everyone knows you have this subtle inferiority complex with Plato.”

“…”

Lucas neither denied nor confirmed, but Bones didn’t seem to care and continued.

“Lord Haydam is the heir of this zone. Even that freak Plato has Captain Anton, but… we don’t have that.”

Lucas knew what Bones was trying to say.

While they could compete while still in the Academy, once they graduated and joined the military, an insurmountable barrier of rank would appear between them and Plato.

Unlike Plato, who had his father, Anton, they didn’t have that kind of backing.

Since Bones, in the same situation as him, understood his feelings, Lucas didn’t take his words negatively.

Lucas smirked and replied, “Looking at how you can’t even loosen your tie because you’re afraid of your foster father, you might be right.”

“Hey! It’s not because General Max gave me a hint, I just wanted to make a good impression—!”

“Shh. It’s starting.”

As soon as Lucas stopped Bones from raising his voice, the once-dark hall lit up, and the principal took the stage.

Behind him, the Commander, Haydam, and Plato followed, taking their seats. Lucas clenched his fist and suddenly thought:

‘Hmm? Why is Lord Haydam going up there?’

—

** * **

“Lord Haydam!”

Just as I barely made it in time before the graduation ceremony started and entered the waiting room, Plato was the first to greet me.

“As expected, you came!”

“Plato. Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Did you come to encourage me?”

“Uh… yep.”

Of course, I was really here to check if Plato was doing what I told him, but coming to the waiting room was also an opportunity to greet the Commander.

However, despite the ceremony being about to start, the Commander was nowhere to be seen in the waiting room.

“What about my father?”

“Haha, wouldn’t His Excellency’s presence make others uncomfortable?”

That’s true.

Sometimes I forget that he’s a dictatorial ruler because I’ve grown too comfortable around him.

I also have to question Plato’s sanity for saying that out loud so casually.

“His Excellency will probably arrive just before going up on stage.”

“I see… But Captain Anton isn’t here either?”

“Indeed, he’s not.”

*Indeed??* Considering how excitedly Plato greeted me, he seemed oddly uninterested in his own father.

“Didn’t he come? It’s still your graduation, after all.”

“I’m not sure. He must be busy. But more importantly, Lord Haydam, could you take a look at the speech I’ve prepared…?”

Cold. Like father, like son, I guess.

But still…

‘So it *was* Anton who summoned BangguseokYeoBo.’

Plato must’ve told Anton that I would be attending his graduation speech today.

Now that I’m out of the way, Anton probably thought it was the perfect time to meet BangguseokYeoBo.

‘That kid’s been bragging to the higher-ups about being close to me, so I figured this would happen eventually.’

Since I’m making his son my aide, there’s no way Anton would call my friend in just to harm him.

Well, since BangguseokYeoBo is also a player, I’m sure he’ll handle it just fine.

“Isn’t it about to start? Shouldn’t you head up?”

I turned at the sound of a familiar voice behind me. The Commander, dressed sharply in his white uniform, was watching us with his one remaining eye, an intrigued look on his face.

“Father.”

“Greetings, Your Excellency.”

Plato greeted him with a respectful bow, and the Commander gave a strange smile.

“Quite polite now. You’ve grown a lot.”

…Wait, does that mean Plato *wasn’t* bowing before?

Plato, seemingly taking it as a compliment, smiled proudly and replied, “It’s all thanks to Lord Haydam.”

Why is that thanks to me?

“My son is quite talented. To have trained someone else’s dog so well.”

“Father.”

“Come now, let’s head up before we’re late. You have a speech to give, don’t you?”

I was about to say something in response to him calling Plato a dog right to his face, but the Commander slyly smiled and nudged Plato toward the stage.

Plato, completely unfazed by the “dog” comment, didn’t seem to care whether he was a dog or not—he was only focused on his graduation speech.

‘Plato really doesn’t seem to mind…’

The Commander’s attitude likely came from the fact that Plato was Anton’s son.

It wouldn’t be unreasonable to suspect that Anton purposely had Plato get close to me.

Though I knew Plato was genuinely loyal to me, when push comes to shove, he’s still human—he wouldn’t be able to easily abandon his own blood.

Still, Plato will have to deal with the Commander’s suspicions on his own…

“Where are you going?”

“Excuse me?”

As I was about to head to the audience while Plato and the Commander made their way to the stage for the speech, the Commander’s voice stopped me.

“Well, I was going to—”

“Come up with us. You’ll have to eventually anyway.”

I realized then.

‘This guy knows exactly what I’ve been having Plato do.’

I had thought that after Plato’s speech, I might be called up since I was the one behind everything.

Since the Commander seemed fully aware of what we were about to do and still told me to go up, it was a relief to know he had no intention of stopping us.

Plato, of course, seemed thrilled.

“That’s a great idea! Lord Haydam, please come up with us. As you saw in the speech, it would be best if you were in a visible spot.”

I hadn’t actually read the speech; I was just holding it.

And so, I was dragged up to the stage, where I took a seat.

After the principal’s long-winded speech, it was finally time for Plato’s graduation speech.

As Plato stood in front of the microphone, scanning the audience before slowly opening his mouth, I could only hope he would follow through on what I had instructed him.

“Honorable Lord Haydam, and… well, just the other graduates.”

…This is off to a worrying start.