A Veteran Player is Needed in the Apocalypse

Chapter 54: The Importance of Early Education

After the graduation ceremony ended, the new officers were assigned to their respective extermination missions.

This time, we completely overhauled the existing unit structure. The commander and I personally handpicked a select few to form 10 teams, which would be deployed for the mission.

Rather than having all 10 teams move simultaneously, they would fan out from the zone and conduct searches.

Of course, since each team had fewer than ten members, they wouldn’t immediately engage with monsters upon encounter.

The plan was to regroup at base camp after the search, share the location and movement paths of large monsters, and then initiate the extermination.

The commander took charge of the center with experienced soldiers in Team 1, while I decided to move with the new officers in Team 10.

“Just when the extermination is about to begin, why am I being asked to set up the exam questions as well?”

“Please don’t grumble too loudly, Lord Haydam. The team members can hear you.”

At Meursault’s remark, the team members quickly averted their gazes, pretending not to have heard anything.

Meursault, you sly guy. Why didn’t you join the commander in Team 1? Instead, you’re here demoralizing the new officers in Team 10.

Incidentally, Plato had been recognized for his abilities and was leading Team 9, guiding other new officers.

As for BangguseokYeoBo, whom I had pushed into the extermination teams, he seemed to have been assigned somewhere among Teams 3 to 8, composed of regular soldiers.

The only familiar faces among my team members were Lucas and Bones.

Since I didn’t have the best relationship with them, they looked startled when I glanced their way and quickly volunteered to search further afield, disappearing from sight.

The area we were tasked with searching was the edge of the zone, where a barrier should have been in place, and large monsters rarely appeared.

It was a suitable location for the new officers with no real combat experience, and for me, who came to inspect the barrier, it was the perfect search site.

Though we hadn’t spotted the barrier yet, Meursault suddenly spoke up.

“By the way… I didn’t expect you to make Plato do something like that.”

“Something like that? It’s not like I had him do anything bad.”

“But you knew it, didn’t you? That the graduation speech would make things difficult for him going forward.”

I flashed a crooked smile at Meursault.

“Since when did you start worrying about others? And he’s not a cadet anymore. He’s a second lieutenant.”

Plato and the other graduates of the academy were no longer cadets; they had officially become commissioned officers with the rank of second lieutenant.

Of course, their ranks were virtually meaningless, considering they were still wet behind the ears…

“And it seems like your rank hasn’t been decided yet, Lord Haydam.”

I had thought the commander would assign my rank when the extermination began.

Maybe he realized that I had already grown too familiar with Meursault, who was a major general, and feared that giving me an ambiguous rank might lead to insubordination. So, in the end, the commander didn’t assign me a specific rank.

Well… It would’ve been awkward no matter what, so simply calling me “Team Leader” might have been the best solution.

“Don’t worry about Plato. His father’s a general; nothing much will happen.”

“You’re quite cold-hearted.”

“Meursault, Plato isn’t the type to get tripped up by others. If anything, he’s the one who causes trouble for people.”

“That’s… true.”

Meursault closed his eyes, seemingly recalling Plato’s graduation speech where he had exposed my past.

I guess it was fortunate that the commander decided to let that incident slide.

Though, it wouldn’t surprise me if the commander had scolded Plato behind my back. At least, Plato had all his limbs intact when we set out for the extermination today, so it seemed nothing too serious had happened.

“At that moment, I was completely at a loss as well.”

“Good thing it all passed smoothly.”

Meursault nodded, acknowledging that worrying about Plato was unnecessary. Then, he continued.

“I understand not to worry about Plato, but…”

“But?”

“I want to caution you against putting too much trust in him. His unpredictable behavior might not be limited to small things like the graduation speech.”

I was well aware that Plato’s impulsive actions sometimes crossed the line…

Looks like Meursault’s nagging session is longer than usual today.

Despite downplaying the extermination as if it wasn’t a big deal, maybe he’s feeling a little tense.

“You were moved, though, weren’t you?”

“Me? Moved?”

“Weren’t you? You were clapping pretty enthusiastically.”

“Ahem… Ah, over there. I need to check something.”

Meursault awkwardly cleared his throat and walked off in some random direction, avoiding eye contact.

‘That guy… He’s never straightforward.’

Meursault was an NPC who had risen to the rank of major general on his own, after starting as a regular soldier since he couldn’t get into the academy.

He must have faced plenty of discrimination from academy graduates, being pushed around in every direction.

Even after attaining his rank, he was likely disregarded by officers raised and sponsored by those very graduates.

But now, that rotten system had been dismantled, so he must be feeling quite relieved.

His unusual concern for Plato probably stemmed from a sense of guilt for assigning such a task to a young cadet instead of handling it himself.

Meursault mentioned Plato might face difficulties because of the task, but in reality, having Plato perform it allowed everyone to view him without bias, even though he was Anton’s son, the leader of the pro-Daphne faction. Meursault hadn’t realized that yet.

‘By the way, I’m surprised Anton didn’t react, knowing I’m the one who prepared the exam…’

At that moment, the team members ahead of me started causing a commotion.

“What’s going on?”

“Lord Haydam, Lucas and Bones…”

“Move aside.”

Upon hearing the names of the two who had deliberately distanced themselves from me, I pushed through the team, wondering if they had gotten injured.

“…What the?”

In their hands was something that definitely shouldn’t have been there.

—

**Player from the Love Zone, Oriole.**

Before being possessed, Oriole had been a survival expert. He had caught the eye of the Love Zone oracle, Player ‘God’, and was given a special mission.

The mission was to go to the Cola Zone and gather information on the ‘DopamineAddict.’

God’s permission even extended to torturing Cola Zone NPCs if necessary to obtain the intel.

Oriole had asked what to do if the Cola Zone NPCs didn’t know anything about the DopamineAddict, but God assured him that since the DopamineAddict was in the middle of conquering a bastard child, extracting information about ‘Haydam Goodman’ would suffice.

‘As expected, God knows everything!’

Some disrespectful players questioned God’s abilities, but Oriole had absolute faith in Him.

Thus, he willingly embarked on the arduous journey from the Love Zone to the Cola Zone in the body of a child.

As a player, Oriole also had some knowledge of the Cola Zone.

He knew that around this time, the Cola Zone NPCs would be swarming outside the zone to hunt monsters.

However, when Oriole arrived at the Cola Zone, he was met with a significant challenge.

‘There are… fewer soldiers than I thought?’

Whatever had happened, the Cola soldiers, who should have poured out in overwhelming numbers, were nowhere to be seen.

All he saw were scattered groups of two soldiers on reconnaissance.

‘This could be a problem…’

As the saying goes, “If you want to hide a tree, hide it in a forest.” Similarly, Oriole planned to blend in with the soldiers, pretending to be a new recruit.

But with so few soldiers, his appearance as a child would surely stand out.

Could the DopamineAddict have influenced the deployment of these soldiers?

If the DopamineAddict had started at the same time as him, he’d be just a 10-year-old child as well. The fact that he could already move armies was astonishing.

‘Now I understand why God ordered me to gather information on the DopamineAddict.’

In truth, Oriole had always found the DopamineAddict’s followers in the Love Zone a bit annoying, but seeing it firsthand, he understood why they were so desperate to confirm whether the DopamineAddict was on their side or not.

While the leader of the Love Zone, *God*, could only mobilize players like himself, the DopamineAddict was already commanding NPC armies.

‘I’ll have to change my plan…’

Originally, he intended to blend in with the soldiers and casually ask, “What kind of person is Lord Haydam?” to gather information. But pretending to be a soldier was now out of the question.

‘But I’m a player. I can manipulate Cola Zone NPCs however I want.’

It was well-known among players that Cola Zone NPCs had lower intelligence compared to those of other zones but were far kinder.

Right now, he was in the form of a 10-year-old child.

If the Cola Zone NPCs saw a child like him wandering lost in the snowy field, what would they do?

If he pretended to be injured and unable to move, they’d surely approach without suspicion and try to help.

At that moment, he’d slit the throat of the first one who got close, and while the remaining one panicked, he’d overpower him and drag him away to extract information.

‘Since they seem to be working in pairs, killing one and keeping the other alive to get information will work perfectly.’

There was no way they’d expect a 10-year-old child to be a threat, nor imagine that trained soldiers would fall to a child left injured in the snow!

Oriole was looking forward to the expressions they’d make when they realized they’d been tricked.

‘This is why I love the Safe Zone.’

Being in the body of a 10-year-old might seem like a disadvantage at first glance, but as a veteran player of the Safe Zone, Oriole knew how to fully utilize this form.

Even in the Cola Zone, where the DopamineAddict was present, the low intelligence of the NPCs was something that couldn’t be helped.

If he could use one of the Cola Zone NPCs to sabotage the DopamineAddict, the DopamineAddict’s followers in the Love Zone would have no choice but to stay quiet… Oriole thought to himself as he lay down in the snow, waiting for the Cola Zone NPCs to approach.

“-Lucas.”

Soon, a deep, rough voice sounded nearby.

“If my eyes aren’t deceiving me, there’s a kid collapsed in the snow over there.”

“What?”

Oriole, still lying on the snow, clutching his knee and pretending to be injured, heard the conversation and thought.

‘Lucas? That must be the new officer… The one with him is clearly Bones from the way he talks.’

Having quickly identified the approaching Cola Zone NPCs, Oriole internally rejoiced.

Lucas and Bones had just recently been commissioned as new officers.

‘This will be easy.’

Bones, despite his harsh words, had a soft heart. Even if Lucas died right in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to harm a child.

On the other hand, Lucas was rational and followed rules to a fault, which meant he should be killed first.

‘Kill Lucas, torture Bones for information.’

Having settled his plan, Oriole covered his mouth with his shoulder to hide his faint smile from them.

‘These rookies, on their first extermination mission, don’t stand a chance against me.’

As he waited for them to get closer…

Something felt off.

‘Why aren’t they coming any closer?’

Unable to contain his curiosity, Oriole pretended to writhe in pain, glancing toward the direction the voices had come from.

Standing there were Lucas and Bones, staring down at him with eyes colder than the snow beneath their feet.