Chapter 175 - Choice (3)

A double bed, a wardrobe, and a computer desk. Lee Hansoo's room.

[Long Live Korean Independence] - 0 users online.

First, I turned on the computer and entered the chat room. Last time, I'd arrived a few minutes late, and the guy had made a huge fuss about thinking I was dead.

'Besides, we only get an hour together.'

Something pretty major had happened this time, so I intended to sound Lee Baekho out for as much information as possible.

'I'm here first today.'

A spacious room furnished with elegant antiques. Before I could even sit on the sofa, Lee Baekho logged in after me.

So far, there was nothing wrong.

"Bro!"

But what was this? He looked visibly frantic.

"I'm in the middle of a fight right now, okay? I have to head straight back out."

"What?"

"There's no time to explain."

"But—"

"You heard about the punitive expedition, right? Don't join it, not even later. That's what I came to tell you."

"What do you mean—"

"See you next month!"

That was our entire conversation. Only seconds after we'd come face-to-face, Lee Baekho vanished.

"... What?"

I felt dazed. But if I calmed down and took stock of the situation...

'... He's in the middle of a fight?'

An hour in the community was one second in reality. Yet he'd left in such a hurry?

That meant he was fighting an enemy that powerful. Even if he stayed here for a minute, only about 0.02 seconds would pass outside. It was evidence that his opponent wouldn't let him waste even that much time.

'What the hell is he fighting?'

I had no idea. Only one thing was certain: he was closely involved with the punitive expedition against Noark.

'So that bastard really was in the underground city?'

It was the dead of night, and he wasn't even in the Labyrinth, yet he was fighting an enemy. Nothing other than the Noark expedition came to mind. The expeditionary force had set out just yesterday.

The king's army, the alliance of explorers, and even paladin orders sent as reinforcements by the temples. The sight of them filing into the sewers had been quite a spectacle.

'What he said at the end... That means he thinks the expedition will fail, doesn't it?'

Don't join, not even later. Reading into that, it meant the first expedition would fail and a second expeditionary force would be formed.

'Damn it, this is so frustrating...'

There was nothing to gain by staying here, so I returned to my room. There were still three whole hours until Observer of the Round Table opened.

With nothing else to do, I started surfing the web. I checked the Trade market first, then made the rounds of chat rooms without entry restrictions.

They were all the same. Everyone was talking about the Noark expedition.

'... Things have already gone to hell down there.'

Quite a few Players had joined the expedition. And from what they were saying...

"I'm in the rear, so I don't know much, but something is seriously wrong. I keep hearing explosions up ahead, but those bastard commanders are keeping their mouths shut and won't explain a thing..."

"Why are there so few people here today? Don't tell me they're all dead?"

Apparently, a fierce battle was raging underground even at this very moment. Honestly, I couldn't imagine just how fierce. Especially after seeing this post on the general discussion board.

[About to die. AMA.]

-Took a blade to the neck, then opened my eyes here.

-I'll stay alive for twelve seconds, right?

-Fuck.

[EdwardBless77: May this not be an eternal dream. I pray you'll open your eyes back home.]

[└OP: I really hope so.]

[godFLEXyou: You've been through enough. Rest now.]

[└OP: Thanks for the kind words.]

[stevencastle: Guess you were in the vanguard. I hear it's a living hell there right now. Did you run into Orculus too?]

[└OP: No idea. I heard someone shouting that somebody had shown up, but I don't remember who. Maybe they saw wrong. Thanks to those fucking warlocks, we couldn't even see a meter ahead.]

[teckmonkey: What do you want to do most?]

[└OP: Reproduce.]

[└teckmonkey: Uh, um... I'll leave it at that.]

[tunaboot: Where are you from?]

[└OP: Not sure which you mean. On Earth, Canada. If you mean here, Aribethen Clan. I was an officer, for what it's worth.]

[└tunaboot: Obviously I meant your hometown. But an officer in Aribethen Clan? You were a big shot.]

[└1spring: So what? He's dying now. Goodbye.]

[└ionboii: Wow, if he's revealing this much about himself here, I guess he's not trolling. I sincerely hope you rest in peace. You've been through a lot. And please ignore the asshole spouting bullshit above.]

Dozens more comments followed. Even as their number kept growing in real time, the author answered them one by one.

As though in a trance, I read down from the top, then left a comment myself.

[Elfnunna: Why give up already? Instead of doing this, you should log out right now and try to survive.]

As long as you didn't give up, there was a chance. It might be infinitely close to zero, but it wasn't zero. I was living proof.

Once I'd posted it, though, it struck me as terribly rude, so I added an explanation.

[└Elfnunna: I've taken a blade to the neck too. I've even gone into a state like that countdown in the game. But I could still move. In the end, I killed the enemy, drank a potion, and barely survived. So why don't you give it a try too?]

My experiences in the Land of the Dead and the Blood-Tinted Castle. I hoped they could offer hope to someone whose name and face I didn't even know.

But...

[└OP: I get what you're saying. But I'm an archer. I won't be able to use your method.]

The reply was one of utter resignation.

[└Elfnunna: You can at least try, can't you?]

I posted as though possessed, and a reply soon appeared.

[└OP: Sorry, but if I'm going to die anyway, I want to die as myself. Not in this goddamn body, but as the me my parents brought into the world.]

My mind went blank as soon as I read it. I took my hands off the keyboard.

What could I possibly say to that? That it wasn't his real body anyway? That it was only a manifestation of his sense of identity?

No. Nobody had the right to question his choice. Nor should they.

"..."

Without realizing it, I looked at the wardrobe. More precisely, at the mirror beside it.

I saw Lee Hansoo.

CLACK CLACK CLACK

I started typing again. I wrote and erased countless words of comfort, wishing him peaceful rest or hoping he'd wake up in his own world.

But I couldn't bring myself to press Enter.

CLACK CLACK CLACK

As I spent all that time typing, unable to decide what to do, the Players' comments kept coming. He answered every one.

[branbran_helmet: Fucking garbage-ass piece-of-shit game.]

[└OP; Yeah, this fucking garbage-ass piece-of-shit game!]

That was the last comment. No more followed.

I refreshed the page. The author's username at the top had been blurred out.

"..."

It meant he was dead.

* * *

I didn't understand why myself. I didn't know his face, and we'd never spoken in person. Yet my heart kept pounding violently.

Thump, thump.

I'd witnessed countless deaths since opening my eyes in this world. Yet today, the weight of death felt heavier than ever.

Why was that?

RRRRT

As though searching for an answer, I scrolled up. Then I read through it again from the top.

So many people had asked about who he really was that those answers alone offered a glimpse of a person's entire life.

RRRRT

He was Canadian. Born into a farming family, his real name was Mac Davis. His first kiss had been at seventeen. With his girlfriend's best friend, was it?

He sounded like a real piece of work, but he hadn't done anything to deserve death.

RRRRT

He'd dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. It had started when he was a child, after he'd been forced to watch his dog choke to death on its own vomit.

But he hadn't had a head for studying, so that hadn't worked out. In the end, he'd helped out on his parents' farm and played games now and then.

RRRRT

Yes, he'd been an ordinary person. Reasonably kind, sometimes messing things up and leaving someone with a bad impression of him...

An ordinary person in every way.

RRT

Eventually, I stopped scrolling at one spot. Looking again, I found a new reply to the comment I'd left.

[└OP: I keep thinking about what you said. Somehow, I get the feeling you're a strong person. I hope you clear this game and make it home. Of course, that's your choice.]

While I'd been writing and erasing, unable to compose even a few sentences of comfort, he'd left me these words of encouragement.

"..."

That single word, "choice," told me how considerate he'd been.

CLACK CLACK CLACK

I typed out a new comment. He wouldn't be able to read it anymore, but...

[└Elfnunna: If I make it back, I'll be sure to write to the address you posted above.]

[└Elfnunna: You've been through so much.]

After leaving those pointless comments, I left the post. Then I lay on the bed for a while, staring blankly as all sorts of thoughts drifted through my head.

How much time had passed?

[03 : 07]

Only three minutes remained before entry to Observer of the Round Table closed.

But what was this?

CREEEAK

I'd hurried into the Round Table room, only to find it empty.

* * *

No Crescent Moon, Goblin, Fox, or Stag Horns. No Clown, either.

I was the only one in the Round Table room.

'... Don't tell me they all joined the expedition?'

Again, I couldn't think of any other explanation.

Three hours in the community. A mere three seconds outside. What other reason could there be for them to be unable to spare those three seconds to come here?

*'I never thought I'd get stood up here too...'

First Lee Baekho, and now this.

Before I even had time to feel let down, light flashed before my eyes. When I came to my senses, I was back in my original room.

[The minimum number of participants has not been met.]

[This session's gathering will now end.]

Messages appeared on the monitor. So this was what happened when the entry deadline passed with nobody else there.

That gutted the main purpose of my community visit.

'Still, I might as well keep browsing until it's time to go.'

With no other choice, I spent the rest of my time surfing the web and checking minor bits of news. Time passed, and the session came to an end.

「The character is moving to Raphdonia.」

Bjorn's familiar room and Bjorn's body. Yet they felt a little unfamiliar today.

Or was I just tired?

'Let's just get some sleep.'

I emptied my mind and lay down on the bed.

CREAK

As always, the bed groaned and sagged beneath me. Another day had come to an end.

Then, three days later.

"Bjorn! H-hurry out here! The expeditionary force that went underground is back!"

The army that had marched on Noark returned.

With only about a third of them alive.

"..."

"..."

The soldiers trudged down the street in silence, their shoulders slumped. That alone made the outcome obvious.

'They really did fail.'

Things had gotten complicated.