Chapter 258 - Clan (2)

Lee Hansoo's room.

Coming here felt like returning to my hometown now. It was familiar and comfortable, yet somehow foreign—even this room that had once been my home.

CLICK

First, I pressed the computer's power button and opened the community. Then I waited for posts to appear. There wasn't much else to do until the Round Table opened at three.

[Long Live Korean Independence] - 0 users online.

Lee Baekho wasn't here this time either. Whew. Judging by how he'd threatened GM to lift his ban, he seemed to be looking for some way back in, but apparently he hadn't found one yet.

'He said his ultimate goal was to go home...'

Recalling the ambition Lee Baekho had once shared, I gave GM some thought as well.

What exactly was GM's goal? Was it to go home too?

'... But then why did he ban Lee Baekho?'

Hmm... I had no idea. Things kept happening somewhere beyond my knowledge.

'Anyway, I just hope all this effort wasn't for nothing.'

Hoping my plan to use Karon as a stand-in would work and dispel his suspicions, I reviewed what I knew about GM. There wasn't much.

For one, he was a mage. And he was such a fan of “Elfnuna” that he used the username “Elfnunalove” in the community.

No, wait a minute.

'... What would he do if he found out I was that person? Would he start helping me with everything?'

It suddenly occurred to me that I might be able to use that to gain a powerful backer. But those hopeful thoughts ultimately led me right back to square one.

'Absolutely not.'

In a way, it was the same reason I'd refused to reveal my identity to Lee Baekho to the very end. I didn't know GM's intentions. Besides, hadn't GM already sent “Bjorn Jandel” a pill granting entry to the community once before?

In short, he hadn't approached me just to invite me into the community if I was a Player.

That meant I had to keep myself thoroughly hidden. Even if I learned his intentions were good, that wouldn't change anything. Who knew how relationships might turn out?

Revealing to someone that I was an evil spirit was no different from handing them my leash. I'd even witnessed a case of that going horribly wrong.

["Fine. If that's what you want, I'll leave you nowhere to belong. Hans Krissen is an evil spirit!"]

If what had happened to Hans G happened to me, what choice would I make? Would I be able to reject the choice being forced on me?

CLICK, CLICK

I put those thoughts aside and moved the mouse. A fair amount of time must have passed, because posts were appearing on the various boards. I passed the time lurking, as though I were surfing the web.

Then, about thirty minutes after the community opened, a post appeared.

[I'm from Noark, and there's something you should all know.]

* * *

The post began like this:

-I went back and forth over this a lot, wondering if I'd get banned for being from Noark. But everyone needs to know this, whether you're aboveground or underground, regardless of which side you're on. So here goes.

-We're outside right now.

-Not inside the walls. I mean the actual outside world.

It was a shocking claim that contradicted the very foundations of this world's lore.

-You're probably wondering how that could possibly make sense, right? But it's true. We escaped outside to get away from the royal family, and we're still alive and well.

-Honestly, I still don't know whether the witch's curse faded over time or there was never any curse to begin with.

-But one thing's certain.

-There's really nothing wrong with the world outside right now. Plants are growing, and if you get close, you can see bugs eating the blades of grass. There are wild animals too.

The author went on at length about what it was like outside, then described what had happened to them in the form of a daily log. I slowly read through the entire lengthy post.

My first impression was this:

'No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like bullshit just to get a rise out of people...'

It didn't look like a simple prank. Then again, someone probably wouldn't risk getting banned just for a prank in the first place. Nevertheless, the comments were a madhouse.

[Brutalizer X: Here, have some attention.]

[arolf5205: Came to see what this was about, read the top, then scrolled straight down. Nobody here is dumb enough to believe this, right?]

Starting with the top comments dismissing it as a lie some attention whore had thrown together...

[ryanzeus31: But if this is true, isn't the royal family fucked? If there's really a world outside where you can live without magic crystals, there's no way this bullshit city can keep going.]

[└furryking1955: Maybe that's why they hid it? No way they didn't know.]

There were those who gave the post some credence and worried about what would follow.

And then...

[Gareth: Wow, I was wondering where everyone disappeared to after that old man showed up. They went outside?]

There were those whose comments suggested they knew something.

[└NIKAMOTO: Old man? What do you mean? I'd respectfully like to ask you to share what you know.]

[└Gareth: We were waiting in front of the portal to cut down the Noark bastards when they came out, but then some old man suddenly appeared, teleported, and ran off with the whole lot.]

[└Kni8htofroom: If you're going to lie, at least put some effort into it. How do you move that many people with mass teleportation?]

[└Gareth: Don't know, and I don't care about convincing you. Anyway, what am I supposed to do now? Fuck, I went with the knight build because I thought siding with the royal family would be easy. Is the royal family going down now?]

That comment marked the start of a gradual shift in opinion toward believing the post. Members of the royal forces who had participated in the assault began appearing one after another to give their accounts.

[└amulet: It may be difficult to believe, but they really did escape by teleportation. I was there myself, so I can say that for certain.]

[└kongkong2: Isn't this the person who's been posting nothing but knight order stuff for years? So this is all real?]

The post made the popular posts list, and eyewitness accounts from the royal side poured in. Then people from Noark began showing themselves too.

[EXBlunt: Ahh, the air outside is great. Guess those of us who went underground early are the winners?]

[xxfblz: Yep, we're doing just fine without magic crystals. You guys keep slaving away and paying taxes.]

I was starting to feel confused myself. I could accept the idea that the outside world was fine. In fact, I'd felt something was off when I saw guards standing watch on the walls.

But there was one part I couldn't understand.

'Why are they telling us this?'

There was nothing strange about people from Noark being in the community. But why share their situation with us? Because they thought it was their duty to their fellow Players?

'No, there's no way.'

If that were true, I would never have been trapped on the first floor, fighting for my life to break a path through. Back then, they'd kept completely silent. They hadn't breathed a word about the ambush, not even as a joke, and most of the surface explorers had been wiped out as a result.

Naturally, a considerable number of those had been Players.

'... Then it's probably fair to assume Noark ordered this.'

They had a motive. If they lied and said they'd escaped outside altogether, it would help throw off the royal family's pursuit—

'But if the outside world isn't fine, the royal family wouldn't fall for that anyway, would they?'

Running into a contradiction almost immediately, I let out a deep sigh.

“Ha... Seriously, what the hell is going on?”

In the end, I couldn't help leaving a comment.

[Elfnunna: I have a question for the people from Noark. If the outside world really is fine, and you're really out there right now, why tell us about it here? You've kept quiet all this time.]

Before long, a notification sounded to announce a reply. Except...

[└FIREWORK:└ Whoa, are you really Elfnuna? I'm building a fire-ability archer. Please give me some advice.

[└bigfisher: Can't believe you fell for that. It's Elfnunna, not Elfnuna.]

[└Bling0_0: But it might actually be the real one. I heard someone took the original username early on and died, so it's unavailable now.]

Not one reply was useful. Come on, I'd asked the Noark people. Why was this all I was getting?

'Tsk.'

I smacked my lips and checked the time.

To my surprise, there were only about ten minutes left until the Round Table opened. Reading the comments as they kept updating in real time had made the time fly by.

'Right. I should be able to get some useful information there.'

I stopped reading the comments and lay on the bed to rest for a bit. As soon as it was time, I entered the Round Table.

'He's not going to skip it, is he?'

I'd worried Clown might not attend after being battered throughout the last gathering, but fortunately, he was a resilient bastard.

“Mr. Lion, you're here too. Pfft.”

There he went, acting friendly again.

I more or less let the greeting go in one ear and out the other and took my usual seat. Goblin, Stag Horns, Clown, and SoulQueen were here, but for some reason, Fox wasn't.

“How strange. She's usually the first to arrive.”

Goblin voiced his puzzlement while watching my reaction. Well, I was the one who'd left separately with Fox to talk at the end last time. He was probably wondering if something had happened.

“...”

But I had no idea why Fox hadn't arrived yet either, so I simply kept my mouth shut.

How much time passed after that? Soon, it was time for the gathering to begin, and Fox still hadn't appeared.

Instead...

“Oh?”

“So you weren't dead, Crescent Moon?”

Crescent Moon appeared, after his absence at the previous gathering had prompted all sorts of speculation. The attention focused on the absent Fox shifted to him.

“A new face! Nice to meet you. Last time was my first gathering, so I still have a lot to learn.”

A born social butterfly, SoulQueen approached first to introduce herself.

But something was off about Crescent Moon.

“...”

You'd think he would have taken an interest in SoulQueen, whom he'd never met either, but he simply sat down without replying. Had he always had this air about him?

“Pfft, enough with the brooding. What happened? Just tell us that. Can't you see everyone's curious?”

Clown finally asked, and none of the other members said anything about his rudeness. They were curious too—about what on earth had happened to Crescent Moon.

“... I wasn't in the mood at the time.”

Perhaps uncomfortable with the attention, Crescent Moon offered a brief explanation. There were no details, but it wasn't hard to understand what he meant, given the timing. And there was that subdued voice of his.

“It seems you've lost someone.”

Stag Horns clicked his tongue and murmured, and Crescent Moon offered no denial. Goblin shifted uneasily, looking back and forth between Clown and Crescent Moon.

The reason was simple.

“Then it's just as well you came. Your enemy may be right here.”

“What do you mean...?”

Having missed the last gathering, Crescent Moon didn't know Clown's identity.

“Clown is the Corpse Collector.”

Stag Horns made no attempt to hide his animosity as he revealed what we'd learned last time, and Crescent Moon froze.

Silence lingered for a moment.

“I see. Clown is... Yes, so it was you...”

Crescent Moon fixed his gaze on Clown.

Had he really lost something to Noark's forces? There was a palpable, prickling killing intent in his gaze. But Clown, who had experienced worse, merely laughed as usual.

“Pfft. Is that going to kill anyone?”

Crescent Moon stared at Clown for a while, then unclenched his fists. His killing intent had faded too.

He knew it himself. Even with his enemy right before his eyes, there was nothing he could do here and now.

“One day, I will come for you.”

His voice was calm and controlled. After a pause, Clown sneered.

“... Pfft. I'll be looking forward to it.”

And with that, their personal exchange was over.

“Now, the door's closed, so why don't we get started? I've been looking forward to this all month!”

SoulQueen took charge, forcing some energy into her voice. We began deciding the speaking order.

“All right, then. I'll go first today.”

Clown volunteered for the first turn. No one said anything, but I could tell they were more eager than ever to hear what would come out of his mouth.

“This might get a little exciting, you know?”

Clown looked around at us as he spoke, then fixed his gaze on Crescent Moon.

“Since you say you'll come for me, let me ask: how exactly do you intend to find me?”

“...”

“You've all seen the board, right? The post saying the outside world is fine, and everyone living in Noark has gone outside.”

Clown placed his hand on the jewel. Then he said simply,

“Every word of it is true.”

As if to prove it, the jewel on the Round Table glowed green.