Chapter 368 - Black Star (1)

CLICK, CLICK.

I used the mouse to check the chat rooms first. It was one of the first things I always did upon entering the community.

[Long Live Korean Independence] - 0 users online.

The Korean chat room where I had first met Lee Baekho. As expected, no one was online this time either.

'Sigh, part of me does want to meet him and have a proper talk to clear the air...'

After that quick check, I switched to the general discussion board. Posts usually flooded in as soon as the community opened, so there was no better time to get a quick overview of the past month's events.

[Breaking: Lesser Count Ramleond killed during this expedition.]

-Apparently the Orculus commander took four people or so along and fucked him up.

-The vacant post of Third Army Corps commander will most likely go to the chief of staff, who served as acting commander during the expedition.

[these99: Now that this incident's exposed the weakness of [Wall of a Thousand Metals] for everyone to see, I guess the rear won't be such a cushy assignment anymore.]

[└SecureId7: What do you mean, not cushy? Hardly anyone died from what I saw. At most, they'll increase the patrols a bit.]

[stevencastle: Wait, isn't their chief of staff that bastard Eltora Terserion?]

[└OP: Yep. The chancellor bastard's son.]

[└stevencastle: Ha, guess I'm never joining the Third Army Corps again. Nothing good's ever come of getting mixed up with that bastard.]

As expected, most of the posts on the board were about the war.

[Anyone heard the news about the Blood Spirit Marquis?]

-They say she killed an Orculus member called the Lighthouse Keeper or something. Is that confirmed? I heard the other side had the Blood Knight, Corpse Collector, and Screaming Witch too.

[marcelone: It's confirmed. Everyone in the know's already heard. For the record, she didn't kill him alone. Apparently she teamed up with the Mage of Gold.]

[└OP: Whoa, really? I heard they used to be teammates. Guess they're not on such bad terms after all, despite the rumors.]

[marcelone: Still, the enemy lineup was so strong that there's a lot of speculation. Even for the Blood Spirit Marquis, taking out the Lighthouse Keeper, who was playing support, against a force like that doesn't make sense, does it?]

Tsk, so people were questioning that part too. If there were suspicions even here, someone elsewhere might already have launched an actual investigation.

CLICK, CLICK.

I kept reading the posts, mulling over various things. How much time had passed?

DING!

Suddenly, a private message arrived.

[Sender: Ghost master.]

The sender's name was GM's username, but that wasn't particularly surprising. System messages and community announcements were sent under that name. Over ninety percent of my inbox consisted of messages from GM.

But...

'With what I've done, I can't help feeling nervous.'

Feeling that the moment had finally come, I clicked the mouse. Sure enough.

[I was too occupied last session to contact you until now. If you have time, let's meet.]

GM had sent me an invitation.

* * *

It wasn't particularly surprising. I'd expected GM to contact me for some time. If anything, it was stranger that it had taken this long.

'Honestly, I thought he'd contact me right away last session.'

I'd revealed GM's identity at the Round Table. SoulQueen would have passed that on to him.

'But if he waited until the next session to contact me...'

There were two possibilities. Either he'd wanted to take his time and approach the meeting cautiously, or he'd been somewhere he couldn't receive messages while the community was active. Not that it really mattered.

'So, what should I do...?'

I left the message open and considered it for a moment.

For starters, I doubted GM would ban me even if I turned him down. Hadn't I worked hard to act like a big shot behind the lion mask? If he had any sense, he wouldn't want to make an outright enemy of me. Especially after banning Lee Baekho had nearly gotten him killed in real life.

'... All right, let's meet him.'

Once I'd made up my mind, there was nothing to hold me back. I closed the message window, found the private chat room mentioned in the message, and entered the password.

'The password's 0720? Some kind of anniversary?'

The thought crossed my mind, but even if I was right, it wasn't worth dwelling on.

WHOOOOSH!

Light flared from the monitor, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a study with elegant, old-fashioned furnishings.

"..."

The faint scent of books hung in the air. The place, with its oddly calming atmosphere, was somewhat familiar to me. After all, I'd been here once before.

It had been back when the Dimension collapse rumors were circulating. While trying to find out whether they were true, I'd obtained information here from a man with a peculiar username floating above his head.

[Elfnunalove]

Back then, I'd never imagined he was GM. Hmm, perhaps he felt much the same about me?

"It's been a while, Elfnunna. Or would you prefer I call you Mr. Lion?"

"Either is fine."

"Your manner of speaking has changed considerably. Or perhaps this is your true self?"

There was no reason to answer his probing question, so I ignored it and sat on the sofa opposite him. He put on a false smile.

"At any rate, this is our third meeting. Strange, isn't it? The connections between people."

It certainly was strange. The first time, I'd been a newbie looking for information in the community. The second had been in the chat room I shared with Lee Baekho.

["I mean exactly what I said. You won't be able to meet Mr. Baekho here anymore."]

Out of a sense of decency, he'd given me, a fellow countryman of Lee Baekho's, a brief explanation. That had been all. To him, I must have been no more and no less than one of the few Korean Players.

"You've become much less talkative since we last met."

"..."

"Then I'll ask directly. I'm not one to readily believe in fate bringing people together. What do you want from me?"

What did I want...?

"Why do you think I want something?"

"Even if our second meeting wasn't planned, our first must have been deliberate."

Right, so that was how he'd interpreted it. It really had been a coincidence, though.

"Weren't you the one who invited me to the chat room that time too?"

"Yes, I was. But thinking back, it seems odd. You specifically asked about the Tarutein School and a mage named Sharnel Fergan in your post."

"..."

"No matter how I look at it, I can only conclude that you were trying to draw me in. Didn't you deliberately post something that would interest me?"

This guy was ridiculous. What would I possibly gain from that?

"The thought sent chills down my spine. It meant you knew that much about me."

It was an absurd leap of logic, but pointing that out wouldn't do me any good, so I cut the subject short.

"... Surely you didn't call me here just to talk about that?"

"Are you avoiding the question?"

Avoiding it, my ass. It wasn't as if I could tell him the truth.

"Think what you like."

"I shall."

"So, why did you call me here?"

When I firmly steered the conversation, he gave a small smile and answered.

"What a strange question. Weren't you the one who called for me?"

Huh? How did we suddenly get there?

"..."

When I stayed silent at this bewildering turn, he continued on his own.

"I have no idea how you learned my real name. But wasn't wanting to meet me the reason you told it to SoulQueen?"

Uh... Having him sound so sharp while being completely off the mark made me feel embarrassed for him. Suddenly, I had a lot to think about. But as always, I didn't spend long deliberating.

"Indeed."

Since things had come to this...

"So you're not an idiot."

Let's change course a little.

* * *

"You mean..."

He trailed off, glancing at me. I answered with a shrug.

"...!"

He was probably testing me anyway. It was obvious that questions like that were a ploy to extract information. If I admitted it, he'd have confirmation. If I denied it, he could eliminate a possibility. From his perspective, even a wrong guess cost him nothing.

So...

'Let's let him get it completely wrong.'

I opened my mouth.

"Yes, there is something I want from you."

Thinking about it, this wasn't a bad situation. I wasn't just saying that. There were things I wanted that only GM could do—

"Then you could have contacted me quietly."

Ah, that...

"That would be no fun."

As expected, he supplied his own interpretation of my offhand answer.

"... Well, from my perspective, it looks like you were trying to threaten me."

Well, think whatever you want about that. I returned to the matter at hand.

"So, aren't you going to ask?"

"... Ask what?"

"What I want from you."

"..."

He stared at me for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

"Very well. Let's hear it. What do you want from me so badly that you did all this?"

I paused briefly before answering.

"Lift Lee Baekho's ban."

If there was anything I needed GM's power for, this was it. With Lee Baekho back in the community, I could talk to him. I also needed to get information about our cat, who was presumably in his temporary care.

Had he anticipated this request to some extent?

"... I see. So that was your aim."

GM looked surprisingly composed.

Then again, Players forming factions along national lines wasn't particularly unusual.

"Then was Lee Baekho the one who told you my identity?"

The question suggested he was already certain Lee Baekho and I were in cahoots. I had no reason to answer.

"Who knows?"

"Just what... are you two plotting?"

"There's no reason I couldn't tell you."

"... Pardon?"

He looked dumbfounded, apparently not having expected that answer. Really, he ought to hear people out.

"If you bring me something worth as much."

He frowned as I finished.

"Are you referring to... interesting information?"

Right, so he'd heard about that too. When I remained silent without denying it, he tapped his knee with his index finger, then...

"Hahaha..."

Abruptly, he began laughing like a balloon leaking air.

What the hell? That was suddenly creepy.

"You must be awfully confident in yourself."

His question was icy, a complete reversal of his kindness and courtesy up to now.

"Not without reason."

"Then we're alike in that regard."

"Does that mean you refuse?"

He answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Yes. You spread my personal information without my permission, then make one-sided demands. I have no reason to comply."

"..."

"If you want Lee Baekho's ban lifted, bring me something worth doing it for."

He abruptly rose and looked at me as if asking whether I had anything else to say. Hmm, at least he was giving me time to speak.

"How unfortunate."

I spoke with genuine regret.

"That you thought I was negotiating."

He tilted his head at my words. Why pretend not to understand? Ever since we'd first met, he'd made it obvious he feared me, however much he tried to hide it.

["Your manner of speaking has changed considerably."]

He'd remained polite despite my rude manner.

["... Well, from my perspective, it looks like you were trying to threaten me."]

He'd felt deeply threatened by my actions.

["Then you could have contacted me quietly."]

Rather than venting his anger over what I'd done, he'd first expressed regret. Which was why...

"I'll give you three months."

"... Are you threatening me?"

I neither confirmed nor denied it. As always, interpretation was up to the listener. Eventually, he spoke.

"... Even Lee Baekho couldn't do anything to me."

Saying that in such a small voice only made it look like he was trying to bolster his own courage. Besides, there was something to correct.

"To be precise, he nearly killed you too."

"..."

"Do I look as soft as he is?"

"..."

He gave no answer. So...

"Remember. Three months."

"..."

"After that, I'll come find you in person."

Now it was my turn to stand.

* * *

"Whew... Now that I'm back, I can breathe again."

After leaving the chat room and returning to the computer room, I collapsed onto the bed.

I'd gone through this countless times since putting on the lion mask, but it was still exhausting every time.

'I didn't expect things to turn out like this.'

Originally, I'd only intended to meet GM and fish for a little information, like how much he knew about me. Bring up Lee Baekho too, if possible. Yes, that had certainly been the plan at first...

'Who would've thought he was this afraid of me?'

Talking to him had changed my mind. The Magic Engineer, Jurven Havelion. An unidentified powerhouse who knew that identity. Apparently, being faced with someone in that position had made him deeply uneasy, and catching on quickly had worked in my favor.

'But even with his identity exposed, he didn't seem worried about the royal family.'

As I slowly went over the conversation, though, a question occurred to me that hadn't before. I wouldn't even need to harm him myself. Just leaking the fact that he was an evil spirit to the royal family should spell certain doom for him. So why had he only seemed wary of a direct threat?

'... Does he have some backer in the royal family? Someone who could bury even the evil spirit issue?'

If so, I'd like to share that connection. ... That probably wasn't an option, was it?

'That last exchange bothers me a little too...'

I recalled the question he'd asked me before I left the chat room.

["The password. You haven't said anything about the password."]

It had been quite bewildering. What about the password? The way he'd said it suggested it meant something.

["..."]

Unable to make any sense of it, I'd held my tongue. To him, that had been an answer.

["Then you really have no connection to that man..."]

["..."]

["Sorry to keep you. I'll see you again soon."]

Sigh, he'd left me feeling unsettled for no good reason.