Chapter 369 - Black Star (2)

I didn't dwell on GM for long. It wasn't as if thinking about it would get me an answer, was it? Rather than waste time on a fruitless exercise, it was more efficient to spend it doing something I could actually accomplish.

Like browsing the web.

CLICK, CLICK.

Unlike back in the modern world, browsing the web here wasn't just entertainment to kill time. It was precious time spent gathering and organizing information so I could survive the next month.

"... Pfft, hahaha."

Why was this so funny? It was almost embarrassing.

CLICK, CLICK.

Time flew as I kept moving the mouse, checking one post after another.

And then...

'About time?'

It was time to enter the Round Table.

* * *

In an old-fashioned study, a white man sat with his fingers interlaced, lost in thought.

"To think he was on Lee Baekho's side."

It wasn't a possibility he'd failed to consider, but it was certainly not the outcome he'd wanted. Lee Baekho, who could only be described as uncontrollable, was enough of a headache on his own. Now another unknown had been added to the equation.

"... Where the hell did he come from?"

Elfnunna had joined the community roughly three years ago. The lion mask had appeared at the Round Table around the same time.

Which meant...

'He deliberately joined while pretending to be a newbie.'

Then why had he entered the community? His estimated combat strength was on par with Lee Baekho's, and his superior intelligence network suggested he'd established a faction of his own.

'... Observer of the Round Table.'

At the time, the man had tentatively concluded that entering that secret chat room was his objective.

Username: 0720.

An Evil Spirit from another world who had secretly infiltrated the community. A shrewd operator who had created the club called Observer of the Round Table and personally filled its ranks with heavyweights like the Corpse Collector.

He'd thought that individual might have a connection to the lion mask.

But...

'He seemed to know nothing about it.'

He'd expected some sort of reaction to the password. What had actually happened? There had been no reaction whatsoever throughout their conversation. Even when he'd explicitly mentioned it at the end, the result had been the same. The other man had seemed to have no idea why he'd brought it up.

Well, even that might have been an act...

'If he really has no connection to him, did he join the community to make contacting Lee Baekho easier?'

Hmm. Perhaps that was it.

The man considered and reconsidered the various possibilities.

That was when it happened.

"I'm sorry. There was a problem with the discussion board, so I couldn't come as soon as you contacted me."

A white woman appeared in the study where he'd been sitting alone. The username floating above her head read SoulQueen.

"So, why did you call me?"

She sat down on the sofa opposite him and asked, and the man briefly explained what had just happened.

"I met with Mr. Lion."

"... I see. How did it go?"

"He threatened me. Told me to lift Lee Baekho's ban."

"So... what are you going to do?"

"Fortunately, he said he'd give me three months. I intend to make a decision within that time."

The woman cautiously responded with a question.

"But... does he really have that kind of power?"

It was something the man himself had endlessly questioned and agonized over. After all, they knew nothing about him.

Except that he was a Player from Korea.

Without realizing it, the man clenched his fist tightly.

'Those damned Koreans.'

When he thought about it, it was truly unfair. Since creating this community, he'd met only a handful of Koreans. Very few Koreans played this game in the first place. In sheer numbers, they were far fewer than players from most Western countries.

But what about the results?

Lee Baekho had entered far later than he had, yet grown so powerful that he couldn't possibly match him in combat.

And now there was this newly emerged Elfnunna.

'Even Elfnuna is very likely Korean.'

At this point, he was beginning to wonder if they were born with something genetically special.

'Come to think of it, I never asked whether he chose that username because he has some connection to Elfnuna. Well, I doubt he would've answered anyway.'

The man believed that if anyone were to clear the original game and enter this world, Elfnuna was the likeliest candidate. While everyone else took the easy route and enjoyed the cheat version, he'd tirelessly devoted himself to the original alone.

"Master?"

"Ah, my mind wandered for a moment."

Her voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he gave his instructions.

"You're right, SoulQueen. We still have no information about him."

"..."

"So please make a more active effort to investigate him. Without provoking him, as far as possible."

The woman paused before responding to his instructions. But unlike her usual confident manner, with which she always handled her work flawlessly...

"... I'll try."

Her voice made it abundantly clear that she didn't want to.

* * *

By the time I put on my mask with practiced ease, walked down the quiet corridor, and arrived at the Round Table chamber, everyone else was already inside.

"... You're here! I was worried, pfft!"

Clown even rose to greet me warmly, apparently anxious that I might skip the Round Table.

"..."

When our eyes met, Queen awkwardly looked away. Well, aside from what had happened last time, she'd probably heard about my meeting with GM earlier, too.

"..."

Once I sat down, I saw the fox mask straight ahead. She gave me a brief nod of greeting when our eyes met, but...

"Tsk."

Every time I saw her, I regretted that missed opportunity. If I hadn't suddenly traveled into the past, I could've used the situation back then to uncover her ident—

"Um..."

I was still inwardly nursing that regret when Fox cautiously asked me a question.

"Have I... done something wrong?"

At first, I wondered what she was talking about, but I soon realized why she'd asked.

'Oh, it's because I clicked my tongue.'

Much like a carelessly thrown stone bursting a frog to death. From the looks of it, Fox wasn't the only one warily trying to figure out what had prompted my reaction.

But I had no intention of going into a lengthy explanation to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Who knows?"

An ambiguous answer, neither yes nor no.

Fox swallowed at my response. She seemed convinced she'd made some mistake without realizing it.

Well, taking it this far did make me feel a little bad...

'Let's just change the subject.'

"Then let's get started."

As it happened, the entry period had just ended and the chamber doors were closed. The other members stopped wondering what "mistake" Fox had made and focused on the present.

"I'm already looking forward to hearing what fascinating stories we have today. Pfft-hehe."

"Then we start over there this time?"

At Crescent Moon's question, everyone's attention turned to the stag-horn mask seated to my left.

It was an unspoken rule of the Round Table. Starting from my left meant that my turn came last. They always shared their information first, and I listened, assessed it, then offered information of equivalent value.

Whew. I'd really established myself in the perfect position, hadn't I?

"... I'll go first."

Stag Horns calmly shared the information he'd prepared.

"At a royal council meeting, a proposal to incorporate evil spirits into the nation was raised again for the first time in 150 years. Naturally, it was immediately struck from the agenda amid widespread opposition."

A brief statement that was difficult to understand precisely unless you'd actually worked in public office.

In simpler terms...

'What does that mean?'

I didn't understand it either. Not that this posed a problem. The Round Table had someone who always spoke up first whenever we lacked knowledge.

"A proposal to incorporate them into the nation...?"

When Goblin asked in a timid voice, SoulQueen explained on Stag Horns' behalf.

"It's an argument for embracing evil spirits and accepting them as subjects, rather than automatically declaring them enemies. It was proposed once 150 years ago, but fell through for various reasons."

"I-I see... Still, it's rather surprising that the royal family would say something like that..."

"Pfft-hehe, to me, it sounds like they're that short of fighting pow—"

"I wonder. At the very least, it tells me you know nothing about the royal family's military strength."

"... Why do you only ever pick fights with me?"

"My, aren't we self-important? I was merely stating a fact."

SoulQueen smiled innocently, and Clown said no more. For some reason, he always backed down around her. Was it because she'd verbally beaten him up a few times?

'Clown really is the perfect example of a bastard who bullies the weak and bows to the strong...'

Anyway, Stag Horns' information earned a green light on his first attempt, getting us off to a good start, and we moved straight on to the next person.

It was Goblin's turn.

"Ahem. A few days ago, the Followers of Leatlas received an oracle."

"Surely... that's not all?"

"Haha, of course not. Anyway, I looked into it, and the oracle's content was rather strange."

"Why not stop dragging it out and just tell us? You're only making yourself look pathetic. Pfft."

At Clown's criticism, Goblin shot him a glance that seemed to say, Why does he only ever do this to me? Then he recited the message.

"The king's bloodline harbors a black star. Aid the one who shall become its master."

"...?"

"That was the message."

Leatlas, Goddess of the Stars. As an oracle from the deity who governed the fate and future of souls, it left plenty of room for interpretation.

"A black star... Does that signify treason?"

"It could also be interpreted as colluding with Noark."

"But... aid the one who shall become its master...?"

"Perhaps it means the queen is pregnant. Except the baby's black. Pfft-hehe!"

"... How could you say something so vulgar?"

"Why? What's wrong with being black? Did I say something racist?"

Clown snickered as though he'd made a hilarious joke, but the reception was chilly.

This bastard definitely hadn't had any friends. That was why he'd spent his life playing [Dungeon and Stone]—

'Goddammit.'

Feeling my self-esteem about to take a hit, I stopped that train of thought. Just then, the discussion about the oracle was coming to an end anyway.

Most oracles were like that, really. Whatever interpretations and guesses people came up with, their true meaning generally only became clear with time.

"My turn now."

Crescent Moon was third. In the past, he'd brought us some incredible information about the Six Treasures, but he hadn't had anything like that lately.

Unfortunately, today was no different.

'Ugh, they jump at every chance to get by with war intelligence.'

Well, knowing it might come in handy someday. But since I wasn't leading a faction, it was difficult to profit from information like this.

On that note, next.

"The royal family has begun sharing warship construction technology with the private sector. It appears they had no choice if they wanted to quickly build replacements for the damaged ships. Perhaps we'll soon see major clans traveling aboard warships."

Fox's information was more of the same. True to her usual personality, she neatly explained both the information and its repercussions, but that was about it.

'Maybe it's because this is the first round, but the information's a bit underwhelming.'

The only things that had really caught my interest were the oracle and the proposal for "incorporation" reportedly raised at the royal council.

'Accepting evil spirits... Will a world like that really come?'

I entertained the idea, but didn't get my hopes up. Hadn't Stag Horns said it himself? It had only been mentioned once before opposition quickly knocked it off the agenda.

"Pfft-hehe. My turn now, then?"

We were over halfway around the table when Clown's turn came. Unfortunately, his information wasn't helpful to me either.

Actually, would it be more accurate to say it was harmful?

"The Lighthouse Keeper is dead."

Opening with something everyone present already knew, Clown proceeded to expose my information to the Round Table, just as I'd expected.

"It's widely credited to the Blood Spirit Marquis, but the truth is quite different. The credit goes not to her, but to the strange man that madwoman keeps around."

"... A strange man?"

"Yes. Seeing that she'd even fed him an Orc Hero Essence with [Gigantification], I initially thought she kept him around as a substitute for Bjorn Jandel..."

"Rihen Schuitz. The royal family is watching him, too."

"Pfft. So that's his name? In any case, I'd like to hear information about him at our next meeting, so allow me to elaborate."

"..."

"I don't know where someone like him came from, but he was an utterly absurd monster. Even with the four of us attacking together, killing him was impossible. Pfft."

"... Someone like that existed?"

"Wait. The Mage of Gold's report said nothing of the sort. Are you certain?"

"Would the green light have come on otherwise?"

The members expressed shock and intense interest at Clown's words.

*'Ugh. The thought of all these bastards investigating me is pretty grim...'

I was secretly sighing to myself when...

'What? Why is this woman staring at me again?'

Feeling someone's gaze, I glanced to the side and found SoulQueen staring directly at me. For some reason, she was muttering under her breath, just loudly enough for me to hear beside her.

"Gigantification... joined three years ago... Blood Spirit Marquis..."

Had she figured something out? No, perhaps she was on the verge of grasping it and was now putting the final pieces together.

And she wasn't the only one who'd noticed something odd.

"Wait, what if he's not a substitute, but actually him? [Gigantification] isn't exactly a common Essence. You said he seemed to have absorbed an Ogre Essence, too...?"

Goblin was the first to speak.

"True. However crazy the Blood Spirit Marquis might be, I don't think she'd find a stand-in and use a pet name for him..."

Fox nodded.

"Pfft. What are you all talking about? Bjorn Jandel is dead."

Clown scoffed at their suspicions.

But...

"What if he were alive? What if he's been building his strength in secret? That would explain why the Mage of Gold omitted this from her report."

Stag Horns murmured the words.

"That makes sense. His identity as an evil spirit was exposed shortly afterward. It's possible he faked his death because of that."

Crescent Moon summed it up.

And then...

"If Bjorn Jandel really is alive..."

Queen looked at me as she spoke.

"That period overlaps with the time Mr. Lion was missing."

At that moment, every eye turned to me.

Could you be Bjorn Jandel?

They clearly wanted to ask me outright, but after being burned so many times while testing the waters, they were visibly reluctant to open their mouths.

'Well, I thought it might turn out this way, and now it really has.'

Still, I didn't particularly feel cornered. A single alibi would put an end to this, wouldn't it?

"This again?"

I placed my hand on the Round Table's gem.

And then...

"Since you all seem curious about me, I'll go first this time."

I spoke as if mocking the suspicion in their eyes.

"I first entered this community..."

"..."

"Twenty-two years ago."

The green light came on.