Chapter 372 - Black Star (5)

Talking with Hyunbyul was surprisingly comfortable. Given our relationship and the things we were both hiding, I had expected it to be much more awkward.

'Once a boundary is drawn, she never crosses it first. That really does make things easy.'

Economics, culture, politics, administration, and so on. There were plenty of topics we could relate to without knowing each other's identities, and we discussed them freely.

How much time passed like that?

"The library, huh... Maybe we've passed each other once or twice."

"Did you go there often too?"

"Whenever I had time, I guess?"

"True, there really is nothing like books for gathering information."

Checking the time, I found that about two hours had passed since I met Hyunbyul. Wow, it had been a while since I lost track of time like that.

What should we talk about next?

While I was considering it, she spoke up cautiously.

"By the way, Hansoo."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"These friends of yours—what are they like?"

"... Where did that come from?"

When I tilted my head, Hyunbyul answered casually.

"I'm just curious. Honestly, it was entirely your own fault you didn't have friends, wasn't it?"

"... Huh? A punch in the gut, out of nowhere?"

At my stunned response, she hurried to explain.

"No, that's not what I meant... I mean, it all came down to whether you considered someone a friend. There were probably quite a few people who thought of you as one, you know? The ones who contacted you every New Year's or on your birthday."

"Hey, those aren't friends. They're acquaintances."

"Exactly. That way of thinking is the problem."

I had plenty to say to that, but I understood her point well enough, so I didn't argue.

"That's why I was surprised. These friends you've made here... you consider them friends too, right?"

"Sure...?"

"Honestly, I can't imagine what kind of magic they worked to change someone like you this much. What are they like?"

... Was it really so strange that I'd made friends that she had to put it like that?

An inexplicable bitterness crept over me, but I answered anyway.

"They're just trustworthy. Enough that I wouldn't worry even if they stood behind me holding a knife."

"Hmm. So fighting for your lives together so often let you build a deep sense of trust?"

"I suppose so?"

"But doesn't that just make them comrades, not friends?"

Uh...

Well, yes, but...

"Considering the historical setting here, comrades are generally regarded as having a closer, more trusting relationship than frien—"

"Oh, so they were just comrades."

"..."

I didn't answer. What did it matter whether they were friends or comrades? The point was that we mattered to each other.

"... What? What's that look for?"

"Come to think of it, you didn't have friends either, did you?"

"Plenty of people considered me their friend, thank you very much."

Sure, I knew that. But weren't you the same type as me? The type who cared more about what we thought than what other people did.

"So, have you made any friends here?"

"... I don't need them. I'm going back anyway."

"Really? Well, nothing to be done about that, then."

As I spoke with a chuckle, Hyunbyul looked up at me with something like indignation in her eyes. But it didn't last long.

"Huh?"

She suddenly flinched.

"I just heard a ding in my ear."

"Oh, you must have gotten a message."

"A message...?"

"Did you happen to list anything on the Trade market?"

"I haven't listed anything, but I did send an offer to someone looking to buy information. I thought earning some GP would make things easier. How do I check my messages?"

"You can't do it here. You have to leave and check on your computer."

"... Then I'll check it later."

"No, go check now. If they took this long to reply, they probably got messages from other sellers too."

Her expression brightened immediately when I suggested it first. Apparently, she had thought that was the sensible option herself.

"Sorry, then. I'll be right back."

"Huh? You're coming back?"

"... Don't tell me you're leaving?"

"If I'm waiting, you'll feel pressured to hurry up. Why go that far? We can just meet again next time."

"..."

"Besides, didn't you say this was your first day in the community? You should check out the other features instead of just sitting around here with me."

"That's... true."

As expected, once I laid out the logic, Hyunbyul nodded without much argument.

"Then I'll see you next month."

"Sure. Take care until then."

We even exchanged a brief goodbye.

Well, I was quite certain we had.

But...

"..."

"..."

"Why aren't you leaving?"

"..."

"Oh, you want me to go first? Then—"

Just as I was about to focus on leaving the chat room...

"Wait!"

Hyunbyul hastily grabbed my sleeve.

Then...

"Um, Hansoo."

She averted her gaze into empty space and continued.

"How do I leave...?"

Hah. I'd wondered what she was doing all alone in an empty chat room. She really could be clueless about the strangest things.

"Don't tell me..."

You weren't waiting for someone to show up—you were stuck here because you didn't know how to leave?

* * *

"Twenty-two years ago... is that what you said?"

The white man asked, pressing his lips tight, and the woman answered.

"Yes. That's exactly what he said. And the gem on the Round Table glowed green."

"..."

"What on earth is going on? The community hadn't even been properly established back then, had it?"

At that, the man clamped his mouth shut. In truth, something did come to mind.

The masked man he had first met after receiving authority over the spiritual world from the old man presumed to be Auriel Gabis.

["Whether you believe me is your choice. I came here merely to warn you."]

That man had initially pretended to be someone else. Once exposed, he had offered advice that could have been either a warning or a threat.

And then...

["I see. So that was your name."]

He had forcibly uncovered his name.

"... Master, your hands are shaking."

The man unconsciously lowered his head. His fingertips were trembling slightly.

It had happened over twenty years ago, yet even now...

"..."

Of course, he knew by now. The force that had constricted his body back then was Bloodlust.

But...

He gripped his knees tightly with his trembling hands, forcing them still.

As the saying went, ignorance was bliss. Sometimes, knowing only made things more terrifying.

He couldn't even imagine how many people someone would have to kill to exude Bloodlust like that.

'But to think the man in the lion mask was him...'

It had been so long ago that he hadn't immediately made the connection, but now it explained everything. How he had known his real name, Jurven Havelion. The absurd Bloodlust SoulQueen had reported.

'Three months, he said...'

The man felt fear and relief at once. Had he rashly rejected that threat outright, that man might have become his enemy.

But the more he feared him, the more he needed to know about him. If the mysterious man he had encountered twenty-two years ago was Mr. Lion, then what on earth was his goal?

That would be the key to their present situation.

'He reappeared in the community three years ago.'

His username was Elfnunna. He didn't believe the man was an Evil Spirit from another world, but even that wasn't certain. The man was too secretive to draw any firm conclusions about him.

'He contacted Lee Baekho as soon as he entered the community, then joined the Round Table right away.'

Why, then, had he done so? The clue lay in their conversation twenty-two years ago.

"Auriel Gabis..."

"Isn't that the game creator's name?"

The man had warned him when he had only just received his authority: beware of the old man who had given it to him, Auriel Gabis. He was the one who had brought them to this world, and he felt no guilt whatsoever about it.

"..."

"Excuse me. You're thinking."

Slowly, the tangle began to unravel. Mr. Lion was Auriel Gabis's enemy. And the reason he had reappeared in the community after nearly twenty years...

'Was it because the Round Table's Master... was Auriel Gabis?'

Username 0720. The founder of Observer of the Round Table, whom he had suspected of being an Evil Spirit from another world.

'No, there are too many contradictions in that, too.'

"SoulQueen, you said the Round Table's Master had visited the Round Table before, didn't you?"

"Yes. I wasn't there at the time, but that's what I heard."

"And the two appeared to know each other."

"Yes. Apparently all the members were surprised at how familiar they seemed with each other."

"I see..."

Just when the tangle had finally seemed to be unraveling, the man hit another wall. The deeper he dug, the more it felt as though he were sinking into a swamp.

Auriel Gabis, the Master, Mr. Lion, Lee Baekho—he had no idea what any of them wanted. However he tried to fit the pieces together, he lacked the clues, and ran up against contradictions.

But...

GRIND.

One thing, at least, was certain. Even now, somewhere beyond his knowledge, figures far greater than himself were weaving elaborate schemes and advancing toward their goals.

"... At this point, I have no choice but to admit it."

"Admit what?"

The man pressed his lips shut.

The owner of the community? GM? The longest-surviving Player? No matter how many Players looked up to him and called him those things, the truth remained unchanged.

"..."

In the end, he too was nothing but small fry.

"SoulQueen, it seems a great many things are happening beyond our knowledge."

"Yes. I've been feeling that often lately myself."

"We'll have to work harder from now on."

Rather than despair, however, the man chose to acknowledge his shortcomings and move forward.

And as if the heavens were answering him...

"... M-Master! Mr. Lion is in the Korean chat room! There are two people inside—"

"Who is the other one?"

"HS123. The person I helped enter earlier. Sh-she was Korean!"

"... So a newcomer from this intake."

The man hurriedly issued an order.

"Send her a message. I need to meet her."

This might be an opportunity that would never come again.

* * *

A small room with a bed on one side and a computer desk on the other.

Kang Hyunbyul found it rather funny.

["This space is a manifestation of your own imagination."]

That was what the guide she met upon first entering the community had told her.

The guide couldn't see it herself because Hyunbyul's mental barriers were too thick, but apparently this space was based on the first place her inner mind brought to the surface. Somewhere she thought she belonged, or the place where she felt safest, she had said.

And yet...

'How funny. That it should be here.'

Kang Hyunbyul smiled coldly. She could understand why it was this place. But wasn't the most important person, the one who ought to be here, missing?

"... Let's just get to work."

After glancing around the room, she sat at the computer desk. Then she checked her message and frowned.

'What? It wasn't from the buyer?'

Despite an inexplicable irritation, she read the message carefully because of the username in the sender field.

'SoulQueen... That's the woman who guided me when I first came in.'

For some reason, she was requesting a meeting.

CLICK, CLICK.

Without much hesitation, Kang Hyunbyul entered the password for the chat room listed in the message and went inside.

Two people were there, a man and a woman. The woman was someone she knew.

And the man...

[Elfnunalove.]

What the hell was that username?

Kang Hyunbyul felt a visceral aversion from the outset, but didn't show it.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elfnunalove."

"Hello. What is this about?"

"There's something I'd like to tell you, HS123—"

"Just call me 'you,' please. Being addressed by that name face-to-face feels a little awkward."

"Ahaha, I understand. It can be rather awkward, yes."

The man gave a good-natured laugh at her request. She, however, was simply dumbfounded.

'If you understand that, why would you pick a username like yours?'

Even as she regarded him coldly, she swiftly assessed the situation.

'Anyway, I tried being a little prickly, and he's still this deferential... He must have a reason.'

Kang Hyunbyul had no intention of underestimating the man in front of her. He did look somewhat foolish, but judging by appearances alone was stupid.

The woman called SoulQueen was a member of the administration. A man she stood beside as though attending him could hardly be ordinary.

'Someone who might even be GM personally summoned a newcomer like me...'

There was no need to think too hard. The timing of the message, that creepy username, his oddly deferential attitude, and so on. Taken together, they pointed to one possibility.

'This must have something to do with Hansoo.'

And indeed, her guess was right.

"You said you were Korean, correct?"

"Excuse me, but could we get straight to the point? I don't have much time."

"Haha, I understand, since it's your first visit. Even twelve hours isn't enough when you're exploring all the features."

"..."

Kang Hyunbyul didn't bother answering. As always, that approach proved highly effective.

"You're the reserved type, I see. Then I'll get right to the point. What is your relationship with the user Elfnunna?"

"Why should I answer?"

"I'll give you GP."

"We met for the first time today. Why?"

"Hmm..."

The man with the bizarre username Elfnunalove seemed to consider whether she was telling the truth, then began explaining why he had summoned her.

"I'd like to buy information about Elfnunna."

"You're asking me to dig into that man? When I only met him today?"

"Even trivial information will do. Koreans are close-knit, aren't they? If you approach him, HS123... No, if you approach him, he'll lower his guard a little."

"... And the reward?"

When Kang Hyunbyul asked cautiously, the man gave a brief answer.

"Anything you want."

"... Do you even know what I want?"

"Whatever it is, we have the power to make it happen."

"Is that... really true...?"

Kang Hyunbyul abandoned her frosty attitude and curled her lips into a smile.

Naturally. She had never had the slightest intention of storming out in a show of loyalty.

Wouldn't that be far too stupid?

'Honestly, Hansoo, you're so careless... I don't know what you've been getting up to, but you've got people like these on your tail.'

Her eyes curved into long crescents.