Chapter 93 - Player (5)

“Did you retrieve the computer that ended up with the police?”

“Yes. We erased their memories and every related trace, so there shouldn't be any news coverage like last time.”

The old man nodded at the woman's report, then slowly read through the document on his desk. It summarized one man's life. Reading the single page didn't take long.

“He's good at surviving bad luck.”

After murmuring that brief assessment, the old man continued.

“But that's all.”

The woman nodded in agreement. The man's life had been so full of twists and turns that calling him good at surviving bad luck hardly did it justice. But there was nothing else remarkable about him.

An ordinary job, an ordinary education, ordinary relationships. Everything about him was ordinary.

Except for this game.

“I simply don't understand.”

That made the man seem all the more unusual.

[Dungeon and Stone], the legacy of Auriel Gabis, was a failure. After long deliberation, everyone had reached that conclusion. No one disputed that it captured that world better than any other work, but...

It was impossible to clear.

So it had been scrapped five years ago.

“... And now someone has cleared it. Could it have been something other than a failure?”

Murmuring to himself, the old man shook his head. Hadn't they all agreed that even if someone cleared it, there was no guarantee it would produce better results than the other works?

His decision hadn't been wrong.

But...

“I am a little curious how he turned out.”

The old man opened his laptop and entered the man's name.

[Lee Hansoo]

The name of the only Player to have cleared that legacy—something everyone had called impossible.

* * *

[GP Owned: 139,000]

After selling information about the first-floor Floor lord and Skull Island, I stopped selling information. There were two reasons.

First, each transaction had taken longer than expected. With no transaction history to my name, the buyers had been suspicious.

Sure, answering a few questions had convinced both of them to buy, but... it would be more accurate to say they trusted the community rather than me. If you dared to scam someone and got kicked out, you could never come back.

And second. This was actually a bigger reason than the time involved.

'If I sell everything I can, I'm bound to attract attention.'

As the saying went, the stone that sticks out gets chiseled down. I wanted to attract as little attention as possible, no matter who it came from. It wasn't as though I urgently needed a lot of GP—

DING!

Just then, a message arrived.

[Sender: Ghost master.]

I'd seen that username in the announcements a few times. In other words, it was a message from the community Moderator.

My guilty conscience made my heart lurch, but when I opened it, it was nothing special.

[Elfnunna has completed at least 10 transactions. EXP +10]

[Your membership rank is being adjusted.]

[Deadman -> goblin.]

An automated message sent because my community rank had gone up. Higher ranks didn't come with any major perks, but it couldn't hurt. Some chat rooms did have rank restrictions, after all.

CLACK, CLACK-CLACK, CLACK.

For now, I used the GP I'd earned to post a question. I offered a reward of 10,000 to 100,000 GP—a declaration that I was willing to pay that much for worthwhile information.

[Your trade listing has been posted.]

Once that was posted, I passed the time browsing the community as though I were surfing the web. Reading the jokes and funny posts on the general board almost made me feel as though I'd returned to my old world.

Then, while I was doing that...

'Two million Stones for a hundred thousand points?'

Browsing the Trade market, I discovered GP's real-world value. I currently had about 140,000 GP.

'Holy shit. I made 2.8 million Stones just by answering two questions?'

My jaw dropped at first, but after thinking it over, it wasn't so hard to accept. It wasn't as though the information I'd sold wasn't worth that much.

'I could make a fortune just selling information here.'

For a moment, I even wondered whether I had any reason to keep entering the Labyrinth.

But...

'Don't get any strange ideas.'

The very act of converting GP into money still felt dangerous to me.

'Don't get greedy. Use this place strictly to gather information.'

I set myself that new ironclad rule and pulled myself together.

As I continued browsing the community...

DING!

A notification sounded. I checked the monitor and found a new message.

[Elfnunalove has requested a private conversation.]

Elfnunalove.

The username made me feel a little uncomfortable, but I clicked Accept without hesitation. There was only one reason anyone would contact me.

'I was worried, but someone showed up before the day was over.'

An information seller had finally appeared.

* * *

A study furnished in a classic style.

The faint scent of books surprised me a little.

'They've decorated this place really well. How much did they spend?'

It was on a completely different level from the clearing used for the Newcomers' Room or the desolate field that served as the default when I initiated a conversation. It must have cost a considerable amount of GP.

Still, I didn't really think it was a waste of money.

'It certainly does inspire a measure of trust all on its own...'

After a quick look around, I spotted a white man and greeted him.

“Hello.”

“Hello. You're Elfnunna, correct? Please, have a seat.”

As soon as I sat down, he got straight to the point.

“You'd like to know about a mage named Sharnel Fergan of the Tarutein School?”

“That's right.”

Dimension collapses.

If I asked only about those, it would be difficult for me to tell whether he was lying. Asking about Sharnel Fergan, however, was different.

Like this.

“To be precise, I'd like to know in detail what he's been doing lately.”

“Hmm. Is this about the rumors of a Dimension collapse, by any chance?”

The moment I mentioned Sharnel Fergan, he connected the name to a Dimension collapse. That lent more credibility to whatever information would follow.

So I asked him outright.

“Is that rumor true?”

He asked for 20,000 GP in exchange for the answer, then continued when I agreed.

“If you're asking whether he said that, then yes, he did. But if you're asking whether the rumor is true... it actually isn't.”

“What do you mean?”

He paused as though gathering his thoughts, then stated flatly,

“I mean there won't be a Dimension collapse.”

“What grounds do you have for saying that?”

“Well, this involves high-ranking figures and political power struggles...”

In short, the information was too valuable to sell for 20,000 GP.

“I'll give you another 20,000 GP.”

“If you're that eager to hear it.”

He nodded and continued without hesitation.

“The Tarutein School focuses on Labyrinth studies, particularly magical research into dimensions. And its master decided he wanted to conduct an experiment.”

“An experiment...?”

“I can't give you the details, but it isn't dangerous. It simply requires fewer explorers than usual to enter the Labyrinth.”

So the Tarutein School had spread a rumor throughout the city through one of its mages. They'd judged that rumors of a Dimension collapse would deter superstitious explorers.

“... Is it all right for you to just tell people this?”

“I'm not just telling people. I'm selling it for GP, aren't I?”

His unapologetic attitude left me at a loss for words. He chuckled and continued.

“Besides, what does it have to do with me? It's not as though I'm that school's master. And before long, the royal family will be putting up official notices everywhere denying the rumor.”

“... The royal family?”

“Did you think Raphdonia's royal family would sit back and do nothing? Fewer explorers entering means fewer magic crystals coming in.”

Hmm. Fair point.

After listening a little longer, everything fell neatly into place. The reasons he supplied without hesitation all made sense, and he didn't seem to be lying.

When I suggested marking the transaction complete and sending the remaining 20,000 GP separately, he shook his head.

“On second thought, don't worry about that. You seem to be a fan of his, too.”

Twenty thousand GP was 400,000 Stones, and he was waiving it just because we were fans of the same person...

I thanked him, but I couldn't help growing curious.

How many years had he been here?

'Five? Ten?'

Whatever the answer, one thing was certain. He was so firmly established in this world that he wouldn't miss 400,000 Stones.

'That must be how he knows the whole story behind information I couldn't get after days of trying.'

Once again, I took my original resolve to heart.

Fifteen times? Twenty? Thirty? Or even a hundred?

Well, whatever mode they'd cleared wasn't my concern. This wasn't a world inside a game. It was stark reality, ruled by the savage principle that those who survived were strong.

'Little Valcan or not, I guess I'm still the newbie here...'

It struck me anew that the road ahead was longer than the road I'd traveled.

But why was that?

I'd only just renewed my original resolve, yet...

'This is fun.'

The man who'd bought the strategy for the first-floor Floor lord. The woman who'd wanted information on Skull Island. This man standing before me now.

I smiled faintly.

It never occurred to me that I couldn't reach the heights they'd taken years to attain.

* * *

A black DOS screen.

After a short loading period, a Daily log of the Player's activities filled the monitor, accompanied by beeps.

BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP.

The rules of the Daily log were simple. Only actions were recorded here.

Which meant...

「You have safely completed the coming-of-age ceremony.」

「You have equipped a new item.」

Choosing a shield at the coming-of-age ceremony.

「The character has stepped on a goblin trap.」

Falling into danger as soon as he entered the Labyrinth. Stepping on a goblin trap and crawling across the ground for hours while bleeding. Killing someone on his first day. Becoming companions with an elf he'd met by chance.

And reaching the second floor on his very first expedition, after starting with nothing but his own body.

“He's insane.”

The more the old man read, the more incredulous he became. The fact that the log recorded only actions made it all the more striking. Every action had a reason behind it, after all.

Having read many Players' logs, the old man could vividly see the reasons behind the decisions this man must have made at each moment.

Because he had to.

Because it was the right choice.

And so he had acted. As though he were really playing a game.

It was truly astonishing. How many Players had made irrational choices, caught in the gulf between game and reality?

“... How many have reached the second floor on their first expedition?”

“One hundred and seventeen, to my knowledge.”

One hundred and seventeen. Rather too many to call a small number.

But the old man was certain that none of those 117 Players had faced such a combination of adverse conditions.

'What a peculiar fellow.'

He continued scrolling through the log, until one entry made him stiffen.

「You have defeated Vampire Duke Cambormir. EXP +5」

「Advanced Mutant variety kill bonus. EXP +1」

「Guardian kill bonus. EXP +3」

「[Vampire's Essence—Guardian] seeps into the character's soul...」

Before he knew it, the log on the screen had reached recent events.

「Bjorn Jandel」

Level: 3 (New +1)

Physical: 199.1 (New +87.7) / Mental: 105.3 (New +10) / Ability: 152.4 (New +129.4)

Item Level: 114 (New -104)

Overall Combat Index: 485.3 (New +201.1)

Obtained Essences: Corpse Golem - Rank 7, Vampire (Guardian) - Rank 5 (New)

Character information that would have been hard to believe even after several years. He had achieved it a mere two months after awakening in an unfamiliar body.

Of course, luck must have played some part.

But...

'If luck alone could accomplish this, there would have been at least one similar case.'

That was how statistics worked.

As samples and data accumulated, the possibilities narrowed, and uncertain information became clearer fact. Surprisingly, the “probabilities” derived through that process showed almost no deviation, however much the sample grew.

In other words, “luck” was an exceedingly minor variable in statistics.

Sometimes, however, something like this occurred.

A first.

The impossible becoming possible.

Put simply, zero becoming one.

An irregular outside the bounds of statistics, whose cause couldn't even be determined because there was no comparative sample.

CLICK, CLICK.

The old man raised the Player's monitoring priority to the maximum.

「Abnormal growth rate detected.」

「The Moderator is monitoring this character.」

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

The last words that man had left them with, when everyone had agreed his work was a failure.

[“I merely made a rational judgment. Even if it amounts to only one person in an entire lifetime, if we can send that person over properly prepared, that offers a better chance.”]

Perhaps he had been right.