Chapter 258: Clan (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 258: Clan (2)
I was inside Hansu Lee's room once again.
Coming here was beginning to feel a lot like returning to your hometown after moving away. Even though it was all comfortable and familiar, it still felt oddly unfamiliar at the same time—even this room I had once called home.
Click.
First, I joined the community by pressing the power button on the computer console. I waited for a moment for the posts to come up, because there was nothing else to do until the Round Table opened at three o'clock.
[Long Live Korea's Independence - 0 people are online.]
Baekho was once again not here. Judging by the way he'd been trying to threaten the GM into undoing his ban, it looked like he was looking for a way to get back somehow, but it seemed that hadn't happened yet.
He said going home was his ultimate goal...
Remembering the aspirations Baekho had shared with me in the past, I thought about the GM. What was the GM's goal? Was it to return as well?
...Then why did he ban Baekho? Hmm... I don't know.
There were things at play here that I didn't understand or even know about.
Anyway, it'd be nice if all my hard work wasn't for nothing.
Hoping that the plan to use Kharon as a stand-in worked to clear me of any suspicion, I made a list of the things I knew about the GM. There wasn't much. First, he was a wizard. He was also a big fan of Elfnuna, to the point that he used the nickname Elfnunalove on the messaging boards.
No, wait... What would happen if he found out I'm him? Would he help me out?
For a second, I even considered the idea of using this to secure a powerful sponsor, but ultimately, I defaulted to my previous approach.
Absolutely not.
This was in line with the way that I'd tried my best not to reveal my identity to Baekho until the end. I didn't know what the GM's intentions were, not to mention the GM had even sent a community invite pill to Bjorn Yandel once before. Put simply, that meant that even if it had been with good intentions, he had invited me to this community on the off chance I was a player, which meant I had to go to great lengths to protect myself. No one knew how interpersonal relationships could turn out. When it came to some people, the act of revealing I was an evil spirit was tantamount to giving them a noose with my neck already in the loop. I'd seen some examples of ways things could go wrong with my own eyes too.
"Fine, if that's what you want, I'll expose you myself. Hans Chrisen is an evil spirit!"
If the same thing that happened to Hans G happened to me, what choice would I make then? Could I avoid being forced into making a choice like that?
Click, click.
I emptied my head and moved my mouse. Since it'd already been a few minutes, several posts were popping up on different bulletin boards. I spent time surfing through them. Soon, about thirty minutes had passed since the community had opened, and a new post appeared.
[I'm from Noark and I have something to tell you guys.]
The post began as follows:
I thought this over a lot, worried that I might get banned for being from Noark, but I'm making this post because everyone needs to know regardless of whether they live aboveground or underground. We are outside right now. Not inside the walls, but the real outside world.
Its shocking contents contradicted the very foundations of this world.
I'm sure you guys are thinking this makes no sense, but it's true. We escaped the palace's forces and got out, and we're still alive and well. To be honest, I don't know if the witch's curse disappeared over time or if there was no such thing from the beginning, but one thing's clear. The outside world is perfectly fine. Plants are growing and if you get close to them, you can see bugs eating grass. Same with wild animals.
The poster then devoted many words to describing what the outside world was like, and then documented what had happened in a journal-like fashion. I slowly read through the entirety of that long text. My first impression was that it didn't seem like a simple joke.
This can't just be someone spewing bullshit to try and troll people...
After all, no one would take the risk of getting banned just to make a joke like this. Still, the comment section went wild.
Brutalizer X: Here is the attention you were begging for.
arolf5205: I was wondering what this post was but I just read the beginning and immediately came down here. Surely no one is stupid enough to believe this?
I started with the comments at the top dismissing the post as lies made up by an attention whore.
ryanzeus31: But if this is real, isn't the palace fucked? If there really is a world outside where people can live without mana stones then there's no way this goddamned city can compete.
└furryking1955: Maybe that's why they hid it. No way they didn't know about this.
Those who believed in what the poster was saying even a bit were concerned about what this meant for the future.
Gareth: Wow, I was wondering where that old man appeared and disappeared to. He went outside?
Others left comments as if they knew something.
└NIKAMOTO: Old man? Who are you talking about? Respectfully, please share your information.
└Gareth: We were waiting in front of the portal to cut down all those fuckers from Noark as soon as they came out but an old man suddenly appeared and teleported them all away.
└Kni8htofroom: If you're going to lie, at least put some effort into it. How could someone move all those people with Mass Teleport?
└Gareth: I don't know. And I don't want to bother trying to convince you. Anyway, what do I do now? Ugh, I thought the palace would be more comfortable and chose the knight route. Is the palace ruined now?
Starting with this comment, public opinion slowly shifted toward the sentiment that the post was true. Soldiers who participated in the attack on the palace's side began to testify one by one.
└amulet: It might be hard to believe, but they really did escape via teleportation. I was there too so I can confirm it.
└kongkong2: This person has been exclusively posting from a knight's perspective for a few years now. Does that mean all of this is real?
The post was designated as trending and witnesses from the palace's side poured in, and even some people from Noark made an appearance.
EXBlunt: Wow, the fresh air is nice. Are we the winners here for going underground all those years ago?
xxfblz: Yeah, we can live good lives without mana stones. You guys have fun slaving away for taxes.
I started to get confused too. I had already thought it plausible that the outside world was fine. In fact, I had gotten the sense that something was off seeing the guards standing on top of the castle walls. But there was something about this that I couldn't understand.
Its shocking contents contradicted the very foundations of this world.
I'm sure you guys are thinking this makes no sense, but it's true. We escaped the palace's forces and got out, and we're still alive and well. To be honest, I don't know if the witch's curse disappeared over time or if there was no such thing from the beginning, but one thing's clear. The outside world is perfectly fine. Plants are growing and if you get close to them, you can see bugs eating grass. Same with wild animals.
The poster then devoted many words to describing what the outside world was like, and then documented what had happened in a journal-like fashion. I slowly read through the entirety of that long text. My first impression was that it didn't seem like a simple joke.
This can't just be someone spewing bullshit to try and troll people...
After all, no one would take the risk of getting banned just to make a joke like this. Still, the comment section went wild.
Brutalizer X: Here is the attention you were begging for.
arolf5205: I was wondering what this post was but I just read the beginning and immediately came down here. Surely no one is stupid enough to believe this?
I started with the comments at the top dismissing the post as lies made up by an attention whore.
ryanzeus31: But if this is real, isn't the palace fucked? If there really is a world outside where people can live without mana stones then there's no way this goddamned city can compete.
└furryking1955: Maybe that's why they hid it. No way they didn't know about this.
Those who believed in what the poster was saying even a bit were concerned about what this meant for the future.
Gareth: Wow, I was wondering where that old man appeared and disappeared to. He went outside?
Others left comments as if they knew something.
└NIKAMOTO: Old man? Who are you talking about? Respectfully, please share your information.
└Gareth: We were waiting in front of the portal to cut down all those fuckers from Noark as soon as they came out but an old man suddenly appeared and teleported them all away.
└Kni8htofroom: If you're going to lie, at least put some effort into it. How could someone move all those people with Mass Teleport?
└Gareth: I don't know. And I don't want to bother trying to convince you. Anyway, what do I do now? Ugh, I thought the palace would be more comfortable and chose the knight route. Is the palace ruined now?
Starting with this comment, public opinion slowly shifted toward the sentiment that the post was true. Soldiers who participated in the attack on the palace's side began to testify one by one.
└amulet: It might be hard to believe, but they really did escape via teleportation. I was there too so I can confirm it.
└kongkong2: This person has been exclusively posting from a knight's perspective for a few years now. Does that mean all of this is real?
The post was designated as trending and witnesses from the palace's side poured in, and even some people from Noark made an appearance.
EXBlunt: Wow, the fresh air is nice. Are we the winners here for going underground all those years ago?
xxfblz: Yeah, we can live good lives without mana stones. You guys have fun slaving away for taxes.
I started to get confused too. I had already thought it plausible that the outside world was fine. In fact, I had gotten the sense that something was off seeing the guards standing on top of the castle walls. But there was something about this that I couldn't understand.
Why are they telling us this?
It wasn't strange to have someone from Noark post in the community, but why was this person sharing what was going on? Because they thought it was their duty as a player?
No, that can't be it.
If that really were the case, I wouldn't have ended up stuck on the first floor just a few weeks ago, knocking on death's door as I cleared the way for hundreds of others. These guys had been utterly silent then. They didn't disclose Noark's plan for a surprise attack even as a joke, and as a result, most of the adventurers aboveground were killed. And a good chunk of them were obviously players.
...Then it would make sense to assume that they were ordered to do this by Noark.
They had a good enough motive for that too. If they lied about escaping outside, that would help them evade the palace's attempts to track them down.
But if the outside world weren't fine, the palace wouldn't fall for the lie anyway.
Immediately confronted with a contradiction, I let out a big sigh.
Ugh, just what is going on?
Eventually, I couldn't stand it and left a comment.
Elfnunna: I have one question for the people of Noark. If the outside world is truly fine and you guys are there right now, why are you revealing that here? When you've been quiet all this time?
Before long, a notification dinged, signaling someone had replied.
└FIREWORK: Woah, are you really Elfnuna? I'm building a fire-type archer. Please give me some advice.
└bigfisher: You really fell for that huh. It's Elfnunna, not Elfnuna.
└Bling0_0: But it could be the real one. I heard the original nickname was taken by someone at the beginning and can't be used now since they died.
None of the comments had any substance. Geez, I was only asking people from Noark.
Welp.
I clicked my tongue and checked the time. Surprisingly, there were only about ten minutes left before the Round Table opened. As the comments were constantly being updated in real-time, the night had just flown by.
Yeah, I'm sure there will be some useful information there.
I stopped reading the comments and lay on the bed for a while. Then, as soon as the time came, I entered the Round Table.
He's going to be here, right?
I was worried that Clown would be absent this meeting since he'd gotten dunked on for the entirety of last month's gathering, but thankfully the guy was resilient.
"So you're here too, Mr. Lion. Pshehe."
Acting friendly again? I let that greeting go in one ear and out the other and sat in my usual seat. The current participants were Goblin, Deer, Clown, and Queen. For some reason, Fox wasn't here.
"That's strange. She's always the first to show up," Goblin commented, studying my reaction. That was fair. Since I had spoken with Fox separately at the end of the last meeting, he must have been wondering if something had happened.
Because I also didn't know anything about Fox's absence, I just kept quiet. After a while, the time soon came for the gathering to start and Fox still hadn't appeared. But instead, Crescent Moon, who had been the subject of much speculation after not attending the last gathering, made an appearance.
"Oh?"
"So you aren't dead, Mr. Crescent Moon."
Thanks to that, the attention people had been paying to Fox's absence shifted to him.
"A new face. Nice to meet you. Last month was my first time attending a meeting and I still have a lot to learn." Like the talented extrovert she was, Queen approached him to say hello first.
Crescent Moon was in a strange state. He should probably have been curious about Queen, whom he had never met before, but he just sat down without a word. Had this guy always been like this?
"Pshehe, acting all full of yourself. What happened to you? At least tell us that. Can't you see everyone is curious?" Clown asked, and the other members didn't say anything about how rude he was being. They were curious, too, about what the hell had happened to Crescent Moon.
"...I wasn't in the mood last month." All the attention on him must have been uncomfortable as Crescent Moon offered a brief explanation. Although he gave no details, it wasn't hard to figure out what he meant. After all, moods like the one he was talking about usually corresponded to certain events. The same went for that low, empty tone of his too.
"Looks like he lost someone," Deer clicked his tongue and muttered. Crescent Moon did not respond.
At that, Goblin eagerly looked between Clown and Crescent Moon. The reason was simple. "Then it's a good thing you came. Your enemy may be right here."
"What do you mean by that...?" Having not been here last time, Crescent Moon didn't know Clown's identity.
"Clown is Corpse Collector."
When Deer revealed that information without making any effort to hide his hostility, Crescent Moon froze. There was a short silence.
"I see. Clown is... So, you are..." Crescent Moon then turned to Clown. Did he really lose someone to Noark? In that gaze, I felt a rather piercing murderous intent.
But as someone who had experienced worse, Clown only laughed it off as usual. "Pshehe, how are you going to kill someone with that?"
Crescent Moon stared Clown down silently, then released his tightly clenched fists. All of a sudden, his murderous intent was also gone. Crescent Moon had realized it too. Even though the enemy was right in front of his eyes, there was nothing he could really do here. "I will find you someday," he said, his voice calm and restrained.
After a brief pause, Clown sneered. "...Pshe, I'll be waiting."
Anyway, that ended their personal exchange.
"Now, since the door is closed, why don't we start soon? I've been looking forward to this for a month!" Before long, Queen took up a forced, bubbly tone and rallied the troops. We took time to decide on the order.
"Now, now. Then I'll go first today." Clown claimed the first turn. No one said anything but I could sense they were all waiting to hear whatever would come out of his mouth. "This might get a little interesting," he told us before fixing his gaze on Crescent Moon. "While we're on the topic of you coming to find me, just how do you plan to do that? You've all seen the post on the bulletin board, right? The one saying that the outside world is perfectly fine and everyone who used to live in Noark is now outside." Soon Clown put his hand on the jewel and said: "All of that is true."
As proof, the jewel at the center of the Round Table gave off a green light.
Why are they telling us this?
It wasn't strange to have someone from Noark post in the community, but why was this person sharing what was going on? Because they thought it was their duty as a player?
No, that can't be it.
If that really were the case, I wouldn't have ended up stuck on the first floor just a few weeks ago, knocking on death's door as I cleared the way for hundreds of others. These guys had been utterly silent then. They didn't disclose Noark's plan for a surprise attack even as a joke, and as a result, most of the adventurers aboveground were killed. And a good chunk of them were obviously players.
...Then it would make sense to assume that they were ordered to do this by Noark.
They had a good enough motive for that too. If they lied about escaping outside, that would help them evade the palace's attempts to track them down.
But if the outside world weren't fine, the palace wouldn't fall for the lie anyway.
Immediately confronted with a contradiction, I let out a big sigh.
Ugh, just what is going on?
Eventually, I couldn't stand it and left a comment.
Elfnunna: I have one question for the people of Noark. If the outside world is truly fine and you guys are there right now, why are you revealing that here? When you've been quiet all this time?
Before long, a notification dinged, signaling someone had replied.
└FIREWORK: Woah, are you really Elfnuna? I'm building a fire-type archer. Please give me some advice.
└bigfisher: You really fell for that huh. It's Elfnunna, not Elfnuna.
└Bling0_0: But it could be the real one. I heard the original nickname was taken by someone at the beginning and can't be used now since they died.
None of the comments had any substance. Geez, I was only asking people from Noark.
Welp.
I clicked my tongue and checked the time. Surprisingly, there were only about ten minutes left before the Round Table opened. As the comments were constantly being updated in real-time, the night had just flown by.
Yeah, I'm sure there will be some useful information there.
I stopped reading the comments and lay on the bed for a while. Then, as soon as the time came, I entered the Round Table.
He's going to be here, right?
I was worried that Clown would be absent this meeting since he'd gotten dunked on for the entirety of last month's gathering, but thankfully the guy was resilient.
"So you're here too, Mr. Lion. Pshehe."
Acting friendly again? I let that greeting go in one ear and out the other and sat in my usual seat. The current participants were Goblin, Deer, Clown, and Queen. For some reason, Fox wasn't here.
"That's strange. She's always the first to show up," Goblin commented, studying my reaction. That was fair. Since I had spoken with Fox separately at the end of the last meeting, he must have been wondering if something had happened.
Because I also didn't know anything about Fox's absence, I just kept quiet. After a while, the time soon came for the gathering to start and Fox still hadn't appeared. But instead, Crescent Moon, who had been the subject of much speculation after not attending the last gathering, made an appearance.
"Oh?"
"So you aren't dead, Mr. Crescent Moon."
Thanks to that, the attention people had been paying to Fox's absence shifted to him.
"A new face. Nice to meet you. Last month was my first time attending a meeting and I still have a lot to learn." Like the talented extrovert she was, Queen approached him to say hello first.
Crescent Moon was in a strange state. He should probably have been curious about Queen, whom he had never met before, but he just sat down without a word. Had this guy always been like this?
"Pshehe, acting all full of yourself. What happened to you? At least tell us that. Can't you see everyone is curious?" Clown asked, and the other members didn't say anything about how rude he was being. They were curious, too, about what the hell had happened to Crescent Moon.
"...I wasn't in the mood last month." All the attention on him must have been uncomfortable as Crescent Moon offered a brief explanation. Although he gave no details, it wasn't hard to figure out what he meant. After all, moods like the one he was talking about usually corresponded to certain events. The same went for that low, empty tone of his too.
"Looks like he lost someone," Deer clicked his tongue and muttered. Crescent Moon did not respond.
At that, Goblin eagerly looked between Clown and Crescent Moon. The reason was simple. "Then it's a good thing you came. Your enemy may be right here."
"What do you mean by that...?" Having not been here last time, Crescent Moon didn't know Clown's identity.
"Clown is Corpse Collector."
When Deer revealed that information without making any effort to hide his hostility, Crescent Moon froze. There was a short silence.
"I see. Clown is... So, you are..." Crescent Moon then turned to Clown. Did he really lose someone to Noark? In that gaze, I felt a rather piercing murderous intent.
But as someone who had experienced worse, Clown only laughed it off as usual. "Pshehe, how are you going to kill someone with that?"
Crescent Moon stared Clown down silently, then released his tightly clenched fists. All of a sudden, his murderous intent was also gone. Crescent Moon had realized it too. Even though the enemy was right in front of his eyes, there was nothing he could really do here. "I will find you someday," he said, his voice calm and restrained.
After a brief pause, Clown sneered. "...Pshe, I'll be waiting."
Anyway, that ended their personal exchange.
"Now, since the door is closed, why don't we start soon? I've been looking forward to this for a month!" Before long, Queen took up a forced, bubbly tone and rallied the troops. We took time to decide on the order.
"Now, now. Then I'll go first today." Clown claimed the first turn. No one said anything but I could sense they were all waiting to hear whatever would come out of his mouth. "This might get a little interesting," he told us before fixing his gaze on Crescent Moon. "While we're on the topic of you coming to find me, just how do you plan to do that? You've all seen the post on the bulletin board, right? The one saying that the outside world is perfectly fine and everyone who used to live in Noark is now outside." Soon Clown put his hand on the jewel and said: "All of that is true."
As proof, the jewel at the center of the Round Table gave off a green light.