Chapter 501: Age of Exploration (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 501: Age of Exploration (2)
Plan B. The moment I heard those words, I got a bad feeling.
"So, does that answer all your questions?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
But otherwise, I no longer felt as hostile toward Baekho Lee as I once did. He had honestly answered all my questions rather than trying to deceive me and hide his true intentions behind a smile. If nothing else, that was an improvement.
"Even if I ask you what your Plan B is, you're not going to tell me, right?"
"I really can't tell you. I need to have at least one card left up my sleeve, right?"
I sighed. Still, he had a point. Although it was a shame I wouldn't get to hear his plan, I understood why he couldn't tell me about it and, instead, chose to move on. It wasn't like I had told him everything either. We only ever showed each other as many of our cards as was necessary. That was enough for now.
"Then, does this make me your enemy or your friend?"
I answered without much hesitation. "I wonder. It feels like at best, we're temporary partners."
"...Temporary partners?"
"Yeah. That's right."
Baekho didn't seem to quite get what I meant by that.
Well, it's a good idea to clear the air between us.
"I will work with you to make sure you get back home," I clarified.
"And in return, I help you whenever you need?"
"Something like that."
"That's not so bad, but what if we disagree on something or something goes wrong...?"
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. It was unlike Baekho to sound so cautious and tentative. "Then we'll just have to go our separate ways. There's nothing else to it. I hope it won't come to that, but as you said, it's impossible to guarantee that things will turn out the way you want them to."
"...Big Bro, you're so cool."
"Yeah. So that Plan B of yours, just keep working on it. I won't get in the way. Meanwhile, I'll keep working on my plans too."
It was human instinct to prepare for the worst. And in my opinion, anyone who didn't have that instinct was someone I wouldn't want to work with in the first place.
"Temporary partners. All right, let's do it."
Baekho reached out a hand, apparently pleased with the agreement we came to. But why was he doing something so cringy now? Even though I hated it, I accepted his handshake.
"...Hey, bro, I just got goosebumps."
"You don't have to tell me twice. I feel the same way."
After a short handshake, we each sat back down on the sofa with a smile on our faces.
"We should have done this from the start."
"I know."
This wasn't all that bad of a feeling.
***
After that, I continued my conversation with Baekho. One of the topics we discussed was the new hidden area.
"You gotta tell me, bro. Just what in the world did you do?"
"I don't know either. I think I activated a special condition somehow, but I really don't know how it happened."
"Really? That's a shame, but... Even if you did know, I guess it wouldn't make that much of a difference. After all, a feat recorded on the Stone of Honor can only be performed once. Whatever you did, it won't work exactly the same way ever again."
"Oh, really?"
"What, you didn't know? I guess you really don't know much aside from what was in the game..."
Well, that couldn't be helped. I practically lived in the library for a while there when I first came to this world, but the only information I could find there was public and basic.
"...It's already time. I should get going." After chatting for a while longer, it was time for Baekho to log out.
"Hey," I said before he could go, "why don't we start meeting up with each other in the city from now on?"
"I'd love to, but I don't think I'll be able to for a while. I'm going to go outside for a bit."
"...Outside. You mean outside the walls?"
"Yeah. I finally found a way out. I searched through the underground city for literal ages to find one."
Wait a minute, this sounds important.
When I asked him to tell me more, he shook his head, expression pinched in regret. "I wish I could, but it'd be too tough to explain in the next two minutes. I'll send a letter to your house before I head out. I'll even give you the instructions in case you want to go out as well."
"Thanks."
Is this what people mean when they say that you should surround yourself with smart people?
Without lifting a finger, I'd procured a way to get out of the kingdom. Like Baekho, I'd been curious about the outside world for quite some time now.
Still, I got back to the point. "But why do you want to go out there?"
"Auril Gavis. I have a feeling he's out there for some reason, so I'm going to look for him. I'm sure that old geezer has the answers to most of my questions."
Come to think of it, I should have asked Baekho about the old man as well. Given the current state of our relationship, he would probably give me an honest answer now.
Well... I guess I can just ask him next time.
"Well then, I'm off. See you next month!"
"Yeah, see you. If you find him, let me know."
"Yep."
Just like that, Baekho Lee left. I sat there staring at the fireplace and collecting my thoughts for a while before Hyeonbyeol finally returned.
"You came back later than usual today."
"What, do you think I just wait outside and stare at the number of people in the chat until I can rejoin?"
Uh... did she not? I sort of thought that was what she did, given how she came back almost immediately every other time...
"So... your expression looks lighter than usual."
"What?"
"You look like you took care of something that's been weighing on your mind."
"Oh... really?"
This woman was strangely sharp when it came to that sort of thing. I neither confirmed nor denied her suspicions, but she smiled like I had and reclined on the other side of the sofa. As she lay down, I didn't know where to position my eyes.
"Hyeonbyeol...? You know you're wearing a skirt, right...?"
"So? I'm wearing stockings."
"Oh..."
Th-then, does that make it okay?
For some reason, her argument worked, and I found myself convinced to stay put.
"Oh, really?"
"What, you didn't know? I guess you really don't know much aside from what was in the game..."
Well, that couldn't be helped. I practically lived in the library for a while there when I first came to this world, but the only information I could find there was public and basic.
"...It's already time. I should get going." After chatting for a while longer, it was time for Baekho to log out.
"Hey," I said before he could go, "why don't we start meeting up with each other in the city from now on?"
"I'd love to, but I don't think I'll be able to for a while. I'm going to go outside for a bit."
"...Outside. You mean outside the walls?"
"Yeah. I finally found a way out. I searched through the underground city for literal ages to find one."
Wait a minute, this sounds important.
When I asked him to tell me more, he shook his head, expression pinched in regret. "I wish I could, but it'd be too tough to explain in the next two minutes. I'll send a letter to your house before I head out. I'll even give you the instructions in case you want to go out as well."
"Thanks."
Is this what people mean when they say that you should surround yourself with smart people?
Without lifting a finger, I'd procured a way to get out of the kingdom. Like Baekho, I'd been curious about the outside world for quite some time now.
Still, I got back to the point. "But why do you want to go out there?"
"Auril Gavis. I have a feeling he's out there for some reason, so I'm going to look for him. I'm sure that old geezer has the answers to most of my questions."
Come to think of it, I should have asked Baekho about the old man as well. Given the current state of our relationship, he would probably give me an honest answer now.
Well... I guess I can just ask him next time.
"Well then, I'm off. See you next month!"
"Yeah, see you. If you find him, let me know."
"Yep."
Just like that, Baekho Lee left. I sat there staring at the fireplace and collecting my thoughts for a while before Hyeonbyeol finally returned.
"You came back later than usual today."
"What, do you think I just wait outside and stare at the number of people in the chat until I can rejoin?"
Uh... did she not? I sort of thought that was what she did, given how she came back almost immediately every other time...
"So... your expression looks lighter than usual."
"What?"
"You look like you took care of something that's been weighing on your mind."
"Oh... really?"
This woman was strangely sharp when it came to that sort of thing. I neither confirmed nor denied her suspicions, but she smiled like I had and reclined on the other side of the sofa. As she lay down, I didn't know where to position my eyes.
"Hyeonbyeol...? You know you're wearing a skirt, right...?"
"So? I'm wearing stockings."
"Oh..."
Th-then, does that make it okay?
For some reason, her argument worked, and I found myself convinced to stay put.
Hyeonbyeol watched me with that same smile on her face. "Look at you, acting like that over something so minor. Anyway, now that I'm here..." She whipped out a book from the middle of nowhere and, as if that wasn't anything special at all, started reading.
"...What's that book?" I asked. "Where did you get it?"
"Don't you know? This book is quite popular around here these days."
I just stared at her blankly.
"You really don't know, huh? Well, you know how you can buy and sell clothes that can be used here in the community, right?"
"Yeah."
Ghostbusters was surprisingly similar to certain online communities in that there was a currency system. You could use it for customization, such as furnishing chat rooms or styling your character, but I had never used it except to get a single new outfit.
"This book is just like that," Hyeonbyeol said.
"Then it's just an accessory with nothing written inside?"
"That's not at all what I'm saying. No, this book was written by somebody who used to write a lot on the bulletin board for free. Since their posts were so popular, they consulted with the mods for permission to start making and selling books instead."
"Huh... that's interesting. Is it good?"
"Do you want to read it? Here, I have one of their older ones."
"Yeah, let me read through it."
I took the new book from her and flipped to the first page. It was a regular urban fantasy novel, but from the very start, it was addicting. Nevertheless, I was having a hard time concentrating on it.
...I'm going to lose my mind.
Hyeonbyeol was just reading her book, sure, but why did she keep wiggling her feet like that?
"I'm stretching. My legs are numb."
"...Did I say that out loud?"
"No. I could just tell from the look on your face that that's what you were thinking."
...I really can't do anything in front of this woman without her reading me.
I decided to turn my back to her so I could focus on the book. The two of us continued to read in silence for a long while.
"Hey."
It took me a moment to realize Hyeonbyeol was talking to me. I blinked and glanced up. "...Huh?"
"Don't you usually leave around now?"
"Ah..."
Man, why was this book so interesting? I didn't even notice the time—it was only thanks to Hyeonbyeol's reminder that I hadn't missed the Round Table entirely. I tossed her a quick apology over my shoulder as I said goodbye, and then I hurried into the private chat, practically throwing on my usual navy suit and lion mask since I was short on time.
By the time I entered the room, there were already eight other members inside.
"You're here, Mr. Lion. Pshehe."
Clown was the first to greet me in that overly familiar way of his. Next was Fox, Crescent, Deer, Queen, Butterfly, Wolf...
There are only eight people here?
Black Mask, one of the newbies from last time, didn't seem to have come today. But just as I was thinking that—
Step.
Hyeonbyeol watched me with that same smile on her face. "Look at you, acting like that over something so minor. Anyway, now that I'm here..." She whipped out a book from the middle of nowhere and, as if that wasn't anything special at all, started reading.
"...What's that book?" I asked. "Where did you get it?"
"Don't you know? This book is quite popular around here these days."
I just stared at her blankly.
"You really don't know, huh? Well, you know how you can buy and sell clothes that can be used here in the community, right?"
"Yeah."
Ghostbusters was surprisingly similar to certain online communities in that there was a currency system. You could use it for customization, such as furnishing chat rooms or styling your character, but I had never used it except to get a single new outfit.
"This book is just like that," Hyeonbyeol said.
"Then it's just an accessory with nothing written inside?"
"That's not at all what I'm saying. No, this book was written by somebody who used to write a lot on the bulletin board for free. Since their posts were so popular, they consulted with the mods for permission to start making and selling books instead."
"Huh... that's interesting. Is it good?"
"Do you want to read it? Here, I have one of their older ones."
"Yeah, let me read through it."
I took the new book from her and flipped to the first page. It was a regular urban fantasy novel, but from the very start, it was addicting. Nevertheless, I was having a hard time concentrating on it.
...I'm going to lose my mind.
Hyeonbyeol was just reading her book, sure, but why did she keep wiggling her feet like that?
"I'm stretching. My legs are numb."
"...Did I say that out loud?"
"No. I could just tell from the look on your face that that's what you were thinking."
...I really can't do anything in front of this woman without her reading me.
I decided to turn my back to her so I could focus on the book. The two of us continued to read in silence for a long while.
"Hey."
It took me a moment to realize Hyeonbyeol was talking to me. I blinked and glanced up. "...Huh?"
"Don't you usually leave around now?"
"Ah..."
Man, why was this book so interesting? I didn't even notice the time—it was only thanks to Hyeonbyeol's reminder that I hadn't missed the Round Table entirely. I tossed her a quick apology over my shoulder as I said goodbye, and then I hurried into the private chat, practically throwing on my usual navy suit and lion mask since I was short on time.
By the time I entered the room, there were already eight other members inside.
"You're here, Mr. Lion. Pshehe."
Clown was the first to greet me in that overly familiar way of his. Next was Fox, Crescent, Deer, Queen, Butterfly, Wolf...
There are only eight people here?
Black Mask, one of the newbies from last time, didn't seem to have come today. But just as I was thinking that—
Step.
Black Mask walked through the door on the opposite end of the room. She took a second to glance around the table for an empty seat before sitting down.
"It's nice to see you, Ms. Black..."
Goblin, who was sitting next to her, greeted her politely. However, she simply crossed her arms and didn't say a word in return. She gave off the vibe of someone with a lot of power.
Step.
In any case, I walked over to my usual seat, which had been left empty for me. The moment I sat down, the doors to the Round Table slammed shut.
"There are ten of us in total today..." Queen muttered to herself. "What a strange feeling, seeing so many people here."
"It makes sense that you would feel that way, Queen," Crescent replied, not unkindly.
"Are you saying you don't feel the same way, Mr. Crescent?"
The one who replied to Queen was not Crescent but one of the Newbie Trio from last time. It was the one wearing the wolf mask, the same person who held the title of Returning User. "Hahaha! Back when Master was here, there were times when there were more than twenty of us! Ah, things back then were—"
"Back then, all you did was suck up to Master. Pshehe."
Wolf went quiet.
"Clown, are you really one to talk?" scoffed Crescent.
"Pshehe. I guess elves must be quite attractive given that you've fallen completely head over heels for an NPC. So when are you going to try and find me, again? Aren't you going to take revenge any time soon?"
"Wow! Are you two enemies? That's awesome!" a cheery voice interrupted. "Please make sure to invite me when you guys finally fight!"
"Pshehe! Of course, Ms. Butterfly."
I sighed. Now that there were so many people attending, things were getting quite chaotic.
When I turned my head toward Fox, she immediately caught my glare and rushed to establish order. "Since it seems like everyone is here, why don't we start...?"
"Haha, let's do that. We're not just here to chat, after all."
When things settled down, the attention naturally shifted to the person sitting next to me. After all, this was now an unspoken rule at the Round Table: the person next to me was always the first to go.
"Then I guess you're first this time, Queen."
"I guess so. I didn't expect you all to sit over there, on the other side of the table." Queen was actually sitting three seats down from me, but she was the first to go this time since everyone else sat across from us. She let out a heavy sigh and slowly began. "This is related to quite a hot topic these days. The person who made the Stone of Honor was none other than the Last Great Sage, Diplan Groundel Gabrielius himself."
Given that the jewel on the table turned green, that meant the information was something she believed to be true, and less than half the people here knew about it. Nevertheless, it didn't take long before people started to complain.
"Is it even important to know who made that thing? Pshehe."
"Hehe, that's what I was going to say. It's not like I'm a wizard or something—why should I care about that?"
"In the first place, basically every strange or mysterious thing in this world ends up leading back to that guy, so it's not like this is really news."
Apparently having predicted this response, Queen didn't try to defend herself at all, instead pivoting to offer up more information. "How about this, then? There is credible evidence that the Stone of Honor itself is an Achievement of Gabrielius. In other words, it's proof of a hidden feature."
A hidden feature...
"That's not bad."
It seemed that the other members of the group were also willing to accept Queen's information. With her turn over, we moved on to the next.
"A meeting between all the races will be held next month. And it's confirmed that the human representative, the Lord of the Magic Tower, will also be in attendance."
Simply stating that a meeting between the races was going to occur would not have been enough. That was why Crescent made sure to specify who would represent the humans so that no one could complain.
So the Lord of the Magic Tower is the human representative...
Actually, besides that, I hadn't even known there was going to be a meeting next month, and I was the chieftain. How did he already know about that when even I didn't?
Just goes to show the difference between being a member of a race with power and one without.
In fact, aside from the barbarians, every race had connections to the royal family. The other houses of Melbeth hadn't left their homelands for nothing. By distancing themselves from those beneath them, they were able to sidle closer to the top. And in return, they were able to provide information that improved their people's standing overall.
"Missha Karlstein has joined the Anabada Clan."
Suddenly, it was Fox's turn. I was a little bit taken aback suddenly hearing that name at this table, but it wasn't too jarring.
News of her joining will spread everywhere soon enough either way, so Fox must have decided that using her name as information this time was a safe bet.
She wasn't wrong in thinking so. The value of the information was relatively low, but no one raised any objections. After all, anything related to Bjorn Yandel was considered useful here.
"Then that girl must have..."
"But... I thought she was on his team? Something must have happened."
"Pshehe... Not bad at all, Ms. Fox. I didn't know you had such good sources."
After Fox's turn, it was Goblin's, then Black Mask's, then Deer's. However, there was nothing particularly shocking this time around, and I tuned them out like I would the nightly news at dinner time.
"About that woman, Missha Karlstein..."
What? What about her?
Just as I was about to doze off, Butterfly's comment suddenly caught my attention. I blinked awake, on high alert, as she continued with a grin on her face.
"She's a traitor."
Even though I heard what she said clear as day, I couldn't seem to process it. A traitor? Did she mean that from Baekho Lee's point of view?
While I was scrambling to make sense of this, Butterfly, seemingly reading my mind, added, "Oh, and I mean to Bjorn Yandel, of course."
What in the world is she talking about?
With that thought in mind, I quickly looked toward the center of the Round Table.
Shaaaaaa.
The jewel quietly radiated a bright green glow.
Black Mask walked through the door on the opposite end of the room. She took a second to glance around the table for an empty seat before sitting down.
"It's nice to see you, Ms. Black..."
Goblin, who was sitting next to her, greeted her politely. However, she simply crossed her arms and didn't say a word in return. She gave off the vibe of someone with a lot of power.
Step.
In any case, I walked over to my usual seat, which had been left empty for me. The moment I sat down, the doors to the Round Table slammed shut.
"There are ten of us in total today..." Queen muttered to herself. "What a strange feeling, seeing so many people here."
"It makes sense that you would feel that way, Queen," Crescent replied, not unkindly.
"Are you saying you don't feel the same way, Mr. Crescent?"
The one who replied to Queen was not Crescent but one of the Newbie Trio from last time. It was the one wearing the wolf mask, the same person who held the title of Returning User. "Hahaha! Back when Master was here, there were times when there were more than twenty of us! Ah, things back then were—"
"Back then, all you did was suck up to Master. Pshehe."
Wolf went quiet.
"Clown, are you really one to talk?" scoffed Crescent.
"Pshehe. I guess elves must be quite attractive given that you've fallen completely head over heels for an NPC. So when are you going to try and find me, again? Aren't you going to take revenge any time soon?"
"Wow! Are you two enemies? That's awesome!" a cheery voice interrupted. "Please make sure to invite me when you guys finally fight!"
"Pshehe! Of course, Ms. Butterfly."
I sighed. Now that there were so many people attending, things were getting quite chaotic.
When I turned my head toward Fox, she immediately caught my glare and rushed to establish order. "Since it seems like everyone is here, why don't we start...?"
"Haha, let's do that. We're not just here to chat, after all."
When things settled down, the attention naturally shifted to the person sitting next to me. After all, this was now an unspoken rule at the Round Table: the person next to me was always the first to go.
"Then I guess you're first this time, Queen."
"I guess so. I didn't expect you all to sit over there, on the other side of the table." Queen was actually sitting three seats down from me, but she was the first to go this time since everyone else sat across from us. She let out a heavy sigh and slowly began. "This is related to quite a hot topic these days. The person who made the Stone of Honor was none other than the Last Great Sage, Diplan Groundel Gabrielius himself."
Given that the jewel on the table turned green, that meant the information was something she believed to be true, and less than half the people here knew about it. Nevertheless, it didn't take long before people started to complain.
"Is it even important to know who made that thing? Pshehe."
"Hehe, that's what I was going to say. It's not like I'm a wizard or something—why should I care about that?"
"In the first place, basically every strange or mysterious thing in this world ends up leading back to that guy, so it's not like this is really news."
Apparently having predicted this response, Queen didn't try to defend herself at all, instead pivoting to offer up more information. "How about this, then? There is credible evidence that the Stone of Honor itself is an Achievement of Gabrielius. In other words, it's proof of a hidden feature."
A hidden feature...
"That's not bad."
It seemed that the other members of the group were also willing to accept Queen's information. With her turn over, we moved on to the next.
"A meeting between all the races will be held next month. And it's confirmed that the human representative, the Lord of the Magic Tower, will also be in attendance."
Simply stating that a meeting between the races was going to occur would not have been enough. That was why Crescent made sure to specify who would represent the humans so that no one could complain.
So the Lord of the Magic Tower is the human representative...
Actually, besides that, I hadn't even known there was going to be a meeting next month, and I was the chieftain. How did he already know about that when even I didn't?
Just goes to show the difference between being a member of a race with power and one without.
In fact, aside from the barbarians, every race had connections to the royal family. The other houses of Melbeth hadn't left their homelands for nothing. By distancing themselves from those beneath them, they were able to sidle closer to the top. And in return, they were able to provide information that improved their people's standing overall.
"Missha Karlstein has joined the Anabada Clan."
Suddenly, it was Fox's turn. I was a little bit taken aback suddenly hearing that name at this table, but it wasn't too jarring.
News of her joining will spread everywhere soon enough either way, so Fox must have decided that using her name as information this time was a safe bet.
She wasn't wrong in thinking so. The value of the information was relatively low, but no one raised any objections. After all, anything related to Bjorn Yandel was considered useful here.
"Then that girl must have..."
"But... I thought she was on his team? Something must have happened."
"Pshehe... Not bad at all, Ms. Fox. I didn't know you had such good sources."
After Fox's turn, it was Goblin's, then Black Mask's, then Deer's. However, there was nothing particularly shocking this time around, and I tuned them out like I would the nightly news at dinner time.
"About that woman, Missha Karlstein..."
What? What about her?
Just as I was about to doze off, Butterfly's comment suddenly caught my attention. I blinked awake, on high alert, as she continued with a grin on her face.
"She's a traitor."
Even though I heard what she said clear as day, I couldn't seem to process it. A traitor? Did she mean that from Baekho Lee's point of view?
While I was scrambling to make sense of this, Butterfly, seemingly reading my mind, added, "Oh, and I mean to Bjorn Yandel, of course."
What in the world is she talking about?
With that thought in mind, I quickly looked toward the center of the Round Table.
Shaaaaaa.
The jewel quietly radiated a bright green glow.