Chapter 369: Chapter 369: Black Star (2)

I couldn't dwell on the GM for long.

It wasn't a topic that would yield any answers, no matter how much I thought about it.

It was more efficient to focus on what I could do.

For example, browsing the internet.

Click, click.

Unlike in the modern world, browsing the internet here wasn't just for entertainment. It was a precious time to gather and organize information for my survival next month.

“…Keuh, keuh, keuh…”

Ah, why is this so funny?

It's embarrassing.

Click, click.

Time flew by as I browsed the forums.

And…

‘It’s about time.’

…it was time to enter the Round Table.

____________________

A study with an antique atmosphere.

The white man sitting there was deep in thought, his fingers interlocked.

“I can’t believe he’s on Lee Baekho’s side.”

He had considered the possibility, but it wasn’t a desirable situation.

Lee Baekho alone was a headache, practically uncontrollable, and now there was another variable.

“…Just who is he?”

‘Elfnunna’ joined the community about three years ago.

And Lion appeared at the Round Table around the same time.

In other words…

‘He deliberately pretended to be a newbie and infiltrated the community.’

Then why did he join?

His combat power seemed to be on par with Lee Baekho’s, and judging by his superior information network, he must have built his own faction…

‘…Watchers of the Round Table.’

The man had tentatively concluded that his goal was to enter that secret chat room.

Nickname 0720.

An otherworldly evil spirit who had secretly infiltrated the community, created the club ‘Watchers of the Round Table’, and even recruited big shots like the Corpse Collector.

He suspected that he might be connected to Lion.

But…

‘He didn’t seem to know anything about it.’

He thought Lion would react somehow if he saw that password…

But he didn’t.

He didn’t react at all, even when he mentioned it at the end of their conversation.

He seemed completely clueless.

Well, maybe that was also an act…

‘But if he’s really not connected, then did he join the community to easily contact Lee Baekho?’

Hmm, maybe.

The man considered various possibilities.

That’s when…

“Sorry, there was a problem with the forums, so I couldn’t come right away.”

A white woman appeared in the study.

Her nickname was ‘SoulQueens’.

“So, what did you call me for?”

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

“I met with Lion.”

“…I see. How did it go?”

“He threatened me. To unban Lee Baekho.”

“So… what are you going to do?”

It was a question the man had been constantly pondering.

He didn’t know anything about Lion…

Except for the fact that he was a player from Korea.

Clench.

The man unconsciously clenched his fist.

‘Those damn Koreans.’

It was unfair.

He had only met a few Korean players since creating this community. Korean players were rare.

They were outnumbered by most Western countries.

But what about their results?

Lee Baekho, who had joined much later, had become an unstoppable force.

And now there was ‘Elfnunna’.

‘And ‘Elfnunna’ is also highly likely to be Korean.’

It made him wonder if they were genetically superior.

‘Damn it, I forgot to ask if he chose that nickname because he was related to ‘Elf Noona’. Well, he probably wouldn’t have answered anyway.’

The man believed that ‘Elf Noona’ was the most likely candidate to clear the original version and enter this world.

She was the only one who consistently played the original version while everyone else was looking for shortcuts and playing the cheat versions.

“Master?”

“Ah, I was lost in thought.”

The man snapped out of his thoughts at the woman’s call and gave her an order.

“You’re right. We don’t have any information about him.”

“…….”

“So please find out more. But don’t provoke him.”

The woman hesitated for a moment and then answered.

But her tone was different from her usual confident self.

“…I’ll try.”

Her voice was filled with reluctance.

_____________________

I put on my mask and walked through the quiet hallway, arriving at the Round Table room.

Everyone was already there.

“…You’re here! I was worried!”

Clown, who seemed relieved to see me, even stood up to greet me.

“…….”

Queen awkwardly averted her gaze when our eyes met.

Well, there was the incident from last time…

And she must have heard about my meeting with the GM.

“…….”

I sat down, and the Fox mask was in front of me.

She briefly made eye contact…

“Tsk.”

I felt a pang of regret every time I saw her.

If it weren’t for the sudden time travel, I could have used that opportunity to find out her identity—

“Um…”

That’s when, as I was feeling regretful…

“Did I do something wrong…?”

…Fox cautiously asked.

I didn’t understand at first, but I soon realized why she was asking.

‘Ah, she’s talking about me clicking my tongue.’

It was like throwing a small stone and accidentally killing a frog.

It seemed like she wasn’t the only one who was watching my reaction, the others were also being cautious…

But I didn’t feel like explaining myself.

“Well.”

I gave an ambiguous answer.

Fox gulped nervously.

She must have thought she had made a mistake.

Damn it, I felt a bit bad…

‘Let’s just change the subject.’

“Then let’s begin.”

It was time for the meeting to start anyway, as the entry period was over and the door was closed. The other members also stopped worrying about Fox’s ‘mistake’ and focused on the present.

“I’m already excited to hear what kind of interesting stories we’ll have today. Heh heh.”

“Then we’ll start from that side?”

Everyone’s gaze turned towards Stag Antlers, who was sitting to my left, at Crescent Moon’s question.

It was an unspoken rule of the Round Table.

We had to start from my left so that I would be the last one to go.

They would share information first, and then I would evaluate it and share my own information in return.

Damn it, I chose the perfect seat.

“…I’ll go first.”

Stag Antlers calmly shared the information he had prepared.

“The issue of integrating evil spirits into the nation was brought up at the royal council meeting for the first time in 150 years. Of course, it was immediately dismissed due to opposition.”

It was a difficult statement to understand unless you had experience in government.

In other words…

‘What the hell is he talking about?’

I didn’t understand either.

But it wasn’t a problem.

There was always someone at the Round Table who would ask questions when they didn’t understand something.

“Integrating evil spirits…? What do you mean…?”

Goblin asked timidly, and SoulQueens explained.

“It’s a proposal to accept evil spirits as citizens instead of treating them as enemies. It was proposed 150 years ago, but it was rejected for various reasons.”

“I, I see… But it’s strange to hear that from the royal family…”

“Pfft, it sounds to me like they’re running out of soldiers—”

“Well, at least we know that you don’t know anything about the royal family’s military strength.”

“…Why are you always picking on me?”

“Oh my, what a sense of self-importance. I was just stating a fact.”

Clown didn’t say anything more as SoulQueens chuckled nonchalantly.

He was strangely weak against her.

Maybe it was because she had verbally abused him several times?

‘Clown is such a bully…’

Anyway, Stag Antlers’ information received a green light on the first try, and the turn naturally passed.

It was Goblin’s turn.

“Ahem, the Leathlas Church received a divine message a few days ago.”

“That’s… not all, is it?”

“Haha, of course not. Anyway, it was a rather strange message.”

“Just get to the point. Stop dragging it out, it’s just pathetic.”

Goblin glanced at Clown, as if asking why he was always picking on him, and then revealed the content of the divine message.

“The King’s bloodline has embraced the black star, so help the one who will become its master.”

“……?”

“That was the message.”

Leathlas, the Goddess of Stars.

It was a divine message from the goddess who governed the fate of souls, so it was open to interpretation.

“Black star… Is it referring to rebellion?”

“It could also mean they’re colluding with Noark.”

“But… ‘help the one who will become its master’…”

“Maybe the Queen is pregnant. And the baby is black. Heh heh!”

“…How can you say such a vulgar thing?”

“What? What’s wrong with being black? Are you accusing me of racism?”

Clown chuckled as if he had just told a funny joke, but the other members’ reactions were cold.

This guy must have been a loner.

That’s why he played [Dungeon and Stone]—

‘Damn it.’

I stopped thinking, feeling my self-esteem plummeting. The conversation about the divine message was ending anyway.

After all, most divine messages were like that.

No matter how much you analyzed and speculated, you wouldn’t know its true meaning until later.

“It’s my turn now.”

Crescent Moon was the third to go.

He had brought valuable information about the Genesis Artifact before, but not lately.

And unfortunately, it was the same today.

‘Ugh, he’s always bringing up the war.’

Well, it might be helpful someday…

But I wasn’t leading a faction, so it wasn’t something I could benefit from.

Next.

“The royal family has started sharing their warship building technology with civilians. It seems like they had no choice because they need to repair the damaged warships quickly. We might even see large clans using warships soon.”

Fox’s information was also about the war.

As expected of her, she logically explained the information and its implications, but that was all.

‘The information is a bit underwhelming for a first round.’

The only things that piqued my interest were the divine message and the ‘integration’ proposal that was brought up at the royal council meeting.

‘Accepting evil spirits… will that day ever come?’

I briefly entertained the thought, but I didn’t have high hopes.

Stag Antlers had said…

…that it was just a brief mention, and it was immediately dismissed.

“Pfft, then it’s my turn now, isn’t it?”

It was finally Clown’s turn. But unfortunately, his information was also useless to me.

No, to be precise, it was harmful.

“The Lighthouse Keeper is dead.”

Clown, who started with that statement, then proceeded to reveal my information.

“They say it was the Blood Spirit Marquis’s achievement, but the truth is completely different. It wasn’t her, but that strange man she’s with.”

“…Strange man?”

“Yes, I thought she was using him as a replacement for Bjorn Yandel after seeing him use the Orc Hero’s [Gigantification] essence…”

“Lihen Schuitz. The royal family is keeping an eye on him.”

“Pfft, is that his name? Anyway, I’ll tell you more about him since I hope there will be more information about him at the next Round Table.”

“…….”

“I don’t know where he came from, but he was a monster. Even the four of us couldn’t kill him.”

“……There was someone like that?”

“Wait, there wasn’t anything like that in the Golden Mage’s report. Are you sure?”

“Would the jewel have emitted a green light if I was lying?”

The members were shocked and intrigued by Clown’s words.

‘Ugh, this is going to be a problem… they’re all going to investigate me…’

I sighed inwardly.

‘What the hell, why is she staring at me?’

I glanced to the side, and SoulQueens was staring at me.

She was muttering something.

Softly, so that only I could hear.

“Gigantification… joined three years ago… Blood Spirit Marquis…”

Don’t tell me, she’s figured it out?

No, maybe she was just organizing her thoughts, trying to reach a conclusion.

And she wasn’t the only one who felt a sense of dissonance.

“Wait a minute, what if he’s not a replacement, but the real deal? [Gigantification] isn’t a common essence. And I heard he also absorbed the Ogre’s essence…?”

Goblin was the first to speak.

“Well, I don’t think the Blood Spirit Marquis, crazy as she is, would use a stand-in and call him ‘mister’…”

Fox nodded in agreement.

“Pfft, what are you guys talking about? Bjorn Yandel is dead.”

Clown scoffed at their suspicions.

But…

“What if he’s alive? And he’s been secretly training? Then it would make sense for the Golden Mage to omit that from her report.”

Stag Antlers muttered.

“That makes sense. He was exposed as an evil spirit soon after. He might have faked his death because of that.”

Crescent Moon agreed.

And…

“If Bjorn Yandel is really alive…”

Queen looked at me and said,

“That coincides with Lion’s disappearance.”

All eyes were on me.

Are you Bjorn Yandel?

They wanted to ask me directly, but they were hesitant.

‘Well, I knew this might happen.’

But I didn’t feel cornered.

This could be solved with an alibi.

“That again?”

I placed my hand on the jewel.

And…

“You all seem curious about me, so I’ll go first this time.”

…I said, as if mocking their suspicions.

“I joined this community…”

“…….”

“…twenty-two years ago.”

The jewel emitted a green light.