Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 240 Stiletto (5)

Stiletto (5)

Stiletto (5)

“So, how was it?”

SoulQueens, a blonde woman, pondered for a moment at the man’s question and then answered,

“It was a very interesting place.”

It was the most fitting expression.

A place where the Corpse Collector was just an ordinary member, and even he was completely powerless? She didn’t know such a chat room existed in the community.

But…

“You’re not really curious about my personal impressions, are you?”

After all, there was another reason why he sent her to ‘Watchers of the Round Table’.

[Maybe Watchers of the Round Table is a group they created to avoid our eyes.]

A spy sent by the royal family.

Or a player from another world.

He sent her there to confirm those two possibilities.

Then what was the result?

SoulQueens smiled and added,

“It seems like Love’s intuition was right again.”

“Which one?”

“As expected, Watchers of the Round Table seems to be a place created by players from another world.”

“I need to hear more details.”

SoulQueens slowly explained what happened there.

Lion, who exuded an overwhelming presence.

Clown, whose identity as the Corpse Collector was revealed.

Antler, who was presumed to be from the royal family, and Goblin, who seemed out of place because he was so ordinary.

“Hmm, I’m not sure about Miss Fox. It doesn’t seem like she’s the quiet type, but I didn’t really get to talk to her this time.”

But Fox was a woman to be wary of.

After all, she asked Lion for a conversation at the end.

What if it was a ‘meeting’ of some sort?

“You suspect the member named Lion.”

“Yes, if there’s a player from another world among them, it’s definitely him.”

The man then asked for the basis, and SoulQueens answered without hesitation.

“He almost mentally contaminated the Corpse Collector with just his killing intent. Judging by how he stopped right at the threshold, it seemed like he had a lot of room to spare.”

That alone was clear evidence.

It was impossible for an ordinary human with ordinary mental strength.

Unless he was a player from another dimension who had fallen into this world hundreds of years ago and survived.

And there was more evidence.

Lion said this during the second round:

[Another world’s evil spirit created Ghostbusters.]

He casually revealed a piece of information that very few people knew, as if he knew that the GM didn’t create the community.

As if he knew their identities.

That’s when she was certain.

[Right, so that was it.]

That dangerous man wasn’t just an ordinary player.

“Come to think of it, he said he knew the Corpse Collector’s identity from the beginning, right?”

“Yes, for reference, the members were expecting Lion to know their identities.”

“…That’s suspicious.”

Security within the community was absolute.

Even he, who had taken over the administrator privileges and created the current Ghostbusters, couldn’t figure out their identities.

“How do you think he knew their identities?”

“Well, if he really knew, there are two possibilities.”

The man presented two possibilities at SoulQueens’ question.

“One, Lion is on par with the Archmage from another world who created this subspace, or he has someone like that as a companion. And the second…”

“The second is that Lion is working with the one who created Watchers of the Round Table, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Since the current members were all gathered by that ‘Master’, it’s only natural that he would know if he was informed.”

“But then it doesn’t make sense that he knows my identity.”

“We’re not sure yet, are we? Try throwing some bait next time. To see if he really knows your identity, SoulQueens.”

“Okay.”

“Anyway, then information about the Master is important now. Did you find out anything?”

“I haven’t met the Master yet. But I heard from Mr. Goblin after the gathering that he visited this place on the day there was a strange login record.”

“Then it means that the person who secretly entered the community that day was nickname ‘0720’.”

“It seems like that’s the case. I wanted to find out more, but Mr. Goblin still seems wary of me…”

They continued talking for about an hour.

It wasn’t just about ‘Watchers of the Round Table’.

The recent incident.

The countless players who died.

How to efficiently increase the recruitment of new members.

And…

“What are you going to do about Lee Baekho? He’s running around the Magic Tower, trying to find Love. He’s just one of the many suspects now, but it doesn’t seem like you can hide your identity forever…”

…the most troublesome incident that happened recently.

“Baekho is still thinking about it. It seems like he’s become enemies with the royal family, but… he has to be careful. It might be a trap.”

“Okay, I’ll leave that to Love.”

That’s when, as they were having a conversation about various things…

“Elov, how’s the investigation on that person going?”

“It will take some time to recover the data since all his posts were deleted. But he has quite a lot of GP.”

“Did he receive it from Baekho?”

“No, he earned most of it on the first day. By selling some high-level information.”

SoulQueens then explained that it was information that anyone who had played the game to some extent would know, and that it would take some time to recover his deleted posts and comments.

“Hmm, I see…”

The man tapped his index finger on the armrest as if organizing his thoughts.

There was one reason why he investigated ‘Elfnunna’.

He judged that there was a possibility that ‘Bjorn Yandel’ and ‘Elfnunna’ were the same person.

Bjorn Yandel.

A barbarian who showed an unprecedented growth rate.

He unusually chose a shield during his coming-of-age ceremony.

Elfnunna.

He easily obtained GP by selling information about the game in the community.

And he was a ‘Korean’ whom Lee Baekho considered as his hyung.

This was a very important point for the man.

If they were the same person, there was a chance that he was ‘that person’ whom he had been waiting for—

‘…Wait a minute.’

A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he subtly spoke.

“SoulQueens.”

“Yes?”

“Did you say that Lion was Asian?”

“Yes, you can’t hide your skin color, even with a mask.”

As expected of a Western game, the percentage of Asians among players was very low.

Just look at Lee Baekho.

He opened a chat room, waiting for a Korean, but it took him years to meet a fellow countryman.

And that fellow countryman was ‘Elfnunna’.

The one who was suspected to be the same person as ‘Bjorn Yandel’.

“The only identity Lion clearly revealed was the Clown’s, right?”

The man adjusted his posture and asked.

“Uh, it’s hard to say for sure since this was my first visit, but it seemed like that was the case based on the atmosphere.”

“I see…”

The man trailed off, lost in thought.

After all, ‘Bjorn Yandel’ was the one who fought the ‘Corpse Collector’ most recently.

Could this really be just a coincidence?

Of course, it was still just a far-fetched hypothesis since he hadn’t even figured out if he was the same person as ‘Elfnunna’.

But that’s why…

“When is Bjorn Yandel’s title bestowal ceremony?”

“I think it’s in three days.”

“Three days…”

The man then made a decision.

“I’ll be going out for the first time in a while.”

He decided to meet him in person instead of just worrying.

_________________

“Hey, wake up, wake up! Wake uuuup!”

The next morning after visiting the community…

…I woke up to Misha’s back smash.

Although I was exhausted after using killing intent for the first time in a while…

“What did you do yesterday to be so weak in the morning?!”

…it was better to wake up on time after visiting the community.

If there was anyone who knew about this place, they might find it suspicious that I was sleeping in on this day.

And there were many eyes on me now.

‘That damn assassin bastard is coming too…’

Although I just collapsed from exhaustion yesterday, it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to sleep properly from now on.

Ha, this is so annoying.

‘Why can’t everyone just leave me alone?’

I wouldn’t even be able to fight properly in my current state. I sighed, but I quickly washed my face and went down to the 1st floor to have breakfast with everyone.

It was a slightly unfamiliar sight.

Because there was one more person at the breakfast table.

“Di, did you wake up?”

“Of course. Don’t just stand there awkwardly, come sit down. The food will get cold.”

“Ye, yes!”

Erwen sat down at the table and ate her food timidly, looking nervous.

“…….”

An awkward silence fell over the table. Fortunately, Misha sensed the atmosphere and spoke cheerfully,

“So, how is it? My cooking?”

“It, it’s delicious… Thank you…”

“Tell me if there’s anything you want to eat. I’ll make it for you tonight. Ah, and let me know if there are any ingredients you can’t eat.”

Misha, as always, was considerate.

“Carrots! I can’t eat carrots!”

Ainar interjected and then got hit on the back.

Phew, that wouldn’t work.

Even I tried ten times, but I failed every time.

She said we had to eat these things properly since we were always just eating meat.

‘I appreciate the thought…’

Tsk, barbarians have their own way of life.

“I, I’ll do the dishes!”

Ainar left for the sanctuary after breakfast, as always, and the three of us spent some time together.

The atmosphere wasn’t bad.

It felt like the hierarchy was completely established.

“Erwen, come sit here. We need to talk.”

“Okay!”

“This might be a bit insensitive to ask, but what are you going to do? Our team is already full.”

“That’s…”

Erwen trailed off and glanced at me.

She must be wondering if she could talk about the clan.

Well, there was no reason why she couldn’t…

…but I didn’t have the energy for a long conversation right now, so I just brushed it off.

“It’s too early to talk about that, Misha. We don’t even know if we can enter the labyrinth next month.”

“That’s… true.”

Honestly, it would be wise to stop exploring for a while until this situation ended.

We didn’t have any financial problems right now.

‘…The most annoying thing is that even the city isn’t safe.’

The Dragonslayer.

The Corpse Collector.

Noark’s assassins.

And the royal family’s unpredictable moves.

There were too many reasons why I had to become stronger quickly.

But…

‘It’s better to observe the situation until it calms down.’

I suppressed my impatience.

There’s a saying, ‘more haste, less speed’, right?

‘I should talk to Raven about this later.’

Anyway, the three of us had tea and chatted.

Erwen, who was initially nervous and uncomfortable, surprisingly calmed down quickly after Misha treated her kindly.

‘It seems like she came to terms with her sister’s death before coming here.’

Thanks to that, I also felt relieved.

Although she would inevitably carry a heavy burden from now on, Erwen had gotten back on her feet.

So she would definitely be able to move forward.

“Huh? You have a younger sister?”

“Yes, she’s still young, so she’s staying at the sanctuary. When she becomes an adult… I’ll have to take care of her. Just like my sister did for me…”

“Nyaha, don’t worry too much. You still have a lot of time left, right? You’ll be much more well-off by then.”

“Really…?”

Erwen and Misha were having a surprisingly heartwarming conversation. But Erwen suddenly bowed.

“I, I didn’t properly apologize back then, did I? I’m, I’m sorry, I don’t know what was wrong with me…”

“…What apology? It’s fine. Actually, something good came out of it.”

I tilted my head.

Back then?

Did something happen between them that required an apology?

“Bu, but are you okay, Misha…?”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay? My thoughts have changed a lot since then… and in the first place, I’m not in a position to…”

Misha glanced at me as she spoke.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

That’s when…

Knock, knock.

…we heard a knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it.”

I quickly got up and walked towards the door.

Normally, I would have just opened the door, but I had heard that an assassin might come.

So I asked who it was first.

“I’m Raymond Keplo, a knight of the 2nd Royal Knight Order.”

The knight politely introduced himself, perhaps because I was about to become a Viscount.

I checked through the peephole, and he was wearing proper armor, and there were other knights behind him.

‘It doesn’t seem like a lie.’

I opened the door because I also had a hunch.

And I confirmed their purpose while facing them.

It was good news after a long time.

“We received orders from our superiors.”

“Orders?”

“To protect you from any potential threats.”

Right, so Antler made a move.