Surviving The Game As A Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 341

342. Comeback (1)

Lee Han-soo’s room felt both familiar and strange.

‘It feels like… it’s been such a long time.’

After a quick look around to see if anything had changed, I sat in the chair and wiggled my toes to turn on the computer.

Zzziiing-!

Today’s goal in the community is simple: gather information, as always.

The only difference is that, unlike usual, there’s a backlog of two and a half years’ worth of information.

‘Let’s check the bulletin boards first.’

The Round Table, the main hub of community activity, would be accessible in three hours, so I used the mouse to browse the various bulletin boards.

It was quite a task.

To get a sense of the atmosphere chronologically, I had to scroll through the lists for a long time.

[Wow, has anyone been to Bjorn Yandel’s house?]

-I went with the people who got help from him on the first floor before, and seeing the flowers piled up there made me feel strange.

-It really makes you realize he’s dead.

-His colleagues also looked like they were in mourning.

Well, it seems like there’s a lot about me, so I should start reading from here.

[tetyys: Why all the fuss about one NPC dying?]

[└Sogeking33: Well, if a nobody like you died, no one would care, right?]

[└SoDamnToxic: A barbarian tribe chief candidate, a noble with a title from an explorer who appeared after 10 years, and the royal family even sent a knight order to hold a funeral procession to honor the hero’s death… It’s natural that jealous bastards would cling to it.]

[Ki11Humans77: It’s a bit of a shame. I was curious how their newly formed clan would grow.]

I only checked the comments of the first post I clicked on, then pressed the back button. Then, I carefully moved through the pages and checked the posts.

1 month, 2 months, 3 months….

As time passed, the bulletin board filled with posts centered around the hottest topics of the time. The stories about my death that filled the bulletin board were a good example.

Only a month had passed, but the frequency of mentions had drastically decreased, almost to the point of disappearing.

However, from the next month, mentions started to appear again.

Someone had added new fuel to the fire.

[Is the rumor about Bjorn Yandel being an evil spirit true?]

-That’s all anyone’s talking about these days. They wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t based on something.

[Three reasons why Bjorn Yandel is an evil spirit]

-Hey, if you agree, press the like button and go~

[Logically, would he be an evil spirit?]

-If you disagree, you’ve never seen Bjorn Yandel before.

-If you agree, you’ll get a beastkin girlfriend.

[arolf5205: He’s right. Those who say Bjorn Yandel is an evil spirit are probably all newbies.]

[1spring: Bjorn Yandel is not an evil spirit. So, do I get a beastkin girlfriend now?]

[Bling0_0: Hmm, but I still think he might be an evil spirit…….]

Two months after Bjorn Yandel’s death(?).

The bulletin board was filled with talk about whether I was an evil spirit or not.

Most people still seemed to consider it a rumor.

Well, there was one comment that caught my attention in the middle.

[teckmonkey: Maybe the rumor is true. The rumor started from Bjorn Yandel’s most cherished colleague.]

They only mentioned a colleague and didn’t specify who, so I ignored it. I’m used to all sorts of attention seekers clinging to any topic that arises.

Click, click.

In the third month after my death, the topic faded, and my name was barely mentioned.

But….

Six months after my death.

My name, which was slowly being forgotten, began to be mentioned explosively on the bulletin board.

The royal family had officially announced it.

Bjorn Yandel was an evil spirit.

[Hey, is the official announcement from the royal family real?]

[Bjorn Yandel is an evil spirit?]

[How can he be an evil spirit when he was a tribe chief candidate and even received a noble title? Isn’t something wrong?]

At first, everyone seemed confused, but gradually, evidence that I was an evil spirit was posted, and the atmosphere shifted to accepting the fact.

If you assumed I was an evil spirit, there were many questions.

[Thinking about it, it was strange.]

-First of all, is it even possible to grow that fast in such a short time? It was too strange to just see him as a prodigy.

[└tunaboot: Fact 1, it doesn’t make sense even if he’s an evil spirit.]

[└BrutalizerX: Fact 2, Bjorn Yandel was living with three women.]

[└WingPizza: Fact 3, Bjorn Yandel was known to be a giant over 40cm tall.]

Of course, the period when my name was a hot topic was short.

Despite being a shocking story, there wasn’t enough fuel to keep it burning.

Bjorn Yandel is an evil spirit?

That’s an amazing story.

But so what? How long are you going to talk about a dead guy?

That was the general feeling.

Well, some people speculated that there was a huge secret behind the fact that such rumors spread about a person who suddenly died, or that the royal family was now revealing the rumors to be true….

Unfortunately, that was all there was to it.

Such secret circumstances wouldn’t be circulating on the community’s free bulletin board.

Click, click.

I continued to read the posts, but there were no topics that could heat up the entire bulletin board for several months.

It was just a normal atmosphere where people said whatever they wanted.

But….

One year after my death.

An incident that would ignite the community occurred.

[Hey guys, have you heard about the Nartel Clan?]

The Nartel Clan.

The clan led by the explorer Melter Pend, who had a deep connection with me during the Noark War.

90% of that clan died in the labyrinth.

The cause was already widely known.

[godFLEXyou: Yeah, they were attacked by the Noark guys and only a few barely made it back, right?]

The Noark guys, who were known to be outside the wall, were found in the labyrinth.

All sorts of speculations circulated in the community.

There was a portal outside the wall.

Or maybe they created a new portal by some means. Some even said that it was highly likely that there were Noark people who remained in the city and hid their identities.

And….

One year and one month after my death.

One of the medium-sized clans was annihilated in the labyrinth.

It was the same place where the Nartel Clan suffered a disaster, a clan active in the Dark Continent.

There were no survivors, so the cause of the annihilation was unknown.

One year and three months after my death.

The number of clans disappearing without a trace on the 7th floor increased rapidly, and there were several sightings of Noark people.

Most of the sighting locations were on the 7th floor.

One year and four months after my death.

The royal family recognized the seriousness of the Noark incident and began distributing identification tags again.

They also deployed knights to patrol the lower floors of the labyrinth.

But nothing improved.

Even though they checked those who entered from the first floor as soon as the labyrinth opened, there were no Noark people.

One year and six months after my death.

The royal family, noticing that the Noark forces only appeared on the 7th floor, formed an expedition team in cooperation with several large clans.

And they returned with countless casualties.

But there was a gain.

[Breaking News) Latest News on Noark]

-This is confirmed information obtained by interrogating a prisoner captured during the expedition.

-The Noark bastards opened a portal outside the wall, and if you go through it, you’ll be on the 7th floor right away.

-Ah, of course, the prisoner doesn’t know how that’s possible, and the royal family doesn’t know either.

New information was confirmed.

As time passed, one year and eight months after my death.

The royal family, which had banned ordinary explorers from entering the Dark Continent, formed a second expedition team, and after pouring in a lot of forces, they achieved a pyrrhic victory in one battle.

And….

[Now it’s a real war.]

A full-scale power struggle began on the 7th floor.

They judged that if the Noark guys holed up on the 7th floor and grew stronger, it would lead to a big problem later.

Numerous explorers participated in the war due to the huge rewards offered by the royal family, and heroes who gained fame in the war were born every day.

A prime example was the Seven Stars.

Seven young heroes who had no particular fame before, but made a name for themselves in this war.

[But looking at it now, Bjorn Yandel’s party had an insane talent pool. How did two of the Seven Stars come from one party?]

I went back in time and finished checking the posts up to the most recent one, which was 10 minutes ago, and took my hand off the mouse.

Even if I just skimmed through it, it had already been over two hours since I started checking two and a half years’ worth of posts.

‘Should I take a break and organize my thoughts….’

I got off the chair and lay down on the bed.

First of all, there was very little new information I learned from browsing the community.

That was only natural.

I had been at home for over ten days, listening to Erwen’s stories. I had already grasped the major events in each timeline.

Of course, that included the events related to Noark.

‘Still, it was good to see the atmosphere back then….’

Moreover, there were quite a few minor details in the posts that Erwen hadn’t told me about.

For example, all the explorers who had fallen into a vegetative state due to the fire pillar had been cured.

‘Anyway, should I check the trading post this time?’

After a short break, I sat back in front of the computer and started checking the backlog of posts one by one.

And time passed….

[03:09]

The time to enter the Round Table had arrived.

***

Squeak.

The goblin mask, who had opened the door, waved his hand and greeted cheerfully.

“Oh, Ms. Fox! Long time no see?”

“Yes, hello.”

“It seems like we’re the first two here again today?”

Fox, wearing a fox mask, smiled awkwardly at the goblin’s question.

She knew that it wasn’t a question to confirm something, but rather an opening for a personal conversation.

She didn’t have anything she wanted to talk about with the goblin.

“…Haha, it seems like you have something on your mind again today? I’ll be quiet.”

“Thank you.”

Soon, a little more time passed, and the Deer Horn and Crescent Moon arrived at almost the same time.

After checking, it was 3:05.

There were 5 minutes left until entry.

“It seems like those two haven’t arrived yet?”

“…They’ll be here soon.”

She replied to Deer Horn’s question with a bitter smile. The members who hadn’t participated in the meeting yet were the Clown and the Queen.

They would probably participate today.

Well, after checking the members, they would just turn their backs and disappear again.

Just like they had been doing for the past year.

“Still, since four of us have gathered, we can properly hold the meeting today.”

“…Last time, Deer Horn was absent, so we couldn’t even start, right? Why didn’t you come then?”

“Goblin, do I have to tell you the reason?”

“That’s… not true. Yes. I was just curious and asked.”

As they were having meaningless small talk before the meeting started, the door opened again.

The person who came in this time was a woman.

“Oh my, everyone, long time no see?”

The Queen.

Although she couldn’t compare to the presence of the Lion, she had overwhelmed the Clown with her information and had fully proven her worth in this meeting.

“Are you going to wait and leave again this time?”

The Queen smiled awkwardly at Crescent Moon’s polite question. That was enough of an answer.

Everyone knew what she was thinking.

‘She probably thinks there’s no point in participating in a meeting without that man.’

Even after the Lion stopped visiting, she participated in the meeting and shared various information.

However, at some point, she also left the place before the meeting started after only checking the members.

And the same was true for the Clown.

“Heh, were you all gathered together again this time?”

“Clown….”

With 2 minutes left until the meeting started.

People’s eyes gathered on the Clown who had arrived.

Most of them were not friendly.

That was because there had been many clashes with Noark recently.

Even if it wasn’t as much as Crescent Moon, they couldn’t be friendly to him, who was a member of the Noark camp.

“Do you think staring at me will kill me?”

The Clown chose an empty seat as if he didn’t care about such gazes. And he only stared at the clock on the wall, eagerly waiting for one person.

It was a scene that was now too familiar.

“Hoo… I guess that person isn’t coming today either.”

“…There have been sightings of Noark trying to crawl out to the 6th floor recently, what’s the reason?”

“Huh? Why would I tell you that when the meeting hasn’t even started?”

“That’s… because you don’t participate in the meeting….”

“Deer Horn, you should have brought something interesting sooner. It’s so boring that I keep coming and leaving.”

“…Do you think that will make you look like the Lion?”

“Heh, I didn’t intend to, but….”

Soon, the Clown got up from his seat with a mocking laugh, and the Queen also stood up as if she had been waiting for it.

“Anyway, it seems like he’s not coming today, so I’ll be going.”

“I’ll be going too then….”

The Fox quietly sighed as she watched them leave. As much as she missed their presence, she was reminded of the need for one person.

‘Hoo, where did that Lion disappear to?’

At first, the Clown and the Queen also made all sorts of speculations about his disappearance.

He wasn’t coming because he lost interest.

The GM had expelled him from the community, and so on.

There were many other hypotheses, but the most memorable one was the Goblin’s speculation.

What if Bjorn Yandel and he were the same person?

If he had died, the fact that the timing was very coincidental was the basis for that.

But….

[Heh, Mr. Goblin, how about you give up being a paladin and become a writer?]

The Goblin had to be ridiculed after making that speculation.

They didn’t say harsh words, but the other members didn’t take it seriously either.

That was because when the Lion first appeared at the Round Table, Bjorn Yandel was an explorer who hadn’t even been around for a year.

It was impossible for someone who was active on the 3rd or 4th floor at best to show such a presence.

However….

‘Maybe that speculation was true….’

The Fox thought that the hypothesis might be true.

Although there were many contradictions, if that was really the case, at least it would explain why the Lion hadn’t appeared for two and a half years—

Squeak.

That was the moment when her thoughts reached that point.

The tightly closed door slowly opened, and everyone flinched.

The reason was simple.

The Clown, who was about to leave, hadn’t even reached the door yet.

“……?”

There was no one else who would come.

No, there shouldn’t be anyone else.

Except for one person.

Thud.

Soon, a man appeared beyond the open door.

And….