Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 500

“Plan B.”

The moment I heard those words, ominous thoughts filled my head.

But, regardless of that.

“How is it? Are all your real questions answered now?”

“Yeah, mostly.”

My hostility towards Lee Baek-ho decreased even further.

It’s better to deal with someone who openly states their desires than someone who hides their schemes behind a smile.

“You’re not going to answer if I ask about Plan B, are you?”

“That one is really off-limits. I need to have at least one trump card, right?”

Sigh, so that’s how it is…

It’s a bit disappointing, but I can understand and overlook this level of secrecy.

It’s not like I’ve revealed everything to him either.

We’ve shown each other our cards honestly as much as needed. For now, that’s enough.

“So, am I your enemy or ally now, Hyung?”

I answered without much hesitation.

“Well, I think ‘collaborator’ is more appropriate.”

“…Collaborator?”

“Yeah, collaborator.”

Lee Baek-ho seemed curious about the exact meaning of the word. Well, it’s better to clarify these things.

“I’ll collaborate so you can go home.”

“And in return, I’ll help you whenever you need it?”

“Something like that.”

“Not bad. But what if our opinions clash and things go wrong…?”

I chuckled and shrugged at Lee Baek-ho’s uncharacteristically cautious tone.

“Then we’ll part ways at that moment. What’s the big deal? I’d prefer that not to happen, but as you said, you never know.”

“……You’re very cool about it.”

“Yeah. So, do whatever you want to prepare for that time, whether it’s Plan B or whatever. I’ll do the same anyway.”

Preparing for the worst is a natural instinct.

And I think.

That someone who doesn’t do that would be the worst kind of collaborator.

“Collaborator… I like it. Let’s do that.”

Soon, Lee Baek-ho reached out his hand as if he was satisfied.

Ugh, what’s with this cheesy stuff?

Even though I was internally disgusted, I shook his hand.

“……Hyung, I just got goosebumps.”

“Don’t say it. I feel the same.”

After the brief handshake, we each sat on the sofa and chuckled at each other.

“I should have done this sooner.”

“I know, right?”

It felt better than I expected.

***

After that, I had several conversations with Lee Baek-ho.

The main topic was, of course, the ‘hidden areas.’

“Hyung, tell me. What exactly did you do?”

“I don’t know. It seems like a special condition was met, but I don’t know why that happened.”

“Is that so? It’s a shame, but… it wouldn’t matter much even if I knew. The achievement recorded on the Record Stone only happens once.”

“Oh, really?”

“Ah, didn’t you know? You really don’t know much outside of what you can find in the game, Hyung…”

Well, that can’t be helped.

I used to live in the library, but when you think about it, that was just open knowledge that anyone could obtain.

“……It’s already this late. Hyung, I’ll log out now.”

After talking about this and that for a while, it was almost time for Lee Baek-ho to log out.

“Hey, now that it’s like this, how about we meet up in the city sometimes?”

“I’d like that. But I don’t think I can for a while. I’m planning to go outside for a bit.”

“…Outside, you mean outside the city walls?”

“Yes. I finally found a way to go outside. I searched the city’s underground for so long because of this.”

Wait a minute, this sounds like good information.

When I asked him to tell me, Lee Baek-ho nodded with a somewhat reluctant face.

“It’s hard to explain here, so I’ll send a letter to your house before I leave. It’ll have the method written down.”

“Thanks.”

Is this why you need a veteran player around?

I got the escape route from the kingdom that I’d been curious about in an unexpected way.

So, back to the main point.

“But why are you trying to go out there?”

“Auriel Gabis. I have a feeling that old man is there.”

“……?”

“So I’m going to look for him. That old man probably has the answers to most of my questions.”

Come to think of it, I should have asked Baek-ho about this old man too. In this situation, he’d probably answer more honestly.

“Well… I guess I can ask him when we meet next time?”

“Then I’ll go now, Hyung. See you next month!”

“Yeah, let me know if you find him.”

“Yep.”

Lee Baek-ho left, and as I sat on the sofa, staring at the fireplace, Hyun-byeol came back.

“You’re later than usual today?”

“Do you think I just go out and count the people?”

Oh… wasn’t that it?

I thought that was the case since she always came back right after going out…

“By the way… you look good?”

“Huh?”

“You look like you’ve solved a problem. Your expression right now, Oppa.”

“Ah… is that so?”

She really seems to have some kind of sixth sense.

As I neither confirmed nor denied it, Hyun-byeol chuckled and lay down on the sofa.

I don’t know where to look.

“Hyun-byeol…? You’re wearing a skirt right now…”

“So? I have stockings on.”

“Oh…”

Is that… okay?

For some reason, I felt like I could accept it, and as I froze, Hyun-byeol chuckled.

“You worry about the strangest things. Now of all times.”

Soon, Hyun-byeol took out a book from the empty space and started reading.

“…What’s that book? Where did you get it?”

“Don’t you know, Oppa? It’s all the rage these days.”

“……?”

“You really don’t know. You know how they sell clothes and stuff in the community using GP [Game Points], right?”

“Yeah, I know that.”

Ghost Busters was a community with surprisingly many pay-to-win elements. There were several paid features like decorating chat rooms and cosmetic items, and of course, I had never used any of them.

“This book is one of those things.”

“So, is it blank?”

“No. It’s written. It’s originally a post from someone who used to write on the free board, but it became so popular that they collaborated with the operators to make it into a book and sell it recently.”

“Wow… that’s amazing. So, is it good?”

“Do you want to read it too? I have a spare copy of the first volume.”

“Yeah, let me see.”

I took a book from Hyun-byeol and started reading. It was a fantasy novel set in a modern background, and it was quite captivating from the beginning.

But, even so, it was hard to concentrate.

“……This is driving me crazy.”

Hyun-byeol, why is she wiggling her feet when she’s just reading a book?

“Stretching. My legs are numb.”

“……Did I say that?”

“No. Your expression said it.”

……I can’t think anything in front of her.

After that, I turned my back to Hyun-byeol and continued reading, and the sound of turning pages continued endlessly.

“Oppa.”

“…Yeah?”

“It’s almost that time, don’t you need to go out?”

“Ah……”

What, why is this novel so good?

Before I knew it, it was time for the Round Table to open.

So, I quickly asked Hyun-byeol for her understanding, said goodbye, and left, hurrying to enter the Round Table.

The usual navy suit.

And the lion mask I wore over it.

Since I was running late, I quickly got dressed and walked through the hallway. When I arrived at the Round Table, eight members were already there.

“You’ve arrived, Lion. Hehe.”

Starting with the clown who greeted me warmly, there was the fox, crescent moon, deer antlers, clown, queen, butterfly, and wolf…

“Eight people?”

Just as I thought that one of the three newbies from the last meeting, the Black Mask, was missing.

Swoosh.

The Black Mask appeared through the opposite door connected to the Round Table. The Black Mask glanced around the room and sat down in an empty seat.

“Nice to meet you, Black…”

The goblin next to him greeted him, but the Black Mask crossed his arms without saying anything.

He seems to have a strong personality too.

Swoosh.

Anyway, I also went to my empty seat and sat down, and as if on cue, the door of the Round Table slammed shut.

“Ten people in total… It feels strange since there are so many people.”

The Queen mumbled as if to start the conversation, and the Crescent Moon replied in a gentle voice.

“Queen, that may be the case for you.”

“Are you saying it’s not for you, Crescent Moon?”

The one who answered the Queen’s question was the Wolf Mask, one of the three newbies with the title of ‘returning user.’

“Haha! There were times when there were over twenty people when the Master was here! Ah, those were the days—”

“You were too busy sucking up to the Master back then. Hehe.”

“……”

“Clown, are you doing the same thing now?”

“Hehehe, the fairy must be attractive. Seeing you so obsessed with an NPC. So, when are you going to come to me? Aren’t you going to take revenge?”

“Wow! Are you two enemies? That’s interesting. Please call me when you fight!”

“Hehehe! Of course, Butterfly.”

Ugh, it’s a mess with so many people.

Swoosh.

When I looked at the fox, the fox started to organize the situation while looking at me.

“It seems like everyone is here, so shall we start…?”

“Haha, let’s do that. We didn’t gather just to chat, did we?”

As the situation calmed down, the attention naturally turned to the person sitting next to me, following the unwritten rules of the Round Table.

That’s because this seat is always the first turn.

“It seems like it’s the first time Queen is first?”

“I know, right? I didn’t expect everyone to sit so close to the back.”

The Queen, who was sitting three seats away from me, sighed and started her first turn.

“It’s a topic I’m most interested in these days. I’ll talk about that. The one who created the Record Stone is the great sage, Diplun Groundel Gavrilius.”

The information was true, and since more than half of the people didn’t know it, the green light came on, but objections immediately poured in.

“Is it important who made it? Hehe.”

“Hehe, I know, right? He’s not a mage.”

“From the start, most of the mysterious things are related to that human.”

The Queen didn’t show a strong reaction, as if she had expected the objections, and readily added information.

“Then how about this. There is credible evidence that Gavrilius’s arrangement, a hidden piece, is hidden within the Record Stone itself.”

Hidden piece, huh…

“This isn’t bad.”

The members seemed to be convinced, and the turn passed to the next person.

“The tribal meeting will be held next month. And it has been confirmed that the Master of the Magic Tower will be the human representative.”

If it was just the time when the tribal meeting was held, it would have been insufficient, but by specifying the human representative, the Crescent Moon also finished his turn without any problems.

“The Master of the Magic Tower is the human representative…”

By the way, I didn’t even know that the tribal meeting was being held, and I’m a tribal chief. How does he already know this?

“It must be the difference in the influence of the tribes themselves.”

In fact, except for the Barbarians, all the other tribes have connections to the royal family. It’s not for nothing that the other families of Melves receive protection from their hometowns.

They coexist by pushing from below and pulling from above.

“Misha Kalstein has joined the Anabada Clan.”

It was the information that the fox, the third in line, brought up.

I was slightly startled by the sudden mention of the name, but I wasn’t displeased.

“It’s information that will be known everywhere soon anyway. I guess they thought it was okay to use it like this.”

In fact, it wasn’t a wrong judgment.

Objectively, the value of the information was low, but none of the members objected.

It’s not for me to say, but Bjorn Yandel was that hot of a name.

“Indeed, that woman…”

“She was… wasn’t she said to be working as that man’s colleague? Something must have happened.”

“Hehe… Fox is not bad either. It’s information I didn’t even know.”

After the fox’s turn, it was the goblin’s turn, followed by the Black Mask and the Deer Antlers.

However, there was no shocking information.

I was just listening to the meeting like I was watching the news.

“Hehe, what I’m going to say is similar to what Fox said earlier…”

The moment the butterfly started to speak, my body reacted first.

“Misha Kalstein, that woman.”

What is it?

What is she talking about?

Without realizing it, I perked up my ears, and the butterfly smiled and said.

“That woman is a traitor.”

I heard it with my ears, but my mind couldn’t understand it.

Traitor? Does that mean it’s from Lee Baek-ho’s perspective?

I was thinking that when.

As if reading my mind, the butterfly mask added an explanation.

“Ah, of course, from Bjorn Yandel’s perspective.”

What kind of crazy talk is this?

Even while thinking that, my gaze turned to the jewel of the Round Table.

Swoosh.

The jewel was quietly emitting a green light.