Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 544

As I shared the information, I quickly glanced around.

“……!”

“……!”

Okay, seeing their reactions, it’s clear that the average explorer would be going crazy over this.

“Just in two months…”

“Single-number items…”

“…Two of them?”

Well, one was from Garphas’s necklace, and the other was a lucky drop from defeating a guardian, but…

I didn’t lie.

In the first place, those items could only be obtained from magic stones found on the first basement floor or from ‘Guardian’ monsters.

Swishhhhhh-!

As the green light shone too brightly, a moment of silence fell over the round table.

From here, everyone’s reactions differed.

While everyone was shocked by the information itself just a moment ago.

“How on earth did you know about what happened there…”

“I believe there are less than 120 people who have gone down there so far…”

“Heh… Could it be… inside?”

Some were curious about my identity.

“Pshh, how foolish. Is there any place in this world that the Lion’s gaze doesn’t reach? Didn’t you see earlier? He even knew the details of what happened in the 8th floor rift. That… was a top secret that less than 50 people knew about?”

“True… the first information about that place came from a member of the Hectz Clan. We can’t rule out the possibility of an informant among them.”

Some seemed to find it unsurprising and accepted it.

Also…

“Then, that informant must be near Bjorn Yandel.”

The deer-horned member from the royal family looked like he had finally found a clue, his eyes gleaming with aggression.

What’s he going to do even if he knows?

Swish.

I shifted my gaze to check the reaction of the fox-masked Bersil.

It was hard to read his expression properly because of the mask.

Yet, I didn’t see any suspicion in his eyes as he looked at me.

Rather…

‘Panic and anxiety.’

I could feel fragments of those emotions.

‘Is he thinking that there’s a mole among his clan members?’

Well, I’ll find out what Bersil does after the community closes today.

He has a history of coming straight to me and talking about traitors, like during the Misha incident.

Anyway, Bersil is fine for now.

Swish.

I moved my gaze once more to the side to check on the goblin.

‘Tsk, he’s actually the most worrying one.’

The goblin was silent, not swept away by the surrounding atmosphere, as if he was pondering something.

Yeah, he’s just like that, but…

‘It makes me feel uneasy for no reason.’

I had revealed many reasons at the round table why the Lion couldn’t be Bjorn Yandel, but there are some people in the world who have absurd intuition.

For some reason, the goblin seemed like that type to me.

Therefore…

“Deer Horn.”

I spoke to Deer Horn, who was the first in line, and changed the topic of conversation.

“How long are you going to keep doing that?”

“……?”

“It’s your turn again.”

Come on, let’s get back to it.

I have a lot more to tell you anyway.

***

One round.

“The first basement floor record archive contains all kinds of monsters and rift guardians.”

Two rounds.

“The first basement floor record archive is home to many new species, including mutated ones.”

“Um… what do you mean by mutated species…?”

I kindly answered questions that would have been impossible under normal circumstances.

“They are species that have the skills of various types of monsters. They also drop essences. For example, one might have an ogre’s passive and a troll’s active.”

“……!!”

“That’s absurd!”

“That, that means we can create new essence combinations?”

Some members shouted in disbelief, but there was no need to persuade them with evidence.

After all, the gem would verify the truth.

Swishhhhhh-.

Each time the gem emitted a green light, the members’ murmuring grew louder.

Also…

Flash-!

In some ways, they had a more intense light of greed in their eyes than the gem’s light.

It was only natural.

Yeah, what player would stay still after hearing about such a honey hunting ground?

“Pshh… this story is getting interesting.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s going to be a very interesting story for Noark? Noark will just have to suck their thumbs no matter what they hear.”

The power struggle between the clown from Noark and the deer horn from the royal family. Of course, there was no feeling of grandeur.

‘Well, still, kids fighting is the most fun.’

And everyone seemed to have similar feelings, as no one tried to stop them even though they were arguing.

They were just watching with interest.

“Ah! Just like the Lafdonia explorers who have been falling behind because they haven’t been able to go to the 8th and 9th floors for over a year? Pshh.”

“Didn’t you hear what the Lion said? If what he said is true, there’s no reason to go to the 8th and 9th floors anymore.”

“Ah, well, maybe that’s true. But what does that matter?”

“…Are you really asking because you don’t know? If this news gets out, the royal family will reconsider the entry ban and start actively supporting the growth of explorers. If that happens, it’s only a matter of time before Noark collapses.”

“Oh, is that so? Yes. I’m so scared I feel like crying.”

Deer Horn scoffed at the clown’s indifferent reply.

“Well, maybe you wouldn’t care, clown. You’re the type to proudly brag to the enemy about your faction’s failed attempts. To you, even this kind of thing is just another fun event—.”

“Well? The reason I said it was fun was for a completely different reason, though?”

The clown interrupted Deer Horn and continued, letting out his unique laugh.

“That’s because, why does Deer Horn think this situation is only good for the royal family?”

“What… what do you mean?”

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

The clown shrugged his shoulders exaggeratedly and stared at one place.

It was the seat where I was sitting.

The clown made eye contact with me, gave a friendly wink, and then turned his gaze back to Deer Horn.

“Why do you think the Lion told us about the first basement floor at the round table? Deer Horn, you have a brain, so try to think about it today.”

“……”

Deer Horn chose to remain silent at those words.

And one of the members answered in his place.

“To hinder the royal family.”

It was the queen, who had been listening to the conversation quietly.

“I guess that’s the only reason I can think of.”

Other members seemed to agree with her words.

“I guess I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.”

“…The Lion must know what will happen if this story spreads.”

“And he’s never been this blatant before.”

The information was released after the royal family’s entry ban order.

And it was attractive enough to cause a situation that went against that order. Through this situation, the members seemed to have already noticed my intentions.

Well, it doesn’t matter much even if they notice.

“Pshh, but to be so arrogant without knowing that, isn’t it funny even to yourself?”

“…You’re interpreting it too much to your liking. It could have been to help the royal family. The royal family didn’t know that the first basement floor was such a valuable place.”

“Hmm… well? I wonder which side was interpreting it to their liking.”

At the end of the clown’s words, the members’ gazes focused on me.

They didn’t say anything, but they were all telling me with their eyes.

Which of the two was the truth.

They seemed to expect me to tell them clearly.

But, perhaps they felt frustrated when I kept my mouth shut.

“So…”

Eventually, someone took the lead.

It was none other than Black.

“What’s the truth?”

It was a bit unexpected.

I thought someone might take the lead, but I never expected it to be him.

He’s always been quiet except for his turn.

“Lion, are you on the side of the royal family? Or are you on the side of Noark?”

Black’s bold question, wearing a completely black mask without any decorations or patterns.

I muttered briefly in response.

“You have no manners.”

It wasn’t filled with killing intent, but for some reason, Black lowered his gaze as if avoiding my eyes.

Well, he seemed to realize his actions belatedly and raised his head again to force eye contact.

‘He’s got quite a temper.’

I recorded the information about the still unknown subject in a corner of my mind and continued to speak.

As if I liked his tenacity.

“But, I will give you an answer.”

I fixed my gaze on Black and placed my hand on the gem.

And at that moment.

Gulp.

I heard someone swallow.

Everyone was looking at me now.

The clown seemed to hope that I would be on Noark’s side, while Deer Horn hoped for the opposite.

The rest seemed curious about the truth, no matter which side it was.

But…

“The royal family and Noark.”

I clearly declared in front of everyone.

“I am on neither side.”

I wasn’t making up something that didn’t exist.

Noark is my enemy.

The first to take away my comrade was a dragonslayer from Orculius, and I had to go through that mess on the first floor because of them.

In that process, Erwen’s sister, Daria, died.

Also…

‘The royal family goes without saying.’

The cold anger I felt that day still hasn’t melted away.

Someday, they will pay the price.

And as if to prove this.

Swishhhhhh-!

The gem on the round table emits the light of truth.

A radiance that seems somehow more intense than usual.

Seeing this, someone asked as if possessed.

“Then why on earth…”

I looked to where the sound came from, and Deer Horn was sitting there.

“Lion, why did you tell us that?”

It was a natural question for a guy from the royal family who had fought many political battles with his rivals.

A mysterious powerhouse wearing a Lion mask.

He was on neither side.

Why did he do something that seemed to hinder the royal family?

The Lion’s answer to that question is simple.

As always.

Tap tap.

I tapped the armrest twice and opened my mouth.

“Because it seems…”

Yeah, after all.

“It’ll be fun.”

Yeah, that should be enough.

***

The round table ended anticlimactically after that, but there was no regret.

I had sufficiently conveyed how much of a honey hunting ground the first basement floor was, and it seemed like the others had run out of information for today.

Besides, the timing of the ending was not bad either.

So, I just coolly ended it and left.

‘Yeah, if I had insisted on going another round, it would have just looked bad.’

I returned to Lee Han-soo’s room.

I lay on the bed for a while, relaxing, and then sat back in front of the computer and continued to work hard on the community.

It’s ironic, but this community was my only window to the outside world.

“Puhuhuhuhu… Puhuhu, this crazy bastard, really…”

Ugh, it’s embarrassing.

Why is this so funny?

As I was giggling and looking around the bulletin board, a new hot topic post appeared at the top of the free bulletin board, updating the rankings.

[Summary of what is known about the first basement floor record archive.]

I immediately clicked on it and found that the content was very informative.

From how to enter the record archive, to the fact that all kinds of monsters and rift guardians appear there, and that ‘mutated species’ exist.

And above all, the fact that Bjorn Yandel obtained two single-number items here.

The post summarized all the information I had shared at the round table in a short and concise manner.

By the way, the author was…

[BFKILLER]

It was a name I had never seen before.

‘Well, what’s certain is that it’s one of the round table members…’

Who could it be?

Now that there are 10 members, including me, it was impossible to pinpoint exactly who it was.

‘In the first place, I released the information hoping it would spread, so it’s actually a good thing…’

I never thought it would be revealed this much.

My expectation was that the information would reach the ears of those who are quick to get information this month, and then spread in earnest next month, but the development was completely different.

‘Well, even though we gathered in one place, everyone has different groups they belong to and different goals they want to achieve.’

It’s not strange that someone among the 10 members wanted this information to spread outside.

Anyway, that’s not the important thing…

Click, click.

I scrolled down quickly and checked the comments.

Before it became a hot topic, most of the early comments were related to fact-checking.

[YPPL: Wow, you should be a writer at this point.]

[gooooooodd2: You’re trying so hard to get on the hot topic list.]

[q1q2q3: So where’s the evidence? If there isn’t any, who would believe such absurd information?]

Users who judged it as simple bait and poured out sharp sarcasm.

However, such reactions gradually decreased.

[Amer91: I’ll have to go through the sculpture temple on my next exploration. The suckers who got tricked will be having a meetup there.]

[└AI_DIDIGO: Info 1, the fact that the nameless sculpture is the key to the first basement floor is already a fact known by the royal family and large factions.]

[└ScottBANE: Wow, Didigo-nim, is that really true?]

[└Adi: Wait a minute, if the entry method is true, then isn’t it possible that the rest of the story is also true?]

[└Amer91: No, still, that’s a bit… Isn’t he just trying to get on the hot topic list by baiting with that information?]

[└Adi: No, think about it. Who would release information that hasn’t even been revealed yet just to get on the hot topic list? In the first place, he would have gotten on the hot topic list just by revealing the entry method?]

[└ScottBANE: Besides, the more I think about it, it doesn’t seem like an impossible story. There must be players on the first basement floor right now, and they can share information through the community.]

Users who already knew about the entry method appeared, and the situation gradually reversed.

From being treated as simple bait to a fairly credible story.

‘Okay, at this point, those contents will definitely be conveyed to the city…’

As I was inwardly satisfied and scrolling down.

‘Huh?’

I stopped scrolling at one point.

[Pnec: You moron bastards. Someone is literally spoon-feeding you, and you still can’t take it.]

[└bigD: What do you mean by not being able to take it?]

[└Bling0_0: He’s always baiting. Don’t pay attention to him.]

[└Pnec: Yeah, I was wondering when you’d show up. You don’t know anything.]

What, are they fighting again here?

I quickly scrolled down further at the appearance of a nickname that I now remembered after seeing it a few times.

[└Bling0_0: No, right? You actually know a lot, right? I know you’re 3cm and 3kb, right?]

[└Pnec: Yeah, what would a kid like you know? Tsk tsk, whether you believe it or not, the contents of this post are all true.]

[└Bling0_0: …How can you be so sure?]

[└Pnec: Because it’s information I heard recently from someone with a reliable source. And if you try to insult that person, I’ll find you and kill you no matter what.]

What is this?

He heard it recently?

‘Could this guy also be a member of the round table?’

That speculation flashed through my mind.

[└bigD: What do you mean by not being able to take it?]

[└(Deleted comment)]

[└Pnec: Yeah, I was wondering when you’d show up. You don’t know anything.]

[└(Deleted comment)]

[└Pnec: Yeah, what would a kid like you know? Tsk tsk, whether you believe it or not, the contents of this post are all true.]

[└(Deleted comment)]

[└Pnec: Because it’s information I heard recently from someone with a reliable source. And if you try to insult that person, I’ll find you and kill you no matter what.]

For some reason, the user with the nickname ‘Bling0_0’ ran away at the speed of light.