Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 570

Closed Doors(4)

A strange world where players must hide the fact that they are evil spirits to survive.

And in that world, there was one place where players could communicate anonymously: the Ghost Busters community.

But now, the community was shutting down.

The announcement came as a shock to everyone.

[Don’t close it.]

Keep it open, Keep it open, Keep it open, Keep it open, Keep it open

Posts filled with mindless pleading.

[Hey GM, if you’re going to shut the server down, go ahead—try it.]

Even if I have to die, so be it.

Posts that threaten the GM with their own lives on the line.

[To the GM and the admin team, please read.]

Hello.I’m just a normal person, entering my fifth year in this world. Like everyone, I’ve had my share of brushes with death, and more than once those close calls were my own fault.

I wanted to give up on everything and finally rest.

But it was this Ghost Busters community that lifted me out of that weak, hopeless time…

A heartfelt plea asking them to reconsider the shutdown.

[Requesting a GP refund.]

I just applied—when will it be processed?

It’s a lot of money for me, you know. You’re not going to run off with it, right?

Posts more worried about personal loss than the community itself.

[A 12-year veteran’s guess at why Ghost Busters is closing.]

Anyone in the know already knows this: the GM has a secret connection with the royal family. The only reason this community stayed up as long as it did was because the royal family allowed it…

Analyses and guesses of every kind.

All the posts on the page were about Ghost Busters shutting down, and it wasn’t an incomprehensible reaction.

Click. Click.

Even I was so shocked that I kept scrolling through related posts.

With only one question in mind:

‘Why are they shutting it down?’

Eventually, I stopped browsing the board.

It didn’t seem like I’d find any useful information by digging further. 90% of the posts were either trolls or mindless tantrums.

Alright, then let’s think for myself.

I probably know more than those guys anyway.

‘The most likely reason is still some kind of issue with the Royal Family.’

At this point, that was practically a given.

I was already certain that the GM and the Royal Family had a secret alliance.

But the real question was…

‘Why would the Royal Family suddenly want to shut it down?’

Their intentions were unclear.

Was it just internal conflict between the GM and the Royal Family?

That was definitely a possibility, but there might also be some deeper political motive at play.

“Sigh… This is giving me a headache.”

The community shutting down was disappointing enough, but what frustrated me more was the timing.

“Why now, when I’m stuck in the Basement Floor 1…?”

If the community disappeared, I’d have no way to hear news from the outside while stuck here.

Put simply, depending on the situation, I’d lose the one method I have of influencing the outside world.

Click, click.

After spending a long time trying to guess the reason for the shutdown,
I finally stopped overthinking and moved the mouse.

“I’ll just ask directly.”

No matter how much I agonized over it, nothing would beat a single conversation with the person in charge.

And unlike the regular users who can only post whiny threads, I’m not powerless.

I know the GM’s username.

[You have requested a 1:1 chat with Elfnunalove.]

A username that always made me feel a bit uneasy whenever I saw it.

I sent the chat request.

But…

‘Is he busy or something?’

No matter how long I waited, there was no response.

No rejection, not even a “please wait” message.

Tch. Well, I’ll just have to keep waiting for now…

Click, click.

I switched over to the chat room category.

[Long Live Korean Independence] – 2 users online.

Okay, looks like both of them are here.

“Huu…”

Hovering the cursor over the ‘Enter Chat’ button, I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

And—

“Oh! Hyung-niiiiim! You’re here! Your little brother gives his respects!”

“Oppa, you saw the announcement, right? We need to talk about—”

As soon as I entered the room, I shot a glare at Lee Baek-ho.

I felt a little bad for Hyun-byeol, who had welcomed me warmly, but…

“Hyun-byeol, can you give us a minute?”

“…Huh?”

“I need to talk to this bastard, Lee Baek-ho.”

I wasn’t here today to laugh and joke around.
***

After looking at me for a moment, Hyun-byeol quietly left the chat without protest.

“Hyung… are you mad…?”

What a disgusting act.

If he were actually scared of me getting angry, he wouldn’t have pulled that stunt behind my back in the first place.

So—

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” I cut straight to the point.

But maybe he didn’t understand.

“Huh? Wait, hyung… calm down first… You need to tell me why you’re—”

Yeah, so he wants to know how much I know.

Well, there’s no reason to hide it at this point.

 

If this community is really shutting down, I won’t have another opportunity to speak with him in such a neutral setting.

“The Resurrection Stone.”

Just like I had with Misha, I uttered a single phrase.

And that was enough for him to understand.

“Ah.”

His expression shifted instantly.

From pretending to be nervous about my anger, his eyes now carried a hint of disappointment.

“So it failed.”

He let out a short sigh before asking me.

“Did she tell you?”

It was only then that I realized—

This bastard was seriously messed up in the head.

“Or did you just figure it out? Well… I never really trusted her with it in the first—”

“Lee Baek-ho.”

I cut him off.

If I kept listening, I wasn’t sure I could control my anger.

Clenching my jaw, I asked as calmly as possible.

“Why did you do it?”

Why did you give Misha the Stone of Resurrection?

At that short question, Lee Baek-ho tilted his head.

And then—

“That’s not like you, hyung.”

A smirk crept onto his face.

“You already know the answer, don’t you?”

Honestly, he was right.

But still—

“Just answer the question. Why did you do it?”

When I pressed him again, Lee Baek-ho finally answered.

“Because you kept dragging things out.”

“…So you tried to use a Resurrection Stone on me?”

“Yeah. Since you wouldn’t cut the ties yourself, I thought I’d help. You’ll ditch everyone once you get home anyway, right?”

A lunatic who would go to any lengths to achieve his goals.

That was the essence of Lee Baek-ho.

It was obvious.

If I had lost my memories, he would’ve approached me with a kind smile, calling me “hyung”.

But getting angrier would only make me the loser here.

“Is that so? Well, thanks anyway.” I said indifferently.

“…Huh?”

“For the Stone of Resurrection. It’s an incredibly rare item, and now I get to have it for free. You must’ve worked hard to get it. If it had at least served its purpose, fine—but it didn’t.”

I mocked him, making it clear that even if he asked for it back now, I’d never return it.

But his response was unexpected.

“Oh, really? If you’re holding onto it, that’s perfect for me.”

He wasn’t acting nonchalant, he was sincere.

“You’re not going to die anyway. You still have to break through the final floor and complete your ‘wish.’ But do you know why I still gave you the Resurrection Stone?”

Before I could even reply, he continued.

“Because being revived with the Resurrection Stone doesn’t count as dying. Even if you come back from the dead, it won’t affect what’s written on the Record Stone.”

In other words, as long as the stone is near me, a situation could arise where it gets used—where I’m on the brink of death.

“Record flows like a river, hyung. The current always heads downstream, but anything can happen along the way.”

That was why he’d handed the Resurrection Stone to Misha.

Its very presence beside me introduced the possibility it would activate.

A cunning bastard indeed, but I forced a calm smile.

“Baek-ho, aren’t you being a bit emotional? I get that you’re upset your plan failed, but if you spill everything, I’ll—”

“Ah, come on, I know you, hyung.”

“…?”

“Come on, I know you.”

“…What?”

“You’d never throw it away. Your comrades could die at any moment. I heard you were devastated when that half mage died.”

His words hit the mark so cleanly that I couldn’t refute them and went blank.

Because he was right.

Even if there was a penalty for memory loss, the moment it happened, I’d use it on my comrades without hesitation.

“Well, if it bothers you that much, go ahead and throw it away. It’s a shame, but what can you do? Plan B is already in motion anyway.”

“…….”

“By the way, what happened to Misha Karlstein? If you found out about the Stone of Resurrection yourself, the betrayal must’ve hit hard.”

“…….”

“Oh, your expression says it all. If you’ve completely shut her out, just give her back to me. It’s a hassle to find another Dual Frost Swordsmen and raise them from scratch.”

“…….”

 

“But isn’t this a bit hypocritical? You’ve always manipulated and deceived others, including that kitty. Does that barbarian warrior woman know? That you’re an evil spi—”

I cut him off there.

“Shut up.”

“…Huh?”

“Please, just shut up. I want to kill you.”

I admitted it honestly.

If losing my temper meant losing this argument, then today was my defeat.

In this spiritual world, no matter how much I wanted to kill someone, it was impossible.

But…

“Oooh, scary. But hey, hyung, calm down. I’ve got a new proposal—”

“Baekho.”

I covered my ears and said what I wanted to say.

“Even if we say we’ll never see each other again, we’ll meet someday, right?”

“Uh… I guess?”

“When that happens, I’ll grant your wish.”

“Huh? What does that mea—”

What does it mean?

Haven’t you always said it yourself?

That you want to leave this damned world.

“See you then.”

With that, I left the chat.
***

Back in Lee Han-soo’s room.

As I slowly calmed my emotions, I suddenly remembered Hyunbyeol, who’d probably been waiting outside.

“She must’ve been pretty confused…”

Still, I didn’t feel like going back in and explaining it all.

First, I needed to recharge my drained energy.

In a quiet place, alone.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

After lying on the bed in a daze for a while, some of my mental strength trickled back. I replayed the conversation with Lee Baek-ho, thinking of all the comebacks I should have said.

Still.

“Sigh……”

Like a zombie, I pushed myself up from the bed and checked the chat room.

[Long Live Korean Independence] – 0 users online.

Hyun-byeol wasn’t in the room anymore.

It seemed he had gotten tired of waiting and left.

She must’ve gotten tired of waiting and left.

I felt a bit guilty, but putting that aside for now, I checked my inbox. There was still no reply from the GM to the 1:1 chat request I had sent earlier.

“Feels like I’m being left on read…”

There was no way he hadn’t had time to check it.

But I didn’t let it bother me.

Once I got out of the labyrinth, I could always go find the GM in person and ask directly…

And even if not the GM, I still had a way to contact the moderators right now.

Click, click.

As I moved the mouse, the screen shifted, and the familiar, simple welcome message appeared before my eyes.

[Welcome, Observer.]

It was time for the final Round Table meeting to begin.

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