Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 258

Clan (2)

Location: Lee Han-soo’s Room

Every time I come here now, I feel like I’m back home.

For something so familiar and comfortable, it also feels strangely unfamiliar.

This room, which was once my sanctuary.

Click-

First, I pressed the power button on the computer and turned on the community.

Then, I waited for the posts to appear.

There wasn’t much else to do until the round table meeting at 3 o’clock.

[Long Live Korean Independence] – 0 people online.

Once again, there was no sign of Baekho.

Sigh, from the way he threatened the GM, it seemed like he was trying to find a way back, but not yet.

‘He said his ultimate goal was to return…’

I recalled Baekho’s past ambitions and thought about the GM.

What could the GM’s goal be?

Is it also to return?

‘……But then why ban Baekho?’

Hmm… I don’t know.

Something is constantly happening beyond my understanding.

‘I just hope it wasn’t all for nothing.’

Hoping that the plan to use Caron as a decoy would go well, and that the GM’s suspicions would be cleared up, I organized what I knew about the GM. 

There wasn’t much.

Firstly, the GM is a mage.

And he’s a fan of ‘Elfnuna’ to the point of using the nickname ‘Elfnunalove’ in the community.

Wait a minute.

‘…What if he finds out I’m that person? Would he start helping me with all sorts of things?’

Suddenly, I thought I might gain a reliable supporter.

But such hopes eventually lead to the same conclusion.

‘Absolutely not.’

It’s somewhat similar to why I never fully revealed my identity to Baekho.

I don’t know the GM’s intentions.

Moreover, the GM has already sent a community entry pill to ‘Bjorn Jandel’ once before.

Simply put, it means he wasn’t just trying to invite a player to the community.

So, I must thoroughly hide my identity.

Even if I find out he had good intentions, it’s the same.

No one knows how human relationships will turn out.

Revealing that I am an evil spirit to someone is akin to handing over my own noose.

I’ve seen bad examples firsthand.

[Alright, if you want, I’ll destroy the place you’re in. Hans Krysen is an evil spirit!]

If I were to suffer the same fate as Hans G, what choice would I make then?

Would I be able to refuse to make a choice?

Click, click.

I erased my thoughts and moved the mouse.

Quite some time had passed, and various posts were appearing on the forums.

I spent time browsing as if surfing the web.

It was about 30 minutes after the community opened.

[I’m from Noark, and there’s something I need to tell you.]

The post appeared.

***

The post started like this

• I’ve debated several times whether to post this fearing a ban for being from Noark, but I believe everyone, regardless of faction, should know this.
• We are currently outside.
• Not inside the walls, but the actual outside world.

Shocking content that undermines the foundation of the world.

• You probably think this doesn’t make sense, right? But it’s true. We fled from the royal family and are still alive out here.
• Whether the witch’s curse has faded over time or it never existed in the first place, we still don’t know.
• But one thing is clear.
• The outside world is perfectly fine. Plants grow, insects eat the leaves when you get close, and there are wild animals too.

The author went on to describe the outside world in detail, then narrated what had happened like a diary.

I slowly read through all the long passages.

And my first impression was this:

‘No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like the Author is just trying to get attention…….’

It didn’t seem like a simple prank.

After all, no one would risk being banned for posting a joke.

However, the comment section was in an uproar.

[Brutalizer X: Here, take some attention.]

[arolf5205: Came here out of curiosity, but scrolled past quickly. No way anyone believes this, right?]

Starting with the top comments dismissing it as a lie……

[ryanzeus31: But if this is true, isn’t the royal family screwed? If there’s a world outside where we can live without mana stones, this city won’t survive.]

[└furryking1955: Maybe that’s why they hid it? There’s no way they didn’t know about this.]

Some believed the content and worried about what might come next.

And……

[Gareth: Wow, so that old guy who disappeared went outside?]

Some left comments suggesting they knew something.

[└NIKAMOTO: Old guy? What do you mean? Please share more information.]

[└Gareth: I was waiting in front of the portal to slaughter any Noark bastards that showed up, but then an old man appeared, teleported, and took them all.]

[└Kni8htofroom: If you’re going to lie, at least make an effort. How can you teleport that many people with Mass Teleport?]

[└Gareth: I don’t know, I don’t even want to convince you. Anyway, what do I do now? I chose the knight path thinking the royal family would be better. Is the royal family doomed now?]

Thanks to this comment, the opinion started shifting towards believing the post.

Royal family troops who participated in the subjugation began to appear one by one to testify.

[└amulet: As hard as it is to believe, it’s true they escaped via teleportation. I can confirm this because I was there.]

[└kongkong2: This person has been posting about the knight order for years. So, is all this real?]

As the post gained popularity, testimonies from the royal family side poured in, followed by appearances from Noark members.

[EXBlunt: Ah, the fresh outside air is nice. Are we the real winners for moving down here early?]

[xxfblz: Yeah, we’re living well without mana stones. You guys are slaving away paying taxes.]

I started to feel confused.

The idea that the outside world is fine is plausible. I’ve felt something was off while watching the guards at the walls.

However, there were parts I couldn’t understand.

‘Why are they telling us this?’

It’s not strange that there are Noark members in the community.

But why share their situation now?

Do they see it as a duty to inform fellow players?

‘No way.’

If that were true, a few weeks ago I wouldn’t have struggled to break through to the first floor, knocking on death’s door as I cleared the way for hundreds of others.

Back then, they kept completely silent.

They didn’t disclose the ambush plan even as a joke, and as a result, most of the explorers above ground were wiped out. 

Naturally, many of those were players.

‘So, it must be an order from Noark.’

They have a motive.

If they lie about having escaped outside, it would help them evade the royal family’s pursuit—

‘But if the outside isn’t fine, wouldn’t the royal family know anyway?’

I soon hit a contradiction and sighed deeply.

“Ha, what the hell is really going on?”

I couldn’t hold back and left a comment.

[Elfnunna: I have a question for Noark members. If the outside is really fine and you’re really out there now, why are you telling us this here? You’ve been silent all this time.]

Soon, a notification for a reply popped up.

But……

[└FIREWORK: Wow, are you really Elfnunna? I’m building a fire magic archer, can you give me some tips?]

[└bigfisher: Did you get fooled? It’s Elfnunna not Elfnuna.]

[└Bling0_0: But it could be the real deal. I heard that the original nickname was taken by someone initially, and now that they’ve died, it can’t be used anymore.]

None of the replies were helpful.

Why do I get these responses when I ask questions to Noark members?

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue and checked the time.

Surprisingly, only about 10 minutes were left until the Round Table meeting.

Time had flown by while reading the constantly updating comments in real time.

‘Yeah, I might find useful information there.’

I stopped reading comments and took a short break lying on the bed.

As soon as it was time, I entered the Round Table.

‘Surely he wouldn’t skip out, right?’

I was worried that the clown who got beaten up during the last meeting might not turn up, but luckily he was a persistent one.

“Mr. Lion, you’re here too, pssit.”

There he goes again, pretending to be friendly.

I half-heartedly returned the greeting and sat down in my usual place. The current participants were Goblin, Deer Horns, Clown and SoulQueen, but strangely Fox was absent.

“That’s odd, she’s always the first to arrive.”

Goblin looked at me questioningly.

Well, I was the last one to have a private conversation with Fox.

He must be wondering if something happened.

“…….”

But I had no idea why Fox wasn’t here yet, so I kept my mouth shut.

How much time passed like that?

It was almost time for the meeting to start, but Fox still hadn’t shown up.

However, instead.

“Ho?”

“So Crescent Moon wasn’t dead?”

Crescent Moon, who had caused a lot of speculation by missing the last meeting, showed up.

Thanks to this, the attention that had been focused on the absent Fox was focused on him.

“Hello, a new face. Nice to meet you. I just joined last time and still have a lot to learn.”

SoulQueen, ever the natural socialite, approached first to greet him.

But Crescent Moon seemed off.

“……”

He didn’t respond to SoulQueens’ greeting and just sat down, showing no interest.

Was he always this cold?

“Psiit, acting all serious. What happened to you? Can’t you see everyone’s curious?”

Clown asked, and the other members didn’t comment on his rude behavior.

They were curious too.

What exactly had happened to Crescent Moon?

“……I wasn’t in the mood back then.”

Crescent, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention, briefly explained his situation. He didn’t go into detail, but it wasn’t hard to understand.

Given the timing.

And that deeply somber voice.

“Seems like you lost someone.”

Deer Horns clicked his tongue and muttered, and Crescent Moon didn’t deny it.

This made Goblin visibly uncomfortable, and he looked back and forth between Clown and Crescent Moon.

The reason was simple.

“If that’s the case, you’re in the right place. Your enemy might be here.”

“What do you mean……?”

Crescent Moon, who missed the last meeting, didn’t know.

Clown’s true identity.

“The clown is the corpse collector.”

As Deer Horns spat out the information without hiding his displeasure, Crescent Moon paused.

A brief silence followed.

“I see. So, Clown…… it’s you……”

Crescent Moon then fixed his gaze on the Clown.

Had he really lost someone due to Noark?

His stare was filled with a palpable sense of malice.

However, Clown, experienced in such situations, simply smiled as usual.

“Pssit, so, who’s going to die?”

Crescent Moon glared at the Clown for a while and then relaxed his clenched fist.

His malice disappeared as well.

Crescent Moon knew it too.

Even if his enemy was in front of him, there was nothing he could do in this mind world.

“One day, I will come for you.”

A calm, measured voice.

Clown smirked after a brief pause.

“……I’ll be looking forward to it.”

That concluded their personal exchange.

“Well then, the doors are closed, so shall we get started? I’ve been looking forward to this for a month!”

SoulQueen, trying to lighten the mood, took the lead.

It was time to decide the order.

“Alright, then I’ll go first.”

Clown volunteered to go first.

Although no one said it out loud, it was clear that everyone was more eager than ever to hear what he had to say.

“This might be exciting, huh?”

Clown said, looking at us, and then fixed his gaze on Crescent.

“You said you’d come for me, but how do you plan to do that?”

“……”

“Everyone saw the posts, right? The outside world is fine, and everyone from Noark has moved out there.”

Clown placed his hand on the jewel in the center of the table.

Then he muttered softly.

“It’s all true.”

To prove his point, the jewel on the table glowed green.

See you on Monday! By the way, you can join here and binge-read all my advanced chapters, with new updates every day. Your support is the only way to keep the website running, so please consider supporting if you can. Thank you! 🙂