Clic, click.
I first used the mouse to navigate to the chat rooms. It was one of the first things I did every time I came into the community.
[Long live Korean Independence – 0 people connected].
As expected, there was no one in the Korean chat where I met Baekho.
Man, part of me wants to meet up and have a heart-to-heart conversation with him...
After briefly reviewing the chat, I switched to the bulletin board. Normally, people would start posting explosively as soon as the community opened. There was no better time to take a quick look at what had happened in the last month.
[Breaking news: Count Ramleonde has died during the expedition].
I heard that the leader of Orcules and four other members destroyed it. It is rumored that there is a good chance that the vacant position of commander of the Third Corps will fall to the chief of the General Staff, who served on his behalf during this expedition.
these99: Now that the weakness of the Golden Wall has been revealed, the rearguard will no longer be a good place for freeloaders.
└SecureId7: Why not? It doesn't even seem like many people have died. At most, they will increase the number of patrols next time.
stevencastle: But isn't the chief of staff Eltora Tercerion's asshole?
└OP: Yes. The prime minister's son.
└stevencastle: Ugh, I'm never going to Third Corps now. I've never had an encounter with that bastard that ended well.
Unsurprisingly, most of the messages on the bulletin board were about the war.
[Has anyone heard the news about Spirit of Blood?]
I heard he killed Lighthouse Keeper, or whatever that member of Orcules is called. Is that true? From what I heard, Blood Knight, Corpse Collector, and Wailing Witch were on his team.
marcelone: This is a fact that everyone in the know already knows, but just so you know, I heard that she did not kill him alone, but joined forces with the Golden Wizard.
└OP: Wow, really? I heard they were colleagues a long time ago. I guess they don't have bad blood, contrary to what the rumors say.
└marcelone: Still, there is a lot of speculation since his opponents were very strong. Not even Blood Spirit could defeat Lighthouse Guardian by fighting them all at once.
Tsk, so there are people who are suspicious.
If doubts were expressed here, there could even be investigations underway elsewhere.
Clic, click.
I continued reading the messages, with a blank mind. After a while, I received a message.
¡Ding!
[From: Ghost Master]
The GM's nickname was written as the sender, but that wasn't particularly noteworthy. System messages and announcements within the community were always sent under this name. More than 90% of the messages in my inbox were from GM.
But I worry that my karma is about to turn against me.
Sensing that I was about to reap what I had sown, I clicked on the link. It was exactly what I expected.
[I couldn't contact you last month. If you have time, we should meet].
He had received an invitation from the GM. I wasn't very surprised. I was hoping you would contact me. In fact, the biggest surprise was that it took so long to do it.
To be honest, I thought I would get a message right after the last meeting.
I exposed the GM's identity at the Round Table, and Queen of Soul would have told him immediately.
But the fact that he contacted me a month later...
There were two possibilities: either he wanted to take his time carefully before meeting me, or for some reason he was not reachable the last time the community was active. Well, that didn't matter.
So what was I supposed to do...?
Leaving the message on the screen, I took some time to think about it. It wasn't like the GM was going to kick me out or anything if I turned down the invitation. He had tried his best to pass me off as a big shot while wearing the Lion's mask. If I had a brain, I wouldn't try to go against myself, especially when he almost died after banning Baekho.
Yes, let's at least get to know him.
Now that I had made my decision, there was no reason to hesitate. I closed the window, looked for the secret chat room, and entered the password I included in the message.
Is the password 0720? Is it some kind of anniversary?
I came up with the idea, but even if my hypothesis was correct, it's not that it was relevant information.
¡Shaaaaaa!
Soon, the monitor lit up with a flash. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in an old-fashioned studio, with the faint scent of books in the air. For some reason, this place gave off a calming vibe, and it seemed familiar too. I had already been here once. At that time, rumors of a dimensional collapse were circulating. Asking around to see if the rumors were true or not, I got information from a man here.
It had been Elfnunalove, the man with that strange nickname on his head. At the time, I never suspected it might be the GM. I figured he probably felt the same way.
«Long time no see, Elfnunna. Or do you prefer Mr. León?»
«Either one, I don't care».
«Your tone of voice has changed a lot since last time. Or is it your real self?»
I had no reason to answer that, so I ignored him and sat on the couch in front of him.
When I did, the guy gave a fake smile. «Anyway, this is our third meeting. Isn't it strange? Life is so unpredictable».
It was certainly strange. During our first meeting, I was in the position of a rookie looking for information, and the second time we met had been in a chat with Baekho.
«It's just like I said. From now on you will not be able to meet Mr. Lee here».
This guy had given me a brief summary of what had happened to Baekho out of respect for Baekho's compatriot, and that was it. To him, I had just been a rare Korean player. Neither more nor less.
«You've become much calmer since we last saw each other. So let me be direct. I don't believe in destiny or coincidences. What do you want from me?»
I want?
«What makes you think I want something?»
«Our first meeting, at least, was definitely intentional.»
So, that's how you're interpreting this. Although it really was a coincidence.
«You were the one who invited me to the chat room back then», I pointed out.
«Yes, it was me. But now that I think about it, it's strange. The fact that you mentioned the magician named Shernal Fergang from the Tarutein school also in your forum post. No matter how I look at it, I can't help but think you were trying to attract me. You intentionally posted something that I would find interesting, right?».
He was a fun guy. What would I gain from that?
«Thinking about it makes me shudder because it means you knew me well enough to do something like that».
It was a ridiculous leap, but I didn't gain anything by saying it out loud, so I decided to stop this line of questioning here. «...I'm sure you didn't call me to talk about it».
«Are you avoiding an answer?»
Avoiding? Well, I can't tell you the truth.
«Think what you want.»
«I will think so.»
«So, the reason you called me here».
When I took the reins and led the conversation where I wanted, the GM smiled satisfied. «What a strange question. You were the one who called me».
Hey? Where had that come from?
I was silent in response to this strange plot twist, and he was happy to talk to himself. «I have no idea how you found out my real name. But didn't you tell Queen of Soul so you could meet me?».
I was so sure and at the same time so wrong that I was embarrassed. Suddenly I found myself faced with a new enigma, but as always, I didn't get caught up in the small details.
«Ya veo».
Since you already think that way, let's change tactics a little.
«So you're not stupid», I told him.
«So...» The man remained thoughtful, looking at me.
I responded with a shrug. This guy was probably groping me too. It was evident that this was a ploy to extract information from me. If I humored whatever he was accusing me of, I would take it as fact, but if I denied it, I could eliminate at least one theory. In fact, it didn't hurt this guy to fire as many shots in the dark as he wanted, just to see what would fall.
So I'll make sure it fails.
Soon, I opened my mouth. «Yes, there is something I want from you».
When I thought about it, this wasn't a bad place to be. He didn't just say it; There were some things I wanted that only a GM could get.
«In that case, you could have contacted me discreetly».
Oh, eso...
«That's not fun», I replied vaguely.
Once again he cooked his own interpretation. «...I don't know, it seems to me that you only did it to intimidate me».
Well, you can think what you want.
I got back to the point. «So, aren't you going to ask?».
«...About what?»
«About what I want from you».
He looked at me silently for a moment and then sighed. «Okay. Let's hear it. What do you want from me?».
I responded after a brief pause. «Lift the ban on Baekho Lee».
If there was one thing he really needed the GM's power for, it was this. If Baekho returned to the community, we could talk. I also needed to find out information about my cat, which I was temporarily fostering.
But it seemed that he had anticipated this request. «I see, so this is what you were looking for». Surprisingly, the GM was unfazed. Well, it was not uncommon for players to form factions based on nationality. «So it was Baekho who told you my identity?»
He already seemed convinced that Baekho and I were in cahoots, so there was no reason for him to confirm or deny. «Who knows?»
«What... are you planning?»
«Well, there's no reason I can't answer that...»
«...Really?» He looked dumbfounded. It seemed like he didn't expect me to answer his question.
You have to let people finish their sentences.
«If you bring me something worthwhile».
The GM frowned. «Are you... talking about interesting information?».
So Queen of the Soul also told you about that.
When I kept my silence instead of refuting him, the guy hit his knee with his index finger. «Hahaha...» Then suddenly he started laughing like a deflated balloon.
But what...? Scary.
«I guess you're pretty confident in yourself, huh?». This cold question was a complete 180 degree turn from the kind and polite tone he was using earlier.
«I wouldn't say I'm not.»
«I look a lot alike».
«Does that mean you reject my conditions?».
He responded without hesitation. «Yeah. There is no reason for me to share my information in a one-sided exchange just because you demand it. If you want the ban on Baekho Lee lifted, bring me something worthwhile». The GM got up from his seat and immediately looked at me in a way that told me he intended to have the final say in this conversation.
Hmm, well, I'm glad I had time to throw in my two cents.
«How unfortunate», I said with sincere disappointment. «And to think you thought I was making a deal».
The guy tilted his head at my words.
Don't pretend you don't understand what I mean. Even though you pretended not to, you were afraid of me from the beginning.
«Your tone of voice has changed a lot since last time».
This guy had maintained a polite attitude despite my rudeness.
«...I don't know, it seems to me that you only did it to intimidate me».
He felt noticeably threatened by my actions.
«In that case, you could have contacted me discreetly».
And instead of expressing his anger at the things he had done, the first thing he did was express his disappointment.
«I'll give you three months», I told him.
«...Are you threatening me right now?». I did not confirm or deny it. As always, the interpretation depended on the listener. Soon, he said: «...Not even Baekho Lee could touch me».
Oh. You know, if you say it as quietly as that, it just seems like you're trying to give yourself a pep talk.
Anyway, there were a few things I had to clarify. «Actually, I seem to remember that you almost died at his hands. Do I look as soft as him?» Did not answer. «Remember. Three months. After that, I'll go find you myself».
Now it was my turn to get up.
***
«Phew... I feel much better here».
As I left the chat room and returned to my bedroom, I collapsed on the bed. This was something I had experienced countless times since the first time I put on the Lion mask, but it kept exhausting me every time.
I didn't know things would end like this.
Originally, I had planned to meet with the GM and ask him how much he knew about me, that kind of thing. If possible, I would also bring up the topic of Baekho. Yes, that had been the original plan.
But to think that he was so afraid of me.
Throughout the conversation, the plan changed. The Magic Engineer, Yurven Havellion, now had an unknown and powerful man who knew his identity. It seemed like that had served to cause the GM considerable anxiety, and being able to grasp that quickly worked in my favor.
Still, even though his identity was exposed, he did not seem suspicious of the palace.
As I slowly reviewed our conversation, a question came to mind that hadn't occurred to me before. If he revealed to the palace that he was an evil spirit, he could guarantee the GM's downfall without having to lift a finger at him. So why did he only seem worried about direct threats?
Do you have anyone in the palace who can sweep the issue of him being an evil spirit under the rug?
If so, I wanted to share that person.
...Although that couldn't be possible, right? Even the end of our conversation is bothering me...
I remembered the request he made to me before leaving the chat.
«Password. Don't say anything about the password».
It was a pretty unpleasant exchange. What about the password? Seeing that I brought up the topic, I figured it must have some meaning. I stayed silent because I couldn't figure it out, which was apparently enough of an answer for him.
«Maybe you have nothing to do with him, then... I'm sorry I entertained you. I'll see you again soon».
Man, that just made me feel more uncomfortable. The password, 0720... What was the GM trying to find out about me with those numbers?