Episode 204
“Of course.”
Hanbit nodded and took the star-shaped box.
Inside were a USB and a small card.
“It worked out well, just as I expected. I feel proud that my hard work has paid off.”
Diorama, who had been watching the conversation, nodded in satisfaction.
Ignoring him, Grace focused her gaze on Hanbit.
“If you plug the USB into your PC or smartphone, the application will install automatically. Please register an account and let me know, and I will add you to the whitelist.”
“Understood.”
Hanbit plugged the USB into his smartphone and installed the program.
Having registered the exact same account he always used, he immediately informed Grace.
“Yes. I have added you to the list. Since this site operates under a real-name player system, please keep that in mind.”
“Understood.”
Hanbit turned his gaze back to the app screen.
A message had appeared there.
[Player Black Dragon has become a member of Astra.]
A sparkling message that seemed to contain a vision.
As he looked at Grace, she spoke as if she understood his gaze.
“The names of those joining Astra will be disclosed to everyone via an announcement. With Black Dragon joining, the number has reached exactly 660.”
“Ah.”
Upon hearing the explanation, the situation immediately made sense.
It was a number that didn’t even amount to 10 percent of the 10,000-strong advance party.
At that level, it wasn’t that strange to announce changes in membership.
“Black Dragon, you’re not the only one who’s going to have a hard time, are you? If so, I’ll have no face for having introduced you.”
Just then, Diorama spoke in a voice laced with playfulness.
He seemed to hold a hint of seriousness as well.
“What do you mean?”
“I can see that the players in Astra are relying on Black Dragon’s information. You probably anticipated that, too, roughly.”
“…….”
Grace’s expression hardened slightly as she realized the meaning of his words.
Considering everything Black Dragon had shown so far, it was difficult to even estimate the depth of his information.
If he possessed a significant amount of information from the investigation team’s territory as well, there was a high probability that Astra would become an unilateral beneficiary.
“To help and cooperate to find Erfort. Wasn’t that the purpose of creating Astra? It’s not that I don’t know your situation, but looking at the bigger picture…”
“Well, can’t we just take him out early?”
Just then, a man entered the conference room.
Short hair and shabby tracksuits.
Appearing to be in his thirties, he looked like someone you could see in any neighborhood.
“Haemu, you’re taking too long.”
“…Haemu?”
The man’s name came out of Diorama’s mouth.
He was the member of the senior advance party who had hunted the Snow Drake together.
“Wow, your face is exactly like the character. You must be so lucky to look like that.”
The man, who had taken the seat next to him, spoke in a playful tone.
Hanbit looked at the two people who were already there and asked,
“Whose acquaintance are you?”
“…Both of them. You could say we’re classmates.”
“They’ve known each other longer than I have. We just took different paths.”
Grace looked a little embarrassed, while Diorama shrugged his shoulders.
This was truly an unexpected relationship, too.
“Anyway, you were saying the players would end up leeching off the Black Dragon, right? I agree a hundred percent.”
Haemu munched on a snack on the table and changed the subject.
Having personally experienced the Black Dragon within the roleplay, he could speak with near-certainty.
“So, I have a question. Roughly how much information do you have? Since the forbidden zone is so vast, is there something you don’t know?”
“Of course I don’t know everything. I’m sure I’ll encounter parts where I get stuck.”
“Hmm.”
Haemu’s expression, which had been listening quietly, changed subtly.
He fiddled with the snack bag and continued.
“You said your source of information was the original novel, right? Judging by the level of information you possess, you must have memorized the contents word for word, right?”
“Well. Maybe I just remember the interesting parts.”
“Is that so?”
At this appropriate answer, Haemu leaned back in his chair.
Then, with a slightly serious expression, he spoke.
“To put it simply, I don’t believe the story in that novel. What do you think surprised me about you? Information? Knowledge? No. It was because you looked like someone who had been rolling on the battlefield for hundreds of years.”
“…….”
Hanbit fell silent at those words.
Since it was an excuse he had brought up as a stopgap measure in the first place, it wouldn’t have been surprising if such a question
were raised at any moment. “Well, I didn’t bring this up to pry into your face. In fact, I have higher expectations for that very aspect. It’s just impossible to predict.”
He grinned and turned his gaze to Grace.
Then, she brought up a puzzling topic.
“I’d like you to tell the Black Dragon. What do you think?”
“…I know.”
At that question, Grace’s voice darkened.
It felt like there was a hidden story behind it.
“Phew.”
Letting out a deep sigh, she looked at Hanbit.
Then, she cautiously began to speak.
“I have a younger brother who is three years my junior. We’ve been close since childhood; we were like friends, a family member. We fought sometimes, but we were the kind of siblings who took good care of each other.”
Grace spoke with a face that seemed lost in wistful memories.
However, sorrow gradually settled in her voice.
“The problem started one morning three years ago. My brother, who had been laughing and chatting with us just the day before, suddenly went berserk and screamed like a madman. My parents and I were so shocked that we froze.”
The shock of a perfectly normal family member going insane overnight.
Having never experienced such a situation, Hanbit could not bring himself to say that he understood her feelings.
'Three years… …'
At this peculiar moment, a single memory overlapped.
It was a past event I had heard from Kenji.
He said it had been three years since Momo started chattering about the other world.
And it was no coincidence that this memory suddenly came to mind.
“My younger sibling kept repeating the same thing, saying they had to find Erfort. No matter how much information I scoured, I couldn’t figure out the meaning. I was diagnosed with delusions dozens of times.”
Grace’s family had looked into everything from people named Erfort to the names of small villages.
However, no matter what they tried, nothing changed in their sibling.
“When a year passed like that, a game called ‘Record Project’ was released. I suppose it was truly a stroke of luck that I happened to come across the name Erfort in that article.”
Grace immediately began gathering information about the elements within the game.
Messages from the World Tree bearing Erfort’s name and all sorts of photos capturing the in-game scenery.
When she showed them to her sibling, the repetitive screams reached their peak.
That sudden, panic-like change was a ray of hope for Grace and her family.
“I must find Erfort. Astra was created solely with that single-minded determination. The competition to clear the game and claim ownership is, frankly, of no concern to me. I only wish for my sister to return to her original self.”
A purpose so clear it was refreshing.
Hearing those words, Hanbit could not pretend not to notice.
Grace’s sister was clearly a victim of the Goddess, and it was highly likely that she was on the side of the Goddess of Turmoil.
“I understand the situation well. So, I must speak as well.”
“Do you know something?”
Grace, who had just poured out the truth, widened her eyes slightly.
Hanbit nodded and continued in a low voice.
“There is an alternate world, and there is an existence called the Goddess. I believe your sister is likely a victim who was entangled in it in the wrong way.”
“An alternate world…?”
“If you mean a Goddess, are you really referring to a god?”
“This is… surprising.”
At the shocking statement, all three reacted with surprise.
He conveyed the outline of the incident obtained from the stone tablet to everyone.
“…The Goddess of Turmoil, is it?”
The Goddess of Serenity, who devoted herself to healing the mind and body, and the Goddess of Turmoil, who would likely discard a pawn at any moment.
Just considering Momo's case alone, it was obvious who was responsible.
“Although it takes a different form than your younger sibling, there is another victim. I need to speak with that person as well…”
Buzz— Just
as Hanbit was about to continue speaking, his smartphone on the table vibrated.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
After offering an apology, Hanbit tried to hang up the phone immediately.
But then.
<Kenji>
The name of the caller was completely unexpected.
What reason could Chairman Kenji have for suddenly contacting him like this?
It was even more intriguing because he had intended to ask if he could share something related to Momo.
“It seems like an urgent call, so I apologize for a moment.”
Asking for understanding, Hanbit accepted the call.
“Hello?”
(Mr. Black Dragon.)
Kenji’s voice coming from the other end of the speaker sounded somewhat strange.
Suspecting it might be about Momo, a sudden wave of anxiety surged through him.
“Did something happen?”
The worried question echoed in the silence.
After a brief silence, Kenji's voice followed.
(Adventurer A has been found dead.)
***
“Hyung, you’re here?”
In front of an officetel near Gangnam Station in Seoul.
Yeon-woo stood in front of the police line with a complicated expression.
“What happened?”
“I’m not entirely sure either. For now, I’ve already asked for understanding from the investigator who handled our case, so I think I’ll be able to hear a brief summary of the situation.” Yeon-
woo had managed to establish contact with them somehow.
Han-bit, too, had no idea what was going on, having rushed over simply upon hearing the news that Adventurer A had died.
“What about Grace? Shouldn’t we wrap up that matter first?”
“She’s staying in Korea for a short while. We agreed to meet again tomorrow.”
They had made new appointments with Grace and the other two.
They could have continued talking, but they couldn’t shake off a persistent uneasy feeling.
“Ah, they said they’re coming to a cafe. We’re there in advance.”
The two entered a nearby cafe and took seats.
The second floor, completely empty, was perfect for conversation.
“Good morning.”
About five minutes later, a middle-aged man in plain clothes appeared.
He sat down immediately in the seat in front and quickly got straight to the point.
“I’m a bit busy with work, so I’ll just give you a brief summary. You are the plaintiff, Kang Han-bit, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“This happens quite occasionally, but there are cases where the accused dies. Of course, we still need to investigate whether there is any criminal involvement, but the consensus at the scene was that it was an accident.”
“An accident?”
It is not unusual for a person to die in an accident.
However, because it was Adventurer A, it was difficult to accept it at face value.
“The accused… I mean, Mr. Yoon Tae-sung died while wearing the Record Project gear. He was discovered by chance following a 119 call reporting a burning smell. We won't know the exact cause of death until the autopsy results come in, but the memo on the desk bothered me a bit.”
Swoosh—
the investigator held out a small Post-it note on the table.
“I heard that Mr. Kang Han-bit is quite a well-known player in RP. I am showing this to you for your cooperation in the investigation, so please let me know if you know anything.”
“…Understood.”
Han-bit nodded at his request.
Then, he shifted his gaze to the contents written on the memo.
<Coordinates: Forbidden Zone 8-35>
