"Missha and I are simply comrades."
"Is that true? Oh, of course..."
Of course, what?
I took a sip of my drink, ignoring Dwalkie's stare, which seemed to say he'd been expecting this response. Then he banged his head against the table.
A slap in the face!
I was wondering how this guy who couldn't drink alcohol was managing to swallow those drinks.
Damn.
Anyway, with that, the daytime drinking party was completely over after less than a few hours. It was still midday when I left the bar, leaving the passed-out Dwalkie with his best friend, Hikurod.
I guess I should go to the library.
I scrapped my plans to go home and rest and changed my destination. I still didn't know much about this world.
It's almost the same, but subtly different.
Just look at the Troll we encountered this time. Even when we gouged his eye and blinded him, he sensed Dwalkie's mana and charged at him. There was no such scenario in the game. But, you never know, perhaps something like this was written in the books of this world. It wasn't enough to be content with the knowledge from the game; it was necessary to keep studying.
Auril Gavis. I need to keep learning more about the name, anyway.
Somehow, it seemed to me that I read many more books here than when I was in a civilized society.
"You're back." When I arrived at the library, Ragna greeted me with a sleepy look. Perhaps it was because several months had passed since we'd finally met, but we had a much more cordial relationship than before, to the point that she started a conversation with me first. "I understand you were resting two days ago, but why didn't you come yesterday?"
"I had other things to do."
"I know you're busy with your work as an explorer, but you shouldn't neglect your studies."
This girl also had a very strange way of telling a barbarian not to neglect his studies. "Okay. Then I'll leave it to you."
" ... Bierdo Parsytiev. "
After a brief greeting, I received the Special Book Recognition spell as usual and entered the building. This time, I mainly looked at monster-related content. Originally, it wasn't something I explored because I was already familiar with the game, but the situation had changed.
"I'm hungry, so I'm leaving. Goodbye."
"Um..." Men are vegan.
"Hm?"
"Me neither... never mind. Ignore me."
It was late when I left the library. But what was this?
"Hello, Mr. Yandel."
When I returned to my accommodation, thinking I'd had a worthwhile day, someone was waiting outside my door—a woman dressed in black from head to toe, as if she were going to a funeral. She exuded elegance. So her name was…
"Are you... Urbans?"
« ... Julianne. "Julianne Urbans."
"Correct."
«...Mr. Peta told me, but the truth is that I didn't expect him to forget about me», he murmured and curled his brown hair around his index finger. It may have just been a habit, but it may also have been that his nervous feelings manifested themselves unconsciously.
Her face doesn't look like it, but could it be that she was nervous?
With that thought in mind, I asked him: «And who is Peta?».
At my question, his eyes trembled as if he had heard something incredible. «...Do you also not know the name of the branch director?»
«Ah.» So that was the name of that mustachioed man. But how would I know? He had never told me his name. I can't say I wasn't a little embarrassed, but I got straight to the point without showing it. «So what are you doing here? And alone, too».
«Since you don't want to meet me, I had no choice but to come see you».
«I'm sure I rejected the offer».
«Can't you consider me desperate?»
Desperate, huh? If the district chief's daughter was saying this, it was clear that something was up, probably something difficult to discuss with the others. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to voluntarily visit his kidnapper. But I was a barbarian who didn't care about any of that.
«Go home. I refuse to get involved in anything problematic». I erased my curiosity and entered the room.
Just as she was about to close the door, young Urbans quickly placed an umbrella at the entrance.
¡Tap!
But of course, that wasn't going to work.
¡Bang!
The door closed firmly, destroying the umbrella in the process with just a little force.
«Hey?» Without waiting for this turn of events, Urbans urgently knocked on the door. «It-wait! Let's talk for a moment. It won't take long...»
«Stop and come back».
«No, really! Not curious? Why am I going so far?»
«I'm not curious.»
«¡Eek!»
Did my stubborn attitude work? When her umbrella broke, the young woman kicked the door angrily before disappearing with the snap of her heels. Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief.
It seems it's over-.
Click, clack.
Just then, the sound of heels that had moved away began to head towards the door again. Could it be that he hadn't given up yet?
Toc, toc, toc.
As soon as I heard the knock, I snored.
¡Honnnnnk!
With nothing more to answer, I figured this would make her give up.
«Ha... how could I...» I heard her lament through the door, but apparently she decided to change her strategy. «I know you're not sleeping, so listen», Urbans whispered from the other side. «Brown Rotmiller. Be careful with him. I don't know the details, but today I met my father and... ah! Don't open the door so suddenly».
This is worth listening to.
***
A man and a woman in a room in the middle of the night. Only uncomfortable air flowed in the room. That was a fact. He had even opened the door for her, but there was nothing to listen to.
«That's all?»
«Sí...»
Rotmiller had been called to the district chief's office and left within five minutes. That was the end of the information Miss Urbans gave me. If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have opened the door.
«So what is your purpose?» Now that this had happened, I decided to resolve my curiosity. Now I was more curious. Why was the daughter so against her father to tell me this?
The young Urbans recited with a solemn expression: «My goal is the fall of my father».
«…¿Eh?»
«It can't be helped. At this rate, I will truly live like a doll. In any case, for this, your cooperation is essential-»
«Vete.»
«Excuse me? No, it seems like you misunderstood something, but if you help me, you will benefit greatly-»
What benefit? Nothing was gained by opposing the district chief.
«¡Kyaa!»
Before long, I could see how tenacious this woman was, so I sent her away. Then I locked the door. Was my consistent attitude working little by little?
«Yes... If you change your mind, please come see me. Oh, and be careful. My father would have played tricks on that Rotmiller guy».
After those words, Miss Urbans left without creating any further commotion. So, I washed and went to bed.
Rotmiller... I'll have to keep an eye on him for now.
After that, the days continued as usual. He ate meat that Missha roasted every morning, and spent time in the library at lunchtime. When Erwen came once a week, as promised, the three of us ate together. There was also a regular meeting to plan the next exploration.
«Last time a Troll came out on the fourth floor, but from what I've heard, it seems like we're the only ones with such bad luck. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the floor, so I think it's okay to go as planned. What do you think?».
I watched Rotmiller throughout the meeting, but couldn't find anything strange about him. If I had to highlight something, I was quieter than usual. This complicated my thoughts. If there was anything to talk about after meeting the district chief, I hoped he would tell me at our meeting.
Should I ask him directly?
There was also the option of taking the bull by the horns, but I left it on hold for the moment. There was still time before the maze opened, so it was better to adopt a more cautious attitude.
Anyway, time passed. Three days later, I received 5 million stones from Mr. Bear.
«With this, I have paid all my debts. Give me back the object».
«...Can't you give me this instead?»
I asked him if he could just give me the bracelet, but Mr. Bear shook his head decisively.
Geez, it's not like it's single-use either. This item is most effective when equipped by a character with high regeneration. During the period of immunity to harm, the blood fills. I'll have to convince him to sell it to me cheaply when we form a team later.
After this thought, I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It was 10 seconds before midnight on the 15th and I closed my eyes again.
[Your soul has resonated and is drawn to a specific world].
It was time to participate in a special activity.
***
It was inside Hansu Lee's bedroom, not in Bjorn Yandel's inn room. Although it wasn't the first time I was here, I lay in bed thinking how cool this was.
As expected, the softness is different.
He could clearly feel the gap between civilizations. It wasn't even a particularly expensive mattress. Well, even in this world, he was sure that an upper-class inn would also be different.
Press.
When I turned on the computer from the bed with my toe, the monitor immediately lit up without starting. I got up and sat in front of him. Since this place could only be accessed once a month, and with a time limit, I had to use it efficiently.
Clic, click.
First, I entered the exchange. Most of the messages were the same as last time, but new messages were generated in real time. Considering the structure of this place, it was natural.
Let's wait a little longer and check again...
I opened the list of chat rooms. The first time I came, I didn't have enough time to use this feature calmly, but this time it didn't.
[Sorcery]
[Beast people enter]
[Elfo de la noche]
Looking closely, I could see that unlike the [Rookie Room], which had around 10 people, many were gathered in occupational and ethnic communities. It would be easier to get useful information from such a place, things like growing methods.
But... why are there no barbarians?
As I moved down, I froze. Except for the dragons, whose character selection was blocked, they all had a dedicated chat room except the barbarians. Actually, there was one, but there was no one inside.
[Behellahhhhhh!] – 0 people are online.
Looking closely, the last access record was several months ago, and a red line was drawn over the person's nickname. That meant they were actually exiled or dead. Why were only barbarians like that? When I thought about it, there was a compelling reason. Two, actually.
First, a barbarian was not very popular as a main character. Even I used to choose beastmen or elves before completing the shield barbarian cultivation method. Either that, or he chose a human with good potential in the second part. Secondly, the barbarian must enter the maze with a weapon as soon as he starts. Otherwise, they would starve. There was an extremely difficult coming-of-age ceremony, and the harsh growing condition that you had to enter the labyrinth as soon as you woke up.
There are few people who choose it anymore, but even those people would have all died at the beginning.
For some reason, that made me feel a bit embarrassed for them. So I looked for a work community instead.
[Nobility] – 21 people are online.
[Treasure Hunter]: 34 people connected.
[Masters of the Sword] – 17 people online.
Healer, archer, sword master, etc., each had more than 10 users online.
[Escudero] – 3 people online.
There were only three tanks. Zero in the career community and three in the work community; what path had I been on? That made me feel a bit miserable, so this time I looked for a national community. Luckily, there was a chat room.
[Long live Korean independence] – 1 person is online.
Just one person, but who was I to choose? This was a foreign game that didn't even have a Korean translation. I honestly thought I wouldn't even be here.
A Korean, huh?
I double-clicked the mouse without hesitation.
***
Surprisingly, as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw a room that looked like an aristocratic mansion. I thought it would be a basic landscape like a clearing or a field.
"You're hereeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Before I could calmly look around, the player who was online greeted me with a loud shout, a short-haired man in his twenties.
[Sergeant Lee]
When I confirmed the nickname, I froze. "Sergeant Lee... are you...?"
"Brother... you understand me. It was the day I was discharged."
What kind of shitty situation was this?