Chapter 204

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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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“Of course.”

Han-bit, who nodded his head, received the star-shaped box.

Inside, a USB and one small card were contained.

“As expected it worked out well. It feels like the results of me picking at it diligently came out so I am proud.”

Diorama, who was watching the conversation, nodded his head as if satisfied.

Ignoring that, Grace concentrated her gaze on Han-bit.

“If you plug the USB into your PC and smartphone, the application will automatically be installed. If you register an account and tell me, I will add it to the whitelist.”

“Understood.”

Han-bit plugged the USB into his smartphone and installed the program.

He, who registered the exact same account as the one he always used, immediately informed Grace.

“Yes. I put it on the list. It is a site operated on a player real-name basis, so please only keep that point in mind.”

“Understood.”

Han-bit turned his gaze to the app screen again.

One message had popped up there.

[Player Black Dragon-nim has become a member of Astra.]

A sparkling message that seemed to contain a welcome.

Looking at Grace, she spoke as if she understood that gaze.

“The names of those who enter Astra are revealed to everyone through a notice. Exactly 660 people were there once Black Dragon-nim entered.”

“Ah.”

The situation was understood immediately upon hearing the explanation.

A number not even 10 percent of the 10,000 Advance Party members.

If it’s to that extent, announcing the increase and decrease of members also wasn’t that strange.

“This isn’t just Black Dragon-nim getting a hard time right? Then I lose face for introducing him.”

At that time, Diorama said with a voice mixed with playfulness.

Somehow it was an appearance that seemed slightly mixed with seriousness too.

“What does that mean?”

“The picture of Astra’s players also relying on Black Dragon-nim’s information is visible right. You must have also roughly expected it too right?”

“…”

Grace’s expression, as she realized the meaning of the words, stiffened a little.

Thinking of the things Black Dragon had shown so far, it was difficult to even predict the depth of his information.

If he also had a lot of information in the investigation team area, there was a large probability that Astra would become a unilateral beneficiary.

“Helping and cooperating with each other to discover Erfort. This was the purpose of making Astra right? It’s not that I don’t know your circumstances, but looking far ahead…”

“That’s well, can’t we just get a hold of it early on?”

At that time, one man entered the meeting room.

Short hair and a shabby tracksuit.

His appearance, looking to be in his 30s, was like someone who could be seen in any neighborhood.

“Hae-moo, you’re too late.”

“…Hae-moo?”

The man’s name that came out from Diorama’s mouth.

It was that upper Advance Party who subjugated the Snow Drake together.

“Wow, your face looks exactly like the character. Must be nice looking like that, very much.”

He, who occupied the seat next to him, spoke with a playful voice.

Han-bit asked, looking at the two people who were originally there.

“Whose acquaintance is he?”

“…Both sides. You can see him as an alumni.”

“Those two have known each other longer than me. Because the route we took was different.”

Grace seemed slightly embarrassed, and Diorama shrugged his shoulders.

This too was truly an unexpected relationship.

“Anyway it was that kind of story saying players will end up mooching off Black Dragon right? I agree with it a hundred times over.”

Hae-moo, peeling and eating snacks on the table, returned to the original topic.

Because he had experienced the person called Black Dragon directly inside RP, he could speak with conviction.

“So there’s one thing I want to ask. Up to roughly where is your information? Since the restricted areas are so wide, are there things you don’t know too?”

“Naturally I don’t know everything. Because I definitively will also face parts where I’m stuck.”

“Hmm.”

Hae-moo’s expression, as he quietly listened to the answer, changed subtly.

Fiddling with the snack bag, he continued his words.

“You said the source of your information was the original novel right? Looking at your possessed information level, it must have been to the extent of memorizing the contents by heart huh?”

“Well. It could be that I only remember the parts that were fun.”

“Is that so?”

As he brought out a moderate answer, Hae-moo leaned his body back against the backrest.

Then he said with a slightly serious face.

“To say only the conclusion, I don’t believe that novel talk. What do you think was the point I was surprised at by you? Information? Knowledge? No. It was because of your appearance like a human who rolled around the battlefield for hundreds of years or something.”

“…”

At those words, Han-bit remained silent.

As it was a reason brought up as a temporary measure in the first place, it wasn’t strange even if such a doubt came out at any time.

“Well, it’s not words I brought up to interrogate you. Rather my expectations on such parts are bigger. Because it can’t be predicted at all.”

Forming a smile, he turned his gaze to Grace.

Then he brought up a questionable story.

“I wish you would tell Black Dragon. How about it?”

“…I know too.”

At that question, Grace’s voice darkened.

It was an atmosphere of having some circumstances.

“Phew.”

Breathing out a deep sigh, she looked at Han-bit.

And carefully broke the ice.

“I have a younger brother 3 years junior. Since we were young, we were a family like friends who were close. We also fought, but we were that kind of sibling who looked after each other well.”

Grace spoke with a face as if soaked in faint memories.

However, sorrow gradually dwelled in that voice.

“It was one morning 3 years ago when a problem occurred. My younger brother who laughed and chatted together until the day before suddenly started running wild like crazy while screaming. It was to the point my parents and I was so surprised our bodies stiffened.”

The shock when a perfectly fine family member went crazy overnight.

Han-bit, who had never experienced such a situation, could not bring himself to say he understood her feelings.

‘If it’s 3 years…’

At a somewhat subtle timing, one memory overlapped.

The past matters he heard from Kenji.

He said it was 3 years ago that Momo started blabbering about stories of the other world.

And it wasn’t a coincidence that that memory came to mind suddenly.

“My younger brother kept repeating the same words saying he has to find Erfort. No matter how much we searched through information, we couldn’t know its meaning. The diagnosis that it was delusion was tens of times.”

Grace’s family left nothing unchecked, from a person with the name Erfort to the name of a small village.

However, no matter what attempts they made, no changes occurred in her younger brother.

“When 1 year passed like that, the game named Record Project was released. That I coincidentally came across the name Erfort in that article must truly be seen as a fortunate stroke of luck.”

Grace immediately began gathering information on the elements inside the game.

The World Tree’s message written with Erfort’s name and all sorts of pictures containing the ingame sceneries.

When she showed that to her younger brother, the screams he used to repeat reached their peak.

That seizure-like change was a strand of hope for Grace and her family.

“I have to find Erfort. Astra is what I made with that single conviction. To be honest, the competition to clear the game and obtain ownership is something whatever. I merely wish for my younger brother to return to how he originally was.”

A purpose refreshing clearly.

Hearing that story, Han-bit too could not pretend not to know.

It was clear that Grace’s younger brother was a victim caused by a Goddess, and the Goddess of Turbulence side with high probability at that.

“I understood the situation well. So I should also speak.”

“Do you know something?”

Grace, who had poured out the truth, opened her eyes a little wide.

Han-bit, who nodded his head, continued his words softly.

“There is the other world, and the existence called Goddess. I believe your younger brother is likely a victim swept up in a wrong form.”

“Other world…?”

“If it’s Goddess, are you truly talking about a god?”

“This again is… surprising.”

At the shocking remark, all three people showed surprised reactions.

He delivered the outline of the incident obtained from the lithograph to everyone.

“…Is it the Goddess of Turbulence.”

The Goddess of Silence who put efforts into mental and physical treatment and the Goddess of Turbulence who was likely to discard a playing piece or so.

Even just thinking about Momo’s case right now, it was glaringly obvious whose doing it was.

“It’s a different form from your younger brother, but another victim exists. We should also share conversations together with that person…”

Jiiiing—

At the time Han-bit was about to continue his words, a vibration rang from Han-bit’s smartphone that was on the table.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Han-bit, who offered an apology, quickly tried to disconnect the call.

But.

The name of the person who made the call was too much out of his expectations.

What business would Chairman Kenji have making such contact suddenly.

Having been thinking of asking if it would be fine to convey the story relating to Momo, it was even more fascinating.

“It looks like an urgent contact so excuse me for a moment.”

Han-bit, who asked for their understanding, accepted the incoming call.

“Hello?”

(Black Dragon-nim.)

Kenji’s voice heard from beyond the speaker was somewhat strange.

Wondering if it was perhaps Momo’s matter, unease suddenly surged up.

“Did something happen by any chance?”

The words he asked worriedly rang with silence.

And after an ensuing brief silence, Kenji’s voice continued.

(Adventurer A was discovered in a dead state.)

***

“Hyung, you’re here?”

In front of an officetel near Gangnam Station in Seoul.

Yeon-woo was standing with a complex face in front of the place where a police line was drawn.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know well either. Since we got the understanding of the investigator-nim who took charge of our matter for now, I think we will be able to hear about a brief situation.”

Yeon-woo, who had somehow just initiated contact.

Han-bit, too, had come running upon hearing the news that Adventurer A had died, so there was nothing he could guess at.

“What are you doing about Grace-ssi? Shouldn’t you finish the story starting from there?”

“She says she will stay in Korea for a moment. I decided to meet again tomorrow.”

He caught a new appointment with the two people including Grace.

He could have also continued sharing conversations, but due to somehow unquiet feelings continuously arising, he couldn’t shake it off.

“Ah, he says he’s coming to the cafe. Let’s go beforehand.”

The two people entered a cafe nearby and took their seats.

The 2nd floor that didn’t have a single person in it was suited for sharing a conversation.

“Hello.”

When about 5 minutes passed, one middle-aged man in plainclothes appeared.

Sitting directly in the front seat, he rapidly entered the main point.

“Matters got a bit busy so I will only tell you the brief situation. Are you the plaintiff Kang Han-bit-ssi right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“This is truly a matter that happens occasionally, but there are cases where the defendant passes away. Of course we would have to investigate whether there’s anything implicated in a crime regarding this as well, but opinions gathered on-site that it’s due to an accident.”

“An accident?”

It isn’t strange that a person dies due to an accident.

However, because that was Adventurer A, accepting it exactly as it is was difficult.

“The defendant… so in other words, Yoon Tae-sung-ssi passed away while wearing the Record Project’s gear. It was discovered coincidentally as a 119 report came in saying a burning smell was coming out. The exact cause of death will be known only after the autopsy results come out, but the memo placed on his desk was bothering me a bit.”

Seuk—

The investigator put forward a small post-it note on top of the table.

“I heard Kang Han-bit-ssi is a player with quite a name in RP. This is shown in the dimension of investigation cooperation, so please tell me if you know anything.”

“…Understood.”

At his request, Han-bit nodded his head.

And he shifted his gaze to the contents written on the memo.