Episode 500 The Age of Exploration (1)
The first time I heard about the record stone was in a conversation with the GM.
[There is no reason not to believe it. At least the story of the scorer was true.]
The answer the GM gave me when I asked why I believed Auril Gavis’ words, which were close to prophesying that some player would open the door to the abyss in the future.
Hearing this, I made a decision.
Lee Baek-ho is also likely to have something to do with the record stone.
The basis was that Lee Baek-ho, like GM, was obsessed with the nickname ‘Elfnuna’ in common.
But…….
[Hmm, is that so?]
I didn’t want to make something that would provoke Lee Baek-ho that day, so I skipped mentioning it.
There was also a thought that I wanted to investigate alone before bringing the question to the surface in earnest.
However, it was the same when I did the research.
‘There was no such record at all in the library. I noticed that Bersil was hearing it for the first time.’
I spent a lot of time to find out, but I couldn’t even find a story about the record stone.
So, there was only one way left.
Directly asking someone who can give you an answer.
“…….”
Lee Baek-ho was silent when asked what the scorer stone was.
However, as he said to Hyunbyeol earlier, silence sometimes becomes a strong affirmation.
‘Yes, you know what a record stone is.’
It is worthwhile to deliberately cut the front and back and ask as if passing by. But did he judge that the golden time, which he could pass naturally, had already passed?
Lee Baek-ho was still silent and stared at me as if he was examining my inner thoughts.
And…
“Brother.”
Breaking the silence, he slowly opened his mouth.
He didn’t even realize that the smile on his lips had been erased before he knew it.
“Where did you hear that?”
Lee Baek-ho asked in a cold, subdued voice.
For some reason, a chill ran down my spine, but I didn’t show it.
That’s because people’s words have intentions.
Why would this guy want to check the ‘source’ in the first place?
‘He must be curious about how far I know.’
Now that I know the other person’s intentions, I have only one response.
“well.”
To answer ambiguously, without being impatient and with room to spare.
As a result, it seizes the initiative of the conversation tightly.
“Does it matter where you heard it?”
When I answered with a shrug, Lee Baek-ho’s eyes looking at me became even more meaningful.
The guy seemed to be in a lot of trouble.
Are you asking because you really don’t know what a scorer’s stone is?
Or do you know something and just want to check it out through me?
If so, how best to answer?
Are you just saying you can’t answer me?
In the passing moment, I sense that he carefully chooses his answer. Judging that it was not good to give more time, I continued my conversation.
Although I am aware of the sudden timing.
Rather, even more so.
“Elf sister.”
He brings up the most disturbing subject.
Even a giant tree like Mount Amman.
If you shake it vigorously, at least one crumb will fall off.
“……!”
When the nickname, which had never been mentioned among us, was mentioned, Lee Baek-ho’s eyes shook slightly.
It was still lacking.
Yeah, so…
“You know that. I am that person.”
Open one more tile you have.
Lee Baek-ho’s reaction was immediate.
“…What are you talking about?”
A question that is neither positive nor negative.
It was a pattern often seen by liars.
I feel psychologically safe thinking that I just asked back and didn’t lie.
I needed to push harder.
“Baekho.”
“……?”
“You know what? From the time we first met until now. I never talked about ‘Elf-sister’.”
Saying that, I tapped the nickname window with ‘Elfnunna’ written on it floating above my head with my finger.
“Doesn’t it look strange to you?”
An outsider with no excuses.
Tadat Tadat.
The sound of burning firewood continues uninterrupted in the heavy silence.
I gave Lee Baek-ho time to think for himself without pushing further.
Usually, when it comes to this situation, the one who is uncomfortable with silence is the one who is lying.
“Hyung…”
Lee Baek-ho opened his mouth after the long silence.
“What do you want to ask me?”
It seemed that this guy was still thinking of continuing the tightrope.
A kind-hearted mindset that will give out only what is to be given after looking at the liver as much as possible.
The solution is simple.
“I don’t want to ask.”
Strictly restricting information, handing over the choice to the other party.
Where did I hear this story in the process?
And how far do you know?
that is not important.
“I just want to hear it.”
Tuk-tuk.
“What will you answer?”
The choice is up to Baekho Lee.
***
Baekho Lee made his decision faster than expected.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I really can’t win!”
A lively tone of voice that has returned to the previous one at some point.
From the viewer’s point of view, it feels like a double personality is in front of me, but it doesn’t matter much because I’m used to it now.
“I’ll tell you everything. So what are you most curious about?”
Heh, this bastard is still like this.
I could have skipped it if I made a mistake.
“…….”
I just stared at him without answering, and Lee Baek-ho shook his head.
“……Hyung, were you really an office worker?”
“…….”
“No, I’m just curious. What kind of life do people have to live to be like this?”
What do you mean, he said he was a newly discharged man with black hair?
When he didn’t answer this time, Lee Baek-ho let out a long sigh.
“Ha… Okay. I’ll tell you. To be honest, I think hyung is just staring at me, but… I want this because I’m nervous. I think it’s better to just surrender and find the light.”
“try.”
“Do you believe in fate, brother?”
“…….”
“Ah, I really can’t say anything. Then you just explain whether you understand or not?”
“I told you. I’m curious what you’re talking about.”
“Okay. Then let’s do that.”
Lee Baek-ho seemed uncomfortable with my attitude, but it was something he couldn’t help. It is better to keep completely silent about questions that may lead to mistakes.
“You know, right? With the establishment of this city, most of the myths of ancient artifacts have been erased. One of the mythical objects erased from the world is the Recording Stone.”
“It is said that all the history of the world is written on the record stone. Not only about the past, but also about the future.”
Sounds like something out of a myth, right?
Actually, what I am going to say now feels like that.
While muttering, Baekho Lee continued.
“Anyway, even the score stone has an end. Of course, that end means the end of this world. They say that the beginning of that end was with the witch… I don’t know much about this either. The only thing I know is this. Joe.”
“Someone destroyed the record stone to prevent the end, and this world did not perish.”
“The important thing here is this. The fragments of the record stone that were not destroyed are scattered all over the world.”
As soon as I heard it, I felt it.
‘The fragment stone of the record.’
The vessel known as the legacy of Gabrillius, that sent me and Amelia to a bygone era.
“Some of those fragments have actually been found. Three of them I have seen myself.”
I got a little heated by those words.
Did you see it yourself?
[Record Fragment Stone…? I’ve heard of it, but it’s real.]
Since then, lying has been a habit for this bastard.
I wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to cut off the flow of the conversation, so I kept my words and focused on the conversation.
An important story was about to begin.
“One of the fragments read:”
Baekho Lee opened his mouth after a while.
“So, the evil spirit ‘————’ from the other world opened the door to the abyss and finally made his wish come true.”
Words that seem to appear only in the ending scene.
“It’s because I didn’t know what to say when I said ‘dang-dang-dang-dang’. In the recorder’s table, a person’s name is referred to by a unique pattern rather than letters. It’s like a name attached to a soul or something.”
“…….”
“Anyway, that’s not what’s important. I’ve seen that pattern on other fragments. It says this.”
pounding-!
“…The first ‘————’ who passed the prototype test finally woke up in this world.”
Only then did a long-standing mystery come to an end.
Why did Auril Gavis have such a hard time with someone who cleared the original difficulty?
Why GM became a fanatic of ‘Elfnuna’.
And why is Lee Baek-ho so afraid of being hostile to me?
“Hyung… You’ve been keeping your mouth shut for a while. If you didn’t know anything about the scorer’s table, you’d be most curious about this.”
Even while he was silent and organizing his thoughts, Lee Baek-ho’s story continued.
“What’s so important about records? Isn’t everything meaningless in a broken yard anyway?”
“…….”
“I thought so at first, but it wasn’t. The last one I saw actually happened.”
“……What was that?”
When I opened my mouth and asked, Lee Baek-ho answered with a smile.
“It’s a secret.”
“……what?”
Immediately, Lee Baek-ho didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll keep this a secret. Believe it or not, this is my personal story. It has nothing to do with my brother.”
It came this far and I couldn’t dig further.
For some reason, I intuitively thought that it would not be a lie to say that it was a ‘personal’ job.
“Ah… then, I think we’re done talking about the recorder’s table……. Then, ‘Elfnuna’ should be next, right?”
I nodded, and Lee Baek-ho resumed the story he had stopped talking about.
“I created this chat room right after I found out about the scorer’s stone. I kept waiting. ‘Elfnuna’ has the highest chance of clearing the original. And that person must be a Korean.”
“…….”
“After that, it’s just as I guessed. Ever since hyung came, I’ve been hoping that hyung might be that person. My expectations were not wrong.”
Lee Baek-ho looked at me with clear eyes and asked.
“Yes?”
A sincere conversation that has been hidden by deceiving each other for a long time. I had no intention of going around here, so I accepted it coolly.
“that’s right.”
It was like I heard the answer directly from my own mouth, but I didn’t see a strong reaction, perhaps because it was something Lee Baek-ho was sure of.
I just nodded in a cool voice somewhere.
“That’s all I have to say. How is it? Hyung, have all your questions been answered?”
However, I shook my head.
“No, not yet.”
Most of the questions have been answered, but one most important thing remains.
That is the most important thing in understanding a person.
Why did you hide it from me
? ” I lost
my
motive
.
***
“…Monkey hand?” As I let out an eye for a detailed explanation
,
Lee Baek-ho vigorously shrugged his shoulders as if he had never done that.
“Eek? Don’t you know bro? What is a monkey hand?”
“I know that, but I wonder why the story came out all of a sudden.”
“It’s literally. The stories written on the record table will surely come true. But I don’t know if that’s what we hoped for.”
“…Continued.”
“You will surely open the door to the abyss someday. But does that mean a happy ending? I heard that hyung’s wish finally came true, but did that include my wish?”
“…….”
“That’s why I didn’t tell hyung. I tried to control it somehow without knowing anything. So that my older brother’s wishes become mine.”
I think I know what he means.
I’ve done something similar before.
[Amelia’s sister Laura dies.]
I tried all sorts of tricks to distort such a certain future, and in the end, I succeeded. Perhaps
Lee Baek-ho was plotting something similar.
That’s probably why he showed his true colors as soon as I said I didn’t want to go back home. “Then
why did you team up with the Destructionist?”
“You didn’t just need a wizard and became friends with him,”
said Baekho Lee, who stiffened for a moment before
bursting
into laughter
.
Carrying something similar to that.
“Okay, answer me. Because this is the last question.” As
the urge continued once more, Lee Baek-ho also slowly opened his mouth.
“You know hyung. I’m not sure how this will sound to you…”
“It’s fine. Just say it quickly.”
“As for ruin… don’t worry too much about it. It’s just Plan B.”
“Plan B……?”
“Yes. The world doesn’t always turn out the way I want, right?”
Saying that, Lee Baek-
ho smiled brightly. “We have to prepare for the time we have to scrap Plan A.”
“…….”
”
I’m definitely going to get out of this fucking place.”