In a strange world where you needed to hide that you were an evil spirit to survive, there was a haven where players could communicate with each other securely and anonymously.
But now, Ghostbusters was closing its doors.
The shockwave caused by this announcement was unlike anything I had seen on the forums before.
[Don't close.]
Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open. Keep it open.
There were people throwing tantrums on the forums.
[GM, try closing the server. Try it.]
It won't matter when he's dead.
Some making threats.
[GM and team of administrators: Please read.]
Hello. I am an ordinary person who fell into this world almost five years ago. Like everyone here, I have also had multiple run-ins with death, and most of them were the result of decisions I made.
Sometimes I wanted to give up and rest.
However, whenever I felt weak, the only thing that brought me out of the darkness was the Ghostbusters community...
Some cartels try to convince administrators not to shut down the server.
[GP refund request]
I just made one, when will it become effective?
It's a lot of money for me. You're not going to scam us, are you?
Some who cared more about their own losses than the loss of the community.
[My best guess as a twelve-year veteran as to why Ghostbusters is closing its doors.]
As everyone knows, the GM has a secret connection to the royal family. The only reason this community could exist in the first place was because the royal family allowed it...
Some tried to make sense of what was happening and shared their theories, and so on. All the messages on the page were about the closure of the Ghostbusters, and I couldn't blame any of them.
Click, click.
I was also in a state of shock and read all the posts I found on the subject. Meanwhile, a question was on my mind.
Why is the server shutting down?
However, I soon stopped scrolling the forum. It was increasingly evident that if I continued reading I would not find any relevant information. Ninety percent of the messages were about rage and trolls or incoherent ramblings.
Yes, I'd better think about it myself. He probably knew more than these people, anyway.
Hmm... I think the most likely explanation is that there has been some kind of problem with the royal family.
That part was easy to deduce. I already knew for a fact that the GM and the royal family were working together. However, that wasn't the real problem here.
But why would the royal family suddenly try to shut down the server?
I couldn't understand his point of view. Was it just some kind of personal conflict between the GM and the royal family? It was certainly a possibility, but I figured there might be a different, more political reason at play here as well.
I sighed. «This is going to be a headache».
The closure of the forum was already unfortunate news, but what was even more annoying was the timing.
«Why did it have to be while I'm stuck in the basement...».
If the Ghostbusters disappeared, it would be impossible for me to find out anything that happened outside the maze while I was in basement one. In other words, I would lose the ability to communicate with the outside world or influence it in any way.
After spending a little more time thinking about the possible explanations for the closure, I picked up the mouse.
«Let's ask».
Talking to the man in person would be much more productive than trying to figure it out on my own. After all, I was different from normal users who were left throwing tantrums in the comments section.
He knew the GM's nickname.
[You have sent a private message request to Elfnunalove].
It was a nickname that made me uncomfortable every time I saw it, but still, I dared and sent a message request.
...Are you busy or something?
Despite waiting a while, I received no response. My request was not rejected, but I also did not receive a message asking me to wait a bit.
Tsk, then I'll keep waiting while I do other things...
I click on the chat rooms.
[Long live Korean Independence – 2 people are online].
Alright, it looked like those two were already inside.
After sliding the cursor over the «join» button, I took a break to compose myself. So-
«Oh! Brotheroooo! You're here! Your little brother has come to greet you».
«Hansu, you've seen the ad, right? We were talking about...»
Although I felt a little bad doing this to Hyeonbyeol right in the middle of his welcome, as soon as I entered the chat room, I glared at Baekho Lee and said, «Hyeonbyeol, could you come out for a moment?».
"...¿Which?"
«I need to talk to this bastard».
At estaba aquí for a friendly tête-à-tête.
Hyeonbyeol stared at me for a moment, then left the chat room without saying another word. Baekho Lee hesitantly addressed the silence that followed.
«Brother... are you angry with me...?».
His innocent act was despicable. I wasn't even afraid of getting angry. If he were the kind of man who could be bullied, he wouldn't have gone around scheming behind my back in the first place.
«Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?» I asked, blunt as a stone to the head.
But he didn't seem to understand what he was talking about. «Hey? Wait, brother... Calm down for a second... First you have to tell me what this is about...».
Okay, did you want to see how much I knew?
Well, I had no reason to hide it. If the community was going to close after today, I probably wouldn't have a better opportunity to talk to this guy on neutral ground again.
«The Renaissance Stone».
As with Missha, all I said was that, and it seemed like it was all I needed to understand the situation she was in.
«Ah.» Baekho Lee's expression changed in an instant. The look in his eyes went from worry about my anger to disappointment. «It seems to have failed». He let out a small sigh. «Has he told you?»
I realized again that this guy was very sick in the head.
«Or did they just catch her?», he continued. «I mean... I didn't trust him to make it in the first place...».
«Baekho Lee», I cut him off. If I had to sit here listening to him ramble, I wouldn't be able to control myself. So I clenched my jaw and spoke as calmly as I could. «Why did you do it?»
Why did you give Missha the Renaissance Stone?
Baekho Lee tilted his head. «You're not like that, big brother». A slow smile appeared on his lips. «Don't you already know the answer?».
To be honest, he was right.
«Answer the question», I insisted anyway. «Why did you do it?
Finally, Baekho spoke. «Because you were frustrating me».
«...So you wanted to use the Renaissance Stone on me?»
«Yeah. You can't keep those people out of your life, so I was just trying to help you. These relationships won't mean anything when we get home, you know that, right?».
A selfish idiot who would use any method at his disposal to achieve his goals: that was Baekho Lee's true nature.
I didn't even need to ask about the rest of his plan. If he had lost his memory, he would have approached me with a kind smile and called me «Big Brother».
However, letting my anger show here would mean losing.
«Really? Well, anyway, thanks», I said disdainfully.
«…¿Eh?»
«For the Renaissance Stone. It's a ridiculously weird item and I ended up getting a free one. It must have taken you a lot of work to get it, huh? I mean, it's a bitch that you didn't achieve your goal, but hey - I scoffed, making it clear that I wasn't going to get the stone back even if he begged me.
However, the response I got from him was completely different than what I expected.
«Oh yeah? Actually, I would appreciate it if you kept it».
I wasn't pretending not to be worried. I was being honest.
«You're not going to die anyway», he explained to me. «You still have to clear the top floor and complete the 'wish' as you are meant to do. Do you know why I gave you the Renaissance Stone even though I knew it?».
Apparently it was a rhetorical question, as it didn't even give me a chance to answer before continuing.
«If they brought you back using the Renaissance Stone it would mean that you are not dead yet. Which would mean you can still carry out what's written in the Stone of Records, right?».
Simply put, a situation where the Renaissance Stone could end up being used on me was a situation where I was truly in danger of dying.
«The events written on the Stone of Records are like a river. The water flows in a certain direction and will end up reaching its destination, but anything can happen in between».
That was the reason why Baekho Lee gave Missha the Renaissance Stone and sent it back to me. The mere fact that the Renaissance Stone was now close to me meant that the possibility that I needed it had one day become real. In other words, he had changed the flow of the river to push me towards the path he wanted.
Honestly, I was surprised by his cunning, but I kept a neutral expression and forced a carefree laugh.
«Baekho, aren't you being a little impulsive now? I know you're angry about the failure of your plan, but you didn't have to shoot yourself in the foot. Now that you've told me all that, just...»
«No, I know you, Big Brother. Even if you knew my plan, you probably wouldn't be able to throw the Stone, not when your allies could die at any moment. I seem to remember people mentioning that you were very sad when a losing wizard died a few years ago».
My eyes turned red when he crossed the line with the last thing, but otherwise I couldn't deny the truth of what he was saying.
He had hit the nail on the head.
Even with the penalty that they would lose their memories, I would use the Renaissance Stone on my allies without hesitation if the situation ever arose. In fact, at that time, I would appreciate being lucky enough to have one.
«Well, if you're still going to get rid of it, you can. It can't be helped. Plan B is going pretty well, anyway. By the way, what ended up happening with Missha Karlstein? If you found out he had the Renaissance Stone, you must be dying of betrayal right now. Oh, based on the look on your face, it seems I'm right. Well, if you've left her completely out, give her back to me. Going out and finding another Ice Double Sword Master to cultivate would be a headache. But hey, aren't you a hypocrite? You're constantly lying and manipulating people too, including Kitty. Does that barbarian already know the truth about you? That you are evil...»
I cut him off before he could continue. «Shut up.
"...¿Which?"
«Please shut up. I really want to kill you right now».
I was willing to admit it. If this was a situation where getting angry first meant losing, then I was the loser today.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to kill someone in this place, no matter how much he wanted to. However...
«Wow, how scary. But brother, calm down. I have a new offer for...»
«Baekho.» I let his words go in one ear and out the other, and then I said what I wanted to say. «Even if I tell you I don't want to see you again, we'll see each other again at some point, right?».
«Eh... ¿supongo?»
«When we do, I will fulfill your wish».
«Hey? What do you mean...?»
What do you think? Aren't you always with that?
How much you want to leave this damn world.
«See you then.»
With that, I left the chat room.
The next time I blinked, I was back in Hansu Lee's room. It took me a while to calm down, and my first thought once my anger wore off was to Hyeonbyeol, who would be waiting outside.
She must have been very confused...
However, I didn't want to go back to the chat room and explain everything to him right now. I needed to regain some of the energy that the encounter had drained from me.
In a quiet place, alone.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
I spent a while sprawled in bed, feeling my mental battery recharge a little. I remembered the conversation with Baekho Lee and regretted some things he hadn't said.
Then I sighed, got out of bed like a zombie, and checked the chat room.
[Long live Korean independence – 0 people connected].
Hyeonbyeol was not in the room. He had probably waited a while before getting bored and leaving.
I felt a little bad about it, but I let it go for now and checked my inbox. The message request he had sent to the GM still had no response.
I feel like I'm being fantasized...
It wasn't like he was too busy to read a message.
However, I didn't get too frustrated. When he got out of the maze, he could personally go find the GM. Plus, even if I couldn't contact him right now, I still had a way to talk to an administrator tonight.
Clic, click.
When I clicked on the link, a simple and familiar message appeared before my eyes.
[Welcome, Vigilante.]
It was time for the final meeting of the Round Table.