The evil spirit community that opens at midnight on the 15th of every month.
Time flows differently in Ghostbusters compared to the outside world.
'One hour here is one second out there.'
Even if I used all 12 hours of the community session, only 12 seconds would have passed in reality.
But...
'They won't wait that long.'
The Marquis's intentions were clear.
He was suspicious of me, and he was going to confirm it tonight.
The only question was...
Ideally, I wanted four seconds.
That would be enough time to participate in the Round Table and return.
I could avoid raising suspicions about Lion's absence and prevent any information loss from skipping a session.
But...
'Four seconds is too risky.'
I suppressed my greed.
It was better to stick to the original plan.
Click, click.
The computer finished booting up.
I immediately checked the chat rooms.
[Long Live Korean Independence] - 1 user online.
I entered the chat room without hesitation.
[HS123]
It was Hyunbyul.
I had hoped that the GM might have unbanned Lee Baekho...
But it was still too early.
"You're here."
Hyunbyul looked up at me from the sofa, her legs crossed.
A white blouse and a formal skirt.
She was still wearing the same outfit.
"What's with that tone? Like you expected me not to come."
I sat down on the sofa across from her, and our banter continued, as if we were back in the old days.
"Well, you could have. You always run away when things get uncomfortable."
What? Run away?
"I just avoid unnecessary energy expenditure."
It was a basic rule to skip low-reward events.
Efficiency meant minimizing waste.
Just like now.
"Hyunbyul."
I cut to the chase.
There was no time for idle chatter.
"Did you meet the GM?"
That was the real reason I had come to the chat room before the Round Table.
I had to confirm it.
Hyunbyul frowned slightly and then answered,
"...How did you know?"
She didn't deny it.
I calmly explained my reasoning.
"It was strange that you received a message while we were talking. So I looked into it."
I had become suspicious after leaving the chat room last time.
As I was browsing the forums, I remembered the GM's interest in our chat room.
He couldn't eavesdrop on our conversation, but he could see who was in the chat room.
I suspected that the message Hyunbyul received might be from the GM, so I searched for a specific chat room and monitored the number of users.
And soon...
"The number of users in one of the GM's secret chat rooms increased from 2 to 3. It was too much of a coincidence."
"...Then why didn't you call me back then? Why wait until now?"
"I didn't want the GM to see our messages."
"You could have just asked me to come to the chat room."
"That would have made him suspicious."
"...Annoying."
Hyunbyul sighed and glared at me.
"Just so you know, I wasn't trying to hide it from you."
"I know."
"I was going to tell you today. But I guess you wouldn't believe me..."
"I believe you."
Hyunbyul's expression softened.
"Really? How... how can you be so sure?"
"If you were trying to hide it, you wouldn't have admitted it so easily."
She would have denied it and tried to cover it up.
"But I could be acting, right?"
"That's going too far. Just believe me, okay?"
I chuckled, and Hyunbyul fell silent.
She stared at me for a long time and then...
"...Oppa, are you seeing someone?"
She asked a completely unexpected question.
I immediately thought of Misha, but I decided to ask her why first.
"Why would you ask that?"
Hyunbyul trailed off, her voice slightly strange.
"Just... you're much better at talking now..."
Was that a compliment or an insult?
I decided to take it as a compliment and changed the subject.
It wasn't something I wanted to dwell on, and I didn't have time.
"Hyunbyul, I'm kind of in a hurry."
"Like efficient time management?"
"No, I really don't have much time. I just need to confirm one thing."
"Okay, what is it?"
"What did the GM offer you?"
"He asked me to be his spy. He said he would give me anything I wanted."
"That's what I thought."
"What have you been doing? Why is he so obsessed with you? And his nickname is so weird..."
"It just happened. I didn't do anything special."
I brushed her off, and she didn't press me further.
"...So, what do you want me to do?"
"Will you do it if I tell you?"
"Have I ever refused your requests?"
Well... there were a lot of times...
But she had done most of them, even if she complained.
Okay, let's just tell her.
"I want you to leak some information to him."
"Okay. What is it this time?"
"I'm going to log out as soon as I leave this chat room. He'll probably be curious about it. Tell him I was in the middle of a battle and couldn't talk for long. And that we'll talk next time."
"Okay. But can I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Why are you really logging out?"
"It's similar to what I told the GM."
"So... you were really in a battle? But the labyrinth isn't even open yet."
"I said it's similar."
It wasn't always a physical fight.
Anyway, that should be enough of an answer.
"Okay, I'm going! See you next month!"
I left the chat room before she could say anything else.
__________________________
A cozy study, decorated and furnished by her.
"I'll be going then..."
"Thank you for your time. I'll send you the GP right away."
"Okay..."
The intellectual but somewhat awkward woman left the room, and the GM mumbled quietly.
"He's in a battle... That's interesting. If he's fighting someone who makes him value every second, it means they're on a similar level."
The GM sounded disappointed. But SoulQueens knew why.
She felt the same way.
Nickname HS123.
The Korean woman who had asked to be called 'Black Star'.
They hadn't known anything about her before.
Nothing.
They were confident in their information network, but they hadn't even sensed the conflict until it happened.
"...It's a good thing we recruited Black Star. If he was really in a difficult situation, there would have been traces. We should focus on finding those traces."
SoulQueens nodded, but she couldn't help but ask,
"But it's strange. Why would he come to the chat room if he was in such a hurry?"
"Well, he didn't seem that stressed. Maybe he was confident enough to spare a few seconds."
"That... makes sense."
SoulQueens agreed.
She couldn't imagine Lion being flustered.
He was like a giant.
He always moved with a calm confidence, leaving behind a lasting impact.
"SoulQueens, it's time to get ready."
"Ready for what?"
"The Round Table."
"But Lion isn't coming."
"We can still obtain useful information. And the Corpse Collector is there. You should participate. You might learn something about the conflict."
"If you say so..."
SoulQueens obeyed his orders and left the chat room. And as soon as the entry period began, she entered the 'Watchers of the Round Table' chat room.
"You're early."
"Yes, I had some time."
Fox Mask was already there.
They exchanged brief greetings, and the other members arrived one by one.
Goblin, Crescent Moon.
And...
"Pfft, where's that Stag Antlers bastard?"
Clown.
Five members were gathered at the Round Table.
"It doesn't matter if that bastard is dead or alive, but this is a problem. Lion isn't here."
Clown stood up, complaining.
"It's all your fault for bringing such boring information! If you had something interesting, he wouldn't have skipped the session!"
He grumbled and then looked at SoulQueens.
"Aren't you leaving?"
"No, I'm staying this time."
"What? You're going to stay with these losers?"
SoulQueens chuckled, pointing at her mouth.
"Oh my, that's funny. You're not much better."
"Are you comparing me to them?"
"Hmm, you seem to think that Lion skipped the session because he was disappointed in our information. That makes you somewhat similar, don't you think?"
"...You sound like you know why he's not here."
"Well, I can't just tell you for free. How about we make a deal?"
"..."
Clown didn't leave.
It was to be expected.
He was obsessed with Lion.
Thud.
He sat back down and mumbled, as if making an excuse,
"...Well, I'll stay and see what kind of nonsense you're going to spout. Pfft."
It was a rude statement, but SoulQueens didn't mind. It was true that Clown's presence was necessary for high-quality information.
"..."
"..."
All eyes were on her.
She smiled inwardly, enjoying their attention.
She hadn't planned on taking the first turn, but she didn't mind.
"Pfft, why are you just sitting there? You couldn't possibly know something that I don't—"
She cut Clown off and spoke softly.
"Lion is in a battle right now."
Clown froze, his eyes widening in surprise. He immediately looked at the jewel.
It was the most important thing in this situation.
And...
Swaaaaaaaaaa.
The jewel emitted a green light.
"It's green!"
Goblin exclaimed, breaking the silence.
"Queen, do you know who Lion is?"
Crescent Moon was so excited that he stood up. Fox Mask also mumbled softly,
"It wasn't Queen. The GM must have told her."
"W-wait... if Lion is in a battle, who could he possibly be fighting...?"
Goblin trailed off, sensing the gravity of the situation.
And...
"..."
Clown was silent.
"Clown, why are you so quiet—"
"How..."
"...?"
"How did you find out...? Did he tell you? But... why you, and not me?"
Clown's voice was trembling with excitement, and his gaze was fixed on her.
It was an intense, almost possessive gaze.
"Hmm, I wonder why."
She couldn't help but smile.
"Maybe I'll tell you if you bring me something interesting."
It was intoxicating.
_______________________
「Character is being transferred to Lafdonia.」
_______________________
About 20 minutes in Ghostbusters.
Translated to real-world time, it was about 0.3 seconds.
It was a short amount of time, barely enough to blink.
But I logged out as soon as I finished talking to Hyunbyul.
I wasn't going to participate in the Round Table this time.
There was no point in staying and browsing the forums. I would rather go back and prepare for the upcoming events.
But...
'It's quiet.'
I opened my eyes, and the room was dark and silent.
The window was still boarded up...
Click.
The door opened.
And at that moment...
Swoosh.
Even with my eyes closed, my enhanced senses detected someone approaching.
'I would have been screwed if I had stayed in the community.'
It took less than a second for the door to open and for the intruder to reach me.
This wasn't a cockroach, it was a ninja.
I immediately sat up and reached out.
Grab!
I had him by the throat.
"..."
I stood up, pulling him with me, and checked his identity.
It was an unexpected visitor.
"Eltora Terserion."
The Marquis's son had come himself.
But I wasn't surprised.
It didn't matter who it was.
I would do what I had to do.
"...I hope you're ready to die."
I was going to make him pay for interrupting my community session.