Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 647
Chapter 647: Coming Out (5)
I’d known for a while that Hyeonbyeol had been suspicious of my identity. She had even flat-out asked Baekho Lee when I wasn’t around.
“She keeps asking if you’re Bjorn Yandel or not.”
After asking her later, there were three big pieces of proof that Hyeonbyeol had.
“…I know exactly when you came here, Hansu.”
Time.
“Of all the adventurers who appeared around then, there isn’t anyone who grew in name and power as much as Bjorn Yandel.”
Growth.
“…You talked about the game a lot with me before too. Telling me about how the shield barbarian is the best or whatever.”
Shield barbarian.
Many factors were pointing to the fact that I was Bjorn Yandel. However, I still couldn’t accept it.
“Why aren’t you answering, Hansu?”
She needed something more concrete than mere “confidence” to say something like that directly to the supposed Bjorn Yandel’s face. What had made her so certain?
“Wow, from how you’re looking me up and down, seems like you’re looking for a way to escape already?”
Or was she just testing the waters?
It was just a thought I had, but considering Hyeonbyeol’s personality, I found it hard to believe.
Argh, still. It’s not like I can charge her while saying I need to crush the heads of evil spirits…
It was one of those impossible situations where every choice presented problems.
“I’ve even given you this many clues, there’s no way you don’t recognize me… Is it really that difficult to take off your mask in front of me?”
With that, I made a decision.
It wasn’t like just one or two people knew that Bjorn Yandel was an evil spirit at this point either. And Hyeonbyeol was someone I could trust.
I stepped forward as lightly as I could and got close to Hyeonbyeol. “How did you find out?”
Once I took off the invisible mask hiding my face, Hyeonbyeol smirked and shrugged. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure, not until now.”
“…What?” And you still did something that dangerous?
If she’d looked into my history, she would’ve discovered what happened to the secret security agent who had been taken away because of me.
“Don’t look at me like I’m a moron. I still wore the mask and prepared quite a bit for this.”
“Right. So what’s with that mask?”
“Haven’t you already noticed?”
“Are you really Black?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
It came as a shock, honestly. Putting aside the fact that she was able to join the Round Table, how had I never noticed it?
“Anyway, I knew that if I wore this mask, you would at least give a sign by how you reacted. And that’s exactly what you did.”
I hesitated. “I reacted to that?”
“Yes. I noticed you haven’t changed? You always close your eyes for a moment whenever you get surprised.”
“Uh…”
Did I actually? I wasn’t sure, but I would need to be careful with that in the future.
“Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to be a little more brave. If you didn’t, I might have just turned around and run away.”
“…No, but why did you need to go that far?”
“Well, I could ask the same question of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You scared me by pressing me with questions. Asking who I work for. You acted like you were going to kill me.”
That, uh, was true. But that was only because I thought I would turn her down the wrong path.
“It’s not that I hated it, or anything…” Hyeonbyeol then looked at me and asserted, “But you’re the one who crossed the line first, Hansu.”
There was nothing I could say to that. No matter what the reason was, I had forced her to reveal her identity, and it would be laughable for me to now get angry at her for forcing me to reveal my identity.
I sighed.
That was why, rather than reprimand Hyeonbyeol, I decided to do something more productive. “So, how did you get into the Round Table? Did you get GM’s help?”
“Yeah. I said it might help figure out your identity, and I found a way to ask to join.”
“And what about the information you shared during the Round Table? Did you get that from GM as well?”
“No. They’re all things I got on my own.”
I went back and recalled all the information shared by Black during the Round Table meetings, and two with the biggest impact immediately came to mind.
“Other than opening the Gate of the Abyss, dimensional magic is the one other way to return to Earth.”
“Auril Gavis was able to come over to Earth using this method.”
Ah, thinking about it, there were others as well…
“Bjorn Yandel… and Missha Karlstein… Were those two really dating, as the rumors say?”
That wasn’t information but the last question asked of me, so I skipped that.
…So she was sure of my identity at least from that point.
In any case, how was Hyeonbyeol, who wasn’t even an adventurer, able to obtain such high-quality information?
“I’ve said this before as well. Countess Peprok trusts me pretty deeply. While helping her from her side, I had a lot of opportunities to obtain all sorts of information.”
“…I see.”
I wondered if just gaining someone’s trust was what allowed her to gain information like that, but Hyeonbyeol was pretty smart. She probably had her ways.
I nodded, accepting her reasoning.
“Hansu,” Hyeonbyeol suddenly called. In a serious tone, she proclaimed to me, “I’m different from bastards like Baekho Lee.”
It was a little out of the blue. However, I immediately understood what she was trying to say.
“I don’t plan on piggybacking off of you like that guy. So stay out of trouble from now on and just behave yourself.” Hyeonbyeol then said with determination, “I’ll do whatever it takes to take you home with me.”
That was a pretty reassuring speech. However…
I don’t really plan on going back to Earth, though…
How should I tell her that?
***
In the end, I wasn’t able to tell her.
My response may have been different at the start, but now after so much time had passed, I didn’t really care about going back to reality. And if I told her that, it was obvious things would get messy.
Later. I’ll tell her later.
Not much would change just because I postponed my announcement. Regardless of whether I wanted to return, Hyeonbyeol was still going to look for a way back, anyway.
“So, how did that marriage talk go? I waited to meet you, so I still don’t know what happened in there.”
“Oh… That…?”
How should I explain that?
My head started to hurt, so I just told her the result. “I rejected the marriage proposal.”
“Oh… Really?”
“You can hear the details from her later. It seems like she tells you everything.”
“That’s true… Rather than a right-hand man, my position is closer to a friend right now.”
Hyeonbyeol then said that we would be discovered if we talked for too long here and picked up her pace. “Take this for now.”
“…What is it?”
“Nothing good will come out of us being caught while meeting in private, right?”
“…So what is this?”
“It might be easier for you to look at it.”
After ripping the page in half and giving it to me, she took the other half and wrote something on it with her pen, and as she did…
“Do you get it?”
What she wrote on her page appeared on mine as well.
“I think I’ve seen this in a fantasy movie before…” I mused.
“No one really has original ideas. Anyway, once you write something on it, you can only erase it after a day passes, so it’s hard to hold long conversations on it.”
“Then we can use it to exchange information about the place and time we could meet whenever we need to talk.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I was interested in this magic tool I had never seen before, and when I asked her what it was called, Hyeonbyeol scratched her cheek. “It’s Love Paper.”
“…What?”
“I mean, that’s just what the thing is called. I heard that some wizards made it to use when they were dating.”
“…Really?”
In any case, this Love Paper…
I mean, I guess it really was just a piece of a love letter.
“Is that all you want to give me?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s all. But there is one more thing I have left to tell you.”
“Make it quick,” I urged, taking a quick look around. “I’m worried someone’s going to pop out and see us.”
Hyeonbyeol didn’t waste any time and quickly continued, “Don’t get into too deep of a relationship with Countess Peprok.”
“Huh?”
“That woman has a big secret she’s hiding. It’s not just the fact that she’s the illegitimate child of the marquess. You might get tangled up in a dangerous situation if you’re too close.”
A dangerous situation… “Got it. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Then, that’s all for today. I’ll contact you again later.”
Hyeonbyeol disappeared into the alleyway, then I quickly left the area and headed back into the holy land.
“Chieftain! An object came for you!”
A few days later, a delivery addressed to me arrived. It was a suspicious parcel without any mention of a sender. However, the contents of the box made it obvious who sent it.
Black hair and black eyes.
It was a piece-of-trash doll without any distinct facial features, but the legs were dyed with black ink.
“Hah…”
I was left speechless and I took out the paper I received from Hyeonbyeol to say something back.
Swoosh!
Letters appeared on the empty paper that could never be interpreted by any resident of Rafdonia.
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
…I wanted to die.
***
A few days had passed since the Palatial Meeting, but unlike what I expected, no major events took place.
Maybe it was because of what the meeting was?
The talks about marriage between Ragna and me, and even my shocking confession in that place—neither leaked into the minds of the city’s populace. Still, nothing stayed secret forever, and rumors were bound to spread eventually. The people who could know would know at some point in the future.
Rather than that, this is a bigger problem…
After the Palatial Meeting concluded, the labyrinth sealing policy was enacted and announced to the entire city.
It may be obvious, but the adventurers were against the idea, and a few even went so far as to protest in the square before getting arrested. The residents of Ravigion, too, were swept up by fear they had never experienced before, and that much was evident as I walked down the streets.
I mean, with the invasion by Noark, the situation with Bifron…and now the sealing of the labyrinth, I guess it’s to be expected?
Even without the first few, the closing of the labyrinth meant a huge blow to the economy. The price of goods would skyrocket exponentially and people would spend less money overall.
Well, reading the newspaper revealed that the palace was putting into place new policies and systems, like decreasing taxes to try to foster confidence with the citizens. But I didn’t know how long that would remain effective.
…Let’s just do what I need to do.
I left the holy land one day to meet the alliance leader of Melbeth. The gramps and I met alone, and I told him everything that happened during the Palatial Meeting. I didn’t have a lot I could do with the information, but it was a different story for the other noble houses of Melbeth.
“Thank you. The information you have shared with me today will be of great help in navigating the chaos that will soon unfold. I will never forget this debt, and vow to repay it in the future.”
Just by attending it and silently listening to what everyone said, you could obtain power above the ordinary nobles, and that provided proportional authority. Maybe that was why all the nobles fought tooth and nail to obtain a seat at the table.
“Oh, and like I said, I decided not to marry.”
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore. To be completely honest with you, we are grateful that you fended off the marquess’s offer.”
“Then…?”
“It won’t be immediate, but I will certainly work to make sure that all of Melbeth can be mobilized for your sake.”
“Hmm…”
“Do not worry. First, I will make sure that your house will take on the reconstruction contract.”
I was a bit surprised. Just because I had attended the Palatial Meeting, that one thing had allowed me to push away the house of the dwarven count, who had been in the construction business for over a thousand years at this point, and take it for my own.
In any case, since it had come to this, I found it easier to say my next point.
“By the way, Your Lordship.”
“What is it?”
“I’m saying this because you’re saying you’d give the contract to my Yandel Barony… Well, chaotic can’t even begin to describe the situation of the economy these days, right?”
“Yes?”
Hearing the alliance leader prompt me to go on, I flat out told him, “Since I can’t even go into the labyrinth, I have a lot of time to waste.”
It was a rule of the world I had learned while studying the stock market back in my life as a corporate man.
“Do you want to make some big money with me?”
Crises produced opportunities.