Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 656
Chapter 656: Event (5)
Platinum-white hair pulled back in a pomade style and clear skin without a single blemish accompanied his cold eyes. Just that alone would give the impression that he was a handsome fellow…
“Urat!”
But those crude actions, words, and expressions just didn’t quite measure up.
“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Baekho, after using the side window to enter the carriage, sat opposite me and greeted me shamelessly.
“You’re getting surprised a lot today, it looks like.”
His mouth was smiling widely as he said that, but his eyes weren’t.
“Like someone who’s just got caught after doing something dirty in the back.”
He spoke those piercing words while glaring with his sharp eyes. Well, he wasn’t wrong. When I saw him, it felt like I’d just been caught talking behind his back. Still, that didn’t mean I was going to be caught off guard.
…Looks like he can’t hear us.
After glancing forward to see the carriage driver looking ahead none the wiser, I returned a question to Baekho in an even tone. “Shouldn’t I be surprised? You appeared out of nowhere and came in through the window.”
“Hmm, but I don’t think that’s the only reason you got surprised…”
“You’re not wrong. Just how thin are you getting? Eat up and exercise a little. How the hell can a man enter through a narrow window like that?”
“…I’m not thin. You’re just abnormally big, big bro.”
“Hey, watch it.”
How are you here?
What are you here to do?
Instead of asking things like that, I steered the conversation by scolding him, and Baekho reacted with a hint of embarrassment.
Then, an uncomfortable silence settled between us.
In all honesty, we weren’t close enough to be meeting like this to catch up. If anything, our parting moments were the worst of them all.
“…So you wanted to use the Stone of Revival on me?”
“Yes. You’re the one who can’t cut those people out of your life, so I was just trying to help you out. These relationships won’t mean anything when we return home, you know that, right?”
The day Ghost Busters closed its doors when those schemes he had been plotting behind my back were revealed, Baekho didn’t even apologize to me. No, he had spoken brazen words of aggression toward me, and my decision was made in my heart then.
That when I met this guy again, I would fulfill his wish.
“So,” I began, “did you come to me because you want to leave? Leave this damned world, like you kept talking about?”
“Nah, big bro… Are you still pissed about that?”
That, right there, was the biggest reason I didn’t want to get involved with him. He was like a soulless husk of what should be a person. It was difficult for me to understand how he could act like nothing happened, even after everything that had happened.
Not yet.
But it was too early for me to punch him straight in the face.
Of course, I was confident I wouldn’t lose against him in a fight even now, but I supposed I wasn’t confident I could win either. This scheming rat—as soon as he thought things weren’t going in his favor, he would scurry away, and there was a chance that the people around me could be in danger—
“Just ‘cause!’” he cried. “I just came by because I could. I got the feeling that you were scheming something dirty in the background!”
Hearing him say that openly, I smirked. “That’s hilarious.”
“Eh? What is?”
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” When he looked at me in question, I explained, “You’re the one who’s always cooking up something heinous from behind the scenes.”
The carriage was too small for us to be sitting face-to-face like this. I let my killing intent leak out a little as I stared at him.
However, he only seemed to enjoy my attitude.
“…This is fun,” he muttered.
A vicious edge sharpened the air to the point where it seemed like if anyone drew their weapon, a fight would break out immediately.
In that atmosphere, Baekho’s tone was cold. “So, why did you save the marquess?”
Although I had suspected it, this question made me certain of it.
So this guy was the one who tried to assassinate the marquess.
However, since this guy couldn’t use magic, it was probably the Fallen Scholar who cast the spell then. The two of them had begun moving in tandem like best friends after some point.
I did wonder how it hurt so much…
Still, it comforted me somewhat. Yeah, there was no way wizards like that were common.
“What’s got you so lost in thought? Is the reason that difficult to say or something?”
“Hey, don’t push me,” I warned. “Do I have to answer everything you ask me?”
“That’s not it, but I’m curious. You’re the one who asked me to kill the marquess back then, but now you’re throwing yourself in front of him when I try to kill him?”
“That’s what I want to ask you as well. You said you couldn’t kill him back then, so why are you doing it now? Isn’t he just going to revive in the palace even if you kill him?”
Baekho stayed quiet at my counter question. He was a truly self-centered man.
Then, finally, he said, “Just know that I had my reasons.”
“Then you can know that I had my reasons as well.”
It was a clear declaration that I wouldn’t reveal anything to him unless he revealed something first.
Baekho looked at me for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “There’s a chance the marquess lost that revival item. I wanted to check, at least once. If he died, good. And if he revived, that’d’ve been fine too.”
“Would’ve been fine even if he revived? Didn’t you say that the item doesn’t have a use limit or anything like that?”
“That’s true. But it seems that it takes some time for him to fully resurrect. I was going to use that opening. Since the proxy will suddenly disappear, the King of the New World might act as well.”
“King of the New World…?”
“Yeah. That guy who always avoids official meetings by making excuses like he’s sick or whatever.”
“Why are you trying to get the King of the New World to act?”
“He’s hiding too many things. But if we can get him moving out in the open, he’d at least drop a little something somewhere, right?”
He probably didn’t tell me 100 percent of everything that was going on, but I didn’t get the feeling that he was lying.
“Alright, then since I told you, you tell me as well, big bro. Why did you save the marquess? Did you decide to just fully commit to his side now?”
Hmm, then how should I respond to that? Should I just say that I didn’t want to tell him? Knowing him, he probably wouldn’t take it personally even if I backed out of this exchange.
Still, it’s best to not make things weird between us… The logical choice here is to use him while I can.
After coming to that conclusion, I came clean about everything that happened on that day. And surprisingly, it could be summarized in just one sentence.
“It was…a mistake?”
It was a mistake to save the marquess on that day.
It may be obvious, but Baekho had a hard time believing it.
“You jumped out of habit and blocked the attack? Are you telling me to believe that right now?”
“It’s your choice if you believe me or not, but… I didn’t move because I sensed the attack beforehand. It was something I never would’ve been able to block if I consciously acknowledged it and then moved.”
In the end, though, he seemed convinced by my honest explanation. Or maybe it was because my words pinpointed something he had pegged as suspicious.
Either way, he nodded, despite wearing an openly displeased expression. “Well… What you say does make sense…”
“It doesn’t just make sense, that’s just what happened. Do you know how much I regretted saving him?”
“Then… What was that today? You went to the marquess’s house and talked for a long time.”
“That was to receive his thanks after the incident. Ah, I don’t know if this is the reward for that, but I did receive confirmation that I would take the construction contract.”
Although it was only half the whole truth, it was still the truth. Of course, the main reason the marquess called me was for conciliation, and the condition ended up being the assassination of Baekho. But it wasn’t like Baekho was being fully transparent with me either, right?
“…Is that really all?”
“You do know that is the most useless question in the world, right?”
“Right. I misspoke.”
With that, Baekho paused to stare at me for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know. Everyone else is so easy, but why are you so difficult, bro?”
Honestly, I thought the same about him. Here he was, he was saying all this to my face, yet I couldn’t be sure of anything. Was he telling me he didn’t know what I was thinking or if it was an act or not?
I used the opportunity to demand, “Still… Since we’ve met like this, tell me something. Just what are you going around doing these days?”
“Now you’re trying to sound friendly? You acted like you were about to kill me at any moment just then.”
“Do you want me to beat you up?”
“Not really… But I just got the feeling that you and I are a similar breed of people, big bro.”
“What are you talking about now?”
“I mean, you get it, right? Emotions are only temporary. In the end, we both think logically before moving for our own gains… Ah, I guess you do seem to get carried away by your emotions sometimes.”
His analysis and way of sharing it was enraging to hear, but there was nothing I could say in response either. In truth, I didn’t want to beat this guy up and drive him away. Instead, my desire to try and mine more information out of him was greater.
“I know how you’re feeling, but since I did wrong you a bit, I’ll answer a few questions for you, bro. It’s not like you asked that question because you’re seriously curious about how I’m doing. What’s the thing you’re most curious about?”
Still, the tension eased when Baekho led with that. However, it produced a new problem of its own.
Questions, questions, questions… Since he said a few, I needed to pick out the questions that would be the most important for me to get answered, but what should I ask him?
A short contemplation later, I chose my first question. “So, have you met Auril Gavis?”
His most recent activity that I knew about was to leave the walls to go meet Auril Gavis. So, did he succeed in that task?
“Haha, so about that gramps… How should I put it—”
“Just answer with yes or no.”
“Yes. I did meet him.”
Okay, so he reached his goal.
Despite my inexplicable unease, I continued with another question. “Did you meet him in real life, not in the community?”
“I did meet him in real life. I heard that you met him at the Round Table as well?”
“Did that old man say that?”
“Well… I guess you could say that…? That’s not really important.”
Hmm, judging by that vague response of his, he probably didn’t hear it directly from him.
So if Black is Hyeonbyeol, and Wolf is someone sent in by Auril Gavis…
Was Butterfly the agent planted by Baekho?
I didn’t have enough information to make that conclusion, but the community wasn’t even that important at this point, so I shelved the thought.
“What did you do all this time after leaving the walls?” I asked for a comprehensive answer this time rather than a simple yes or no. Although I spoke as if I wasn’t interested in how he’d been, I really was curious about Baekho’s life.
“I was pretty busy doing a whole lot of things. I went around traveling the outside world, finding the camp the Noarkans live in and living there. I even went to the labyrinth using the portal that leads to the seventh floor… Oh, and I did find a new ally. Somehow.”
Though it was only an outline, I could sense it. There were stories in between those “whole lot of things” he went through. While I was exploring Basement Floor One, this guy had been living a busy life as well.
“A new ally?” I repeated eventually.
“They’re still a secret, so I can’t tell you. But… I sound like an asshole if I just answer like that… I’ll remove that question from the tally. Right, you can now ask your last question.”
“Didn’t you say I’d get a few questions?”
“Yes. Isn’t this a few?”
Hmm… He wasn’t wrong about that.
Since he was giving me the question as a bonus, I stopped thinking too hard about it and just asked it. “Just what are those Noarkans trying to do?”
It was a question that anyone living in this city would be curious about and something that even the marquess, the second most powerful person in the nation, didn’t know for sure. However, Baekho somehow knew the answer.
Because it didn’t take long for him to tell me.
“Survive.”
I hesitated. “What?”
“Isn’t that the goal of any living person? Everyone is trying hard to live well and live long.”
Although his tone was joking, I noticed the truth hiding behind his words.
“So, unlike what the rumors say, people can’t live outside the walls,” I surmised.
“Yes. When you get down to it.”
Just what was it like outside the walls? I wanted to ask him that too, but I unfortunately ran out of question slots.
“Hmm… I feel like the answer I gave you was too short considering it’s the last question, so I’ll add in a little bonus.”
…A bonus?
As I tilted my head, Baekho grinned. “Nothing big will happen from the Noarkan side for the next year. So you don’t have to worry about them.”
Ironically, I became extremely worried after he told me I didn’t need to worry. Since people like us always read between the lines for some hidden meaning…
For one year…
It meant that after that year was up, something huge was going to happen.