novelraw Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159
Scanning the faces of the Community attendees, the Tyrant snorted with disappointment and said,
“It’s you guys again.”
Since the Community attended by players was determined by the total amount of CP each player had acquired, this place where the Tyrant attended was the Community of the top-ranking players.
A Community where the members hadn't changed even once since he started attending, and where no one’s identity was known except for the Tyrant who had revealed himself.
“Tell me about it~ I even saved up a bunch of CP just to stop seeing these tiresome faces.”
As the Tyrant looked at the owner of the alluring voice, a woman with a seductive eye-smile grinned at him and asked,
“Are you going to just leave today too, Oppa?”
The Tyrant’s gaze moved past the curves revealed by her dress, which was cut low in the back and sides, and her dizzying eye-smile, toward the nickname floating above the woman’s head.
《Siren》
She was one of the players active in the Different Species Community, just like him who operated under the nickname ‘Tyrant’.
Perhaps the only difference was that while he steadfastly played only Orcs, she played every race that had a female form.
When the Tyrant sat down instead of answering, Siren moved to a different seat and expressed a subtle expectation.
“What’s the occasion? Usually, you were busy cursing this pathetic gathering and leaving─”
The answer came from elsewhere.
“It must be because of the rumors spreading in Reime.”
The nickname of the old man wearing the holy robes of the Holy Empire even in the Community was ‘Priest’.
Unlike the others who were also active on Earth, this is a nickname that has never been active on Earth.
Even the Tyrant, who didn’t pay much attention to boards other than the Different Species Board, could be sure of that.
Because if a player with an extremely rare nickname like ‘Priest’ had been active, it would have attracted tremendous attention.
“Rumors spreading in Reime? What are they about─? I’m far away from Reime.”
Just as Priest was about to speak in response to Siren’s genuinely clueless question, a stiff-faced man sitting opposite Priest raised his hand.
“Brother? Do you have something to say?”
“…….”
As he fumbled and placed a doll on the table, surprisingly, the doll opened its mouth.
“Kihihi! You sly fox bitch, you should ask questions after the Community starts! And you! As expected of a religious nut. You ignorant retard! Do you think that fox is asking because she doesn’t know? Rumors that anyone with two holes in their head couldn't have missed?”
That man speaking through the doll is 《Puppet》.
A player active in the Alchemist and Wizard Communities.
The first player in the world to discover the hidden class ‘Puppeteer’.
“Priest-nim, ignore that crazy guy with chunibyo and please answer comfortably. I even overextended myself to donate tremendously to the Holy Empire this time, you know?”
“Kihehehe! As expected of a fox bitch, lies just roll off your tongue! Hey, cultist! Doesn’t the devil your god warned you about look exactly like that? Vulgar, crude, and a hateful bitch who lies every time she opens her mouth. If you’re that curious, bet your CP points and ask!”
Even amidst the verbal abuse, the Tyrant calmly scanned around the table.
‘Are there three who haven’t arrived?’
As if reading the Tyrant’s thoughts, a man covered entirely in a black robe and a large man holding food in both hands entered the conference room simultaneously.
“Are you going to eat today too─?”
Turning her back on Puppet as if sick of arguing with him, Siren asked, and the large man, who had already taken a seat, replied.
“Of course. Hehe. Isn’t eating what it’s all about?”
Unlike his huge build, the man giving a good-natured laugh had the nickname 《Gold》.
He was the player who changed his appearance most frequently among those who came here.
“If you keep eating like that, this skin won’t last long either─”
Looking up, Gold smirked at Siren, who was smiling with her eyes.
“Hehe, it’s fine. I knew that would happen, so I picked the cheapest one.”
At those words, the Tyrant reflexively touched his neck and scanned the faces of the attendees once more.
Puppet was a given, and Siren, whose beauty exuded an alluring sex appeal beyond mere attractiveness; Priest, with the face of a benevolent old man who seemed the epitome of a cleric; Gold, who was greedily devouring food; and the man always hiding his face with a black robe.
Even himself, appearing as an ordinary warrior.
Everyone here was wearing expensive skins costing thousands of CP.
The reason was solely one.
To hide their appearances from Earth.
“It’s really a shame─ If I could just show my true form, all you Oppas would fall for me.”
When Siren complained with puffed cheeks as if it were unfair, Gold, who was tearing into a chicken greedily, retorted immediately.
“Just whisper to me anytime. I’ll come personally and prove Siren-nim’s beauty to everyone.”
“Hmph─! Prove, my foot. You’d just worry about which guy you could sell my information to for the highest price.”
“Oh my! How could you say something so hurtful! This body, Gold! Is always a truthful man to the elderly and women!”
“Really? Really right─?”
“Of course. Only I in this world will know Siren-nim’s identity!”
Despite the hopeful conversation between the two, no one thought she would reveal her identity.
To them living in this world, every moment in the Community where they could hide themselves was a kind of amusement, and every action here was closer to a play to enjoy that amusement.
‘No, repeating that nonsense every month is also to find out each other’s information, so maybe it’s closer to a battlefield than a stage.’
The Tyrant, looking at the attendees with a disapproving gaze, turned his attention to the man covered in the black robe.
“I think they said a newbie would be joining this term?”
The robe moved slightly up and down.
“A newbie? A real newbie?”
“Kihehehe! It’s a newbie, a newbie!”
“Brother, if it’s a player who has climbed up to here, they must be an apostle blessed by God. Not a newbie, but a brother from the same parents.”
“God, my ass. The god you worship is dead, you idiot.”
While Puppet and Priest were bickering, Siren, who was staring intently at the entrance of the conference room, murmured like a girl in love.
“Why, don’t you think the King of Strategy might come this time?”
At that question, the attendees shook their heads simultaneously.
“No! I really have a feeling this time? The newbie coming this time is definitely the King of Strategy!”
At Siren’s face flushed with expectation, Puppet’s doll sighed and said.
“Oh boy, ahjumma. If that guy were alive, he would have come here before us. That human would probably have been the first among us to reach the Community. He would have swept up the points, you know?”
“You don’t know that! Maybe the King of Strategy was summoned into a really dangerous situation, or possessed a newborn baby!”
It was a plausible enough statement.
Because the fact that the majority of players who possessed bodies in the early days possessed newborns was widely spread information.
“That’s exactly why he’s dead.”
The second piece of information spread about the early players was that their survival rate was less than 1 percent.
A player’s specialness lies in the information they possess, but since they couldn’t benefit from information at all in a newborn’s body, it was natural, if one could call it that.
“Hohoho, whether it’s the King of Strategy or whoever, it’s almost time for them to arrive…….”
Priest, with a benevolent smile, looked around the assembly and said.
“What will you do?”
At Priest’s question, everyone except the Tyrant nodded.
‘Dirty bastards.’
What they were talking about was the ‘initiation ceremony’.
The reason they had no choice but to reveal their identities, which was practically an unwritten rule of the Community, was also because of the ‘initiation ceremony’.
A malicious custom repeated every time a newbie entered their space, the top-tier Community.
At the sound of the door from the conference room entrance, Priest grinned and said.
“It will be a meaningful meeting after a long time.”
* * *
Ian stared blankly at the mask in his hand.
“……?”
A crude White Mask with no patterns.
It was the same mask he had worn on the day he committed the massacre at the Great Temple, but his surprise wasn’t because of that.
Because the White Mask he bought that day was a common mask available anywhere.
What surprised him wasn’t the mask, but the semi-transparent system window floating above it.
[White Mask ] - Bound
- Can hide nickname when equipped.
- Activates some system functions when equipped.
- Item crafted with CP points.
- Items purchased/crafted with CP can only be used in the Community.
- Usage period 3658/100 days
When I first saw this window, I almost danced with joy thinking the patch was finished, but that joy didn’t last long.
Because nothing opened except for this item window.
When Ian brought the mask to his face, the mask, rippling like liquid, covered his face.
Ian tilted his head and brought his hand to his face again, and the mask, sloshing like water, gathered into his hand.
‘It’s clearly a bound item, so why can I equip it?’
Even trying to dismiss it as an error that occurred coincidentally during the system patch, an unpleasant sense of incongruity crept up.
‘Besides, why is the usage period like that?’
Remaining period: 3658 days.
There is no way to extend the usage period to this extent in 『Lost Chronicle』.
‘Unless time was turned back.’
While concentrating on the unease felt from the notepad read before moving and the mask, a bright voice was heard from behind.
“Oh, it’s a person! Hello!”
At the sudden voice, Ian hurriedly put on the mask and turned around to see a refreshingly handsome man running towards him, bowing deeply and shouting.
“Hello! I’m ‘Petite Princess’, attending this Community starting today!”
There was no time to receive the spirited greeting.
Pointing above his head, the man continued speaking incessantly.
“Funny nickname, right? Ahaha! I regret it every day too. If I knew this would happen, I would have made a cool-looking ID like ‘Darkness_of_Darkness’. It’s not that I really like this kind of nickname, but I tried about a hundred times and all the nicknames I chose were taken! Even ‘Ah_WhatShouldIMakeMyNickname’ and ‘TrySayingThisExistsToo’ were taken, you know?”
Nodding a few times at his rapid-fire conversation, a huge door soon appeared in the distance.
Ian nodded silently, alternating his gaze between the door and the man beside him.
He couldn’t believe that a player like himself was talking beside him, nor that players were gathered behind that door.
Whether he knew Ian’s feelings or not, Petite Princess continued speaking.
“Wow, in that sense, you are truly amazing, Senior. Ah, may I call you Senior? Since you must have come here before me. If not, please tell me no. I’m the type who doesn’t get hurt by things like that, so it’s fine.”
Ian nodded as if it was okay, but harbored a doubt.
‘Why does he assume I’m naturally a senior?’
Because he was truly a newbie among newbies attending the Community for the first time.
‘Is he teasing me?’
Whether it was a misunderstanding or a joke, thinking it best to go with the flow, Ian simply nodded.
“Hey! We finally arrived! Maybe because it’s a top-tier Community, this hallway seems longer too. Where I was, it was close enough to touch your nose if you fell from the summoning spot.”
Having arrived at the Community door and grasped the handle, he looked at Ian and asked as if just remembering.
“Ah, right. Senior, how should I address you? It’s my first time seeing a nickname made of special characters…….”
“Call me whatever, it doesn't matter.”
At Ian’s words, Petite Princess nodded as if that made sense.
“As expected, since it’s question marks, calling you Question Mark would be right, yeah? Since there are three question marks, how about Triple Question Mark? How about Man of Mystery? Ah, how do other seniors address you, Senior?”
Ian pulled the handle without a word.