The first time I heard about the Records Stone was during my conversation with the GM.
«There's no reason you shouldn't believe him. At least the Stone of Records corroborates his claim».
In response to my question about why I believed Auril Gavis' entire tale that a specific player would open the Gate of the Abyss in the future, he implied that it was practically prophesied. The moment the words left his mouth, I knew that Baekho Lee probably also had some connection with the Record Stone, because like the GM, Baekho Lee was also obsessed with the user Elfnuna.
«Hm, is that right?»
That day, I didn't want to risk doing anything that would anger Baekho, so I put my suspicions aside and didn't mention it. I also thought I should investigate it on my own before asking him, but my findings only confirmed what I already knew.
There is no record of this in the library. Even Versyl looked like it was the first time I had heard of it when I asked him.
I spent some of my free time researching, but couldn't find any information about the Stone of Records. So I only had one option left: ask directly someone who could give me an answer.
In response to my question, Baekho remained silent. However, just as he had told Hyeonbyeol before, silence was a response in itself.
Yeah, so he knows what the Records Stone is.
It made sense for him to be silent and think about it before answering me, but he had already missed the window of time to make it seem natural. However, Baekho remained silent and stared at me as if he were looking into my soul.
«Brother». He finally broke his silence. He didn't even seem to realize that the smile he had worn before had disappeared. In a cold and deep voice, he asked: «Where did you find out about that?».
I felt a strange chill run down my spine, but I didn't let it show. This guy always had hidden motivations behind every one of his words. So why was he so interested in finding out my source first?
You must be curious about how much I know.
Armed with that knowledge, he only had one option.
«I wonder». I had to keep my answers vague and avoid being impatient. It was my best asset to get out of this interaction successfully. «Does it matter where I found out?».
Baekho's eyes did not leave mine, studying me carefully as I shrugged. He seemed deep in thought, probably wondering how to approach this conversation.
I was asking because I didn't really know what the Records Stone was? Or did you already know something and were just trying to contrast the information? In that case, how should he respond to me? Or could you not answer me?
As time went on, I could feel him carefully analyzing one possibility after another and weighing his options. Thinking that giving it more time would be of no use to me, I decided to double down. Even though this would seem totally out of place to him, that only made this move even more effective.
«Elfnuna».
So I brought up what I knew would unbalance him the most. No matter how big the tree was, if I kept shaking it, at least one leaf would fall.
When I first let out the nickname in our years of encounters, Baekho's eyes widened slightly. His reaction wasn't enough for me, so I rushed to make my next move.
«You know it's me».
It was time to put one of my cards on the table.
«What do you mean by that?»
His answer, although almost instantaneous, was neither positive nor negative, just a simple question. It was a pattern often seen in people who lie. Answering with a neutral question instead of another lie reassured them.
That meant I had to insist more.
«Baekho, haven't you noticed? Since we met, I haven't once talked about Elfnuna with you». I tapped the text above my head that said Elfnunna. «Doesn't that seem strange to you?».
It was an inescapable trap. Already mate.
Crujido.
The sound of burning wood filled the heavy air between us. Instead of putting more pressure on him, I gave Baekho some time to sort out his thoughts. Normally, in situations like this, the liar was the one who felt least comfortable with prolonged silence.
«Brother...» After a long moment, Baekho finally broke down. «What do you want to ask me?»
It seemed like this guy was still trying to walk a tightrope. I was familiar with his mentality, that he wanted to give others the minimum in exchange for everything he could. But there was a simple way around it.
«It's not that I want to ask you for something».
When the opposition tightly restricted the flow of information, it was best to put the ball in their court.
Where have I heard that word? How much do I know? None of that is relevant.
«I just want to listen...»
Crujir.
«...and see what kind of answer you're going to give me.»
The outcome of this conversation was now entirely in Baekho's hands. And he made his decision faster than he expected.
«Hahaha, you are very intense, brother! Seriously, I can never beat you!»
Suddenly he was back to his usual self. From my point of view, it often seemed that there were two completely different Baekhos that sometimes swapped places. I used to be surprised by the way he changed his personality from one moment to the next, but I had gotten used to it by now.
«I will tell you everything. What interests you most?»
Ha, this bastard is still trying to play with me.
If he hadn't had his guard up, he might have fallen into the trap. I didn't answer him and instead waited in silence, staring at him.
Baekho moved a little before letting out a big sigh. «...Were you really an office worker before?». As I remained silent, he continued saying: «I'm curious, that's all. What kind of life have you had to live to end up like this?».
What is this guy talking about?
Realizing that he was going to remain silent no matter what he said, Baekho let out another deep sigh. «Hah... Okay, I'll tell you. Honestly, I'm pretty sure you're groping me... That must be why I'm so nervous... Well, maybe it would be better to confess it right now».
«Then answer me.»
«Okay. Do you believe in destiny?» He paused and waited for me to respond, which I didn't. «Oh, you're not even going to answer that? Then I'm going to explain it to you however I want, regardless of whether you understand me or not».
«I already told you. The only thing that matters is what you want to tell me».
«OK. Understood».
Baekho seemed to give in, realizing that I wasn't planning on giving him anything to work with in the short term. After all, any question I answered, no matter how small, could lead to a bigger slip.
«You probably already know that most of the ancient artifacts and their old myths were lost when this city was built, right? But did you know that one of those ancient artifacts erased from the public record was the Stone of Records? And it is said that that Stone of Records contains the entire history of this world. I'm not just talking about the past, but also the future».
Isn't that just some kind of old myth?
That's what it seemed like to me, at least, but I decided to listen to his story in its entirety.
«Anyway, even something like the Stone of Records has an end. Of course, that end would mean the end of the world. And the beginning of the end was where the Witch came into play... Although I honestly don't know much about that. There's only one thing I really know for sure».
I was silent.
«Someone destroyed the Stone of Records to prevent the end of the world. And thanks to that, this world still exists today».
I assimilated this, my silence was no longer even an act.
«The important thing here is this. Fragments of the Stone of Records are now scattered throughout the world».
As soon as I heard that, something fit in my mind.
The Stone Fragment of Records.
A magical item left behind by Gabrielius. The same one who sent Amelia and me back in time.
«Some of the fragments have been found. And I've even seen some of them for myself».
That news actually bothered me a little, given something he told me a few months ago.
«The fragment of the Stone of Records...? I had already heard about it, but I guess it really exists».
So the bastard had been a liar from the beginning. I wanted to say something about it, but I didn't want to interrupt him halfway through the story, so for now I bit my tongue as I continued. We were finally getting to what was important.
«One of the fragments said this». Baekho paused before reciting: «And so, blankly, an evil spirit from a different world was able to open the Gate of the Abyss and finally fulfill his wish».
The phrase seemed straight out of a storybook.
«Since the name of this evil spirit was not written in real letters, it is impossible to say for sure who it is. That's because, on the Stone of Records, people's names are written with unique symbols. Kind of like it's the real name attached to your soul or something». He paused to see if I had anything to say about it, and then continued. «But that's not the important thing. The main thing is that I have seen that same unique pattern written in other fragments as well. And they said this».
¡Ba-dump!
«Blank, who was the first to pass the original test, has opened his eyes in this world».
Only after hearing that did I finally understand why Auril Gavis was so obsessed with the person that he surpassed the original version of the game. It also suddenly made sense why the GM was so interested in Elfnuna and finally why Baekho Lee was so afraid of being on my bad side.
«Big Brother... You haven't said a word in all this time. If you didn't know anything about the Record Stone before this, then this part will pique your interest». While still trying to organize my thoughts, Baekho continued his story. «What is important about these records? Aren't they irrelevant now that the stone is broken? At first, that's what I thought. But it is not like that. In fact, something in the last fragment I saw came true».
«...And what was that?»
When I finally opened my mouth, Baekho responded with a mocking smile: «That's a secret».
"...¿Which?"
I glared at him, irritated by his cheeky attitude, but he acted like he didn't care. «I'm not going to tell you. Believe it or not, it's because it's a personal matter. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you».
If that was true, there was no point in continuing to browse. For some reason, when he said it was a «personal matter», I felt inclined to believe him.
«Yes... I think that's all there is to say about the Stone of Records... so how about I talk about Elfnuna now?».
When I nodded, Baekho moved on to the next item on the agenda.
«I created this chat room after learning about the Records Stone. And I waited all this time. That's because he was sure that the person who had the best chance of beating the original version of the game was none other than Elfnuna, and obviously, Elfnuna had to be Korean. After that, well, it's just as you guessed. All this time, I've thought that person could be you. But to think that he was actually right...».
Then Baekho looked at me with wide eyes and asked: «It's you, right?».
All this time we had been fooling ourselves, unable to have a sincere conversation. However, since he was willing to share so much with me, there was no reason to continue hiding the truth from him.
If you confirm with calm. «Yes.»
Although I finally heard it from my own mouth, Baekho did not react. I had to be sure beforehand. He simply nodded his head.
«I think I've told you everything I can. So what do you think? Does that answer all your questions?»
«No, not yet». I shook my head. Most of my questions were answered, but one important one remained. And it might be the most important question of all. «Why have you hidden this from me all this time?»
In other words, what was Baekho Lee's angle?
«After listening to you, none of this seems like something you had to hide from me», I said firmly.
When I faced him head-on, Baekho responded with a bitter smile and a slight longing in his voice. «Fate is like a monkey's paw».
«...What about money?».
I looked at him confused, urging him to elaborate, but he just shrugged as if he had already said everything he had to say. «That? Don't you know what a monkey's paw is?».
«I know what it is, but why do you suddenly mention it?».
«That's exactly what I said. The things written in the Stone of Records are meant to happen, no matter what. However, it is impossible for me to know if what I want will happen or not.»
«...Continue.»
«Big Brother, I am sure that, one day, you will open the Gate of the Abyss. But does that guarantee a happy ending? Your wish may come true, but what about mine? That's why I haven't said anything about the stone until now. I wanted to buy time to try to change your desire so that it was the same as mine».
I think I understood what I had been thinking. After all, I had done something similar before.
«Amelia's older sister, Laura, died.»
Back then, I tried all kinds of things to change the future and in the end I succeeded. So maybe Baekho Lee had been trying to do the same. That was probably why he ended up showing his true colors the moment I told him I didn't want to come home.
«Then why did you join the Fallen Scholar?» If I was going to answer everything I asked him, I figured he would ask one more question. «I'm sure you didn't make friends with him just because you needed a wizard on your team».
Baekho's expression hardened for a moment before an incredulous laugh welled up in his throat. «Hahaha... Do you have some kind of lie detector in your head or something?».
A lie detector in my head? What's the point of that?
«Forget that and answer me. This is my last question».
Although I urged him to get to the point, Baekho was slow to respond. «I don't know what this sounds like to you, but...».
«Alright. Just say it».
«That old man... You don't have to worry about him. He's just my Plan B.»
«¿Plan B...?»
«Yeah. Things don't always go the way you want, right?».
Baekho smiled then, burying all his true thoughts and feelings deep inside.
«I need to have a backup in case I have to abandon Plan A. Because one way or another, I will definitely get out of this shitty place».