Bjorn Yandel the Barbarian

The ship slowly moves through the starry waves.

“Oh, now that I see no monsters appearing, it seems like the aggro has all subsided?”

“What is Baekho Aggro?”

“Oh really, how many times do I have to explain this for you to remember?”

“······”

The ship was peaceful as if there had never been an emergency.

“I am glad you are safe, Baron.”

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re safe too.”

The GM, who had finished charging his MP, was trying to talk to Rex Aures while belatedly saying hello.

“Hahaha! I was sure I would wake up just fine! There’s no way the immortal giant would die in a place like this!”

“Immortal Giant… you say?”

“Ah! This is the nickname I just made! Isn’t it cool? It suits me so well!”

“He’s starting to talk nonsense again. What are you taking seriously? Just ignore me.”

When GM, who received advice from Lee Baek-ho, nodded awkwardly, Rex Aures lowered his head as if he was hurt.

Oh, of course, that time wasn’t long.

“Oh my! Why did I join this team! There is no place that treats warriors so poorly as this place!”

Aures, who had lowered his head, became noisy again as if he had been trying to gain momentum.

The archer, who had been quietly watching the surroundings from the railing, changed the subject as if he was used to such things.

“By the way, there are two of you this time.”

There was no need to ask who ‘two people’ meant.

The priestess Jaina and the doomsday grandfather

Two people fell asleep due to field effects.

“Baekho, are you going to continue the search like this?”

“Well… I don’t know? Ask the Baron over there. They are our new leaders, full of individuality and freedom.”

“Leaders… What does that mean?”

“Oh, okay, just ask the Baron.”

“···If you look closely, it seems like Baekho talks nonsense more often than Aureus.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“···nothing·”

The archer who was muttering at Baekho Lee’s nonsense quickly changed his stance and came next to me.

“So what are you going to do, Baron? Do you plan to continue searching Dream Lake as planned?”

Well, well····

Actually, it’s a problem I’ve been thinking about for a while…

Okay, I decided.

“For now, I think it would be better to put off the Dream Lake search and search Yonggol Mountain first.”

“I mean Yonggol Mountain····”

The archer who heard my words seemed to think for a moment and then nodded.

“Not a bad choice. Somehow the ship has already reached Yonggol Mountain.”

“Besides, since Dryson has already appeared near the waterfall, it will be difficult to search properly. I think it would be reasonable to search Yonggol Mountain first and then come back here when the situation calms down.”

When I sent Baekho Lee a look telling him to tell me now if he had any complaints about this plan, Baekho Lee shrugged his shoulders as if telling me to just do whatever I wanted.

‘Pretending to be cool’

If I had other thoughts, I would have opposed it from the start.

Anyway, once the destination was set, everything went smoothly.

We continued to sail the boat in the direction of Yonggol Mountain.

Since the speed wasn’t that fast, no monsters appeared.

but····

“···huh?”

There were moments in the middle when I felt a sense of crisis.

“Everyone is asleep except you.”

Everyone except me and the old man fell asleep due to the field effect…

‘What are the odds?’

It was very unlikely that more than half of the people in the Dream Falls would fall asleep, so it was inevitable that I would feel uneasy.

Could this be a sign of misfortune?

I had that thought and for a moment I steered the boat while looking around diligently.

“······”

Oh, this is so awkward I could die.

“······”

The silence was so uncomfortable that I wished a monster would pop out.

In the end, I spoke first.

“hey·”

As I called out casually, the old man standing in front of the railing turned to look at me.

If you hear it, it would be polite to at least answer rather than just look at it…

If the old man had known that, that wouldn’t have happened.

I just decided to take this opportunity to ask some questions I was curious about.

“What on earth is fate?”

“What a comprehensive question.”

“I saw Erwen before and you said that I was born with the most destiny after you. I was curious to know what that meant.”

“I am now living next to you and have almost lost my light.”

“So what on earth is this fate?”

When asked again, the old man turned his gaze to the waves of starlight flowing under the railing.

“There are many types of power in the world. Magic, divine power, mana. In addition to the commonly known ones, emotions such as anger and love can also be classified as ‘resources’ in that they serve as sources of power.”

“···so?”

“Fate is a difficult force to define, but I think it is one of those forces. Especially in that it wears down the more you use it.”

“The more you use it, the more it wears out?”

The old man who heard my question nodded.

“Fate is not infinite. Most people only have three or four to live with. And even that can be reduced depending on choices.”

Hmm… I was curious, so I listened quietly, but it felt like I was at some kind of cult seminar.

“Wait a minute, I think the conversation is going off on a tangent.”

“But weren’t you the one who asked what fate was?”

“I was just wondering what you said to Erwen.”

As I was about to change the subject of the story, the old man of destruction gave me the answer to what I was curious about.

“Is that Erwen Fornacci di Tercia?···”

“So what exactly did you mean by those words you said to him?”

“It’s true, she had more fate than you that day, so I tried to get rid of her if possible.”

“But it failed.”

“Yes, and the fairy I couldn’t kill that day has now grown into a strong man called the Blood Spirit.”

“Is that all the power of fate?”

“That’s right. Ordinary people are not given that kind of fate. Becoming a chef or a scholar. Ordinary people’s fate is just that. You can never become a king or someone whose name will be recorded in history.”

The old man who said that looked up from under the railing and looked at me.

“Unlike you, I will say this”

“···?”

“If you have the size of your destiny, you can do and become anything. Even becoming the king of this city is not impossible for you.”

“······”

“Of course, this is assuming that you can coexist with that fate that so strongly attracts you.”

“That fate?”

When I asked with my head tilted, the old man burst into laughter.

“Hehe, don’t you know? You are destined to open the gates of the abyss someday. No matter how great your destiny is, you can’t change the ‘record’. Well, you who experienced it yourself would know better.”

I experienced it firsthand····

It seems that the old man of destruction knows the story of my visit 20 years ago.

‘Well, in recent years, I’ve been almost like Baekho and I are best friends.’

A moment of silence occurred during the conversation.

I took advantage of the gap to take a quick look around.

All of the group, including Baekho Lee, were fast asleep and showed no sign of waking up yet.

thus····

“Belvedere Ruingenes”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard your full name.”

“What on earth are you plotting with Baekho Lee?”

To be honest, I didn’t really think I would get an answer when I asked the question.

but····

“I don’t really have any secret plans, do I?”

“No, because I’m afraid you might not know that they’re trying to use me to do something behind the scenes?”

“Hmm… I don’t know what Baekho Lee’s intentions are, but at least I don’t think there’s any secret plan to use you. The reason I hang out with Baekho Lee is because our goals coincide in other areas.”

“Then… what is the purpose of matching?”

Even though I asked in a quiet voice, the old man answered coolly as if there was nothing to hide.

“It’s a way to return to the original world without opening the abyss gate. Baekho Lee called that Plan B.”

“ah····”

Plan B is something that Baekho Lee mentioned before.

But after listening to the story, it seems like the old man really has no interest in me and is only focused on Plan B…

“Returning without the Abyss Gate… is that really possible?”

To my careful question, the old man answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“It’s possible, in theory.”

“In theory?”

“I haven’t tried it yet because there’s still a lot to prepare. And to prepare for it, I’m going with Baekho Lee.”

“···I see·”

“Anyway, I don’t know if you’ll believe it or not, but I really have no interest in any secret schemes targeting you. Unless my methods fail.”

“But you hang out with Baekho Lee, so don’t you know something?”

“Well, Baekho Lee must have something in mind, but he didn’t ask me specifically. That’s not my job. Even if I asked him to help, I wouldn’t be able to help him.”

“As long as it doesn’t benefit your goals?”

“That’s right…”

It would have been easy to say no, but I felt more confident when I saw the old man immediately agreeing.

Should I say that it really doesn’t seem like you’re interested in me?

“······”

Just as being intimate is important in a relationship,

As I was looking down the railing again and watching him lose himself in thought, I became curious.

‘Come to think of it… this old man was also an ‘evil spirit”

To be exact, it is the evil spirit of our previous generation.

They are from another world, not Earth, and were brought here through some other means, not a game.

Well, since we are of different generations, I have rarely had direct interaction with them.

“Ruingenes, what kind of world was the one you lived in?”

“This is the world I lived in······”

The old man who was looking into the distance as if pondering the question gave a completely unexpected answer.

“I don’t remember. I was called into this world when I was very young.”

“···what?”

“I found a book at the bottom of a dark cave and read it every day. Now, all I remember clearly are those scenes.”

Could that be why he looked like a child when I saw him in the community 20 years ago?

I don’t know, but Grandpa’s words continued.

“One day, I opened my eyes and found myself in an adult’s body, and I began to survive based on the knowledge in that book. And now, I’m here.”

It was a type of ice that I had never seen before.

Most people, regardless of their age, enter the body of a 20-year-old and become younger, but this is the complete opposite.

While the story of the ruined old man sounds interesting, it also raises questions like this:

“But why are you so obsessed with going back?”

If your memories of the previous world are vague, you will miss that world less.

But why do you want to go back anyway?

The old man laughed at my question, which was asked out of pure curiosity.

“Let me ask you the opposite: Why don’t you want to go back?”

Oh, right····

“···Do you like this world better?”

Although many reasons may have been omitted, this is the essence.

I no longer consider this world, which I once considered so barbaric, barbaric.

No, rather, I thought about it over and over again while living in a dream world set in the modern era.

How can there be such an unrealistic world—·

“I am the opposite.”

“huh?”

“I don’t like this world, so I’m going back.”

There was no emotion in the voice or eyes of the old man who said that.

What on earth happened to this old man?

It was a very curious moment, but unfortunately, today’s conversation ended here.

“Ugh····”

“It looks like they’re starting to wake up one by one.”

I thought I could hear more if I scratched it gently.

“I’ll take care of Bryant, so you take care of Baekho Lee.”

Timing it·