A plain white mask with no distinguishing features.

He wore a dull-colored robe that covered his whole body, and his only exposed skin–the wrinkled hand–was heavily creased with age.

“Heh… who’s that old man?”

Black Mask and Butterfly exchanged questioning looks at the unfamiliar visitor.

However, the Queen–also seeing him for the first time–was different.

“No way…”

Though it was their first meeting too, she seemed to realize who the old man was through intuition.

“The Master…!”

Wolf immediately recognized the unwelcome guest’s identity and jumped up, rushing out.

“Long time no see, Wolf. How have you been?”

“Thanks to you, I’ve been fine as always. But Master, what brings you here? You could’ve given some notice…”

Their words clearly indicated a connection between the two.

“What you say is true. Just came to see your face one last time. I have some business here too.”

“Business… you say?”

Wolf’s eyes showed curiosity about that, but the Master didn’t elaborate.

The listeners were left curious.

“By the way… would you mind stepping aside for a moment? I want to greet the others too.”

“Ah…! Sorry!”

Noticing the Master’s hint, Wolf quickly apologized and returned to his seat.

Anyone watching might have thought the place belonged to Wolf, not the other way around.

While watching this, the Master’s gaze shifted to me.

“Karma is a truly mysterious thing. How does it feel to see the end?”

Unlike the first time we met at the roundtable, he no longer intended to hide that he was Auril Gavis.

That wasn’t really surprising.

[The Master of the Roundtable is Auril Gavis.]

Wolf had already revealed that information here.

And that info probably came with this old man’s permission.

Thump, thump.

So why show up here again?

Seeing their close relationship, if the Master wanted to send a message to me, he could have just sent Wolf.

Calculating inwardly, I accepted the conversation naturally.

“Not particularly.”

“Hmm, is that so? I thought you might feel a little regret. After all, this place is basically something you created, isn’t it?”

Well, that’s true.

More precisely, not the roundtable itself but the truth game system was his creation.

“Phit, phit??!”

“The roundtable… was made by that man…?”

What followed was the reaction of those listening nearby.

One word, two words, three words.

“Ah, of course it was 20 years ago… Back then, there were only evil spirits from other worlds.”

As the conversation with the Master went on, intense reactions burst out all around.

“There was a roundtable even 20 years ago…?”

“No, but evil spirits from other worlds…?”

Ugh, so irritating.

If that’s the case, couldn’t they just have this talk quietly between themselves?

I thought so, but decided to ignore it for now. Just dealing with this old man alone was enough to give me a headache.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Didn’t I say? I had business here, and I wanted to see faces after a long time.”

The old man said that, then turned his gaze to another member.

“Good to see you, Miss Fox. How have you been?”

“Huh? Ah, ah… I’m fine… It’s been a while.”

“Honestly, I was a little disappointed. Back when there was nothing, you followed so well, and now you don’t even consider me a benefactor. Heh heh.”

“How… do you know that…!”

Fox was visibly flustered when this was mentioned, and the others’ eyes shone with interest.

How could he know?

No need to ask for a reason.

The old man had some way to eavesdrop on everything said here.

In other words…

‘…he’s always been listening to these talks.’

A chill ran down my spine.

I’d long known he was sinister, but I hadn’t expected his tastes to be so foul.

What chilled me most was that despite this, he came through the door casually mentioning masks he’d never seen before.

A habitual liar to the core…

“Uh… that’s not it…”

“No need to make excuses. I really am fine, so don’t worry.”

Still, that claim was probably true.

To this old man, Fox was worthless. Even if she bled and died right in front of him, if there was no reason to save her, he’d just watch.

“Um…”

At that moment, the silent Queen joined the conversation.

“Are you… really the Master of the Roundtable, that is… Auril Gavis?”

“That’s right.”

“…I have one question. Wolf said you have the power to prevent the community’s shutdown… Is that true?”

“That’s the truth. In fact, I’m the one who weakened your authority in the first place.”

He said it so casually.

The Queen waited a long moment before asking again.

“…What did you say?”

Hearing that, Auril Gavis let out a spiteful [N O V E L I G H T] laugh and continued.

“You said the device had a problem, but the device I gave that friend is perfectly fine. It just felt that way because the authority I transferred to him was gradually revoked.”

“Taking back authority… how is that possible?”

“Well, I didn’t hand everything over to him intact.”

A concise, clear answer that left no room for response.

“Don’t be too sad. I’m just taking back what was originally mine. Besides, haven’t I been using it well all this time?”

“……”

“Now then, let’s end this topic here…”

Auril Gavis silenced the Queen neatly, then walked over and placed his hand on the roundtable’s jewel.

At that moment–

Swoooosh!

The jewel turned into particles of light, flowing through Auril Gavis’s fingertips.

“With this, my business is done.”

Unlike the other members who watched blankly, I knew what that meant.

Twenty years ago, Auril Gavis said he lost most of his authority over this space when he created the roundtable’s jewel.

So, based on that…

“You came to reclaim your authority.”

Auril Gavis thus regained his former power.

“That’s right. Now I can do anything here. In other words, this.”

With his wrinkled hand waving through the air, the masks of all members except me were forcibly removed.

Thunk.

As if an invisible hand pulled, the masks fell onto the table.

“Ahhh!”

“……!”

“Ph… phit?”

Immediately, the true faces hidden beneath the masks were revealed, and chaos broke out.

Some covered their faces with both hands; some crouched so their faces weren’t visible; others stared blankly into space.

Of course, not all reacted passively.

Whoosh–!

Some immediately logged out as soon as their masks came off.

Two of them at once.

“Despite appearances, shy ones, huh? I guess showing their real faces to everyone isn’t a problem.”

The first to vanish without a word was the Jester.

What did he look like again?

I think he was white, but he disappeared so fast I didn’t get a good look.

Surprisingly, he seemed a little chubby…

‘And the next to vanish… Black Mask.’

The spot where Black Mask had sat was now empty.

He even escaped faster than the Jester, so I didn’t see him at all.

So before more left, I quickly scanned the room.

“…W-what is this madness?!”

The Queen shouted in panic.

She had the typical appearance of a foreigner with blue eyes and blond hair.

Not exactly a stunning beauty, just very average-looking, probably in her early thirties.

The members exchanged surprised and suspicious glances at her.

“Somehow… her face looks familiar…”

It was probably not just my imagination.

The Queen acts as the guide to check if newcomers are real players or not.

Next was Goblin.

Surprisingly handsome.

No, extremely handsome.

He could be an actor or something.

His skin was dark, so I thought Southeast Asian, but he was actually a typical Latin American handsome man.

‘Short for Latin American handsome?’

Latin American handsome.

A palindrome–what an absurd coincidence…

‘…But that’s not the point.’

I rolled my eyes, pretending not to care, and checked all the members’ bare faces.

I knew appearances in the community didn’t matter, but I was honestly a bit curious.

What kind of people they really were.

‘Butterfly is Asian. Fox looks younger than expected. Wolf is just an ordinary middle-aged man…’

A secret roundtable meeting.

A conversation among veterans.

Yet their faces beneath the mysterious masks were so ordinary. None looked particularly strong or ruthless.

But…

‘I’m probably no different.’

Who would imagine Lee Hansu to be someone who could smash heads with a hammer and smile bloodily even after having limbs torn off?

They’d be the same.

None of them escaped staining their hands with blood.

Those people all died long ago.

“Um… why did you take off the masks…? I-I’m a bit… no, honestly very uncomfortable… Ah! I’m not angry or anything…”

Goblin timidly spoke, and Auril Gavis promptly replied.

“Hmm, weren’t you curious? About what kind of people you talked to every time? Since it’s the last time, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to take off masks and mingle once.”

“Ah… I see?”

Goblin nodded dumbfoundedly, then glanced at me.

I didn’t have to hear what he meant.

“But… why didn’t you take off Investigator’s mask?”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Auril Gavis removed everyone’s masks without consent, except mine.

Why?

“Heh heh, I’m a bit cautious dealing with that friend! Don’t want things to go wrong by being rude.”

“Oh… I see?”

Goblin awkwardly nodded after hearing the answer.

It was kind of funny.

If he just nodded silently after that, why ask at all?

Well, that was very Goblin-like.

“…”

“…”

A strange silence filled the room.

Auril Gavis said nothing and seemed to enjoy the moment, while members kept glancing at me.

They seemed to want me to say something, so eventually I spoke first.

“So… is that all you wanted to say?”

It was a prompt to say if there was more business.

I spoke indirectly for once, but it seemed my meaning got through.

“No. There’s one thing left.”

“One thing?”

“I have a question for you.”

“Go ahead. Ask.”

I said so, gladly willing.

I’d listen first and decide whether to answer.

But…

“There are many listeners.”

Auril Gavis scanned around with a sly voice.

“But still, it would be a little cruel to just kick you out now. I forced you to reveal your face, so at least you deserve some compensation.”

Hearing “compensation,” I tensed up.

There was no way this old man was truly sorry enough to give any real reward.

There had to be some hidden motive…

“If I just gave compensation, it wouldn’t be fun. Let’s all play a game.”

Of course, his words got longer.

“A game… you say?”

“Yes, a game. Don’t you all like games? By the way, the reward will be given to the one winner.”

“…Can you tell us what the reward is?”

Before Goblin even heard what kind of game it was, he asked about the reward first.

Auril Gavis coolly answered without delay or deferral.

“I’ll send the winner home.”

The atmosphere changed instantly.