Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 80

“Rotmiller, can you sense anyone inside?”

“The stench of sewage is too strong, making it impossible to tell.”

“I see. Then I’ll go down first, and when I give the signal, follow me.”

A pit about 5 meters deep, reminiscent of a water tank.

With my shield on my back, I quickly descended the creaking ladder. After giving the hand signal, the rest of the group followed.

“It’s kind of eerie.”

As the torchlight illuminated the area, a passage that was not visible from above came into view.

“From now on, you lead the way.”

I quietly muttered, making sure not to make any noise, and sent the man ahead. Then, holding onto the rope, I proceeded through the passage.

About a minute passed?

‘Shit…’

I could see corpses piled up like heaps of clothes.

Dozens of corpses, mummified like ‘Hanson,’ who had his life force sucked out.

No wonder the stench of decay was so strong.

“Oh, uh… what is this…”

Seeing his bewildered expression, it didn’t seem like this place was originally like this…

“Be quiet and keep moving.”

I pushed the man’s back, who had stopped, and continued forward.

At the same time, I was on high alert, ready to respond immediately if something happened.

That’s why I was able to react.

Click.

Along with the sound of a mechanical device activating, a faint light began to seep out from among the piles of corpses.

And a deep voice echoed through the passage.

[Saveum, Bania, Hartia]

There was no need to see any more.

One of the trap-type skills possessed by the priests of Karui [a fictional religious order].

The unique sound effect was usually shortened to ‘Savaha’.

「The character has entered the radius of [Call of the Evil God].」

Shit, they set this up?

“Fall back!!”

While warning my companions verbally, I pulled the man back by the rope.

It was a simple reason.

‘Savaha’ wasn’t a skill that could be blocked with physical resistance or a Lythenium shield [a fictional material].

“Huh, uh?”

The man, now in my hand instead of a shield, let out a bewildered sound.

And at that moment.

Hundreds of wraiths, similar to banshees, poured out from the other side of the passage.

“Ah!! Aaaah!!!”

The man screamed and struggled, but I didn’t loosen my grip and hid behind him as much as possible.

It was fortunate that he was tall.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have gotten away with this much damage.

「The character has absorbed 102 wraiths.」

「Darkness resistance is above a certain level.」

「The effect is reduced by 30%.」

「The character’s maximum health is temporarily reduced by 29%.」

Vitality was draining away as if a hole had been punched somewhere in my body. My skin became parched, like someone who hadn’t had water for days.

Misha was the first to notice my change.

“B, Bjorn, are you okay!”

Misha immediately rushed to me to check my condition.

I stopped her from giving me a potion right away and straightened up from my crouched position.

My muscles ached, probably from being so tense.

‘Shit, I almost died.’

[Call of the Evil God]

A trap-type skill that unleashes hundreds of souls in a designated direction upon activation. Its characteristic is that the maximum health is reduced by the number of times you are hit by the souls.

It goes without saying that if the maximum health reaches 0, you die instantly.

Like this man here, hanging from my hand.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Thanks to you blocking them in front, I’m fine. By the way, is he… dead?”

I didn’t bother to answer.

If he had survived with only bones and skin left, that would be more of a miracle.

When I finally let go of the man I was holding, the dwarf muttered as if he was dizzy.

“…It’s not really the time to say this, but it was a good thing we put him in front.”

I agree.

And I’m not ashamed of that fact.

We are heartless explorers, after all.

“What are we going to do? If there’s more of that, it might be dangerous to go any further.”

I pondered for a moment before making a decision.

“Let’s keep going.”

Setting up [Call of the Evil God] requires various materials.

Most of them are people’s life force.

There are many corpses around, but…

Even so, it wouldn’t be in the hundreds, so it must have been just a one-time setup.

‘Besides, I have a feeling that if we don’t deal with it now, it’ll become a headache later…’

It’s just a hunch, but I have that feeling.

Just as I was about to set off, the dwarf handed me something.

“It’s nothing much, but I found this when I searched his pockets.”

It was the identity plate of the man who had turned into a mummy.

I don’t know why a fugitive would carry an identity plate, but…

“Later, when we receive additional compensation, we can submit it to the administration… No, why do you have that look on your face?”

I froze, startled, after checking the identity plate.

[Hans Markom]

…He was also Hans?

Ugh, I’m suddenly feeling uneasy.

***

After walking about twenty steps, we reached the hideout that Hans E had mentioned.

It was better furnished than I had expected.

There was something like a bed, a table with leftover bread and coffee, and even a candlestick on the wall.

However…

“Hahaha, no one’s here?”

“Hmm, they’ve either left this place entirely or are just temporarily away.”

There was no sign of anyone.

It wasn’t like there was a place to hide, either.

“Don’t let your guard down. They might be hiding somewhere.”

Still, I stayed alert and thoroughly searched the vicinity.

Under the bed, under the table, even checking if there were any hidden spaces in the walls.

After about 5 minutes of careful observation, there were no particular findings.

Until Dwarki used a certain magic.

「Riol Worb Dwarki has cast the 8th-grade auxiliary magic [Magic Detection].」

[Magic Detection]

A search-type magic that reveals anything that has been magically enhanced in any way.

“How is it?”

“It’s ambiguous.”

“Ambiguous?”

“I can faintly detect some magic on the floor here… but it’s too faint. It’s so faint that I wonder if I’m mistaken.”

I then checked the floor that Dwarki was pointing at.

Since I wasn’t a mage, I couldn’t see anything unusual.

It wasn’t like there was any subtle flaw.

“Is there no way to find out more about the magical aspect here?”

“No. But if I were to make a guess, it seems like this magic is hiding something underneath.”

“I see.”

After asking that one question, I immediately raised my mace.

Seeing me, the dwarf asked.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to smash it.”

“…Smash it?”

I didn’t bother to answer the dwarf’s question again. Since magical means were blocked, it was time to use physical means.

Like a barbarian.

Wham-!

The ground shook the moment the mace, which had doubled in size and power, hit the floor.

But that was all.

“Bjorn, you can’t open a magical device that way.”

Dwarki, who had been watching, gave me a lecture, as if saying, ‘I knew it.’ But I silently continued to swing the mace.

Wham! Wham! Wham! Wham!

The mace, made of solid steel, was fine even after hitting the ground.

Of course, the ground was only slightly dented and remained unchanged.

Therefore—

“Stop it. Dwarki said it too, that you can’t do it that way…”

I took off my breastplate, shoes, helmet, and the backpack I was carrying on my back.

Everyone was looking at me with a ‘what’s he suddenly doing?’ expression.

「The character has cast [Giant Form].」

「The character’s physique grows larger, and the threat level and physical stats increase in proportion to the size.」

My body grew about twice as large, and my strength surged accordingly. The dwarf still let out a discouraging sound.

“No matter how strong you are, magic doesn’t work that way…”

That it was impossible?

As a veteran of this game and a current barbarian warrior, I still found it hard to agree.

If you can’t break it with strength—

Kwaaaaaang-!!!!

That’s because you don’t have enough strength.

“…???!”

Ah, except for ghost types, of course.

***

“So it works.”

“Dwarki, what happened? You were so sure it wouldn’t work?”

“Uh, well… I don’t know either. I don’t know why it works…”

Ignoring their muttering, I checked the floor.

After hitting it a couple of times, light began to seep out and cracks started to form, and on the third hit, the hole was smashed open, revealing a staircase.

“A hidden staircase in a sewer like this…”

It was so deep that even when I put the torch down, I couldn’t see the end.

It felt like a path leading to the underworld.

“Are we really going down there…?”

Misha looked at me with a wary expression.

Honestly, I wasn’t keen on it either.

Since it was a hideout, I had secretly thought that there would only be a space to hide one’s body, at best…

‘But what is this?’

I felt like I was getting caught up in something troublesome, but at the same time, I was also a little curious. After all, the sewer itself was a restricted area in the game.

Of course, I had no intention of risking danger out of curiosity.

But…

“Bjorn, the woman’s scent is faintly coming from down there.”

“What?”

“She definitely passed through here. And not long ago, either.”

Shit, what should I do?

Should I just stop here and go back and tell them to handle it themselves?

My worries deepened.

Therefore, I also asked for Rotmiller’s opinion.

“Rotmiller, what do you think? Do you think it’s better to retreat like this?”

“…It might be okay to just check it out a little. I don’t smell anyone else down there except for that woman.”

It was a slightly unexpected answer.

But did that emotion show?

Rotmiller chuckled and added an explanation.

“For some reason, I have a feeling that it won’t be too dangerous.”

Hmm, it was the intuition stat, huh.

Although there was no clear basis, I didn’t dismiss his words.

‘His accuracy rate is higher than I thought.’

In fact, when Hans E was hiding, Rotmiller accurately sensed it.

Was he reluctant to go to the hideout?

If he sensed that there was a trap and it was dangerous, then it makes sense why he was the only one who opposed it during the vote.

‘Intuition… this might be a better stat than I thought.’

I soon came to a conclusion.

“Rotmiller, from now on, you lead the way. If you feel even a little bit uneasy, we’ll turn back immediately.”

Rotmiller’s intuition was quite reliable.

***

“Deputy Commander, the ‘door’ has been destroyed.”

A man frowned at his subordinate’s report.

A subterranean shelter built in the old days, before Lapdonia [a fictional city], which was once just a lord’s castle, was expanded countless times as it is now.

And the city ‘Noark’ built there.

Most of the entrances to this place are guarded by members on constant watch.

But…

“The door was destroyed? Could it be an attack from the royal family?”

“It is judged that the probability is low.”

“…Explain in detail.”

At the man’s urging, the subordinate hurriedly explained the situation.

“Upon investigation, it is a door that has been forgotten since the Karui Church incident. According to the last reconnaissance report, a vagrant was using it as a hideout.”

“Hmm.”

The man stroked his chin.

It was his old habit when he was in thought.

“The royal family has no reason to bother us now… but it’s clear that they are intruders, so we need to confirm it.”

“Yes. Then which unit should I contact?”

“Is there a reason to send a unit?”

The man asked back, looking at the woman next to him.

She was the woman he had been talking to until his subordinate’s report came in.

Wasn’t it that the barbarian he had let live before had become a famous explorer in the city? It was an interesting story that was interrupted midway, but…

“Amelia, you can handle anyone quietly, no matter who they are, right? Would you go in our stead?”

The rest of the story can be continued later.