Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 102

Actually, the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw the bear old man’s crossbow was:

‘Is that even a real weapon?’

Surprisingly, the answer was yes, it was.

Whoosh-!

The bear old man skillfully loaded an arrow, aimed precisely at the yeti’s head, and shot, making my doubts seem foolish.

However…

“Tsk, he blocked it after all.”

The yeti avoided instant death by blocking the arrow with both hands.

Of course, it was just enough to avoid instant death.

Both of its hands were skewered by a single arrow.

The yeti roared and strained, but the arrow wouldn’t budge.

The arrow didn’t seem particularly special.

‘Could it be a [Hook Arrow]?’

I suspect it’s a skill, but I’m not sure.

This isn’t the time to think about that.

[Screeeech!!]

The yeti’s huge form came charging with heavy thuds.

With both hands pinned, it didn’t look particularly threatening.

But what’s this?

“The rest is up to you guys.”

The bear old man slung the crossbow back over his shoulder as if he’d finished his job.

Even though one more arrow would have finished it, the fact that he’s doing this means he doesn’t want to do free labor.

‘Is it because he’s an explorer? His calculations are really sharp.’

To prevent any objections to the later distribution, I also ran forward with my shield.

“…What is that!”

I heard Carlson’s terrified voice.

Even for a barbarian, it would have seemed impossible to block such a monster head-on.

But that’s when he’s a bare-handed barbarian.

I braced my shield and stopped the yeti’s charge.

Clang-!

A heavy impact hit, but this is nothing.

After consuming the Orc Hero’s essence, I rarely get pushed back in terms of strength. Besides, the yeti is only about a meter taller than me.

「Your character suffers cold damage from [Chill].」

My bones are chilling, but it doesn’t hurt that much.

“Misha!”

“Ah, okay!”

When I shouted, Misha, who had been momentarily stunned, stepped onto my shoulder and leaped.

And with the sword she now wields skillfully,

Stab!

She simultaneously stabbed the yeti’s eye sockets from below.

Since it wasn’t the dagger she used in the past, the sharp blade was enough to tear through the yeti’s brain.

Thud-!

The yeti fell to the ground with a heavy thud and disappeared into light.

「You have defeated the Yeti. EXP +3」

Unfortunately, no essence came out.

Tsk, if it had, I would have fed it to Misha right away.

‘Well, the start is a bust.’

Now there were only five more guys with essences that I could feed to Misha, excluding the guardian.

“Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? D-Did I do something wrong?”

…One will come out, right?

***

“You two, your teamwork is good?”

With the bear old man’s brief comment, we resumed moving. We entered the ice cave, moved in formation, and defeated countless 9th-grade monsters, ‘Frost Wolves.’

Well, they’re all there is in this section.

「You have defeated the Frost Wolf. EXP +1」

Anyway, Misha and I did most of the work here.

Well, the bear old man also defeated wolves with his crossbow, but…

It wasn’t comparable to Misha or me.

‘He’s strong with one shot, but he doesn’t have any AoE [Area of Effect] damage?’

As I gradually analyzed the bear old man and wandered through the cave, the first chapter ended.

For reference, it took exactly 6 hours to get here.

Well, we had to wander a lot.

‘…It’s not showing up here either.’

Actually, if I had gone all out, I could have cleared this chapter in an hour. After all, the terrain was the same as the underground prison of the Crimson Fortress.

‘Left, left, right, right, left, 7 consecutive straights, left…’

The pillars that appear at regular intervals.

If you wanted to find the way through them, it was easy.

But I didn’t do it on purpose to test him.

‘A guy who knows how to open rifts wouldn’t have failed to memorize this easy pattern.’

It seems like one of two things.

Either the mafia isn’t a player.

Or, he’s pretending not to know.

‘Well, if I keep watching, he’ll show an opening someday.’

Anyway, that’s how we got to the second chapter.

“This cave feels kind of creepy……”

We went further underground, taking the ice stairs that appeared at the end of the cave. During this process, I carefully observed the actions of the group.

There’s a hidden piece here.

It’s nothing special, but if you break the third pillar, a potion will come out. It’s something that increases cold resistance once when consumed.

‘He’s not taking this either…’

Even though we passed the point and came down to the end of the stairs, no one was acting strangely.

‘Well, even if he knew, he wouldn’t do anything that obvious. He could just come back alone and take it later.’

I decided not to underestimate my opponent rashly.

It’s always better to assume your enemy is stronger, isn’t it?

Well, at least I did.

“It feels like we’ve come down a lot, but it’s surprisingly bright.”

Carlson muttered from behind me.

I had a similar feeling.

The ice walls were emitting a white light, as if the entire cave was made of transparent glass.

“It’s kind of pretty.”

“Yeah, yeah, right? I thought so too.”

“Oh, but what is that?”

Zensia, who was having a conversation on a topic difficult to empathize with Misha, pointed to one place.

A huge open space we faced after coming down the stairs.

Something that looked like a totem, which was clearly noticeable, was radiating its presence in the center.

“Ah! It lights up when I touch it.”

“It could be dangerous, so step back.”

“Ah, okay!”

Zensia was fidgeting, wondering if she had done something wrong. The bear old man chuckled.

“What are you so surprised about? It looks like that’s the key anyway.”

“Key?”

“Well, a few monsters will come out, and then the path will open.”

Once again, the bear old man showed a gamer-like way of thinking.

In fact, his words are not wrong.

There are a few things to correct, though.

「The tyrant who has been sealed for a long time awakens.」

In this chapter, a few monsters don’t come out, but the final boss mob appears.

Of course, it starts by spewing out mobs first.

Drrrrrrrrr.

The entire space vibrated and began to pour out ice dust. And soon, a piercing howl echoed all around.

[Grooooooaaaar-!!]

A roar that was in no way inferior to a floor lord in terms of intimidation.

「Ancient beasts that sensed the tyrant’s presence awaken from their long slumber.」

Clang!

The ice walls that had surrounded us on all sides began to peel off one by one, spewing out beasts.

“Grrr…….”

The beasts slowly rose, seemingly weak from being recently thawed.

“O-Oh, what should we do?”

“Huh, I didn’t expect it to be like this.”

Regardless of the bear old man’s cool mutter, I gave the order.

“Let’s go towards the stairs. There are no walls there.”

“Yeah, that would be good.”

The bear old man also agreed with my opinion.

And the battle began.

In the first wave, about twenty Frost Wolves appeared, and from the second wave, 8th-grade monsters also began to appear little by little.

[Kyaaaaak-!]

Shabel Tigers and Worm Stones, which I had already finished gaining experience from in the beast’s lair, and Ice Golems, which only appear here.

“I feel like my body isn’t moving well……!”

“Oh, so it wasn’t just me?”

Since they were the ones spreading a stacking slow aura as time went on, I smashed them with my mace as soon as I saw them.

「You have defeated the Ice Golem. EXP +2」

Since Misha and I came to this rift prepared to clear it ourselves, there was nothing particularly dangerous.

Well, ‘Jensen’ would have had to risk his life.

Still, it’s good that we can clear everything before the next wave starts.

‘Once we start getting pushed back, there’s no hope, but if it’s the opposite, it’s a pretty easy chapter.’

About 30 minutes later, we reached the ninth wave.

A yeti appeared again here.

Of course, it was completely different from when we first met.

If it was just a gatekeeper back then, this time it’s more like a mid-boss?

[Kroooo-!!]

The yeti appeared with lower-grade monsters.

That alone increases the difficulty several times, but this one is a ‘superior variant.’

In other words, it’s a named monster.

For reference, named monsters have higher intelligence, individual names, and unique histories, and….

「The Lord of the Snowy Plains, Katumba, has cast [Suppression].」

It’s a monster that uses the abilities of other individuals.

“Cough! W-What, what was that! Why did my body just…….”

The additional skill this yeti has is the Stone Golem’s [Suppression].

It’s the same one I experienced when I was attacked by those raider bastards before.

The solution is simple.

“Cough! A-Again……! Everyone be careful! That guy over there is using something weird… Cough!”

Like Carlson over there, get hit by the surrounding mobs every time you stop.

“Ugh.”

Or, as I told her in advance, keep bleeding by biting your tongue like Misha.

Or else….

「Your character’s magic resistance is above a certain level.」

「You completely resist the effect.」

Have magic resistance stats.

[Suppression] is a cheat-like ability that temporarily ‘incapacitates’ you, so it’s relatively easy to break.

Well, that’s why it’s an 8th-grade monster.

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!!”

I used [Wild Outburst] to raise my aggro [aggression] and then jumped forward.

‘Jensen’ is almost half dead, but whatever.

If I don’t kill this guy before the next wave starts, even I’ll be in trouble.

「Your character suffers cold damage from [Chill].」

As I stood in the center, the yeti… or was his name Katumba?

Anyway, all sorts of mobs started to stick to me, led by this bastard.

But I only focused on Katumba.

After all, being bitten by 9th and 8th-grade monsters is just ticklish now, and….

“Why do you always go off on your own like that!”

Misha, whose pronunciation was even worse from biting her tongue, was also immediately following me and clearing the surrounding mobs.

She looks like she’s doing a sword dance with those dual swords—.

「The Lord of the Snowy Plains, Katumba, has cast [Cold Blast].」

Was it because I was distracted for a moment?

I couldn’t avoid or block the blizzard that he spewed out.

My skin stung because I didn’t have cold resistance, but….

‘The rest is fine.’

Since my body regenerates in real-time, it seems I didn’t get [Frostbite]. I became even more aggressive in my close-quarters combat with the yeti bastard.

That’s when it happened.

“If you don’t want to die, get out of here.”

The bear old man whispered so that I could hear him, and

「Abman Urikprit has cast [Enhance].」

「The effect of the active skill used afterward increases in proportion to the soul power.」

「Abman Urikprit has cast [Hazardous Material].」

For some reason, my instincts told me.

To listen to that old man’s warning.

Tap.

It was the moment I pushed off the ground and created some distance.

Whoosh-!

The arrow was shot.

And….

KABOOOOM-!!

It exploded, spewing flames as it pierced the yeti’s head.

The radius was about 3m.

Compared to the AoE magic that Raven used, it wasn’t a very wide range, but….

“What kind of arrow is that, that, that?!”

All the monsters within the radius died.

Therefore, I revised the information I had been collecting about the bear old man.

I thought he was a single-target burst dealer, but….

「Superior variant kill bonus. EXP +1」

Damn it, you had that.

AoE.

***

The bear old man’s AoE.

Actually, I don’t even know if that’s an AoE, but anyway.

Thanks to him using his full power, the ninth wave ended easily.

And thanks to that….

“T-That’s an essence!”

We got to have our settlement time a little early.

Magic stones can be picked up later, but not essences, right?

“Two came out at once, you’re in luck.”

The bear old man didn’t show much interest in the essences.

He just told us to divide them up ourselves?

I felt similarly.

At least half of me did.

“You two can take care of that red one.”

I’m not interested in the essence of a Frost Wolf or a Shabel Tiger.

But….

“Instead, we’ll take this.”

The blue essence was floating in the spot where the yeti had last stood.

Carlson stammered and asked.

“Is that, by any chance, the yeti’s essence?”

“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?”

“N-No, not at all. No, sir.”

As if to shake off his greed, Carlson waved his hands excessively and stepped back.

He had a slightly regretful look in his eyes, but….

Well, if you’re upset, you should get stronger, right?

This is a world where power is absolute, and gods exist.

“Then there’s no problem.”

I called Misha.

But did she misunderstand something again?

“Congratulations, Bjorn. You’re going to get stronger!”

“What are you talking about? This is yours.”

“Huh? Y-You’re giving this to me……?”

Misha, who had been sincerely congratulating me, froze.

And she cautiously asked me a question.

“It’s not that I don’t want it, no, I want it so badly…, but I’m just asking just in case, so please don’t misunderstand?”

“Go ahead.”

“…How much do I have to pay if I eat this?”

Does she think I’m some kind of evil boss?