Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 109

[00 : 51] It was almost the start of the third day. We left the glacier cave and returned to the crystal cave. There were quite a few troublesome things, but the gains from this rift were beyond imagination. Zensia’s equipment, Bear Uncle’s 5 million stones, and even the essence of the yeti and the guardian. It was an absurd amount of profit for a first-floor rift clear reward. I didn’t even make 2 million stones in two months with a five-person party on the fourth floor. ‘Fucking hell.’ I realize it again. I guess I can only get this kind of luck when I go through some shitty stuff. Swish-! Misha, with her newly bought sword, cut down a blade wolf that was approaching us and exclaimed in admiration. “Ooh!! What is this sword? It’s really good!” It’s the same one-shot kill, but it seems she could feel the difference in the handling. “I’d have to appraise it to know for sure, but it’s likely a Numbers item [a rare item with a unique designation].” “You, a Numbers item? Then, then isn’t this super expensive?” Looking at Misha’s flustered expression, I couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t just the ‘Viper’s Fang’. The leather light armor that came with it was also a high-priced item. It was made of wyvern leather, a second-stage material. ‘With this kind of spec, we should be fine up to the fifth floor.’ It feels like I’ve finished one task. Now that the early to mid-game setup is done, she’ll be able to do her part for a while without any additional upgrades. “Then, are we going to the second floor now?” “We should.” Misha and I followed the compass and moved on. We’ve accomplished our purpose for entering the labyrinth this time, but it would be a waste to spend the remaining time doing nothing. ‘We don’t have a scout, but… if we’re lucky, we might be able to get to the third floor.’ Anyway, Misha took care of all the monsters we encountered while moving. She needed to get used to the new sensations since her sword had changed and her stats had greatly increased. “Hey, Bjorn? I think I’m all set now.” “Are you sure?” “Uh… well… no. I’ll just keep catching them. But I’m just asking in case… you’re not doing this because you’re annoyed, are you?” “…Are you doubting me?” “Ah, no! Absolutely not! There’s no way!” Whatever Misha’s reasonable doubts were. I just moved comfortably and helped Misha train. It wasn’t just the new sword, she also needed to get used to the essence’s abilities. Watching her, I felt a sense of satisfaction. ‘I really didn’t expect the guardian’s essence to come out.’ For the ice tree, the Lycanthrope essence was as good as the yeti’s. [Lycanthrope] Grade 7 Agility +10, Cutting Power +12, Cold Sensitivity +15, Cold Resistance +10, Physical Resistance +7, Fighting Spirit +10 First of all, it had cutting power, which is essential for sword-type classes, and. The passive skill is a cheat. (P) Blood of the Snowfield – Cold sensitivity is increased by 1.5 times. 1.5x increase in cold sensitivity. It will shine more in the late game, and it has good synergy with the yeti’s [Cold Condensation]. The active skills were the same. (A) Ice Shatter – Damage dealt to enemies in a ‘frost’ state is slightly increased, and damage dealt to enemies in a ‘frozen’ state is greatly increased. I don’t need to explain the effectiveness of this, so I’ll skip it. (A) Indomitable – Removes the incapacitated state. It has the disadvantage of consuming a lot of soul power, but [Indomitable] is also a good skill that greatly increases the stability of a dealer who is vulnerable to CC [crowd control]. ‘Most of all, with this, I don’t have to worry about getting that much magic resistance stat.’ Originally, you should only be able to choose one of these skills, but… What Misha absorbed was none other than the guardian’s essence. She can use both skills, and her stats are about 1.5 times higher than a normal essence. “Try to attack somewhere other than the vitals as much as possible.” “Uh, but they still die in one hit…” “Then why don’t you hit them with your fist.” “Okay… huh? They still die in one hit?” I smacked my lips as I watched the blade wolf freeze solid with one punch after using [Cold Condensation]. Is it because it’s a grade 9 monster? It disappeared into light before I could even use a combo with [Ice Shatter], so it wasn’t proper training. “I guess I’ll have to do the rest when we go up.” “…Do we have to do it even when we go up?” Tsk, trying to get everything for free. “I’ll say it again—” “I know. The easy way is the slow way.” Oh, um… that’s right. When I was speechless, Misha smiled and went ahead. The tip of her tail was swaying, which seemed to indicate that she was quite happy. ‘……If I pretend to lose an argument when I do something wrong, it’ll be easy to resolve.’ I wrote down Misha’s usage method number 13 in my head and followed Misha, who was in high spirits. Time passed, and about seven hours had passed since we left the rift. ‘It feels like the dark zone should be coming out soon—’ I stopped walking. Whoooong-! The ground trembled slightly, and the crystals embedded in the cave walls began to glow brilliantly. The color of the light also changed. From a soft purple to an intense red. ‘I expected it, but it seems they really summoned it.’ It meant that a floor lord had been summoned on the first floor. *** “It’s nothing, just keep moving.” “Nothing? I’ve never seen anything like that before—” “Someone just summoned a floor lord. There’s nothing to worry about, so don’t pay attention—” “What? A floor lord?!!” Ugh, my eardrums. Was the floor lord we met on the third floor still a trauma? Misha clung to me as if she was having a seizure. There’s no need to be that surprised. “Misha, calm down.” The first floor floor lord is docile compared to the third floor. First of all, the summoning method is that after the third day, it appears with a probability if more than five people gather in one place, and… The portal doesn’t close even if it’s summoned, and the monsters that appear on that floor don’t change. Most of all, while Lyakis roams the entire field and massacres until it dies once summoned, this guy just disappears quietly if the raid fails. “Th, then are we okay?” “Yes, so don’t worry.” When I calmly explained the situation, Misha took a deep breath and regained her composure, as if she was relieved. But did her curiosity bloom when her anxiety disappeared? “But who on earth accidentally summoned it? Everyone knows that you shouldn’t walk around with more than five people here.” “Well, maybe it wasn’t a mistake.” “Not a mistake?” I just shrugged and kept quiet. In the circumstances, it’s highly likely that the person who bought the strategy for the first floor floor lord from the community summoned it, but… I can’t say that, can I? ‘He’s quite impatient. The preparation period should have only been about two weeks.’ Um… in other words, it’s not that he’s impatient, but that he has enough power to have all the preparations within that time? ‘If I’m lucky, I might be able to find out who that user is.’ I decided to look for rumors about clans or parties that succeeded in hunting the floor lord when I returned to the city later, and continued my journey. It was a time when I felt the absence of Rotmüller greatly. ‘Tch, it took almost a day.’ After wandering around following only the direction shown by the compass, we reached the second floor portal. For reference, I chose the south, the land of the dead connected to the ghoul district. 「You have entered the second floor, Land of the Dead.」 A black land that was damp and muddy. An unusually narrow visibility range even among the second floors. And the screams of banshees that sounded like background music. “It’s been a while here.” Somehow, I felt a sense of nostalgia as soon as I stepped on the ground. I broke skeletons with Ainar, pounded with death fingers, and almost died after running around excitedly and meeting that psychopath… ‘Fucking hell.’ Is it because I remembered that time? I suddenly feel down. “Ugh, I feel bad every time I come here. I’d rather go to the ‘Rocky Desert’.” “Rotmüller isn’t here, so there’s nothing we can do about it.” It was the center, so we could go anywhere, but the reason why I chose the Land of the Dead was simple. It’s the easiest way to get to the third floor among the second floors. I’ll get lost a little at the end, but once I go north, that’s it. ‘Besides, since it’s just the two of us, I should summon and catch the death knight.’ I don’t really need the essence, but it’s a difficult guy to catch when there are five people, so I decided to get some experience now. Isn’t he a guy you can only meet on the 6th floor unless it’s a few rifts? ‘He’s a grade 6 monster, so I can test how strong he’s become.’ Of course, I have to finish Misha’s training perfectly before summoning him. “Let’s go.” We moved north and quickly left the area where grade 9 monsters such as skeletons and ghouls appeared. Did it take about 5 hours? The terrain had changed from a damp swamp to a hard stone floor. [Kkuoooooook—!!] Soon, death fingers appeared. They were moving in groups of four, as expected of the third day, the so-called ‘newbie cutters’. In the past, Ainar and I had a hard time catching one of them. ‘Well, now I’ve become someone who can’t die even if I want to.’ Death fingers are monsters specialized in defense and regeneration. They summon ghouls, but there’s no way a grade 9 monster can deal damage. In other words, they’re the perfect opponents for Misha to test her new skills. “I’ll draw their attention, so don’t worry and just focus on using your new abilities.” “Okay.” “Behel—raaaaaaaa!!” As soon as I cast [Wild Outburst], the death fingers, who were staring at us from the boundary of the torch, screamed and rushed at us. [Kkuoooooook—!!] I blocked the charge of two of them with my shield, and dodged the other one to the side. And the last one… Clang! I just got hit because I was too lazy to dodge. It’s the first grade 8 monster I ever successfully hunted, so I feel a strange sense of emotion. I used to be pushed back by just one of these guys. [Kkuok?!] The death fingers were helplessly pushed back as I pushed them with the force of my shield. “Are you not done yet?” “I’m all done!” Misha, who had finished ‘Enhanced Cold Condensation’, swung the Viper’s Fang. Clack! It was blocked by the death finger’s shield hand made of bones and muscles, but it wasn’t a meaningful defense. The shield hand was frozen up to the elbow with one normal attack. 「Misha Kalstein has cast [Ice Shatter].」 Misha swung her other sword at the area that was ‘frozen’, and it shattered into pieces and scattered on the floor. [Kku… ok?] It was a wound that couldn’t be regenerated with [Body Preservation] because of the cold attribute. The death finger didn’t seem to feel any pain, and just looked confused. Well, it seemed to have instinctively felt the danger. 「Death Finger has cast [Call of the Dead].」 Since four of them used the summoning skill at the same time, the number of ghouls crawling out of the ground reached as many as forty. Of course, this also didn’t mean much. The body that used to be easily torn apart by those claws was now covered with a lightinium breastplate, and… [Grrrrrr……?] My physical resistance had increased, and even my bare skin had become quite strong. To be honest, even if I just got hit, I rarely even bled. Even if I did, the hands of the ghouls, who were weak against acid, melted away. But even in the midst of that, the wounds were healing quickly… “Bjorn… what are you… a monster?” Calling a person a monster. Hiding my proud heart, I answered as if grumbling. “Stop watching and hurry up and get rid of them.” Well, when all the settings are done later, you won’t even treat me like a person, will you? *** After that, we continued training while heading north. Thanks to that, Misha got a feel for how much freezing was needed for a ‘frost’ judgment and a ‘frozen’ judgment. Also, after meeting a chimera wolf with an incapacitating skill, she perfectly mastered how to use [Indomitable]. “Hmm, well? It just worked when I felt like I was giving it a lot of power?” After learning how to use it, I advised her to use it only when necessary since it consumed a lot of soul power. If her soul power runs out, she won’t be able to use [Enhance], [Poison Infusion], or [Ice Shatter]. “Do you see me as a child?” …That’s not wrong. After all, she only had two skills until she reached level 4. There was no need to control her MP, and there was no way it would run out. ‘……This is something that you won’t understand no matter how much I tell you. You’ll only feel it when you experience it yourself.’ For that reason, I continued to hunt as if I was pushing her. And as a result of using her skills recklessly, saying that she was okay every time, her soul power finally ran out. “…Something feels really strange. It’s not like my body is tired, but it feels like my body is empty, I guess?” “Didn’t I tell you to distribute it well?” “…I thought this much would be okay.” Misha’s MP was also depleted, and it was about time to rest, so we started camping. We found the remains of a building with walls, lit a bonfire there, and went to sleep one by one. And how much time had passed? “Hahaha, is that really true?” “I’m telling you, my friend.” I heard voices talking about 20 or 30 meters away. At first, I thought they were just passing explorers, but since the conversation continued, it seemed like they didn’t know we were camping nearby and had settled down. ‘Well, it’s about time to wake Misha up anyway. There’s no need to go and tell them to get lost.’ I was quietly passing the remaining time with a slightly generous heart. “By the way, this barbarian is really sleeping without a care in the world?” “Quietly, he might wake up.” “Let him sleep soundly. Isn’t he a valuable body? He needs to rest well now.” I heard a sound that I couldn’t just ignore. Drrrrrrrrrrr-!! Now that I see, it was clear that a baby barbarian was sleeping among the hyena-like explorers.