Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 115

Erwen Fornacci di Tersia.

She was currently in the Witch’s Forest.

Along with her sister, Daria.

“Ugh… I’m so dizzy…”

“You’ll be fine once you get used to it. Try focusing on the sounds once you adapt.”

The reason she came all the way to the Witch’s Forest, while hunting with her sister on the 3rd floor, was simple.

She had recently been receiving scout training.

She had come to the Witch’s Forest, taking advantage of the last day before the labyrinth closed.

“Even if you don’t become a professional scout, you need to know how to find your way to the 4th floor.”

“Ugh…”

Her sister was a skilled scout.

So, she had already learned the knowledge and know-how to navigate the lower floors alone.

However, the Witch’s Forest was different.

A special terrain where you could only find your way by relying on your senses.

“How is it? Can you hear anything?”

Erwen focused on the sounds she heard, following her sister’s instructions. Other races had to specialize in one sense, whether it was smell or sight, to avoid getting lost in the Witch’s Forest, but…

Thump-!

Fairies, who were naturally gifted with hearing, didn’t need to do that?

Her sister explained that even if it was difficult to wander around here like it was their front yard, anyone could find the 4th floor portal.

Thump-!

Soon, she closed her eyes and listened, and she recognized small sounds she hadn’t heard before.

Wind like a blade, the rustling of scattered branches, the howling of monsters, the sharp friction of weapons, and so on.

As she examined each one, she was able to find a distinctly different sound.

Thump-!

A heavy sound, like a heartbeat.

This must be the magical wave sound her sister was talking about.

“That way…”

She pointed in the direction the sound was coming from, and her sister smiled as if she was proud of her.

“Good job. Shall we go then?”

Erwen continued to focus on the sound and find her way. There were times when she didn’t even notice monsters approaching because she was too focused on her hearing…

But each time, her sister helped her, so there was no problem.

How long had it been?

Thump-!

The magical wave sound grew louder.

Now, it was so loud that her ears were ringing even if she didn’t try to listen. It was just when she thought she could stop paying attention to the sound.

[Good job, Rotmüller.]

Erwen frowned at the sudden voice.

She didn’t know who Rotmüller was, but…

“Huh?”

“Why are you suddenly like that?”

The voice that said ‘good job’ sounded familiar.

It was as if it was similar to the voice she missed, a voice that was prickly yet warm.

‘Could it be…?’

Even though she thought it was impossible, Erwen’s legs were already moving.

Towards the direction where that voice had come from.

“Erwen? Where are you… Stop…!”

Her sister called out from behind, but she didn’t hear it and went forward like a possessed person.

About a minute later?

A wide open space appeared, and a huge tower hidden in the forest revealed itself.

In front of it, there was a group of explorers.

One dwarf, two humans, and one beastkin.

And… a barbarian.

Of course, he looked completely different from the person she remembered.

He was wearing shiny armor like a skilled explorer, and his shield was much larger and more luxurious.

Because he was wearing a helmet, his face was not visible.

But…

“Ah, mister?!”

Erwen felt it instinctively.

That person was him.

“Mister!!”

She shouted so that the entire forest could hear, but the barbarian didn’t turn around.

He was already halfway into the portal when she saw him, and then he disappeared.

So, Erwen ran.

As if she was about to jump into the portal after him.

“Erwen!”

Her body, which was running much faster than when she was wandering around on the 1st floor, was soon stopped by her sister.

“…Let go! I have to go in—”

“Get a grip!!”

“That mister is…”

“Are you going to keep being stubborn? You didn’t even see his face properly?”

Erwen was speechless.

It was because she belatedly realized how her actions must have looked.

But…

“I… I know. I just know it!”

“What if it’s not him? The 4th floor is a dangerous place for just the two of us. Besides, do you even know who those people who went in first are?”

“Th, that’s…”

It was a problem she hadn’t thought about.

Because Erwen was already certain.

However, she didn’t have the confidence to explain this clear feeling in her heart to her sister.

So, she was about to forcefully pull her arm away when…

“Ah, no…!”

The color of the portal turned red.

This meant that even if she entered the portal now, she wouldn’t be able to go to the same place as the people who had gone in earlier.

“Why! Why did you stop me?!!”

“Because that’s the obvious thing to do! I told you that if you followed them into the 4th floor, you could be treated as a plunderer, didn’t I?”

“But… it was mister…!!”

Erwen pressed her lips tightly.

Something like resentment welled up from deep within her heart, but…

She took a long breath and regained her senses.

‘Okay, it’s okay. I know he’s alive…’

For now, she decided to be satisfied with that.

If she wasn’t mistaken today, if he was really alive.

‘…I’ll be able to meet him soon.’

She would definitely be able to meet him again.

***

[You have entered the Sky Tower on the 4th floor.]

***

What was that?

That voice?

It felt like it was calling me…

‘Could it be, Erwen?’

I froze.

She was the only one who would call me mister. But, that didn’t make much sense either.

‘No, what are the odds of that happening?’

It was hard to believe that such a coincidence would happen, on top of reuniting with my companions in this vast labyrinth.

It must have just been a conversation between other explorers.

Anyway, it’s not something to worry about right now.

“Bjorn, what are you doing! Move quickly!”

A stone chamber of about 40 pyeong [approximately 132 square meters].

Each wall had a firmly closed door.

The Sky Tower.

This place was the first trial as soon as you entered. In other words, monsters would pour out.

[Kyahhhhh-!]

Seven level 9s, three level 8s, and one level 7.

The monsters that appeared on the 3rd floor attacked us in groups, regardless of their habitat. That’s why I usually called this place the ‘Tower of Training’.

Because so many different types of monsters appeared, it was easy to gain experience, and we could face patterns of combinations we hadn’t experienced before.

‘An orc shaman, a stone golem, a living armor, and a dullahan [a headless horseman] on top of that…’

A bizarre combination came out from the start.

[Living Armor has cast [Armor Enhancement].]

The Living Armor was being worn on top of the Dullahan, as if it was a host.

[The Orc Shaman has cast [Frenzy].]

[The Dullahan’s physical resistance increases by 3 times for 10 seconds.]

The Dullahan, which already had extremely high physical resistance, had become almost like a stone, and in the meantime, the Stone Golem was using [Suppression] and spreading debuffs.

“Behel—laaaaa!!”

While Misha and Rotmüller were taking care of the level 9 mobs, the dwarf and I created a shield wall and blocked the Dullahan.

It was an all-in combination, but it was easy to endure since there were two tanks.

‘Even if their physical resistance is high, it doesn’t really mean anything to us.’

Our main damage dealers were Dwarki and Misha.

It went without saying for Dwarki, who was a mage, and Misha had also properly taken the frost swordsman tree, and her cold damage had increased dramatically.

“Hmm, was it always this easy?”

The dwarf tilted his head, as the battle ended in an instant, even though he was just being a meat shield.

“Isn’t it because we’ve all gotten stronger, nyaa!”

“Hehe, how was the spell I just used? It was a new one I learned this time.”

Originally, no matter how strong a tank was, it wouldn’t show. On the other hand, damage dealers were a job where even a little growth was very noticeable.

And as for the scout…

“Ahem, ahem.”

Well, they were practically treated as outside of the main force from the start.

It was safe to say that the scout had done their job just by getting us to our destination on time.

And the 4th floor wasn’t just about monsters.

[The trial has been completed.]

Soon, when all the monsters died, the firmly closed doors opened wide.

Each door had a unique pattern engraved on it.

Courage, Wisdom, Fate, Patience.

Normally, we would have opened the stairs of courage and fought random monsters, but…

“Since we don’t have much time, it would be better to quickly go up the floors.”

We chose the stairs of wisdom for now.

The difficulty of the Sky Tower increased each time you passed a trial, and the stairs of wisdom was a route that allowed you to go up several floors at once.

With our power, we had to go up to at least the 20th floor to start enjoying the hunt.

[You have chosen the stairs of wisdom.]

For that reason, we walked through the darkness like an abyss.

The path was complicated, there were traps, and monsters appeared from time to time, but as long as we had the professional scout Rotmüller, there was nothing to worry about.

Kwaaang-!

After about an hour, when we reached the 6th floor, the door we had entered from was firmly locked, and monsters attacked us.

Unlike the 1st floor, there were three level 7s mixed in, but there was no particularly dangerous situation.

Unlike before, the combination was also bad.

“Hmm, there are no stairs of wisdom this time.”

After the hunt, we had no choice but to choose the stairs of courage. Well, fate had too many variables, and patience… everyone shook their heads in unison.

‘Well, it’s more comfortable to fight monsters a few more times than to do that.’

If it was a game, maybe.

In this place, where reality had been patched, the trial of patience was a trial that everyone avoided.

It was hot, cold, sad, and even brought back shitty memories.

[You have chosen the stairs of courage.]

Anyway, we went up the stairs and reached the 7th floor.

Monsters appeared, and that was it.

The battle ended easily, but the firmly closed doors showed no signs of opening.

That was only natural.

If you chose courage, you had to wait 4 hours even after catching all the monsters.

“Well, let’s rest and recharge our courage!”

Whatever the dwarf’s joke was.

We were tired from traversing the Witch’s Forest, so we spent our rest time without much regret.

There was no need for a night watch.

Monsters didn’t respawn, and once the portal color changed, other explorers couldn’t enter.

“Hoo, let’s go!”

After sleeping for 4 hours, we chose the stairs of wisdom once more and went up the tower.

In terms of floors, we had already reached the 12th floor.

But, what is this?

[Guaaaak!!]

We froze as we looked at the single monster that was standing in the center of the stone chamber.

Kooong-!

A huge body over 4m tall.

Large fangs protruding from its mouth.

Grayish-white skin covering its massive muscles.

And a hunched spine like a hunchback, and a deformed, wide shoulder structure.

“T, troll…?”

“Why is that guy here…?”

Troll.

A monster classified as a top-tier bastard among level 5s.

If Deathfing was a ‘newbie cutter’…

That bastard who had played a big role as a ‘keyboard breaker’ against mid-level gamers.

‘Is that bastard coming out here?’

I also had quite a few memories of making shotgun sounds with my keyboard because of this bastard.

But was it because of that memory?

Curses flowed out naturally.

“Shit.”

Somehow, things had been going smoothly even after meeting Hans.

Was it all because of this?

‘Damn it, I didn’t know it would be a monster this time.’

What you need to be wary of in the labyrinth is not just plunderers.