Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 190

Day 11 of dungeon entry, 7 AM.

After sending the three people out of the rift, we returned to the forest.

And then…

“Hey, how about we eat something before we do anything?”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Only then did we feel the emptiness in our stomachs, and we all gathered to cook and eat. But it’s human nature that when you’re full, sleepiness follows.

“…Let’s just sleep today and do it tomorrow.”

Feeling the fatigue, we set up camp and fell asleep without a word.

It wasn’t just a single night we had stayed up.

We had wasted our energy playing the mafia game in the third chapter and engaged in a large-scale PK [Player Killing].

And then there was the Doppelganger boss fight.

Zzzzzzzzz-!

The moment we closed our eyes, sleep washed over us.

When we opened our eyes again, a whole day had passed.

[07:12]

We went to sleep after 8 AM, but when I checked the clock, the hour hand had moved forward by an hour.

That meant we had slept for almost 24 hours.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“…Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“We just woke up too.”

So, it wasn’t like they were considerate of me.

After taking out my canteen and washing my face briefly, I smelled something delicious nearby.

“If you’re awake, come over here, get a bowl, and sit down. Oh, and wake up Ainar and bring him too. He wakes up easily when you wake him up, right?”

After waking up Ainar, we all ate together, and then we wandered around the forest, gathering what we needed.

“Don’t just follow me, check the ground carefully. One root of this is worth 10,000 stones.”

Medicinal herbs that grow naturally in the Doppelganger Forest.

“Yandel.”

Kwaaang-!

‘Sealed Fragments of Evil’ that drop at a certain probability when breaking the seal stones that are now useless.

“How much is this worth?”

“It’s about 1 million stones each.”

“I see. I’ll buy up to five as they come.”

I took five of the seven pieces we ultimately obtained.

Because you can’t get the effect after that.

「The character has consumed a ‘Sealed Fragment of Evil’.」

「Magic Resistance permanently increased by +1.」

For reference, I had Misha buy and eat the remaining two pieces.

“Huh? Me?”

“You’ve made a lot of money anyway. Don’t be stingy.”

“No, it’s not that I’m being stingy…”

Misha looked at Ainar with a somewhat apologetic expression.

Sheesh, if you’re an explorer, you can be a little more selfish.

Since Ainar will have a lot of magic resistance attached to the essence he’ll eat later, it’s more reasonable for Misha to eat it.

It’s not like she’s not paying for it anyway.

“Haa, but no matter how much I look, I can’t find it.”

“It’s okay for a day, let’s look for it more.”

There were no monsters, but the forest was so vast that it took us a whole day just to find it.

However, we invested another day to search the entire forest once more, and finally found what we were looking for.

“Everyone, cover your ears… no, everyone just stay far away. I’ll pull this out.”

Mandrake, one of the ingredients for elixirs.

Raven, protected by magic, pulled it out of the ground, and with that, everything we could do in the ‘Doppelganger Forest’ was finished.

But…

“I’m really sorry, but could you spare a little more time? I want to look around here more.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s just personal curiosity.”

At Raven’s request, we decided to stay here a little longer.

Surprisingly, no one objected.

“Well, the person who wrote the Rift Compendium? They wouldn’t know everything either, right?”

“We might find something more if we’re lucky.”

The team members’ eyes were filled with a hint of expectation.

Well, I know that there’s almost no chance that there are any hidden pieces I don’t know about and that we can find them now…

‘It’s good that they’re saying this much.’

When we first met at the ‘Crimson Fortress,’ there was no apology. He just used the dwarf and me to help with his research.

“Then, where should we start looking?”

“First, let’s start with that cave we were in at the beginning.”

We thoroughly searched every place, from the Shadow Cave in the first chapter to the Robber’s Hideout, the boss room…

In other words, we searched while smashing anything suspicious.

As expected, there were no hidden rooms or items.

However, in the process, we encountered many questions.

“Why was it a cage?”

“Isn’t it because we had to wait until all the other teams entered?”

“Then it would be more reasonable to just set a time. Like when we enter and exit the dungeon.”

Why does the ‘Doppelganger Forest’ start with us being trapped in a cage?

What is the [Sacrifice’s Handbook] we obtained from the altar, and why did they use the term ‘sacrifice’?

After finishing the third chapter, why did the doppelgangers turn into imperial soldiers?

No, what is the ‘Empire’ in the first place?

“Now that I think about it, that’s a shame too. They could speak, even if it was awkward, right? We could have captured them and found something out…”

We all discussed the topic Raven brought up, but we couldn’t come up with any proper answers.

Therefore, the rift exploration ended here.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I wasted two days for nothing because of me.”

“Don’t apologize. You’re our team’s mage. It was a legitimate request. We were the ones who agreed to the search.”

“Yeah, that’s right. And I thought it was fun, like a real exploration? Right, Ainar?”

“Huh? I was bored?”

“Please, read the room. Huh?”

Ainar made a sulky face when Misha, who he had been following like an older sister, scolded him.

Raven chuckled as he watched.

“Thank you, everyone. But now that I think about it, I don’t think I need to feel sorry. Just selling one mandrake root is enough to make up for several days of hunting, right?”

“Finally, our mage is back to normal.”

“Back to normal? Mr. Urukfrit, what do you mean by that?”

The bear uncle shrugged his shoulders and avoided answering, and Raven just looked suspicious but didn’t dig deeper.

「You have entered the Sky Tower on the 4th floor.」

On the afternoon of the 14th day, we returned to the dungeon through the portal in the boss room and continued our exploration. It took about 6 days to reach the 5th floor.

Then, as originally planned, we pretended to focus on hunting along the ‘Hellfire Gorge’ route while focusing on finding ‘Millaroden’.

Oh, and for reference, once we found the black moss, everything went smoothly. I didn’t even need to tell them to use detection magic first.

Because Raven, who had enjoyed it in the previous exploration, used detection magic every 5 minutes throughout the exploration.

“…It didn’t appear again.”

As a result, we were able to hunt a total of three Millarodens, but they were all duds.

Actually, this is normal.

The probability of a Millaroden’s corpse remaining after a distortion magic success is 20%.

‘I should consider this one a bust.’

With 5 days left until the closure, we didn’t bother looking for Millaroden.

Because even if we went in, we wouldn’t be able to do much.

Well, now that we’ve obtained the ‘Orb of Fire,’ I was thinking of attacking areas we couldn’t go to before.

「You have defeated a Stoneburn. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Fire Undead. EXP +2」

「You have defeated a Red Mud. EXP +3」

「You have defeated a Hell Flame. EXP +5」

Still, the hunting itself wasn’t bad.

It was the only advantage of the failed Noah Arc subjugation.

With more than 90% of the clans occupying the field gone, monsters were swarming all over the 5th floor.

Of course, this situation won’t last long.

In a few months, clans that have recovered from the damage will appear, and there will be quite a few clans that didn’t enter in the first place because the situation was unstable.

And then, more time passed.

「The character is moving to Lapdonia.」

The day of return dawned.

***

The warm sunlight enveloped my skin.

As always, I stood there blankly, enjoying the comfort for a moment. Looking around, I saw explorers taking similar actions in various places.

‘Well then, shall we go?’

I headed to the checkpoint that matched our rank, and I saw my companions who were already there.

Except for one person.

“It seems Abman isn’t here yet.”

“Ah, he’s coming over there. With someone else.”

It’s a strange sight every time.

No matter how wide the plaza is, how can you not find your way here?

“Haha, there’s not much of a line this time?”

“I think it’s not because you came early, but because there are fewer explorers who entered the dungeon this time.”

“Ahem, who said anything?”

Anyway, we all stood in line and waited, and soon it was our turn.

The magic stone exchange income was much lower than before.

“That’s 7.08 million stones.”

If we divide it by five, that’s 1.41 million stones per person.

An income that’s almost four times less than last time.

But it couldn’t be helped.

We couldn’t enter the other world, and the Doppelganger Forest, where we invested time, was difficult to obtain magic stones due to its nature.

“Is that the end?”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work again.”

Since we didn’t earn an absurd amount of income, the staff didn’t look at us suspiciously.

However, just as we were about to leave after the exchange.

“Ah, please wait a moment!”

Huh?

“…Is there a problem?”

The staff member urgently stopped us.

And then, he spoke like a machine gun.

“Team Apple Narak, and the team leader, Bjorn Yandel. Is that correct?”

“Yes, why?”

“…You’ll have to wait here for a moment. The same applies to your team members.”

It wasn’t like the time when the guards came with menacing faces and bound me, but it was enough to feel that something was wrong.

Was it the same for our team’s mage?

“Excuse me, shouldn’t you explain what’s going on first?”

Raven, instead of me who was about to have PTSD, spoke aggressively.

And then.

“Guard, are these the ones?”

“Ah, yes, yes! That’s them!”

A knight entered the checkpoint.

Raven’s face hardened coldly.

“…Why is Mozlan here?”

Mozlan.

An enforcement agency composed only of knights from noble families, and a group with many notorious reputations.

“Bjorn.”

Misha, who had seen Dwarki being arrested in front of her eyes before, was also trembling.

However, the knight was surprisingly kind.

At least, compared to the arrogant bastards I had seen back then.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Elmeras from the Mozlan Enforcement Department.”

Although he speaks comfortably like a superior, that’s just a characteristic of nobles, so it’s natural.

This is considered a gentle approach.

Above all, he’s even offering a handshake.

That means he’s not hostile to us, at least.

“…I’m Bjorn, son of Yandel.”

I let out a sigh of relief inside and returned the handshake.

However, not all the anxiety had disappeared.

Why did the checkpoint guard stop us, and what business does Mozlan have with us?

“Hello.”

“Hmm, and the young lady?”

“I’m Arua Raven from the Artemion School. I’d like to know why Sir Elmeras is looking for us.”

The knight smiled and answered Raven’s question.

“There’s only one reason why a checkpoint guard would stop an explorer. There’s a wanted order out for you.”

It was like a bolt out of the blue.

“Huh? What are you…”

“Don’t be too surprised. Looking at the disciplinary details, it doesn’t seem too severe.”

“No, more than that, what’s the reason?”

The knight grinned and answered.

“Manifestation of abilities within the city. And the crime of entering the dungeon without permission, disobeying the instructions of the managers.”

Ah, that…

Raven and all of us shut our mouths.

We had forgotten all about it because so much had happened in the dungeon.

We thought it would end with just a fine.

“I don’t understand. That would normally be dealt with by a fine?”

I asked, a little argumentative without realizing it.

No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for a wanted order to be issued, and even less reason for Mozlan to get involved.

So, what’s going on?

“Isn’t the situation what it is? It can be interpreted as disobeying the royal family’s orders, not just a minor offense.”

Right, that’s it.

I roughly understood the situation.

It seemed like Raven did too.

“…You’re trying to rein in the explorers.”

“What’s the point of hiding anything in front of a mage? That’s right. It’s only been a day, but your story is already spreading among the explorers.”

“Our story?”

“They’re saying that they should have just jumped in without following the instructions, and that waiting was stupid. The higher-ups have decided that if it ends with a simple fine, similar things will happen again.”

In short, setting an example.

To punish one person to instill a sense of caution in the hearts of a hundred people.

“If the control of explorers becomes lax now, something bigger could happen, so please understand.”

I think I know why they chose me.

I’ve gained some fame, and the unauthorized entry has become a hot topic, so they must have judged that the story would spread easily.

“So, what’s going to happen to us?”

Getting straight to the point, the knight corrected one thing before answering.

“To be precise, not you, but you.”

Only I will be punished.

The rest will end with a fine, they say.

They seem to think that they were caught up in the situation, and since it’s just a show of punishment anyway, there’s no need for everyone to suffer?

“Oh, reasonable! Yes, that’s a reasonable thing to say!!”

It broke my heart to see Ainar rejoicing.

Raven wasn’t stepping up, saying it was unfair.

The bear uncle was relieved that he wouldn’t get hit by his wife.

I guess I’m the only one who can speak for myself?

That kind of misanthropic thought was swirling in my head.

“Excuse me, knight? If it’s just a show, can I take that punishment instead?”

Misha was the only one who stepped up for me.

“What are you talking about?”

I chuckled and pushed Misha away.

I appreciate her concern, but there’s no way that would work.

If we’re going to be picky, I was the main culprit in this incident.

Besides, from what he’s saying, the punishment doesn’t seem that severe…

“It’s okay. I’ll take responsibility. So, tell me, what’s going to happen to me now?”

The knight casually spat out as if it was nothing.

“Just live in Bipron for 20 days.”

It was a temporary exile.