Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 295

Noark, a city overflowing with affection.

Or, if you look at it another way, a city where all you see is ‘affection’.

The prices are so chaotic, it’s hard to make sense of them.

The administrative services are outdated and behind the times.

In fact, this morning, when I went to the labyrinth management office to get my binding magic [a magical contract that binds a person to a specific location or task], the administrative mage in the line said he was tired and took a one-hour break.

Well, after that, I got angry, cut to the front of the line, and got my turn, though.

“How long are you going to stand there?”

“Ah, I just feel a bit strange. This place really hasn’t changed in 20 years.”

“Why are you stating the obvious like it’s something new?”

Geez, no romance at all.

Even if it’s the same, it’s still the labyrinth from 20 years ago, right?

“Follow me closely.”

After looking around and getting lost in thought for a moment, I followed Amelia, who had started running ahead.

It was a bit strange.

From what I can see, it seems like she’s finding her way correctly, but…

How is she finding her way without even looking at a compass?

‘Ah, could it be…’

“Are you perhaps a guide?”

At my question, Amelia turned back for a moment, then started running again without a word.

However, that was the answer.

‘Crazy…’

Aura user, doppelganger essence, and even a guide trait? What a character.

It makes me think that the world is unfair.

I’m getting a little greedy too.

‘If I had someone like her on my team, it would be really reliable…’

If I get a little closer to her here and then go back and try to recruit her, would she accept? There are still quite a few spots left to fill the 10-person clan limit…

Ah, by the way, I hope our clan is doing well without me.

“……”

I was running after Amelia while thinking about this and that.

“Oh, are you two traveling together?”

A group of explorers we encountered along the way spoke to us.

They weren’t low-level explorers, but a group that was heading towards the second floor like us to shorten travel time.

‘This is kind of nerve-wracking.’

Currently, my affiliation is Noark, not Lafdonia.

Because of that, I’m worried that they might think we’re suspicious.

Well, it turned out to be a useless worry.

“Don’t pay them any attention.”

“Hehe, how prickly. Good luck!”

When Amelia spoke coldly, the group laughed cheerfully and disappeared along their way.

“Why are you so frozen?”

“It’s nothing… I just thought that I wouldn’t be able to live while committing crimes.”

“………What?”

Amelia asked back as if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, and then she laughed heartily.

“Ha, hahahaha!”

Frankly, it was very strange from my perspective.

It wasn’t like I said something that funny, and it was the first time I’d seen her laugh so loudly.

“……Hehe, do you like this kind of thing?”

I asked, feeling a strange sense of pride, and Amelia stopped laughing and became serious.

“Don’t misunderstand. I just laughed because it was absurd.”

Uh-huh, if that’s the case, you should lower the corners of your mouth when you say that.

Maybe it’s because she’s from Noark, but her sense of humor is really weird.

Was it that funny that I was trembling with anxiety?

I clicked my tongue in dissatisfaction, and Amelia opened her mouth.

“Those people we just saw are from Noark.”

“What?”

That person who just seemed like a cheerful uncle is from Noark?

“How do you know that? I heard that it’s up to us whether or not to wear faction symbols.”

Amelia explained briefly to my question.

The team didn’t have a mage or a priest.

The colors and designs of the equipment they were wearing weren’t uniform, as if they were equipment they had stolen from someone.

And most of all…

“Only people from here would be walking around with a kid whose face is covered by a robe.”

“A kid? Ah, are you talking about that small explorer behind them?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, I just thought she was a short woman or a dwarf… How are you so sure?”

Amelia answered in a slightly stiff voice to my question.

“I just know when I see it.”

“What?”

“Never mind, let’s move quickly.”

Amelia cut off the conversation as if it wasn’t a topic she wanted to talk about at length.

That’s one of this woman’s bad habits.

Ha, she really makes people curious.

“Amelia.”

“……”

“But if what you said is true, why are people from Noark bringing kids into the labyrinth?”

Instead of asking how she could recognize a kid at a glance, I asked something a little different.

Amelia answered, as if this was okay.

“First of all, you can use children for cheap labor.”

“Hmm, but I don’t think that’s a reason to bring them to the labyrinth.”

“They’re surprisingly useful. You can make them do annoying things like cooking or keeping watch, and they’re also helpful for looting.”

“Helpful for looting…?”

“They’re used as bait. If a child approaches and asks for help, even the most wary explorers will at least try to listen.”

Well, is that so?

“That’s strange. If a kid approached me, I think I’d be more wary. In Lafdonia, they prevent minors from entering the labyrinth, right?”

“That’s because you’re from 20 years in the future. The law is the same then and now, but at this time, the public officials were tacitly allowing it.”

Wow, when she says things like that, it’s like an old person saying, ‘Back in my day…’

“But Amelia, how old are you?”

“……Move your feet instead of talking nonsense.”

Anyway, after that, we chatted and headed to the second floor, and we arrived at our destination quickly as we had been running.

As expected, the portal was already open by someone.

Tsk, that’s a shame. It seems like we came pretty early too.

“Let’s go up.”

As soon as we entered the portal, a gloomy and sticky air greeted us.

‘This place always makes me feel bad.’

The land of the dead.

A place where various undead monsters such as ghouls and death fiends appear, and also the very place where Amelia and I first met.

‘Hah, I was so scared back then that I thought I was going to pee my pants.’

It makes you think that you never know what will happen in life.

How could I have known that we would come back here together, this time as comrades?

“Amelia, I have a question.”

“Don’t.”

“You said in Bifron that the people you killed here deserved to die. Was it related to the past you’re trying to fix?”

“You… You sure have a lot of questions for me.”

“Of course.”

When I nodded without being fazed by her sarcastic remark, Amelia clicked her tongue and answered.

“Yes, it’s related.”

Well, I knew it.

I want to hear the rest of the story, but I stopped because she looked like she was going to get angry.

I’ll have to ask her again later.

“If you’re done asking questions, let’s move.”

After entering the second floor, we moved without stopping, slaughtering monsters.

But is it because there are only two of us?

It reminded me of the time when I was an explorer with Ainar as a duo, and I felt a new sense of emotion.

Back then, every battle was a struggle.

Time sure flies.

Thwack-!

Before I knew it, I was able to kill death fiends with my bare fists.

“Behel—laaaaaaaa!!!”

“……”

“Ah, sorry. It’s a habit.”

“Never mind, sit down. Let’s rest here for a while.”

After moving all day, it was night, so we settled down and sat down. And we agreed to eat a simple meal and sleep for three hours before moving again.

For reference, there was no night watch.

She said that she could summon clones with [Self-Replication]?

“……That’s possible?”

In the game, the doppelganger essence didn’t have an ‘auto-hunt’ mode attached to it.

Then, how did this happen?

The answer was actually simple.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t slept properly even once since I became an adult.”

She’s always half-awake even when she’s sleeping, so she can control the clones to some extent.

Well, that’s what this woman says.

I don’t know if this is biologically possible.

“Tsk, no wonder your eyes always look so hollow.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight?”

“With that personality, I was just telling you to get some sleep.”

“……”

Anyway, she said that the movements are slower than usual during auto-hunt mode, but that should be enough in the lower levels.

“Then rest.”

So, I just lay down without any objections.

I didn’t fall asleep right away.

It wasn’t because I was worried about not having a night watch.

After all, I’m a tank, so even if I get hit while sleeping, I won’t die right away from anything ordinary.

‘I wonder if the others are doing well…’

Especially when I’m camping in the labyrinth, I keep thinking about my companions.

That’s how the first night passed.

***

Day 2 of entering the labyrinth.

We arrived at the third floor exactly as scheduled.

So now it’s time to do the mission we came to the labyrinth for.

Ah, there’s only one mission.

To return with enough achievements to catch the eye of the lord of Noark.

[From the first day we came down to Noark, we stirred up the city and proved our skills. But even so, the lord didn’t approach us.]

Amelia said this about the reason.

[He’s definitely being careful. There have been several times when the royal family sent agents underground.]

So, in other words, what we need to prove in the labyrinth this time is not our skills, but our ‘inclination’.

Whether we are suitable people for Noark.

[The easiest way to prove ourselves is through looting. If we gather loot and return from this labyrinth trip, the suspicion will decrease.]

Amelia suggested looting as the first method, and I agreed.

Ah, of course, I set one condition.

We would loot, but the targets would be looters, not ordinary explorers.

[Is that a condition?]

[Yes. I’ve stopped valuing human lives too much, but I still don’t kill just anyone for my own gain.]

[……But how are you going to distinguish the looters?]

Amelia showed flexibility, saying that she would do it if there was a way, and I said that it was difficult to explain and that I would show her later.

And so, time passed until now.

“So, what are we going to do now?”

We arrived at the third floor, which was our target floor.

That’s because there’s no way for looters to appear on the fourth floor, and it’s difficult for two people to operate on the fifth floor.

The third floor is the perfect place to farm looters.

“If you really have a way to distinguish looters, then do it quickly.”

Geez, so impatient.

I then asked Amelia for a few things.

“Amelia, first use your stealth ability.”

“……Stealth?”

“Why are you pretending you don’t know? You used it in front of me back then. The one where you suddenly disappeared into the darkness.”

“……”

Amelia disappeared into the darkness as I said, without any further questions.

Huh, I really can’t feel any presence at all.

When I go back later, I should get a detection-type numbers item in advance.

“Okay, so what’s next?”

It was very awkward to hear a voice from the air, but I answered calmly without showing it.

“It’s nothing. Now just follow me in that state. I’ll find the looters.”

“Alright.”

That’s one of the good things about Amelia as a comrade.

No matter what I do, she refrains from asking trivial questions and just watches.

Well, that’s what I thought…

“Barbarian.”

Amelia suddenly asked me.

“Why… Why are you suddenly taking off your equipment?”

Ah, right, that’s what she was curious about and couldn’t hold back.

Well, it would be difficult for ordinary people to understand.

I was hoping that you would understand, though.

“It’s hard to explain, so just watch.”

After that, I put all the remaining equipment except for a few pieces into my subspace ring [a magical item that allows storage of items in a separate dimension]. And I took out the beginner set that I had been eyeing and put it on.

“……”

Looking at the silence around me, it seemed that Amelia still had no idea what I was trying to do.

However, as the saying goes, seeing is believing.

It’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times.

“Then I’ll start soon, so follow me closely.”

I started running forward without any plan.

And I shouted with all my might.

“I, I got lost and separated from my companion! Ah, I can’t see! Is anyone there! Help me!!!”

The secret technique of the barbarian who evolved to protect his heart.

It’s called, ‘Those who come are not good.’

“Help me!!! I have a lot of money!!”

Those who come are not good.