Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 323

Running through the sewers. Splish, splash. Splattering the murky water that reached my shins everywhere, my gaze fixed straight ahead. There were two people, a man and a woman. The man had the woman pinned against the wall, a sword at her throat. ‘Seriously, if you were going to leave me behind, you should have been doing well.’ I put strength into the hand holding the hammer and shouted as loud as I could to echo through the passage. “Behel—laaaaaaaa!” The idea was to draw attention and get the sword away from Amelia, no matter what. But…. Shwick-! The moment his sword was pulled out, a fountain of blood erupted from Amelia’s neck. Hah, I thought he was just holding it against her skin. He had already stabbed her. And even while pulling the sword out, it looked like he stabbed her deeper once more…. “…Barbarian?” The guy turned his upper body towards me and muttered. I was wearing my usual iron helmet, but he must have guessed my race from the earlier shout and my large build. I used my dynamic visual acuity to quickly assess Amelia’s condition. “Cough, cough… ugh…!” Amelia, with a hole in her neck, was using one hand to try and stop the bleeding, leaning against the wall to support herself. It was clear that she was in bad shape. But…. ‘She’s not dead, so that’s good.’ Just worrying won’t save anyone. The most important thing in saving someone is accurate judgment and execution. With that in mind, I pushed off the ground once more and dashed forward. Splash-! The distance closed quickly. When we were within range of each other’s weapons, the guy unleashed a vivid aura and swung it at me. Clang-! I blocked the aura with my hammer. At that moment, a question formed in the guy’s eyes. He must have thought that since he used aura, he would be able to cut through my weapon…. “A Numbers item, I see.” Like a veteran who had been through thick and thin, he figured out the answer in an instant. ‘He’s quick on the uptake.’ Still, I decided to focus on the positive. Thanks to his muttering, I had a moment to create an opening. Whoosh. While locking weapons and struggling for power, I reached out with one hand and pulled Amelia towards me. She didn’t seem to have the strength to stand, so her body was pulled into my arms without resistance. So, I’ve got everything I need now, right? “…So, you were that woman’s companion.” “Can’t you see?” “Then… you are my enemy as well.” What a given thing to say— “……!” At that moment, the brief struggle ended. Lühenphraha put strength into his sword and pushed me back. It was very unfamiliar since I hadn’t been pushed back in terms of strength recently, but there was no need to be discouraged. ‘His strength is slightly superior to mine.’ I took a back step as my body was pushed back. Of course, the guy followed, dashing forward. His speed was much faster than mine. ‘His agility is much superior to mine.’ For now, I’m losing in the two core stats of close combat. Even the passive and active skills that I had worked hard to synergize were sealed, and on top of that, the guy was freely unleashing aura, which was the opposite of my skills. ‘Does he even have a conscience?’ Regardless of my grumbling, I quickly made a decision. A truly overwhelming difference in specs. In a normal situation, even escaping would be difficult. But…. ‘I don’t need to use that right now.’ There wasn’t a big problem. Because, to put it another way. Kwaaaang-! I just needed to create an unusual situation. Yes, for example. Shwaaaaaaaaaa-! Underwater combat, or something like that. *** In the dark sewer where torches flickered. About a dozen men and women were divided into two groups, glaring at each other like enemies. “What was that you said? Say it again, Dumbo.” “It’s not Dumbo, it’s Derbon.” “Whatever. You were grinning like an idiot in front of that barbarian, so you must have liked him, right?” “What…? You little…!” Conversations filled with clear hostility. Laura Leinweils, caught in the middle, held her trembling younger sister’s hand tightly and thought. She shouldn’t have come along. ‘Why are these people still like this even in this situation….’ Laura couldn’t understand at all. It was just a minor argument at first. The explorer, a former member of the Melta Merchant Guild, who knew the secret passage through the sewers, couldn’t find the way properly. So, someone made a sarcastic remark about it. That was the seed of discord. [Hey, you’re being so grumpy. You’re just tagging along for free without doing anything.] The man who was acting as the leader of the group, Derbon, defended the guide. No, he went beyond defending and threatened them. [And come to think of it, I’m a bit upset? If you’re going to say that, you should pay up. Oh, if you don’t have money, you can give me your equipment.] [What?] [Or just go back?] With those few words, the group was instantly divided into two, and it had come to this. “This is my last offer. Give us your equipment and come with us, or go back.” “Ha, did you think we’d just give up because you said that?” “Just because you’re friendly with the guide, you’re acting all high and mighty. Anyway, we only need that guide to find the way out of the city, right?” “…So, you’re determined to see blood.” “Hey… everyone, please calm down….” I opened my mouth, thinking I had to stop them somehow, but Derbon cut me off. “Laura, you stay quiet. It’s better this way.” “Huh? B-Better….” “We’re going to need a lot of money in the future, right? To get back on our feet on the surface.” The man who was in opposition to Derbon nodded as if he agreed with this point. “Yeah, if about half of us die here, the rest of us can live a little more like humans.” At those words, Laura realized. There was no seed of discord from the beginning. Unlike what she had heard about the surface, this way of thinking was natural for those from Noark. Finding the wrong way was just a trigger. No, maybe they had deliberately said those things, aiming for this situation. ‘That’s why I tried so hard to bring them out….’ Noark, a city where beasts lived. Laura shuddered, feeling a renewed sense of disillusionment with this city. And she reached for her sword. If a fight was inevitable, then Derbon’s faction had to win. That was the only way to get out of here and live like humans. Even if she didn’t know what would happen to herself. At least for her sister. “Amelia, get ready.” “Okay, sis.” At Laura’s whisper, her younger sister also put her hand on her weapon. One way or another, the sisters were also beasts who had survived well in this dog-eat-dog world. “Okay, then let’s start—” The moment the other side took a step forward, gripping their weapons, the fight began with arrows being shot from Derbon’s group. And how much time had passed? Shwaaaaaaaaaa-! A fierce torrent of water gushed out from the dark passage, engulfing them. *** Clang, clang, clang, clang! While running away from Lühenphraha, who was charging with a menacing aura, I struck the ceiling exactly four times at regular intervals. Crack, crack, crack, Kwoong-! The ceiling, which had cracked like a spider web or a broken mirror, collapsed. And…. Shwaaaaaaaaaa-! A torrent of water began to pour out as if a dam had broken. ‘So there really was water flowing above.’ Actually, I wasn’t sure until I swung the hammer. I had only judged that it was highly likely based on the ‘observed future’ through Amelia’s eyes when she was a child. [At that time, a fight broke out within the group, and suddenly a torrent of water poured out of the passage. We were swept away, and both my sister and I lost consciousness. And when we woke up—] I cleared my mind and held Amelia even tighter. A torrent that would have swept away an ordinary person. Both the guy and I were far from ordinary. Clang-! Instinctively, I used my hammer to shield myself, and a tremendous impact was transmitted through the shaft. Even though the water level was rising and the water was already up to my head, the guy had swung his sword. ‘What a persistent bastard.’ I was pushed back about six steps in a situation where it was difficult to maintain my balance due to the torrent, and I closed my eyes. My vision was meaningless now anyway. Whether there was a light source or not, I couldn’t see an inch ahead in this muddy water. ‘Oh, so this is a real mud fight?’ Such a random thought popped up, but I quickly brushed it aside. There was something else I needed to focus on right now. ‘One, two, three, four, five, six….’ I quickly retraced my steps, using the elbow of the arm holding the hammer to touch the wall. This would leave my back defenseless, but I wasn’t too worried. It was likely that the guy had just swung his sword based on his senses, attacking the spot where I was standing last— Swoosh-! At that moment, I felt a stinging sensation in my thigh. It seemed like he was blindly swinging his sword and following me…. ‘Ugh, that crazy bastard.’ But it was okay now. I had arrived at my destination. ‘Fifty-one, fifty-two… phew, thankfully I found it.’ I had been walking with my eyes closed, touching the wall, and as soon as I reached the fork I had seen earlier, I went inside and hid myself. This was a skill I had learned from Lotmüller. While making maps, I had become able to measure accurate strides, and my ability to memorize a path I had passed once had also increased a lot. And there was no way that guy would have such an ability. ‘Okay, it looks like he passed by without even knowing there was a fork.’ However, I didn’t settle down and continued to move along the path. ‘Giantification.’ Soon, I confirmed that the skill had started working normally as I moved away from the guy, and I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. ‘Her pulse is still going.’ Amelia was still alive. And now, the passive skill that showed cockroach-like survivability, [Source of Immortality], would have activated as well. I didn’t need to worry about the neck injury. It was a fatal wound, but the extent of the injury itself wasn’t that severe. It would only take a minute for that area to regenerate. ‘The problem is oxygen….’ In my case, thanks to the increased lung capacity from the Stormgush Essence, I didn’t have much trouble breathing. However, Amelia was in a different situation. She was already having trouble getting oxygen due to the neck injury. I didn’t know how long she could hold out. If she could just hold on for about 5 more minutes. That was when the water had burst out and then started to recede as the water source ran out. ‘…Ah, whatever.’ After a brief moment of thought, I picked up Amelia. And after groping around and barely finding her nose, I covered it with one hand and kissed her. Underwater CPR that I had only seen in movies. I didn’t know if it would actually work, but I judged that it was better than doing nothing. There was nothing to lose, after all. “……!” But was she conscious even in this situation? The moment our lips touched, Amelia’s limp body twitched. It looked like she was pushing me away with her strength. Therefore…. Squeeze- I pulled her waist even closer, signaling her to stay still. Then her resistance weakened. Was this permission? I didn’t know, but I moved my lips, which had just been touching, and pressed them together as tightly as possible to prevent water from flowing in. And…. Whoosh-! I blew air into her lungs with all my might. *** About 5 minutes after repeatedly performing underwater CPR, the water level began to drop rapidly. When the water that had been pouring from above ran out, the water spread evenly throughout the wide sewer. Surprisingly, Amelia was still conscious at this point. “L-Let, let go….” Seriously, it was just first aid, why are you so shocked? When I let go of her waist, Amelia plunged into the water. Ah, she’s short. The water was still up to my shoulders, so her feet wouldn’t have touched the bottom. “Puhah…!” The moment I reached out to grab her waist again, Amelia’s head floated to the surface on its own. Oh, so she knew how to swim. “I-I’m just saying… it was… a useless thing to do.” “Huh?” “I’ve been… good at holding my breath… since I was a kid….” “What are you saying?” She was panting and speaking like a crawling ant, so I couldn’t understand at all. But didn’t she want to explain again? Or was there a more important point than that? I didn’t know, but Amelia changed the subject. “Never mind… more importantly, why are you here?” Her breathing was more stable than before, and her tone had returned to normal. Well, I didn’t need to worry about her body anymore. “Why am I here? What do you mean?” When I asked back as if I didn’t understand, Amelia frowned. “I told you to go back. Did you not see the note?” “Ah, I saw that.” “But… why didn’t you… go back…?” Tsk, she’s really nagging. It wasn’t like I could just go back just because she wanted me to, after I had figured everything out. I couldn’t help but speak bluntly as I remembered all the trouble I had gone through because of her impulsive actions. “Because I have things left to do.” “Things to do…?” “I can’t go back before that.” “What? Why are you going so far….” What is she talking about? It’s not that I’m going so far, it’s that I can only go back after doing that. It was at that moment that I was about to say this. “Ha, you bastard.” Suddenly, [Giantification] was deactivated. In other words, the guy had entered within a 30m radius. He must have gone straight ahead and then realized he had lost me somewhere, so he came back the way he came…. It didn’t seem like he was going to let us go easily. Therefore, I made a decision. “Hey, you go first.” “……What?” “Go save your sister. I’ll deal with that guy somehow.” I would send Amelia to her sister and then block the guy. Amelia frowned at that simple plan. “That’s suicide. That guy is not an opponent you can—” “Then what are you going to do? What about your sister? Are you going to give up?” “……If nothing changes no matter what I do, then I’d rather—” “Stop.” I cut off Amelia’s words. I didn’t know how her will had become so weak…. “Trust me, Amelia. I’ve already thought about that problem to some extent, so go and save your sisters first. Got it?” “But—” “Tsk.” But what but. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction, which seemed like she was seeing me for the first time. It wasn’t so bad to be worried about…. “In the first place, why do you think I’m going to lose?” The 5th Floor Ruler’s Essence, [Unspoken Command]. It was definitely a good essence. The rarity was unbelievable. In the history of Lapdonia, there were less than ten people who had obtained it, and as far as it was known, he was the only one who had obtained it in the current era? It was natural that people feared that power. Since there was no information, it would have just looked like a free cheat skill. It was a strange thing to me. ‘He’s not that hard to catch.’ I had spent all of my remaining free time in my 20s on [Dungeon & Stone]. Of course, I had also hunted the Silent Ruler. So, the number of times was probably…. “300 times.” Yeah, it was probably around that many times. But did she not understand what I meant? “300 times…?” Amelia asked as if she didn’t know what that meant. And I answered. “I’ve eaten that essence more than 300 times.” There is no skill in this world without a weakness.