Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 336

A chill crept up my back.

I opened my eyes, feeling it, and found myself surrounded by darkness.

And then…

Beep-!

A sound like a beep came from somewhere.

What was that? It didn’t sound like I was mistaken…

Swoosh.

I sat up. The surroundings were very dark, but not so much that I couldn’t make out what was in front of me. It was thanks to a gem emitting a white light that had fallen where I had been lying.

‘A fragment of a record stone?’

That thought suddenly occurred to me, and I quickly picked it up.

But…

‘What, it’s just a light gem.’

Upon closer inspection, it was just a common magic tool, unfortunately.

A magic tool that only emitted light, a substitute for a torch that any explorer would have seen or used at least once.

Why was this lying here?

While pondering the question, I held the light gem high so that its light could spread far.

Whoosh-!

As the radius of the light expanded, the surrounding area became clearer.

「Character location confirmed.」

A stone building that felt utterly devoid of personality.

A road not paved with stone, unlike in Lapdonia.

Every structure and shape matched the place I had been just a moment ago. The only difference was that a lot of time seemed to have passed.

Well, seeing this, it seems I’ve returned properly…

‘Then why isn’t Amelia here?’

Unlike when I first traveled to the past, Amelia wasn’t here.

Could she have woken up first?

Come to think of it, I woke up early on Parune Island too.

Maybe Amelia found this magic tool somewhere and left it on.

If so, there’s a high chance she’s nearby.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat a few times to loosen it, then shouted with all my might.

“Amelia—!”

The shout of a barbarian with a steel vocal cord was enough to echo throughout the city.

However, even after waiting for several minutes, there was no reply.

“….”

The silence felt ominous.

Could it be that I was the only one who returned to the original timeline with the fragment of the record stone?

That possibility suddenly crossed my mind.

But…

‘Let’s wait for now.’

I decided not to move rashly for the time being and wait where I had woken up.

However, it was a bit boring to just wait idly…

‘Let’s check my condition.’

I began a self-assessment.

「Information match rate 83%.」

「Character information needs to be updated.」

「Updating and synchronizing…」

As expected, the essences I had consumed in the past were still there.

However, I calmly continued my assessment.

I had consumed the essences, but I had only stayed at the inn, played in the city for a day, and then immediately left Noark.

I hadn’t had time to properly organize them.

「The [Corpse Golem Essence] that had permeated the character’s soul has been removed.」

「Pain resistance decreases by -70.」

「Strength decreases by -15.」

「Bone strength…」

As my pain resistance decreased, my dulled senses partially recovered.

Thanks to the +30 from Bayon’s essence, my resistance hadn’t completely disappeared, but the gap of 70 stats was still noticeable.

Of course, it wasn’t a big problem.

Except for pain resistance, my stats had generally increased significantly.

To summarize:

「The [Vol-Herchan Essence] permeates the character’s soul.」

「Physical resistance increases by +70.」

「Natural regeneration increases by +40.」

「Poison resistance increases by +120…」

Physical resistance, natural regeneration.

Two essential stats for a tank, and poison resistance.

And although strength wasn’t added, a higher-level stat that could replace it was added.

「Muscle mass increases by +15.」

Muscle mass.

A super-rare stat that can only be obtained from a few monsters of rank 3 or higher.

The effect is quite simple.

For every 1 point of muscle mass, the total strength value increases by 1%.

‘With my current stats, 15% would be a little over 60 in strength…’

With the bonus stats of endurance +30, vision +20, and bone strength +80, the total stats increased tremendously with just one essence.

On the other hand, there were also stats that decreased.

「Agility decreases by -30.」

「Flexibility decreases by -50.」

「Synchronization complete.」

「Resuming character log transmission.」

Surprisingly, the decrease in flexibility was more noticeable than the decrease in agility.

It felt like my body had become much stiffer than before.

Just the decrease in flexibility alone restricted some movements that were previously possible.

The decrease in agility also slowed down my movements.

‘Well, compared to what I gained, this level of penalty is nothing.’

Stats aside, the biggest advantage of Vol-Herchan’s essence was in its skills.

(P) Evolved Outer Skin — Gain a constant bonus state proportional to physical resistance.

First, the passive skill [Evolved Outer Skin].

This skill grants additional effects when physical resistance is at ’70’, ‘350’, ‘750’, and ‘1,500’.

For reference, the first stage effect is as follows:

「Character’s physical resistance is 70 or higher.」

「Gains 50% resistance to bladed weapons.」

That thing I usually called ‘sword imperviousness’.

This is also why it’s an essence for dealing with aura.

Since aura is always classified as a bladed weapon.

With this one skill, the insane 90% physical penetration is reduced to 45%.

‘Anyway, the second stage will only activate when ‘Gigantification’ is turned on…’

The third stage seems like it could be unlocked in a fully buffed state with just one more essence, and it’s better for my mental health not to even dream about the fourth stage at my current level.

Most multiplier buffs have limits.

For example, the Orc Shaman’s [Frenzy], which increases physical resistance by 3 times for 10 seconds, doesn’t increase beyond 300 physical resistance.

‘But… is she really not nearby?’

After spending some time checking my character’s growth, I, who had been waiting for Amelia, started to get impatient.

I didn’t know the exact time, but it felt like almost two hours had passed. Yet, I still hadn’t heard a single sound from the surroundings.

“Tsk, this shouldn’t be happening…”

It didn’t make sense in many ways.

When I opened my eyes, this light gem was already emitting light.

Even if it wasn’t Amelia, there should have been someone nearby who activated this magic tool.

‘…Let’s look around.’

At this point, it was foolish to keep waiting, fearing we might miss each other, so I used the light gem to illuminate my surroundings and slowly began to walk.

Come to think of it, there was another question.

‘It’s also strange that this city is so empty in the first place.’

In the past, Noark had fled outside the city walls to escape the royal family’s invasion. And the royal army had occupied this city.

But what about now?

It was so quiet that you couldn’t even hear an ant crawling.

“Could it be…”

A bad feeling came to mind, but it wasn’t time to make a conclusion yet.

Therefore, I decided to focus on what I could do right now.

For example, finding something to cover my body.

Thud-!

I entered the first lodging I saw, dusted off a tablecloth, and wrapped it around my waist.

I figured there wouldn’t be any clothes that fit me anyway.

‘Well, I look a bit more civilized now.’

This made me a little more human-like, but human desires are endless.

‘…Is there anything to eat?’

With ‘clothing’ solved among the basic necessities, hunger struck, and I went through each room, searching drawers and cupboards.

Since these lodgings were mainly used by explorers, I was soon able to find some preserved food to satisfy my hunger.

‘This isn’t some apocalypse world or anything.’

It felt strange to be finding and eating food in a building that was no different from an abandoned house.

“Then… shall I look around again?”

Having filled my stomach to some extent, I left the building and wandered around the city, which was eerily silent.

And how long had it been?

A military tent came into view in the empty dimensional plaza.

‘The royal family…?’

A military tent with the royal family’s emblem prominently displayed.

It seemed to have been set up by the army that had occupied Noark…

Swoosh.

Since I didn’t sense anyone nearby, I carefully pushed aside the cloth and went inside.

But had they taken everything they could when they retreated?

The inside of the tent was filled with nothing but dust, except for a large desk.

And…

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

That was the biggest problem for me.

I had already discarded the possibility that time had stopped here after I went to the past, as soon as I saw that this city had turned into a ghost town.

“But I never thought it wouldn’t be a 1:1 ratio either.”

I ran my finger across the dusty desk.

Almost 2cm of dust came off.

Considering the environment here, it wasn’t an amount that could accumulate in just six months.

“…What time is it now?”

It was the moment when a bad premonition materialized and goosebumps ran down my spine.

“Finally…”

A familiar voice came from right behind me.

Reacting instinctively, I turned around, and there was the face I had been longing to see.

“Amelia…!”

Amelia Rainwealze.

An SSR-level companion I had managed to recruit after going back 20 years.

Yes, thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who had returned.

It seems she really did wake up first and go somewhere.

“Where the hell have you been? I thought you had disappeared…”

I was about to say something out of joy when I suddenly froze.

I couldn’t help it.

“What…? What’s with that equipment?”

Amelia was clearly different from me, who had just woken up in my bare body. She was fully equipped with gear that looked custom-made.

‘Is it possible to farm this kind of equipment just by waking up a little earlier?’

As I felt a sense of incongruity, she said.

“…I’ll explain on the way, so follow me for now!”

Amelia roughly grabbed my wrist.

***

Imagine this.

If a car suddenly appeared, drifting, and the door opened, and someone shouted for you to get in.

What would you do?

My answer was ‘YES’.

‘There must be a reason.’

Even if it were a stranger, I would hesitate, but if it were a companion.

Of course, it was wiser to follow their lead.

That’s why…

“Huff, huff…!”

It was a bit sudden, but I was running through the dark streets.

And I was running at full speed, using all my strength to keep up with Amelia’s pace.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t curious.

But I could ask while running.

“Amelia…! What the hell is going on? Even if it’s short, give me some kind of explanation!”

Amelia gave a very short answer to my question.

“There’s a pursuer.”

“A pursuer?”

“One of the Seven Powers, the Blood Spirit Marquis.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. This is my fault. I didn’t think he would have grown enough to deceive my senses and follow me…”

My head was in a mess.

I didn’t understand a single thing.

No, what the hell are the Seven Powers?

And who is the Blood Spirit Marquis?

There were many questions, but time was limited.

So, I prioritized the most important thing.

“Are they so strong that we can’t beat them together?”

“They’re strong. If we face them head-on, I’ll definitely lose.”

“What? What kind of guy is he…”

“…Come to think of it, it’s natural that you wouldn’t know. It was before that woman made a contract with the Spirit King and went on a rampage.”

Amelia said, looking back at me while running.

“Erwen Fornachi di Tersia.”

“…Huh?”

“The owner of the pureblood of the era, and the contractor of the ninth Spirit King. That’s her name.”

My mind went blank for a moment.

Pureblood? Spirit King?

“…Erwen?”

She got that strong?

No, more than that…

“How much time has passed…”

I couldn’t help but blurt out the question.

But did she hear my small mutter even while running?

Amelia replied with a bitter voice.

“March 2nd, year 157 of the Great Opening.”

“······Huh?”

“That’s today’s date, Yandel.”

Oh, shit…

Has it really been 2 years and 6 months?

***

「Bjorn Yandel」

Level: 6

Physical: 1,167.34 (New +226.66) / Mental: 490.1 (New -13.39) / Ability: 2,230.25 (New +53.4)

Item Level: 0

Total Combat Index: 3,987.69 (New -2275)

Acquired Essences: Orc Hero – Rank 5 / Ogre – Rank 3 / Manticore – Rank 5 / Bayon – Rank 3 / Stormgush – Rank 3 / Vol-Herchan – Rank 3(New)