Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 406

Before I got into [Dungeon & Stone], the online game I enjoyed most was one where PVP [Player versus Player] was the main focus.

It was a game where you chose one of two factions when creating your character, grew in different continents, and competed for power.

I remember the thrill of leading an expedition to the enemy faction and stealing field bosses; it was something else.

And the PK [Player Killing] was exhilarating.

Also, getting the final hit on field bosses and reaping the sweet rewards.

On top of that, I could receive all sorts of praise from the enemy faction users.

‘It was quite a fun game.’

If I hadn’t encountered [Dungeon & Stone], I might still be playing that game.

Out of all the games I played, that one was the best.

‘…But if I had kept playing that, wouldn’t I have avoided being dragged here?’

Well, whatever about that belated regret.

The reason why that game, which I had almost forgotten, suddenly came to mind is simple.

In a way, it has a lot in common with the current situation.

The Dark Continent is currently occupied by the Noahrc forces.

Our expedition is now in a position where we’ve secretly set foot there.

And above all…

‘The methods I used there work well here.’

I can feel the same thrill I felt while playing that game.

“…It’s, it’s an ambush!”

“How did the enemies get here…!?”

“Front! Deal with the monsters in front first!!”

“Agh, aaaaaaagh!”

The bewildered enemies are moving haphazardly.

“Tsk! How cowardly…!!”

“To target us at this time!”

“I’ll definitely take you all down with me!”

An outpouring of praise.

「You have defeated a Bone Dragonian. EXP +7」

On top of that, we easily took down a level 3 monster like it was a piece of cake.

Of course, the highlight was something else.

“T-the essence!!”

Not only did we succeed in the ambush and PK without any casualties, but we also got an essence drop from the monster we caught.

The second level 3 essence we’ve acquired on this expedition.

To be honest, I was more bewildered than happy.

‘What is this…?’

Originally, level 3 essences aren’t this easy to come by.

After all, even on the 7th floor, the number of level 3 monsters is extremely low.

Even if you combine all the level 3 monsters we hunted from Ice Rock to here, it wouldn’t even reach twenty.

But we already have two…

‘Is luck on our side?’

Well, good things are good, I guess.

“Ashd, go and collect the essence first.”

“Yes.”

While sending the mage to collect the essence in a test tube, I quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

After all, the spoils of war aren’t just the essence, right?

As always, the main dish of PK is something else.

“C-cough… S-save me…”

“You know I can’t save you.”

Why is he talking to a corpse?

“Stop talking nonsense and move aside.”

I took out my hammer and pressed the happiness button hard on the guys who were still clinging to life.

Crack, crack, crack-!

The flesh was crushed, and their bodies slumped.

After finishing the confirmation kills myself, I had the team members strip off their equipment and store it all in the expedition’s shared subspace [a shared inventory space].

“Whew, considering the equipment those guys have in their subspace, it’s going to be no joke.”

“Everyone will get a good share when we return.”

The team members were burning with motivation, as if they could already estimate the size just by glancing at it.

Well, it’s only natural.

Level 3 essences are precious enough, but they can’t compare to the equipment of the 15 people who were active on the 7th floor.

Above all, the effort put into the battle was minimal.

“The loot collection is complete.”

“Any casualties?”

“Zero.”

“Okay, I see.”

I couldn’t hide my satisfaction and raised the corners of my mouth.

A battle that was cleanly finished in 5 minutes without a single casualty.

“…Do you plan to continue fighting like this in the future?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No. It’s not that…”

Akuraba, who was asking, shut his mouth.

He knows it himself, having experienced it firsthand.

That this is the best way to ambush those who are hunting carelessly in their own territory.

Well, it’s not like there aren’t any drawbacks though.

‘30 minutes, huh…’

The battle ended in 5 minutes, but it took a considerable amount of time for the enemies to encounter the monsters.

Of course, compared to the advantages, it’s not a drawback worth worrying about.

If someone gets hurt or dies while fighting, that’s a bigger loss, right?

However, there was still a slight regret.

Kaislan cautiously offered me advice.

“Schuitz, killing them all was too hasty. We should have captured one to extract information.”

Ah, that’s true too.

“I’ll do that from the next ambush.”

Kaislan’s face brightened, as if he thought I had taken his advice to heart.

“Mages, burn the corpses and erase the traces!”

After finishing the cleanup, we hid ourselves in the darkness again and resumed our movement.

But was it because the surroundings were so quiet?

I overheard a conversation between some team members and couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Did you see it earlier? All that equipment?”

“If we fight like this just ten more times… how much would that be?”

Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

***

After arriving on the Dark Continent, our routine was like this.

Thump, thump.

Moving while hiding in the darkness.

“Enemies.”

When we found enemies, we waited for an opportunity while they fought monsters.

And…

“Now!”

We took the opportunity when they were distracted by the monsters and ambushed them with all our might.

Wham, wham, wham-!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Boom-!

After unleashing all our ranged firepower at once and blowing away the entire rear guard, it was even easier.

“Let’s goooooooo!”

“Wipe them all out!”

Even if the melee fighters rushed in, the front line couldn’t easily provide support because of the monsters in front of them.

And so, the battle ended quickly again this time.

‘Is this the 10th time?’

As we kept repeating this while moving, the number of times we did this reached double digits just while escaping the Dragon’s Lair.

“Mage! Put up a soundproof barrier so we can’t be heard!”

“Hey! Strip them gently! You keep pulling out pieces of flesh with it!”

As soon as the battle ended, the team members began collecting loot and erasing traces as usual.

While I was watching, a team member grabbed a survivor by the hair and presented him to me.

“Captain! Here’s the one we talked about!”

“Good work.”

“It was nothing.”

From the second battle onwards, we always kept one alive and extracted information.

Who knows what might happen?

A labyrinth is a place where any variable can occur at any time.

We shouldn’t be negligent in gathering information, even in normal times.

Besides, I’m not the one doing the interrogation anyway.

“Jun.”

“Leave it to me.”

If I just leave it to Jun, our expedition’s official information extractor, the information will come out and be organized in a little while.

For example, that the guys hunting on the 8th floor were Noahrc’s elite forces.

And that’s why their base is empty.

All that useful information came out like this.

The only problem is that there aren’t any guys who know more than this these days, so there’s no new information being updated…

“Schuitz, come here for a moment. It’s urgent.”

It was Jun who called me during the interrogation for the first time in a long while.

Wondering what it was, I quickly went over and saw that the tightly bound survivor was still alive.

This meant that meaningful information had come up during this interrogation.

“Tell me quickly. What did you find out?”

“It’s a bit ambiguous to say that I found out.”

“Ambiguous…?”

I asked, tilting my head, and Jun shifted his gaze to one place. Following his gaze, I saw a stone that was emitting light and vibrating faintly.

It was something that no explorer could fail to recognize.

“A message stone…?”

“This is an item that this person was carrying.”

“That means…”

“Yes, someone contacted this person. What do you want to do?”

At the same time as Jun’s question, the message stone vibrated faintly once more.

Zzzzzzzzzing-

I wonder how many more times this vibration will sound.

I don’t know.

That’s why I need to make a decision even faster.

Swoosh.

I raised my hand slightly to gesture for time and organized my thoughts.

‘Is it nearby, or is it a contact from far away?’

Depending on the quality, the radius of a message stone is limited.

However, this is Noahrc’s territory.

There’s a possibility that this contact came from very far away.

After all, that’s why the royal family created an expedition to attack the base.

The magic wave emitter.

To put it in modern terms, it’s like a transmission tower.

The guys who used the cheat code to enter the 7th floor directly took an extreme measure by bringing in a huge device that they wouldn’t normally be able to store in a subspace.

Thanks to that, they were able to freely communicate with the troops scattered throughout the continent and actively harass the royal army.

Zzzzzzzzzing-

The vibration that makes people’s blood run cold rang out once more.

I finished my deliberation and confirmed a few things.

“Hey you, where do you think this contact came from?”

“…I, it’s probably a regular contact. To check the status of each unit!”

Hmm, I see.

“Jun, what’s the chance that this guy will screw us over?”

“I think it’s very unlikely.”

In a situation where it’s difficult to be certain, this level of confidence means he’s very sure.

“…I, I can do it! I’ll do whatever you tell me to! S-so please, j-just kill me…!”

Listening to the guy’s voice, who was begging for death rather than life, I made my decision.

Yeah, I think I can trust him this much.

“Okay, take the call. If they ask if there’s anything wrong, say that nothing’s wrong.”

I said that and held the vibrating message stone to the guy’s face.

And…

Click.

The moment I pressed the button and received the call.

A man’s voice flowed from beyond the light-emitting stone.

[Finally, I’ve made contact.]

A low-pitched voice that was somehow piercing to the ear.

The moment I heard it, my heart started to beat wildly.

Thump, thump, thump—

It was an unforgettable voice.

“L-Lord Regal Bagos… is that you?”

The Dragonslayer, Regal Bagos.

Crunch.

Yeah, so you’re somewhere on the 7th floor too.

***

I’ve met many enemies since coming into this world.

Most of them had their heads smashed, but unfortunately, there are some I couldn’t do that to because I lacked the power.

The Chaos Lord, Liakis.

The Corpse Collector, Abet Necrapeto.

The Destruction Scholar, Belbeve Ruinjenes, and so on.

Even just thinking about it, there are so many, but the one I hold the deepest grudge against is still this guy.

The Dragonslayer, Regal Bagos.

The moment I heard his voice, my reason was paralyzed, and my blood boiled.

But…

Clench.

Now is not the time for that.

I clenched my fist even tighter and cooled my emotions.

And…

[Meiras, where are you right now?]

I focused on the conversation that followed.

“I-I’m hunting with my team members in the Dragon’s Lair!”

[…Is that so? Then do you know anything?]

“What do you mean by knowing…?”

[All the guys who went to the Dragon’s Lair have lost contact.]

“I-is that so? I don’t know. W-we’re doing fine without any problems. Really!”

An exaggerated tone as if begging to be suspected.

I could understand the stuttering, but isn’t this a bit too much?

While I was thinking that.

Swoosh-

Jun quietly picked up an awl that was next to him, and immediately, the guy’s tone and posture were corrected.

“But it does seem strange. That everyone has lost contact. Could they have been attacked by monsters?”

A clear pronunciation as if he had never stuttered.

[Even if they’re pathetic, there’s no way they’d all be defeated.]

“…That’s right. But, is everything alright on your side?”

Furthermore, he even showed the enthusiasm to ask for information in return.

[Not yet.]

“That’s a relief. I’ll take another look around here and check what happened, so don’t worry.”

[You?]

“…”

[Don’t do anything stupid and wait. I’ve already sent troops over there anyway. Join them and follow their orders.]

“Yes, I understand.”

[Tsk, useless guys.]

As soon as he clicked his tongue and unilaterally cut off the call, Jun cautiously opened his mouth.

“It’s a shame. It would have been good if we could have found out how many troops they sent here.”

“Yeah, that’s right…”

“…Are you feeling unwell? You don’t look good.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

It’s just that I’m having a little trouble holding back my anger.

While listening to that voice, the events of that day were vividly brought back to my mind—

“Ah, no.”

Then, I heard a presence behind me.

Whoosh.

I quickly turned my head and saw Erwen standing there.

Thud.

She seemed to be holding something in both hands, but whatever she was holding had fallen to the floor.

Normally, if it was a mistake, she would bend down to pick up the item again, but Erwen stood still, only staring at me.

“Erwen? What are you doing here?”

As I felt a sense of doubt and moved closer, I could notice Erwen’s abnormality.

“Wait a minute, you’re trembling…”

“T-that, th-that v-voice…”

“Calm down. Are you okay?”

“Just now! Th-th-that guy… that’s him, right…?”

For some reason, I don’t know why yet.

“T-the Dragonslayer, Regal Bagos…”

Erwen was terrified.