Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 525

The portal stele I encountered in the inner space of the cave.

As soon as I found it, I was drawn to it and raised my hand, but the stele remained silent.

“As expected… it doesn’t work with the Baron’s hand either.”

Well, I was kind of expecting that.

Opening a portal requires special conditions, just like when we came here.

This time, there must be some kind of preparation needed.

*Swoosh.*

I checked the joint between the stele and the ground, and there were clear signs that the ground around it had already been dug up.

‘This time, there aren’t any inscriptions below either…’

Damn, does that mean we have to keep headbutting the ground? First, I asked White, the first discoverer, various questions.

“Did you check the stele every day?”

“Yes. Since I found it, I’ve come here every day and put my hand on it, but there was no reaction.”

In short, it means that the stele doesn’t react only on specific dates.

“There weren’t any special phenomena or anything like that that you should have told me about?”

“No.”

“You found a portal stele, but why were you so skeptical earlier?”

That was a question that had just occurred to me.

When he first saw me a little while ago, he expressed his anxiety. He was doubting whether there really was a way to escape, whether it even existed.

So, why was that?

“…We don’t know, do we?”

He answered in a cautious voice.

“Whether the place beyond this stele is the outside or not.”

“Ah…”

That’s definitely what I thought as soon as I saw the stele.

Since it’s an unknown floor where human feet have touched for the first time, nothing is certain.

When that portal stele is activated.

As we expect, a portal that takes us back to the first floor or the city might open, but…

There’s also the possibility that it will connect to a completely different space.

‘Like the second basement floor.’

Of course, even so, finding a way to activate this stele is the top priority.

The only way for an explorer to find the answer is to interact with everything they come across.

“How many people know about this stele?”

“Everyone who was with me knows.”

Hmm, then there’s no need to maintain security.

“Let’s go back to where we were earlier for now.”

I finished investigating the stele at this point and headed to where my companions were. And I shared the story about the stele with everyone, including the Armin exploration team.

This kind of thing requires collective intelligence.

“A stele that we don’t know where it leads to… but we’ve finally found a clue, haven’t we?”

“So, everyone, speak freely. What should we do from now on to activate this stele?”

“…If we catch that giant that’s over 40 meters tall, wouldn’t something change?”

“There might be something at the end of the bookshelf in that library…”

As soon as I clearly defined the topic, various opinions poured out one after another, starting with Bersil, and I engraved them one by one in my head.

“I wonder… if the village chief might know something?”

Yes, that would be a good idea too.

Muhl Armin, who was listening to the conversation, asked me in a cautious tone.

“The village chief… who is that?”

“I’ll explain it when we visit that island anyway.”

“Yes…”

After the brainstorming session ended.

Some of the mages from the Armin exploration team and a few others left, saying they wanted to investigate the stele, and the rest freely rested inside the cave.

And time passed, and it was the next day.

After finishing the deployment of the newly added 12 unpaid slaves, we resumed the exploration.

There wasn’t much time left.

‘Is it already the 9th day…’

If I base it on the date I started exploring, it’s the 59th day, but if I base it on the time of the newly opened labyrinth, that’s the case.

Anyway, the rainy season starts after the 14th day, so we have to explore the island as much as possible before that.

‘The rainy season is tricky…’

Just thinking about being stuck for another week makes me feel like I’m wasting time.

No, it’s not even a week.

Right after the rainy season, there are monsters everywhere, making normal exploration difficult, and right before the rainy season, exploration stops because we have to move to a place to avoid the rain.

“Yandel, what are we going to do next rainy season? Are we going to spend it in that cave they found earlier? Or are we going back to that village?”

“I’m thinking of going back to the village. I have things to ask the village chief anyway. If the Silver Lion Clan is still there, we can replenish our manpower.”

“Then we have to leave the island in three days. It takes time to get there.”

The time we can explore this island is three days from now.

It’s a tight schedule, but the number of people has increased, so the exploration itself has become much faster. It’s like turning on auto-hunting mode and moving around to reveal the map.

“There’s a group of trolls on the right… !”

“Teirun Erbyuas!”

*Boom-!*

Low-level mobs below 5th grade disappear in a flash before they can even approach, hit by the concentrated fire of ranged dealers without me even having to step in.

That’s why explorers almost always move in clans from the upper floors.

The more people there are, the easier the exploration becomes.

Well, there’s a fatal disadvantage that you have to distribute the profits a lot, though.

“Sheryton. Is the map making going well?”

“Yes. Would you like to take a look?”

For reference, I don’t make the maps anymore.

It seems like the archer from the Hext Clan is several times better than me, so I just delegated it to him.

Also, I’m operating a reconnaissance team.

I gave Mikhail Lectus, who used to be a royal investigation officer, a few people, and now he searches around the main force throughout the exploration and brings all the information to me in advance.

Just like this.

“Baron, there are three Nelpardons ambushing three minutes ahead. What should we do?”

What should we do?

Nelpardons that use [Giantification], and three of them?

“If we avoid them, do we have to go around a lot?”

“Not really.”

“Then let’s go around.”

In the case of Nelpardons, I don’t particularly need their essence, and I’ve already finished gaining experience from them in the library, so I skip them without hesitation.

By catching what we need to catch and avoiding what we need to avoid, we were able to explore a much wider area more efficiently.

And as a result.

‘I can say that the south is finished at this point.’

After revealing more than 90% of the map in the south, we expanded our territory to the east.

And how much more time had passed?

Just when I was starting to think about going back to the hideout or setting up a camp here to rest.

“Baron.”

Mikhail Lectus, who had gone out on reconnaissance, urgently returned to the main force.

“There’s a Hiphramejant four minutes ahead. That giant is sleeping alone.”

Hmm… what should I do about this?

***

Hiphramejant.

The very guy we met while sailing to this island, and had to run away from because he called his friends.

In the village chief’s book, it was written that when he was first discovered, half of his body was submerged in the sea.

So, I even thought he was just a sea monster.

‘It seems like he doesn’t only appear in the sea.’

Seeing him discovered on land like this, it seems like he’s just an amphibious creature that can move freely.

Anyway, that’s not the important thing…

“Alone?”

“Yes. For now, that’s the case.”

“Search the area around him as much as possible without provoking him. There might be others like last time. We’ll decide what to do after that.”

“Yes.”

First, I ordered Mikhail Lectus to do a detailed search, and until he returned, I organized my thoughts.

After finding out that this guy leaves a corpse, my enthusiasm cooled down, but I still had the thought that I should try to catch him at least once.

Because I’ll probably encounter him again sometime while staying on this floor.

‘It would be better to catch him when he’s alone and gain experience.’

What his passive is, whether there are more unconfirmed active skills. I judged that I need to know those things in advance to devise a countermeasure.

“There are no monsters within a 2km radius.”

Therefore, as soon as I heard the news from the returning reconnaissance team, I started preparing for the raid.

I reorganized the formation and prepared for the situation where he might run away in the middle of the fight like before.

And…

“Okay, let’s go.”

Now, all that was left was to execute.

“B-But, already?”

“He might wake up. And his kind might come back.”

Is it because he’s a monster estimated to be 2nd grade?

Some of them didn’t seem ready, but wasting more time here would be a waste.

*Swoosh.*

After that, we moved as stealthily as possible to where he was sleeping, and then spread out widely to surround him on all sides.

However, just as the ranged dealers, mainly mages, were preparing a ‘very strong first strike’.

[Ugh… ?]

The giant, who was curled up like a shrimp, raised his head and looked at us.

The sound was blocked by magic, so he couldn’t have woken up from that…

‘…Did he sense the magic power?’

Whatever it was, he was already awake, so there was no reason to act cautiously anymore.

「The character has cast [Giantification].」

Immediately, I linked it with [Transcendence] to increase my size first.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Before he could properly stand up, I slammed my hammer down on his shin.

*Clang-!*

It wasn’t enough to break his bones, but it was enough to disrupt his balance at the moment he was getting up.

*Kuuuuung-!*

The heavy giant fell to the ground, and a cloud of dust covered the area, obstructing our vision.

It was a minor problem that often occurred during battles.

*Whoosh-!*

The mages waiting in the rear quickly used wind magic to clear the dust, and when my vision was secured again, I rushed at him and hit him in the jaw with my hammer.

And at that moment.

[Uoooooooohhhhhhh—!]

He roared, looking at me head-on.

It was so loud that I could feel the air vibrating.

‘Oh, geez, you scared me.’

I felt a little ashamed that my whole body had temporarily bristled and I had goosebumps.

Therefore…

“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—!!!”

I glared at him and shouted with all my might.

I didn’t think about it and act, but surprisingly, it helped boost morale.

“What, what are you doing! Attack already!”

“Everyone, stay calm and just follow the plan!”

White Hext and Muhl Armin regained their senses and directed their members, and soon, ranged attacks came flying.

Arrows and attack-type abilities, etc.

Most of them couldn’t inflict as much damage as the hammer I swung, but…

It bought us time.

「Charlotte Amblet has cast the 2nd grade attack magic [Spear of Annihilation].」

The joint magic of the three mages from the Armin exploration team, who had been working together for a long time in the labyrinth.

*Thud-!*

A huge white spear pierced deep into the giant’s lower abdomen.

I was a little surprised.

‘That didn’t even go through?’

How high is his magic resistance?

I’m curious about his basic stats, but that’s not what I need to focus on right now.

“Barbarian, this time, don’t go too wild, and take it slow—.”

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Starting with Ainar and Amelia, the melee line also actively attacked him.

The main target was his ankles.

For reference, this was an order I had given in advance.

That’s because he’s the type of guy who runs away before you can even do anything.

We need to reduce his mobility in advance—.

“He’s getting up!”

“R-Retreat!”

Even though we tried hard to interfere, he eventually got up completely, stood on his two feet, and stood up.

And…

[Uoooooooohhhhhhh—!]

He starts running aimlessly in the opposite direction from me.

‘What kind of cowardly monster is this?’

It’s absurd, but I had no intention of experiencing the same thing again.

After all, this isn’t the sea from back then, is it?

「Erwen Fornachi di Tersia summons [Dark Spirit King Dicloe].」

Black spheres pouring down like missile strikes.

Surprisingly, he kept running while getting hit by them with his bare body, but there was a limit.

*Thud, thud-!*

I rushed out in an instant and clung to his back, which had slowed down due to staggering.

*Wham-! Wham-! Wham-!*

The Spirit King’s bombardment continued, but it was no problem for me now.

There’s also the saying that after essence, it’s all about the gear, right?

No.12 Trust.

That item that belongs to the top of the double numbers.

「This is damage inflicted by an ally in a bonded state.」

「The light of trust protects the character from the damage.」

With this, this kind of strategy becomes possible.