Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 582

A straight corridor.

Actually, while the structure itself is similar, calling it a corridor might be a bit of a misnomer. Even if the width-to-length ratio is similar, the absolute width was significantly different. It felt three times larger than the hall of the glorious palace where investiture ceremonies were held…

Whooshhhhhh-

Even with the flare, the end wasn’t visible. Dark shadows fell over the statues lining the walls, creating an eerie atmosphere.

‘Guardian statues, huh…’

What is this place? It’s not a place for solo play rather than a party, is it?

While worrying about that, I stayed on guard for any potential dangers. As the promised time passed, portals began to appear in the air.

Whoosh—

A portal just big enough for one person to enter. The portal opened briefly, spat out one person, and then disappeared as if it had fulfilled its purpose.

“Thankfully, you’re safe.”

Amelia entered right after me.

“Ugh… this place is even more eerie than I thought?”

Next, the warrior Ainar appeared, looking listless and lacking fighting spirit. After that, the portals continued to open, and my companions entered.

“There might be traps around, so everyone stay put and wait for instructions!”

Although all the members of Temporary Team 4 had entered, I didn’t start exploring right away. I waited for the rear guard. It’s not too late to start searching after all preparations are complete.

Team 3, Team 2, Team 1…

As I waited quietly, over a hundred people entered sequentially, and among them was the village chief.

“Mages, secure the vision first, and the rest, don’t act rashly and wait for instructions!”

The village chief shouted at the top of his lungs with Jerome Saintred’s face. Seeing him act so naturally, I felt a sense of unease, but at the same time, I was slightly relieved. Yes, he did come in properly. I was secretly worried that I might be the only one who got thrown in and no one else would come.

‘Anyway, everyone’s in successfully…’

There doesn’t seem to be a limit on the number of people who can enter this place, or if there is, it’s very lenient. Of course, it’s hard to be purely happy about that. Given the nature of [Dungeon & Stone], these types of places are often set with high difficulty.

“Baron Yandel, what do you think we should do now?”

After that, the village chief approached and asked. I pretended to give my opinion while giving instructions to the village chief.

“Hmm… that makes sense.”

The village chief, as if trying not to get caught being a figurehead, pretended to ponder for a moment before giving instructions to the vice-commander.

“First, we will form a survey team and begin the search!”

Thus began the search. First, the knights scouted the surroundings. If they found anything suspicious, they didn’t touch it rashly and called the mages to investigate. When I came to my senses, the map was already complete.

‘It’s really convenient having so many people to use.’

It’s a cheat code, I realize anew. If it were just our Anabada clan, it would have taken ages just to make a map.

“No monsters have been found within the radius.”

“Do not touch the statues! Although faint, I can feel an unknown magical reaction from within!”

“We’ve crossed the portal, but it doesn’t seem to be inside a rift.”

“All the terrain features have the property of restoration.”

Work that would normally take all day was completed in an instant with several times the manpower. I just stood still, listened to the reports with the village chief, organized the information, and made judgments.

‘Is this… the taste of power?’

The convenience was such that it made the explorations I had done so far seem very barbaric. I used my brain instead of a pen and organized the information that had been compiled so far on my own. In my view, there were three major important points.

1. Guardian Statues.

If the mages’ speculation is correct, then those statues are not just simple sculptures. They definitely have some role, and I have an idea about what that might be. Well, to be precise, it’s more of an expectation. ‘This isn’t confirmed, so let’s move on…’

2. The possibility of new guardians.

The statues were all of guardians from the 5th floor or below. However, what’s a bit unusual here is that even Count Cambormier, the vampire who can be seen as a kind of hidden boss, was among the statues… The real problem is something else. ‘Why are these guys here too?’ There are some guardians among them that I’m seeing for the first time. For reference, they weren’t unidentified entities. Even though they were guardians, just like Cambormier’s essence was that of a 5th-grade monster vampire, the entities themselves were mostly ones that had already finished gaining experience. But the problem here is… ‘Drakes shouldn’t appear as guardians…?’ A monster that never appears as a ‘guardian’ in any rift is proudly among the guardian statues. Could it be that these statues aren’t just a collection of guardian monsters? But then again, all the other statues have the characteristics of guardians. Just look at that Lycanthrope statue. The Lycanthrope that uses an ice club as a weapon is only Tarunbas, the tyrant of the glacier cave.

“If they’re really one of the guardians… it’s as if new guardian essences have appeared!”

“But nothing has been confirmed yet.”

“No, I’m sure of it! Just like Baron Yandel obtained the essence after defeating the vampire guardian before, these are guardians of rifts that haven’t been discovered yet, like that vampire!”

Perhaps it’s really a similar case to the Crimson Fortress. It’s not easy to accept the fact that there are so many rifts that I didn’t even know existed… But the longer I stay in this world, the more I’m admitting it. I just know a lot more than others. That it’s my arrogance to think I know everything about [Dungeon & Stone]. For example, even this first basement floor is like that. I didn’t know that I could upgrade the vampire essence to an ogre essence with a restrained wish. Anyway, next up.

3. The giant stone door.

If you pass through the statues and reach the end of the corridor, there is a giant stone door, and even a 1st-grade magic attack didn’t leave a scratch on it. And… 4. That’s the end. In other words, it means that you can only open that door and move on to the next stage if you satisfy some conditions and solve the problems with what you’ve found so far. Therefore…

“The search is enough for now, so gather everyone. No, it would be better to gather everyone.”

I told the figurehead village chief and summoned everyone. Well, this much clue is enough, right?

“All troops, prepare for battle… !”

The vice-commander, who received the village chief’s instructions, shouted while commanding the troops. I slowly approached the statues in that tense atmosphere. And… Thump, thump. I first reached out to the easiest King Slime statue. Zzzzzzz- For some reason, I felt a sensation like electricity flowing through my fingertips. I instinctively knew that something had been activated. But… ‘I didn’t expect this.’ I was taken aback, as I had only expected the statues to come to life.

“…A portal?”

A portal was created around the statue.

***

A portal opened. The portal appeared in the place where we entered after opening the unknown stone door on the first basement floor. However, it’s not difficult to guess where this portal leads.

“Is it a portal connected to the Green Mine…?”

“Wouldn’t that be highly likely?”

Listening to the murmurs, it seems that other explorers have similar thoughts to mine. But I didn’t jump to conclusions.

“We need to decide who will go in together first.”

There’s no guarantee that the portal is really connected to the Green Mine, and it’s hard to say how many people can enter that one portal. Therefore, I carefully started the selection process. Because there were three types of portals.

1. A portal that, once opened, remains permanently active until the labyrinth closes. The Dimensional Monument falls into this category. However, in the case of rifts, this type of portal has not yet been opened, so the possibility of this is low.

2. A portal that is not one-time use but only lasts until a set number of people have entered. The first-floor rifts are a prime example. When a rift opens, dozens of portals appear throughout the first floor, and when a total of five people cross the portal, the portals all disappear at once.

And finally… 3. A one-time use portal that only works once. The Doppelganger Forest on the 4th floor is a case in point. The number of times you can use the portal is only once. However, if there are people bound nearby when you use the portal, they will also be moved at the same time. Ah, for reference, it was proven a long time ago that even if you are bound in a group of six, all six people will be moved in this case.

‘Okay, then the selection process is over…’

Not only for 5-person teams and 6-person teams. I made teams in multiples of 5 and 6, such as 10 and 12, 15 and 18, and even decided the order in which they would enter. It might all be useless, but it was my belief that not doing what you can do in advance is nothing short of a sin in the labyrinth. But…

“Then I’ll go in first.”

After casting a new binding spell, I carefully stepped into the portal, and soon I couldn’t help but be taken aback.

“……”

The rails laid on the floor. Scrap materials scattered around. A cart with broken wheels and coal inside. So far, there’s no problem. The place I arrived at is indeed the Green Mine. However, if there is a serious problem here…

“What is this? Why isn’t anyone coming?”

No matter how much time passed, no one was coming in. “……” Just in case, I explored the surroundings and waited for a long time, but there was no sign of the portal opening. As a result, my head became more complicated. ‘Why aren’t they coming?’ Did something happen outside? Could it be that the village chief is up to something again…? Well, or maybe everyone came in, but we’re not meeting because the starting points are different?

“…Let’s proceed alone for now.”

In any case, it seemed pointless to wait here, so I slowly began the attack. This is not an ordinary Green Mine. It wouldn’t be strange if any powerful monster appeared. I repeated it to myself several times so as not to let my guard down, and as I cautiously moved forward.

“…Huh?”

I hadn’t walked far when a clearing suddenly appeared. And… [Kkyuiiiiit-!]

The guardian of the Green Mine suddenly appears. Normally, I would have had to go much further even after catching the mid-boss… Crack-! It attacked me as soon as it saw me, so I smashed it to death with my hammer.

「You have defeated the King Slime.」

「Guardian kill bonus. EXP +3」

…The experience points seem to have been properly received. It might just be my imagination, so let’s put that aside for now. Whooshhhhhh-! I stared blankly at the portal that was created as soon as the kill was over. ‘Is this the end…?’ It’s a bit anticlimactic, but it seems like it’s really the end. Unless there’s another event waiting beyond that portal. The portal didn’t seem like it was going to disappear right in front of me, so I gradually regained my composure and checked the spot where the King Slime had fallen.

“Ugh, I’d rather have a rift stone.”

The loot was a single rainbow-colored essence that proved it was a guardian’s. From my point of view, it was trash. Even if I put it in a test tube and sold it, it would be difficult to make a big profit… In the first place, there are no mages to put it in a test tube. And it’s absurd for me to eat it. Thud. Without any regrets, I took my eyes off the guardian essence and quickly went out through the portal.

“Ah, Mister…!!”

Fortunately, the place I came through the portal was the same place as before.

“Bjorn… !”

“Th-thank goodness! Captain!!”

“What happened inside?”

The members of the group rushed over with worried eyes and asked how I was doing. However, before I told my story, I first listened to the situation after I entered the portal. Why didn’t anyone follow me in? The answer to that question matched what I had expected. It was truly regrettable.

“It’s not that they didn’t go in, it’s that they couldn’t. Yandel, the portal disappeared right after you went in.”

…It was really a one-person rift. Well, it’s much better than not being able to come in because of other problems outside… “Hoo…” I couldn’t help but sigh. I took my eyes off my companions and scanned the statues standing in the corridor. Guardians below the 5th floor, with different types, difficulties, and ways to deal with them. ‘I have to catch all of these guys alone…’ I could already see the road of hardship ahead.