Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 584

A long time ago.

It’s been so long that it’s not an exaggeration to say it’s in the past, yet the memories are still vivid.

Opening my eyes in the body of a Barbarian, the first time I entered the first floor rift, the Crimson Fortress.

Raven and Hikurod, whom I met there.

The desperate struggle against the Vampire Duke Cambormier, a 5th-grade monster and guardian of a rift, with a body devoid of essence…

Of course, I remember the conversation we had back then.

“How peculiar, truly peculiar…”

Even then, he said something similar to what he had said a moment ago while looking at us.

Well, the lines that followed were quite different.

“Looking at you makes my murderous intent boil, I can’t stand it. Do you perhaps know the reason?”

He was intelligent and capable of conversation.

It wasn’t unusual.

There were quite a few among the higher variants who spoke.

Of course, it was unheard of for Cambormier to say such lines…

‘I just took it as it was back then.’

At the time, the Crimson Fortress was my first rift.

Also, it was my first time encountering Cambormier.

So, I didn’t think deeply about the issue.

But…

“I cannot lose. I must not lose… !”

The Knight of the End I met in the hut of the White Temple.

He was more desperate than any monster I had ever faced.

“If it’s a lie that no one knows… what’s the difference between that and the truth?”

The Doppelganger, guardian of the 4th floor rift.

At the end, he uttered words full of remorse.

“…Truly amazing. To understand even vaguely the laws of the world.”

The mysterious being I encountered in the reward room after completing the Dreadfear raid also uttered meaningful words.

“You must not open the gate of the abyss.”

Not to mention the Earth Witch, Ellis Groundia.

As the number of accessible floors increased, I met various beings, and my questions grew larger and larger.

What exactly is the Labyrinth?

What are the Guardians and the Floor Masters?

What exactly is beyond the Gate of the Abyss?

‘……Maybe.’

A hunch that I might be able to get closer to the answer today.

That intuition struck me the moment I faced that vampire.

“Hmm, can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

A voice that seemed more curious than wary.

Before that curiosity faded, I also ended my thoughts at this point and opened my mouth.

“As you said, we have met before. In the Crimson Fortress.”

“Crimson Fortress…”

The vampire quietly mulled over the name, then looked at me again and muttered.

“So, you don’t remember. It must have been after I became like this back then.”

That answer gave me goosebumps for some reason.

I had a stronger feeling that it might be possible, and indeed, a normal conversation with him was continuing.

‘And there are no signs of him suddenly going crazy.’

However, since I didn’t know how long this state would last, I quickly continued the conversation.

“What do you mean by ‘like this’?”

“Can’t you see? This monstrous body.”

It seems he’s just talking about his body as a vampire. I was expecting something like being trapped in the Labyrinth or being dragged by a witch.

‘Hmm, so does that mean this old man was originally human?’

I wanted to clarify this part as well, but unfortunately, the vampire old man’s question came first.

“So… where is this place? Why am I here?”

Frankly speaking, I had a hard time figuring out what to answer here.

“Surely, our Cambormier Dukedom was supposed to be burning due to the attack of the Three Gods Church…”

There is a wall that is hard to explain in words between the conversation of this old man and me.

It’s like a past human and a future human meeting by chance and having a conversation without knowing each other’s circumstances.

“…This is the Labyrinth. I met you while exploring such a Labyrinth.”

“Labyrinth… what is that?”

Because common sense is out of sync, the conversation doesn’t go deep and just revolves around the surface.

Therefore, I cautiously asked.

“Before I explain… can I hear your story first?”

“My story… you mean?”

“Anything is fine. I’m just curious about what your last memory was.”

“Hmm…”

The vampire old man seemed to ponder for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“The army of the Three Gods Church came to subdue me. I was defeated in that battle, and I closed my eyes, praying for rest. And what I woke up to is now.”

“……”

“As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw you… and a memory of having met somewhere came to mind. Ah, by the way, the madness that tormented me so badly is not recurring. It’s been so long since I’ve been this sane…”

“…I see.”

“Now, will you tell me? Where is this place I am now… this place you called the Labyrinth?”

“Can I take a moment to organize my thoughts before answering?”

“Of course.”

After getting permission from the vampire old man, I quickly synthesized the given clues.

Not only what this old man said now, but also everything I originally had.

“The Dark Continent is a real place.”

The information the clown who went outside the wall spat out at the Round Table.

“The army of the Three Gods Church came to subdue me.”

The Three Gods Church, which exists in our world and is still thriving, etc…

It didn’t take long to come to some conclusion.

Well, it’s all just my speculation anyway.

The Labyrinth was created based on actual events and place names.

And…

“Cambormier, don’t be surprised and listen.”

“I will listen.”

“…First of all, what’s certain is that thousands of years have passed since you died.”

“…What does that mean? I am clearly alive now!”

From here on, it was all my speculation.

“No, you are already dead. And the current you… is highly likely to be a being created by someone.”

“…I can’t understand at all.”

For the first time, hostility flared in the vampire old man’s eyes.

It was a reaction I had expected.

After all, who would accept it kindly when a stranger suddenly tells you that you’re already dead?

‘……Still, this method is difficult.’

In fact, there was an easy way.

To deceive him by telling him what he wanted to hear, putting the truth aside. If I had done that, I could have extracted the information I wanted more easily.

However, even knowing that, I revealed my speculation without hiding anything.

In some ways, it was a very Barbarian-like reason.

Because I didn’t want to do that.

It was time to graduate from that method.

If I wanted to become someone who could rightfully get angry when faced with injustice.

“Cambormier, calm down and listen. I’ll explain why I thought that way.”

Sometimes, you have to choose the difficult path.

***

After that, I spent a long time explaining to the vampire old man.

What the Labyrinth is.

What the current city is like, and how the world has changed.

What I saw and experienced while exploring the Labyrinth.

Finally… even the situation of how the old man and I first met.

Explaining all of that was more cumbersome and time-consuming than I had imagined.

The vampire old man had difficulty understanding the gap in common sense that had occurred over thousands of years, and sometimes he denied my words as if he was about to get angry.

But…

“…Stop. I understand now. Why you said those words.”

In the end, the vampire old man surrendered.

But was this one thing a question?

“But there’s something I don’t understand.”

“…What is it? Tell me. I’ll explain it as many times as you need until you understand—”

“Why are you telling me so diligently? According to you, I’m just a created being. Maybe today’s events will be erased from my memory. Just like I forgot that day I met you.”

It wasn’t a question I had expected, but I answered honestly this time as well.

“…If I were you, I would still want to know the truth.”

“……”

“That’s why I told you. If I tell you honestly first, I thought I might be able to get your help.”

“I see…”

The vampire old man seemed to think for a long time, then opened his mouth.

“Then tell me. How would you like me to help you?”

The line I had been waiting for so much.

I took a moment to catch my breath and then opened my mouth.

“Cambormier, I want to know about you.”

“About me… you mean?”

“Yes. How you lived, what the world you lived in was like, and what happened to you to become like this. Just like I told you everything one by one. Everything.”

The vampire old man looked surprised as if he had heard unexpected words, but then nodded with a serious face.

“I will. It’s awkward to talk about my life to a stranger, but if what you say is true, I’m just a simple doll anyway, right? Rather… it would be better to be remembered by someone.”

“……”

“Still, it feels strange to suddenly talk about my life. Well, where should I start… Ah, that’s a good place to start.”

“……”

“I had a daughter.”

That’s how the old man’s story began.

The estimated time was before the witch’s curse covered the world.

“It was a chaotic time. The followers of the witch and the imperial army fought all day long and shed blood.”

The story of the witch and humans opposing each other was a familiar history to me as well.

However, the story that followed from his mouth was important to me.

Because ancient records were almost lost and precious.

“Our Cambormier family, which was a dukedom in a remote country, was relatively less affected in such a war. We didn’t side with the witch or the empire, and quietly waited for the day the war would end.”

Then one day.

“My only daughter fell ill.”

It was a terrible disease that neither potions nor the divine power of high priests could cure. As each day passed, the daughter’s flame of life was fading, and the duke could not stand by and watch.

“She was a child I wouldn’t have regretted giving my soul for.”

The duke, who had been searching everywhere, eventually reached out to the witch’s followers. And they offered a way to save his daughter.

“What I found out later was that they were not even followers of the witch. They were those who followed the evil god Karui and were driving the world into chaos.”

However, the duke, who did not know that, accepted their offer. There were many evil deeds that the empire had accumulated, and he had heard many stories of humans becoming followers of the witch and gaining salvation.

The duke had a neutral view of the witch.

“That was the beginning of all the misfortune.”

Karui’s priests treated the daughter in a strange way. Every day, screams were heard from the daughter’s room where she was being treated.

There were days when the daughter begged to stop the treatment, but the duke ignored it for the sake of her.

And so, time passed…

“My daughter got up from her sickbed.”

The daughter regained her health, and the priests of the evil god left.

The duke was initially happy that he had regained his normal life, but it didn’t take long for that happiness to be shattered.

The duke said calmly.

“She started to swell up.”

Literally, the daughter swelled up.

Slowly, as if pus was filling her whole body.

“When she was injured and blood burst out, everything around her corroded and melted. Also, she lost her reason and became violent.”

The duke locked such a daughter in the underground prison.

It was unavoidable.

If the news that his daughter had changed into this form was known, not only the Cambormier family but also his daughter would not be safe.

The plan was to hide her for now and find a way to treat her.

“However, the problem was that she didn’t eat.”

No matter how delicious the food was prepared, or even if it was forced into her mouth, the changed daughter did not accept it.

“I could feel my daughter dying day by day. She didn’t have the strength to even open her eyes properly. When I checked her pulse, I could tell that her heart was dying.”

There was nothing the duke could do.

It was one day when he was helplessly watching his daughter die.

“…One of the knights was attacked and killed by my daughter while bringing food to her.”

“……”

“Only then… did she eat.”

There was no need to ask what she ate.

“That child, who would have been disgusted even by a fly, was… eating. Very greedily.”

The duke fainted at the sight, but the daughter regained her strength that day.

And the duke, who needed time to find a way, brought criminals and fed them to his daughter for the time being.

But the more she ate, the bigger the daughter grew.

The underground prison could not handle it, and the daughter was moved to a place that used to be a water storage.

The amount she ate also increased, and it became difficult to supply with criminals, and it reached the point where innocent people had to be framed and brought in.

“If it had been the original me, I would never have made such a foolish choice. But… those who followed the evil god had done something to me too.”

The duke at the time was incapable of rational thought.

Violence was writhing, and the sense of guilt was fading.

Madness occurred intermittently.

Such changes were not limited to the mind but also applied to the body.

Fangs grew.

He became good at smelling.

When he smelled blood, saliva dripped from his mouth.

He was able to use black magic that he had never learned, and there was no discomfort in using his changed body as if a butterfly naturally flapped its wings.

It became easier to find things to feed his daughter.

As disappearances became frequent, and even his retainers left one by one due to the duke’s cruel actions, his hometown began to be called the Crimson Fortress.

Of course, the news reached the ears of the empire, which was at war with the witch, and the Three Gods Church.

“After that, it’s as I told you earlier. The army invaded, and I was defeated.”

A space that the duke, who had a cruel nature, had prepared deep below the castle for a secret hobby.

There, the holy knight’s sword pierced the duke’s heart.

“It’s a funny thing, but I prayed.”

The duke, on the verge of death, prayed.

The gods of the Three Gods Church would not forgive him.

“To the witch, who was called the enemy of mankind, I called her goddess and begged for salvation, I begged and begged for my daughter to be saved, even if it wasn’t me. And when I opened my eyes, I was here.”

It was something he realized belatedly, but from the duke’s point of view, that incident had just happened.

But how can he speak so calmly?

When I cautiously asked, the duke shook his head, saying he didn’t know either.

“I don’t know… but it feels like a very long time has passed. If what you say is true, then a lot of time has actually passed…”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just listened, and then the old man looked at me and asked.

“Do you know? What you told me today was a truly cruel truth.”

I fully understand.

I thought so, but I didn’t say it out loud.

Because there was no way I could fully understand it. After hearing that story, that thought became even stronger.

“But…”

The vampire old man said.

“Thank you anyway. For telling me honestly.”

“……”

“Thanks to you, I won’t have to have vain dreams.”

It was a very strange feeling.