Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 721

The question of who I am, a question so trite it’s almost cliché.

Recently, Versil Gowland had been asking herself such questions quite often.

Well, because she was genuinely confused.

‘I am…’

Who am I?

In the early days after being dragged here, it was a question she could answer easily, without even needing to ask herself.

However, now that she had lived with this name for well over a decade, she couldn’t answer it so easily.

‘I am…’

A white woman who worked in the New York financial district?

Or a mage living in a labyrinth city?

‘…I don’t know.’

Frankly, she didn’t really know.

So, she used the process of elimination.

First of all, if she were the former, there were quite a few things that didn’t make sense.

After all, no matter how many ‘NPCs’ [Non-Player Characters, a term from video games referring to characters not controlled by the player] had pointlessly lost their lives in Ice Rock, the woman who worked in finance would never have been angry…

Even now, it was the same.

That selfish woman who only knew herself would never have worried so desperately.

For the survival of ‘us,’ not ‘me.’

‘…What should I do?’

Gowland’s gaze turned to one place as if it were a habit.

But all she could confirm was the presence of an empty space that had remained the same for days. He, who seemed like he could find a clear path in any situation, was not here.

But rather, because of that.

“Get a grip, Gowland! If we stay like this, we’ll all die!!”

She cleared her mind, which was so complex it wouldn’t be strange if she fell into a panic.

“If you can’t do it, I’ll take command—.”

“Don’t worry.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ve come to my senses now.”

In a way, it wasn’t that complicated of a situation.

The main force in the war had abandoned the explorers who were at the front lines and retreated, leaving them stranded in the middle of enemy territory.

“What about the deserters?”

“Sven Parav, Lilis Marone, Auyen Locklov, Emily Raines… So far, those are the four.”

She was worried sick about the safety of her companions who had been separated during the chaos, but to be cold, they didn’t have the capacity to worry about them right now.

Therefore…

‘I can only pray they’re safe…’

Soon, Versil Gowland made up her mind.

“Aaaaaaah…! S, save me…!!”

“The front line is being pushed back! We won’t be able to hold out much longer like this!”

“The reinforcements! Are there really no reinforcements?”

“You idiots! D, don’t run away! Fight to the end!!”

The explorer clans that had been drafted to the front lines were holding out by backing each other up, but it was clear that they would eventually collapse if things continued like this.

Yes, so…

“Kaislan, please call the leaders of the clans currently fighting around us… no, it doesn’t have to be the leaders, just anyone with decision-making power.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“Just once… I’m going to open a path by combining our strength.”

Of course, she knew that many sacrifices would be made in the process.

But so what?

If they stayed like this, they would all die.

“I see…”

Kaislan nodded as if agreeing, then sharply pointed out one thing.

“But will they really listen to us?”

This was definitely something she was worried about as well.

But surprisingly, the answer to this was very easy to find.

That barbarian would have definitely acted like this.

“Tell them that our Anabada Clan will take the lead. And also tell them that if they don’t participate, we’ll leave them behind.”

At those words, Kaislan paused for a moment as if someone had come to mind, then asked one more question.

“Then, is your goal to break through the encirclement and head towards the Imperial City?”

It wasn’t so much that he didn’t know, but rather a tone that was closer to confirming one last time.

Of course, the king was in the Imperial City.

Naturally, the Imperial City was the safest place even during wartime.

But…

“No. We will not head to the Imperial City.”

Versil shook her head firmly and continued.

“We will head to the Holy Land.”

“…The Holy Land?”

At those words, Kaislan looked surprised but didn’t voice any objections.

No, rather, he chuckled with a look of understanding.

“I think I know why Yandel put you in the position of vice-commander.”

“Is that… a compliment?”

“Of course.”

With those words, Kaislan ran around the battlefield, conveying the message to each clan, and Versil watched his back from afar, once again firming her resolve.

She was a little unfamiliar with this passionate side of herself, but.

‘……Definitely.’

She would definitely return alive.

And save as many people as possible.

***

A screen that filled the entire wall.

Sound equipment that was more than adequate.

Even a video so vivid that your hands would get sweaty just from watching it.

She would have thought it was perfect if there was popcorn.

If only her companions weren’t in that video.

Beep-!

The Founding King stopped the video that was playing at the moment when Versil and Kaislan were having an awkward conversation.

And…

“It seems like the subordinates have good reviews?”

Subordinates, huh…

She wanted to add something to that word, but she held it back, and the Founding King chuckled as he looked at her.

“You have a look that says you have a lot to say.”

She couldn’t deny it.

Why he showed her the video.

And why he stopped it now.

And how he managed to film such a video.

There were so many other things she wanted to ask.

But if she had to pick the most important one out of the many questions…

“This is…”

Yes, it had to be this.

“…Is it now?”

Was this video real-time, or was it recorded a long time ago?

In a way, it was the most crucial part right now.

“That’s a sharp question. Excellent.”

The Founding King praised her with a satisfied voice.

But praising was praising, and this was another matter, wasn’t it?

“But it wouldn’t be fun if I told you already.”

That damn hedonistic bastard.

As she was cursing the king in her mind, he asked her as if throwing a question.

“Which side do you think it is?”

Uh…

“No, I should change the question. Which side do you wish it was?”

She would rather it be real-time.

When she answered honestly, the Founding King chuckled again and asked back.

“Hahaha! Because you can’t change the past?”

“…Yes.”

The Founding King burst out laughing out of the blue at her answer after a short pause.

“Hahahaha! Hahahahahah!”

It was a burst of laughter that far exceeded a chuckle.

It was impossible not to feel terrible as the one being subjected to that in front of her face, but…

Well, what could she do?

Clench…

As a perfect subordinate, she had to endure it.

“…Ahahahaha. My apologies. It’s been so long since I’ve heard such a funny story.”

Fortunately, the burst of laughter didn’t last long.

The Founding King, who had soon finished laughing, cleared his throat and said to her.

“Now, what should we do… It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed so sincerely… I can’t just let this go. Ah, should I give you the answer as a reward?”

Uh…

‘Really?’

Just as she was looking at him through the silk, expecting something, he revealed the ‘answer’ nonchalantly.

“What I showed you earlier was a recorded video.”

“The timing…?”

“Hmm… When was it?”

When the Founding King muttered, the knight standing in front of him answered politely.

“It was when Your Majesty was enjoying a ‘board game’ with Baron Yandel.”

“Ah, was it?”

“……”

While she was giggling with him, her companions were fighting on the front lines to survive.

That fact weighed heavily on her heart, and at the same time, she quickly calculated the date.

‘The board game was on the second day, and now it’s the fourth day…’

This video was filmed two days ago.

In other words, no matter who died in that video, she couldn’t intervene in any way.

“You look disappointed and frustrated?”

“……”

“But to comfort you, even if that video wasn’t recorded, it wouldn’t have been much different.”

“…What?”

“Because you wouldn’t have been able to change anything anyway.”

When she didn’t answer, the Founding King tilted his head.

“Ah, was it too direct to call it a comforting word? Haha, I’m a T [Referring to the ‘Thinking’ personality type in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator].”

She was getting angry.

From the shamelessness of talking about her personality type as if it were natural, even though he was from another world, everything about him was infuriating.

But today, he was an opponent that was too much to charge at while possessed by the barbarian. Again, she kept her mouth shut and stayed still, and the Founding King, who seemed bored, played the video again.

Beep-!

The people in the video, who had been paused for a while, were moving urgently again, struggling and sweating to survive.

Watching that, her heart was pounding.

No, actually, it had been like that since before.

Thump-!

She wondered if a stray arrow or magic would fly at her companions in the video. She wondered if the front line would suddenly collapse and fall into the worst situation.

She wondered if anyone would get hurt or die while breaking through the path at the front.

And…

[Sven Parav, Lilis Marone, Auyen Locklov, Emily Raines… So far, those are the four.]

Were those four who had gone missing during the chaos safe…?

Clench-

The more she thought about it, the more she clenched her fists.

Because that was all she could do.

That’s why she thought and thought again about what she could do right now.

“By the way, it’s the fourth day now… There are only three more days left.”

There were only three days left until the promised week.

But the remaining time didn’t matter.

Why would the Founding King ask for a week of companionship, even using up five ‘favors’?

Just to keep her tied up and watch her suffer?

Tap, tap…

Well, maybe that was it, but…

If she were to go by the personality of this guy she had experienced, even for a short time, she didn’t think he would do that.

There was something more to it.

Then what was that reason?

Tap, tap…

When she thought from the Founding King’s perspective, a plausible hypothesis came to mind.

It wasn’t certain yet, but…

“You don’t seem to be concentrating? Ah, is it because it’s not an interesting part?”

The Founding King operated the remote control and stopped the video again.

“If you don’t want to see it, tell me now. I don’t mind just talking and playing games.”

She slowly shook her head and then asked directly.

“So far… have any of my companions died?”

“If you’re curious, why don’t you just watch it?”

“Please answer me.”

When she spoke more strongly, the Founding King was silent for a moment.

Since she could only see his silhouette through the silk, she couldn’t read his expression.

But it wasn’t hard to guess that the Founding King was satisfied.

And in fact, her guess was not wrong.

“Your words… have gotten a bit longer than before?”

A voice that showed that he was surprised but not displeased. Thanks to that, she was able to be more certain about the hypothesis she had thought of earlier.

“Has anyone died so far?”

“…No. Not yet.”

It was a kind of taming.

That was what this guy was doing to her right now.

“So that’s what it is?”

“I see.”

She quietly nodded at the Founding King’s words, who seemed to be enjoying the situation.

And then, she lowered her back like a hunchback, and then raised her head, forming a posture as if she was looking up at him.

And then, she asked directly once more.

“Your Majesty, then what do I have to do to go to my companions?”

A theatrical tone that she had never used before, not even when she was a barbarian.

“……”

“……”

The Founding King’s answer came after a moment of silence.

“Hmm, I was expecting the fifth day.”

She didn’t understand it herself.

It wasn’t like her tone had changed or anything around her had changed.

“This is… you’re a smart one, aren’t you…?”

Why did she get goosebumps all over her spine as soon as she heard those words?

Swish.

She didn’t know, but with those words, the silk cloth that had never been opened for four days was pushed aside.

And…

Thud.

The Founding King walked out from between the silk cloths and down the stairs.

Then, he stretched his arms as if his shoulders were stiff and headed towards the door.

“Hoo… It’s stuffy being in the room all the time. What are you doing? Aren’t you coming out?”

“Uh…”

“Let’s talk while we walk for a bit. I have something to show you.”

“Ah, ah… yes…”

She spoke without knowing what she was saying and blankly followed behind him.

She couldn’t help but do that.

‘Is that… the Founding King…?’

He was so similar.

To someone she knew.