Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 734

Swaaaaaaaash-!

A chilling wind swept through, scattering the thick dust, and revealing a burning skeleton.

Whirr-!

The corpse collector, now engulfed in black flames, was reduced to bones.

Even in this state, his bony hand tightly gripped the Netherworld Staff, seemingly unaffected by the flames…

‘…Why does he look so pathetic?’

The imposing aura he had when he first showed off that invincibility skill in the Goblin Forest was completely gone.

The reason was simple.

One minute of invincibility.

And the explosive increase in physical stats as his ability and mental stats were converted.

The skill itself was performing as it should.

In fact, he had received the blessing of the Netherworld, making his stats even better than before.

Yet, he made a different choice.

Unlike when he tried to exploit my weak points during that one minute.

Tadatadat-!

Without hesitation, he turned his back and ran away hastily.

Seeing that, a familiar image came to mind.

When I lived in a semi-basement, cockroaches would scurry away like that when I turned on the kitchen light.

‘…He’s fast, though.’

His stats must have been significantly boosted by the Netherworld’s blessing and the fleeting immortality, as his movement speed was incredibly fast.

Therefore, I quickly started the chase.

Kooong-! Kooong-!

I moved my long, thick legs as fast as I could, but the distance between us only grew.

Seriously, how can he run so well with those tiny leg bones?

‘He’s going to die anyway.’

Even though the distance was rapidly increasing, I didn’t feel impatient.

A wide open field with nowhere to hide.

No matter how far he ran, I steadily followed the direction he escaped in.

And…

‘One minute.’

After one minute, [Fleeting Immortality] ended, and flesh began to fill the skeleton’s body.

Tadatadat-!

Now, he was running away with only his staff, having returned to his natural state.

‘…Still, the distance isn’t closing.’

Seeing him continue his fast escape even after [Fleeting Immortality] ended, I found it a bit annoying, but it wasn’t a big problem.

There was still plenty of time before the Netherworld closed.

‘The maximum duration was 24 hours, right?’

Even if I’ve been here for a maximum of 30 minutes.

In other words, there are still more than 23 hours left…

Kooong-! Kooong-!

I smiled as I stretched my legs at a steady pace.

‘Let’s see how long you can run.’

Barbarians never give up.

***

Have you ever played tag?

If you have, you know.

Even though it’s just a game, being chased by someone creates a high level of tension and a thrilling sensation.

Then, if a game is like that, what would real tag be like?

In fact, Necraphaeto hadn’t really known until now.

Because he was always the ‘chaser’.

Tadatadat-!

His legs, moving non-stop, felt stiff.

Perhaps due to the psychological pressure, he felt more tired than usual.

“Haa, haa…!”

As if to prove it, he was gasping for breath.

‘…P, please just give up!’

The distance from the ‘chaser’ was quite far, but he couldn’t relax at all.

Kooong-! Kooong-!

Even the steady footsteps coming from afar made him feel it.

The determination to never give up.

‘I need to create more distance to shake him off completely…’

The anxious man used every means available.

He kept taking out corpses from the subspace, trying to hinder the barbarian’s path even a little.

[Grrrrrrr-!]

He created a wall with a giant corpse.

[Kyaaaaaak-!]

He made them swing their rotten claws, trying to annoy the barbarian even a little.

“Oh, sweet stack.”

He had no idea that the barbarian behind him was wearing a satisfied smile.

Tadatadat-!

And so, time passed.

1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes…

Kooong-! Kooong-!

10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes…

‘1 hour…’

He didn’t know the exact time, but he thought that much time had passed.

The situation hadn’t changed at all.

The man was riding the fastest summon he had, and the barbarian was crossing through the corpse army with a kooong kooong sound.

And the distance…

‘…Why isn’t it getting any further!’

It was the same.

There were two main problems.

First, even though he summoned corpses and tried to hinder him, it didn’t have much effect on that tank-like barbarian…

‘Giantification.’

There was no sign of that guy’s [Giantification] ending.

Usually, such transformation-type abilities consume MP [Mana Points] every second, so it’s common sense that they can’t be kept on for long.

‘If, if it weren’t for that, I could create a lot of distance!’

When will that skill turn off?

He didn’t know, but he hoped that it wouldn’t be long.

He hoped that when the limit was reached, [Giantification] would end, and he could create a lot of distance.

It was a vain hope based on ignorance.

Abet Necraphaeto didn’t know.

「Bjorn Yandel has used a transformation ability.」

「Due to the [Primordial Cell] effect, the soul power consumption of the skill is reduced by half, and the highest stat increases by 1.5 times.」

That the shield barbarian was already about 70% complete.

「Bjorn Yandel has cast [Soul Dive].」

「Soul power is regenerated in proportion to the soul power consumed.」

That unless someone else induced MP consumption, [Giantification] would never end—.

Whoooosh-!

At that moment, Necraphaeto, who hastily turned around due to a chilling sensation that arose from behind, saw it.

「The character has used [Aegis’s Dragon Armor].」

A giant soul warrior that completely ignored the sense of perspective.

‘…W, what kind of skill is it that the cooldown is already over!’

It wasn’t a skill but the effect of using an item, but it was natural that Abet Necraphaeto didn’t know anything about it.

Aegis’s Dragon Armor was a ‘secret number’ that didn’t even exist in the game.

He had no way of knowing that the stacks had quickly built up again because of the corpse army he had summoned.

‘…I, I was trying to create distance because of that…!’

He was so frustrated.

How could a tank use such overpowered skills in succession!

Ah, of course, there was no time to complain.

Tadat-!

He jumped off the summon like a dive, avoiding the giant axe falling like a punishment from the sky.

And as a result.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

He barely avoided the axe, but the summon he was riding disappeared without a trace.

Thanks to the Netherworld’s field effect, it would slowly recover, but at that rate, it would take at least a few hours to return to its original state.

“Tsk, I thought I could blow it up this time.”

The barbarian’s muttering was caught by his sharp hearing from afar.

Necraphaeto, jolted awake by this, quickly got up and started running on his own two feet.

Tadatadat-!

It was about 5 minutes after he started running on his own two feet that he noticed something was wrong with his body.

“…Ugh!”

He had avoided the direct hit of the axe, but perhaps he hadn’t avoided it completely?

‘M, my leg…’

One side was fine, but his left leg wasn’t moving properly.

He was forcing himself to move it, but each time, a throbbing pain crept up…

Crack-!

The pain grew more and more severe.

As a result, it was only natural that his movement speed was gradually decreasing.

Necraphaeto didn’t look back.

He focused on just running, saving even that time, and yet the sound coming from behind grew closer and closer.

Kooong! Kooong!

One step, one step.

The sound grew closer and closer, even though he was running desperately.

Kooong-!

It was when that sound was right behind him.

“Ugh!”

His body floated up as if his hair was being yanked, and.

“Finally caught you.”

When he opened his eyes, he saw the barbarian.

As if to tease him.

“Heh.”

Smiling with a sound.

***

The chase was finally over.

The time it took was a little over an hour…

‘Once everything is finished, I need to quickly acquire a movement skill.’

Although I had successfully finished the chase, I first thought about reflecting on my shortcomings and making improvements.

That’s because there have been too many situations recently where I felt regret due to the lack of a movement skill.

Even this time was like that.

If I had even [Leap], I could have finished this chase much more easily—.

“Ha, hahaha…”

While I was lost in thought for a moment, the guy suddenly let out an awkward laugh.

“H, how about we try to n, negotiate?”

Ha, why do these guys always act like this when they’re cornered?

“Yeah, no.”

“B, but if we talk, there might be something we can both win-win—.”

“Yeah, no.”

“……”

“Then let’s die now.”

I clenched my fist to put the guy, who was in an infant-like state, to sleep.

But then.

“…Huh?”

“I, I can’t die like this…!!”

The guy, who was grabbed by the hair, took out a dagger from the subspace and swung it.

Whoosh-!

It goes without saying, but the point the guy’s dagger was aiming for wasn’t my body.

Instead of my skin, which wouldn’t even be scratched by his dagger, he cut off his own hair that was being held.

And…

Thud.

He rolled on the ground as if performing a breakfall, quickly creating distance between me and him.

‘He’s still looking for an escape route even in this situation.’

Just like when he abandoned Vivian and ran away last time, he’s a guy with a strong desire to live.

Well, I don’t intend to blame him for that.

“If you wanted to live that badly, you shouldn’t have done things that would get you killed.”

With those words, I slammed the hammer down from above.

But…

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

The guy quickly rolled to the side and dodged.

However, since I had expected him to dodge, I immediately kicked towards his head.

But what is this again?

Tadat.

The guy did a backflip from that position and dodged the kick.

He’s quite nimble even though it seems like his leg is injured.

‘If I can just hit him properly once…’

Knowing that himself, the guy desperately resisted.

Whoooosh-!

Swinging the hammer.

Whoooosh-!

Reaching out his hand.

Kwaaaaaaaang-!

Slamming the hammer down again, but the attacks didn’t reach.

‘Ha, he’s really hard to hit.’

It felt like catching a fly.

It’s not particularly threatening, but it’s incredibly hard to catch with bare hands.

I just need to land the final blow, but that important final blow keeps missing.

“Can’t you just die?”

It was a bit annoying, but the more it was like that, the more I had to look at the situation calmly.

“…Hoo, hook.”

Even from a rolling stone, there is something to learn.

After letting go of the annoyance, I saw the guy, who seemed to be in a state of near-trance-like concentration, dodging my attacks.

And seeing this, a small realization came to me.

Whoooosh-!

The reason my attacks weren’t hitting was a problem with my mindset.

The guy had awakened all the senses in his body to avoid each attack, but what about me?

Have I really used all my strength and every move?

The answer was ‘no’.

Yes, so…

‘Right, in this case, it’s a mental attack.’

I continued to swing the hammer, which was only cutting through the air, and said.

The words that I judged would be most helpful in disrupting the guy’s concentration in this situation.

“Do you know? Abet Necraphaeto.”

“……”

“Actually, I’m a demon.”

“…?”

The guy’s pupils shook slightly, but he dodged the hammer again by bending his back.

Hmm, that’s not enough, huh?

“I was born and raised in Korea.”

I quickly continued speaking so that he wouldn’t have time to collect his thoughts.

“In Stone Iben, I used the nickname ‘Elfnuna’.”

“…What?”

Oh, he finally reacted properly.

Well, Elfnuna is quite a name in her own right.

Above all, I pronounced it properly in English.

Whoooosh-!

“Ugh!”

Perhaps his concentration was broken, the hammer barely grazed the top of his nose.

Ha, he’s still dodging even this?

“Clown, Abet Necraphaeto.”

When I brought out the name I only used at the Round Table, the guy’s pupils widened greatly.

His eyes seemed to be saying this.

‘…How do you know that name!’

Well, how else would I know?

Heh.

Feeling a strange sense of liberation, I said.

“I am…”

The truth I had always wanted to tell him in front of him.

“The Lion Mask.”

“…!!!!!!”

Whew, that feels so good.

Seeing that look of denial, my stress is completely relieved.

“…Y, you?”

The guy, who had stopped moving at some point, asked me.

“Lion… Mask?”

I nodded in response.

Yes, I am the Lion Mask.

So…

「The character has cast [Swing].」

Just die already.

Crack-!!!

Like a bug.