Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 100

Darkness descended the moment I entered the labyrinth.

I quickly lit a torch to illuminate the surroundings, then reached out to touch the stone monument right in front of me.

Ha, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Whoooosh-!

A monument untouched by anyone yet.

From it emanated a multicolored glow.

And a sensation, like a prickling in my heart, that unique feeling of getting something for nothing.

「You have opened the portal for the first time. EXP +2」

Misha murmured, watching the shimmering light turn into a sphere.

“Wha, what is that? Did you just open a portal?”

Well, she wouldn’t know about this sweet bug [exploit].

I repeated the explanation I had given to Ainar before.

“Dimensional instability? You can do this by using that?”

Unlike Ainar, who had given up on understanding, Misha was trying to make sense of it.

Of course, it was impossible.

Even I had a hard time explaining the actual principle.

I was just using a ‘phenomenon’ I had stumbled upon.

“…Rotmiller is pitiful.”

“Huh?”

“If he knew about this method… he’d be so devastated. Just like when I made a contract with a soul spirit using that ring.”

Ah, that’s what she meant.

I wondered what she was talking about, suddenly saying he was pitiful.

Certainly, if Rotmiller knew about this freebie bug, he would feel a great sense of deprivation.

[Even if it’s not now, if I keep trying, there might come a day when I can open a portal with my own hands. That’s my dream as an explorer.]

Like the ambition he cautiously revealed at the drinking party, he was sincere about his job as an explorer.

It wasn’t even a pipe dream.

His pathfinding ability was actually quite impressive.

He was among the top in the first floor, where he had been obsessively working on, even if not in other floors. If he could shorten his time by about two hours, he might be able to achieve his dream.

It wouldn’t be easy, though.

“Well, let’s go up for now.”

Anyway, enough with the small talk.

Misha and I stepped into the portal.

「You have entered the 2nd floor, Rocky Desert.」

Sand crumbled under my feet.

Hot air rose from below.

Stone ruins cast shadows along the flickering torch in the pitch-black darkness.

“Rocky Desert, huh.”

Ugh, why here of all places?

I led Misha back down to the first floor.

Then, I headed east, following the compass.

‘Since we got the opposite side, we’ll be walking for almost two days.’

If we had entered the labyrinth in the usual way, it would have taken only a day to reach any destination…

Well, if you gain something, you lose something.

Besides, the experience points gained from opening the portal are only 2, but they are the kind that stack permanently.

If we can get that by walking just one more day, it’s an unconditional gain.

“Ugh, I really feel the emptiness of Rotmiller’s absence.”

“……”

It took about three hours to get out of the dark zone, the outermost area. Even when following the compass, we occasionally took wrong turns and faced dead ends.

“But it’s nice to walk together, just the two of us, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, I mean… it’s nice to be noisy with five people, but this isn’t bad either.”

At first, I didn’t know what she was talking about, but listening to her, I think I know what she means.

The dwarf and Dwarki talk too much.

Honestly, I often chuckle, but most of the time, listening to them drains my energy.

“Giggig!”

After leaving the dark zone, we walked through a dimly lit crystal cave, and monsters kept attacking us.

The monsters that appear in this western district are gnomes.

As 9th-grade monsters, they died with a single whack.

“Gik…?!”

A mud doll, pulverized by a single swing of my mace. It’s not a problem to catch them, but it’s annoying.

The gnome’s active skill is [Unification].

It’s a stealth skill, so they only become visible when you’re within a 3-meter radius.

‘If Rotmiller were here, he would have taken care of them as soon as they appeared.’

Is it because I’ve been active in a 5-person party?

I can understand the dwarf, but I miss that old man a little. He was like a know-it-all who always silently did his job in the back.

Ah, and Dwarki too.

If he were here, I wouldn’t have to pick up the magic stones myself.

“Bjorn, someone’s coming over there… !”

As I was walking, lost in thought, Misha tapped my waist and whispered quietly.

As a beastkin with a keen sense, she seemed to have sensed the presence before I did.

“What are we going to do?”

What do you mean, what are we going to do?

They must have noticed us a long time ago.

Clank, clank.

Soon, a 5-person party appeared from the front.

A regular party with a mage and a priest.

As explorers who had reached this place in just three hours, their equipment was quite high-level.

‘…They must be at least on the 6th floor.’

I don’t know what kind of essences they have.

But the level 3 and 4 materials they were wearing from head to toe proved their level.

Equipment is like an explorer’s ID card.

However, it was the same for them, wasn’t it?

“Hmm.”

Their eyes, as they passed by, were filled with doubt and caution.

Well, of course.

They wouldn’t have expected to meet a barbarian and a beastkin wearing level 2 equipment here, especially at this time.

‘Hah, please just pass by.’

Fortunately, they passed us by without saying a word.

It wasn’t so much that my earnest wish came true, but rather…

They simply didn’t have the time.

“Mr. Levron, let’s pick up the pace.”

“Understood.”

They were speed-running, so that was a relief.

For some reason, they might have thought that other competitors might have gone faster because we came out here.

‘Geez, you guys are the fastest anyway.’

Since we’re going in reverse from the portal, I know that they are at the very front.

Well, no matter what, when they get there, they’ll see an already open portal.

“Wow, those people are really running.”

Misha exclaimed, as if it was the first time she had seen an explorer speed-running.

It took less than two seconds for them to come into view and pass by, but it seemed to have been quite an impressive sight.

“What are you looking at? We’ll have to do that someday too.”

“…Us?”

Misha tilted her head.

Well, no matter how much I say this, she wouldn’t feel it.

It was only recently that she was treated like a half-wit by her family for not being able to make a soul spirit contract.

“Looking at you, Bjorn, you seem to have big ambitions. Is it because you’re a barbarian?”

“…Are you being sarcastic?”

“You idiot, I meant it was cool!”

“Ahem.”

…She’s sometimes too straightforward.

Does she think she’s a barbarian?

***

“Did you see the weapon that swordsman was wearing earlier?”

“You mean that sword made of orichalcum [a mythical metal]?”

“Yeah, that one! So it was orichalcum. How much would it cost to make a weapon with that…”

After that, Misha kept talking about the party we had met earlier.

She seemed to have an admiration for high-level explorers.

Well, it’s a much more positive emotion than jealousy or arrogance…

But you can’t get anything with admiration alone.

“Stop talking and move your feet.”

“Hmph, anyone would think I’m standing still.”

Anyway, as we continued to walk east, the frequency of encountering explorers gradually increased.

In the beginning, most of them were high-level explorers like the party we saw earlier, but as time passed, their level gradually decreased.

I took out my watch.

[18:57]

It had been 19 hours since the labyrinth opened.

That meant we had been walking almost all day.

Thanks to that, we had reached the starting point. That is, the center of the first floor’s crystal cave.

Therefore, there was no need to worry about attracting the suspicion of high-level explorers by encountering them…

‘Hah, I didn’t think of this.’

Now that I’m here, this is also noticeable.

“Did you see that just now? The size of that mace…”

“His backpack also seemed to be an expansion type.”

Explorers looked at us with envious eyes as we passed by.

Well, it would look strange.

We, who should be hunting on a much higher floor, were standing right in the center of the first floor.

“Why are those guys still here…”

It was evening, time to find a night buddy and rest.

Every time groups of 3 or 4 explorers passed by, they each said something.

It was a bit of a strange feeling.

‘I used to be like that.’

When I first entered the labyrinth.

I also found a night buddy and rested like them.

The problem was, the first person I met was Hans A.

“Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

“I was just thinking about the past.”

To be precise, I laughed because I remembered how I pretended to sleep, exhausted, with Hans A next to me.

I had gone through all sorts of hardships before meeting Erwen.

‘Ah, I wonder how she’s doing?’

She has a rich older sister, so she must be doing well, but I suddenly became curious.

After all, she was the first companion I met in this world.

Should I look for her and meet her sometime?

As I was walking with such thoughts, a man came into view.

He didn’t do anything particularly noticeable…

‘Geez, he’s giving me a nasty look.’

Should I say I don’t like his eyes?

I could feel the envy and greed gleaming in his unpleasant gaze.

However, for some reason, I laughed again.

‘I’ve really grown a lot.’

If it were the old me, I would have assumed the worst and tensed up inside at that one look.

But I’m very different from that time.

Rather than becoming soft…

Pfft.

There’s no reason to be afraid of a goblin now.

Well, not that he’s a goblin.

If you look at his combat power, it wouldn’t be much different.

Even if I’m the type to assume the worst of the worst.

I can’t imagine myself being stabbed to death by that shoddy knife.

Um, yeah… it should have been like that.

‘Why do I feel so shitty the more I look at him?’

I needed to check it out.

“You.”

I suddenly stopped and looked at him, and he flinched and stood up from leaning against the wall.

His unpleasant gaze was now filled with caution.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

“Uh, no, I don’t…?”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“…I’m sorry.”

As the man apologized, Misha tapped my waist with her fist.

“Bjorn! Why are you suddenly doing this? What did this person do wrong…”

I feel like I’ve seen this scene on the street before. A thug picking a fight with a passerby, and his girlfriend trying to stop him.

No, but his eyes were especially shitty!

“What’s your name?”

“Hanste Ivan, sir.”

“Hanste? Not Hans?”

The man trembled at my question.

It seemed insulting that a barbarian suddenly came and made fun of his name.

But this was a really important part.

“Are you really Hanste? Not something you were mistaken about?”

“I, I’m really Hanste…”

Hmm, so was it just my imagination?

As I was organizing my thoughts and looking at him, the man added anxiously.

“W-Well, I was originally Hans, but I changed it because it’s too common of a name.”

“…What?”

Damn it, no wonder I felt like shit.

But since he even changed his name, I decided not to say anything more and just go on my way.

Ah, but I should give him some advice before that.

“Never go back to your original name. I mean, keep living as Hanste. Got it?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

Hanste nodded vigorously.

It was at that moment.

Thud thud thud thud.

The cave began to shake as if there was an earthquake.

Misha looked at me at this sudden phenomenon.

“Bjorn?”

Her eyes were asking for an answer.

Of course, I knew the answer.

Because there’s only one thing that causes this phenomenon in the labyrinth.

“Run!”

A rift is about to open.

And that’s happening before even the first day has passed.

‘Damn it.’

Almost no one knows this, but rifts are supposed to ‘naturally generate’ only after at least three days.

That means.

‘Who the hell is it?’

Someone has made the first move.

Using the method I was going to use.