Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 101

“W-What the heck! All of a sudden……”

“An earthquake…?”

The explorers who were sleeping woke up to the rumbling that spread through the ground.

I realized.

Once a Hans, always a Hans.

‘I can’t believe even changing his name was useless.’

I sighed deeply and looked at Hanste… no, the man who will now be remembered as Hans G for the last time.

“I-I didn’t do anything!”

Yeah, I guess not.

How could you, here, have opened a rift?

It’s just my luck that’s screwed up.

“Bjorn?”

“Run!”

I grabbed Misha and started running.

Because there’s no time.

Even without any explanation, Misha asked.

“…Could it be that a rift has opened?”

“Yeah.”

Just like my life, another shitty thing happened.

Of course, it’s not the kind of shittiness that threatens my life.

But…….

‘Damn it, how much did I spend?’

I chose the rift to enter and bought items accordingly.

I even got excited and did a lightning attribute enchant.

But, oh my god, what is this?

“Bjorn! Over there!”

I don’t know who it is, but someone has messed up my plans.

Is it a player?

Or just someone with a lot of knowledge about this world?

Well, I’ll get a feel for it once I go in.

Whoooosh-!

A portal formed in the direction Misha pointed.

Probably by now, there are easily thousands of portals generated throughout the first floor.

“Misha!”

I pulled Misha into my arms in case we might fall.

And then, I threw myself into the portal.

***

「The character has entered the first floor rift.」

***

Thud-!

After landing with a heavy thud, I let Misha down from my arms.

And immediately checked the surroundings.

Whether we barely caught the last train or not, there were already three men and women who had entered the rift before us.

First, I carefully examined each one.

“Oh, a barbarian and a beastkin, how reassuring. Please call me Carlson.”

First, a human male.

His height is in the early 170s [about 5’7″], and his weapon is a sword.

If I were to describe his first impression as an animal…….

Well, a rat would be appropriate.

“…You won’t be a burden. I am Abman Urikfrit.”

The second is a beastkin male.

Judging by the round ears on his head, he seems to be from the Black Bear tribe, one of the seven major tribes [a race of humanoids with animal features].

His characteristics are his burly, muscular body and a massive crossbow that resembles a siege weapon.

“Hello. I’m Zensia Neiprin. I use this sword here as my weapon. I will try not to be a burden.”

The last one is a human female.

Her height is around the mid-160s [about 5’5″], and she has a pretty face.

Also, surprisingly, she has black hair and twin tails.

It’s not that it doesn’t suit her, but I didn’t think there would be someone who actually wears this hairstyle.

Anyway, it was our turn now, so I introduced myself as the representative.

“I am Bjorn, son of Thor, and this is Michelle. As you can see, we are a team.”

“Huh?”

Huh, what huh.

I sent her a look to stay still, and she seemed to understand my intention, pursing her lips. And then, she relaxed her eyes and stared into the air.

…Is that her poker face?

It was obviously strange, so I took the lead in the conversation before anyone’s attention was drawn.

“I am in charge of the guardian role in the labyrinth, and I am the most confident in it. What are you guys good at?”

When entering a rift, checking each other’s strengths is the most basic procedure.

“I’m good with swords! Ah, and I ate the essence of a goblin archer, and I’ve been trained as a scout since I was young, so I have some knowledge of traps and mechanical devices.”

The woman named Zensia explained herself in more detail.

Not a goblin swordsman, but the essence of an archer?

As soon as I heard that, I thought, ‘What a shitty character,’ but it wasn’t something I needed to worry about deeply.

It’s not a character I’m raising anyway.

From the start, I could tell she was a newbie just by looking at her equipment.

“I mainly use a sword and shield. That… Bjorn-ssi? Anyway, I’m not as good as you, but when we work as a team, I’ve been in the front line, taking the attacks.”

The sword and shield warrior Carlson was better than Zensia, but in the end, they were similar.

At best, around the mid-second floor?

Still, he didn’t reveal his essence as naively as the previous woman, so he seems to have some experience.

Well, or maybe he just didn’t get any.

‘Two newbies who are outside of combat power…….’

Well, I kind of expected it.

The situation is different from when I met Hikurod and Raven. It’s only been three months since the rift opened, so it’s impossible to prepare and wait in advance.

Even this is because it opened on the first day; otherwise, there would only be locals who haven’t even been to the second floor.

‘In that sense, it’s still suspicious.’

I turned my gaze to the last person in line.

But did he take it as a prompt to introduce himself?

“As you can see.”

The macho, bearded, muscular bear-like man shrugged, shaking the large crossbow he was carrying on his back.

He was the only mid-level explorer among the three.

I asked directly, like a barbarian.

“I’d like you to tell me how reliable you are.”

“Shouldn’t you say it first in that case?”

Oh, that’s true.

“I am a 6th-grade explorer, and Mishal is a 7th-grade explorer. We used to be active mainly on the 4th floor.”

“I see, I am a 5th-grade explorer.”

Damn it, he wasn’t mid-level, he was high-level.

Typically, 6th-grade is called mid-level, 5th-grade is high-level, and 4th-grade is top-level explorer.

That’s because the gap between grades is so huge, with guilds even conducting promotion reviews from 6th-grade onwards.

Sigh, this is getting more suspicious.

“Why is a 6th-grade explorer here?”

“Isn’t that the same for you guys?”

Jeez, why does this old man have to be so argumentative?

“…We originally worked as a team, but due to circumstances, we came in as a duo. Since we don’t have a scout, we haven’t been able to go up to the 2nd floor yet, but we came in because the rift opened.”

The answer I had prepared to tell if there was anyone suspicious when the rift opened.

However…….

“What a coincidence. I’m similar. Well, it’s been a while since I left my original team.”

Sigh, damn it.

‘Is it real or a lie?’

I wondered if there really was a tough arrow-slinger who could solo, but when I looked at that macho old man’s face, it was convincing.

‘Still, I should be most careful of this old man.’

I designated the bear old man as the number one target of caution.

Not only his combat power, but every single circumstance is suspicious.

‘In the first place, if it’s not this old man, there’s no one who could go to the 2nd floor at this time and mine an 8th-grade magic stone.’

Of course, that’s just based on the circumstances that have been revealed so far.

It’s also possible that Carlson and Zensia are hiding their skills.

“Ah, but who came in first?”

I then asked casually, as if it were purely out of curiosity.

Who opened the rift?

I judged that if the three of them weren’t in cahoots, this one question alone would reveal their identity.

However…….

“Well? It seems like we all came in together……”

“It was so simultaneous that I don’t think we can say who was first.”

“You’re worrying about strange things.”

I guess I’m not allowed to get anything for free.

Sigh, damn it.

This is like a mafia game or something.

***

Someone unknown opened the rift.

With this, many parts of my plan went awry.

First of all, there’s the distribution problem.

“Okay, then it’s decided.”

After discussion, it was agreed that I, Misha, and the bear old man would each take three shares, and Carlson and Zensia… or ‘Zenson’ for short, would share one share.

The world of explorers is a ruthless place.

“It won’t be a loss. I’ll give you all the remaining essences.”

“Yes……”

What is commonly called kicking away the ladder [a metaphor for using someone and then discarding them].

It was also what I had been subjected to by the dwarf and Raven in the Crimson Citadel.

For reference, I was going to do the same.

Because what would be left if I showed generosity and consideration in a place like this?

‘Jeez, he’s more generous than he looks. I wasn’t even going to give them any magic stones.’

My plan was to open the rift around the third day.

And I was going to monopolize everything among the locals on the first floor and make them do all the dirty work.

But a variable called the bear old man appeared, and I had no choice but to make considerable concessions in the distribution.

For now, Misha will eat the guardian essence, but…….

If a Numbers item or a rift stone is dropped, I have to roll a die with the bear old man.

‘Ha, I’m not confident in dice.’

My stomach is already churning.

It’s not that I’m not confident in losing, it’s that I’m not confident in winning.

That’s why I tried not to create the variable of dice in the first place…….

“Then let’s get going.”

I shake off my lingering regrets and move forward.

Behind me, ‘Zenson’ is on either side, behind them is the bear old man, and behind him is Misha, forming a line.

Crack.

Like walking on thin ice, I hear the sound of cracking with every step.

It wasn’t exactly a wrong description.

We were currently crossing a frozen lake.

That was the only silver lining.

‘I can use the items I prepared.’

There are a total of four first-floor rifts.

Depending on the type, there are differences in the monsters that appear, the difficulty, and of course, the rewards.

So, where should we go?

After much deliberation, I chose one place, and coincidentally, that was the place I was walking on now.

[Glacier Cave]

An 8th-grade monster that appears in the Beast Lair on the 2nd floor.

A rift that opens when the magic stone of that monster is offered at the altar.

For reference, the selection criteria were solely Misha.

Well, I also have one essence slot left as I reached level 4 this time, but…….

‘There’s nothing really worth eating.’

Even if it’s a rift, it’s a first-floor rift.

Even the guardian is only 7th-grade, and they’re not the kind of guys who drop essences that suit me.

‘That’s probably why this old man readily gave up the essence.’

Anyway, I judged that it would be more efficient to raise Misha for now and use that to fill the empty slots with better essences later.

Oh, wait a minute.

I feel like this happened last time, and then Ainar left for the holy land…….

‘Surely that won’t happen this time… right?’

“Why did you suddenly stop?”

“It’s nothing.”

I shook off the sudden thought and focused on my surroundings.

Still, we’ve entered the rift, haven’t we?

Besides, there’s an unknown mafia, so it’s not the time to be spacing out.

Swishhhhhh-.

A frozen snow mountain.

Snowflakes scattering and falling from above.

And the sunlight, reflected by the ice, feels even more stinging.

‘It’s strange to come to a place like this after being in dark places all the time.’

After walking for about 30 minutes, the lake area ended, and a suspicious cave leading underground appeared.

For reference, a monster was blocking the way.

“Groooooo!”

A 7th-grade monster, Yeti.

It only appears in the ‘Glacier Cave’ and is a gatekeeper-level elite monster that appears from the start.

Seeing the guy who let out a threatening roar as soon as he saw us, Zensia muttered.

“S-Surely, do we have to catch that and go down?”

The answer came from the bear old man.

“I don’t know what this place is like, but in rifts, the place where monsters are is usually the path.”

A reply that made me nod my head as a gamer.

He’s getting more suspicious…….

“Don’t go out and die for nothing, you guys stay behind.”

“…Is it really okay?”

At the bear old man’s kind consideration, ‘Zenson’ looked at me and Misha. Well, it’s not very conscientious to ask them to risk their lives fighting a guy like that for just 10% of the magic stones.

So, I just told them to do so.

In the first place, it would just be uncomfortable if they were messing around next to me.

“I’ll go first.”

The bear old man then took the massive crossbow off his back for the first time.

And…….

Whoooosh-!!

The battle began as he shot an arrow.