Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 104

105. PK (1)

The one who opened the rift.

In other words, who is the mafia?

It’s a question I’ve had ever since entering the ‘Glacier Cave’.

The mafia was a ‘wildcard’ for me.

I needed to figure out in advance whether it would be a positive or negative influence. So, instead of assuming Bear Old Man was the mafia, I kept all possibilities open and gathered clues.

As a result.

‘So, it was that guy.’

I found the person suspected of being the mafia.

However, that was all for now.

I don’t know what this guy wants.

‘Hah, I can’t just kill him.’

Not knowing his true intentions makes me feel even more uneasy.

If that guy is indeed the mafia, there was a high chance he would become a negative influence later on.

However…

‘For now, I should keep watching him.’

The mafia is just one person.

And he hasn’t done anything yet.

Killing him out of the blue would cause problems.

Flap-

Unless I also ‘silence’ the two innocent ones.

***

“Michelle, are you okay?”

“…Me? I’m fine?”

Misha answered nonchalantly, but in reality, she must be exhausted from yesterday.

Unlike Jensen or Bear Old Man, we only got three hours of sleep because we were on night watch.

“Don’t worry. It’s better than the Witch’s Forest, right?”

“That’s… true.”

I chuckled and shook off my worries.

Well, she wouldn’t be faltering at this level after enduring that.

“Stop flirting and let’s get going?”

Bear Old Man said, and Misha quickly backed away to her position.

The very back of the formation.

A position where she could immediately notice if anyone tried anything funny. If she wasn’t here, I would have been hesitant to stand at the front, regardless of the tank role.

Thump.

As I took my first step, the group followed suit, matching my pace.

‘It feels different in real life than in 2D graphics.’

A dark and gloomy ice cave.

The icy ground is slippery, and the overall terrain is more three-dimensional than the crystal cave on the first floor.

There were steep slopes, and even places where the path was cut off, requiring us to use ropes to cross.

However…

“Still, it’s a relief that there seems to be only one path.”

We didn’t have to wander around without a scout.

There were side paths here and there, but they soon led to dead ends.

We just had to follow the main path.

Smashing the monsters that appeared from the ice walls.

Thwack-!

For reference, the monsters that appear here are Wormstones, Saber Tigers, Frost Wolves, Ice Golems, and Owl Bears.

Unlike the Crimson Citadel where the level 7 monster ‘Bone Knight’ appeared, most of the monsters here were level 8.

‘But the actual difficulty is higher here.’

Status ailment [Hypothermia].

A debuff field effect that reduces agility by up to -30 and doubles the damage taken from cold attacks when you don’t have cold resistance.

“Nefprin, please be careful. Maybe it’s because my body is stiff, but their attacks seem more painful than before.”

“Ah, I see…! So that’s why!”

As the journey continued, ‘Jensen’, who was in the second row on both sides of me, started to groan.

Of course, I didn’t slow down to accommodate them. After all, their contribution was practically non-existent.

Thud.

In reality, it was just me, Bear Old Man, and Misha protecting Bear Old Man. As the three of us were clearing the path, we were slowly reaching the end of the chapter.

Has it been about four hours?

As we walked through the winding passages, going up and down, a vast open space appeared.

“Whew, what a sight.”

Three monsters trapped in crystal-clear ice pillars.

“Their skin is white, so they must be Ice Orcs.”

“…Ice Orcs?”

“They’re only level 7, so don’t worry.”

The Ice Orcs were holding different weapons.

One had an axe, one had a hammer, and one had a shaman’s staff.

“…Are we going to have to fight them too?”

“They wouldn’t be here for no reason.”

Bear Old Man replied cynically to Jensia’s mutter.

And at that moment.

Crackle-

The ice pillars that were trapping the Ice Orcs all cracked and began to shatter.

“Geez, they don’t even give us time to look around?”

Regardless of Bear Old Man’s relaxed reaction.

“Don’t panic and stay in formation!”

I shouted urgently at Jensen, who was fidgeting. After all, it’s easier for Misha to watch you if you stay in formation.

“Ah, yes!”

Jensen came to my sides, and Bear Old Man moved back to take a sniping position. At the same time.

Crash, Thud thud thud.

Ice shards fell, and the Ice Orc trio woke up.

They let out ferocious snorts, as if they were mid-bosses.

[Shrieeeeeek-!]

One shaman and two warriors.

It’s a pretty balanced composition, and with [Hypothermia] on top of that, they’re quite a tricky opponent.

If you don’t know the strategy.

“Hoo…”

I took a deep breath and raised my shield.

I was quite nervous.

Not because of the Orcs, who I could handle anytime, but because of something else.

‘If he’s going to pull something, now is the perfect time.’

There’s a mafia in the team.

Of course, I don’t know what his goal is.

Maybe he just wants to break the rift, and he has no intention of harming others.

But, I have to prepare for the possibility that it’s not the case.

Therefore—

Clang!

I focus only on defense rather than offense.

It’s better to hide my strength in case something happens.

In that sense, I also told Misha not to step forward and just watch.

“Why aren’t you running to your lover and still here?”

“Who knows what might come out from behind. And he’s not my lover.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like it yet.”

Bear Old Man questioned Misha’s positioning, but he seemed to accept it as a reasonable explanation.

And…

“Tsk, those guys are useless, so I guess I’ll have to use some power this time.”

He unleashed an ability he had never shown before.

「Abman Urikprit has summoned the Iron Bear Iradun.」

A huge bear emerged from the portal that appeared in front of Bear Old Man.

It was a spirit beast.

‘…Iradun, you say?’

I was honestly a bit surprised.

I thought he might have already made a spirit beast contract since he was a level 5 beastman explorer, but…

‘I didn’t expect him to be a summoner.’

I understand why he was able to solo even though he was an archer.

If you have a tank summon, there’s no need to stick to a team.

[Gaaaaaak!!]

The summoned bear cub ran quickly on all fours, then stood up next to me, roaring. And it began to mark one of the warriors, as if it was used to it.

‘Now that it’s like this, I should go with Plan B.’

I acted completely rationally.

Nothing has changed anyway.

Since I hid my strength, Bear Old Man also brought out the spirit beast he had been saving, right?

[Shrieeeeeek!]

For that reason, I allowed the Ice Orc’s hammer to hit me.

If it hit my body, it would be obvious that I was faking it, so I just headbutted it.

Clang-!

I was wearing a helmet, and my bone hardness stat was decent, so my head didn’t get smashed.

It was just a bit dizzy from my brain shaking.

Even that was quickly recovering due to my natural regeneration stat.

However…

Thud.

I collapsed to the ground.

That’s because I judged that if I caught the Orc trio too easily, I wouldn’t be able to probe the mafia’s intentions.

“A-are you okay… Ugh!”

Carlson was startled and ran to me, taking over the aggro.

And at that moment.

「You have defeated an Ice Orc Warrior. EXP +3.」

The arrow shot pierced the hammer Orc’s head.

As a result, the shaman’s aggro changed to Bear Old Man, but…

The level 5 explorer was experienced.

Tap.

Bear Old Man nimbly dodged the shaman’s magic with his 190+ cm physique, loaded his crossbow, and shot accurately.

「The Ice Orc Shaman has cast [Steel Ice Wall].」

The shaman’s defensive skill was meaningless in front of that monstrous arrow.

How could a level 7 monster block that?

KWAHAAAAANG-!

The arrow that broke through the ice wall hit the shaman’s head and exploded.

「You have defeated an Ice Orc Shaman. EXP +3.」

Now there’s only one Orc left.

‘At this rate, he’ll catch them all with three arrows?’

I felt a sense of futility.

The battle was so easy that my plan to make it difficult was becoming meaningless.

‘Is this what a level 5 archer is like?’

Well, the floor is cold, should I just pretend to come to my senses now?

While I was contemplating, someone muttered.

“So that was his spirit beast.”

A cold voice.

“Now I can proceed with the plan.”

Bear Old Man, who was loading the next arrow, collapsed, spitting blood.

Thud.

The mafia finally made his move.

***

There are a few prerequisites that must be met to become a mafia.

To have enough knowledge to know how to open the rift.

To be good at finding paths, enough to go to the second floor and back in 19 hours.

To have the ability to clear it alone.

With just this, the shape is roughly revealed.

A scout with level 5 combat power.

That’s the identity of the mafia.

The problem is that all three of them had this potential.

1. Bear Old Man.

Level 5 explorer.

His way of thinking is similar to a player, and so on.

It’s pointless to talk about it.

2. Carlson.

He was the only one who only said his name during the introduction.

He didn’t mention the essence he possessed.

Also, his low-level equipment was well-maintained.

Like new.

I wondered if it was disguised equipment, so I kept watching him, but he didn’t eat the Frost Wolf essence either, giving a reason.

He was suspicious enough.

Well, not as much as her though.

3. Jensia Nefprin.

She said she had been trained as a scout and had some knowledge.

She also said that observation was her specialty.

In my opinion, they were all insurance.

To make the following lines sound natural.

[S-surely, we don’t have to catch that and go down?]

When we met the Yeti blocking the cave.

[Oh! It’s glowing when I touched it.]

In the second chapter.

[I feel like my body isn’t moving well…!]

When the mid-boss cast [Suppression].

[By the way… is it all over now?]

Even when everyone was off guard before the last wave started.

She kept pointing out the core points while pretending not to.

As if she knew the strategy.

Of course, this was nothing compared to Bear Old Man or Carlson.

If it wasn’t for the dirt on her shoes.

The first thing I checked when entering the rift was the shoes. To open the ‘Glacier Cave’, you need to go to the Beast’s Lair on the second floor.

Jensia was the only one with dirt on her shoes.

Well, I can understand if she didn’t wipe off the dirt she stepped on in the city, but…

[Now that I think about it, there’s one strange thing, Jensia’s smell changed after she fell into the water.]

Misha’s tip made me certain.

Even if she’s not as good as Rotmiller, she has a high olfactory stat as a beastman.

[She used to smell a bit more foul.]

[Like the Beast’s Lair?]

[Ah! Now that I see it, that’s it. Why did it feel familiar!]

Jensia is the mafia.

I judged that she was a malignant influence with a high potential to become a negative influence.

And thanks to that, I was able to prepare in advance.

Stab-!

The moment Jensia’s sword pierced Bear Old Man’s abdomen.

Misha, who had dashed in as if she had been waiting, threw a potion bottle and hit her.

Clang!

The glass shattered and the contents spilled out.

“Thank you, that’s worth 30 million stones— Kyaaak!”

Jensia, who was about to say something leisurely, was startled and backed away after being doused with the liquid.

“W-what is it! What did you do to me…”

I quickly got up.

I wonder if my fainting also played a part in her choosing this moment to attack?

“What is it, what is it…”

Jensia looked even more confused.

Instead of answering, I shouted.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

What is it? It means it’s self-defense from now on.