Surviving The Game As A Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 108

“Ugh.”

“Don’t move yet. Your wounds haven’t fully healed.”

“…Did you save me?”

“Even after using a top-tier potion.”

The awakened Bear Ahjussi had a complicated expression.

He was happy to be alive, but there was a slightly unsettling feeling, like something was amiss.

Well, he probably knew.

How much profit we could have gained if he had died.

[Thank you, it must be worth 30 million stones—]

30 million stones.

It wasn’t an exact amount, but it was a rough estimate from Jensia, who had plenty of looting experience.

Bear Ahjussi, who was well-versed in the ways of explorers, quietly muttered.

“…You got lucky.”

I agreed.

How many explorers would choose to save someone in this situation, rather than wait for them to die?

“I’ll pay for the top-tier potion.”

That was a given.

“How much do you want?”

“Hmm, 5 million stones should do it.”

“…But top-tier potions are usually around 1 million stones?”

“Is that so? Then I guess I got ripped off by the merchants.”

Bear Ahjussi was momentarily stunned by my sly attitude, then chuckled.

“Indeed, the price of things changes depending on the situation.”

As a seasoned Tier 5 explorer, he seemed to understand exactly what I was saying.

“5 million stones… a reasonable price.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“…You two, what on earth are you talking about?”

You stay quiet.

We’re having an adult conversation here.

“But I don’t have that much money right now. I’ll pay the 5 million stones when we return to the city.”

“Hmm.”

“Instead, I’ll leave this item with you. I’d like you to return it after I pay in the city.”

Bear Ahjussi took out a skull-shaped bracelet and handed it to me.

“It’s a Numbers item. I just used it once, but it’s still worth well over 5 million stones.”

After that, Bear Ahjussi briefly explained the item, but I already knew what it was.

No. 7611 ‘Necromancer’s Deception’.

An item that puts the wearer into a state of suspended animation when they receive fatal damage, granting them temporary damage immunity.

It breaks after being used three times.

‘So that’s how he survived.’

I asked if he would just give it to me instead of the 5 million stones, but Bear Ahjussi firmly stated that he was only leaving it as collateral and would pay in cash later.

“Don’t even think about running off with it, Bjorn, son of Yandel.”

What, how did he know?

Bear Ahjussi chuckled as I flinched.

“I’ve heard about the barbarian who travels with a beastkin. And that young lady has called you by your real name a few times.”

“Oh, did I do that?”

“Don’t worry. I understand not wanting to draw attention. I won’t go around telling people.”

That’s a relief.

More than anything, it would be a bit of a hassle if it got into the ears of the Dwarkina dwarves.

I had left under the guise of a request.

“So, what happened? Did that bitch die? And you two took down the guardian?”

Having survived death, Bear Ahjussi first finished the calculation for his life debt, then asked about the situation.

There were too many details to explain, so I just nodded. Fortunately, Bear Ahjussi, knowing the etiquette of an explorer, didn’t pry further.

“Bjorn, son of Yandel of the Small Balkan. I thought it was an exaggerated story, but after seeing what happened today, it doesn’t seem so.”

He seemed surprised that we had taken down the guardian, even if Jensia was a given.

Anyway, after setting a time and place to meet in the city and distributing Ahjussi’s share of the magic stones, his injuries had completely healed.

“Bjorn, son of Yandel, and Misha Kalstein. Thank you for saving me. I won’t forget today’s kindness.”

With those words, Ahjussi hopped into the portal and left the rift.

He really was a cool guy to the end.

***

After Bear Ahjussi left, I took some time to examine ‘Necromancer’s Deception’.

Two of the three gems were glowing.

That meant there were two uses left.

‘I’ll just wear this and return it.’

Just in case, I put it on my wrist.

I remembered Bear Ahjussi’s words about making sure to return it safely, but…

‘Well, I’ll just use it well and return it.’

Anyway, I put that issue aside and took some time to think.

‘5 million stones, huh…’

I got a decent reward for the top-tier potion. Well, it was nothing compared to the 30 million stones I had in mind.

‘I’ve really become a barbarian.’

To be honest, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t tempted at all.

And why wouldn’t I be? I didn’t even have to lift a finger.

Whether Bear Ahjussi was a good person or a bad person.

If I had just waited, I could have gotten enough money to raise my Soul Imprint to level 6 in one go.

But…

I poured the potion on his wounds.

It wasn’t because of some philosophical dilemma about how letting someone die for money when you could save them was no different from a looter.

It was simply because of Misha.

“…Why, why are you looking at me like that? I’m suddenly getting anxious again.”

“It’s nothing.”

Whatever my own corrupted moral standards were.

I decided it wasn’t something I should do with a future companion by my side.

However, now that it was all over, I had this thought.

‘What would have happened if I were alone?’

It wasn’t just for the sake of wealth and glory.

In this world, money is power, and it’s as good as life itself.

If Misha hadn’t been there, what choice would I have made in the face of that enormous temptation?

‘…It’s not a problem I need to worry about yet.’

Whether I wanted to or not, there would come a time when I would find out as I continued my life as an explorer.

So, I stopped thinking and packed my things.

“Huh? Aren’t we leaving?”

Leaving where?

There were two things to take care of.

I took Misha and moved along the ice passage.

It was originally blocked, but the passage had appeared when Tyrant Tarunbas showed up earlier.

If you follow this passage, you can move to the second chapter we were in earlier.

“Wow… how do you know all this stuff? Information about rifts is super expensive.”

“It’s thanks to Ragna.”

“Ah, uh-huh… that woman…”

When I made the excuse of the secret library Ragna had opened for me, Misha accepted it without question.

She doesn’t usually read books, so she tends to believe it when I say I saw it in a book.

KWA-BOOM!

After arriving at the second chapter, I went up the stairs in reverse and smashed the third pillar from the top.

It was an item that I had passed by while observing the mafia, which increased cold resistance once when consumed.

「The character has consumed ‘Magic Ice Shard’.」

「Cold Resistance permanently increased by +3.」

Misha already had enough cold resistance, so I ate it.

Well, I was planning to give her the next one.

After passing through the first chapter, we came out of the glacier cave entirely. Then, we crossed the frozen lake and headed to the starting point.

KWA-BOOM!

A small pond near the starting point.

After smashing it with my mace, I dove into the icy water and pulled out a red ice orb.

“Here, eat this.”

“Shouldn’t you tell me what it is first?”

Would I feed you something bad?

Still, after giving her a rough explanation, Misha calmed her anxiety and crunched it down.

「Misha Kalstein has consumed ‘Ice Crystal’.」

「Cold Sensitivity permanently increased by +3.」

In fact, ‘Ice Crystal’ was the signature item of the glacier cave.

It increased sensitivity and could be eaten up to three times, so when developing an ice build, I always came to the glacier cave first.

‘I should come here first again when the cooldown is over.’

It was quite chilly from diving, so I lit a campfire and dried off.

I put back on the clothes I had taken off and folded earlier.

“So, that’s the end of it.”

“Oh, are we finally leaving?”

What are you talking about?

I took out a blanket from my bag.

“…Why are you laying out a blanket?”

“You didn’t get much sleep last night because you were on watch. Let’s rest for a bit.”

In fact, there was no safer place in this labyrinth than a cleared rift.

It was a bit cold, but…

There was no better place to take a good nap.

“Don’t worry. There’s no one here but us.”

“…O-oh, I see. So, we’re just resting for a bit?”

“Yeah. It’s cold, so come here. Let’s just share the blanket.”

“…S-should we?”

The chilly wind brushed against my nose.

The warmth of the campfire.

As it became nighttime, a dark blue Milky Way stretched across the sky, twinkling.

And within it.

“Bjorn… are you asleep?”

Zzzzzzzzz!

“He, he’s asleep?”

We closed our eyes for a while.

***

「You have entered the 1st floor Crystal Cave.」

***

Tier 5 explorer, Abman Urikfrit.

He took a long breath as he opened his eyes in the Crystal Cave.

Only then did it sink in.

‘…I’ve returned alive.’

After an incident, he had left the team he had been with for a long time and had been working alone ever since.

He had faced many crises.

After all, this labyrinth was not an easy place to wander alone.

But there had never been an enemy as dangerous as this time.

It was as if he had gone to the gates of the underworld and barely returned alive.

‘…I was lucky.’

He felt it again and again, he was lucky.

He had met a crazy bitch who had entered the rift with the intention of looting from the start, hiding her identity.

There was a kind explorer in the team who was willing to save him, someone he had no connection to.

And that person had a top-tier potion.

What were the odds of that?

‘I should make an offering at the temple when I return.’

No matter how many times he thought about it, it was truly a miraculous event.

After enjoying the afterglow of survival for a while, he changed the subject in his mind.

‘By the way, Bjorn, son of Yandel, huh…’

Bjorn, son of Yandel of the Small Balkan.

He had heard that name several times in the city.

Of course, he hadn’t thought much of it at the time.

Just that a unique guy had appeared?

To him, a Tier 5 explorer, explorers with titles were nothing new.

But…

‘He’s an interesting guy.’

He was different from the typical barbarian.

He seemed simple and ignorant, but he was experienced, quick-witted, and skilled in negotiation.

To put it simply, he was similar to a barbarian who had been an explorer for a long time.

Pure, but not naive.

That’s probably why he was able to notice.

The woman’s dark intentions that even he hadn’t noticed.

‘He got a title in three months and now he’s already this experienced… he’s definitely going to be big.’

He didn’t have any ill feelings towards him.

Rather, he only felt gratitude.

No matter how much it was an explorer’s fate to chase money, how many people had been consumed by it?

Being asked for 5 million stones as a treatment fee?

Just the fact that he hadn’t been stripped of all his equipment was enough to say that he had upheld his duty as an explorer.

Well, there were many who had forgotten that duty, which made his actions seem even more special.

‘Well, that’s probably why that young lady follows him so much.’

Abman recalled the beastkin young lady who seemed to be the barbarian’s companion. The barbarian had given her the essence of the yeti and the guardian without any compensation.

‘That young lady is also very lucky.’

Having such a companion was a great blessing.

Sigh, if only my old teammates had been half as good as him, I wouldn’t have had to wander alone like this—

‘No, wait a minute…’

At first, it was just a fleeting thought.

But he changed his expression and seriously considered it.

‘He might not be so bad after all.’

After this incident, he was already feeling doubtful about wandering alone.

‘…Well, I can’t keep wandering alone forever either. And it seems like they only have two people.’

Abman made a decision.

Many clans and regular teams that had tried to recruit him would be disappointed if they knew…

Who cares?