Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 11

I had somewhat expected a portal to appear. Of course. The fact that I encountered the blonde party, who were high-ranking adventurers, was proof that there was a 2nd-floor portal in the direction I came from. That’s why I was so sure and followed the bloodstains as soon as I found them. But this, even I didn’t expect. To think the portal would be less than 10 meters from the starting point. “This is insane.” The memories of crawling on all fours flashed before my eyes like a panorama. Just how unlucky am I? If I had just gone a few steps in the opposite direction, I could have activated the portal and secured light. Then I could have seen and avoided that damn trap! “Mister, please say something. Don’t just make that scary face. If I did something wrong, I’ll fix it…” But what is she talking about since a while ago? Ah, it’s because of me. It’s annoying, so let’s just make something up. “Don’t worry about it. I was just thinking about the old days.” “Ah…” Erwen looked at me, relieved, and then looked at me with pity. I couldn’t believe it. The bloodstains, the bread crumbs, the sandal, the expression I was making. Just from these circumstances, she deduced what I went through on the first day? Her? “Surely, that person went to a good place.” Of course, that couldn’t be it. I knew it. “Yeah… thanks.” From the way she’s talking, it seems she misunderstood that I was reminiscing about a lost comrade from the past… I didn’t feel the need to correct her. It’s too long of a story to explain one by one. More than anything, I feel like I’d be overwhelmed with resentment if I talked about it to someone. So, let’s just bury this story. “Are you ready to go up?” “Honestly, I’m still scared, but for some reason, I don’t think I’ll die if I’m with you, Mister.” Come to think of it, she has a strange habit of talking too much. Just saying ‘yes’ would be enough. “Then let’s go.” “Yeees…” The moment I stepped into the portal with Erwen, my vision turned pure white. Like when light bursts out of a monitor. Flash-! [00:57] It was just past the fourth day since entering the labyrinth. 「You have entered the 2nd Floor Goblin Forest.」 I had reached the 2nd floor. *** If someone were to ask me how I feel right now, I would answer like this. It feels like I was chewed on for a while in the mouth of a giant frog before being spat out! “Kyaa!” My body is launched as if being bounced off something. I didn’t scream pathetically like Erwen, but if you look at the result, she did better than me. Thud-! I landed on my butt with a dull thud, while Erwen quickly regained her balance and landed perfectly. “Wow, I was surprised. Even my sisters didn’t tell me about this.” It’s something I’m realizing again, but she’s really physically gifted. It’s an agility that a barbarian can’t have. “Mister, is this the 2nd floor?” “Yeah.” “Hmm, I didn’t hear anything about a forest. Are you sure?” “The story you heard was probably about a different 2nd floor.” “A different 2nd floor?” Do the fairies not share labyrinth information properly? Why doesn’t she know this? “The portals on the 1st floor are four each in the north, south, east, and west directions, and the places they lead to vary by region.” “Ah, now that you mention it, I think that’s right!” …She just forgot. As I looked at her with a look of dismay, Erwen opened her mouth in a fluster. “Ah, the 3rd floor! No matter which route you take, from the 3rd floor onwards, they all connect again, they said. Right?” It seems she wants to show off the knowledge she has. I nodded, agreeing, and Erwen smiled with a satisfied face. I’m starting to get a feel for how to handle her. “So, what do we do now?” “Wait. I’m thinking.” First, I calmly checked the surrounding terrain. I need to go over what parts are different from the game and what parts are the same. For example, like how I flew about 3m when I came through the portal just now. Things that I couldn’t know from beyond the monitor. “Hmm.” First, I checked the surroundings one more time. Behind us is the portal where we can go down to the 1st floor at any time, and there are no living creatures in the open space about 50m in radius. Well, I don’t know about the trees far away. “Is there anything I can help with?” “Just stay still.” The 2nd floor map is a forest. The surroundings are dark like night, but thanks to the lights scattered like the Milky Way in the sky, I can secure some visibility. It’s about as bright as an alleyway without streetlights. However, it won’t get brighter as time passes and become daytime. Because this is inside the labyrinth. That’s probably not the sky either, but just a ceiling located high up. Well, there are floors where the real sky and sun exist, though. “Let’s start moving.” “Huh? Where are we going?” “We’ll explore the vicinity around this place.” I have a rough plan that I’ve been working on since the 1st floor. But there are a few things I need to check to see if it will actually work. So, let’s start with what’s visible. Clang-! I suddenly swung my hammer at a tree on the outskirts of the open space, and Erwen flinched. “W-what are you doing?” “I was checking if it’s possible to knock down a tree.” “Why would you check that?” “I was thinking of building a wooden fence around the portal.” “Hmm, I see.” Only then did Erwen nod her head with an understanding expression. It’s so annoying to answer each question. “Anyway, this plan is abandoned.” Erwen didn’t ask why either. Because she has eyes too. Even though I hit it with all my might, only a little bit of the tree’s bark was broken. What kind of tree is this? It’s a rock. “Then what’s the next plan?” “We’ll search this area as planned. And from now on, you’ll take the lead.” “…Me?” I decided not to accept questions. “Your job is to go ahead and find traps. And to be as careful as possible with your presence and be wary of enemies. Those are the two things.” “…It’s a division of roles, right? I understand.” Surprisingly, Erwen readily accepted the assigned role. But, why am I disappointed? Is it because I had all the words to persuade her ready? “Still, being in the forest makes me feel nostalgic for some reason. Even though I know there are only monsters.” Erwen walked along the forest path, saying something I couldn’t relate to at all. “Ah, there don’t seem to be any traps, but just in case, please only come the way I walk.” What is she? Suddenly, I feel a bit reassured. She was walking confidently, not even afraid of traps. Soon, Erwen murmured softly. “It’s a trap.” I can’t see it. “If you look over there, you’ll see something hidden under the leaves.” Even if she says that, I can’t see it. Then, Erwen gave me a look that said, ‘Why can’t you even do this?’ and threw a stone. Clatter-! There really was one. How can she find that at this distance in such darkness? Even though I knew about the fairy’s detection ability beforehand, seeing it with my own eyes is just amazing. There was a reason why you were walking so confidently. “How is it?” “You seem to be good at throwing stones.” “…Is that all?” “What else do you need?” Erwen’s shoulders, which had been puffed up, drooped at that moment. It’s the perfect timing to give her a carrot. Subtly, so it’s not too obvious. “Finding traps was a skill I expected from you from the start. You’re already a full-fledged explorer. Don’t get too excited over something obvious.” “Huumm…” She’s pretending not to be, but I can clearly see her shoulders twitching from behind. Thanks to that, I’ve completely got the hang of it. It seems like I can handle her like this in the future. “So, you’re saying I’m doing the role of one person? As a full-fledged explorer?” “Yeah.” Even though the distribution is 9:1. Anyway, it seems like the modified version of ‘one warrior,’ which our tribal chief especially liked, is working better than I thought. “But it’s strange. No matter how much I listen, it doesn’t seem like there are any goblins.” Of course. The 2nd floor is different from the 1st floor. Just because there are traps doesn’t mean there are goblins nearby. It’s easier to see traps on the 2nd floor as just a geographical feature. Because they’re everywhere. “Now, stop the chatter and focus.” “Yes.” I regained my focus and explored the area. The place where I am now is called the ‘Goblin Forest’ in the game. Aside from traps, the characteristic is that goblins basically move in groups of a dozen or so. Occasionally, there are variants, such as goblin swordsmen or goblin archers. Of course, if you go to the outskirts, the number of variants increases, and higher-grade monsters appear, but… We’re only planning to dabble around the entrance near the portal, so it’s not something we need to worry about much. “There doesn’t seem to be anything nearby for now.” We finished searching an area of about 200m radius around the portal. There were countless traps, but no goblin groups were found. “What should we do?” “First, we’ll remove all the traps in this area and then gradually increase the range.” We gradually expanded our area by removing traps with stones from a distance. We have to run away to the 1st floor if it’s dangerous. It would be a disaster if we stepped on a trap while running. It was when we had expanded the radius to over 500m. “Mister.” Erwen stopped and whispered. I also held my breath. “It’s a goblin group.” “How many are there?” “I don’t know. There are definitely more than ten…” “What’s the distance?” “About 50m. I don’t think they’ve noticed us yet. What should we do?” Why is she saying something so obvious? “We fight.” Erwen didn’t argue with my words. It’s a bit scary, but she knows it too. That there’s no choice but to fight. If she really didn’t want to fight, she shouldn’t have entered the labyrinth. “How much closer can you get without being noticed?” “If I were alone without you, Mister, I think I could get up to 30m. Any further than that is impossible. Goblins have a more sensitive sense of smell than I thought.” “I see.” After a brief moment of thought, I decided to move according to the plan I mentioned earlier. Erwen also slowly walked towards the goblin group, parting the bushes. Is that what a fairy is like? It’s amazing every time I see her walking through the bushes without making a rustling sound. “…” Soon, Erwen stopped walking. And after looking at where I was, she turned her back and nocked an arrow on her bow and shot it when I nodded. Whoosh. Was it a hit? I don’t know. It’s so far away that I couldn’t hear the sound of it hitting. I hope she pierced their forehead properly this time too. Tatatat! Starting with the arrow being shot, I immediately ran towards Erwen. “Grrrk!!!” “Grrrk!!!” Even as the goblins rushed in, excited, Erwen was calmly preparing her second shot. Whoooosh! It’s an insane rate of fire, as I feel every time. These are the parts that I couldn’t feel at all when I saw them in the game. Thud-! One of the goblins that was running fell down. The location of the hit was not the forehead, but the neck. Well, even if she’s a fairy, it would be difficult to hit a moving target accurately from a distance. “Erwen, you retreat.” “Yes!” Erwen retreated without hesitation and disappeared from my sight. Now, all I can see in front of me are the swarming goblins. It’s three times the size of what I encountered on the 1st floor. Even if they’re just goblins, I should feel a little intimidated by this many, but… Surprisingly, I don’t feel any fear at all. No, rather. Thump-! The warrior’s heart in this body is throbbing with hostility, heating up my head. “Grrrk, grrrk!!” “Grrrrk!!!” Listening to the threatening howls of the numerous goblins, I shouted instead. “SPARTAAAAAAA—!!!” Come at me, you bastards.