Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 14

“Persi? Persi!” The leader shouted someone’s name urgently. Of course, there was no reply. My instruction to Erwen was clear: take out the crossbowmen first, no matter what. “What the hell did you do?” Only then did the leader address me, but even as he spoke, he seemed wary, guarding his back instead of focusing on me. That was a huge mistake. I hate people who ask questions when they’ve already made up their minds, especially those who do it so blatantly. Smash! The moment the leader’s gaze flickered towards the bushes, I didn’t hesitate. I dashed forward and swung my shield. Whoosh! Sadly, I didn’t connect. To dodge that, a goblin would have surely been sent flying into oblivion. “Illyes! Now!” At the leader’s command, the samurai lunged at me, executing a precise horizontal slash. Clang! Sparks flew from the shield. Damn, the impact was intense! I almost dropped my shield. Despite my surprise, I charged towards the three of them, hoping to distract them and give Erwen a better opening. However… Whoosh! Another swing missed. Is it because they’re second-floor explorers? Fighting them makes me realize how short the shield’s reach is. But the more I thought about it, the more aggressively I swung my shield, closing the distance. Then, I heard the sound I was waiting for. Whoosh! Finally, Erwen’s support fire had begun. However, the arrow didn’t hit the space between the eyebrows, the neck, or even the legs or arms. The tall guy with the sword and shield blocked it with his shield. “I’ll block the arrows! Don’t worry about it and deal with the barbarian!” No wonder he wasn’t attacking me. He decided to focus solely on the arrows? Humans are so much more troublesome than goblins. Bang! As I blocked the samurai’s attack with my shield, the leader sneakily swung his sword, aiming for my left arm. Slice! Fortunately, I reacted in time, so it wasn’t a deep cut. It was a graze, but my arm was already damaged, so it didn’t matter much, and with the paralysis poison circulating, it didn’t hurt much either. “This is, like, a monster…” The leader muttered, seeing that I didn’t even flinch after being cut. Damn, don’t blame me. It’s your fault for being weak. I cursed inwardly, pushed the shield forward, and used my strength to knock the samurai back. Then, another support shot was fired. Whoosh! It came from a completely different direction than before, as if she had changed her sniping position, but the tall guy was no pushover either. Thwack! The tall guy blocked the arrow with his shield again. Is he an outfielder [a baseball player who plays in the outfield]? He’s going out of his way to block what was aimed at someone else. Just as I was starting to get impatient with the lack of progress, Whoosh! The shield, with arrows stuck in it like a hedgehog, quickly began to burn. “Shit!” Unable to bear the heat, the tall guy threw his shield away. Sorry, our archer is a spirit archer [an archer who uses magic]. You should have used a solid iron shield like me, you cheapskate! Whoosh! With the annoying shield gone, Erwen didn’t hesitate to shoot another arrow. “Aaaah!” The arrow hit the tall guy’s shoulder. He dropped the sword he was holding and became a useless piece of trash. “Illyes! I’ll take care of the fairy!” Only then did the leader realize the situation and leave the samurai to me, running into the bushes. It was too late to catch him. Damn it… I guess I have no choice but to trust Erwen. “Just give up, barbarian.” The samurai stepped back and spoke with forced dignity. Humans are so annoying. What’s with the fake act? It’s obvious he’s trying to buy time until the leader comes back. Thud! As I dashed forward and used Smash, the samurai’s expression crumpled. “Why are you so scared when you’re alone?” “I’m not alone!” I asked the samurai, but the tall guy answered as he stood up. He was holding the one-handed sword he had dropped earlier in his left hand. But… Whoosh! Is it because he’s right-handed? His swordsmanship is terrible. He was so good with the shield, but why is he so weak? Thwack! I neatly dodged the tall guy’s attack by taking a step back and then kicked his knee. The tall guy screamed, veins popping out of his neck. “Aaaah!” Oh, I didn’t expect it to break like that. The tall guy grabbed the area around the bone protruding from his knee with both hands and collapsed to the ground. I thought about finishing him off, but unfortunately, the samurai ruined it. Clang! The heavy impact that I couldn’t get used to, no matter how many times I blocked it. Why is he with these losers? Does he have a story? I don’t know, but it will be the biggest mistake of his life. Whoosh! As I used Smash, the samurai skillfully created distance and dodged. Immediately, I threw away my shield, dashed forward again, and reached out my hand. It’s called… pretending to Smash and reaching out. I’m too lazy to name it now. It’s not even fun. “Guh!” The samurai’s face was filled with bewilderment as I grabbed his neck. “Didn’t expect this, did you?” I pulled the samurai with my overwhelming strength. And, instead of my unmoving left arm, I bit down on the samurai’s neck with my mouth— Crunch! I tore it off. “Ah, ah, ah…” The samurai couldn’t even scream. With a blank look, he covered his neck, which was gushing blood like a fountain, with both hands and staggered backward… Thud, he fell to the ground. “Mister!” Did she take care of it on her own over there? As soon as the battle ended, Erwen appeared from the bushes, panting. “Mis…ter?” I spat out the chunk of meat in my mouth onto the ground and wiped my mouth with my arm. Damn, it’s so fishy. *** The difficult battle was over. Or was it just me who felt that way? Erwen was fine, as if she hadn’t even been in a close-quarters fight, just like when we parted. On the other hand, I was completely wrecked. “Mister! Quickly, drink this.” Erwen handed me a potion as I knelt on the ground, my tension released. Gulp, gulp, gulp… I carefully emptied a bottle of potion, feeling like I was drinking poison. It wasn’t just the poison, but because the injuries weren’t concentrated in one place, Erwen said it was better to drink it. Anyway, was it because I emptied the whole bottle? It felt completely different from usual. “Ugh…” Something was boiling inside my stomach. I felt a pain like small chestnuts bouncing and rolling through my blood vessels, and my skin was so itchy that I felt like I was going crazy. That lasted for more than 10 minutes. “…Mister, hang in there.” Erwen wiped my sweaty body with the same handkerchief as before. Was it because of the poison? Or was it just because I was dirty? I don’t know, but the white handkerchief turned completely black. …I should buy her a new one later. “Okay. I’m, okay now.” I struggled to get up, feeling a little better. Looking down at my body, I could see scabs forming over the large and small cuts and stabs. If I drank another bottle of potion, they would disappear, but I decided not to. “This will leave a scar…” What does it matter if I have scars? I’m a barbarian. “Water.” “Yes, yes! Here you go.” At my word, Erwen quickly rummaged through her bag and pulled out a water bottle. It felt like I was a lord. Gulp, gulp, I drank the whole bottle, and my energy started to return. Has water always been this delicious? The veins that had been protruding all over my body had also calmed down. “Get the clock out.” With Erwen’s help, I checked the time. And I froze. [23:20] Damn it, they’re not even giving me time to rest. There were only 40 minutes left until the end of the 7th day. If I didn’t get down to the first floor by then, I would have to spend another 3 days in this cursed place. “Erwen, take off their clothes.” “Yes, yes?” No, not you, them. I pointed to the corpses, too tired to say anything, and Erwen let go of the front of her clothes. “No, leave the clothes. There’s no time, so just take the equipment, magic stone pouches, and backpacks.” “Yes, yes!” Knowing there was no time, Erwen moved quickly. “Ah, I’ll go get the red-haired guy’s stuff and the crossbow guy’s stuff too!” Okay, be careful not to step on any traps. While Erwen was gone, I stripped the samurai and the tall guy of their equipment. I threw away the chest protector, the samurai’s sword, and the charred wooden shield… After sorting the equipment, I roughly estimated the value and looted only the expensive-looking items. And as I was stuffing them into my backpack, Erwen arrived. “Ugh…” She looked quite heavy, carrying two backpacks. But sorry, I can’t help because I have three. I checked the time again. [23:35] Now there were only 25 minutes left. “Let’s run.” “Are you sure? You look tired…” “Don’t worry about it.” Erwen looked worried, but she nodded after seeing my expression and opened the way. And so, the forced marathon began. “I’ll follow you no matter what, so open the way as fast as you can.” “Yes.” I sent Erwen ahead and kept running, pacing myself. Maybe it was because of the mental fatigue, but my body felt strangely heavy. Or was it just because of these backpacks? …But I can’t throw them away. I went through all that trouble, so there should be a reward. Isn’t that a just world? “Huff, huff, huff…” How long had it been? I could see the portal in the distance. Erwen, who had arrived first, was waiting for me in front of it. Her expression, filled with both support and pity, was like a heroine from a youth manga [a Japanese comic book aimed at a younger audience]. Damn, it feels like I’m going to be left behind alone. Feeling uneasy, I mustered all my strength and quickened my pace. And… “I’m going in first!” “Eek, me, too!” Like in reality, not a manga, I boldly skipped the emotional hug and entered the portal. Flash! The burst of light was the same as usual. But for some reason, it felt like the light was embracing me. *** My impression of returning to the first floor wasn’t much different from when I entered the second floor. It felt like being ejected from the belly of something. “Kyaa!” Sadly, the result was the same as well. No, was it worse? Thud! I was almost thrown down like I was being grabbed by the hair, while Erwen landed safely again. …How is that even possible? When I was thrown into the second floor, I at least floated in the air and drew an arc, but this time it was almost like a fastball in baseball. Damn it, my bones are aching. “This is kind of fun!” Yeah, I guess so. If I were next to someone like me, I’d probably laugh too. “Huff…” I stretched my stiff body, got up, and shook off the dirt. And I checked the time. [23:58] I barely made it. I don’t want to say it was luck. Because then I’d have too many reasons to blame the sky. If things go well, it’s because of me, and if things don’t go well, it’s because of my fault. Living with that mindset is good for my mental health. “You worked hard, Mister.” “Yeah, you worked hard too.” We looked at each other for a moment and said our goodbyes. Wait, I feel like I forgot something… “Loot distribution!” “Ah, right! Essence!” Erwen and I shouted at the same time, as if we had both remembered. “Essence?” “Yes! You asked me to promise something earlier!” Ah, right, there was that too. Only now did I remember what I had forgotten. But there’s no time to talk about it for long. I quickly checked the time again. [23:59] Looking at the second hand, there were about 15 seconds left. I quickly closed the clock and looked up at Erwen. So, that, that… what was the name? It was something like Black something… “Black Whale! Let’s meet at the Black Whale Tavern!” “Yes!” Erwen nodded at my urgent shout. Now, I think I can rest easy— 「The dungeon has been closed.」 「The character will be moved to Lapdonia.」 Ah, shit, I didn’t say what time.