Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 162

Arua Raven.

Flowing golden hair.

A small stature, just over 150 centimeters [about 5 feet].

Adding to that, her thin frame makes her look like a kid at first glance, but….

When she gets serious, there’s nothing scarier.

Just like right now.

“Did Yandel know?”

Ah, well….

“I didn’t know it would be this bad either.”

When I answered honestly, Raven’s eyes became even sharper.

However, like a barbarian, I just scratched the back of my neck.

We’re already in the labyrinth, what’s she gonna do?

“I’ll find the way from now on. Abman, you just keep telling me where the portals are.”

“…Okay.”

It seemed like Mr. Bear was also intimidated by Raven’s gaze, so he handed the reins over to me without much argument.

Okay, now this is important.

“Ha, really….”

Looking at her expression, it seems she realized she’d been tricked, but Raven is holding back, wanting to see how things go first.

So, I need to show her clearly during this exploration.

That even if the guide is a lost cause, it doesn’t significantly hinder the exploration.

Before a string of curses comes flying out of that tiny mouth.

“Then let’s go.”

Using Mr. Bear as a compass, I quickly find the way.

I could feel Raven’s distrustful gaze on my back, but I’m not too worried.

Knowing the cardinal directions is enough to find the second floor, isn’t it?

‘At forks in the road, just go where the passage is wider, and you’ll be more than halfway there.’

‘Avoid hilly areas, as they’re likely dead ends.’

‘From the outer edges, always go towards the darker path with fewer crystals.’

Various tips I picked up from the pure effort-type guide, Rotmiller.

Using these, I minimize wasted movement, like backtracking due to dead ends.

And as a result.

“Oh, we got here faster than I thought?”

We reached the outermost dark zone earlier than expected.

Ah, and from here, it was much easier.

Originally, we would have had to search the surroundings for a portal rather than relying on a compass, but….

“It’s that way.”

We have a guide who can perceive the location of the portal without us having to do anything.

So, we just follow that direction, and that’s it.

Of course, the portal had been opened by another explorer a long time ago.

「You have entered the Goblin Forest on the 2nd floor.」

After reaching the second floor, Raven’s expression softened quite a bit.

“12 hours to the second floor… not bad.”

Okay, so we’re in the clear.

Well, in the exploration plan, they had set 13 hours for breaking through the first floor, so there’s no reason to complain.

“I wondered why they were so generous with the time when there was a guide.”

Raven glared at me with a look of being tricked, but surprisingly, she didn’t hold a grudge.

Is she the type who’s okay as long as the result is good?

‘Rational.’

In that sense, I made sure that the pre-set schedule wouldn’t be disrupted on the second floor either.

Even though we had set a tight schedule to clear it within 24 hours….

“Abman, which way?”

“That way.”

There are eight portal stones in the Goblin Forest.

However, once one is opened, the remaining stones just turn into rocks. Therefore, it was standard for later teams to search for portals by going around the outer edges.

Ah, for reference, I heard it takes an average of 2-3 days.

Assuming there’s no guide on the team.

‘With a guide, one day is enough. No need to go around.’

Without even taking out the compass, we went straight in the direction where the portal was open.

“Raven, can you increase the light sphere magic?”

“I can handle about three without any problem.”

The absence of a professional scout was not an issue.

That the entire forest is a field of traps?

Since we lit up the entire area like it was daytime, it wasn’t a threat at all.

Well, the goblins kept swarming in because of the light, but….

“Grrr—!!”

Now, even if dozens of goblins attack at once, I can handle them alone.

“Then, let’s rest here for today.”

We prepared camp around 9 PM.

The location was the outer edge of the Goblin Forest, where Hobgoblins started to appear.

“…Do explorers usually do such forced marches?”

It must have been a tough day for Raven, as it was her first proper exploration, but the body’s rhythm should be properly adjusted on the first day when there’s still plenty of stamina.

“We’ll usually camp around this time, so it’ll be a bit easier from tomorrow.”

“…Well, it’s kind of interesting, feeling like I’m actually exploring.”

“Stop talking and go to sleep. We have to keep moving tomorrow.”

“Okay. Wake me up if anything happens.”

As usual, Raven was excluded from the night watch.

Just setting up an alarm magic was enough to be considered doing her part.

“Hey, Bjorn… about Ainar, is it okay to leave him alone later?”

Misha cautiously expressed her concern, looking at Ainar, who was next in line, but I chuckled and said firmly.

“It’s okay. He won’t fall asleep or anything.”

Ainar is surprisingly reliable in these kinds of situations.

He has a distrust of humans, and barbarians themselves consider it shameful to not keep their promises.

In fact, when the two of them were traveling, they kept watch just fine.

Back then, they had to stand guard for four hours at a time and didn’t get much sleep, so they must have been much more tired.

“Hmm, I see… I guess I had some prejudice.”

After an 8-hour camp where the four of us, except Raven, took turns on night watch for 2 hours each, we resumed the exploration early in the morning.

And we found the portal before the afternoon.

「You have entered the Pilgrim’s Path on the 3rd floor.」

The exploration was smooth even after reaching the 3rd floor.

The battles were so easy that they weren’t even good practice, and there were no issues with finding the way.

Mr. Bear didn’t get lost in places without paths, like the first floor or the city.

「The character has entered a special area.」

「Field effect – Witch’s Forest is applied.」

The Witch’s Forest, which I was secretly worried about, was the same.

By tying ourselves together with ropes like a string of dried fish and following Mr. Bear, we were able to clear it easily.

And now, after time has passed.

“Oh, a tower! Bjorn! There really was a tower in the middle of the forest!!”

“Hehe, see, I told you? There are many strange things in the labyrinth.”

“Behel—laaaaaaaa!!”

“…Yeah, I guess you just felt like shouting?”

We reached the 4th floor portal.

And that was only on the afternoon of the 8th day.

‘At this rate, it’s almost the same speed as when Rotmiller was here.’

While I was pleased with that fact, I also felt somewhat bitter.

Is it true that effort can’t overcome talent?

“Yandel, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing much.”

“Th-then, can’t we go in quickly? My stomach is churning because of the ominous magic vibrating throughout the forest.”

Was it because of her innate high magic sensitivity?

Raven was suffering from motion sickness even worse than Dwarki, though she hadn’t thrown up.

So, I wanted to make her comfortable as soon as possible, but…

“Wait a bit, we can only enter when the portal color changes.”

“Ah, right. I’ve heard about that. It’s because another team might be inside first, right?”

“Otherwise, we could be mistaken for looters and get attacked.”

Raven patiently endured without complaint when I gave a reasonable explanation.

Soon, the portal’s color changed.

“Alright, let’s go in quickly then.”

It was time for a proper climb.

***

「You have entered the 4th floor, Sky Tower.」

***

Sky Tower.

A unique type of floor where random combinations of monster groups appear in each stage.

Since it was a place I usually called the Training Tower, I planned to properly coordinate our attacks here.

However…

‘…With this much of a power difference, it’s meaningless.’

After the first battle, I realized.

The combat power level was completely different from Team Half-Pint.

It was impossible to fully coordinate our attacks on the 4th floor.

「The character has cast [Giantification].」

The super-giant mace, which had greatly increased in size and performance due to [Unification]. When combined with the attack skill [Swing], even a 7th-grade monster felt like a goblin.

The key here was that there was a separate main damage dealer.

「Abman Urikprit has cast [Hazardous Material].」

Beyond one-shot kills, the powerful damage of the 5th-grade archer, Mr. Bear, who swept the surrounding area, and the high-grade tank summon, named ‘Iron Bear’.

「Arua Raven has cast the 6th-grade attack magic [Fire Shower].」

On top of that, Raven, a traditional mage with four elemental attack magics and over a hundred types of curses and support magics, had insane utility.

‘Yeah, there should be at least three carry positions on the team.’

The team’s completeness had greatly increased.

At the 6th grade or lower, no matter what strange combination of groups appeared, it was possible to attack in the most appropriate way within 3 minutes.

‘They’re just lacking compared to the three of us, but Ainar and Misha are also doing their part properly… As expected, we should be able to handle the 5th floor even in our current state.’

Therefore, rather than practicing coordination, we focused on climbing the Sky Tower.

However, the speed didn’t pick up as much as I thought it would.

The reason was extremely simple.

The battle speed itself was incomparable to Team Half-Pint, but…

Our team didn’t have a professional scout.

‘Everything is good, but it’s a shame that it takes too long to clear the Trial of Wisdom.’

The Trial of Wisdom was a kind of shortcut.

Instead of going through a maze full of traps and monsters, it allowed us to skip 5 stages at once.

Moreover, unlike the Stairway of Courage, there was no 4-hour cooldown before choosing the next stair…

It took Rotmiller about 1 hour to clear it.

It took us about five times that long.

“Bjorn, can’t we just fight monsters?”

I was just as frustrated as Ainar, but there was no choice.

If we only chose Courage, it would take more than 16 days to reach 100 stages. It would be impossible to break through the 4th floor before the labyrinth closed.

“It’s too late today. Let’s rest and continue climbing tomorrow.”

We had only cleared the Trial of Wisdom once since entering the tower, but it was already past 10 PM, so we prepared for camp.

Of course, it was quite different from our usual camping.

We didn’t even need to set up a watch schedule; we just laid out our sleeping bags in our desired spots.

“No watch in a labyrinth!! Misha, my head is spinning!!”

“Hehe, I think I know how you feel. Even when I first came here, it was hard to adjust, so I couldn’t sleep well—”

Snore-!

“Hey, I’m talking here… !”

Ainar had fallen asleep as soon as he lay down in his sleeping bag, and Misha sighed at this, then started preparing to sleep by wiping her body with a wet towel.

“Bjorn, why do you keep glancing over here?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Come on, turn your head away. We’re comrades, comrades! It’s no use regretting it now, okay?”

No, I said I wasn’t looking.

I sighed and focused on wiping the blood off my mace.

But, was that not to her liking again?

“Tsk.”

Misha clicked her tongue as if for me to hear.

It was a change that had occurred since we moved to our inn.

When we agreed to act like nothing happened, she suddenly started jokingly mentioning that day more often.

Well, I didn’t have any complaints though.

‘…Maybe this is better.’

Misha had confessed her feelings to me, and I had drawn a clear line. No matter how much we wanted to act like nothing happened, it couldn’t be undone.

So, she must have thought about it and made a decision.

This was much less awkward than being careful with her words every time while being conscious of that incident.

“Then, I’m going to sleep first.”

“Okay.”

Misha also went into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes, and when I checked next to me, Mr. Bear was also preparing to sleep after spreading out his sleeping bag in the corner.

Snore-!

While organizing my equipment, I picked up Ainar’s greatsword and roughly wiped it down.

As I was doing that, Raven quietly approached.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Yes.”

“Speak.”

“I did some calculations, and at today’s pace, we won’t have much time left even after reaching the 5th floor.”

…She did the calculations again.

Sigh, that’s just how mages are.

Of course, I could understand her concern.

The more time we wasted here, the less time we would have to be active on the 5th floor.

“Our gains will also be lower compared to other teams.”

“…This is our first exploration. It takes time now because we don’t have a professional scout, but it will get faster.”

“If that’s the case.”

Raven didn’t say anything else after that and returned to her sleeping bag.

It wasn’t because she had fully understood my words.

She would probably come back if it continued to take 5 hours to clear the Trial of Wisdom like today.

With an extreme solution.

‘…Whatever, let’s just sleep.’

I placed the well-cleaned greatsword next to Ainar and laid down in my sleeping bag.

And how long had it been since I closed my eyes?

[Mr. Yandel, just listen quietly.]

Raven’s voice echoed in my head, waking me up.

It was the ‘Telepathy’ magic.

However, why would she wake me up while I was sleeping, even using magic?

[While washing up, I felt something was off, so I used detection magic…]

[There’s one more person here besides us.]

[So, absolutely don’t move.]

The situation was really simple.

I honestly didn’t know how she could speak so calmly, but…

[That person is right behind me right now.]

Our mage was about to die.