Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 165

The 5th floor, the Great Demon Realm.

This is a level where teams start to reach their limits, and clan-sized hunts become more common.

My heart swelled the moment I stepped inside.

Not figuratively, but literally.

‘Huh? Bjorn, did you feel it too? It feels like our soul’s grade has gone up!’

Ainar immediately made a fuss, but it wasn’t a level up.

It was just an increase in soul force.

「Achievement Unlocked」

Condition: Reach the 5th floor.

Reward: Soul force permanently increased by +20.

But if this is possible, does that mean all the other achievements I’ve met the conditions for have been unlocked too?

I think so, but I can’t be sure.

I need to be able to see my stat window, but I can’t.

And mental strength isn’t a stat that you can really feel.

‘Calm down, Ainar. It’s not an ascension, it’s a phenomenon called a baptism.’

Raven, who likes to explain things, kindly told Ainar instead of me.

And he made it easy to understand, at eye level.

‘It’s said that the labyrinth bestows a blessing on explorers who reach this point. That’s the general understanding of baptism. Though, mages have a slightly different idea.’

‘Oh, I see! That’s kind of romantic!’

Ainar, who likes superstitions, didn’t ask about the mages’ ideas at all. But perhaps Misha, who was listening, became curious?

‘Then, doesn’t that mean that baptism is meaningless for mages who can’t absorb essence, nya?’

‘No. Our magic power increases. Looking at it now, the amount is quite significant. If I had known this, I would have come here sooner, like the seniors said.’

‘Uh-huh, I see…’

Misha trailed off.

However, I felt like I knew what she was thinking.

She must have been thinking about Dwalki, who was always short on magic power.

‘Ah, I heard that priests get an increase in divine power. And one more thing—’

I cut Raven off before his explanation went on endlessly.

‘More than that, isn’t something strange?’

‘Huh?’

Raven tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand.

On the other hand, Bear Uncle, who had been to the 5th floor often, nodded in agreement with my words.

‘There are a lot of people. It’s usually not like this.’

Yeah, it’s not normal, after all.

I swallowed hard, looking around.

The starting point of the 5th floor Great Demon Realm is a safe zone.

So, this place always looks like a campsite.

But….

‘Why are there so many tents?’

At this point, it’s almost the size of a village.

Not only that, but looking at the flags stuck here and there, it seems that more than half of them are explorers belonging to clans….

‘What is it? Why are they staying here?’

Most of the explorers who use this place as a base are in teams.

Is it a kind of loophole?

Clans with a large number of people can camp on their own in the middle of the 5th floor.

But….

‘Bjorn, everyone seems to be staring at us… Is it okay, nya?’

5th-floor explorers.

Explorers who are skilled enough to belong to a clan.

They’re looking at us from afar and whispering.

They’re not trying to be territorial, are they?

What is it, really?

It was then, as I was pondering the reason.

‘Hey!’

A man waved his hand from afar and quickly approached us.

‘Abman! It’s you, right?’

‘…Karal?’

‘Nice to see you. It seems you’ve finally changed your mind and found a team?’

‘It just happened by chance. By the way, are you still with them?’

‘A man’s gotta have loyalty. I’ll be buried here.’

Bear Uncle greeted him happily, as if they were quite close.

He then noticed my gaze and added an explanation.

‘Ah, this is Karal Larbeger. He used to be a colleague. Until he abandoned me and joined a clan on his own.’

‘When did I abandon you? I begged you to come with me, but you ignored me.’

Seeing Bear Uncle using a lighter tone than when he talks to us, it seems they are close.

This is good.

‘I’m Bjorn, son of Yandel.’

‘…Oh, so it’s you?’

Karal, who had heard the nickname ‘Little Vulcan’, looked at me with interest.

‘I heard you haven’t even been here for a year, but you’ve already come this far… I feel so pathetic today.’

‘It was just luck. More than that, there’s something I want to ask.’

‘I think I know what you’re curious about. You want to know why we’re still here when we should be heading up, right?’

Well, to be precise, I was most curious about why they were glaring at us from afar, but….

I nodded.

‘It’s simple. More than half of those who were supposed to join us haven’t come up. The whole schedule has been suspended.’

More than half haven’t come up?

How could that be?

I instinctively felt the seriousness of the situation.

‘So, I’ll ask you.’

Karal asked carefully.

And he brought up something completely unexpected.

‘Did you guys get attacked on the 4th floor?’

That masked bastard….

He didn’t just appear to us.

***

After thinking for a moment, I honestly answered that we had been attacked.

Then, Karal asked a few questions about the situation, and we honestly answered, getting the information we needed.

‘So, you found him with detection magic…’

‘It was purely by chance. When I first used detection magic, it showed that there was nothing there.’

After telling him that the masked man chose to kill himself when his identity was discovered, Karal’s expression became serious.

‘Huh, suicide, what is this…’

‘Do you have any idea who they might be?’

‘Not yet, other than that it was a thoroughly planned operation. Anyway, thanks for telling me. If you find out anything… I’ll have Abman pass on the news.’

Karal then left to report the news to his clan.

So, we also took some time to talk.

‘…It wasn’t just a simple robbery, after all.’

There were many masked men.

And they indiscriminately attacked explorers on the 4th floor and above. We were the third team to have survived and made it up after being attacked, or so they said?

I can understand it.

No one sets up a night watch even in the Tower of the Sky.

‘We were really lucky…’

In fact, even those who survived had their team members killed or seriously injured and barely managed to defeat the masked men.

We were the first case where they were discovered in advance and driven to suicide.

The gazes directed at us are now understandable.

At first, they must have looked at us, hoping we were their long-awaited members. Then, they must have wondered if we had been attacked too.

‘Yandel, is what that person said true? That at least 300 people died in this attack…’

‘Well, we’ll know for sure when we get back to the city. There will also be those who survived but are stuck on the 4th floor because their scouts or guides died.’

‘Ah, right…’

Of course, I said that, but it doesn’t mean much.

It’s certain that hundreds of explorers died.

And not lower-level explorers hunting on the 1st or 2nd floor, but veteran explorers who have been climbing the tower for decades.

‘Hoo…’

I felt a little relieved, even as I felt fear at this huge spark.

At least it wasn’t sent by the Dragonslayer.

I even had delusions that it might be an assassin sent by the regional lord or the Dragonkin.

‘Just what kind of brazen bastards would do such a reckless thing…’

I stopped talking at this point.

The fact that the royal family is planning a subjugation of Noark is still unannounced information.

‘This must be a declaration of war against that.’

I was inwardly convinced.

That the perpetrators of this terror were explorers from Noark.

‘This is going to be a big deal.’

A headache is coming on.

A war will break out between the royal family and Noark.

No, it’s already started.

But the biggest problem here is….

‘When the subjugation ends in failure.’

When Noark locks its doors and the war becomes prolonged.

Then I’m screwed too.

The next battlefield will surely be the labyrinth.

‘Because both Noark and Lapdonia need magic stones to maintain their cities.’

Damn it.

Why was I dragged into this game at this time? If I had come a year earlier, I would have had more time to prepare.

‘Uh… But if I hadn’t delivered the letter from the high priest to the temple, wouldn’t the war not have happened?’

I suddenly had that thought, but I shook it off.

Why is this my fault?

It’s all the Dragonslayer’s fault.

Originally, all three major religions were trying to keep a neutral stance to check the royal family. So, who told him to kidnap the high priest and use him as a slave?

‘Bjorn?’

‘Ah, I was just thinking for a moment.’

‘So, what are we going to do now, nya?’

When I finished my thoughts, all my team members were looking at me. Well, they still see it as a simple act of terror.

They wouldn’t be as confused as I am.

‘There will be no changes to the schedule. We will resume the exploration.’

I made a decision, and Raven cautiously expressed his concern.

‘Is it okay to go into the labyrinth when those guys are there?’

‘It’ll be fine. With all the clans gathered here, they wouldn’t do anything here if they had any sense.’

Rather, now is the safest time.

Next month, the burrowing bastards might be running rampant even on the 5th floor….

And perhaps the labyrinth might even be closed off.

‘Okay, let’s stop thinking and go make some money.’

The 5th floor will be closed after the 30th day, so we need to earn as much as possible.

We might have to rest for a few months.

***

The structure of the 5th floor Great Demon Realm is simple.

Imagine a flat, plate-shaped rock, then imagine slides extending in four directions.

The problem is that those slides are divided into dozens of paths, and they are cut off in the middle and connected to other paths, and so on.

Whoosh.

As we left the starting point, which was lit with red lights like a butcher shop, the darkness of the labyrinth and the scorching heat welcomed us.

Not all four paths are like this….

It’s the characteristic of the route we chose.

「The character has entered a special area.」

「Field effect – Hellfire Gorge is applied.」

「Status ailment [Ash Brand] is applied.」

「All consumption values are increased by 1.5 times, and fire resistance is decreased by -30.」

All consumption values.

In other words, it means that you consume 1.5 times more than usual, whether it’s soul force, magic power, divine power, or energy.

But it’s not bad.

Compared to other routes, this is mild.

「Arua Raven has cast the 8th-grade enchantment magic [Cold Blood].」

「The character’s fire resistance is greatly increased.」

The cold magic power seeped into my blood vessels, and my heated body cooled down.

In that state, we slowly continued our exploration.

We haven’t encountered any monsters yet, but just walking was more stressful than I thought.

‘This is like a cloud bridge.’

A path about 10 meters wide.

The darkness of the labyrinth blocking our view.

And the abyss emitting intense heat.

‘Ainar, stop looking down.’

‘I, I was just wondering what was down there…’

‘I heard there’s lava flowing down there.’

‘Lava? What’s that?’

‘Uh, it’s hard to explain…’

Raven diligently answered Ainar’s curiosity again. Ainar frowned every time a difficult word came up, but he still listened seriously.

‘In this aspect, they seem to get along well.’

As the team leader, it was a somewhat heartwarming sight, but I couldn’t just watch.

‘Ainar, stop bothering Raven and look ahead properly.’

‘Ah, okay!’

I tightened the loosened tension again and went down the sloping path. A fork in the road appeared in the middle, and I took out my notebook and drew a map that ignored the measurement system.

I have no intention of just hanging around near the safe zone, but….

I need to be able to return in case something happens.

After passing three forks in the road, I was personally realizing the greatness of Rotmiller.

KWAANG-!

The ground shook with an explosion.

Then, a pillar of fire that looked like a tornado brushed past us.

And….

Thud, thud, thud.

Small sparks scattered and fell in front of us, then gathered together to form a shape.

A beast covered in flames, its whole body burning.

‘It’s an Ifrit.’

‘Two 5th-grade monsters from the start.’

At the same time as the battle began, Raven cast the ‘Frost Enchantment’ magic. Ifrits are immune to physical damage because they are spiritual beings.

「Cold damage has been added to the character’s weapon.」

The frost-colored light flowed over the mace.

I ran forward in my giant form and swung my mace at one of them.

The feeling wasn’t great.

POW-!

It was the same mace that had shattered the troll’s shoulder in one blow, but the Ifrit didn’t even flinch.

That’s why I hate spiritual beings.

Unless it’s a ‘Property Conversion’ magic that completely changes physical power into the same level of another attribute, ‘Frost Enchantment’ can only deal damage equal to the additional damage.

‘Icy Fist.’

Raven’s 6th-grade curse magic ‘Rapid Freeze’.

And Misha’s [Ice Shatter] combo.

In the end, this battle flowed into a structure where Misha and Raven carried while I held out.

「You have defeated the Ifrit. EXP +5」

Bear Uncle summoned Iron Bear to assist as a tank, but Ainar just watched.

It was the fate of a physical warrior.

Roll.

A magic stone fell where the Ifrit disappeared.

As expected, no essence came out.

But instead.

「The character’s level has increased.」

「Soul force has increased by +10.」

「The maximum absorbable essence has increased by +1.」

I finally reached level 5.

This would only be meaningful if an essence came out.

[Kieeeeeeek!!]

Now, there’s only one monster left.

The beast of fire, having lost its precious companion, roared at us.

It was at that moment.

‘…Is that an Ifrit?’

A group of five explorers appeared from the opposite side. They seemed to be heading to the safe zone after finishing their hunt….

Where did they learn such bad manners?

‘It looks like it’ll take more than 5 minutes.’

‘Ah, I’m so tired, should we just catch it?’

A huge mass of water fell from the sky and soaked the Ifrit’s body.

The flames quickly subsided.

‘What are you doing—’

Before I could say anything, an arrow was shot and pierced the Ifrit’s head.

Swaaaaa.

The last one disappeared into light.

I sighed deeply as I checked what it had left behind in the world.

‘…Essence!’

The essence of a 5th-grade monster came out.

‘Damn it.’

I was so dumbfounded.

Why only at times like this?