Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 168

The Otherworld beyond the mirror.

A hidden field, like Larcaz’s Maze.

The difficulty here is quite high right after entering.

Well, monsters pour out from the start.

“Bjorn! They’re coming again!!”

No sooner had we finished one battle than another wave of monsters came rushing in.

The scale is on a different level than before.

Eight 7th-grade beast-type Flame Wolves.

Five 6th-grade nature-type Salamanders.

And three 5th-grade plant-type Redwoods.

“Raven, is the magic ready yet!”

At my shout, a blue light burst from Raven’s wand.

“Narua Bridgeanu Toon!”

A 5th-grade wide-area ice magic, [Ice Rain].

In the game, it was called Blizzard.

Kuuuuung-!

The gray clouds formed in the sky pour out sharply honed ice picks.

Kwakwakwakwang!!

More than half of the monsters were destroyed by a single spell.

Of course, 5th-grade monsters were fine even after such a wide-area attack.

“Behel—raaaaaaa!!”

A combination of [Wild Outburst] and [Giantification].

Thanks to the increased threat level, the monsters gather around me without me having to do anything.

This is why a tank is as important as a mage here.

[Gaaaaaak!]

I focused solely on defense, blocking the Redwood’s vine whips with my shield.

The so-called Barbarian Turtle Mode.

If I used [Swing], I could probably take down one on my own, but…….

It’s better to save soul power.

Because the threat level drops when [Giantification] ends.

“Take out the Salamanders first!”

While I was dealing with the three Redwoods, the mage prepared magic for the next wave.

So, it was the other damage dealers’ turn to shine this time.

Kwaaaaang-!

With support from Bear Uncle’s ranged attacks, Ainar and Misha began to take down the monsters in earnest.

The time it took to clear the mobs was about 3 minutes.

‘Since there are two melee damage dealers, the mob clearing is fast.’

After that, the five of us worked together to defeat the 5th-grade monsters.

However, there was no time to rest.

“……They’re coming again.”

No sooner had we finished one battle than another wave of monsters came, drawn by the sound.

We continued to repeat the process, and it was after about ten more battles.

“Yandel, I don’t have much mana left.”

Raven’s mana, which had been using wide-area attacks, had dropped to less than a third.

Of course, it wasn’t a big problem.

Because the early waves were almost over.

“Don’t use attack magic, help with support.”

“Yes!”

After that, Raven used her remaining mana to curse enemies or buff the team.

Around that time, my [Giantification] also ended.

Bear Uncle, who had been spamming explosive arrows, also seemed to have little soul power left.

“Behel—raaaaaaa!!!”

As it became more difficult for the three of us to play an active role, the importance of Ainar and Misha, or the melee sisters, increased.

Melee DPS is still the best.

“Uoooooo!! This is the kind of battle I wanted!!!”

Ainar’s excitement reached its peak as she faced countless enemies.

As a barbarian, known as a battle race, her excited state was actually helpful.

‘Has she always fought this well?’

It seems like she’s just swinging her greatsword clumsily, but she avoids everything she needs to.

A fighting technique as if she had taken some kind of stimulant.

‘Come to think of it, she said she also trained in swordsmanship there…….’

Her combat sense itself seems to be far superior to Misha’s.

Anyway, since the battle was slowly coming to an end, we changed our formation.

“Abman, send them this way now!”

Iron Bear Iradun, who is in charge of our team’s tanking support.

Or Woong for short.

[Woong-!]

Even Woong, who had been protecting the ranged damage dealers from the rear, joined the front line, adding strength to the front line.

Because it really seems like everyone is at their limit now.

The mage’s mana is completely depleted, and even support has been cut off.

Crack! Crack! Whoooosh!

Maces, swords, and large crossbow arrows.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been pushed to our limits, and we’re clearing the remaining monsters with only normal attacks that don’t contain skills.

“I think it’s over now…….”

The battle ended with smashing a burning skeleton with a mace.

Hundreds of magic stones scattered on the floor.

“But, were the magic stones always this dark?”

“It’s a characteristic of this space. The density is about twice as high.”

In other words, a double event is in effect.

It took Raven several minutes just to collect them with her little remaining mana.

Ah, and an essence came out too.

“I saw that! It came out from where that guy with human heads hanging all over him died!”

“The Headhunter, I see.”

A 7th-grade fire-type undead monster.

So, I coolly threw it away.

It would be useful if I ate it, but…….

Now that we hunt 5th-grade monsters every day, there’s no reason to eat this.

“Hmm, you’re throwing it away……?”

Ainar stared at me with lingering eyes, like a child who had dropped their candy, at my decision.

No, I told you it’s not good.

Tsk tsk.

“It’s not a good essence for you. So, even if you’re disappointed, endure it.”

“……Okay!”

If you pick up anything, you’ll have to erase it later, which will only cost more money.

But, was she bothered by the fact that I threw away the loot?

“But, can’t you put it in a test tube and sell it?”

Ainar, shouting “Eureka,” came up with a new suggestion.

Our mage took care of it.

“No, you can’t. The test tube cost is not worth it for anything below 6th grade. And I heard that you can only take one item out of here in the first place.”

“Huh? Only one? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know the reason either. But I heard that you can only take one item out of here, and you have to use ‘distortion’ magic to take it out.”

A field characteristic that I should have explained if Raven didn’t know.

“You have to choose carefully what you take out. Essences are essences, but…… I’ve heard stories of people getting very valuable items here.”

“A valuable item…….”

I had already decided what to take out anyway.

But I’m quite curious.

Is there anyone who knows about that item?

I asked in detail, but Raven drew a line, saying that she only knew that much.

“It’s hard to find out this kind of information through books. I only heard it from someone else.”

Well, from the 5th floor, it’s classified as high-level information.

Even minor achievements are treated as intellectual property and are not easily shared.

Some clans even forbid mentioning anything about their work in the dungeon.

It’s no wonder she was so obsessed with the Rift Chronicles.

“Everyone, rest for now. I’ll keep watch.”

We took a break after a fierce battle.

And checked the current situation.

“Raven, how long will it take for your mana to fully recover?”

“If I meditate or sleep, it’ll take 12 hours. Otherwise, it’ll take more than a day.”

“I see.”

This is why I said that melee damage dealers are better than mages on the 5th floor. It takes quite a while for mages to recover their mana.

“From now on, you should save your mana as much as possible.”

“Are you going to continue exploring like this?”

“Isn’t this a place that’s not easy to enter? We should explore as much as possible. We might find that valuable item you mentioned.”

“That’s definitely true. I don’t know when we’ll be able to come here again…….”

And that was the end of that issue.

After replenishing only our stamina for 15 minutes, we resumed our exploration.

It was a forced march, but no one complained.

Hadn’t they already seen the pouring magic stones and essences?

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to show off to my wife.”

Bear Uncle’s mouth was wide open.

He’s a very family-oriented man, no matter what.

“Abman, is there any place where a portal is detected?”

“I can faintly feel it far away over there.”

A field where the compass doesn’t work.

I used the Guide ability to get my bearings.

“……If you were going to go the opposite way, why did you ask?”

Because that’s where I’m going.

Of course, I couldn’t say that.

“Well, the portal is likely to be the exit. We should go the opposite way to find something.”

A plausible reason that I made up.

However, it wasn’t wrong, so I was able to quickly get Raven’s support.

“Ah! That’s right. I saw that there was a portal to go out in the mirror.”

Phew, that’s why you need a moderately smart character.

“Okay, let’s go quickly.”

Day 22, around 7 PM.

Now that the day is almost over, we have about a week left.

We need to hurry to get the most out of it.

***

The Mirror of Fire.

There is one peculiarity in this field.

That is, it takes a day for monsters to respawn.

Thanks to that, the place where the hunt is over becomes a temporary safe zone.

It’s a relief in many ways.

If monsters were swarming in hundreds every time, we wouldn’t even be able to sleep properly.

「You have defeated a Hell Guardian. EXP +4」

「You have defeated a Gremlin. EXP +2」

「You have defeated a Doom Warrior. EXP +5」

「You have defeated a Chaos Bug. EXP +2」

「You have defeated a Destruction Flame Fairy……」

We defeated various monsters that we couldn’t hunt because of the clans that controlled the field, and after three days, we left the wasteland that was our starting point.

A much slower progress than I expected.

‘The map is big, but there are too many monsters.’

Once a battle breaks out, the surrounding monsters gather, drawn by the sound.

Of course, it’s better than the very beginning when they were coming from all directions.

We only need to pay attention to the enemies coming from the front, and if necessary, we can retreat backward.

However, as the forced march continued, both our stamina and MP were depleted, and the hunting speed itself slowed down.

Because of that, there were a few times when we were almost in danger.

In the end, we had to take periodic breaks.

‘Still, the speed at which we’re earning magic stones is insane.’

It’s not for nothing that I called this place the Burning Zone.

Large-scale battles using magic.

And a double magic stone event.

Coming here, I really started to feel like I was making money with magic stones. Before that, all the jackpots were equipment obtained from catching looters.

‘After all, hunting is about mob hunting.’

Day 26, morning.

After finishing our camp in front, we entered a new field in earnest.

Whirr-!

The Burning Forest.

As its name suggests, it is a field where trees are engulfed in black flames and burn 365 days a year.

However, the fire damage is minimal.

The trees are quite far apart, and thanks to [Cold-Blooded], which increases fire resistance.

For reference, there are three reasons why I chose this place.

First of all, the battle difficulty is the lowest.

“Hmm, it’s not as bad as I thought?”

“Yeah, I was a little worried, but it seems easier than the place we were before. There aren’t even any 5th-grade monsters.”

The number of individuals is quite large, but they are all 6th and 7th grade.

Of course, easy means less reward.

However, the Gray Mountains and Lava Lake that appear in other directions are still quite difficult for us to attack.

The Altar of the Dead, where the portal is, has nothing to offer.

In that sense…….

Second, we need to get that first to make things easier in the future.

It’s an item hidden in the center of the Burning Forest.

If we have this, we can attack other fields when we come back here later, and we can also enter that island on the 6th floor.

“Don’t let your guard down too much. You never know what might come out.”

I warned them out of habit, but I also sped up after entering the forest.

We had spent more time than expected, so it was a close call whether we would arrive on time.

“The trees are all burned here?”

“Let’s rest here today.”

We, who had been repeating only battles and movement all day, unpacked our sleeping bags at the campsite around dusk.

And the next morning.

‘Finally, it’s here.’

We encountered a monster.

“Arua! What’s that thing’s name?”

“Uh, that’s…… I don’t know either.”

A monster whose name and grade even Raven, who has lived her whole life reading books, doesn’t know.

A monster that exists only one in the Burning Forest.

A rare monster that even the clans that control the 5th floor field connected to this forest encounter only once a year.

[Groooooooo-!!]

A 5th-grade rare species, Bertas.

That was the third reason why I chose the Burning Forest.

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!”

This guy is guaranteed to drop an essence.