Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 177

Darkness where not a single ray of light could penetrate.

Raven cast a light orb spell.

‘Rieate.’

I reflexively closed my eyes, anticipating the blinding light.

Raven asked me,

‘Mr. Yandel, what are you doing?’

I cautiously opened my eyes and saw a light orb emitting a faint, soft glow, unlike usual.

So, it can adjust brightness too.

‘It’s nothing.’

I brushed it off, feeling embarrassed, and Raven gave me a playful jab.

‘Anyway, if you’re going to do something like that, please tell me beforehand. You startled me.’

‘That’s right. What if you got caught by the guards outside?’

‘We’d just pay a fine.’

‘Don’t tell me, you were thinking of using the team funds—’

‘It was for the team.’

I said firmly, and Raven sighed deeply. But she didn’t say anything more.

My words weren’t exactly wrong.

And that’s not what’s important right now.

‘Isn’t it strange? Starting in a dark zone from the beginning.’

‘It’s not just any dark zone. Do you see that?’

At Bear Ahjussi’s mutter, Raven pointed to a stele [an upright stone slab or pillar, often inscribed] on one side of the wall.

It’s time to get to the main point.

‘A layer stele. Do you know what happened?’

‘It seems like a dimensional instability phenomenon.’

‘……What’s that?’

‘Portals are also a type of dimensional magic, right? I’ve heard that sometimes this happens. There’s an error in the starting coordinate input.’

‘……So, it’s just a coincidence?’

‘Well, there are observation records that the probability of dimensional instability increases just before a portal disappears.’

Oh, I think I read that book too.

I felt a tingling in my mouth, but I just kept quiet.

She’s going to explain it all anyway, so there’s no need to step in and raise suspicion.

‘Bjorn, this is like that time…’

When I gave a signal, Misha shut her mouth tight.

And she moved closer to Ainar, just in case she made a slip of the tongue.

Okay, so that part is done.

‘Hmm, so it means we barely made it in, and that’s the cause?’

The corners of Bear Ahjussi’s mouth curled up slightly.

Like an explorer, he seemed to have realized the cheat-like nature of the experience point duplication bug.

However, Raven shook her head.

‘That’s a bit ambiguous.’

Huh? What’s ambiguous?

I couldn’t help but join the conversation.

‘Ambiguous? What do you mean?’

‘No matter how much of an error there is in the coordinate input, it’s impossible to fall into the outermost part like this. If that were the case, why would everyone rush in instead of going in late?’

Well, that’s true.

Actually, I was also wondering about this part.

Surprisingly, many people know about the dimensional instability phenomenon. But why isn’t anyone using this sweet bug?

‘The dimensional instability phenomenon became widely known 130 years ago. At that time, there was a big problem with the dimensional magic circle, and the frequency increased exponentially.’

‘So?’

‘The Magic Tower received a request from the royal family and repaired the dimensional magic circle. After the stabilization work was completed, the instability phenomenon almost disappeared again.’

In short, for a hundred years, even if you went in late, you couldn’t use the experience point duplication bug.

‘Then what’s happening now?’

‘……Isn’t it that it’s time to repair it again?’

Raven, who made a plausible guess, cautiously added one suggestion.

‘So, let’s keep today’s events a secret.’

‘Explain in more detail.’

‘It seems that no one knows that there’s a problem with the dimensional magic circle right now. But if more time passes and the phenomenon worsens, other explorers will experience it too.’

Bear Ahjussi, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

‘So, until then, let’s keep it to ourselves and use it.’

‘Yes. We can reduce exploration time and accumulate contribution points, how great is that?’

I interjected.

‘Wait, aren’t contribution points meaningless for a mage?’

Mages can’t eat essence [a magical substance]. So, even if they get experience points, it’s useless.

But why is she so proactive?

Raven chuckled and replied.

‘I’m personally interested. The layer stele that hasn’t been touched by human hands yet, and so on. In that sense, can I open it?’

‘Do as you please.’

With my permission, Raven touched the stele.

Whoooosh-!

A portal opened, emitting a multicolored glow.

Raven closed her eyes as if concentrating on the sensation at her fingertips and the flow of magic in the air.

And she murmured briefly.

‘It’s a very strange feeling.’

A sensation that I, a barbarian with zero magic talent, will never be able to understand.

However, even I could clearly feel one thing.

「You have opened the portal for the first time. EXP +2」

Ah, this is it.

This feeling of getting something for nothing.

***

「You have entered the 2nd floor, Beast Lair.」

「You have entered the 1st floor, Crystal Cave.」

***

We went up to the 2nd floor for a bit and immediately came back down to the 1st floor.

Well, the Beast Lair is a no-go for us.

There are so many forks in the road that unless you’re a scout like Rotmiller, you’ll just waste time.

‘Even Rotmiller said it’s better to just give up on the Beast Lair.’

Since we have a guide, it’s not like we can’t find our way at all.

But there’s no reason to go through this place when there’s a faster way.

‘Then let’s start moving.’

I took out a compass, held it in one hand, and started looking for the path.

We got out of the dark zone, and then we headed northwest.

We didn’t get lost that much.

After all, I learned how to find my way on the 1st floor properly from Rotmiller.

Of course, I’m still not very good at it…

‘Abman, where’s the portal?’

‘That way.’

‘Then from now on, we can just go north.’

Thanks to having a guide on the team, it’s possible to follow the optimal route with just a compass.

It’s like making up for my lack of skill with a cheat code.

About three hours after entering the labyrinth, it happened.

‘Stop.’

For the first time on our route from the outer edge to the outer edge, a person appeared.

A group consisting of a knight with the royal family’s crest on his chest and four soldiers.

‘Do you have identification tags?’

The knight who stopped us asked briefly.

They had already fought several battles, and their weapons and armor were stained with blood.

It’s not monster blood.

There are no monsters on the 1st floor that bleed red blood.

‘I’ll ask one last time. Do you have identification tags?’

‘Ah, here it is. You guys take yours out too.’

Everyone hesitated for a moment at the knight’s imposing aura, but then they all took out the identification tags they had received in the city and showed them.

Then the knight opened the path he had been blocking.

He even gave us a piece of advice.

‘Be careful not to get them stolen. It seems that some quick-witted people are already going around looking for identification tags.’

Ah, I see.

Well, they’re not stupid, and they must have realized that it’s the only way to survive.

I asked as I passed by, curious.

‘Is there a way to distinguish a stolen identification tag?’

‘No.’

‘Then why aren’t you suspecting us?’

Did my question feel a bit annoying?

The knight frowned slightly but still answered the question.

‘Blood.’

‘……?’

‘If it was stolen, it would have human blood on it. Besides, I know your face.’

Huh?

‘I am a knight of the Perdehilt Count family.’

Ah, he saw me at the banquet.

By the way, I don’t know what this Count is doing.

He said something meaningful about calling me separately when he was ready, but he hasn’t contacted me yet.

Well, no news is good news for me.

‘Hmm, it’s convenient to be with a celebrity, isn’t it?’

‘Don’t tease me.’

‘Huh? I’m not teasing you?’

Sigh, does she really think I’m a barbarian?

‘Lower the corners of your mouth, will you?’

‘……You’re just too quick to notice things.’

‘Anyway, let’s pick up the pace from now on. Tell me if you’re having a hard time.’

‘What will you do if I tell you?’

‘Ainar will carry you on his back.’

‘Huh? Me?’

Both Ainar and Raven looked displeased, but there was no other way. We had to go up as quickly as possible to avoid encountering people.

‘……Mr. Ainar, please carry me.’

About 30 minutes after picking up the pace?

Raven, the room-bound mage, gave up her pride and chose to be carried on someone’s back.

It was a bonus that the speed increased significantly thanks to that.

As she was just being carried, Raven started poking and prodding Ainar’s body here and there, bored.

‘D-don’t touch me!’

‘Wow, Mr. Ainar’s body is softer than I thought?’

‘……Are you teasing me! If you’re going to do that, get down!’

Ainar shuddered and showed his dislike.

Just as I was about to warn Raven, I stopped in my tracks, noticing something blocking our path.

‘Bjorn, why did you stop?’

‘Corpses.’

There were a total of five corpses.

Four men and one woman.

Their equipment had been completely looted, leaving them almost naked, and judging by their bleeding state, it seemed like some time had passed.

‘Mr. Ainar, can you put me down?’

Raven also got off her ride and examined the corpses.

‘It doesn’t seem like they were attacked by a knight.’

‘What’s the basis?’

‘The wounds. One was hit with a blunt weapon, one with an arrow. And the rest were burned. It doesn’t seem like magic, so it must be an ability.’

Knights use swords.

That’s because it’s the best weapon to utilize aura [a type of magical energy].

But there isn’t a single sword wound…

‘Could they have been explorers from Noark? Seeing that they didn’t have identification tags, another explorer must have killed them.’

At Misha’s words, Raven smiled bitterly.

‘Maybe it’s the opposite.’

‘Opposite?’

Bear Ahjussi answered.

‘The knight we met earlier also said it. There’s a possibility that they targeted other explorers to get their identification tags.’

‘Ah……’

‘Besides, they made it so that their faces can’t be recognized. Wouldn’t that be unnecessary usually?’

Of course, we can’t know what the truth is.

However, these corpses served as a warning to all of us. After all, they were explorers who reached the outer edge of the 1st floor so early.

They must have been explorers who were at the level of a speedrun.

But they died in this state on the 1st floor, just a few hours after the labyrinth opened.

‘……We really need to be on our guard, don’t we?’

‘Yandel, seeing as these guys also went to the Goblin Forest, isn’t it better to go somewhere else?’

‘It won’t make a difference no matter where we go.’

‘Hah, I guess that’s true.’

In the end, we headed towards the Goblin Forest without any change in our plans.

How much time had passed since then?

We reached the portal to the 2nd floor.

[06:47]

A time that was incomparable to the previous exploration. Even compared to when I did a time attack with Rotmiller, there was only a 30-minute difference.

‘Mr. Yandel, you could really switch to being a scout now, couldn’t you?’

‘Nyahat, a barbarian scout. No one would believe it even if you said it!’

‘Bjorn is the hope of the barbarians!’

Everyone checked the time and showered me with praise, but it’s not really my ability.

This exploration had a different starting point.

Since we moved from the outer edge to the outer edge, it was inevitable that we would save a lot of time.

‘……Enough, let’s just go up.’

I said curtly and stood in front of the portal.

‘He’s embarrassed.’

‘Yeah, yeah, he is.’

What are they talking about?

***

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

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

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

***

Morning of the 7th day.

Even faster than when Rotmiller was with us, we reached the 4th floor.

‘At this rate, we’re probably at the forefront of the explorers?’

The result of combining the guide’s ability with my rapidly improving pathfinding skills.

In fact, we hardly encountered any explorers during the exploration. There were two large clans moving together, and about 10 teams of 5 people?

They all just checked each other’s identification tags from a distance while pointing their weapons at each other and then went their separate ways.

Sigh, the atmosphere in the labyrinth has really become brutal.

‘Raven, what’s the result?’

‘Nothing.’

As soon as we cleared the first stage, we kept casting search magic for about an hour, mindful of the masked man incident from last time.

‘It’s all because of those bastards, what are we even doing.’

The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get, but what can I do?

As the situation is what it is, we just have to be careful on our own.

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

First, we naturally chose the Gate of Wisdom.

A maze full of traps and monsters.

I received the most training from Rotmiller in this part, so the clear time was reduced by about 40 minutes.

‘Raven, how long did it take?’

‘1 hour and 58 minutes.’

Considering that it took 5 hours at first, it’s incredibly fast.

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Courage.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Courage.」

After that, we continued to focus on clearing the trials and ascending the floors.

And as the 7th day was coming to an end.

’27 stages on the first day……’

In fact, we achieved the feat of clearing a quarter of the tower in just one day. A speed that would have been impossible if the Stairway of Wisdom hadn’t appeared in succession.

‘It’s a bit early, but let’s rest early today.’

The last Stairway of Courage we cleared required a 4-hour wait before the next door could be opened, so we just prepared for camping.

‘How are we going to do the night watch?’

‘I don’t think we need to do that.’

We didn’t set up a night watch.

Throughout the day’s exploration, I periodically used detection magic, but no other explorers were detected.

‘Well, even if someone is hiding, a night watch wouldn’t make a difference. If detection magic doesn’t work, what’s going to change?’

‘That’s exactly what I was going to say.’

‘Then shall we have dinner before going to bed?’

‘Sounds good.’

Everyone gathered, ate a simple meal, and then went to their respective places to lie down.

A comfortable place to sleep that can only be felt on the 4th floor.

Well, it should have been like that…

‘Damn it.’

Maybe it’s because of the masked man incident, but I can’t fall asleep easily.

In the end, I tossed and turned for a long time before finally being able to close my eyes.

Even that didn’t last long before I had to wake up.

Drrrrrrrrr-!

The vibration was transmitted from the ground where my back was touching.

The entire tower was shaking slightly.

I hurriedly got up.

There’s only one reason why this phenomenon would occur in the labyrinth.

‘Mr. Yandel, this phenomenon, could it be…’

‘Yes, it’s what you think it is.’

A rift opened on the 4th floor.