Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 200

A magic circle bloomed on the floor of the sewer.

As I stood still, bathed in the light emanating from it, the musty smell of sewage vanished without a trace.

“You’ve arrived.”

It was the Dragon Temple I had visited before.

Dragon Uncle was at the very front, and behind him, I could see six dragonkin standing.

Those must be the elders they were talking about earlier.

Their eyes were vertically slit like reptiles, and it was clear their gazes weren’t friendly.

So, now it’s time for a battle cry.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaah!!!”

I wasn’t here to pick a fight, so I didn’t use [Wild Outburst]. But that alone was enough to draw their attention.

The elders frowned and stared at me.

Their expressions seemed to say, ‘What is this?’

“Ah, sorry. I just felt like doing that.”

As I scratched the back of my head and apologized, Dragon Uncle, the only one here who had experience with me, opened his mouth with a strange look in his eyes.

“You… you haven’t changed.”

That’s a compliment, right?

Now that I had finished my self-introduction cry, I got straight to the point.

“So, what do I need to do now?”

Whether or not the Dragon’s Blessing could be given to a barbarian like me.

Regarding this issue, Dragon Uncle had said that the elders had decided to see me in person and make a decision.

But it couldn’t be that they were just curious about my face.

What kind of ‘verification’ were they going to put me through?

“It’s nothing much.”

Dragon Uncle said.

“Before finalizing their decision, the elders will take turns asking you a question or making a request.”

“I understand the question, but what do you mean by a request?”

“Well, I’m not sure myself. But know that you can refuse if you wish.”

Refuse? No way.

They would obviously vote against me if I did that.

‘Is it because it’s the Dragon’s Blessing? They’re being so picky.’

“So, what do you say? Will you do it?”

Even as I grumbled inwardly, I nodded.

They’re asking for a lot, considering they’re even returning the Dragon Slayer Sword….

But I can say with certainty that the Dragon’s Blessing is worth it.

“Alright, then it’s decided. There’s no need to waste time, shall we start right away?”

“Good.”

At my answer, Dragon Uncle glanced at the elders behind him.

It was a signal to start the ‘verification’.

The first to step forward was one of the two female dragonkin.

“I’ll go first.”

Due to the nature of the dragonkin, it was meaningless to guess their age by their appearance, but the atmosphere given by her tone and eyes made her seem the youngest among them.

“Bjorn, son of Yandel. What is your greatest wish?”

The moment I heard that question, I had a rough idea of what the goal of this hearing was.

It was a verification in the truest sense of the word.

Before transferring the dragonkin’s secret art, the ‘Dragon’s Blessing,’ to another race, they were checking what kind of person I was.

After a moment of thought, I answered honestly.

Returning to Earth?

At the end of the day, that was just a secondary goal.

“To survive.”

My top priority was always survival.

But, now it had changed a little.

Survival was still the top priority, but there was one thing I had to add.

“If possible, with my companions.”

Even as I answered, I felt a strange sensation.

After being dropped into this strange world, perhaps this was the biggest change.

So, what would be the feedback to this answer?

“……I see.”

The dragonkin woman, who was looking at me with a meaningful gaze, asked one more question.

“If your companions could survive through your sacrifice, what would you do?”

“……Didn’t you say there would only be one question or request?”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

The dragonkin woman said that in a voice that truly didn’t care, and I answered honestly again this time.

“I don’t know yet.”

Leol Wov DeWarki, the mage of Team Half-Pint.

If I were asked if I could make the same choice as him, this would be the only answer.

Because I knew that no matter what words or promises I made before that situation came, they would be meaningless.

Death always puts humans to the test.

“But, when that time comes, I will make the choice I have to make.”

“……You could have just said you would.”

The dragonkin woman stared at me with a look that seemed to say she didn’t understand, and I curtly retorted.

“It wasn’t a question I wanted to do that with.”

Doing that wouldn’t be respectful to him.

The dragonkin woman, who had no way of knowing what had happened to me, stared at me for a moment before stepping back.

“My question ends here.”

Her expression was unreadable, so I couldn’t tell if she liked my answer or not.

Without a moment to catch my breath, the next turn began.

“Geornabehanutersda.”

A middle-aged man with a physique as sturdy as mine made a request instead of asking a question.

“Let’s have a match.”

He made the offer while subtly emitting Dragon Fear.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I answered.

“Good.”

As a barbarian warrior, it would be ridiculous to refuse that offer.

Besides, it was a good opportunity.

If they were dragonkin elders, they must be around the 7th floor [referring to a level of power or strength].

If I could fight without worrying about dying, there was no reason not to.

That was my judgment, but….

“That’s enough.”

Dragon Uncle intervened in the middle.

“We agreed not to make such requests.”

“What’s more certain than clashing fists? Isn’t that right? Barbarian warrior?”

Oh, I was going to use my mace….

I thought of equipment as part of skill, but I agreed with his words for now.

“Of course.”

“Hahaha! I like this guy!”

My answer seemed to please him, and the macho dragonkin laughed heartily.

“……I didn’t expect you to agree to fight without a moment’s hesitation.”

The other elders also seemed interested in this situation.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Then I’ll just ask a question and move on.”

The macho dragonkin asked me with a regretful voice.

“Barbarian, what is the thing you fear the most?”

The first thing that came to mind was death.

But giving the same answer as the first question wouldn’t be good for the interview in many ways.

I made it a little more specific and answered.

“Fighting someone stronger than me.”

“…What?”

The macho dragonkin tilted his head as if he had misheard.

But perhaps he realized it belatedly?

“You don’t think I’m weaker than you, do you?”

The macho dragonkin asked, sounding a little angry, and I shook my head.

“That’s not it.”

“But you just said….”

“You weren’t planning to kill me, were you?”

“That’s true, but….”

I cut him off and muttered briefly.

“I must fight because I fear. Even more.”

I knew that some might think it was an un-barbarian-like thing to say.

But, so what?

This was the essence of a barbarian.

Fortunately, the meaning of my words seemed to have been conveyed well.

“You don’t run away because you fear, but prepare for that moment… a truly rational answer.”

The macho dragonkin chuckled.

“Interesting. Are all barbarians like you?”

“Similar.”

In fact, it was Ainar who taught me what the ‘life of a warrior’ was, and the advice he gave me back then showed me the path I had to take when I was cornered.

“I see. My question ends here.”

The macho dragonkin returned to his seat with a satisfied smile on his face.

At least I knew one thing.

I had definitely secured one vote.

***

The third one was a question, not a request.

And it was a rather strange question.

“Do you have someone you love?”

“……No.”

“Your answer was a little late. It seems like there is someone you thought of.”

The female dragonkin with sleepy eyes returned to her seat without asking any further questions.

And then the fourth turn began.

“I will test your insight.”

An old dragonkin with white hair handed me an object. I knew what it was for as soon as I saw it.

A ring puzzle.

“Now, try to separate all of these.”

Heh, I didn’t expect there would be a mission like this.

“To give you a little help, you can only separate them all if you use the correct order and the correct method.”

As soon as I received the ring puzzle, the old dragonkin smiled and even gave me a hint.

He probably thought I would never be able to solve it.

Does he think I’m a real barbarian?

I had played with ring puzzles a lot when I was a kid in the hospital.

“I’ll give you as much time as you want. Sometimes, you can reach the truth through perseverance.”

I grabbed the ring puzzle and first examined its structure by looking at it from all sides.

If I had enough time, there was no way I couldn’t solve it.

Well, that should have been the case….

“Hehe, 5 minutes have passed.”

Damn it.

What is this?

“10 minutes have passed. Are you still far from solving it?”

I admitted it honestly.

It didn’t seem like I would find an answer even if I was given more time.

Therefore, there was only one way.

‘Giantification.’

My body swelled up in an instant.

I grabbed the rings with my now larger hands and pulled them sideways.

And….

Crack.

I finally succeeded in separating the seven rings.

“Wh, what are you doing!!!”

“I separated them.”

“……Th, th, that’s impossible!!”

“You didn’t say I couldn’t break them.”

I answered confidently.

Because I had already noticed the trap in this puzzle.

At first, this old man said he would test my insight, not my intelligence.

He also gave me a hint about the truth that could be reached through perseverance.

In other words, this ring puzzle was impossible to solve in the first place!

‘Maybe he gave this to me to see how I would solve a problem that had no answer—’

“Th, this! If you do it like this, it can be solved…!”

The old dragonkin muttered, sitting blankly and fiddling with the ring puzzle that had a few more pieces.

His eyes were very sad.

“Ahem.”

“Th, th, that’s something that can’t be obtained again….”

“Who’s next?”

I ignored the old dragonkin and looked at the elders, and with that, the verification resumed.

The fifth was a question about my actions.

“How many people have you killed so far?”

I recalled each of them in my head and gave the exact number, and the elder asked why I had killed them.

The answer wasn’t difficult.

There were many ways I had killed them, but if you looked for the reason, it was ultimately one.

“Because they tried to kill me.”

“I see.”

The elder who had asked the question nodded and stepped back, and with that, the fifth turn ended.

The hearing was now down to its last turn.

I didn’t know if it had gone well.

‘For now, the old man who gave me the puzzle seems to be on the opposing side….’

The macho dragonkin would cast a vote in favor.

What about the others? Well, I didn’t know.

“Then, it’s my turn now.”

A handsome man in his mid-to-late twenties stepped forward.

And he asked one question.

“Have you only spoken the truth?”

His tone was as if he had the ability to discern the truth.

I was a little uneasy about it, but I had answered all the questions with the truth so far.

If I failed, I decided it wouldn’t be too late to start K-Barbarian, or KB-style negotiations [a reference to a Korean style of negotiation, implying a forceful and direct approach].

“Yes.”

“Alright, then it’s over.”

Anyway, with that, the hearing was over.

Dragon Uncle, who had been exchanging glances with the man who had gone last, opened his mouth.

“It seems we need to talk among ourselves a little more, so you can rest for a while.”

“Do I have to wait long?”

“Well, judging by the looks of it, it should be over in an hour.”

Well, that was fine.

After that, I was guided by the dragonkin woman who had asked the first question to the inside of the temple.

And I arrived at a room.

She told me to rest, so I naturally thought it was a reception room for guests, but….

“Are you the barbarian who was supposed to come today?”

There was a guest in the room.

A nameless dragonkin child who looked to be in his early teens.

The child laughed when he saw me.

“Wow, you’re so ugly!”

What is this? Who is this cheeky brat?

I was stunned by the sudden attack, but I laughed it off calmly like an adult.

“Haha, it seems like you don’t have a mother?”

“……Huh?”

“If you had been properly educated, you wouldn’t have said such a strange lie!”

Bjorn Yandel was handsome, not ugly.