Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 201

To embark on a path of revenge, dig two graves.

That’s what Confucius said.

However, the book I read only had that sentence, and it didn’t explain the intention behind it.

So, what exactly did Confucius want to say?

The importance of resolve?

Or simply how self-destructive and dangerous revenge is?

As someone from the 21st century, I had no way of knowing, so I decided to interpret it in a way that resonated more with me.

Yes, Confucius knew it.

When you try to beat someone up, you have to be prepared to get beaten up yourself.

‘But it seems like he didn’t even know that.’

I clicked my tongue and stared at the kid.

The kid, who had launched a personal attack right from the start, was now staring blankly into space.

“What you just said… what does that even mean? I don’t understand…”

I didn’t use any difficult words.

So, if he doesn’t understand, it must be the ‘situation’ itself, not the ‘words’.

Well, or is it not?

“Why, why don’t I have a mom!!”

The kid glared at me and shouted, and I briefly asked back.

“Then do you?”

“No, she passed away, but…”

The kid trailed off, flinching.

Honestly, I was a little taken aback too.

I never expected a ‘Yes’ to that question.

Of course, there was no problem.

“I knew it.”

I nodded as if I expected it.

So what if he doesn’t have a real mom?

Bjorn Yandel grew up without a mom too.

Moreover, given the dragonkin’s characteristics, he might look young, but his actual age is probably older than mine.

There’s no reason to stop the retaliation for the preemptive attack.

“B-but, how did you know that…?”

“It shows.”

“It… shows?”

“Yeah, if you had been properly educated, you wouldn’t have said such a lie.”

As I spoke as if it were obvious, I heard the kid’s teeth grinding.

Even though there are no ‘family insults’ in this world, words related to family are bound to be sensitive…

Oh, or is it not that either?

“Apologize, barbarian! A lie? I didn’t lie!”

The kid, having somewhat recovered his mental state, exploded in anger at being called a ‘liar’.

For some reason, my heart ached a little.

To deny it so vehemently.

Doesn’t that mean that the ‘you’re so ugly’ comment was that sincere?

Bjorn Yandel would have been hurt.

But, there was no problem with that either.

A K-Barbarian with the Korean spirit of returning a favor tenfold.

That’s who I am.

“You don’t even know you lied…”

I looked at the kid with pity.

“Oh dear, don’t tell me you don’t even have a dad—”

“I do! I have a dad! You crazy bastard!!”

The kid cut me off and shouted.

So, I ended my character assassination there.

This should be enough to make him realize that messing with a barbarian can lead to big trouble.

Besides, this place is the dragonkin’s home turf—

‘Wait, why is the elder just standing there?’

Only then did I feel the strangeness and turned around.

There, I saw the dragonkin elder watching me with interest.

“You are quite something.”

Huh?

“You’re the first person to make Penitas Auros-nim [a respectful honorific] this angry.”

He’s too emotional to be called that.

Even at this moment, he’s breathing heavily and glaring at me.

However, I focused on a different part.

‘Nim?’

The elder used an honorific after his name.

That means this kid has a significant position within the dragonkin.

Wait a minute…

“Could it be, is he the priestess?”

The Dragon Priestess.

A position similar to the only shaman in the Barbarian tribe.

In short, only she can use ‘blessings’.

“Oh, didn’t you know?”

“……”

I would have known if you had told me.

I glanced away, and the kid was glaring at me with a triumphant look, unlike before.

“Why? Are you thinking of apologizing now?”

The smirk on his face was obvious.

After a moment of thought, I decided to maintain my attitude.

“Kid, why should I apologize?”

“…You said you wanted to receive a blessing, right?”

That’s true.

But even if she’s a priestess, she’s still below the clan leader, Dragon Uncle, right? If he says OK, she’ll have to give me the blessing whether she likes it or not.

“That’s for the Ancient Dragon to decide.”

The kid grinned at my words.

“Oh, you mean my dad?”

“……”

I froze in place with that grin.

Wait, she’s Dragon Uncle’s daughter?

***

The clan’s priestess and the Ancient Dragon’s daughter.

It’s an incredibly high position, but I erased the option of apologizing from my mind.

That’s not very Barbarian-like.

More than anything, apologizing would be admitting that I’m terribly ugly.

“…What are you looking at?”

“I’m not? I wasn’t looking?”

After the kid’s shocking revelation, the kid and I engaged in a subtle battle of nerves in an awkward silence.

And how much time had passed?

“You two, that’s enough.”

The elder mediated the situation.

No, to be precise, he scolded both of us.

“Bjorn Yandel, your remarks to the priestess earlier were very rude. This place where you stand is our sacred temple. Even if you are a barbarian, you need to show respect.”

The elder, who calmly and logically pointed out my mistakes, turned his gaze to the kid, who was secretly smiling.

“The priestess is also at fault.”

“…Me too?”

“Bjorn Yandel is a guest of the Ancient Dragon and a benefactor of the clan. Judging someone’s appearance at first meeting is not polite.”

“But I didn’t lie?”

“There are times when you need to be silent. Even if it’s the truth.”

The kid lowered his head dejectedly.

However, I didn’t feel any satisfaction.

No, rather…

‘….What is this? Is he being sarcastic?’

Even if it’s the truth, be silent?

Does that mean he agrees that I’m terribly ugly, but it was wrong to say it?

“Then, I have to attend the meeting, so I’ll be going.”

The elder left me, whose bones were aching, and returned to where he was before.

I didn’t want to just stand there, so I sat down on the floor.

And so began the suffocating silence.

The one who spoke first was the kid.

“Let’s talk.”

“……?”

“You were an explorer, right? Do you have any interesting stories?”

“…Why should I tell you?”

At my question, the kid glared at me with an annoyed look.

“Words have power. And I have the ability to sense the nature of that power.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Ah, I mean, I need to get used to your energy so that I can give you the blessing later. Maybe that’s why my dad sent you here early.”

I’ve never heard of the concept of power or energy in words. However, there was something else that caught my attention more.

“You’re talking as if it’s already decided.”

“If it was a rejection, you wouldn’t even be in this room.”

“Then, what’s the meeting they’re having over there?”

“Who knows? Maybe they thought it was too easy to just give it to you.”

Well, it kind of feels like that could be the case.

“Anyway, just say anything. We need to keep talking so I can read your energy. That way, it’ll be less of a burden on your body when I give you the blessing.”

It was too normal of a thing to say compared to our first encounter, but I obediently followed his request.

“Is there anything in particular you’re curious about?”

“Why did you become an explorer?”

“That’s a strange thing to say. We were born as warriors. If we can’t fight, we die.”

“So, you had no choice because of taxes?”

Well, if you put it that way, yes.

“We’re not as well off as you guys.”

“Ah, I see…”

The dragonkin don’t pay taxes.

That’s because they made a great contribution in a war thousands of years ago. On the other hand, other races are struggling with taxes every day.

“I heard that tribes usually lend money to pay taxes, but not the barbarians?”

At his question, which seemed genuinely curious, I smiled bitterly.

“Yeah, not us.”

Dwarves get tax breaks if they become blacksmiths.

Beastmen and elves have financial leeway because they help with agriculture and livestock at the ‘Gnome Tree’ with their unique abilities.

So, they give interest-free loans for up to two years, so they rarely have tax problems.

But what about the barbarians?

They just give you a weapon, and that’s it.

‘When I become the tribe leader, I’ll start by getting donations and fix everything.’

To be blunt, the barbarians are the most behind.

There are many areas that need improvement.

But did my expression look bad?

“…That’s enough about that, tell me that story.”

The kid changed the subject first.

“That story?”

“You fought your uncle… no, the Dragonslayer, right?”

Ah, that.

Since that was the only common ground between the kid and me, I slightly embellished the story of what happened back then.

It wasn’t much, just leaving out the parts that could be disadvantageous.

How I got the ogre’s essence, or anything that could make me look like a demon.

Even without that, it was still an interesting story.

“Riol Wove Dwarki… That’s a name I think I’ll remember for a while.”

As with everyone who had heard this story, the kid listened most intently to the Dwarki part.

Actually, I felt a little proud when I saw this kind of reaction.

It felt like he was being recognized by others too.

“A sword… so that’s how you got it. You’re really ignorant. Anyway, what happened next?”

After the Dragonslayer story, we naturally moved on to the part where I was looking for new companions, and I heard something interesting here.

“Did you know? Maybe my sister could have joined that team.”

He seemed to be talking about the two-year contract ‘companion’ that Dragon Uncle had proposed…

“What kind of person is your sister?”

“She’s nice. I don’t see her often because she’s busy.”

No, I was asking how strong she was, not her personality.

I was curious, so I tried to ask a few more questions, but I couldn’t.

Because the door opened at that moment.

“I heard you were fighting, but you seem to be getting along?”

Dragon Uncle, who had entered, smiled at us as we were chatting.

Thanks to that, I realized one thing.

That elder didn’t tell him what I had said to the kid. If he had heard about the family education comment, he would never have made that expression.

“So, did you get the results?”

“We did.”

Well, he could have just told me the results.

“What happened?”

“We decided to grant your request.”

“I see.”

I nodded and glanced at the kid.

I was starting to think that what he said might be true. The results were out, and the hour-long meeting was just because of pride?

‘Wasn’t the reason he was asking strange questions in the first place because of this?’

That’s when I started to have such reasonable doubts.

Dragon Uncle muttered quietly.

“However, there is one condition.”

“A condition?”

“We confirmed through the Leatlass Church that you received a divine revelation. You will probably meet Regal Bagos… the Dragonslayer again someday.”

“I understand, just tell me already.”

“If you can kill him then, bring me his heart.”

“…Heart? Why do you need that?”

Since it was a meaningful condition, I asked for the reason first.

Then, the answer came from the kid.

“It’s because of me. When that happened, I was the one who cursed my uncle.”

“A curse, you mean…”

A curse that made a dragonkin not a dragonkin.

That’s why Regal Bagos had restrictions on using dragon language and couldn’t properly wield the Dragonslayer sword he had obtained by betraying his clan.

“Wait a minute, wasn’t that a curse left by the previous Ancient Dragon?”

“That’s what’s known to the public. But in reality, it was our daughter who cast that curse.”

“…I see.”

It feels like I’m hearing a secret history of the dragonkin.

However, that’s not what’s important right now.

“So, what’s the connection between the heart and the curse?”

“As a price for casting the curse, my time stopped at that moment. I’m stuck in this temple for the rest of my life.”

“If you have his heart, can you go back to normal?”

The kid didn’t answer my question.

Only Dragon Uncle muttered sadly.

“At least, that’s what we believe.”

I suddenly had a thought.

Was the reason they were going to give me a two-year companion in the first place because of this?

So that if the Dragonslayer appeared while following me, they could kill him and bring his heart.

‘But then how old is she?’

At first, I thought she was just a few years older, but now it seems like it’s more than just a few years. The previous Ancient Dragon died more than 30 years ago.

Well, separately, her words and actions seem younger than her age…

‘….She’s been living in the temple, so that could be it.’

“So, what will you do?”

“Okay, if I ever kill the Dragonslayer, I’ll be sure to tear out his heart and bring it back.”

“Then that’s settled.”

Since it wasn’t a difficult condition, I skipped the additional negotiations and accepted the offer.

So now it’s time to get the reward in advance.

“Then when can I get the blessing?”

“If you want, we can do it tonight.”

The kid said in response to my question.

“But before that, I need to ask you this. What kind of blessing do you want to receive? I need to know that to prepare.”

“What kind of blessings are there?”

I asked to confirm.

I thought there might be differences between the game and reality.

“You didn’t know? I thought you knew that, that’s why you asked for this.”

“I only know one thing for sure.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to explain the rest.”

The kid, with an annoyed look, explained each one in detail.

From what I heard, there were no differences from the game.

“The first one is the Earth Dragon’s Blessing.”

The Earth Dragon’s Blessing.

When this blessing is engraved on the body, the additional stats gained from essences increase by 20%.

It has great synergy with me, who values raw stats.

Actually, there’s no type that doesn’t have good synergy here.

“The second one is the Volcano Dragon’s Blessing.”

The Volcano Dragon’s Blessing.

If the first one was about stats, this one was about increasing the performance of all skills.

In my memory, the value was about 30%.

In other words, if I choose this, the size of my [Giant Form] will increase even more, and the performance of [Iron Skin] and [Swing] will also increase significantly.

“Finally, there’s the Sea Dragon’s Blessing.”

The Sea Dragon’s Blessing.

Unlike the other blessings, this one was the only one that increased a fixed value.

The effect is Soul Power +100.

Considering that Soul Power increases by 10 every time you level up until level 5, you can imagine how high that value is.

If I choose this, the duration of [Giant Form] will increase several times in an instant.

I probably won’t have to worry about running out of MP until I eat a few more core essences.

“Okay, that’s the explanation. So, which one will you choose?”

Which of the three should I choose?

After that, the kid offered to give me more time if I needed it, but I firmly refused.

“I’ll go with this one.”

I’ve already decided.