Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 211

In the silence, a man shouted,

“W-what do you mean not everyone can go?!”

His voice was filled with the anxiety of possibly being abandoned from this sweet deal.

“I’ll explain,” Vice-Captain Bersil continued calmly.

“Our scouts report that Noahrc’s explorers are stationed at every passage leading to the dark zone. They’re blocking us from going out or in.”

There were more troops stationed here than ever before.

At that, another man shouted,

“…So, from now on, there will be sacrifices to make a path!”

The true meaning of not everyone being able to go together.

I had a similar interpretation to that man.

However…

“In some ways, you might be right.”

The moment I heard that seemingly bitter yet meaningful murmur,

Thump-!

My heart began to beat uneasily.

Vice-Captain Bersil continued without delay, skipping the unnecessary excuses and going straight to the conclusion.

“We will use multi-instant teleportation magic.”

Mass teleport.

A high-level special magic that only mages of rank 4 or higher from certain schools can use.

Now I understood.

Why she said not everyone could go together.

“…”

A deeper silence than when I first heard those words pressed down on the hall.

“B-Bjorn? If we use teleportation magic, can’t we just pass through without fighting? But why does everyone look like that…?”

The reason was simple.

“…Multi-instant teleportation magic can only be used on a maximum of twenty people.”

As Raven, the current mage, said.

Mass teleportation is possible for up to 20 people, but we are currently 35 in total.

Which means.

’15 people.’

Simply put, a total of 3 teams will be left behind.

With the safe zone of the center right in front of us.

“I-if you were going to abandon us like this at the end, why did you say we should join forces!”

Someone shouted in anger.

However, Bersil simply apologized briefly without changing her expression.

“I am sorry about that. We didn’t expect it to turn out this way either.”

A voice that was soft yet left no room for argument.

I quietly sighed.

There’s no point in trying to persuade someone like her.

No matter what I say here, that woman won’t change her decision.

“So, how are you going to choose the 15 people to be left behind?”

When I asked, Bersil looked at me with a strange expression.

It seemed that a calm barbarian in this situation was unusual.

“We will draw lots for each team.”

“Everyone except your team?”

“No. We’ll exclude one more team.”

Bersil said, looking in one direction.

It was where the team that had been fighting and clearing the path right behind them throughout the journey was.

“I’m sorry. I have a long-standing relationship with Vice-Captain Bersil.”

The leader of that team expressed his regret to us without any sign of surprise, as if he already knew.

Right, so it was prearranged.

It’s not strange. They’re also a team from a large clan.

However…

‘Damn it.’

A headache washed over me.

Now there are only 2 teleportation tickets left.

On the other hand, there are 3 tickets for the abandoned.

If we go by lottery, the probability of being abandoned here is higher.

But is it because they know that?

“Please take us with you.”

The expressions of the remaining teams all changed.

Desperately.

“10 million stones per person… no, 10 million stones.”

Someone offered money.

“We are a team under the Blue Barrier Clan. If you take us with you, the Master will surely give you a great reward…”

Someone promised a future through their power.

“W-we don’t have a clan yet. We’re all women, and we’re currently active on the 5th floor, but we used to be on the 6th floor. The Larel Clan is also recruiting members because their forces have recently decreased…”

Someone offered themselves as a bargaining chip.

None of them were willing to go along with the lottery.

That was only natural.

No one would want to leave their only life to chance.

“Yandel.”

Bear Uncle called me in a heavy voice.

He meant we should do something too.

However, I decided to wait and see.

I judged that it wouldn’t be too late to make an offer after seeing what decision Bersil Gowland made.

“I’m sorry. Even so, I don’t think it’s right to do it that way.”

“T-that means…!!”

“Yes. The rest of you will be decided by a fair lottery. I hope you understand my decision.”

Bersil, who had decided to exclude only one team as promised, adhered to the principles as she had said at first.

“Vice-Captain Bersil Gowland of the Larel Clan. She’s exactly as I’ve heard.”

Raven murmured in admiration at her nobility, but I couldn’t agree.

‘She just didn’t have any tempting offers.’

If she were truly fair, she wouldn’t have excluded that other team in the first place. Especially when it was obvious what situation the remaining guys would be in.

‘Anyway, it’s a situation where we have to decide by lottery…’

I don’t know if it’s a good thing.

I’ve never won a lottery like this before.

“Then, let’s start right away since we don’t have much time.”

After that, Bersil finished preparing for the lottery by making a pouch with five stones in it.

The rules were very simple.

Two white stones meant winning.

If you draw three black stones, you’ll be left behind here without exception.

“Which team would like to go first?”

“I’ll go first.”

The first to step forward was the team that offered 10 million stones per person.

“To think my fate would depend on such stones.”

A dwarf warrior wearing fancy equipment nervously put his hand into the pouch.

And…

“Ha, hahah… I did it!!”

He succeeded on his first try.

The team with the dwarf was filled with laughter, while the faces of the other teams darkened.

“Come this way. Then, who’s next?”

In the midst of the joy and sorrow, no team stepped forward first.

Because now there was only one winning ticket left.

Three were tickets to hell.

“Yandel, we have to wait. Statistically, the probability of drawing a white stone is higher if we draw now.”

25% chance of winning.

75% chance of losing.

But as always, probability was meaningless.

“Hah, we’ll just go first.”

While they were awkwardly looking at each other, one team stepped forward.

It was a team made up entirely of women.

“Kyaaaaaaak!!!”

They drew the last white stone.

“…”

Damn it.

***

“Then, that’s all done.”

With just two draws, the fate of all five teams was decided. The remaining three teams didn’t even have a chance to leave their fate to chance.

“Kyaaaaaaak!!”

What was I doing while that women’s team was drawing the white stone?

I was wondering who to tell to draw among Misha, Ainar, and Raven.

I really didn’t expect it to end in just two tries.

‘Is this even possible?’

Just as I was thinking that, Bersil turned the pouch over as if to show off, scattering three black stones on the floor.

As if to prove that there was no fraud here.

“Then, everyone gather around. I’ll use the magic as soon as we’re ready.”

At Bersil’s words, the chosen ones quickly gathered in one place.

It was then.

“W-wait a minute!”

One of the three teams that had lost their minds in this situation.

The leader of Erwen’s team, the shovel-chin, hurriedly approached them.

“P-please take us with you! Please, I’ll do anything!”

A humiliating plea.

But she wasn’t the kind of woman who would be swayed by that.

“All the spots are already taken.”

At Bersil’s emotionless voice, the shovel-chin turned his plea in another direction.

“If you give me your spot, I’ll give you 10 million stones! No, 20 million stones!”

Buying a spot with money…

Now that I see it, it’s even pathetic.

Judging by the fact that he didn’t mention his teammates at all, he just wanted to live alone.

“…”

For now, Daria, who was a member of the same team, frowned as if she was looking at a bug, but the shovel-chin didn’t stop talking.

Not only did he talk from afar, but he also approached each person and asked if they were willing to make a deal, but he was completely ignored.

“I-is there really no one?”

Would you do that if you were them?

It’s not about the money, but the moment you sell your spot for money, you’ll be separated from your comrades.

“If you’re done talking, would you please step back?”

“…”

When Bersil murmured briefly, the shovel-chin turned his back weakly and returned to where his teammates were.

With that, the incident was over.

Bersil’s mage was drawing a magic circle on the floor to use mass teleportation.

“Bjorn…”

“We’ll talk later.”

I ignored Misha’s call and spoke to the vice-captain.

“Bersil Gowland.”

“Yes. What is it?”

A voice that was polite but otherwise devoid of any emotion.

No sympathy or curiosity.

Well, maybe she thought I’d be as pathetic as the shovel-chin.

I chuckled and asked one thing.

“When we moved, why did you place us in the safest formation in the middle?”

Bersil tilted her head.

But she probably wasn’t curious about why I was asking this question.

She just answered as I wanted.

“We drew lots. To be fair.”

Right, everything this woman said was a lie.

I expected it, but it wasn’t thanks to the shovel-chin that we were placed in the middle formation.

‘Okay, I’ve confirmed that she’s a sly woman.’

Whether I like it or not, I’ll have to be with the three abandoned teams from now on. It becomes clearer how I should treat the shovel-chin.

“Is that the end of your questions?”

“No, one more thing.”

“Go ahead.”

“You said there were enemies stationed in the passage, right? I’d like to hear more about that. What’s their formation, and how strong are they?”

“…Don’t tell me, are you planning to break through on your own?”

Then, did you think we’d just die here?

“If necessary.”

From the beginning, I had only come here for a while to make things easier, but my destination was always there from the start.

So, nothing will change.

“So, what’s the answer?”

At my urging, Bersil paused for a moment and stared at me.

“…You really are as rumored. Okay. Zenia?”

“Yes, Vice-Captain.”

“Go and tell him everything he’s curious about.”

“Yes.”

After that, Bersil sent a scout from her team to me, and I asked the woman for general information about the surroundings.

And after about 5 minutes had passed?

“Zenia, come here.”

All preparations for using magic were complete, and Vice-Captain Bersil left us with just one word.

“I hope you won’t resent us.”

It meant that from now on, we would have to make our own way.

Well, it’s nothing new.

***

“…They really left.”

With more than half of the people gone, the emptiness felt even greater.

But the more it was like that, the more I focused on one thing.

What do I have to do now?

Well, it wouldn’t be right to waste precious time dwelling on feelings of emptiness.

“Yandel, what are you going to do now?”

“Just thinking for a moment.”

There are two options.

Either break through the route that Bersil gave up on and head to the original destination, the center.

Or turn around and find another place.

The latter wasn’t a bad option either.

‘If we stay on the outskirts, we can survive.’

There’s a war going on in the center.

The strongest of Noahrc are blocking the paths in the outermost areas.

On the other hand, there will be relatively few people on the outskirts.

Since the area is also large, we might be able to survive if we hide well.

However…

‘We won’t be able to know how things are going.’

That’s the biggest disadvantage.

In this chaotic situation where every minute and second is different.

If we just hide, we won’t be able to get information on how the situation is going.

Besides…

‘On the third day, the floor lord will appear.’

We can’t defeat the first floor lord on our own.

If we get summoned while we’re just surviving, we’ll surely be annihilated.

“First, we need to check our strength.”

“Huh?”

“Can everyone gather around?”

I put my decision on hold for now and gathered the other two teams who were in the same situation.

And immediately got to the point.

“Take turns saying your explorer rank, the essence you’ve consumed, and your special skills.”

“You want us to reveal all our cards?”

“Is that important in this situation? We should join forces since it’s come to this.”

“You’re talking like you’re the leader.”

The shovel-chin frowned at my suggestion.

Even if it wasn’t as much as him, everyone else didn’t seem to like me naturally speaking like a leader.

Ugh, how annoying.

“Is it important who the leader is? To be worried about that even in this situation, you’re a real idiot.”

“W-what? What are you even—”

“If you want, let’s decide on a leader first. What, should we have a vote or something?”

I naturally led the topic to a vote.

Because Erwen is here.

I judged that if she, a member of another team, cast a vote for me, I could never lose the vote.

However, the situation went in a slightly unexpected direction.

“I don’t think we need to vote.”

“…?”

“If we were to vote, our team would cast a vote for you.”

It was the leader of the remaining team who said that.

“Then, including your team, that’s already 10 votes, so there’s no need to waste time.”

Um, is it going to be like this?

To be honest, I’m a little embarrassed.

However, the shovel-chin was the same, and he asked the reason first instead of me.

“…What are you talking about? You’re going to make a barbarian the leader? Are you out of your mind?”

“First of all, I’m not good at leading anyone.”

“If that’s the case, then it should be me, not the barbarian—”

“If I had to choose between the two, I’d say this one is much more trustworthy.”

I think I know what they’re thinking.

They thought I was better than the shovel-chin, who tried to abandon his team and live alone.

I heard there were other reasons too.

“Above all, when everyone was just denying reality, this man was the only one who asked that woman for information.”

…This is kind of embarrassing.

“What’s your name?”

“I am Takelan Arbenon.”

“I am Bjorn, son of Yandel.”

After formally introducing myself to Takelan, I returned to the original topic.

“Anyway, then it’s decided. Now, take turns saying your explorer rank, the essence you’ve consumed, and your special skills. That way, we can decide what to do in the future—”

“Wait, who decided that it was decided?”

Ha, this guy again.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“Of course—”

“Then get lost. We can just move with our two teams.”

I didn’t want to waste any more time, so I cut him off and said firmly.

“…Damn it.”

The shovel-chin just clenched his fist as if he was upset, but he didn’t leave our side.

Well, where would he go in this situation?

I chuckled and said to him.

“If you interrupt me or disobey my orders one more time, then it’s over. Do you understand?”

“…”

“Answer me.”

“…I understand.”

Okay, then the hierarchy is settled.

After that, I quickly finished what I was originally going to do.

Who is in what position and what essence they have.

‘Hmm, it’s a bit ambiguous.’

I checked the approximate strength, but my worries deepened even more.

Should I say I’m not sure yet?

So, I went through an additional verification process.

“Let’s introduce ourselves first. We need to be able to call each other in an emergency.”

I gave a reason and heard everyone’s name.

Honestly, it’ll be hard to remember them all…

‘But at least there’s no Hans.’

Fortunately, there was no Hans.

It was a pretty positive indicator.

This meant that no matter what decision I made later, the chances of success had increased a little.

“What are you going to do now?”

At Raven’s question, 14 pairs of eyes turned to me.

It was time to make a decision.

I erased the doubt about my choice and opened my mouth.

“We’re heading to the safe zone.”

“What are the chances of that?”

I just answered Takelan’s question with a wry smile.

I had just seen how meaningless the chances were…

But one thing was certain.

Even if we succeed, not everyone will survive.

‘About half of us will die.’

To get to the place that someone easily passed through with one magic spell, we have to risk our lives.