Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 218

The central area had expanded into a space like a plaza.

Before ending [Giantification], I looked around one more time.

‘It’s like Gwanghwamun Square here.’ [A large public square in Seoul, South Korea]

Explorers, easily numbering over several thousand, stood packed together, staring at this place.

I wondered how many there were exactly.

I couldn’t even begin to count them roughly.

Considering those still beyond the passage due to the crowd in the center, the number would be truly staggering.

It hit me again.

The difference between numbers heard or read and numbers seen with one’s own eyes was this vast.

‘If that bastard had seen this, would he have made a different decision?’

I briefly had that thought but quickly dismissed it.

It was a meaningless hypothetical.

It wasn’t a concern for now either.

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!!”

“…I told you to talk, why are you suddenly shouting?”

“I just felt like it!”

To be precise, when this many people gather, I get nervous too.

Still, shouting made me feel a bit better.

I am a barbarian.

Yes, so…

There is nothing in this world that I cannot do.

“Everyone, listen up!”

In the silence that was hard to believe given how many people had gathered, all eyes turned to me.

It was embarrassing.

“Let’s put our heads together! There must be smart people among so many!”

I continued speaking with a straight face.

I had already planned everything from start to finish, but I judged that revealing all of it in front of so many people would look suspicious.

“Huh?”

“Is that it…?”

Those who had been listening intently, holding their breaths, wore blank expressions.

Some faces even showed disappointment.

“What was I expecting? From a barbarian?”

That was the only downside of being a barbarian.

I couldn’t take the lead and guide the situation with the demeanor of an intellectual. Well, if I hadn’t been a barbarian, stopping the fight like that would have been impossible.

“Th-then why were you shouting so loudly earlier!”

“A wise warrior vents his anger in the right place. This is not where we should shed blood.”

“No, I understand what you’re trying to say, but…”

Explorers didn’t know what to say.

I remained completely oblivious.

I had achieved my goal of saving the knight.

No, it wasn’t just that.

I had also succeeded in creating an environment where everyone could gather and talk, and I had left a deep impression on people.

The first goal was completely achieved.

“That’s not wrong. Each of us has our own role. He stopped meaningless bloodshed and allowed us to gather like this, so he has already fulfilled a greater duty than anyone else.”

A middle-aged man who introduced himself as a military mage defended me, changing the atmosphere.

It seemed he had a good impression of me.

“A role… that reminds me of a passage from ‘The Prince.’ The role of a prince is not to fight, but to inspire the will to fight.”

“Haha, I didn’t expect to find someone who has read that book. Nice to meet you. You’re Melter Pend from the Nartel Clan, right?”

“Yes, Kyle.”

“Oh, you know me?”

“You’re quite famous.”

The two exchanged a few words and friendly glances.

It was not a good sign.

We didn’t have much time for socializing, and these were explorers who had been abandoned by the leadership.

Seeing them form bonds among themselves would surely make them feel uneasy.

“Enough, let’s start talking! Does anyone have any information we don’t know?”

I cut in, pretending not to notice, and steered the conversation away from going off-topic.

For my plan, they needed to have a discussion.

And they needed to reach the conclusion I had already made.

Even if it was a bit troublesome for me.

“First, we need to find out why the royal family abandoned us and for what reason.”

When no one stepped forward, Melter Pend opened his mouth and posed the question.

“That’s right! There was no problem with holding out until now, so why did they…”

The biggest contradiction in the current situation.

Those who had been angry about being abandoned regained their reason and expressed their doubts.

With so many people gathered, the answer came quickly.

“It’s probably because of the Layered Monarch.”

The words came from the military mage, Kyle.

“…Layered Monarch?”

“But we’ve been holding off the Layered Monarch well until now!”

“That’s true until now. The commander was probably afraid of what would appear when the ninth Layered Monarch was defeated.”

“…What?”

“Verzak, the Monarch of the Abyss. That’s the name of another Layered Monarch.”

Most were confused, saying they had never heard of the name before, and Kyle briefly explained the Monarch of the Abyss to them.

“The reason why we have to report to the guild and get approval before defeating the Monarch of Terror is because of this guy. He’s that much of a disaster.”

“Is he so strong that even hundreds of knights and large clans can’t defeat him?”

“No, it’s not to that extent. But…”

Kyle trailed off, staring into the distance.

“We’re not the only ones in this cave, are we?”

Noark and Lapdonia.

And even Verzak, the Monarch of the Abyss.

“The command judged that if a battle with Verzak broke out, Noark would definitely interfere with us.”

“Come to think of it, there haven’t been any significant attacks since the first day…”

“Damn it, I wondered why, they were planning this from the start!”

It was a kind of attrition warfare.

A strategy of mutual destruction, using Verzak to inflict massive damage on each other.

That’s why the commander of the knights chose to retreat.

Upper-level explorers and knights were valuable forces that were difficult to replace in a short period.

He was trying to protect at least that, for that damn royal family.

“Wait! Then isn’t it strange? If they knew something so dangerous would appear, why didn’t they try to go up to the second floor before that?”

An explorer pointed out the contradiction.

This was also a problem I had deeply considered.

But the answer was actually simple.

“I think I can answer that.”

This time, it was the priestess of the Heindel Order who stepped forward.

“On the first day we entered the labyrinth, a search party was formed for the second-floor portal. And this is information I heard while treating a knight from the search party who returned alive.”

“Tell us quickly!”

“The portal to the west, connected to the rocky desert, is unfortunately no longer usable.”

“Not usable?”

“A Ruin Scholar. That cursed mage destroyed the portal, I heard.”

A criminal who could be considered a high-ranking member of Orculys.

The mention of the Ruin Scholar’s name caused a stir.

Amidst that, I quietly organized my thoughts.

‘The west…’

Then is the probability now one in three?

I got valuable information.

“If the west is blocked, we can just go to another portal!”

Someone in the crowd shouted, but few responded to that statement.

It was an obvious consequence.

“I haven’t confirmed the other portals, but the knight said that it’s highly likely the Ruin Scholar has already been there.”

“Then…”

“Yes, it means we’re completely trapped here.”

After the priestess finished speaking, a heavy silence fell for a moment.

But even so, the discussion continued.

“Those Noark bastards are really determined.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“Even if it’s not that Verzak monster, if they find out that our core forces are gone, they’ll definitely attack.”

The explorers were participating in the conversation much more actively than before.

But there were no gains.

That was because not enough clues had been given to come up with a solution yet.

“Isn’t everyone looking at this too narrowly? Skilled warriors always predict and act on the enemy’s next move.”

Every time, I would occasionally interject and give clues.

“Wouldn’t the guys who prepared for months for today have predicted that we would open a dimensional gate and run away?”

“…Honestly, it would be stranger if they didn’t predict it.”

Well, that’s true.

It was definitely a crazy thing that ordinary people couldn’t even think of.

But…

“That makes sense. Maybe the reason they cornered us was to make us use the dimensional gate.”

Some, including the military mage Kyle, didn’t take my words lightly.

“Yes. Then the real war might not be now, but next time. There won’t be many mages left in the city who can use dimensional gate magic.”

“It could be a strategy to exploit the internal conflict between the royal family and the explorers. If this news spreads in the city, the distrust towards the royal family that was already there will explode. Well, that’s only meaningful if we return alive.”

All of them were questions I had once had.

It was a situation where any of them could be true.

“I don’t know what those guys are aiming for.”

In a situation where there was no clear answer, the military mage Kyle asked me.

“What do you think? I think your opinion is important.”

“What do you mean?”

“You just pointed out the core issue. I’m curious about your intuition as a warrior.”

I pondered for a moment.

Having asked many questions and made many guesses, I had reached one conclusion.

Of course, I wasn’t sure if it was right.

But…

“I think we were the target from the beginning.”

“Oh, not the knights and large clans?”

Kyle responded with interest, but not everyone was like that.

“That doesn’t make sense. If they knew we would use the dimensional gate, why would they use this strategy? If they perish with us after the core forces have escaped, it would be a loss for them.”

It was the guy who had been friendly to other skilled people throughout the discussion but had been particularly hostile to me.

I didn’t know why he was like that to me.

Was it because he had no hair?

I chuckled and opened my mouth.

“Why do you think they want to die with us? From their perspective, they can just go up to the upper floor.”

“As I said earlier—”

“They can leave one portal and escape through it.”

This was the conclusion I had reached.

After all, the world is full of efficiency-obsessed people.

When I thought about what I would do if I were the leader of the enemy, this was the only option.

‘It’s the most beneficial for them.’

First, they can exhaust the dimensional gates of over a hundred high-level mages and plan for the next time.

In addition, they can reduce the influence of the royal family in the city, and…

Most of all, they can wipe out tens of thousands of explorers without shedding a single drop of blood, even if the core forces have escaped.

Since the core forces have escaped, we can’t defeat ‘Verzak’ no matter what.

But perhaps it was difficult to admit that.

“It can’t be that simple—”

The guy, who had been momentarily speechless, regained his composure and made a mindless rebuttal.

No, to be precise, he was about to.

“I thought you thought so too.”

The military mage Kyle nodded.

‘What, he had something in mind but still asked me?’

I felt a bit uneasy, but I kept quiet.

Well, that’s why I tried not to stand out too much.

Still, it was a relief that he seemed to be testing my abilities rather than suspecting me—

“…?”

At that moment, a commotion was heard from the outside.

The sound was too far away to be heard, but…

It didn’t take long for the news to reach us.

“Commander!”

“What’s going on?”

“The Noark guys who were blocking the passage have all disappeared!”

Kyle smiled bitterly at me.

“It seems like your and my thoughts were right.”

Now we really had to hurry.

***

Having learned of Noark’s plan, it wasn’t difficult to come up with a countermeasure.

Even if it wasn’t a perfect countermeasure.

What we had to do was clear.

“We need to go up to the second floor too.”

“But do you know where it is?”

“At least we’ve confirmed that it’s not the west. Let’s split up and search the three places.”

We divided into three groups and ran towards the second-floor portal.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

“There’s a problem even if we go up! They’ll definitely be there…!”

It was like going from one mountain to another.

Adversity awaited us even after that.

But so what?

“It’s better than dying here. From now on, it’s everyone’s choice.”

Kyle said coldly, and no one said they would stay.

At least not around us.

“Then how will we divide our forces?”

An explorer asked about the detailed strategy.

Before Kyle, who had been leading the conversation and giving off a leader-like vibe, could say anything, I interjected.

“It’s better to divide into groups of about 300.”

“We’re already short on forces, and you’re saying 300? What kind of—”

Ha, this bastard is at it again.

“It’s a terrain where it’s difficult to fight properly even with a lot of people. It’s better that way.”

In professional terms, it meant we should engage in guerrilla warfare.

I didn’t say it explicitly, but everyone understood the meaning behind it.

“Hmm, that makes sense. It’s not just about the battle, but as we scatter, more people will survive. It will also distract that monster.”

“Since most of us will die if we encounter him anyway, it means we’ll be each other’s bait and try to survive on our own.”

It was a truly ruthless strategy.

But everyone agreed without objection.

That was a good part of being an explorer.

There was no time wasted on discussing things like compassion.

“Then how will we organize the groups?”

“Let’s figure that out ourselves. I don’t plan on going under anyone.”

“Okay, we don’t have time anyway.”

As the plan was roughly settled, an explorer finished the conversation and left first.

He was the leader of some unknown small or medium-sized clan.

This marked the beginning of chaos.

“Red Light Clan! I’m looking for anyone who wants to escape this damn place with me! Anyone above 6th grade is welcome, no matter how many!”

Some were recruiting companions.

“One of my teammates is 7th grade. Is there any way we can join?”

Some were looking for a group to join.

And amidst that chaos.

“Kyle, I know you’re alone, would you like to join our clan?”

The leader of the Nartel Clan, Melter Pend, immediately tried to recruit the mage.

Well, I was going to try to step up first.

Seeing them chatting so well earlier, I didn’t think that mage would refuse.

‘I need to move quickly before they take everyone.’

“Then I’ll be going now. Let’s meet again alive.”

I said a simple goodbye and turned around.

I was planning to return to my companions in the crowd and quickly gather talent.

It would be quite difficult to gather 300 people as a weak barbarian.

With that thought, I was about to hurry my steps.

“Wait, what are you planning to do?”

The military mage Kyle stopped me.

“If it’s you, you’re probably going to be the leader, right?”

“Of course.”

“Then take me with you.”

Huh?

“Why?”

“I’m just following my gut. It seems like people will gather around you.”

“…You’re following your gut in a life-or-death situation?”

I asked, glancing at Melter Pend, who had offered him a recruitment proposal earlier, and Kyle answered with a smile.

“A mage who willingly stayed in this mess can’t be in his right mind, can he?”

Oh, that’s true.

“Okay. Please take care of me.”

I got a high-level mage.

It was a very positive sign.

If I used this, I could gather even better members—

“Please take us with you.”

Before I could even take a step, a group of knights approached me.

The face of the knight at the front was familiar, and when I looked closely, it was the one who had been getting beaten with a resigned expression when we first arrived.

“Four regular knights and six apprentice knights. We won’t be a burden wherever you go.”

Well, were they trying to repay a favor?

It was a huge gain for me.

“Okay. Follow me.”

The group of knights stood behind me.

But before I could take another step, someone called out to me.

“Wait.”

It was Melter Pend, the leader of the Nartel Clan.

What was it? Was it because he had his mage stolen from right in front of him?

He didn’t seem like such a petty person…

“Which direction are you going?”

“East.”

Since the west was blocked, the east was good.

Even if the first attempt failed, I could resume moving north or south depending on the situation.

“Coincidentally, that’s the same direction as me. How about we go together?”

“I don’t plan on going under you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll follow your orders.”

“What?”

This was also unexpected.

I didn’t think he was the type to go under anyone either.

What was this? A hidden camera prank?

“So, what’s your answer?”

“…If you properly follow my orders.”

“Then it’s decided.”

Soon, Melter Pend and his clan members stood behind me.

To be honest, I was dumbfounded.

I hadn’t even made a recruitment offer yet, and how many people had I already gathered?

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!!”

“Follow the acting clan leader!!”

Before I could even take a few more steps, the barbarians ran to me and followed.

Well, that was expected.

“Mister!!”

“Erwen? Where’s your clan?”

“My sister said this side seems safer! You’ll take us too, right?”

“Of course.”

The fairy sisters, who had been watching nearby, also joined.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go under you.”

A 4th-grade team that had been active on the 6th floor.

“I think you’re the one who can save the most people.”

The priestess who had stayed behind to save people.

“Haha, in times like these, a loyal guy is the most trustworthy. Take us too.”

Even a dwarf clan that was quite famous in the city.

I was just walking, but so many people were coming to me, asking to go with me.

“See, I told you. It seemed like people would gather around you.”

“…”

“A mage’s intuition is usually accurate.”

Kyle looked at me and smiled meaningfully.