Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 250

There’s no point in making excuses anymore. No matter how cleverly I try to deceive him, he won’t fall for it. He’ll try to get a definite answer one way or another. ‘Damn it.’ Apart from the unpleasantness of being forced to choose, my mind was already meticulously calculating each of the options presented to me and their consequences. What is truly the best option for me? “Hey? Aren’t you going to talk? Why did you suddenly become so nice?” Ha, this guy is so impatient. I feel like saying something like, ‘I just felt like it, is there a problem?’ and going into a mindless barbarian mode. But…… ‘If I did that, I might really die.’ I am weaker than him. Therefore, when he persistently expresses his doubts, the combo of swinging a mace while saying that there’s something wrong with his head is impossible. I’d be the one getting my head smashed. “Ha, look at you, getting all unfriendly again so quickly?” Lee Baek-ho sighed as if frustrated and glared at me with his blue eyes. “Why do you keep asking? You don’t even intend to believe me anyway.” I didn’t bother to hide the sigh that escaped me. But was Lee Baek-ho just as frustrated? “No, well, it’s just that hearing it from your own mouth feels different, you know?” Yeah, I know what he means. That’s why I tried to hide it until the end. ‘Okay, so you’re going to get an answer no matter what.’ It was time to admit it. Too much has already gone wrong to resolve this situation without any cost. I have to give up what I have to give up. For example…… “Manners maketh man, they say.” My identity, which I’ve never confessed to, even though I’ve been suspected multiple times. “Huh?” Lee Baek-ho looked bewildered at my sudden change of attitude. Since I had made up my mind, there was nothing to hold back. “Hey, isn’t it just polite to pretend you don’t know and move on at this point?” “What? Really? You were really a player?” Lee Baek-ho’s eyes lit up, as if he was amazed to hear the truth from my own mouth. ‘Yeah, you were just curious, weren’t you?’ I feel a surge of anger. Does he even know? That this is the first time I’m using this tone in Byorn Yandel’s body. ‘Still, it feels kind of refreshing.’ I glared at him, feeling a strange sense of liberation and resentment at the same time. But does this guy have zero empathy? “Wow, so you’ve seen that movie!” Even in this situation, he’s only focused on the topic he’s interested in. Does this guy really have no social skills? “……An apology should come first.” A bizarre sight of a barbarian discussing social norms and morality with a human. “Ah, sorry. But it’s just that I suddenly feel like we’re kindred spirits since you’ve seen that movie. It’s one of my favorite movies.” Lee Baek-ho gave a soulless apology and then cautiously asked one more thing. “……But have you seen the second one too?” What the hell is this guy? Isn’t this almost a communication skill that even barbarians would cry at? “……I have.” I answered for now. Because if I just ignored him, I don’t know when he might change his attitude again— “But why are you talking down to me?” Huh? “No, why have you been talking down to me since earlier? Don’t you know mutual respect? Are players immune to death even if they stab each other in the gut?” Lee Baek-ho suddenly became serious and started emitting killing intent, as if he was very angry about something. I feel like I’m going crazy. “……I’m not used to using honorifics.” “Ah, so you’re from the West!” So that’s how he interprets it. I was thinking about the barbarian. “Then let’s drop the formalities. Sounds good?” Lee Baek-ho smiled brightly as if nothing had happened and offered a handshake. At first glance, he looks like a manic-depressive patient, but…… ‘I feel like I’ve woken up.’ My mind actually feels clearer. Maybe this is his way of speaking. Taking the initiative based on his power, confusing me, and not giving me time to think. ‘Could it be that he talked about the second movie to find out when I arrived, and just now he was trying to confirm if I’m from the East?’ It might just be a simple overthinking. But it’s better to be careful. ‘I should hide the fact that I’m Lee Han-soo.’ Actually, this was the last thing I was worried about. If I’m going to reveal that I’m a player anyway, wouldn’t it be better to reveal that too and become friends? But I postponed that decision because of one thing. [That cat seemed to have noticed something, right? Isn’t it better to just kill it?] Earlier, it was just a simple piece of advice. It was closer to the feeling of someone being nosy to a stranger they just met. But the moment I reveal that I’m Lee Han-soo. This problem will now become his problem. Because he cared about Lee Han-soo. No, he cared about the few ‘Korean players’ in this strange world. “But the fact that I’m a player…….” “Ah, don’t worry! I won’t tell anyone. Do I look like someone who doesn’t have that much manners?” The word ‘yes’ was about to come out of my mouth, but I held it back. After talking to him, I understand better. Lee Baek-ho is like a ball that doesn’t know where it will bounce. Therefore, I should never get involved with him. At least until I have the confidence to control him. “Anyway, I’m really glad you answered honestly.” “……?” “I heard you became a noble this time? Since we met again, I was going to kill you before you got attached to the royal family if you were a real NPC [Non-Player Character].” My heart sank at his casual words. “……What?” “Why are you surprised? It’s not like I enjoy PK [Player Killing]. Well, as long as you’re not an NPC with a predetermined fate, it’s fine. Those guys are a bit of a headache for me.” Words that I couldn’t understand at all. I became a little curious and asked him, but Lee Baek-ho just said that there was such a thing and vaguely drew a line. Well, is it because I’m Byorn Yandel from the West? I think Lee Han-soo from Korea would have answered me. “Ah, and just in case, I’ll give you one more piece of advice. It’s funny to say this to someone who’s already a noble, but don’t get too deeply involved with the royal family.” “Why?” “The royal family isn’t interested in opening the ‘Abyss Gate’. No, they’re actually serious about hindering it. The disappearance of the Creation Relic might also be their doing.” From the royal family? Why? It’s known that the key to saving this world is in the deepest part of the labyrinth, but was that all a lie? I had as many questions as I was curious about. However, no matter what I asked, Lee Baek-ho would just say with an annoyed face. “What are you going to do even if you know?” At this rate, I don’t think he’d even answer if I asked who the GM [Game Master] was. So, as I was clicking my tongue in disappointment. “So, you’re one of those guys?” “One of those guys?” “You know, the ones who are just trying to live here. When I saw you risking your life for an NPC back then, I thought you were one of them, but then your growth rate makes me wonder if that’s not the case. Which side are you on?” “What would you do if I wanted to stay?” “What would I do? There are people like that too. It’s not like I’m that narrow-minded. As long as you don’t get in my way, I don’t care.” I quietly stared into Lee Baek-ho’s eyes. It wasn’t a particularly meaningful act. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking with those blue eyes. ‘Well, it doesn’t seem like he’s just testing me…….’ After a moment of thought, I opened my mouth. “I don’t know.” It was the most honest answer I could give. “At first, my goal was to go back, but lately I’m wondering if I really have to risk my life to do that.” “Is it because of that Red Cat Tribe?” “…….” I didn’t answer. But was that enough?

“You remind me of my old self.”

Lee Baek-ho chuckled as he spoke.

“But I’ll tell you this since you seem to have some potential. Don’t expect too much from NPCs. You’ll regret it for sure.”

I could sense a coldness hidden beneath his laughter, and a sudden question arose.

What exactly happened to him?

What did he experience in this world to become such a broken monster, yearning only for ‘return’?

It was something I couldn’t know with my current understanding.

“Well, I’ve answered all my questions, so I’ll be going now?”

Lee Baek-ho turned his back as if he was done with his business. With a flick of his hand, he demolished the wall that had self-repaired.

No, could you even call that demolishing?

Whish-whish-whish-

The debris of the wall completely turned into dust and scattered. With another flick of his hand, Lee Baek-ho made even that dust disappear into the wind.

‘……I’m glad I didn’t use the berserk mode.’

The thought that my head could have turned into dust made me dizzy.

As I watched Lee Baek-ho leave.

“Ah, right.”

Lee Baek-ho turned his head to look at me.

And he gave me his last words.

“Just so you know, next time we meet, we’re strangers, okay?”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m saying don’t act friendly even if we happen to meet by chance.”

“…….”

“I don’t form any attachments in this world.”

Jeez, what a jerk.

So heartless.

***

After Lee Baek-ho left, I returned to the lodging without looking back. The next morning.

“Ugh, mister… I’m dying…….”

I spent the morning resting with the trio who were suffering from hangovers.

“Bjorn…… But when did you get back? Did you do well with what you were going to do yesterday?”

Misha had completely forgotten about last night, and she didn’t even remember me coming back to the lodging.

It was a relief, in a way.

[Is it because I couldn’t give birth to a barbarian?]

If she knew she had said that to me yesterday, it would have been awkward to talk face to face.

“If all the requests are done, can we play without any worries from today?”

“Of course.”

I had planned for a 2-night, 3-day trip just in case, but all the business in Noark was finished on the first day.

So, the remaining time was all free.

“Ooooh! Let’s go play!!”

In the end, we spent the second day playing together until late at night.

It was a pretty fun day, in its own way.

Well, if it wasn’t for falling into the water at the end.

“Ainar!! I told you not to move like that!!”

It happened at the fishing spot.

We were fishing with the lights on at night, and Ainar had a seizure after being bitten by a fish, causing the boat to capsize.

The problem was that no one could swim.

Well, how many of them would have come to such a deep place like this?

‘I thought I was really going to die.’

But thanks to that, I learned one thing.

When I fell into the water in the ‘Glacier Cave’ before, I thought I was sinking because of the armor, but that wasn’t it.

Barbarians can’t swim.

It’s not a matter of skill; they have no choice but to sink when they fall into the water.

Well, I was able to ask for help because my head came out of the water when I used the Giant Transformation (Transcendence) mode.

‘When I get back, I should look around for a place where I can learn to swim. Even if Ainar and I don’t, they should know how to.’

Anyway, the second day passed like that, and the next day.

We woke up at noon after drinking all night and got on the carriage to go home.

“Ugh, I wish we could have stayed one more day, but we’re really leaving like this.”

“I agree. Mister doesn’t drink much at home…….”

“Ooooh! Misha! There’s a horse running over there!”

The carriage moved for several hours as we looked at the natural scenery that was hard to see in the city.

Soon, we arrived at the southwest exit and returned the horn we had received when we entered.

‘Come to think of it, I had this.’

The horn that, no matter when or where you blow it, the moment you do, the self-defense force, one of the prides of the Noum Tree, would come running.

I wondered what would have happened if I had blown this when Lee Baek-ho was here, but nothing much would have changed.

If it was him, he wouldn’t have given me the time to do that.

“Then I’ll rest, so tell me if you’re hungry later.”

We arrived home in the evening and went back to our rooms to rest, and the next day was no different.

A peaceful time of rest.

This time, as always, flew by like an arrow.

And…….

“I’ll be going out for a bit.”

Finally, that day came.

[22:10]

Two hours before midnight when the labyrinth opens.

I finished preparing to go out and headed to the dimensional plaza.

‘The royal family said they were sharpening their swords.’

According to rumors, the royal family is building an army.

They took a hard hit, so they were going to have a proper fight in the labyrinth this time and pay them back?

The scale was not known.

That’s because this time, unlike the previous subjugation, they didn’t even send an official request for cooperation to the clans.

They were trying to handle it thoroughly with the power of the royal family.

‘I’ll get a sense of it when I get to the plaza. How much power does the royal family have?’

In fact, there were explorers heading to the plaza here and there to check the situation, just like me.

Everyone was curious.

The true power of the royal family, which had only been rumored and no one had ever seen properly.

“Oh, Bjorn! Are you going to the plaza too?”

“I’m just a bit worried.”

I saw some familiar faces along the way, so I moved while talking with them.

And how long had it been?

“……I didn’t expect this.”

All the explorers who came here, including me, tilted their heads.

“You don’t mean to tell me that there’s no one here.”

It’s not that there’s no one.

Security guards from the Public Security Bureau were occupying the plaza, preventing explorers from entering.

But that was all.

“Where’s the army?”

No matter where I looked, the rumored army was nowhere to be seen.

“Haven’t they arrived yet?”

“Hey, that can’t be. The labyrinth opens in five minutes. If they’re still not here, it means there was no army.”

“What a letdown. You don’t mean to tell me that the fight was just a rumor.”

The explorers who gathered near the plaza couldn’t hide their disappointment and left one by one.

It was the same with the explorers I met on the way here.

“Yandel, aren’t you leaving?”

“I’ll wait a little longer.”

“Hmm, then I’ll go first.”

I waited until the portal opened and closed, thinking that something might happen.

To sum it up, there really was no army.

‘What is it? Are they aiming for the next time?’

There were many questions, but nothing would change by staying here.

I turned around.

At that moment.

Kuuuuuuuuuung-!

A faint collapsing sound was heard from somewhere.

Drrrrrrrrrrr-!

Soon, the ground under my feet shook.

“What, what is it? An earthquake?”

The officials and guards around me stopped in place with bewildered faces.

But…….

“…….”

The few knights in the plaza were different.

With no change in their expressions, they looked even more solemn as they talked among themselves.

As if what was about to begin had finally begun.

‘Yeah, this is what it was.’

I turned my gaze and looked down at the ground.

I felt like I knew where the royal family’s army was.

Even if I couldn’t see them right now.

‘Empty house raid [A military tactic where an enemy attacks a location that is undefended].’

The war had already begun.