Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 268

A woman stared coldly at a spot. At the end of her gaze lay the corpse of a man. Guard Weaver Drowes. A piece of trash who tried to escape the consequences of his past deeds and live a second life under a new name. Yes, that’s how it should have been…

“Sister, why do you look like that?” Amelia bit her lip without realizing it. The feeling wasn’t as satisfying as she had expected.

“Is it because her comrades escaped? Hey, don’t worry too much. The other two went to find them, right? They’ll catch them soon.” Even her immature colleague, who had been complaining throughout the journey, was now watching her carefully, but Amelia had no time to pay attention to it. [It’s my responsibility. You guys don’t have to get involved. So, go quickly!] The image of him sacrificing himself for his comrades kept flashing before her eyes. At first, it was absurd. What the hell is this guy talking about? When did he betray us, and now he’s doing this? And for those who don’t even know what kind of person he is? Clench. She involuntarily gritted her teeth. If he was capable of doing that, why didn’t he do it for us?

“But we did retrieve the item, right? Even if they escape alive, our mission is a success.” Only then did Amelia clear her mind and shift her gaze to the jewel in her hand. The legacy of the great sage Gavrilius, a treasure that the lords of Noark had kept for a long time. Come to think of it, this also felt somewhat unsettling. To be precise, the words she heard when taking this item from him kept coming back to her mind. [Amelia, you can’t change anything with this.] To say such a thing, knowing what this item meant to her.

“……” Amelia used the poison she had to melt away the man’s corpse. Then, she put the jewel she was holding into her subspace [a personal storage dimension]. After all, the leaders of Noark have all left for the outside world, so they can’t even be contacted properly. She would be keeping it for a while. She planned to go back later and find a way to use this jewel without rushing. ‘I finally got it.’ Despite everything, the end of her long-cherished wish was approaching. With that thought, Amelia shook off the unsettling feeling.

That’s when it happened. “But, sister.” Carmilla, the team’s summoner and the woman who provided transportation on the 6th floor, approached her slyly. Her eyes were full of curiosity. “Is this really the real thing?” It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand that emotion. This was an item that was only passed down as a legend within Noark, and in some ways, it was considered more fictional than the ‘Stone of Rebirth’. Therefore, Amelia didn’t give her any room to speculate. “I don’t know.” Of course, she knew. She knew that the story about this item was not just a made-up tale, and that the item she had just put into her subspace was definitely the real thing. But there’s also the saying, ‘seeing is believing’. It would be foolish to create variables by needlessly talking about it.

“Hey, don’t be like that. You were close with that man, weren’t you? You probably know if this is real or not, right?” “I’m telling you again, I don’t know. And whether this is the real thing or not, it’s not our problem. Our mission is just to retrieve what he had and go back.” Amelia drew a line again. And just as she was about to turn her back. “What, seeing your reaction, it seems like it’s real?” Carmilla grinned. “Wow, I didn’t know this really existed.” It was a statement that could be heard as a childish joke. However, Amelia, who had seen all sorts of terrible things in her life, instinctively reached for her dagger. That was the moment.

Thwack-! A hot sensation bloomed from her back. “I’m sorry, Lady Rainwales.” It was a mistake to only be wary of Carmilla. When she came to her senses, the warrior’s sword was piercing her stomach. But so what? Amelia made a decision immediately, without wasting time on regretting her mistake. “Good job, mister!” The blade had pierced below her ribs. “When are you going to call me ‘brother’?” Her organs were damaged, but it wasn’t a fatal injury. Therefore… “What are you talking about, you half-blood… Ugh!” She quickly pulled out her dagger and thrust it forward. Her target was Carmilla. The woman she had wanted to kill many times before. Whoosh-! Unfortunately, it was a little short. Of course, it didn’t matter much. She had a trick she learned from fighting barbarians before. Whoooosh! The moment she infused her aura into the tip of her blade, the lacking distance was covered. Thwack-! “Aaaah!!” The tip of the dagger pierced Carmilla’s eye. “Too bad.” If it had been a little deeper, she could have pierced her brain. Swish-! No sooner had she felt regret than the sword that was embedded in her stomach was pulled out. The recoil made her body stagger. But there was no time to rest. “Damn it!” The warrior’s sword was immediately swung towards her vital point. It seemed difficult to dodge, so Amelia stretched out her arm. After all, her arm wasn’t a vital point. Slice-! The sharp longsword cut through her upper arm. She had saved her life, but it was a huge loss in terms of combat. Even this wasn’t that big of a problem. If her main body was damaged, she could just fight using her clones.

Tap. Amelia used her doppelganger’s [Self-Replication] to create a clone right behind the warrior. And she immediately swung her foot towards his head. A combo that most enemies couldn’t even react to. “Behind, behind you!” Soon, the clone’s foot made contact with the opponent, and an explosion erupted. Boom-! The sound wasn’t from the head she had targeted. “Kuh!” The foot had hit the warrior’s shoulder. The warrior had turned his body sideways in time due to the warning that had flown in. Thwack-! As a price for the failed attack, the warrior’s sword tore through her abdomen once more. Although the warrior had quickly pulled his body back due to the feint using the clone, it didn’t pierce deeply… ‘I might die if I’m not careful.’ It was dangerous. That thought dominated Amelia’s mind. “What are you doing, hurry and grab your arm!” The warrior rolled on the ground and picked up the severed arm. It was the arm with the subspace bracelet on it. Feeling frustrated, Amelia quickly chased after the warrior using her clone. But… “Yongyong, let’s go!” Three steps were not enough. [Kwwaaaaaaah-!] The warrior was the first to get on the drake that Carmilla had summoned. Whoosh! Whoosh! The drake soared into the sky in an instant. The conversation between the two was buried in the sound of the fierce flapping of wings. “…Amelia Rainwales. You’re a truly terrifying woman. I never thought you’d be this threatening even in that state.” “Enough, give me a potion first!” “Let’s talk first. What are we going to do now? We didn’t kill her properly.” “Damn it, what does that matter! She’s going to die anyway…” That was all the conversation that her developed hearing could pick up. They had now completely disappeared into the sky.

“Damn it.” Amelia cursed out loud for the first time in a long time. But that didn’t change anything. The only way to save herself from this desperate situation was through action. Thump. Amelia used her intact clone to carry her main body. And she quickly left the spot. She judged that if those guys came back down to the ground to confirm her death, it would really be the end. Thump, thump. Amelia kept moving without even knowing which direction she was going. How long had it been? It was when her soul power had run out, [Self-Replication] had been canceled, and she was still struggling to get up and take steps forward. Tap. Her body stiffened at the sound of someone nearby. If they were the comrades who had gone to chase her, she would live, and if they were the opposite, she would die. A situation of either-or where life and death were decided. But… “…Ainar? Ainar-nyang?” Surprisingly, Amelia’s expectations were wrong. “You.” “U, uh?” “You’re a comrade of Bjorn Yandel.” The side she looked at to confirm. Thud-! There was a cat there.

***

“Ugh, what is this again!” Misha was confused. Of course, she would be. If a woman suddenly appeared in front of you with her arm cut off and a hole in her stomach, anyone would be like that. ‘Oh, oh… is she one of those explorers who were fighting?’ “Po, potion. Yes, let’s start with a potion…” She was an unidentified woman, but Misha first opened her wet, expandable backpack and took out a potion. Whether this woman was good or bad. No, in the first place, there was no information about whether there was even a good side… [You’re a comrade of Bjorn Yandel.] The last words the woman had uttered before collapsing eliminated even the slightest hesitation. Yes, she might know Bjorn. Let’s treat her first. Pop-! Misha, who had opened the potion cap, hurriedly poured it on the woman’s wounds. But what was this again? Fizzzzzz. The unique sound of the potion boiling didn’t occur. The potion just flowed through the wounds as if she had poured cold water. “Huh? I bought it from an official general store?” She couldn’t understand it at all, but Misha, who had experience buying fake potions in the early days, took out another potion from her bag. But it was the same this time too. ‘…Uh, why isn’t this working?’ Was this also fake? Soon, Misha poured a little potion on the scratches she had gotten when she fell into the water as an experiment. Fiiizzzz-! It was so itchy that she knew the potion was fine. But why wasn’t it working on this woman? She didn’t know, but Misha didn’t give up. She had learned from Bjorn that the Barbarian spirit was to chew with your gums if you didn’t have teeth. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve used this…’ Misha took out herbs and bandages. Emergency supplies she had saved in case she couldn’t use potions. “It’s going to sting a little… Ah, she can’t hear me anyway.” First, Misha washed the wound with disinfectant, applied the herbs, and wrapped the bandage. Then, she spread a blanket on the floor and laid her on it. That was the end of the temporary measures. She had done all she could, and the rest depended on this woman’s will. “…She’s breathing fine.” Misha, who had been watching her condition for a while, saw that her breathing had stabilized and sat down next to the blanket. And she let out a deep sigh. “Ugh, I can’t just leave her like this…” If she had just fainted, she would have carried her or something, but her condition was too serious to use such a method. “Bjorn will be waiting…” Misha soon made a crying face. But she couldn’t just leave this woman behind. About 10 minutes had passed in that state. Squeak, squeak, squeak! Misha turned her head at the unpleasant noise. “Ah, what is this again…” Monsters were crawling out of the shore.

***

Tap, tap, tap, tap. The sound of flesh hitting flesh continues rhythmically. It’s the sound coming from my hand. Should I say that I can’t keep my body still? I keep flicking my useless fingers. That’s because. ‘2 hours.’ That much time had passed since I arrived at the center. No matter how fast I arrived, at least one of my comrades should have arrived by now. ‘Why isn’t anyone coming?’ Even if I try to have faith, ominous imaginations keep filling my head. Misha, Raven, Bear-ahjussi [a respectful term for an older man], Ainar, and Erwen… Are they really okay? If I had known this would happen, I should have looked around the coast instead of the center… “Are you planning to stay here?” The priestess cautiously asked as I was trembling with anxiety. She looked like a total charlatan to me. No, she told me to have faith earlier. Squeak, squeak, squeak! As proof, even here, marine monsters that only appear during events have started to show up occasionally. They had walked all the way here at less than half the walking speed of a normal person. ‘Soon, it will be filled with stronger guys. The coast is already full of those guys.’ Even so, no one had arrived. “Ercina.” “Yes, please speak.” “I’m moving. Waiting is not in my nature.” “Your faith is still unwavering.” What is she talking about? When did she say that it was the only thing we could do? “If you were born as a human, Yandel-nim might have become a great religious person.” Well, a religious person my ass. As a proud atheist of the modern era, I felt strange, but it was more of an exclamation than a sneer, so I didn’t say anything. “Stop with the useless talk and get up.” “Yes.” I got the priestess up and prepared. And just as I was about to leave. Thump. Finally, after almost 2 hours, a visitor arrived. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of our team members. A skinny body full of minor injuries, as if he had just fought a tough battle. A longbow slung over his shoulder. Even his green hair was covered in dirt. “…Yandel-nim.” Enemy or ally. It wasn’t difficult to tell. He looked at us and asked. “What did you do to Lady Rainwales?” It was a coincidence. Actually, I also had a question for you. I ignored the ringing in my ears and asked. “Hey, why do you have Raven’s subspace ring?” You better answer well. Or you’re really going to die.