Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 283

Is this for real?

Is this some kind of hidden camera prank?

I stood there for a long time, completely overwhelmed by a sensation that words like ‘dazed’ couldn’t even begin to describe. My fingertips trembled slightly, and my breathing grew increasingly ragged.

However, despite all that, I accepted it quickly.

‘Time slip.’

That one phrase explained all the contradictions that had arisen since I woke up on this island.

Therefore, denying it was pointless.

Yeah, if waking up in a barbarian’s body after playing computer games is possible, why wouldn’t time travel be?

Having sorted out my thoughts, I stared at Amelia.

“You already knew, didn’t you?”

“To some extent.”

Amelia nodded slightly, then said that she had become certain after meeting these guys.

I had seen them in a book, but apparently, they were quite famous back then?

‘…No wonder it felt strange. She’s not usually the type to launch a preemptive strike like that.’

It’s a kind of time traveler’s perk.

Seeing through the identities of those sneaky bastards and smashing their heads in before they can even do anything.

From their perspective, it must be infuriating.

“F-famous? W-what are you talking about!”

Whatever, there’s no time for explanations.

Explaining it would be pointless anyway.

“Are there any other clan members on this island besides you guys? If so, just nod slightly.”

I quickly moved on to the interrogation phase.

And after resolving a few questions, I took some time to think.

“20 years ago…”

So, the timeline was 20 years in the past.

In other words, we had just met the guys who would be exposed and executed for their crimes about five years from now.

‘This is more troublesome than I thought.’

According to the interrogation, there were over 30 people staying on this island.

And Amelia warned me.

That the leader of Clan Elvis, whoever he was, was an extremely dangerous explorer.

“…We should move first.”

“That’s right.”

I quickly finished communicating with Amelia by exchanging a few glances. Surprisingly, we worked quite well together in this regard.

It was thanks to the fact that there was no need for a persuasion process.

“Let’s start by stripping them of their gear.”

“Ah, I’ll take care of these guys.”

We skillfully stripped the guys of their gear and took their backpacks.

And then…

Thud.

We killed them all.

After all, how could we let them live?

It was obvious that as soon as they returned, they would start chasing us with their comrades.

‘Besides, they were scum who deserved to die in the first place.’

The clan symbol of a group that would be exposed for their crimes in five years.

Not to mention the clear evidence of looting in their backpacks, and after hearing various things during the interrogation, I didn’t feel any guilt.

“What should we do with the bodies?”

“It would be best to bury them.”

“Then we should quickly dig a hole.”

I agreed with Amelia’s suggestion to bury them without any objection.

Yeah, in times like this, you should listen to the expert.

“Then I’ll go erase the traces over there.”

While I was digging a hole to bury the bodies, Amelia went back to the campsite and dismantled the campfire I had made and the leaf bed I had painstakingly created.

That was the end of my short primitive life.

Alright, now it’s time to return to civilization.

“A dagger. Will you use it?”

We threw away the ‘Blessing of the Tree Spirit’ and put on the clothes and gear we had obtained from killing those guys.

It wasn’t comparable to the gear I had been using, but…

‘Well, this is good enough to use.’

It would be greedy to ask for more here.

After burying the bodies and covering them with dirt, I chewed on some jerky and drank water from my canteen. Then, I checked the direction using the compass.

‘Phew, now I feel like I’m living like a human again.’

It wasn’t anything new anymore.

***

“There’s a cave I’ve scouted. Let’s go there.”

As the sky gradually turned blue and brightened, I followed Amelia for about 30 minutes and came across a small cave. It was a place she had discovered when she was heading to the center of the island with Misha?

“It’s wider inside than I thought.”

“…Hadn’t you been inside before?”

“I just took a look while passing by. It seemed like a good place to hide.”

No, but she remembers the location too?

“You have an amazing memory.”

When I admired her with a pure heart, Amelia frowned, saying it was just a long-standing habit.

“Come on, a grown adult getting shy over a compliment.”

“…I wasn’t shy.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Barbarian, what kind of ‘okay’ is that?”

An ‘okay’ is just an ‘okay’.

Anyway, that’s enough of the small talk.

“More importantly, I think it’s time we talked about it. What exactly was that stone?”

I asked the question I had repeated several times, and finally, I was able to hear the answer.

“A fragment of the Record Stone. It’s a legacy of the Great Sage Gavrilius and a treasure that the lords of Noark have kept for a long time.”

So, that was its official name.

It definitely seemed related to this whole situation.

“Then, is it all because of that fragment of the Record Stone that we time-traveled to the past?”

“Probably.”

Amelia readily agreed and continued to speak.

The ‘Fragment of the Record Stone’ was a legendary item that could turn back time and change history, and that’s why she had spent her entire life trying to obtain it.

“But why did you use it when you were with me?”

“That was… not my intention.”

“What?”

“I didn’t even know how to use it in the first place. I was planning to properly research it when I returned to the city later.”

According to Amelia, even the lords of Noark didn’t know how to use it and had only kept it safe.

Just like Aurilgavius had said when he gave her the ‘Fragment of the Record Stone’, until the ‘one who is called by the era’ appeared.

‘God damn it.’

They say sighing makes luck run away, but I keep sighing.

“So, you don’t know how to go back either?”

“…That’s right.”

Amelia said it as if she was sorry, but her eyes were constantly sparkling.

Well, I couldn’t blame her.

From her perspective, wasn’t this the fulfillment of a lifelong wish? Her main concern would be how to change the past rather than how to return.

‘If I came here, what happened over there? Is it just frozen in time?’

My head is getting complicated.

However, there’s nothing I can figure out by worrying about it now.

For now, I decided to satisfy my curiosity.

“So, what happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m curious about the story of why you tried so hard to come to the past.”

“….”

At my question, Amelia shut her mouth tightly.

Come on, if you don’t want to answer, just say you don’t want to.

“….”

“….”

After that, an awkward silence flowed for a long time.

I, who had suddenly time-traveled, had my own things to think about, and she had her own.

“The sun is rising.”

As time passed, the day broke, and we continued to stay there.

It was a judgment that we might encounter those guys and end up in a difficult situation if we went out and moved around unnecessarily.

Phew, if the guys we killed earlier had a boat, we could have escaped the island on it.

‘I can’t believe they’re controlling the island itself.’

I had learned during the interrogation that Parune Island was the territory of their clan.

They used this place as a base and went around nearby islands, looting only explorers who didn’t belong to a clan?

Apparently, the reason why five of them were wandering around the island was to search for explorers who had entered while the clan was away…

‘Still, the good thing is that we only have to endure today.’

The labyrinth on the 6th floor closes on the 60th day.

Surprisingly, today is that day.

After time-slipping, I guess there’s nothing to be surprised about anymore.

‘I wonder how the others are doing… They still have another month until the labyrinth closes there. They’ll be fine without me and get out, right?’

I was suddenly worried about my companions I had left behind, but I didn’t think too deeply about it.

Yeah, I need to worry about myself first rather than them.

In a situation where I don’t even know if I can go back.

‘When the labyrinth closes, we won’t all just return to normal, right?’

While I was having such silly thoughts, Amelia called me.

“Barbarian.”

“My name is Bjorn, son of Yandel, human.”

“….”

“So, what were you going to say?”

“I was going to tell you to pick one of the IDs in the backpack in advance.”

Huh?

‘Ah…’

At first, I didn’t understand what she meant, but I quickly got it.

If we returned to the city in the past as we were, we wouldn’t even be able to pass through the checkpoints properly. Soon, I rummaged through the backpack and gathered all the IDs together.

There seemed to be at least forty of them.

“…But why did these guys collect so many IDs? It could easily become evidence of looting.”

“It’s common. IDs are quite valuable.”

Even if they weren’t from Noark, where there were many people without identities in the city, there were plenty of people who wanted new identities?

‘Well, since they’d be caught for looting anyway if their backpacks were searched, it would be more profitable to take the IDs and sell them.’

Soon, we looked through the IDs one by one and picked out the ones that could be used.

Unlike Amelia, who was human, I had no choice.

There was only one barbarian ID among all those IDs.

“Amelia Berrywells, you got a good one?”

Amelia picked an ID with the same name.

Her race was human, and her gender was female.

“She’s twenty-one years old. Does she have any conscience?”

“…I, it’s not like I chose it because I wanted to.”

Oh? What’s with this reaction?

“Wait a minute, Amelia. How old are you anyway?”

“…Don’t pay attention to me, Bjorn Yandel.”

Amelia quickly returned to her original self and cut me off coldly.

It was the first time I had seen her stutter, so I was going to tease her a bit.

“It’s just that if we live here for a long time, we’ll have to pay taxes, so I just picked one that would allow us to pay as little as possible. It’ll be convenient since the name is the same.”

Right, you’re already considering the fact that you’ve been trapped in this timeline for over a year.

‘Tsk.’

I clicked my tongue and looked at the ID in my hand again, rechecking the information I needed to memorize.

‘Name: Nivels Enche, age: twenty-one. Explorer rank: 6.’

That was the essential information.

However, if I’m rank 6, I’d probably have a few registered essences with the guild, so it would be wise not to use [Giantification] in front of people.

“If you’ve checked everything, give it to me.”

“Huh?”

“You told me not to call you barbarian, right? I can’t call you Yandel in front of others.”

Ah, that’s true.

I handed Amelia the ID that I would be using for a while.

But what is this again?

“Nivels Enche…?”

Amelia froze while holding the ID.

As if it was the name of someone she knew.

***

“Is it someone you know?”

At my question, Amelia shook her head.

And she didn’t explain further, saying it was just a coincidence.

Seriously, she has a talent for making people frustrated.

‘If that’s the case, she shouldn’t have shown any reaction at all.’

Anyway, after that, we stayed in the cave and waited until the labyrinth closed.

We talked occasionally, and there was one part that was very impressive.

“I’ll take responsibility for finding a way back, so try not to do anything that stands out. You could create something irreversible.”

“Irreversible?”

“I once heard a wizard say that if it’s possible to go back to the past, even a very small change could cause a country to be destroyed.”

It seemed like she was talking about the butterfly effect.

You know, that thing.

That a single flap of a butterfly’s wings could cause a typhoon on a continent across the ocean.

‘…Wait a minute, if the Bjorn of this era dies, what will happen then?’

I suddenly had that thought.

Since it’s 20 years ago, Bjorn would exist in this timeline as well.

He’d probably be at the age of just gurgling with a milk bottle.

But if that child dies, what will happen to me?

‘…Maybe I’m in a very dangerous situation.’

Once we return to the city, it would be best to stay quiet and observe the situation for a while, as Amelia advised.

“Okay, I won’t cause any trouble, so don’t worry.”

“…I trust you.”

Amelia said that with a look that didn’t trust me at all, and then she fell into thought again.

More time passed like that.

Some of the clan members who were searching for their missing companions passed by nearby, but thanks to Amelia’s good camouflage in front, we were able to get through without being discovered.

And finally.

[00:00]

The clock’s hands clicked and moved.

It meant that it was time for the labyrinth to close.

Whooshhhhh-!

Soon, a pure white light embraced my body.

Immediately, my vision blurred, and as time passed, the colors returned. I blankly looked up at the sky and chuckled.

‘It was gloomy even 20 years ago here.’

The same gray sky of Lapdonia as usual.

“Hey, you’re not going straight to the inn, are you?”

“Of course not. Let’s go get a drink first.”

The bustling dimensional plaza, crowded with explorers.

Yeah, this is what it used to feel like here.

Recently, there have been so many things going on that this peaceful side feels more awkward.

I slowly began to realize it.

‘…So, this is really the world from 20 years ago.’

I would have to live here for a while.