Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 293

They were probably on guard to some extent, too, since they didn’t know how strong the newbie was. That’s why they came in a group of more than ten, all at once. How very kind of them.

“Take it off.”

“……?”

“Before it gets bloody.”

The moment my words echoed in the alley, the guy looked like he couldn’t understand. But, did he soon grasp the situation?

“……”

Everyone, including him, shut their mouths. It’s a common thing in the animal world. When prey runs away, they chase it thinking it’s weaker than them, but if it comes out strong, they instinctively feel that something is wrong. They know from experience that it’s dangerous.

Swish.

The guys who were slowly closing in widened the distance and were wary of a surprise attack. It didn’t mean much to me. An alley blocked by walls. It’s too narrow to even use [Giantification] properly, but… ‘Even better.’ There’s nothing to block above.

‘Leap.’

In an instant, I jumped over their heads and landed on the other side. Okay, that blocked the escape route.

“……Kill this guy first!”

The guys were flustered and rushed at me. It seems they judged that they had to break through this first since the escape route was suddenly blocked… Whoosh-!

Those little punks, they dodge well.

“Don’t block, dodge!”

“There’s no one who’d get hit by something this slow, right?”

The three in front of me dodged my mace like eels and swung their own weapons. Most of the attacks were blocked by my physical resistance, but some attacks with skills managed to pierce my thick leather.

Thwack.

Man, that stings. If I had just activated [Giantification], not a drop of blood would have been shed. Well, ‘defense’ isn’t the only way to protect myself, though.

‘Transcendence.’

I lift the mace up and input the command in my head. The target to designate with [Transcendence] is naturally decided.

‘Swing.’

That combo is effective when dealing with many enemies, thanks to the ‘3x increase in attack range’ trait. Whoooosh-!

Soon, as I slammed the mace on the ground, the mace grew longer and bigger like a staff. It was a much smaller range than when combined with [Giantification], but…

“Wh, what the hell……!”

“Dodge!”

Where are they going to dodge? In this narrow alley.

Thwack thwack thwack thwack-!

The guys hurriedly retreated, but the three at the very front couldn’t escape the range. Ah, that’s so refreshing.

Thud.

As I stepped forward, past the trio who had turned into minced meat, the guys backed away. They sure know how to find their limbs like ghosts.

“Woman! Grab the woman!”

It seems they were thinking of taking a hostage, as the guys rushed at Amelia, reaching out and swinging their weapons. Of course, they couldn’t reach her.

Whack, whack, thud-!

Amelia, who had quickly subdued two with punches and kicks, pulled out a dagger from her thigh and swung it at another one’s neck. Although the opponent raised his wrist, wearing a steel guard, to defend…

Slice-!

Do they think that would work against a woman who knows how to use aura? [Aura is a type of life force or energy used in combat].

Thud. Thump.

The cleanly severed wrist and head fell to the ground almost simultaneously and rolled away. And…

“O, aura……”

That was the end of the fight. The moment Amelia used aura, they all just dropped their weapons. They realized with their whole bodies that she was an opponent they couldn’t handle and decided to bet their lives on mercy. But it was way too late.

“P, please spare us. We’ll give you everything we have……”

“What are you going to do?”

“Of course, kill them.”

To my question, Amelia answered without a moment’s hesitation. At this, the guys who had been lying flat quickly picked up their weapons and fought back, but…

“Die!”

No, would that even work? Looking at them, they all seem to be only around level 6 on average.

Thwack, crunch.

Slice!

Amelia and I quickly cleaned up the remaining guys like a well-coordinated two-person looting party. The total time it took was about 5 minutes.

‘The dealer is strong, so it’s reliable.’

A sense of security I’ve never felt in any team before. I wonder how I can keep her out of the team later? Even while thinking that, I quickly moved my hands and continued looting the corpses.

It was then.

“Ugh……”

As I was taking off the lythium breastplate that I had been eyeing from the start, the guy twitched and trembled. What, was he just knocked out?

Thwack-!

After hitting him on the back of the head to knock him down, I asked Amelia.

“But why did you only knock this guy out?”

“……Earlier, you said you didn’t like blood on things.”

Ah……

“Th, thanks?”

“……”

“Ahem.”

There was an awkward moment, but after a few more minutes, the looting was roughly finished. How is it that looting takes longer than fighting? Still, the profit compared to the labor was higher than ever.

‘If I sell this on the surface, it’ll be worth 70 million stones.’

Before stuffing them into my expanded backpack, I looked over the loot once and my chest swelled with pride. This is the result of fighting for a few minutes? ‘To think there was such a honey-pot hunting ground hidden underground.’ Maybe Noark is a good place to live after all.

***

Click.

After putting on the lythium breastplate, I also wore the greaves and miscellaneous equipment that the guy was wearing as a set. The size was a perfect fit, just like the breastplate. Yeah, whether you’re a barbarian or whatever, a warrior should have proper armor.

“Then let’s move on.”

“Ah, okay.”

I felt uncomfortable with the gazes of the nearby residents through the gaps in the curtained windows, so I quickly left the alley and entered the main street. And I followed Amelia, looking around comfortably. A reasonable judgment that if I acted like a newbie, there might be another chance for looting. Well, that’s what I thought, but…

“Are we being followed?”

“No.”

Even after walking for a while, no one is taking the bait.

“Not even now?”

“……No.”

What the heck is going on? As I cautiously expressed my disappointment, Amelia sighed as if I was some kind of weirdo.

“Noark is a small place, so rumors spread quickly.”

Ah, since all the guys who followed us didn’t return, it’s unlikely that they’d rashly attack like before.

“……Ugh.”

I clutched my chest and sat down with a painful expression. At this, Amelia was startled and lowered her posture.

“Are you hurt? There were no external injuries earlier, could it be poison?”

As Amelia hurriedly tried to give me an antidote, I whispered softly.

“Don’t worry. I’m just pretending to be hurt.”

“………What?”

“Maybe if I do this, they might come again.”

“Barbarian, you’re really……”

I quickly got up from my seat as I felt disgust forming in Amelia’s eyes. Tsk, she was enjoying the looting too. She’s making me feel so embarrassed.

“Just hurry up and follow me. If we’re any later, we might have to sleep outside tonight.”

“Okay.”

Anyway, after that, we moved to the center of the city and found a place to stay nearby. Ah, of course, we booked one room, not two. If anyone were to target us even after the rumors spread, they would be quite skilled, right?

“Luckily, there are several beds.”

“The lodgings in Noark are all like this, so don’t be surprised.”

“Huh?”

“Because there’s no one in this city who comes here alone to sleep.”

From what I heard, unless they’ve formed a family and bought a house, most people live with their companions, even in their daily lives… I can understand to some extent. To live in a place like this, it would be safest to move around in groups.

“Yandel, you go wash up first. I’ll organize the loot in the meantime.”

“Ah, I’ll be quick.”

After that, we washed up in order, then Amelia went into the bathroom, and then we had some time to talk.

“What are we going to do with the loot?”

“I’m not going to sell it for now, I’ll keep it. It’s three times more expensive to sell it on the surface later.”

“The difference is bigger than I thought?”

“It’s natural since the supply is overwhelmingly greater than the demand.”

Well, I guess that’s true. Looters bring back more equipment than magic stones.

“But I remember hearing that there are merchants who travel between the surface and the underground. Can’t we just hand it over to them?”

“You seem to be mistaken. The price I said was three times more expensive was the price when handing it over to the merchants.”

“……I see.”

“So, if you need something, don’t think about selling it, just use it. This city is that kind of place.”

Anyway, that was the end of the conversation about disposing of the loot. After that, we got to the main point.

“So, what are we going to do now?”

We succeeded in entering Noark as planned. And there are two goals we need to achieve here.

1. Steal the ‘Fragment of Records’ that the lord is keeping and return to our original time.

2. Fulfill Amelia’s wish.

Actually, I didn’t say it, but in the case of number 2, it will be difficult to achieve. For this woman’s wish to come true, the past has to change. ‘Looking at her expression then, it seems she’s aware of this to some extent……’ Then, what kind of decision will Amelia make?

“Why are you asking that?”

“I was wondering if you might have changed your mind.”

To my nonchalant answer, Amelia said without a moment’s hesitation.

“You’re saying strange things. There’s no change in the plan.”

Yeah, you’re not going to give up.

***

There is day and night even in the underground city of Noark. However, there is no dawn or dusk. When it’s time for activity, the jewels embedded in the ceiling emit light, and at night, they switch to minimum output. And in that sense…

“It’s daytime.”

After spending a night, as soon as it became bright outside the window, we went out into the street. That alone made it feel like a strange city. Because it’s not a common sight to see doors opening in all the buildings and people pouring out as soon as it becomes daytime.

“Stop looking around and come here. If we’re late, we’ll have to wait a long time.”

“Ah, okay.”

After that, we followed Amelia to the lord’s castle located in the center of Noark. Unlike when I saw it from afar yesterday, the large castle gate was wide open, accepting many people.

“Why are they all going there?”

“Most of the jobs are in the lord’s castle. Those who don’t go into the labyrinth do the work assigned there and live on the wages.”

This is like a communist country. Well, since they survived in a place like this, that’s probably why the people from Noark are so tenacious.

[Labyrinth Management Office]

Soon, we arrived at our destination and entered the building. The interior was similar to an explorer’s guild. The actual work they do wasn’t much different either.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

“Ah, okay.”

To save time, we stood in separate short lines. In Noark, there were more things to do than I thought to enter the labyrinth. First of all, if you’re a newbie who just entered the city, you have to register separately, and it seems that you have to pay an entrance fee every time you enter the labyrinth… ‘How is it that this place is more vicious than Lapdonia?’ Considering that the origin of Noark was the ‘Ormi Revolutionary Group’ that called for the overthrow of the royal family, it’s absurd. ‘By the way, when will this line get shorter? If it’s going to be like this, they should have made a number ticket like in Lapdonia. What’s the point of gathering all the people and making them stand in line?’ As I was internally complaining about the slow processing and outdated system, after standing in line for over 30 minutes.

“Oh, hey! Looking at your registration papers, you must be a newbie?”

A group of five explorers swaggered up to me. And they put their hand on my shoulder, acting friendly.

“But we’re busy, so can you give us your place in line? Huh? We’re on the same side now. We should help each other out.”

I was momentarily confused. ‘What is this?’ Is it another pickpocketing attempt?