Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 296

After running for nearly 30 minutes, I encountered a team of five. The members consisted of three humans, one dwarf, and one elf. Judging by their equipment, they seemed to be explorers from at least the 5th floor or higher.

“You’re lost? Calm down and come sit by the fire to rest.”

They saw me approaching their camp, and instead of being wary, they invited me to sit by the fire and even offered me some jerky. At first, I wondered if the jerky was poisoned. But…

“Hmm, what should we do? We don’t have time to search the entire 3rd floor to find your team.”

None of them showed any greed during the conversation, nor did they ask for my equipment in exchange for saving me. Well, that’s almost unheard of.

“Haha, you’d give us your weapons? No way. What would you do on this expedition if you gave us your gear?”

“It’s fine. If you feel bad about it, when you meet others like us later, don’t be stingy and help them out to repay us.”

They were people with such good character that the word ‘nice’ didn’t even begin to cover it. That made me even more suspicious, so I pretended to doze off by the fire, showing them an opening…

“Looks like you were really tired.”

“Jess, what should we do? I feel bad leaving him like this. It’s practically a death sentence.”

“How about we search around for a few hours to see if his companions are nearby?”

“And if we can’t find them?”

“Well, then let’s just take him with us for this expedition? It’ll be a hassle, but we can’t just leave him to die here.”

There was no point in testing them any further, and it seemed like I was just causing trouble. So, I signaled Amelia, who was nearby. A pre-arranged signal for her to come get me.

“There are a lot of people looking for others today. Who are you?”

“…Sorry for interrupting. I’m looking for my companion.”

“A companion? Oh, could it be…!”

As soon as Amelia approached the fire, I jumped up and ran to her.

“Oh! Emily!! I missed you!! Why did you take so long!!”

“S-Sorry… But, this is…”

“Emilyyyyyy!!”

I hugged her tightly to keep up the act, while also being wary of the others. They seemed like good people, but I thought they might change their minds after seeing Amelia. Oh, that’s what I thought would happen…

“It’s good you found your companion.”

In the end, there was no twist at all.

“Hehe, make sure to stick with your companions next time.”

“You have good companions. It’s not easy to get separated and find each other in the labyrinth. Cherish each other.”

They were nice people from beginning to end. So, it was time for this uninvited guest to leave.

“Come on, let’s go. Everyone… is worried… about you…”

Amelia said she had a place to meet her companions and took me away, while they saw us off with warm smiles. And so, time passed, and now.

‘Did I… really just get back without anything happening?’

I felt a sense of bewilderment, and at the same time, I was deeply moved. Is this healing…? What kind of life have I been living? There are so many wonderful people in the world.

“Unfortunately, your method didn’t work.”

While I was lost in emotion, Amelia looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask what I was going to do now. Geez, way to make a guy feel awkward. Like I knew this would happen.

“Are you going to keep going?”

At Amelia’s question, I genuinely pondered. It was at that moment.

“Hey, did you get separated from your companions? What are you two doing?”

Five explorers emerged from the darkness. “If that’s the case, come over here. We’ll help you.” They were all smiling brightly. Like they had found gold on the street. So, I decided to end my praise of humanity here and approached them with a smile.

“Oh, really! That’s great, I need help!”

These kinds of guys always show up without even looking for them.

***

The second team we met was even more blatant than I expected. As soon as we joined them, they naturally surrounded us, as if forming an encirclement. And…

“Oh ho, isn’t that a subspace ring [a magical item that allows storage of items in a separate dimension]? Your equipment is trash, but you’re wearing something valuable.”

They grabbed my hand and touched my subspace ring, creating a threatening atmosphere. “So, where are your companions?”

“I don’t know.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Perhaps they thought we weren’t much of a threat after getting some information? One of them approached Amelia. And reached for her exposed thigh…

Thwack.

Before he could even touch her, a dagger pierced his hand.

“Agh!! You crazy bitch!”

“Kill her!”

The battle started less than three minutes after we met. Swish! Seeing them counterattack without hesitation after being stabbed, they seemed to have a lot of experience in human combat. Of course, that wasn’t a problem. Because we were the same.

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!”

[Giantification], [Swing], etc. As I started using skills and rampaging, the fight quickly ended. The fact that they had surrounded us to prevent us from escaping worked in our favor. It’s advantageous to trap and beat goblins, but…

Crunch-!

They weren’t trolls or ogres, were they? Once we took out the ranged attackers with bows and staves first, the rest of them were soon lying on the ground.

“A s-setup… Damn it.”

Crunch-!

“…”

The moment I crushed the head of the apparent leader, a pleasant silence fell. Now, it was time to pick up the items that had lost their owners. After stripping them of their equipment and opening their bags, I found evidence of looting everywhere. It was the third day, so there wasn’t much equipment, but there were plenty of consumables that would be used on people rather than monsters, such as sleeping pills, poison, and mind-control scrolls. There were also several IDs that seemed to have been stolen. But was it because we had a big haul all at once?

“About ten more times should do it.”

Amelia no longer questioned my method. Well, she must have realized it herself. That there was no more efficient way. Killing looters who had looted others yielded a lot of equipment. And a lot of IDs, so we could achieve much more with less time and effort.

“Then let’s wipe off the blood and keep moving.”

Anyway, after that, we continued to use the same strategy and met several teams. The reactions were all different. But broadly speaking…

[We’re not interested, go away.]

90% of the time, when I approached alone, they wouldn’t even let me get close.

[You seem to be in a tough spot, so we’ll let you stay for a while.]

5% of the time, they would listen to our story and then ask for a reasonable reward in exchange for letting us rest.

[…You’re suspicious. Show me your ID.]

3% of the time, they would misunderstand us as looters and try to bring down the hammer of justice.

[Even if items are valuable, they’re not worth more than your life.]

And there were those who would strip us of all our equipment, whether we died to monsters or not…

[Sorry, I’m the type who doesn’t do things that cause trouble later.]

And about 1% of the time, there were those who would take our lives just for seeing their faces. ‘The success rate is much lower than I expected.’ If we met a hundred teams, we might get something out of one of them. Ha, why did I meet these kinds of guys so often? It’s like when you need something, it’s never there. Is that why it’s like this when I’m actually looking for them?

I don’t know, but time continued to pass, and by the 8th day. We met a team of a type we had never seen before.

“Oh, so we’re seeing the famous newbies here?”

It was a team of looters from Noark.

***

To cut to the chase, there was no battle. It wasn’t that we didn’t intend to fight, but rather that the other side didn’t give us any room to do so.

“Haha, it’s nice to meet you, but I hope you’ll keep your distance.”

They didn’t even let us get close, and Amelia didn’t show any hostility either. No, she even warned me.

“They’re from the Lord’s side, so don’t do anything rash.”

Geez, like I was planning to. We had to pretend to be on the same side, right? If we attacked first, and one of them survived to testify, our plan would be ruined.

“Wait, can we talk for a bit?”

“Sure.”

Amelia agreed without hesitation to the Noark team’s proposal. It didn’t take long for me to realize what she was trying to do. We needed to get into the Lord’s faction. Rather, this situation could be seen as an opportunity to show off.

“I’m Beck.”

“We are…”

“I know. Emily, and you’re Iron Mask, right?”

“Iron Mask?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? That’s the nickname you got.”

I had no idea I had such a nickname. Well, I always wear a thick helmet to cover my face, so it fits.

“But you’re more handsome than I thought.”

Ah, right. I wasn’t wearing my helmet because I was fishing for reactions. I felt a sense of dismay, but I didn’t bother putting on my helmet. Yeah, what difference would it make if a few of them saw my face? Nothing would change anyway.

“But was that your method earlier? It was very impressive. You used the stereotypes about barbarians very well.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Ah, it’s just a compliment, so don’t look at me like that. We might even become comrades, who knows?”

Amelia interjected at that.

“Comrades?”

“Ah, I haven’t told you yet. The Lord is looking at you favorably, though I didn’t say anything because you need time to adjust to this city.”

In other words, they thought we were skilled but didn’t know what kind of people we were, so they were watching us.

“The Lord likes those who are bold. Especially those who aren’t bound by morality, like you.”

This meant that there was no need to test us any further.

“You’ll probably be contacted when you return, so think about it in the meantime. This is a strange city, isn’t it? You need a nest of your own, right?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

“Haha, that’s good.”

Then, he laughed heartily and looked at me.

“Ah, and you. It seems like you haven’t been in the human world for long, but you’ve really adapted to it?”

“And you, have you been in the world for too long? Your hair is falling out?”

“…What?”

It was obvious that I was being sarcastic, so I blurted out those words without thinking. But was it really not my intention?

“Ah! It was a compliment, a compliment! Sorry if you misunderstood.”

Instead of showing displeasure, he apologized. So, it was my turn to apologize.

“Ah, I was complimenting you too. Sorry if you misunderstood.”

“…I, is that so?”

He smiled awkwardly, and I followed suit with an awkward laugh. But I kept looking at him. It was a strange feeling. ‘His name was definitely ‘Beck’, right?’ But why do I keep feeling like my hands are itching when I look at him? As I moved my gaze, feeling an unknown unease. I saw the only explorer in the group who was wearing a robe. They were small. Like a child.

“Ah, you might not know yet?”

Seeing me staring, Beck thought I was curious and quickly pulled off the kid’s robe.

“In a way, it’s similar to the method you were using. We use them as bait. Then most people don’t get wary. If we let them inside, we can find out the opponent’s strength in advance. They’re surprisingly helpful in battle too. Most people have a psychological resistance to killing kids like this.”

Beck explained about the child as if showing off a product. But I didn’t hear a word of the explanation. I had already heard it once from Amelia, and… ‘What is it? Where have I seen them before?’ I felt a sense of déjà vu from the child who was standing expressionless even after the robe was pulled off. But did they misunderstand my gaze?

“Hmm, now that I see it, it seems like you’re not curious, but you like them?”

Beck was spouting nonsense. Normally, I would have smashed his head in to clear up the misunderstanding, but I didn’t deny it and asked.

“What’s their name?”

“Name?”

Beck tilted his head as if it was a strange question. His expression said he didn’t understand why a name was important. But he still answered the question.

“Zensia Neiprin.”

So, it was you. No wonder I felt so strange. [W-we’re real people… aren’t we? If you do that, it’s murder, isn’t it?] This child was the evil spirit I first killed in the ‘Glacier Cave’. Of course, the Zensia I killed would be different from this child. Evil spirits only possess adults who are locals, and no other cases have been found yet. ‘No, wait a minute, if that’s the case….’ At the same time, I realized one thing. A child born in Noark. It was highly likely that this child was living in this underground even when they became an adult. Which meant. [I want to go home. I can’t die in a place like this. How did I survive in this shitty place? Please….] Only then did I understand why that woman was so full of resentment. Human characters have an easier time surviving. Because the taxes are much lower than for other races, they can survive for several years without any major problems even if they don’t work as explorers. So, at the time, I couldn’t really empathize with her words. I just saw her as a woman trying to live easily by looting. But… [M-mom….] Yeah, they started in this hell. I had always thought that the barbarian race was the worst starting point.

“…”

There was a deeper bottom than the bottom.