Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 297

I feel strange.

It’s not sympathy I’m feeling, nor do I regret striking down that mace back then.

There’s a lingering unease, a stuffy feeling.

“You don’t look well.”

“……”

“Was it perhaps a child you knew?”

I shook my head at Amelia’s question.

Then, I asked something I was curious about.

“What happens to those kids when they become adults?”

“They become explorers.”

“Is there no other path? Like working in the lord’s castle or something.”

“Impossible. Those children initially came under the lord’s care with that promise.”

“Promise, you say?”

“In exchange for being raised, they agree to do whatever they’re told.”

It was absurd.

“You call it raising them when they’re given all the menial tasks and used as bait during raids?”

“Children who survive in hell grow strong.”

As soon as I heard that, the words the tribal chief had said to me suddenly flashed in my mind.

[You should know. Only the warriors who survive become strong warriors.]

In a way, it was a similar situation.

An environment where they have no choice but to become fiercely strong to survive.

The lord deliberately placed the children in such an environment.

“Still, aside from their early years when they’re mainly used as bait, the mortality rate gradually decreases. The treatment of the children in their assigned teams is the same.”

Amelia continued.

If they survive for about three years as bait, they are recognized for their potential and begin to receive training in weaponry.

Moreover, if a masterless essence appears during a hunt, they are allowed to consume it.

“Children who go through such a life become immediately useful forces as soon as they become adults.”

“What if they decide to quit after becoming adults?”

“That won’t happen. They are usually indoctrinated from a young age. By the time they become adults, they become servants who are more loyal to the lord than anyone else.”

“But what if they still come to their senses and quit?”

Amelia frowned as if I was being persistent, then opened her mouth.

“They’ll undergo a ‘correction’ process. To make them loyal again.”

“……”

“Don’t worry too much about it. There won’t be any children who went under the lord’s care without knowing that.”

The conversation ended there.

But even after that, I kept thinking.

What kind of time would the player who entered ‘Zensia Neiprin’s’ body have had to endure?

Well, maybe it wasn’t so bad.

Noark doesn’t just kill evil spirits without a reason.

‘……Though they wouldn’t just let them go free either.’

From the lord’s perspective, an evil spirit has possessed the body of a talent he’s been nurturing for years by feeding them essences.

The lord would have made the possessed evil spirit continue to live ‘Zensia’s’ life, no matter who it was.

Even if it meant a stronger ‘correction’.

‘Anyway, whether they were exposed as an evil spirit or hid it well, they would have had to go on raids from the start. So, the fact that they treated everyone like NPCs [Non-Player Characters] and didn’t treat them like people might have been a defense mechanism, or something…’

No, why am I so curious about this?

‘Let’s stop thinking about it.’

I ended my thoughts there.

The environment that player had to survive in has nothing to do with me.

That woman tried to kill me.

Yes, so…

‘I just did what I had to do.’

That’s the whole story.

Whew, organizing it like this makes the stuffiness go away a bit.

“What are you doing, Amelia? Let’s go. We have things to do.”

“You… why are your emotions so volatile?”

“I’m a barbarian, aren’t I!”

Having shaken off all the unpleasant feelings, I continued to fish for raiders using the mysteries of the ‘Inner Self Unyielding’ technique.

And so, a few more days passed…

“Oh, another subspace ring has appeared.”

It was a time when I was routinely organizing the equipment of the raider teams, as usual.

Thud-

“……Huh?”

No sooner had I tilted my head than the ground shook as if there had been an earthquake.

Frankly, I was quite taken aback.

Well, I hadn’t even considered this possibility.

Thud thud thud-!

A crack formed on the 3rd floor.

***

A crack opening on the floor you’ve entered.

It was a bit sudden, but it wasn’t something to be particularly surprised or amazed by.

It’s something that can happen at any time during exploration.

However, the problem is…

‘Why now of all times.’

We didn’t enter the labyrinth for normal exploration.

Moreover, there’s no essence on the 3rd floor crack that I can consume.

No, in the first place, my essence slots are full, so I can’t consume anything unless I erase the essence of the corpse golem.

But don’t we have Numbers items and crack stones?

Those can’t be taken to 20 years later anyway.

Well, if I sell them, the money would help me live here…

‘Stop daydreaming and check it out first.’

I quickly finished my thoughts.

The fact that a crack has opened and the fact that you can enter it are two different things.

“Amelia, what’s the location?”

Those with the talent of a guide can know the location when a crack is created.

So, where exactly was the crack created?

If the closest one is a few hours away, we wouldn’t be able to enter it no matter what we do.

So, there’s no need to even think about it—

“5 minutes to the north.”

Wow, it opened right in front of us.

It should have appeared like this sooner.

Last time on the 5th floor, the crack was created in a completely different area, so we had to suffer a setback.

“What are you doing! Let’s go!”

As I shouted as if I was about to run right away, Amelia asked back briefly.

“Are you going to enter it?”

What is she saying, of course, I am.

If you can enter a crack, it’s always best to enter it.

Essence, items, whatever.

Because there’s experience that can only be obtained from cracks…

‘No, wait a minute.’

“Amelia, have you ever been to a 3rd floor crack?”

“Once before.”

Right, you’ve already consumed all the experience here.

No wonder you didn’t seem motivated this time either.

“I haven’t! So let’s go!”

“……”

“We’ve almost succeeded in getting the lord’s attention anyway! A few more looted items won’t change anything!”

“But what if we run into unnecessary trouble after going into the crack…”

“I won’t cause any trouble! And aren’t we partners! Just help me out this once! I’ll just get my contribution points and come out quietly!”

“……Alright, follow me.”

After a moment of silence, Amelia sighed and quickly began to guide the way.

It wasn’t the word ‘partner’ that changed her mind.

She probably judged that it was better to endure a few days of annoyance than to ruin the relationship with a ‘collaborator’.

She’s a woman who pursues rationality in many ways.

‘Surprisingly, she’s a good match for a barbarian.’

Because she’s not emotional, the barbarian-style ‘do it for me’ works well with Amelia. For her, it’s more rational to just do it than to be annoyed all the time.

Tadat.

Anyway, as I was running, the portal came into view within my sight range.

“Yandel, one last time, think…”

Think what? What is there to think about?

“Behel—laaaaaaaaa!”

I threw myself beyond without hesitation.

And…

Flash-!

When I opened my eyes, we were inside a pure white temple.

***

A high ceiling that allows you to [Leap] to your heart’s content.

Pure white marble pillars.

And a hundred statues lined up along the edges of the walls.

‘It seems we’re the first ones here since there’s no one else.’

After confirming that there were no other explorers, I slowly looked around.

It was more out of curiosity than to check where this place was.

Because there’s only one crack on the 3rd floor.

The White Temple.

A temple that has a hundred colors, not just white.

By the way, it was also a place you had to visit at least once during the game.

Because the experience gain is enormous.

“Yandel, do you know about this place?”

“To some extent.”

“Then there’s no need to explain.”

The White Temple has three characteristics.

1. Elite monsters that don’t appear in normal fields, like corpse golems, pour out in droves.

No matter what you catch, if it’s your first time, you can get the first kill experience…

2. Unlike normal cracks, it’s not a cooperative raid, but the explorers who enter have to compete with each other.

Only one team can enter the boss room.

If the first team fails to capture it, then the opportunity goes to another team.

Ah, that doesn’t mean that Amelia and I have to compete with other teams.

3. When a crack is created, a total of 5 portals open on that floor, and those who enter through the same portal become a team.

This was the most difficult part in the game.

It’s obvious.

What would happen if you were exploring as a 5-person team and found a crack, but two people had already entered it?

Two of your fellow characters who were traveling with you would be left behind.

Just like this team of explorers who just entered.

“……Huh?”

“Damn it, I didn’t expect there to be guests already.”

The portal that had been floating in the air spat out three explorers and closed.

It seemed like they had left their teammates outside…

“This is a disaster! Remud and Hans couldn’t come in!!”

Oh, nice.

“……Calm down! We’re separated from them, but Remud and Hans are capable enough to survive on the 3rd floor by themselves!”

The human swordsman wearing a sword calmed his confused companions and approached us.

“Nice to meet you. Did you two come alone?”

“Yes.”

Even with Amelia’s curt response, the man smiled kindly.

“Haha, we’ll be together for a while. Since we’ve met like this, let’s introduce ourselves first. I’m Carlton Dreck.”

“Emily.”

“Byon.”

As Amelia and I revealed our aliases, Carlton cautiously asked me.

“Byon, are you perhaps a barbarian?”

It was an obvious question.

I was fully equipped with plate armor right now.

Since my face and feet were all covered in iron plates, it was impossible to tell if I had tattoos or not.

Therefore…

“What does it matter?”

When I asked back in a twisted way, Carlton apologized as if he had realized his mistake.

“I’m sorry. It was just curiosity, but it might have been rude to you.”

It seemed like he thought I was a large human.

Well, most of the people who react sensitively to such trivial questions are narrow-minded humans.

“Carlton, can you come here?”

Anyway, as we revealed our names, the elf man who had been watching the situation from behind called out to Carlton.

And…

‘I can’t hear them.’

They were whispering and talking about something.

It seems like they’re discussing something…

“They’re saying we’re suspicious.”

“Huh?”

“I can hear what they’re saying at this distance. Unless they’re using magic.”

“……Is that so?”

She had a high hearing stat.

I didn’t know that until now.

I shouldn’t whisper anything in front of her later.

“So what are they saying? They look serious.”

After that, the conversation I eavesdropped on using Amelia was like this.

‘They’re just revealing their names so casually. It’s also strange that they’re wandering around on the 3rd floor on the 13th day, they might be raiders. And one of them even covered their face.’

The elf man pointed out the strange things, and Carlton said.

‘But there’s no other way. We can’t just attack them first because they’re suspicious. Let’s just stick with them and see what kind of people they are.’

Was that the end of their discussion?

“Ah! I’m sorry! It’s because this friend is worried about the teammates he left behind.”

Carlton laughed heartily and approached us.

And he gave the other two a chance to introduce themselves by revealing their names.

“Now, this friend here, who is an elf…”.

“Stop, I’ll do it. Aimberne Berta Garcia. As you can see, I specialize in bows.”

Aimberne ended his introduction by briefly revealing his main weapon and name. It seemed like he didn’t want to give us any more information.

Anyway, next was the barbarian warrior.

“Hahaha! Nice to meet you all!”

As expected of a barbarian, the warrior, who couldn’t even join the whispering discussion between his two companions, approached us with a bright smile.

And without any hesitation, he introduced himself.

“I am Yandel, the third son of Jarku!”

“…………What?”

My mind went blank as soon as I heard that.

If I didn’t hear wrong…

“Ah, is it a bit difficult for humans? Just call me Yandel Jarku!”

It meant biological father.