Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 3

Tutorial (3)

When it comes to [Dungeon & Stone], I’m an expert.

I can rattle off where certain monsters appear, their habits, and their weaknesses without even thinking about it.

Based on this, I made a final judgment.

That the Barbarian’s body combined with my knowledge would be enough to survive in the labyrinth [a complex network of passages].

At least, back then, I sincerely believed that.

“Haa…”

The moment I entered the labyrinth, everything went dark.

Not as a metaphor for the future, but literally, I couldn’t see anything. I probably wouldn’t even notice if someone put a blindfold on me right now.

Because it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“Shit.”

It felt like I’d been hit hard on the back of the head.

Since all the Barbarians were only equipped with a single weapon, I didn’t even doubt this part.

Originally, torches aren’t really necessary on the first floor.

The crystals on the walls act as a light source.

Of course, there are dark zones on the first floor, but they’re only a small part, except for the outermost area leading to the second floor—

‘Ah, could it be that I fell there?’

I quickly formed a hypothesis.

The starting location when entering the labyrinth is random.

Of course, it’s called random, but you’re never thrown into a place like this. Even if you start in the outer area, there’s always a shining crystal nearby.

However, this isn’t just the game world I saw on the monitor.

What if all those things were just conveniences the developers gave to the players?

What if, in reality, there are cases where the dark zone is the starting point?

That would explain my current situation.

No, it has to be that way.

If the entire first floor is like this, I wouldn’t be able to survive a single day.

“Hoo…”

Still, I calmed down a bit after organizing my thoughts.

Fortunately, my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and it was much better than before. But all I could see were faint outlines.

Well, it’s not a situation so hopeless that I’d bite my tongue and die.

Let’s start by checking what I need to check.

It’s not like I’m alone now.

“Status window, equipment window, character info, stats, inventory. Check log… oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Yeah, it doesn’t work.

Well, I didn’t expect it to anyway.

“Let’s go.”

With one hand on my shield and the other on the wall, I move forward.

The speed is a little faster than crawling.

Um, or is it not?

Maybe crawling would be faster, but I can’t increase my speed.

It’s dangerous…

“Kkyaaaaak!”

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from my ankle.

My nerves went wild from the pain I’d never felt before. But even then, I first assessed the situation.

What the hell went wrong?

The answer came quickly without a battle log.

「The character has stepped on a goblin trap.」

Shit, I stepped on a trap.

***

What was my mistake?

It came out without even thinking.

The shield gave me a sense of psychological stability.

But in return, it blocked a significant portion of my vision.

If I had just strapped the shield to my belt and focused on looking around, I might have found the trap.

What good is a shield if I can’t even see?

I should have prioritized practicality over mental stability.

Damn it.

“Kkeueu… heu…”

My mind goes blank.

I want to scream right now.

But I desperately hold it back.

Unless screaming would improve the situation.

Because I know for sure that it will only make it worse.

Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.

My heart is beating like crazy, as if it’s broken.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo…”

I pressed my lips together and forced myself to regulate my breathing.

What I need to think about now isn’t how much pain I’m in or how hard it is.

There’s only one monster that uses traps on the first floor.

Only goblins.

And it must be nearby.

“…”

Reflexively, I raise my shield to cover my head.

Then, I stop breathing altogether and focus on my hearing.

There’s no sound right now. It’s as quiet as if time has stopped.

…Maybe it’s not there?

I don’t know.

Maybe it’s possible. Maybe it just left for a moment. Goblins also have to poop.

‘Bullshit, you don’t even think that, do you?’

I neatly folded the hope that was slowly creeping out and threw it out of my head.

There were two reasons.

One, being positive is different from being optimistic.

Two, what I need right now is a negative mindset.

“…”

If I can’t be sure, let’s assume the worst.

The goblin heard my scream.

It’s hiding in the dark, waiting for me to lose my strength.

The reason I didn’t hear any sound is because of that.

That’s how it was in the game.

If there was a trap, there was always a goblin nearby.

“Hoo…”

I slowly exhale the breath I’d been holding.

Whatever the truth is, the environment is so quiet that I should be able to notice its approach if I don’t let my guard down.

Let’s do what I need to do first.

“…Heeup!”

I lower my stance, then use both hands to pry open the trap and pull my foot out. Then, I tear off the bottom of my pants, take off my shoe, and press down hard on the wound.

I decided to throw away the tattered shoe.

Actually, it was hard to even call it a shoe.

What I was wearing was more like a flip-flop.

Damn Barbarians.

If they had at least sent me with leather boots, I wouldn’t have been half-crippled by a single trap like this…

‘Shit, what am I even thinking?’

My mind goes cold as I realize how irrational I’m being.

Let’s not be so pathetic anymore.

No matter how much I curse them, the situation I’m facing won’t change.

It’s my fault for not looking at the ground properly.

So, stop whining and check my condition.

‘Hoo, this is really bad.’

I can’t feel anything in my right foot anymore.

I can feel that it’s hot, but even that is gradually becoming dull.

“I know you’re hiding, so come out.”

I muttered quietly.

Still, I couldn’t feel even the slightest sign of life from beyond the darkness.

So, I slowly moved forward.

Thud. Thud.

One of my legs is wrecked, but the pain isn’t as bad as I thought. It seems to be thanks to the paralysis poison…

I don’t know if I should be glad about this.

“Come out, you bastard.”

I continued to move forward, not hesitating to provoke them.

Because time isn’t on my side.

If I have to fight, it’s better to do it as soon as possible.

Besides the injury, I can’t rule out the possibility that it’s waiting for its comrades.

“Not coming out?”

Of course, this is all just my imagination, and there might not even be a goblin.

Then I’d just be a moron who stepped on a trap and is putting on a whole show by myself.

But what does it matter?

Even so, I want to be a moron who survives.

“Then just stay there. I’m going.”

I increase my speed.

It’s still just a little faster than crawling, but it feels like I’m running a marathon at full speed.

One step, one step.

As I force myself to walk, my right foot starts to throb.

“Tss, haa, haa…”

It’s one of two things.

Either the paralysis poison has worn off, or the pain has become so severe that it’s not enough.

Come to think of it, neither is bad.

If the effect has worn off, that’s good.

And feeling pain is also a good thing, considering it’s only possible because my nerve cells are still alive.

‘Wait, why am I only being positive in this way?’

Well, I don’t want to think about it.

I don’t have the mental capacity for that.

“…Your mom’s a goblin.”

The words come out without filtering through my brain.

Is it because I’ve lost so much blood?

It feels like my brain is pickled in alcohol.

“Your dad’s a goblin too.”

Of course, even as I was spitting out whatever came to mind, my feet didn’t stop.

“So you’re a goblin too.”

That’s when I heard the first sound.

It was a small sound, but it was very loud to my ears, which were focused.

Thwack-

Finally, it revealed its presence for the first time.

“Why, can’t you stand it when someone insults your parents?”

Of course, I know that’s not the reason.

In the first place, it wasn’t even an insult…

The sound came from behind.

It’s more likely that it moved because I was getting farther away.

I increased my speed even more.

Its footsteps also became faster.

Thwack- Thwack- Thwack- Thwack-

The sound of its footsteps became clearer and was peculiar.

Every time it walked, there was a sound of something sticky sticking to and peeling off a smooth surface.

Even though I knew it was less than 1m tall, I felt a sense of pressure as if a giant monster was chasing me.

To shake off the fear, I kept talking to it.

I am a Barbarian.

If I can just lure it into close combat, there’s no way I’d lose to a goblin.

“Don’t just follow me, come here. You weakling.”

For that reason, I continued to provoke it, but it just kept following me while maintaining a certain distance.

It didn’t seem to be trying to hide itself anymore.

“Grrr, grrr…!”

It was a sound close to howling, but somehow I could feel it.

“Grrrrk! Grrr!”

It’s giggling right now. It’s genuinely happy to see its prey bleeding and dying. It wants me to be afraid when I hear that sound.

…Smart bastard.

Okay, plan change.

I stopped walking. And I staggered and fell to the ground.

Thud!

My forehead hit a rock and it hurt like it was going to break, but I didn’t make a sound.

From now on, it’s a battle of patience.

If it thinks I’ve fallen and approaches first, I win.

If I actually fall before that, I lose.

“Grrr?”

I decided to trust the toughness of this body that had walked about 300m with a wrecked foot.

Thwack-

The sound of its footsteps slowly gets closer.

It’s so slow that I could yawn.

As I hoped, it’s suspicious even though its prey has fallen.

‘Damn, why is this goblin so cautious?’

I couldn’t help but curse.

In the game, goblins were the weakest mobs [common enemies]. They used poison and set traps, but other than that, their combat power was terrible.

But what was the goblin I actually faced like?

Thwack-

It was not an opponent to be taken lightly at all. I realized why the town NPCs [non-player characters] talked so much about the goblins’ cunning.

They’re several times more intelligent than those Barbarians.

Thwack-

It stops walking somewhere between 5m and 10m away.

Why?

While I was wondering about the reason.

A dull impact is felt on my shoulder.

Thud. Roll, roll, roll.

What the hell? Did this bastard just throw a rock at me?

‘…Surely it won’t keep throwing rocks until I’m a bloody mess?’

“Grrrrk! Grrr!”

Contrary to my worries, it let out a joyful howl.

It seems to think I’m dead since I didn’t react to the rock throwing.

Thwack- Thwack- Thwack- Thwack-

It quickly approached me.

I could feel how excited it was from its running.

I calmed my excitement and calmly measured the distance through the sound. And when I judged that it was right in front of me.

“You bastard!”

I jumped up and reached out towards it.

I judged that reaching out my hand was faster and had a longer effective range than picking up the shield and swinging it.

However, I soon realized that my plan had gone wrong.

Again, there were two reasons.

First, the distance between me and it was about one step farther than I thought.

And its movements were much more agile than I expected.

“Grrr!”

It pulled back its waist and retreated.

I couldn’t see it, but that’s what it felt like.

Instinctively, I realized that I had missed.

Damn it, what do I do now? I was thinking and preparing for the next plan.

But in that instant, my body moved on its own.

“…?”

It was a very strange sensation.

My vision was still dark.

But I instinctively knew where the goblin had run.

When I realized that, my hand was already changing its trajectory and moving towards it.

“Grrr?!”

I felt something being grabbed at my fingertips.

Whether it was its wrist, ankle, or neck didn’t matter.

“Uwaaaaaaaa!”

I screamed and slammed it to the ground. Crack! I heard something break. But I couldn’t relax, so I immediately got on top of its upper body.

“Grr, grrr!”

Now the situation has changed.

“I’m on top, and you’re on the bottom. You bastard!”

I punched its face like a madman.

I was so excited that I sometimes hit the ground, but this Barbarian’s body was much stronger than I thought.

My fist didn’t hurt at all, but the stone floor was breaking.

“…”

Soon, its movements stopped.

And…

Whoooosh-!

Dust scatters.

It’s a peculiar, glowing dust.

I stopped punching.

At some point, the goblin’s body that I was sitting on was being finely shredded and scattered.

I was so dumbfounded.

“Ah, shit, is it still like this?”

Please, I wish it would just be one or the other.

Either a game, or a reality that’s just similar.

I keep getting confused about which tune to dance to.

「You have defeated a goblin. EXP +1」

Soon after, the goblin’s body disappeared without a trace.

Feeling a strange sense of emptiness, I picked up a small stone that had fallen to the ground.

「You have acquired a 9th grade magic stone.」

It was faintly glowing, though not strongly.

It was a magic stone that was used as currency in [Dungeon & Stone].

How much was this again? Soon, the memory came back.

“A piece of bread.”

The average value of a magic stone dropped by a goblin in the game.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Keuheuheuh…”

I went through all that shit and all I got was this?

My complicated mind became much clearer.

It’s close to the feeling of laughing strangely after crying a lot.

“Keuheu, keuheuheuh.”

There’s a labyrinth, and there are monsters.

The dead monsters leave behind drop items and disappear.

And in the city outside, real different races live together.

Clearly, this is that kind of world.

But…

I won’t be confused again.