Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 30

The Corpse Golem’s attack pattern is simple.

It throws corpse bombs at distant enemies.

And it grabs and devours enemies that get too close.

It uses those hundreds of arms that sprout all over its body like tentacles.

“Bjorn!”

I heard Ainar’s worried shout and kept a safe distance.

If I got too close, I wouldn’t be targeted by the corpse bombs, but…

Then the target would shift to the mage.

*KWA-BANG!*

I’m buying time somehow.

At least until the mage comes to her senses.

Drawing all the aggro [aggro is a term used in games to describe when a monster is focused on attacking a specific player] myself.

*KWA-BANG!*

Each time a corpse bomb flies, I roll to the side to create distance, then crouch behind my shield to protect myself from the acidic fluids.

After repeating this about three times.

“Iherno Haindar.”

A torrent of flames erupted.

Fortunately, it seems the mage has come to her senses.

I didn’t bother looking back, focusing all my attention on the Corpse Golem.

With a scream that sounded like it came from hundreds of people, the Corpse Golem’s entire body burst into flames, its outer shell peeling away.

The first phase, which would normally require a back-and-forth of closing and widening the distance and being scorched dozens of times with fire, was finished with a single spell.

「The Corpse Golem’s outer shell has been neutralized.」

But perhaps the smell of burning rotten corpses was particularly disgusting.

“Ugh… Uuurgh, WAAAH!!”

I hear the sound of someone throwing up again from behind.

I wish they would get it together already…

Well, it’s fine, we don’t need the mage anymore.

“Ainar! It’s okay, come over here!”

I immediately called Ainar.

The Corpse Golem is a level 7 monster, but with its shell gone, it’s not a monster that two barbarians can’t handle.

“GROOOOOAAAR—!!”

The massive form had noticeably shrunk, now only about 3 meters in diameter.

As the piles of corpses that were moving on their own all burned and melted away, only the bone frame, like iron bars, creaked and moved.

This is the Bone Golem mode.

“KAAAAAAK!”

Its movements are much nimbler now that its weight has decreased.

I blocked the golem’s fiercely swinging arm with my shield and shouted.

“Porter! You help too!”

“I must protect Lady Raven.”

Damn it.

I knew it.

Just you wait, I’ll make sure you pay for the trouble you’re causing now.

*THWACK!*

I leaped high and slammed my mace down on its upper body.

I heard a shattering sound, but that was all.

The ribs were so hard that only a few bone fragments flew off.

But I can just keep repeating this.

“Ainar! Aim for the chest!”

“Got it!”

Ainar and I took turns drawing aggro, targeting the Corpse Golem’s ribs.

After about forty strikes.

The ribs, which were as hard as a walnut shell, broke, revealing the core inside.

It was the magic core, the common weak point of golems.

*CRACK!*

Finally, I shattered the core with my mace, and the Corpse Golem stopped moving and disappeared into light.

「You have defeated the Corpse Golem. EXP +3」

The reward, befitting a level 7 monster, was a magic stone the size of a fist, even larger than before.

“Oh! With this, how many loaves of bread could I—”

Ainar, who was marveling at the unprecedented size, suddenly froze.

Because the reward wasn’t just a magic stone.

*WHOOSH!*

A faint black light shimmered in the air.

“Bjorn, could this be it?”

I blankly nodded.

The essence had appeared.

***

The rifts are like treasure troves.

Elite monsters that don’t appear in normal fields are like rain to explorers whose experience gain is blocked, and the loot dropped by guardians is a given.

Well, the key is that the essence drop rate increases exponentially.

‘Actually, considering the probability, it’s strange that the essence only appeared now…’

“What are you going to do?”

I took a moment to organize my thoughts at Ainar’s question.

First, the ownership belongs to us.

We were the ones who almost single-handedly defeated it, and that was the agreement from the start.

However…

“……”

Originally, there were two candidates I was aiming for.

The ‘Deathpind’ for regeneration, and the ‘Chimera Wolf’ for strength.

Both were essences of level 8 monsters.

But in the midst of all that, the essence of a level 7 elite monster, the Corpse Golem that only appears in the ‘Crimson Citadel,’ appeared.

The acquisition difficulty was higher than any of the other candidates, a rare essence, but…

It’s ambiguous to be simply happy about it.

The penalties are as severe as its unique abilities.

[Corpse Golem]

Pain Resistance +70 Bone Strength +55 Poison Resistance +12 Strength +15 Perception -5 Appetite +9 Weight +21

First, the base stats are suitable for a tank [a character that is designed to take damage and protect other characters].

The decrease in perception will affect dynamic vision and judgment speed, and the body will generally become sluggish, but…

In return, the increase in other stats is very high.

‘Bone Strength,’ which has a high impact on defense as much as physical resistance, is +55, and ‘Weight,’ which affected knockback and blunt damage in the game, is +21.

‘Pain Resistance’ would also be very useful in reality, and ‘Appetite’ is whatever, and ‘Strength’ and ‘Poison Resistance’ are always helpful stats to have.

However…

Special:

(P) Acidic Fluid — Blood contains acid.

(A) Flesh Explosion — Strongly explodes a part of the body.

The skills are the only flaw.

‘Flesh Explosion’ boasted considerable damage, but it used the character’s HP as a cost.

Can’t I just not use the active skill?

From the start, sealing one skill is a huge loss, and…

If you eat this essence, the durability of your equipment will be drastically reduced every time you get injured.

Because if blood splatters, it will get on the equipment.

“Huu…”

Outrageous potion costs and equipment costs.

Usually, when this came out, it was fed to an NPC [Non-Player Character] that was brought along for the purpose of being used and discarded.

That’s how much of a burden this essence was.

It’s too good to throw away, but it’s not quite right to feed it to your main character.

‘Since the essence you eat in the early stages will have to be discarded someday, it might not be bad to take this now, but…’

“Let’s put it on hold for now and treat the dwarf first.”

The essence will remain for 30 minutes even without an owner, so there’s no need to make a hasty decision.

Maybe we can trade with this.

With that decision, I headed to the rear and witnessed a scene that was nothing short of chaos.

Did the porter give him a potion?

The dwarf was rolling around from the pain of the potion, and for some reason, the mage was half-dead.

“Don’t come near.”

His name was… Tarjin, right?

This rude escort was blocking our way as soon as he saw us, even though he hadn’t done anything.

Damn, what did we even do?

“What’s going on?”

I asked from a distance, and the porter answered.

“She suffered a backlash from casting magic too forcefully.”

Backlash…

It seems he’s talking about ‘Circuit Disconnection,’ that status ailment that sometimes occurred when casting failed.

Looking closely, she wasn’t just throwing up what was in her stomach, she was literally throwing up blood.

“WAAAH, WAAAH!”

Is this the price for using magic while my stomach is churning from the smell?

It’s absurd from an outsider’s perspective, but…

In fact, it’s a common occurrence in [Dungeon & Stone].

Unlike other games where the cause and effect are clear, in this game, a small ’cause’ that seems insignificant could sometimes threaten your life.

“Are you going to keep doing that? It seems like it would be better to move her outside.”

“…I’ll leave the dwarf here to you.”

After helping Raven and the dwarf into the underground prison and waiting for a while, the situation improved.

The first to come to his senses was the dwarf.

“I’m sorry… Thank you. If it weren’t for you two, it would have been a disaster.”

“It’s good that you know.”

I didn’t bother to be humble.

There’s nothing to gain from it anyway.

We definitely did a good job, and I plan to use this to raise my hourly wage a bit more.

To do that, it’s better to exaggerate it.

“If it weren’t for Ainar, you would have already died.”

“I know. I’m really ashamed, but my body froze as soon as I saw it. I thought I had seen all the good and bad things so far…”

It’s a reminder that this place is reality.

In a game, they would have been a sufficient force, but due to mental factors, they almost died to a mid-boss, not even a guardian.

“So why is this lady like this?”

“She had a backlash. She took a potion, so she’ll be fine soon.”

After taking the potion, the mage, who had been screaming instead of vomiting, finally came to her senses after a full 10 minutes.

“I, I caused trouble.”

She opened her mouth, pretending to be fine, but the dignified atmosphere was gone.

Her mouth and neck were covered in vomit and blood, and her beautiful blonde hair was disheveled and dirty.

Her robe, which had been smooth from rolling on the floor, was also in tatters.

“We took care of the Corpse Golem.”

“Yes. I know that. It was good that I forced myself to use magic.”

Is this the nature of explorers?

Instead of saying thank you, they mention their own achievements first.

If I stay quiet here, the hourly wage increase will be out of the question.

I need to get a definite answer somehow.

“We saved you. You could say we did more than one person’s worth. Do you agree, mage?”

“…I agree.”

Raven nodded as if she was resentful.

It seemed that she was quite ashamed that the two barbarians she had been ignoring had made a big contribution.

Honestly, I felt very refreshed, but it would be better to leave some room for negotiation at this point.

“Of course, your magic was amazing. Such a strong flame, you must have pushed yourself for the team.”

“That’s, that’s true… So, what are you trying to say?”

I spoke bluntly.

“We’ll take the rift stone.”

Essence, Numbers Item, Rift Stone.

One of the three spoils dropped by the guardian.

When I first asked for this, they gave me a sharp look, saying that we were greedy and that there wouldn’t be a problem without the two of us.

But what about now?

“……”

Only a strange silence lingered.

I waited patiently without urging them.

Because the basics of negotiation are patience.

“I agree. If it weren’t for this barbarian lady here, I would have died.”

Is it because he repays kindness?

The dwarf was the first to express his agreement.

However…

“I disagree.”

Raven didn’t easily agree.

It wasn’t that there was no concession at all.

“But if a rift stone appears, I think we can at least give you an equal opportunity.”

In short, she means she’ll give us a chance to bid.

It’s a bit disappointing, but it’s also true that her help was significant, so it’s better to be satisfied with this much.

There’s not much time left anyway.

Then, the next item on the agenda.

“Oh, and an essence came out.”

“Essence? Are you saying the Corpse Golem dropped an essence?”

“That’s right.”

Perhaps they didn’t expect that the one with such a high acquisition difficulty would come out, the dwarf and Raven’s mouths dropped open.

“Amazing. It seems you haven’t obtained an essence yet, and you got something like that from the start.”

“I heard that the Corpse Golem’s essence has so few samples that even the Explorer’s Guild hasn’t been able to properly grasp its abilities.”

Raven was constantly impressed, saying that the Corpse Golem’s essence would be higher than the guardian’s essence in terms of rarity alone.

It was a bonus that her eyes revealed her desire for research.

I hid my inner thoughts as much as possible and brought up the proposal I had been waiting for.

“If you want, I can trade it for the guardian’s essence.”

“What? But it’s not certain that the guardian will give an essence…”

Raven trailed off with a strange look on her face.

It seems that she likes the proposal to exchange essences.

“I’ll take that risk.”

“In that case, yes, I’m fine with it. If I were an explorer, I wouldn’t, but the Corpse Golem is more interesting to me. I didn’t expect this to come out, but…”

The negotiation was successful.

***

“Lady Raven, I heard that mages can’t absorb essences, so are you going to feed the essence to that porter?”

“No, the essence itself is worth researching.”

Raven took out a test tube from the bag the porter was carrying.

That’s one of the reasons why mages are overpowered.

They can take the essence out without directly absorbing it into their bodies.

Although they need one preparation.

“Ah! Did you bring a test tube? I heard it’s an incredibly expensive item?”

“…I only have one.”

In fact, even if you put an essence below level 6 in a test tube, you’ll barely break even.

But Raven seemed to place a higher value on the Corpse Golem’s essence.

*WHOOSH!*

As Raven chanted a spell, the essence was sucked into the test tube.

She carefully double-wrapped it in a box and stowed it away in her backpack.

“Then let’s get out of this horrible place quickly.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”

We climbed up the sticky ladder and quickly moved through the aqueduct.

The only monsters that appeared were Skull Rats and Deadmen.

It was full of a foul odor, but it was nothing compared to the place where the Corpse Golem was.

After about 30 minutes of moving, we reached our destination.

“I’ll go up first.”

Beyond the rusty iron bars that were torn off with a single kick, there was a staircase, and when we climbed it, a vast stone chamber appeared.

I took a deep breath of the slightly cleaner air and checked my surroundings.

“It doesn’t look like a gargoyle statue, what is that?”

“It doesn’t feel like there’s any magic, so it’s probably just a sculpture.”

Imposing demon sculptures everywhere.

And the floor was full of human skulls.

“The lord’s castle was probably right above here. If it hadn’t collapsed, we could have investigated inside as well…”

Raven clicked her tongue as if she was disappointed, not even feeling the eerie atmosphere.

“As I’ve heard, it has a typical religious facility pattern. However, the fact that it was hidden underground means that this belief did not fit the social sentiment at the time. For example, an evil god.”

“T, that’s right.”

The dwarf was terrified by Raven’s knowledge-flaunting explanation. I recited a short phrase before it got any longer to awaken their sense of urgency.

“How about we stop talking and get a little tense?”

It was also a word to myself.

That’s because the final chapter of the rift, ‘Demon Worship Chamber,’ is not a place to be taken lightly.

“Bjorn, I have a bad feeling about this.”

Especially for an unlucky bastard like me.