Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 31

With a click, Raven pushed a stone on the wall inward, and the candles in the stone chamber lit up all at once, brightening the area.

“Oh, how did you know about this?”

“Books are treasures that pass down knowledge.”

Seriously, she could have just said she read it in a book.

“Let’s see, ah! There’s another one here.”

Raven pushed another brick, and a mechanical sound echoed as a book fell from the ceiling.

Necronomicon.

A magic book filled with black magic; it sells for quite a high price at the store.

…Damn it.

“Since I found it with my abilities, I’ll take this as promised.”

“I guess so. Anyway, we can’t take it out without distortion magic.”

“Hahaha…”

Raven laughed awkwardly.

Well, she probably knows.

The Necronomicon is treated as an item, so you can take it outside even without distortion magic.

“Could you put this in my backpack?”

“Yes, Lady Raven.”

My stomach churned, but all I could do was watch the mage gobble up the spoils alone.

Sigh, I was going to collect this myself later…

Why does she know about this but not the one hidden under the statue?

“Shall we go then?”

As we walked through a wide, straight passage that seemed to be 10 meters wide, we soon came to a fork in the road with a huge demon sculpture.

“Lady Raven?”

“It doesn’t matter which way we choose. We’re going to catch all the monsters anyway, right?”

We circled the ‘ㅁ’-shaped demon worship chamber, hunting monsters one by one.

The creatures that appeared were gargoyle statues, deathspins, chimera wolves, and bone knights.

“Not only did the essence of the Corpse Golem come out, but it’s also a ‘craving’ type, so we’re lucky in many ways.”

Unusually for me, luck keeps following me.

Hate, sorrow, craving.

The 7th-grade monster, ‘Bone Knight,’ randomly has one of these three attributes. And we got the easiest type with the best rewards.

“The craving type only has the ‘life drain’ ability that restores health upon impact. And that can be easily nullified with my ‘regeneration block’ magic.”

Raven proudly boasted, but in fact, the craving type is the easiest, whether she’s there or not.

The sorrow type, which emits a mind-altering fog, was a very annoying ability even in the game.

Well, it’s nothing compared to the hate type.

The dwarf blurted out.

“Then that’s a relief, but I heard that the hate type is the weakest?”

Bullshit.

The Knight of Hate uses ‘Soul Slash.’

It doesn’t do damage, but it’s a crazy skill that has an extremely low chance of lowering your level.

[Ally A has suffered severe damage to their soul, causing their level to decrease.]

Once it triggers, this combat log appears regardless of HP, defense, or magic resistance.

And if this log appears, it’s easier to just start a new character.

It’s much easier than restoring experience through portal opening grind.

“…To have the soul’s level lowered, that’s a truly terrifying foe.”

Instead of me, Raven explained, and the dwarf shuddered and breathed a sigh of relief.

However, this mage girl didn’t miss the chance to show off her knowledge and continued her explanation.

“Ah, if you have as much essence as your soul allows, one of them is randomly lost. This is probably something other explorers don’t know about.”

As a mage, her information was correct.

However, as a veteran player, let me add one thing…

‘Soul Slash’ is more likely to trigger the lower your level is.

And my current level is only 2.

Moreover, I have a bad fate, so not encountering the Knight of Hate is truly a stroke of luck—

“Essence.”

Damn it, is my luck finally turning around?

I hadn’t even caught many, but an essence popped out.

It was from a 7th-grade monster, the Bone Knight.

What is this?

It spat out the Corpse Golem essence earlier…

Is this what they call ‘blessing’?

“It’s as if the gods are watching over you. Hahahaha!”

“I agree. Maybe we’ll even get an essence from the guardian.”

They each said something that sounded like a congratulation and looked at me.

Me and Ainar.

It meant which of us would take it.

After a moment of thought, I made a difficult decision.

“Ainar, you take this.”

“R, really?”

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t greedy.

In fact, only the guardian was left, and no one could be sure if more essences would come out.

However…

“You said you wanted to get stronger. You take this.”

From a player’s perspective, it’s more reasonable for Ainar to take it than me.

‘Life Drain’ goes well with swords, and I’ll have to discard my weapon someday.

Above all, Ainar is trustworthy.

Judging by her steadfast personality, she won’t leave my side and will assist me.

So, rather than being impatient, it would be more efficient to use a stronger Ainar to obtain an essence that is more suitable for me.

“Th, thank you! Bjorn! You’re the best! I will repay this favor!”

As soon as I gave my permission, Ainar couldn’t hide her excitement and took the essence.

The change was dramatic and immediate.

“Wh, what! You guys suddenly got bigger!”

“You got smaller, Ainar.”

“Wh, what?! Is that true!”

Ainar’s height, which was around 2m, had shrunk.

Instantly, to about 170 in the late range [approximately 5’7″].

“That’s the basic effect of the Bone Knight’s essence. Bone density increases significantly, but your height decreases accordingly.”

Raven, who loves explanations, rattled off even the standard information of this world.

If we were to express it in exact numbers rather than (High), (Medium), (Low), it would be like this.

[Bone Knight]

Cutting Power +12 Bone Density +55 Agility +15 Stamina +15 Flexibility -7 Height -25

(P) Antiseptic – All wound worsening effects (poison, bleeding, decay, etc.) are reduced by half.

(A) Life Drain – Temporarily greatly increases regeneration when hitting a living creature.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like your strength will decrease just because you got shorter—”

“I, I’m ruined! At this rate, no one will see me as a warrior! They already look down on me because I’m a woman!”

…Look down on her because she’s a woman?

Is that a complex she had all along?

“By the way… you’ve become very pretty.”

Raven, who had been watching Ainar’s screams, muttered with interest.

“Is it because your facial structure got smaller? Maybe we could sell you to nobles for cosmetic purposes—”

“Th, that means I’ve become less like a warrior!!”

I didn’t expect her to be so upset, so I quickly tried to smooth things over.

“No, Ainar, everyone knows you’re a great warrior!”

To be honest, if it weren’t for the tattoos on her upper body, she would just look like a tall human woman…

“What does it matter if you got a little shorter!”

“This isn’t a little!!”

“…But you’ve become much stronger! Isn’t that enough!”

I had to comfort her.

The others were sociopaths who were too busy saying what they wanted, even in the face of someone else’s misfortune.

“Hahahaha! What a strange essence. If a dwarf like me ate it, I’d become invisible!”

“Hmm, that’s an interesting idea. I’d need to go back and look at some cases to see if the height reduction effect is proportional or an absolute value.”

“I’m ruined!!”

“Hahahaha! Is it because you’re a barbarian? Your voice is still very loud even though you got shorter!”

“Ms. Ainar, if it’s okay with you, could I do a detailed examination when we return to the city?”

“I’m ruineddddd!”

I wish they would all just be quiet.

My ears hurt, and I’m starting to get a headache.

***

“Deathspin!”

The commotion finally subsided thanks to the monster that came after hearing the noise from afar.

However, everyone took a step back and expressed their intention to watch, curious about the changes in Ainar after absorbing the essence.

“Behella…”

Ainar swung her greatsword with a half-hearted shout.

And…

*Swoosh!*

I didn’t mishear.

For the first time while using that sword, it made a cutting sound instead of a ‘bang!’

…Was Cutting Power +12 this much?

“Ainar, aim for the head!”

“O, okay… I understand!”

Ainar, who was flustered by her own changes, jumped high and then brought her greatsword down vertically.

Then…

*Swoosh!*

The deathspin, which would have taken the two of us dozens of hits to catch, was killed in one swing.

She had cut through its hard skull and reached its brain.

“See! You’ve become much stronger!”

“Then, am I still a warrior…?”

“Of course, you are.”

“…?”

“Ainar, the second daughter of Pnelin! Now you’re not just a warrior! You’re a stronger warrior!!”

“Behel—laaaaaaa!!”

Thank goodness. She’s cheered up.

She might still be awkward with her smaller size, but once she adapts, Ainar will become much stronger.

“They make a very good pair, don’t they?”

“I agree.”

I ignored Raven and the dwarf’s conversation and moved forward.

I realized once again that the only way to quiet these guys down was to fight monsters.

“Let’s go! Bjorn! If you eat this, you can become a stronger warrior like me!”

Ainar, who had regained her motivation, was truly dedicated to the battle.

*Thud! Thwack! Bang! Swoosh!*

Unfortunately, even though we hunted all the monsters in the worship chamber, no additional essences came out.

But I didn’t give up hope.

The flower of the rift, the guardian, was still left.

With this much luck, wouldn’t it be okay to hope for one more stroke of luck?

That thought crossed my mind.

“It was fun with you guys, but it’s almost over.”

The dwarf uttered a line that sounded like a flag [a statement that foreshadows a negative event].

Raven was the same.

“It’s a bit sad. This is my first time in a labyrinth, but I think I understand why my seniors do the explorer’s work.”

Suddenly, I snapped out of it.

Come to think of it, has my life ever gone this smoothly?

Well, if I look for it, there might be some.

It’s just that something always explodes at the end.

The loosened screws in my head tightened at once, and an unknown sense of unease crept in.

“Then, I’ll go in.”

What exactly is the problem?

If the worst-case scenario were to happen now, what would it be?

Internal strife?

Well, I don’t think so.

The distribution of spoils has already been agreed upon, and that would only happen after the guardian is dead.

*Creak.*

Even as the dwarf opened the stone chamber door, I observed my surroundings.

I was sure that something was going to happen.

I carefully examined every small detail.

I also reviewed all the information I knew about the ‘Crimson Citadel’ in the game.

That’s how I was able to find it.

“The door! Close the door!”

“What are you talking about—”

Damn it, is it already too late?

*Rumble rumble rumble!*

At the same time as the door opened.

The ground began to shake violently.

And from the center of the vast stone chamber, something dark slowly rose, took off its robe, and revealed a pale face.

Only Raven, the mage, realized the seriousness of the current situation.

“N, no way…”

The guardian of the rift had changed.

Instead of the ‘Death Knight’ that was supposed to be waiting for us here…

[The master of the Crimson Citadel awakens from his deep slumber.]

A ‘boss’ monster that acts alone.

Nevertheless, a monster with a difficulty rating of 5.

A true hybrid monster that is proficient in both melee combat and black magic.

A monster that would normally only be encountered with a faint probability after the 6th floor.

“Vampire…”

Not even a normal vampire, but a superior variant.

In other words, a named monster with intelligence, a name, and a history.

I even know that guy’s name.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen living creatures.”

I spoke on behalf of the frozen group.

“Run.”

Damn it, why is this happening to me?

In the game, I sang for it to come out, but it never did.