Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 381

What the heck, why is he here?

At first, I couldn’t even think straight.

Thump, thump, thump.

My heart was pounding harder than when I fought the Deep Sea Giant, and my head was just blank, like an 8-ton truck had slammed into the back of it at full speed.

I only came to my senses after he spoke first.

“Wow, what are you? Did you really catch that alone?”

I haven’t had many conversations with him in that form, but I could never forget his voice and manner of speaking.

‘Lee Baek-ho.’

The moment I realized this was reality, the old man next to him came into view.

‘The Mad Scholar.’

For now, those were the two I could see.

‘When did they become allies? Wasn’t he trying to rip my teeth out back then?’

My head was a mess.

Setting aside the fact that they were allies, why were they here? Were they perhaps after me? No, more importantly, what happened to Erwen and Amelia, who were behind me?

I had only told them to wait until I returned.

“It’s amazing. I’ve never heard of someone like you.”

“Never heard of? There was that guy who was a hot topic recently.”

Lee Baek-ho nodded with an ‘Ah!’ expression as the Mad Scholar cut him off.

“That’s right, there was him, wasn’t there? The description is similar too.”

“It’s not certain yet, though.”

“Well, that’s something we can find out now. Hey, are you that guy named Shuitz or whatever?”

It was unbelievably rude for a first conversation, but I actually felt relieved.

‘……They didn’t come looking specifically for me.’

Lee Baek-ho’s target wasn’t me.

And if that was the case, then maybe…

‘Their target is probably this space itself.’

We were already wary of ‘competitors’ who had cleared the Rock Island event besides us.

Maybe they were the ones.

‘Then this meeting was completely coincidental…’

That’s when my thoughts reached that point.

“Are you going to answer?”

Ha, what a rude bastard.

“How about you reveal your identity first?”

At my question, he smirked as if he liked it.

“Lee Baek-ho. You are?”

“I’m the person you think I am.”

“Wow, this is really amazing. Meeting a celebrity in a place like this.”

“Celebrity?”

“You fought 4:1 with the Noark punks, right? How could someone who fell from the sky not be famous? And the fact that the Blood Spirit Lord, that fairy girl, cherishes you so much.”

I didn’t have much to argue with.

The population distribution of the labyrinth decreases exponentially as you go up.

Even on the 7th floor, you’d know each other after crossing a few bridges, so the appearance of a strong person whose name and face were unknown would seem strange.

“Wait a minute, but doesn’t that mean that fairy girl is here too?”

“Come to think of it, I don’t see the mage either. I guess we didn’t run into each other because we teleported here.”

At their conversation, I swallowed another sigh of relief.

If what they said was true, then Erwen and Amelia were safe.

“So, what brings you here?”

I said that as I slowly walked towards the essence. If a fight broke out, I planned to consume this essence right away.

Even if the color was different, I judged that it would be helpful for now.

“Freeze.”

Then, Lee Baek-ho spoke to me in a playful tone.

“Don’t touch the essence for now.”

‘Essence?’

It was a clue that would help analyze the current situation.

Lee Baek-ho’s goal was the Deep Sea Giant’s essence.

Normally, that would have been the extent of my reasoning, but my brain, heated by survival instincts, questioned even the parts that could have been overlooked.

‘Why would they come all the way here to get it instead of the 9th floor where a dozen Deep Sea Giants appear?’

There were two possibilities.

[I heard you cleared the 10x difficulty? In about 10 years, won’t you be similar to me? Honestly, there’s almost no room for me to get stronger now…]

Unlike what he said to me back then, Lee Baek-ho’s level wasn’t actually that high, or he was in a situation where he couldn’t go to the 9th floor.

Thud.

I stopped walking towards the essence for now.

I judged that it wasn’t a good idea to get any closer, not knowing how that crazy guy would react.

But…

“This is my loot, though.”

It wouldn’t be good to just follow his instructions too obediently.

When I asked in a slightly more aggressive voice, Lee Baek-ho raised his hand and gestured as if to calm me down.

“Whoa, whoa, why are you being so sensitive? I just stopped you because I thought we could make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“I need that red essence over there. If you don’t need it, how about we trade?”

Honestly, it was hard to believe what he was saying.

So, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Why are you trying to make a deal?”

As you can tell from his rude attitude, Lee Baek-ho considers me to be below him.

But even so, why would he suggest a ‘deal’?

Leaving the easier method behind.

“Well, should I just kill you and take it?”

Lee Baek-ho gave an unexpected answer.

“Honestly, it’s annoying that I came all this way for nothing… but it’s not like you did anything weird, and it’s pathetic to whine just because you were faster than me and caught it first, right?”

“…What if I refuse the deal?”

“Well? I’d be disappointed and come back again next time?”

A way of thinking that could only be seen as normal.

I was speechless, but looking back, it wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.

Wasn’t his ultimate goal to return to Earth?

He must have set his own boundaries in some way.

Just like I had until now.

“Alright.”

Unexpectedly, the situation was more civilized than I thought.

I had even considered the worst-case scenario of a fight without any questions.

At this rate, it didn’t seem like we would go that far.

The deal itself wasn’t a bad offer for me either.

“If I give you the essence, what will you give me?”

At my preemptive request, he seemed to ponder for a moment before putting an item on the trade window.

“Deep Sea Giant’s essence.”

“……?”

“I’ve been catching them regularly lately. There’s blue and green—”

What?

I immediately cut him off and answered.

“I’ll take the green one.”

One piece of good news had been added.

At least for now.

***

“What, was that what you wanted?”

“The green one has a higher average trading price. Plus, I can save on the test tube price.”

Lee Baek-ho nodded as if he was convinced by my immediate answer without any hesitation, and then took out a test tube from his subspace.

“But how do I know that’s from a Deep Sea Giant?”

“If I was going to be shady, I wouldn’t have offered a trade like this, right?”

Heh, he’s glaring just because I was a little suspicious.

“So, are we trading? Yes or no.”

“……I’ll trust you for once.”

As soon as I answered, Lee Baek-ho tossed the test tube.

The concept of throwing a test tube itself was something I didn’t understand, but…

Well, I caught it well anyway.

“If you got your stuff, move aside? This old man is too scared to go.”

As soon as I moved to the side, the Mad Scholar approached and put the essence into the test tube.

With this, the trade was over.

‘Lee Baek-ho didn’t get it for himself. Then is he going to feed it to his ally?’

As I was quietly observing and organizing my thoughts, Lee Baek-ho spoke to me.

“You said your name was Shuitz, right?”

“That is correct.”

“You went back to using formal speech? Just do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“This is what I’m comfortable with.”

“Whatever then. Anyway, there’s something I want to ask you, is that okay?”

I gave him a nod to listen, and he asked me directly.

“Are you perhaps Bjorn Yandel?”

This guy really doesn’t have a reverse gear.

Thump-!

My heart sank, but I tried not to show it.

I just asked back as if I had heard something strange.

“Why are you asking such a question?”

“A guy whose name and face weren’t known suddenly appeared, right? But that fairy girl calls that guy ‘uncle’ and follows him around. That girl isn’t stupid, so it’s a bit strange, right?”

It was a reasonable reason.

In fact, the members of the Round Table had also suspected me for this reason.

“So, what’s the answer?”

He stared at me intently.

It was obvious what he was doing.

‘He’s using a lie detector.’

The lie detection skill that Lee Baek-ho had.

‘If I keep my mouth shut, he’ll interpret it however he wants. He might even come out forcefully.’

I quickly organized my thoughts.

There were two candidates for the detection skill that Lee Baek-ho had.

One had the ability to distinguish between truth and lies, and the other only selected lies.

Some might say that they are the same, but these two are clearly different.

I had a gift from Auriel Gavis.

In the latter case, if I activated the skill and there was no reaction, then my words would be accepted as truth by him.

‘……If I’m lucky, I might even find out what essence he ate?’

It didn’t take long to make a decision.

“I am not Bjorn Yandel.”

I answered without avoiding his gaze, and he smirked.

“Really? That’s a shame.”

His tone and expression didn’t show any suspicion about my answer.

Thanks to that, I was able to find out one of the many essences he might have eaten.

If it was the former, he wouldn’t have been so easily convinced.

It would have been a natural reaction to question something that couldn’t be determined as truth or lie.

‘Well, I kind of expected it since he didn’t doubt my words at all in the previous conversation, but this confirms it.’

With this, I had a way to gain an advantage in my conversation with Lee Baek-ho.

However, I wasn’t satisfied with this and asked.

“May I ask you one question?”

“Yeah, sure, it’s give and take.”

“……”

“That meant you could ask.”

One question right was naturally obtained.

I took some time to think.

“Aren’t you going to ask?”

There were a mountain of questions I wanted to ask.

Where he would use the resurrection stone he had.

Why he had become allies with the Mad Scholar.

And…

[That woman is one of Lee Baek-ho’s allies right now.]

Why did the clown say that Misha was your ally?

Where is Misha now?

What kind of trick did you play on her, etc., etc.

“……”

I swallowed many questions that I wanted to ask right away.

The moment I asked those questions, he would show more interest in me than he does now.

Not yet.

I couldn’t even predict how he would react when I revealed that I was Lee Han-soo.

I still didn’t know what kind of picture he was drawing.

Yes, so…

“Lee Baek-ho.”

I called his name.

And looking at him smiling, saying that my pronunciation was good for a local, I asked.

“Since we’re on the topic of Bjorn Yandel.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you spread the rumor that Bjorn Yandel was an evil spirit?”

Lee Baek-ho’s lips tightened slightly.

“You, you already knew who I was?”

“Of course. It’s a famous name.”

“Really? Well, everyone who’s in the know knows about it these days.”

He was a little startled, but Lee Baek-ho didn’t show much suspicion at my question.

“Anyway… I guess the Blood Spirit Lord found out that far? That I was the one who spread the rumor.”

“So, what’s the answer?”

At my words, he tapped his fingers on his waist as if he was pondering.

And just as he was about to open his mouth.

“His allies are coming.”

At the Mad Scholar’s advice, who had finished putting the essence in the test tube, Lee Baek-ho’s expression changed.

“Really? Then we should run away quickly.”

“Is there a need to go that far?”

“It’ll be annoying if we run into them. I don’t know about me, but the old man will try to kill them with his eyes on fire. The Meow told me not to touch any of my former allies.”

“But how would she know what happens here?”

At the Mad Scholar’s words, I couldn’t help but clench the hand holding the hammer.

And in that instant.

“…Old man, don’t cross the line.”

Lee Baek-ho, who had been speaking cheerfully with a smile throughout the conversation, lowered his voice coldly.

“…It was a joke. I’ll use a multi-teleportation magic.”

I was relieved by their conversation, but also filled with anger.

If ‘Meow’ was referring to Misha, then…

The sense of loss that I hadn’t felt when I just heard that Misha had become Lee Baek-ho’s ally came late.

But…

“Wait a minute.”

I suppressed all my emotions and said.

“I’d like you to answer my question before you leave.”

“Ah, right. You asked why I spread those rumors, right?”

Lee Baek-ho, who looked like he had forgotten, gave a nod to the Mad Scholar.

Then, the Mad Scholar clicked his tongue with a ‘tsk’ sound and nodded.

For some reason, I felt a sense of déjà vu from the sound of him clicking his tongue.

It was like a situation I had seen often.

Why? Why was it so familiar?

That thought was swirling in my head when it happened.

Whoosh-!

A magic circle that had formed around the Mad Scholar emitted a blue light.

‘What is it?’

It took quite a while to grasp the situation because it was so sudden.

‘Is it an ambush?’

That possibility came to my confused mind.

“Ah! What is it! Old man!”

Lee Baek-ho’s acting-toned lines continued.

“How can you activate a teleportation magic when we’re in the middle of a conversation! This way, I can’t answer!”

“……”

“You said your name was Shuitz, right? Sorry, I’ll tell you when we meet again. It’s not because it’s a really hard question to answer, really. Okay? I got—”

Flash-!

Lee Baek-ho’s voice scattered and disappeared the moment the light flashed brightly.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak properly.

Clench.

Right, he was Korean too.

It’s been a long time since I felt like I was being played.

I was always the one doing it since I came here.

‘No, wait a minute…’

I belatedly realized and quickly broke the test tube.

「The [Deep Sea Giant’s Essence] permeates the character’s soul.」

…Fortunately, the essence was real.

***

「Bjorn Yandel」

Level: 7

Physical: 1,461.40(New +231.01) / Mental: 521.3(New +78) / Ability: 1,807.65(New +62.4)

Item Level: 8,305

Total Combat Power: 5866.60(New +371.41)

Acquired Essences: Orc Hero – Rank 5 / Ogre – Rank 3 / Bayon – Rank 3 / Storm Gush – Rank 3 / Bol-Helchan – Rank 3 / Gacha Bone – Rank 6 / Deep Sea Giant – Rank 3(New)