Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 491

Two days after the labyrinth closed.

‘I guess I slept for a little over 30 hours…’

The end was tough, but I didn’t use that much stamina in the labyrinth, so sleeping this much made me feel quite refreshed.

Drrrrrrr-!

As I groggily went down to the first floor, I saw Ainar lying on the sofa, just as I had left him before falling asleep.

‘He really sleeps well too…’

I went to the kitchen to get something to eat, and there was a simple meal prepared.

Did someone prepare this on purpose so that whoever woke up could eat?

‘……Maybe he’s better suited to be a butler than an explorer.’

I was briefly impressed by Ainar’s thoughtfulness, then I stuffed my face with the plentiful food to fill my empty stomach.

I went to the front door to check the mailbox, and there were a lot of letters that had arrived while I was sleeping.

“What is this…”

Looking at them one by one, most of them were invitations.

Letters that started with various flowery words and praises, and ended with a request to meet me.

It reminded me of the old days.

Come to think of it, there was a similar event when I first gained fame.

‘…There are quite a few applications to join too.’

I was curious, so I looked through the resumes, and they were all more skilled than I thought. The most impressive one was an old man who had reached the 9th floor in his prime.

Of course, as a top explorer, he had a nickname too.

‘Too bad. If he wasn’t a tank, I would have considered it…’

I plan to grow the clan in earnest later, but for now, one team is enough, and our team doesn’t need another tank.

For the second team, Paladin Sven Parav and Kaislan will fill the tank line.

‘When the time comes to make a third team, it might not be bad to contact him.’

Anyway, I was very proud that such a top explorer had expressed his intention to join, even though I hadn’t scouted him first.

Wasn’t the first team I made, with that dwarf as a figurehead, Team Half-Pint?

‘……Even though I didn’t have much, that time was really fun.’

I chuckled and continued to check the mail.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single priest among all these applications.

‘Even if I build up this much fame, I still have to bring a priest by filling up contribution points, huh?’

It’s kind of ironic.

So much time has passed, and I’ve overcome so many hardships to get here, but there hasn’t been a single priest who has officially joined the team.

Well, potions aren’t working well anymore, so I need a healer—

“……Huh?”

While I was reading letters from early in the morning, one letter made me stop.

‘The Alminus family…?’

As soon as I saw the familiar golden wax seal, I quickly tore open the seal and checked the contents.

As expected of a letter from a noble family, it had a long introduction.

To summarize the main point:

[We would like to resolve the misunderstanding between us, so please come visit us whenever you have time.]

The Count extended a hand of reconciliation.

***

“A misunderstanding…”

Why did the Count suddenly change his attitude?

If I had to guess, it would be because of the Stone of Honor.

He must have judged that becoming my enemy would do more harm than good, as my influence grew much faster than he expected.

From the beginning, it was just a matter of pride, and that amount of money wouldn’t have been a big deal for the Count.

Well, there might be a completely different reason.

‘Then, I’ll make an appointment to meet the Count later…’

Since I had nothing to do until night, I went back to my room and slept some more. And after dark, I jumped over the wall, seeing Amelia off.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

“It’s okay. It’s easier to go alone.”

“Hmm, if you say so.”

I, wearing an iron helmet at night, moved while avoiding people’s eyes as much as possible, and stopped only after arriving at a pub located in the outskirts of Commelby.

“This is like a construction site.”

A building that was not just old, but on the verge of collapsing.

Of course, the pub was not open for business, and the sign was rusted and dangling.

Creak-

The inside of the pub was in worse condition than the outside.

There were waste materials scattered like a construction site, and it was full of dust.

Except for the path leading inside.

‘Look at all those footprints.’

Without looking around, I followed the footprints and soon found stairs leading to the basement.

There was only an iron door at the bottom of the stairs, and there were no guards standing in front of it.

Because it wasn’t a system that needed such a thing in the first place.

‘But what’s behind this door?’

It was one of the things I was curious about when I played the game, so I used my strength to tear the door off.

Creak, creak, crash-!

The door came off along with the hinges embedded in the wall.

However, contrary to my expectations, there was just a wall blocking the way behind the door.

‘That’s anticlimactic.’

I was disappointed that there was no hidden piece in the door, but I put the magic stone I had prepared in the slot next to where the door had been and held up my pass.

And at that moment.

Flash-!

The place where I was standing changed.

The black market can only be accessed through teleportation.

That was why there could be hundreds of black market entrances in this vast city.

‘How did I only get to see this place now?’

A small stone chamber the size of a tatami mat [a traditional Japanese mat].

There was a door in the room that led to a hallway, and the number 217 was written on it.

‘Well, if it’s number 217, I have to go a long way to get to the main street.’

I was thinking that as I was about to open the door, when—

Bang.

The door opened from the other side first, and three masked men entered.

Well, there was no welcoming service in the game.

“Do you have any business here?”

“…Did you damage the door before coming here?”

“Ah, that?”

I didn’t imagine they would have found out about it so quickly, but I answered honestly.

“I was curious about what was behind the door.”

“…You’ll have to come with us.”

“What if I refuse?”

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion. You guys!”

At the shout of Thug 1, the other two thugs approached.

I was a little regretful.

…Should I not have broken the door?

‘I wanted to look around since I came all the way here.’

Well, what can I do? I guess I have to do some work since it turned out like this.

Thump.

I swung my arm and pushed away the two thugs who were clinging to me.

A light motion, as if brushing off a mosquito.

However, the two thugs who were pushed all the way to the wall didn’t rush at me in anger, but rather distanced themselves from me.

“…So, you’re an explorer after all?”

“Your words have gotten shorter?”

“You’re just a troublemaker. I have to treat you accordingly.”

“Oh, is that so?”

As I scratched my ear with my pinky finger, Thug 1 lowered his voice.

“Judging by your physique, you’re either a barbarian or a beastman. And you’re probably new here?”

“How did you know?”

“If you knew even a little about this place, you wouldn’t have done such a crazy thing. You rookie.”

That was a bit hurtful.

Who knows more about the black market than me?

Thump.

Before starting work in earnest, I took off my stuffy helmet.

There was no reason to hide my identity from here on out.

“…So, you were a barbarian.”

Contrary to my expectations, he didn’t recognize me.

But, as expected, it didn’t matter.

Whoosh-!

The fact that aura was emanating from Thug 1’s sword was the same.

This wasn’t the cave from a while ago.

As long as I can use my skills normally, aura is no threat to me.

Just like this.

Swish-!

He chose to stab rather than slash, probably because of the narrow space.

Without dodging, I reached out and grabbed the blade.

“……!”

Anyway, those aura users, their reactions are always the same.

The feeling of bewilderment was conveyed through the trembling blade.

I smiled and pulled the sword back.

And…

Crack-!

I punched him right in the center of his face.

Okay, that’s one down.

“…Su, support!”

The two thugs who were trying to run away under the guise of calling for support were dealt with by grabbing them by the back of their necks and rubbing their faces against the wall.

‘Those two were surprisingly weak.’

I shook my hand to get rid of the blood.

There was blood from these three guys, but there was also some blood from my own body mixed in.

It seems that when I blocked the sword with my bare hands, it left a pretty deep wound since I didn’t use [Giant Form]…

But it wasn’t something to worry about.

With my natural regeneration stat, this level of injury will disappear without a trace soon.

“Now, then, let’s take a look around.”

Before going out into the hallway, I bent down and took off the mask that Thug 1 was wearing. Or rather, I brushed off the pieces of the half-broken mask.

However, it was impossible to recognize the guy’s face, as his nose was broken and covered in blood.

“…As expected of a place called a den of evil. I didn’t think the security would be this thorough.”

I muttered with a hint of mockery, and the guy responded with a cracked voice.

“B, Bjorn… Yandel…?”

It seems that he came to his senses after getting hit and remembered who I was…

“H, how… did someone like… you… get… here…”

“How? I came because I had business. More importantly, let me ask you a few things while you’re awake.”

“……”

“Where is the boss of this place…”

What, he fainted.

Without any regrets, I put him down on the floor and went out into the hallway. Some onlookers who were gathered in front of the stone chamber flinched and stepped back.

Looking at their clothes, they were customers, not staff.

‘They probably don’t know anything even if I ask them…’

“Hey! What’s going on?”

Then, a new thug appeared from around the corner and ran towards us after seeing the crowd.

And…

“Wh, what is this…”

The guy who approached shuddered after checking the open door. His reaction made me feel like I was a villain in a thriller movie.

“…Aaaah!”

As he started to back away, I quickly grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him up.

“Where do I have to go to meet the boss of the black market?”

“…I can’t… tell you…”

“What if I kill you right now?”

I threatened him, but he just closed his eyes tightly like someone who had accepted death.

“K, kill me… It’s… several times better than the end of a traitor…”

“Oh, is that so?”

Crack-!

I roughly gave him a flick on the forehead and put the limp thug down on the floor of the hallway. It seemed difficult to find out the location by threatening these guys.

Of course, this was also a minor problem.

Ding-! Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!

The bell rang urgently, as if a war had broken out.

“Intruder! It’s an intruder!”

Looking at the thugs who were quickly respawning as if a burning event had started, I shouted.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!”

Well, if I smash everything, something will come out, right?

***

「The character has activated [Giant Form].」

「The character has used a transformation-type ability.」

「Due to the effect of [Primordial Cell], the soul power consumption of the skill is reduced by half, and the highest stat is increased by 1.5 times.」

***

The black market exists somewhere underground.

No one knows the exact location of the black market, but that story is accepted as a fact in this world.

It’s a very reasonable reason.

If a building the size of three combined soccer fields was above ground, it would have been discovered a long time ago—

Ding-! Ding-! Ding-! Ding-!

Ugh, it’s so noisy.

When are they going to turn that off?

And when is the main street going to appear?

‘This place is really damn big.’

Ah, but there was an advantage to the building being large.

Unlike the cramped stone chamber, the hallways had high ceilings and were wide, so it wasn’t uncomfortable even when using [Giant Form].

Just like this.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

As I ran through the wide hallway with [Giant Form] activated, people were divided into two groups.

“R, run away…!”

Customers who had come to buy a few things and were running away in panic after seeing me.

“Stop him…!”

And the group of thugs who were coming towards me, going against the customers.

I felt it when I saw the guy using aura earlier, but the level of the thugs was higher than I thought.

‘They seem to be around level 4 on average…’

Of course, that’s the average, and there were also some guys who seemed like they could do well on the 6th floor.

Considering that they were respawning infinitely, it was a dangerous scale even for me alone.

However, I was as calm as if I had come on a picnic.

Because they can’t kill me no matter what they do.

Not because of my strength, but for another reason.

“…St, stop! Th, there’s an order. The order is to capture him alive without hurting him as much as possible!”

“Huh? C, capture him alive?”

Yes, the news that I had arrived had reached the higher-ups.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

As I accelerated, the thug at the front shouted with a pale face.

“H, how are we supposed to capture that… monster alive!”

The thug trembled at the unfair order from above and swung his weapon.

But as I rushed in without caring, the thug desperately changed his trajectory and slammed his weapon into the wall.

Clang-!

His desire to follow the order from above was admirable, but at the same time, it was a foolish act.

At that level, it seems like even if they hit me with all their might, they wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

“Hey, Baron Yandel! St, stop! The higher-ups want to talk to you—”

What, it was just getting fun.

Now that I have an invincible evasion skill, I moved forward even more boldly.

Clang! Thump! Clang!

The thugs’ weapons that were swung at me never touched my body.

It was truly a new world.

I was just running, and the attacks were all dodging me on their own? Is this what the world looks like to a martial arts master who has mastered the essence of evasion?

“Hahahaha!!”

I ran forward with even more excitement.

“Shield wall!!”

At some point, the thugs started holding up shields and creating a wall to stop me.

It was an urgent measure from the higher-ups.

If I were to die, the black market would be over.

It’s a place that’s rumored to look down on nobles, but would a private organization really try to be above the nobles?

“I’ll say it again. Don’t attack him!”

At least the higher-ups here knew it clearly.

If something happened to a Baron, there would be nothing left but destruction.

In the end, the only way for these guys to deal with me was to kill me without anyone knowing, but I had already met many customers on my way here.

In other words, there were plenty of witnesses.

“Hiding behind shields, you cowards!”

“……?!”

“The leader who leads this den of evil, come out! I, Bjorn Yandel, will punish you in the name of the royal family!”

“B, but I told you! The chairman also, w, wants to talk—”

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

How much further did I break through the thugs like that?

As the number of thugs increased, the shield wall became stronger, and as mages and ability users came out to support and scatter curse magic, I started to feel overwhelmed.

Thump.

I stopped for the first time and turned around, and the back was also full of thugs.

‘Hmm, if I get caught like this, they’ll definitely look down on me…’

As I was thinking for a moment, a guy who seemed to have a position appeared from between the shield walls.

“…Baron! Please calm down and have a conversation—”

“There is no conversation to be had with you evil beings!”

“…But there’s nowhere else for you to go!”

What do you mean nowhere?

These guys really don’t know barbarians.

‘Okay, then my worries are over.’

I swung my hammer with all my might.

Not towards the thugs who were hiding behind their shields, but towards the wall on the left.

Crash-!

I can just make a path myself.