Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 507

Sixty-person entry limit.

Also, the portal only opens briefly upon entry, and there’s no return portal. These two characteristics are typical of a ‘Rift’ [a type of unstable, temporary dungeon].

However, there were many ambiguous aspects that made classifying this place where I’m standing as a Rift difficult.

‘Well, there was a monument, at least.’

There’s always a portal monument where layers connect. And this time, we opened the portal after activating that monument.

Also…

‘There hasn’t been a single case where a hidden area was a Rift.’

The ‘Hidden Area’ written on the Stone of Honor [a magical artifact that records dungeon information] mostly meant a new layer, or if not, it was a hidden field like ‘Larkaz’s Maze’.

‘But the possibility of this being a hidden field of the 1st floor is low.’

I decided to consider this place as one layer for now.

Hidden fields share the closing date with their respective floors.

But to open this portal, you have to diligently farm fragments from the 3rd floor.

‘Adding the return time, it’ll be around the 6th day at the earliest.’

If it’s a hidden field, the design structure should only allow exploration for a maximum of about 2 days, right?

This possibility is low.

‘Then the important thing is when this place closes…’

This will naturally become clear as time passes.

“Bersil, is the headcount finished?”

“Yes.”

Before starting the exploration in earnest, we finished the preliminary investigation to grasp the power dynamics.

“There are two major forces. The Silver Lion Clan has twenty members, and the Hextz Clan has nineteen.”

“Neither of them has the exact number.”

Clans mostly move with matching numbers.

When the bond was 5, they matched it to multiples of 5, and after it increased to six, they divided the teams into multiples of 6.

“Yes. It seems both clans have quite a few stragglers. As soon as the barrier disappeared and the portal opened, everyone rushed out haphazardly, so it seems they were in a state of chaos.”

“I see. Then what about the rest?”

“There are two 5-person teams and one 4-person team.”

After listening further, it turned out that the leader of the 4-person team couldn’t enter at all, and one of the 5-person teams was missing a warrior, completely disrupting their combat balance.

“Shall I find out more? Everyone seems to be friendly towards me, as if they need someone to rely on.”

“No, this is enough. Thank you.”

“And…”

“Hm?”

When I tilted my head, Bersil carefully opened his mouth.

“All three of the small-to-medium teams have asked if they can rely on us. The other two clans also seemed to want cooperation.”

“Cooperation, I understand, but relying on us?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They’ll do whatever we tell them, and they’ll take whatever reward we give them, so they’re just asking us to take them in.”

Well, they were blinded by greed and somehow managed to enter, but now that they’re in an unknown land, they’ve probably come to their senses.

Moreover, their teams aren’t in good shape due to the stragglers.

“What are you going to do?”

“What’s the level of the teams?”

“On average, around the 5th floor.”

“Then there’s nothing more to see. Get rid of them all.”

I judged that they would likely only be a hindrance, given our structure of engaging in small, elite battles.

‘If we don’t take them in, they’ll either band together or leech off the two clans, they’ll figure it out.’

It’s not like I forced these guys to come down here.

I opened the portal as they wanted, so our relationship ends there.

Therefore…

“Bersil, use the bond magic again.”

“What about the numbers?”

“Emily and Auyen are one team. The rest are one team.”

First, we divided our team into two.

Actually, I considered going with a 6-person bond system, excluding Auyen, but it would be good for Auyen to gain experience too.

After all, if it’s a new layer, new types of monsters will appear, right? With this structure, even if Amelia just hits them once with a normal attack, Auyen will get experience.

“Emily, are you okay with this?”

“It doesn’t matter. I understand that a mage with many area-of-effect skills needs to be on a team with you.”

Okay, then this problem is solved too.

“Bjorn! How long are we going to stay here!”

Ainar seems to be losing his patience.

“Everyone, form a moving formation.”

It’s time to start exploring.

***

As we began to move, the explorers who were regrouping at the starting point started to watch me.

And one of them mustered the courage to ask me.

“If it’s not too much trouble… could we follow you from a distance?”

They’re scared to lead the way in an unknown layer, so they want to learn by watching what we do.

Seriously, do these guys have no shame?

Not only did they freeload on the portal I opened, but they’re also hoping for a bus service.

“It is too much trouble, so no.”

I cut them off firmly, not giving them any room to negotiate.

Of course, they didn’t give up easily, as their desire to ride the bus was strong.

“B-but… if you, Baron, could help us a little, the number of people dying in vain would greatly decrease.”

One guy took the lead, and the others, emboldened, started to provide supporting fire.

“That’s right… !”

“In an emergency, it’s the duty of fellow explorers to cooperate…”

“If you help us, it will surely greatly benefit your reputation, Baron…”

What are these guys even saying?

Do they think I’m a pushover just because I opened a portal once?

“When did I tell you to come in?”

“…”

“If you’re explorers, then you should explore on your own.”

“But, surely many will die…”

“Isn’t that the risk you have to take? As you know, that’s what exploration is about.”

With those words, I led my team away from the starting point. My strong words were effective, and no one dared to follow us.

“Phew, that feels good. Why are they all so talkative?”

“Captain, but is it okay…? If they go back alive, they might spread some strange rumors about you…”

Auyen asked with a worried voice, but I chuckled and patted his back.

“You worry too much. It’ll just give you a headache if you care about that kind of thing.”

“Haha… you’re so bold, as expected.”

“Okay, stop the chatter and focus on the exploration. We don’t know what’s ahead.”

After that, I slowly circled the starting point in a moving formation to grasp the terrain.

It didn’t take long.

The terrain itself wasn’t large.

“I thought I heard the sound of waves…”

“It really was an island.”

A rocky island that was small enough to circle in 30 minutes. Is it like the starting island, Laimia, on the 6th floor?

After circling around, there were no monsters on the island.

No, not just monsters, there was really nothing at all.

‘Laimia Island at least had trees to chop. There’s nothing like that here.’

That’s a disappointing part.

If there was a special material that only appeared here, we could sell it for a high price outside.

Of course, it’s still too early to give up hope.

The real exploration will be beyond that sea.

“Rocklob, what do you think, is it possible?”

Before launching the ship, I first listened to the navigator’s opinion.

Because it was obviously different from a normal sea.

“Yes. It’s different from normal seawater, but wood floats. I’ll have to see, but with this buoyancy, I think our ship will float well enough.”

“That’s a relief.”

The silver waves crashing against the rocks, scattering roughly.

It’s like looking at a sea made of mercury.

And there are strange floating objects.

Swaaaaaaaash-!

Wardrobes, fireplaces, thick books, old swords, knight’s helmets, etc., floating on the silver waves…

What is that, a sock?

I don’t know, but after actively taking Auyen’s opinion, we summoned the ship in the most suitable place.

“Ooh! The ship is floating!”

Fortunately, the ship floated on the sea without any problems, but just in case, we watched for about 10 minutes, checking for damage to the ship, and then everyone boarded and finished preparing for departure.

And I entrusted all the decisions for this voyage to Auyen.

“Huh? To, to me?”

“Yes. Try sailing the ship once, thinking that you’ve come to the 6th floor for the first time without knowing anything.”

Auyen seemed burdened by that position, but when I spoke strongly, he had no choice but to agree.

“Then, I’ll start by investigating the surrounding waters…”

“Do as you please. You don’t need to report to me in detail. As far as navigation is concerned, you’re much better than me.”

Thus, the ship that started its voyage moved cautiously, reflecting the personality of the navigator, Auyen.

Whether the water was deep, or if there were hidden obstacles underwater, Auyen constantly checked these things and created a real-time nautical chart.

And Amelia watched and helped with it with an interesting look.

“I’m envious. That you have such a talent.”

“…Yes?”

“I meant, do your best. Your map and your name will surely be recorded in history. Like Pikma’s nautical chart.”

Looking at it, Amelia also had a strange obsession with this kind of thing.

Is it because she lived her whole life without being able to reveal her name proudly?

‘……When we return to the city, I need to think about how to help her regain her real name.’

Since the navigation was going well without me, I slowly moved to the deck. If Auyen is an expert in navigation, then I can be said to be an expert in the labyrinth itself.

‘The range of vision has increased.’

On the rocky island, the visibility was about 100M, but as we started sailing, the visibility gradually increased.

It’s just that the sky is dark, so we can’t see far, but in fact, the visibility limit seems to have disappeared.

“Bersil, have you found anything?”

“No. It seems like there’s no related equipment… For now, I’m going to focus on collecting samples rather than research.”

“I see…”

The mage, Bersil, had been collecting floating objects since the rocky island, but he hadn’t found anything in particular.

‘Would it be different if it was Raven?’

I had such thoughts, but I wasn’t too disappointed.

What would come out of researching this anyway? We’re explorers, so it’s enough if we can just collect samples and sell them for a high price.

‘Then it seems like I can just leave Bersil alone…’

I checked the other members.

Erwen, who has good eyesight, was stationed at the lookout on the mast, communicating with the navigation team, and Ainar was enjoying the feeling of being a captain at the edge of the deck.

Misha was just standing awkwardly alone in an awkward spot.

However, just as I was about to go and talk to her.

“Island! It’s an island!”

A new field was discovered.

***

The first discovery since entering the hidden area.

Excited, we quickly turned the bow of the ship and moved in the direction Erwen had indicated.

And…

“…”

“…”

We froze from afar.

For a simple reason.

“M-monster…”

It wasn’t an island.

“…What should we do?”

“Oh! Are we going to fight? It seems like it’s the first monster we’ve discovered. It might be weaker than we think!”

“A-are you crazy? Fighting a monster that big is too reckless!”

A monster so huge that it was mistaken for an island.

Standing before it, only Amelia and I truly understood the danger.

“…Yandel.”

Amelia can roughly tell the monster’s grade thanks to [Danger Sense]. Well, judging by her expression, it seems like she doesn’t know anything else besides the grade.

“No, Auyen, Rocklob. Turn the ship around immediately. We need to get as far away from ‘that’ as possible.”

“…Yes? Ah, yes! I understand.”

At Amelia’s command, Auyen followed the instructions without any questions.

Only then did she approach me.

“Do you know what that thing is?”

Of course, I know.

A huge black carapace.

A long neck and a dragon-like head.

And long whiskers on its snout.

“Toll-Lapupa. It’s a 1st-grade monster.”

“It really was… a 1st-grade monster.”

It’s natural that they all think it’s the first monster they’ve discovered.

80% of 1st-grade monsters, including Toll-Lapupa, only appear on the 10th floor.

There’s no way they could have information about it.

‘Moreover, it only appears in hidden fields.’

A super-large monster that could only be seen by entering a hidden field even on the last floor.

‘Damn it…’

Only after we were far enough away that Toll-Lapupa was no longer visible did my spine tingle.

‘A 1st-grade monster appeared…’

It’s a good thing that it was a non-aggressive monster, but what if it was a different one?

We would have been wiped out immediately.

The raid difficulty of a 1st-grade monster is higher than that of most upper-layer lords.

‘Should we go back to the rocky island now…?’

I had such thoughts, but I was reluctant to give up like this, so I continued sailing.

And time passed…

[00:01]

The 7th day ended.

This means that the 1st floor has already closed.

‘Okay, then it’s practically confirmed that this isn’t a hidden field…’

As I expected, this place was a new layer.

And the floor number is probably…

‘Underground Floor 1.’

Yes, since the 2nd floor already exists, it seems like it will be marked as Underground Floor 1.

Hmm, but then what will the name be?

Usually, when a new layer opens, the official name appears on the Stone of Honor.

‘I’ll find out when we go out.’

As I was calming my surprised heart after seeing the 1st-grade monster and continuing to sail, suddenly…

“Kyaaaaaa!”

Bersil, who had been fishing out floating objects like fishing, screamed.

“Monster! It’s a monster!”

I quickly went to the railing and looked down, and I saw a monster crawling up the side of the ship.

“Huh? What is this guy? It doesn’t look like a Murloc or a Frogman.”

Ainar, who had rushed over at the sound of a monster, asked me, and I couldn’t answer.

I thought there might really be new monsters since it’s a new layer.

[Squeak, squeak, squeak!]

It was a new type of monster.

I didn’t know its grade, classification, or name.