Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 508

The basic form resembled a Frogman.

The roundness of its belly, as if filled with air, and the suction cup-like things on its finger joints.

Even the shape of its face was similar.

However, its skin was gray, not green, and it wasn’t carrying its trademark harpoon.

Also, crucially.

‘Wings…?’

Wings with a strange, almost pasted-on look were attached to its back.

[Kkirreureuk!!]

Soon, the creatures clinging to the wall flapped their wings, using the force to climb onto the deck in an instant.

So, those weren’t just decorative wings, huh?

“Emily, what’s its grade?”

I quickly regained my senses and asked Amelia about the grade. Of course, it’s impossible to accurately gauge the grade with [Danger Sense]…

“It’s below 7th grade. I don’t feel any threat from it.”

I can roughly grasp it through my experience.

“Below 7th grade…”

I looked at the dozen or so monsters glaring at us on the deck and quickly gave an order.

“Don’t rush in! Getting information about them is the priority!”

“Ugh!”

Ainar, who was about to charge forward, flinched at my command.

Good, at least he listens well.

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!”

I stepped forward, drastically raising the threat level with [Wild Outburst], and the unidentified monsters immediately began to attack.

The monsters’ basic attacks were completely different from what I expected.

They had no teeth or claws.

They weren’t holding harpoon-like weapons either.

So, I wondered how they would attack.

Swoosh.

The moment the monsters took a cat-like pose and raised their rear ends.

Zzzzzzz-!

Spike-shaped projectiles, seemingly of the lightning attribute, were generated in the air and shot out.

As they were monsters below 7th grade, of course, there was no damage.

I managed to block most of them with my shield, but the ones I couldn’t block didn’t pierce my skin.

However…

‘What the hell is this…’

My body stiffens.

It’s not because I received a status ailment like ‘paralysis’ or ‘electrocution’ from an unknown effect.

It’s just because I was too surprised.

“Hey, Yandel… what the monsters just used…”

Yeah, seeing this, I guess I wasn’t imagining things.

Erwen finished the sentence for Bersil, who was trailing off.

“It seems like it’s Pluminas’s [Thunder Thorns]…”

Pluminas, a 7th-grade monster.

A lightning-attribute monster that appears in parts of the 3rd and 4th floors.

But this guy is using a unique skill of a different species?

‘Could it be a superior variant?’

I briefly considered that, but it couldn’t be.

Because all the dozen or so that climbed onto the deck were using the same skill.

‘A different monster using the same skill…’

Then, what about other skills?

After not attacking at all and observing, I was able to learn something surprising.

“That’s… Iron Falcon’s [Ironclad Feathers].”

“Oh! I know that ability too! Isn’t that the 7th-grade monster Seaworm’s [Bubble Burst]!”

“That’s… not 6th grade, but 7th grade…”

All three of this guy’s active skills are from different monsters.

I was curious about the passives, but unfortunately, it wasn’t easy to figure out.

So, I swung my hammer with the intention of catching one, and then.

「Your attack was missed due to [Rotten Slime].」

Well, is the passive a Frogman’s?

I guess they did look similar.

Well, that’s fine. I’ve figured out everything I need to know.

“The investigation is over. Now you can kill them all!”

“Really!”

As soon as I gave the order, Ainar dashed out like an arrow and achieved the feat of being the first to defeat the newly discovered monster.

However, the problem was…

「You have defeated a Macguri.」

What, it doesn’t feel like I got any experience?

Even if it’s below 7th grade, I’m used to the feeling now, so I should feel it a little—.

「No.9999 Beginner’s Luck has been activated.」

I stopped thinking and looked ahead.

“…Essence!”

Wow, so essence really does come out.

“…Bersil! Quickly put it in a test tube!”

While hurriedly giving instructions to the mage, I unconsciously thought.

‘So, does that mean that one of Seaworm, Iron Falcon, and Pluminas’s active skills is attached to the Frogman’s [Rotten Slime]?’

…Maybe the entire growth combination setting might change.

***

A single battle ended.

The loot was one green essence.

I’ll have to check the details, but it feels like it’s Iron Falcon’s [Ironclad Feathers].

[Ironclad Feathers] was a green essence, after all.

“Bersil, how many test tubes are left?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Wasn’t the support from Melbes twenty?”

“Just in case, I brought all the ones I had too.”

“I see…”

“What should we do with the test tubes that have been collected?”

“You keep them. It’ll be easier to organize if they’re all in one place.”

After solving the test tube storage problem, I quickly asked my companions.

“More importantly, did everyone feel it? When we first caught that guy earlier…”

“Ah, you mean the fact that no contribution points were received?”

“Huh? Did everyone feel that? I thought it was just my imagination…”

Since everyone didn’t feel the experience coming in, it was certain that there was no experience.

‘This floor has a unique concept…’

A monster that seems like a chimera, mixing this and that.

And it doesn’t give experience.

Because of that, I feel a bit deflated.

If all the monsters appearing on this floor are like this, it means there are no new skills that I was greatly expecting.

However, on the other hand, I also think this.

“…Monsters with skills from other species are appearing. If this fact becomes known, there will be chaos.”

Maybe something really big is coming.

That’s because this is much more helpful in creating a cheat combination than a mediocre new skill.

Should I say the customization function has opened?

‘Even with the Steel Giant… if I can get the active without the passive, the weapon restrictions will disappear.’

In a similar vein, there are many essences that didn’t make it into the final tree because they liked one of the active or passive skills, but the stats or other parts were lacking.

‘But what if you could add [Giantification] to such a passive skill?’

The character’s high point would go up much higher.

Looking at the Orc Hero, the passive is just a bonus.

[Path of the Hero], which increases physical stats as health decreases, is not a bad skill, but it’s basically a 5th-grade essence, so its performance is poor.

The basic stats of the essence are also low.

If it’s not a combination of [Giantification] and [Unification], there are plenty of essences with better specs…

‘…Will there be such a monster?’

I don’t know.

Maybe the guys we met this time are special.

Other guys might be armed with new essences, or it’s possible that this is the end of meeting new individuals.

However…

‘This is fun.’

As a player who loved [Dungeon & Stone], my heart is pounding.

What will be ahead?

I can’t help but look forward to it, and my fist clenches.

However, I shouldn’t let my guard down too much.

The unknown is both an opportunity and a crisis.

“Raise the sails!”

After the deck was cleaned up, we continued sailing.

This area seemed to be the habitat of those electric frogs we saw earlier, as they kept popping out of the sea and climbing onto the deck.

And this time, we hunted them using ‘Distortion’.

「Bersil Gowland has cast the 6th-grade space magic [Superior Distortion].」

Well, it’s a new monster, right?

The byproducts will surely sell for a high price at the Magic Tower.

“Hey, Bjorn!”

“If you’re bored, clean the deck or something.”

“That’s not it, I have something to say!”

“…Go ahead.”

As we were continuing our exploration without incident, Ainar suddenly asked this question.

“What are you going to name these guys?”

“Name…?”

It was a problem I hadn’t thought about at all.

How are the names of monsters created?

“Erwen, do you know?”

“Uh… I don’t know…?”

Surprisingly, Erwen, who didn’t know much, also didn’t know about the origin of monster naming.

The same was true for Bersil, who was a mage but also a player.

“That’s… it’s a problem I’ve never thought about… wouldn’t the first person to discover them name them?”

“Hmm… is that so.”

At Bersil’s words, Amelia, who was assisting with the navigation next to Auyen, approached with interest.

“Nanari.”

“…Huh?”

“How about Nanari? It sounds good, and… it has a kind of… cute feeling.”

She really likes this kind of thing.

“…We’re naming a monster, not giving it a cute name, Emily.”

“…But isn’t it the discoverer’s choice?”

“That’s true.”

I glanced around and saw that everyone seemed interested in naming the newly discovered monster.

Well, they’re all explorers.

I decided that it could be a motivation for future explorations, so I set up a board.

“Everyone, if you have anything in mind, say it. We’ll have one candidate each and then decide by voting.”

“Voting… that’s fair. I’ll go with Nanari. And I’ll give 10,000 stones to anyone who votes for Nanari.”

“I said vote, not buy votes…”

“I didn’t say not to buy them either.”

“…Do as you please.”

There was a brief issue of fairness, but starting with Amelia, the members also came up with their own names.

“Ultimethundra! How about that! It’s a strong-sounding name, isn’t it?”

“But they’re not even 7th-grade monsters. How about taking their characteristics? They’re individuals with the abilities of Seaworm, Iron Falcon, Pluminas, and Frogman…”

“Individuals…?”

“Seafalcon Frogman!”

“…Huh?”

“Seafalcon Frogman! It’s pretty good, right?”

My head went blank as soon as I heard it, but surprisingly, it was well-received among the members.

“Oh! That’s good too! It’s a very strong-sounding name!”

“…Indeed, it’s catchy. And it’s easy to picture the monster’s appearance.”

“Isn’t Nanari better? I’ll give 20,000 stones.”

After that, various names were nominated, and finally, it was time to vote.

And the result was…

“Macguri has seven votes. Sea…falcon Frogman has three votes. Nanari has two votes, and Kkiruru has one vote.”

“Huh? That’s strange? How are there thirteen votes when there are only seven people?”

“Ah, Bersil, didn’t you know? It’s written in our clan rules. The clan leader’s vote is equal to the number of clan members.”

“…That’s far from democratic!”

I lowered my voice coldly.

“Democratic? What’s that?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Bersil, realizing his mistake, hesitated.

Yeah, if you’re a player, you should hide those things well.

This is a world without ideologies like democracy.

“Well, that’s settled then. From now on, those guys’ name is Macguri.”

That’s how the name of the first discovered monster was decided.

Macguri.

It was a name I made up roughly after seeing its seagull-like wings and frog-like appearance, but it wouldn’t matter much.

Macguri would probably like this more than Seafalcon whatever.

***

“Then everyone, go to your respective positions and work!”

As soon as I gave the dismissal order, Erwen went back to the lookout, and Auyen and Amelia went to the helm.

And Bersil went back to fishing and collecting samples.

“Ainar, don’t just stand around, clean the deck.”

“…Misha is standing around too!”

“Misha… has other things to do…”

“…Eung?”

“Misha… your role is to stand on the deck and deal with any monsters that appear.”

“Uu! I can do that too. Let me do it!!”

“Tsk!”

Anyway, everyone started doing their jobs again, and I wandered around like a loafer, checking if there were any problems with the ship.

As I was doing that, Bersil called me.

“Yandel, can you come here for a moment?”

“Did you find something?”

I quickly went over and saw Bersil surrounded by floating objects he had pulled from the sea, handing me one item.

“I just pulled this painting up, what do you think? It looks like it’ll sell for a good price when we go back to the city, right?”

“…A painting?”

“Yes. It looks like the sea, but the paper is fine. It doesn’t get wet at all.”

Certainly… if it’s a work of art pulled from the labyrinth, it would be worth a lot…

“Let me take a look.”

I took the painting from Bersil and checked it.

And I froze like a stone.

“…”

A man, a woman who seemed to be his wife.

And a rough sketch portrait of a little girl smiling brightly between them.

“Um… what’s wrong?”

“…”

“Is it… someone you know?”

It’s a bit much to say I know them.

And I don’t know why this is being found here either.

“For now.”

It was from several years ago.

The family portrait of Hans A that I had carelessly thrown on the labyrinth floor during my first exploration.