Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 511

One, two, three, four, five, six…….

I started counting out of habit.

‘Twenty-four.’

The number of explorers standing awkwardly in front of the entrance.

So, these guys were the Hecz Clan, right?

‘It seems Mirta’s team is affiliated with that clan.’

‘Mirta’s?’

‘The five-person team that couldn’t get a warrior. The team leader’s name is Mirta.’

I see.

Then, the other four-person team and one five-person team must have joined the Silver Lion Clan?

I couldn’t be sure, but I spoke to them first.

Actually, I’d been in a bad mood since earlier.

‘Are you going to fight?’

‘…Huh?’

When I asked, the swordsman at the front seemed to finally snap out of it and gave an order.

‘Ah… we heard a noise and thought it was a monster… What are you all doing! Lower your weapons!’

I wondered if they were waiting to ambush us, but it didn’t seem like it.

Soon, everyone lowered their weapons, and the guy asked me cautiously.

‘So… is the exploration below finished?’

‘To some extent. But did you guys just arrive?’

‘Yes, we did…’

‘Since we’ve met like this, let’s introduce ourselves. What’s your name?’

‘Wyatt. Wyatt Hecz. I’m the second leader of the Hecz Clan.’

‘Second leader?’

‘The first was my father.’

He inherited the clan, so he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, huh?

I thought about just going our separate ways, but I was a little curious, so I continued the conversation.

‘Wyatt, what happened after we left?’

‘Ah, about that…’

Usually, if you asked another explorer this kind of question, they would tell you to find out yourself, but it was different for me.

It wasn’t just my reputation, but also because I was the one who opened the portal to this place.

Even though I had told them to do as they pleased and left them on the rocky island, they were still responding favorably.

‘As you might have expected, Baron, we naturally split into two groups.’

Anyway, the story I heard from Wyatt was very simple.

The Silver Lion Clan and the Hecz Clan.

These two groups formed a temporary cooperative relationship after I left. They didn’t integrate their command structures, but they decided to move together and help each other in case of danger.

‘Then what happened to the small teams?’

‘Feeling uneasy about being caught between the clans, three teams formed an alliance.’

Thus, a cooperative relationship was formed between the three groups.

They left the rocky island on their respective ships and began their exploration in earnest.

And…….

‘The problem arose after they discovered that island.’

‘That island?’

When I showed interest, Wyatt, who wasn’t a complete pushover, proposed a trade.

‘If you tell us the information from below, Baron, we will also share our information.’

‘Really? Then I’ll do that, so keep talking.’

There wasn’t a contract or anything, but Wyatt nodded without complaint, as if my verbal promise was enough.

‘It was a very large island. And an undiscovered entity appeared.’

‘Are you talking about the Tentaculan?’

‘How did you know that name, Baron Yandel…?’

‘I’ll tell you later, so keep going for now.’

‘…Well, it’s not a Tentaculan. Unlike those guys we met on the way to the island, it was a much stronger monster.’

A much stronger monster, huh….

The Tentaculan was a 4th grade, so this must be at least a 3rd grade or higher.

‘I’d like you to tell me more details.’

‘We managed to defeat it, but we don’t know what its materialized ability was. However, it used Death Lord’s [Mist of Salvation], Rectus’s [Corpse Poison], and Healthsmith’s [Hellfire]. And we called it ‘Diamont’.’

Diamont.

Its grade is unknown, and it seems to be a solitary entity since it was alone when it was first discovered.

‘So, what happened after you caught it?’

‘We judged that it was dangerous to go inside the island, so we camped on the coast and continued to hunt ‘Diamont’. And… that’s where opinions diverged.’

‘In what way?’

‘The Silver Lion Clan wanted to go inside the island, while we were against it. Even catching one at a time on the coast seemed dangerous enough to me.’

But the Silver Lion Clan was adamant.

Instead of trying to reach a consensus through persuasion, they decided to go their own way, and the Hecz Clan gave up.

‘Opinions also differed among the small teams, and two teams joined the Silver Lion Clan. Mirta’s team here decided to join us.’

‘Why did you leave the island?’

‘We judged that there must be other islands. Ones where we could explore safely at our level.’

I thought they were suicide hopefuls when I saw them on the first floor, but now it seems they were aware of reality.

‘Then, can we hear your story, Baron?’

In exchange for the information, I also told them several pieces of information I had learned from the library.

At first, the guy listened with anticipation, but as the story went on, his expression became subtle.

‘If what you say is true, there’s not much we can get from below.’

‘If hunting is your goal, it’s not bad. There are plenty of summoning books that we didn’t use. And more than anything, you might discover something we didn’t.’

‘That’s… true.’

After that, Wyatt called his navigator and shared the island’s location with our navigator, Auyen, and the business was over.

So, just as we were about to go our separate ways.

‘So… it seems you haven’t found a way out either, Baron.’

Wyatt said something meaningful.

‘What do you mean?’

‘No… it’s nothing. Please consider it my unnecessary worry.’

‘I’ll be the judge of whether it’s unnecessary, so tell me.’

When I spoke firmly, he opened his mouth with a slightly embarrassed look.

‘I was just thinking about when this place will close, and I suddenly had a pointless worry. I was wondering if we could really return to the city when the closing day comes…’

‘…….’

‘I’m just worried that this place might become my tomb.’

Sigh, what was he trying to say?

‘I shouldn’t have listened.’

It makes the listener feel uneasy.

***

Swish, swish, swish.

The ship moves forward, cutting through the silver waves.

The destination is the island where we got the coordinates from the Hecz Clan.

‘With our ship’s performance, we should arrive in about 5 hours.’

Auyen used even his navigator-specific skills to shorten the travel time, and the crew members also performed their duties in their respective positions.

And the time was 2 AM.

‘Is it the 11th day now…’

It had already been 11 days since the labyrinth opened.

But the labyrinth still hadn’t closed.

I had been paying attention to it every day since the 7th day, but…….

Was it because of what he said earlier?

Something feels strange this time.

Until now, I was relieved that it wasn’t the closing day yet, but now a small sense of unease is growing.

‘Not knowing anything is driving me crazy like this.’

This is also a labyrinth, so it will close when the time comes.

Even while thinking that, I have doubts about whether that’s really the case.

Even though I have statistics on the commonalities of all the floors from the 1st to the 10th, I can’t feel at ease because of the unique characteristics of the 1st basement floor…….

‘If it doesn’t close even on the 30th day, let’s think about this problem again then.’

After organizing my thoughts, my head felt a little lighter.

It’s good to always assume the worst, but it’s counterproductive to be too fixated on it and not do what needs to be done.

‘Bjorn! That Tentamund! That guy appeared!’

‘It’s Tentaculan.’

After some time, we entered their territory, and Tentaculans, not Macguris, began to appear.

I don’t know what they eat and do under the sea, but they flew up like flying fish and fell onto the deck.

「You have defeated a Tentaculan.」

「You have defeated a Tentaculan.」

「You have defeated a Tentaculan.」

「You have defeated a Tentaculan……」

I hunted throughout the voyage, but no essence dropped.

It was a disappointing part.

As a new type of monster of the 4th grade, the essence would surely sell for a high price.

‘If I have time later, I’ll go around here and farm essences…….’

I tried to let go of my lingering attachment.

There’s also the saying, ‘Don’t be penny-wise and pound-foolish.’

‘Oh! A new island!’

As soon as the destination became visible to the naked eye, we began to prepare to disembark.

The docking location was a small beach below a cliff.

They said that all the other places were cliffs, so we couldn’t dock the ship there.

‘It’s not impossible to dock the ship next to the cliff and climb up, but…….’

Well, it’s better to just get off at the beach and walk directly.

That kind of thing is something you do after you become a pro. Doesn’t that beach look like a starting point?

‘I’ll start by surveying the terrain, so everyone follow me and tell me immediately if you find anything.’

After arriving at the beach, I explored the surrounding terrain first. There were no monsters in sight, but I couldn’t be careless.

‘The visibility is about 10m.’

It was one of the characteristics of the 1st basement floor. The visibility varies in each field.

I could see the outline of the entire island from afar, but when I came inside, my vision was blocked, and I felt stuffy.

‘Auyen, you follow me and make a map. Can you do that?’

‘Yes. Leave it to me.’

I could make a map myself, but I entrusted this role to Auyen.

I have to be at the forefront of the job, but I can’t carry a notebook and pen, can I?

‘Captain, it seems there’s no more place to explore.’

‘It ended faster than I thought.’

After about 20 minutes of exploring the beach, there was only one way to leave the beach.

Unless we were going to climb a cliff that was tens of meters high, the standard route seemed to be to go inland through the narrow gap between the cliffs.

But…….

‘The problem is that there are three paths.’

The gaps located in the front, left, and right based on the beach.

It’s possible that they all lead to the same place, but it’s not certain.

I have to choose one and go.

‘Ainar, which way do you think is best?’

‘Of course, a warrior would go straight ahead!’

Since it’s something we can only know by going there ourselves, I just chose the front path according to Ainar’s opinion.

‘…It’s much narrower than I thought.’

Even though I deactivated [Giantification], my head kept hitting and my shoulders kept getting caught in the narrow gap.

I endured the discomfort and went on for about 20 minutes until I reached the exit.

‘Phew, I’m finally alive.’

I was on the verge of getting claustrophobic, so I squeezed out of the exit as quickly as possible.

And I quickly checked the surrounding terrain.

‘…….’

A tropical rainforest reminiscent of the Amazon jungle.

Knee-high bushes were lush on the ground, and the strangely shaped trees were larger than any trees I had seen in Korea.

Also…….

Drop.

Something liquid fell from above.

‘Rain?’

At first, I thought so, but the sensation of it touching my cheek and flowing down stickily was something I couldn’t mistake.

‘Blood.’

I looked up to check.

‘……Damn it.’

Three corpses in a miserable state were hanging from the tree vines.

‘…They’re members of the Silver Lion Clan.’

With Versil’s words, who followed behind, a heavy silence fell.

For a very, very simple reason.

‘…….’

‘…….’

Monsters don’t do things like that.