Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 518

There’s a saying that time heals all wounds. It means that no matter how difficult things are, they will get better with time. So, in that sense. One, two, three… I count to three in my head and open my eyes again. Thanks to taking a moment, my mind is back, but sadly, the scene before me is still the same. A single-sized bed. A computer on the desk. The living room and kitchen visible through the wide-open door. It’s undeniably Lee Han-soo’s room. The very place I’ve been coming to every 15th of the month at midnight since the moment I took that pill when the community opens. ‘I’m not… dreaming, am I?’ Such a guess suddenly came to mind, but I quickly shook my head. I don’t know why, but it happened. Therefore, what I need to do now is not deny it, but to figure out the cause and find a solution. “Why did I end up here?” I mutter to myself, as if organizing my thoughts by writing them down, and continue to ponder. First of all, the time in the labyrinth and the city was different. No matter how many days I spent in the labyrinth, only 36 hours passed in the city. So, even if I explored the labyrinth for more than two months, I had never been summoned to the community until now. But… “I ended up coming here anyway.” As I continued to ponder, putting aside the question of whether it was realistically possible, the answer quickly came to me. No matter how unrealistic it was. How could the community open during a labyrinth exploration? There’s usually an absurd reason behind an absurd result. “Outside… time is passing.” If that were the case, it would somewhat explain why I entered this community from the labyrinth. “Shit.” Once my mind was somewhat organized, the vague anxiety disappeared. And in its place, very specific and realistic problems surfaced. Am I going to be trapped here forever? If the labyrinth really closed normally outside, and if it’s known that I’m dead. How am I going to clean up this mess? “Hoo…” This is driving me crazy. Since thinking alone wouldn’t solve the problem, I went to the computer and moved the mouse. [Great Korean Independence] – 2 members are online. Baekho and Hyunbyul are online. I was late because I was organizing my thoughts, but before going in, I checked the free board first. Without even searching, there were tons of posts about me. Click. I clicked on the post with the most comments, and the original text unfolded, along with numerous comments below it. [Is Giant Friend Really Dead?] Are you guys faking your death again with the royal family? [BurtusMaximus: It seems real this time. There’s a witness who saw him open a portal on the first floor and enter a hidden area.] [└Writer: Really? How could that happen?] [BurtusMaximus: When Yandel opened the portal, the people next to him followed, but the portal closed in the middle, and they were stranded.] [└Writer: Thanks for the info. But is it okay to say that here?] [BurtusMaximus: It’s already known to those who need to know anyway.] [└Nyacreeps: Only one of the stranded people came back alive, and he seems to be the luckiest guy ever. Not following them in, and surviving on the first floor where Berzak is.] Yeah… I expected it, but it really turned out like this. Since the community is the only channel to know what’s happening outside, I kept reading the posts. The players’ reactions were really diverse. [Must Read) Three Pieces of Evidence that Bjorn Yandel is Alive.] [Futuralis: There’s nothing there?] [└NExtlevEL: Are you a bit slow? It means there’s nothing.] [└Futuralis: Nothing? What do you mean?] [└NExtlevEL: Your brain.] There were those who simply made jokes or consumed the situation with humor, and there were those who spread rumors with concrete evidence. Also… [Friends, I’m sharing how to open the portal.] Everyone knows that a new monument appeared in the dark area of the Crystal Cave, right? Bjorn Yandel opened that and suffered a disaster inside. So, the question here is what are the conditions for the portal to open… In conclusion, the conditions are likely on the 3rd floor. There were quite a few explorers who witnessed Bjorn Yandel on the 3rd floor this round. Yeah, that’s all been revealed already. [these99: If this is true, it makes sense. He went up to the 3rd floor and then came back down to the 1st floor to open the portal.] [ionboii: Tsk tsk, look at the level of this bait. He says he’s sharing but just throws out weird hypotheses.] [└EdwardBless77: It doesn’t seem like information to be taken as a rumor. There are quite a few people who saw him on the 2nd floor too.] [└AI_DIDIGO: Info 1, Bjorn Yandel actually went down to the 1st floor on the 7th day and immediately opened the portal in the Crystal Cave.] They said the 3rd floor, but at this point, it’s safe to say that the route we took in this exploration has been completely exposed… [└EdwardBless77: DIDIGO, do you have Info 2 today?] [└AI_DIDIGO: Info 2, a total of 60 people entered the opened portal when it closed. The maximum number of people allowed in the hidden area is estimated to be 60.] Those who weren’t even there know our situation inside and out. ‘Well, I think I’ve learned enough…’ Just as I was about to stop lurking and go to the chat room with Baekho and Hyunbyul, I was about to turn the page when a post caught my eye. [I am an explorer who entered the hidden area following Bjorn Yandel.] …Who is this? *** [I am one of the 60 people you are talking about.] [I cannot reveal my real name, but everything I’m about to say is true, so please don’t think it’s a joke.] [We are currently on the first basement floor, in a place called the Archives.] [This floor is a very unique floor…] Who is the author of this post? The first candidate that came to mind was Bersil. But, if you think about it, there’s no way he would have left this post. It’s just that Bersil was the only player I knew for sure. ‘It’s not strange if there’s one more person among the 60.’ Moreover, as I continued to read the post, the suspects gradually decreased. The details the author included to gain credibility revealed some of their identity. [We explored on our own after being separated from Bjorn Yandel…] They are not members of the Silver Lion Clan or the small teams working with them. Therefore, the only remaining suspects are those I met in passing on the Library Island. [Of course, we don’t know where Bjorn Yandel is now. Our exploration was interrupted and we were isolated because monsters suddenly poured down from the sky.] Thanks to that, I learned a new piece of information. The ‘Rainy Season’ is an event that occurs not only on that island but throughout the entire floor. Well, I don’t know how they survived that event. Do monsters not enter the library? [We are currently trapped on an island. The monsters filling the island are a problem, but our ship is also damaged, making escape impossible. Therefore, we had to rely on surviving until the labyrinth closed, but…] [Seeing that I woke up here today, it seems that will be difficult. That’s why I’m publicly discussing our valuable exploration results and leaving this post.] [To those who want to enter this place, or to anyone who has exploration plans in the future, please. If you come here, please come to the island where we are and rescue us. We will reward you with the information we have, or with something else.] [The island where we are is located 19 degrees from the starting point, the Rock Island…] The author then revealed the route to their island from Rock Island. I don’t know much about navigation, but judging from the complex route and the long time it takes, it didn’t seem to be the Library Island. [Also, whether he has already escaped and met you in the city, or is still trapped here, please tell Baron Yandel.] [That we are waiting here…] With that, the long post ended. As I was thinking about who the author could be, I remembered the time when the leader of the Hextz Clan showed me a strange sense of unease. [So… the Baron hasn’t found a way out either.] That’s why people’s intuition is so scary. I never thought I’d really be in this situation. I felt strange, but first, I read the comments on the post one by one. [Darulus: What, is this real?] [rafał: I scrolled down from 60 people. Come back when you’re ready.] [MarkG: No one believes this nonsense, right?] [Paweł: If you put this much effort into something else…] The general atmosphere was that it was just bait, but not everyone was like that. [TheRobson75: But it’s too detailed to be made up… Could it be that time really passes even if the labyrinth closes there?] Many were unsure, and quite a few decided to believe the post. [Bling0_0: I have a feeling this post is true. I can’t imagine that person dying in the first place. This makes much more sense…] [└AI_DIDIGO: Info 1, there is no pattern of a liar in this post.] [└EdwardBless77: So, what’s the conclusion?] [└AI_DIDIGO: Conclusion, the probability that this post is true is 72.8811%.] [└Pnec: Bullshit. He’s dead. Barbarian bastard.] [└Bling0_0: Ha, this guy is back again.] [└Pnec: Who are you? Not me?] [└Bling0_0: Not you? Now that I see it, your brain memory is 3kb, not to mention your 3cm below.] [└Pnec: Ah, I remember. That bugger ㅋㅋㅋ.] [└Bling0_0: You’ll forget it in 3 seconds anyway, what’s the point of remembering?] What are these guys doing fighting here? ‘There are so many people with nothing to do.’ I checked all the comments that followed, but for some reason, the author didn’t communicate through comments. Did they think it would look like a lie if they responded? I don’t know, but it’s already been almost 30 minutes since the community opened, so I closed the board and headed to the chat room. [Great Korean Independence] – 2 members are online. Fortunately, both of them were still in the chat room. Click, click. Thinking I had made them wait too long, I quickly entered the chat room and saw Hyunbyul and Lee Baekho facing each other a few steps apart. The two were talking seriously, almost like they were fighting… “Oh, hyung! You’re here!” “…Huh?” Feeling my presence, the two turned their heads towards me at the same time. “…O-Oppa?” “Sorry I’m late. But what were you two talking about so seriously?” “T-That’s…” Hyunbyul was very flustered by my question. And seeing that, Lee Baekho chimed in with a sly voice. “She keeps asking if you’re really Bjorn Yandel, hyung?” “What?” “She kept denying it, but she kept asking, so I just told her no, but she keeps doing that. If she’s not going to believe it, why did she ask in the first place?” “Hyunbyul, is that true?” “…Do you believe him, oppa?” Yeah, it’s true. If she could have just said no, she wouldn’t have said it like that. I felt a chill down my spine. ‘The fact that she went this far means she already knew something about my identity…’ It’s a bit sudden, but a crisis can become an opportunity if used well. “By the way, why did you think I was Bjorn Yandel?” Since it’s known outside that Bjorn Yandel is dead, I judged that Hyunbyul would think she was wrong and answer honestly. “…Do you really believe him?” “I won’t get mad. Just tell me.” When I said it as if there was no point in blurring the issue, Hyunbyul finally opened her mouth reluctantly. In a voice as small as an ant crawling. “I wasn’t… sure.” “But?” “…I know exactly when you came here, oppa.” “Go on.” “Among the explorers who came at that time, no one has become as big as Bjorn Yandel. If I had to compare, it would be Blood Spirit, but… she’s a woman.” Ah, so she was secretly thinking I was Bjorn Yandel. “…You also talked a lot about games to me, oppa. Saying that the shield barbarian is the best and stuff.” “You remember that…?” “Of course. It’s what you said, oppa.” Hyunbyul’s answer was confident, as if it was strange to ask. When I couldn’t answer, Lee Baekho, who was next to me, whistled. “Wow… Hyunbyul noona is amazing. Hyung, think again. If it were me, I would never let go of a noona like this—.” “Shut up. Please, just shut up.” I agree. Does this bastard Lee Baekho have a disease where he dies if he stays still? I glared at him, and Lee Baekho shrugged and closed his mouth. “…” “…” The atmosphere became awkward because of Lee Baekho’s antics. Hyunbyul avoided my gaze and spoke again. “Anyway, that’s why… I thought you were Bjorn Yandel… but they said you were dead…” “…” “And… no matter how long I waited, you didn’t show up here… So I got a little excited and questioned him. He knows about your identity…” Ah… “So why are you so late today? I was really worried!” Hyunbyul raised her voice as if trying to change the atmosphere, and I unconsciously apologized. “Sorry.” “I’m not asking for an apology, I’m asking for the reason.” “I was going to come in right away, but there were some interesting posts on the board. I was looking at that.” “Huh? Interesting posts? What is it, hyung?” Lee Baekho also showed interest in my words, and I just told them everything honestly. It’s information that they can find out by looking at the board anyway. “The labyrinth and the city are flowing at the same time?” “Yeah, so it seems?” “Wait a minute! Then Bjorn Yandel could still be alive?” “Yeah, I guess?” When I answered casually, Hyunbyul glared at me with fire in her eyes. Although there were no words, I could hear her voice. ‘Why are you talking like it’s not your problem! Then there’s still a chance that you’re Bjorn Yandel!’ Is that how I should put it? As I looked at Hyunbyul without avoiding her gaze and smiled shamelessly, Lee Baekho exclaimed in admiration. “Kyaa, you have to be a mysterious man like this to hold onto your girlfriend like hyung? I really respect you, hyung!” What is he talking about, he’s the one with more secrets than me. It was a bit absurd, but I couldn’t say anything to his natural words. “But it’s a bit disappointing.” “…” “I wish I was as smart as hyung.” That’s… making the atmosphere heavy.