Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 532

Thump-!

My heart is pounding, but my mind is coldly calm.

‘Corpses.’

Human corpses.

And the village chief, standing close behind me while showing me these corpses, says that these corpses are the secret of our village.

Thump-!

Despite the cold sweat forming on my back, I calmly organized my thoughts as much as possible.

He could have just said he didn’t want to show me, but he showed me first.

He wouldn’t act like I have to disappear now that I know the secret.

“What are these corpses?”

“You’re much calmer than I expected.”

“There must be a reason you showed them to me.”

Of course, there’s a possibility that he lured me down here on purpose with the intention of getting rid of me.

But, it doesn’t feel like that.

“You’re sharp. As you guessed, I thought that showing you this place might ease some of your misunderstandings.”

“Misunderstandings…”

I then glanced around the basement.

Corpses piled up like mountains, just as the word suggests.

It’s definitely suspicious.

It’s like the numbers don’t add up? Even if they killed all the Silver Lion Clan explorers, there’s no way there would be this many.

“So, who are these people?”

“I don’t know.”

“…What?”

I looked at him with eyes that said, ‘What kind of trick is this now?’ and the village chief slowly opened his mouth.

“Actually, you’re not the first explorers to come to this island. There were others before you.”

“But why did you pretend we were the first?”

“Ah, I should start with that. I didn’t pretend you were the first.”

Is he trying to play some kind of word game?

I frowned and was about to retort when the village chief continued.

“You are the first *living* explorers I’ve seen.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s as I said. The corpses here were in this state when I first saw them. Their bodies were twisted, and they were dead with their arms and legs still connected. And no matter how much time passed, they didn’t decompose at all. It was as if time had stopped at that moment.”

“So, you’re saying you picked up all these corpses that fell during the rainy season?”

“No, that’s not it. The expression ‘picked up’ isn’t wrong, but… they didn’t fall from the sky during the rainy season. However, the cycle was very long.”

The village chief bent down and grabbed one of the corpses by the head, lifting it up. And looking at the half-rotten head, he continued in an emotionless voice.

“These corpses fell from the sky every ten to fifteen years, or thirty to forty years at the longest. And I’m guessing that it’s related to dimensional rifts.”

“Dimensional rifts?”

“Yes. The cycle is somewhat similar, and one of the journals I found on these corpses also had a story about dimensional rifts.”

With that, the village chief took out a notebook from his pocket and handed it to me. He explained that I only needed to read the last page.

Apparently, the other pages were too damaged to read anyway?

I opened the notebook and read the last page.

[…The whole world is collapsing and twisting. I think I understand why so many seniors called it a disaster. This is by no means a disaster.]

[…Mulk is dead. Ilya is dead. Sir Swalky is also dead, and so is Ms. Quiriane. And maybe… I won’t last long either.]

[…No, I must go back alive. I have a duty to pass on the words they left behind.]

Someone’s exploration journal ended with a resolution.

I can see why the village chief cited dimensional rifts as the cause. The last record in the notebook was about dimensional rifts, which was suspicious enough.

Of course, that’s that, and this is this.

“So, why did you gather these corpses in the basement? And why did you keep it a secret from us?”

“It’s going to be a long story.”

The village chief waved his hand, and the monster warriors around him quickly retreated.

They can’t even talk, so why send them away?

I had a question, but I didn’t dwell on it.

“These corpses were very meaningful to me. Through their existence, I could tell that time was passing outside, and I could hear about the outside world through the records that occasionally appeared.”

“And?”

“I started researching. I wondered if I could find a clue to leave this wretched place. But my expectations were always wrong. I tried everything I could, but these corpses were just ordinary corpses. They just didn’t age.”

After the last experiment to send these corpses to the labyrinth and let the outside world know of this place failed, the village chief stopped researching.

And he collected the corpses and stored them in the basement.

He was discouraged and gave up for now, but it was a lingering attachment in case they might be used again someday.

But……

“Then you guys came. You were the last hope for me, who had given up on everything.”

“So, you decided to hide the story about these corpses?”

“You were already wary because of our monstrous appearance, and I thought you would misunderstand if I showed you this. Even if I were to tell you someday, I was going to bring it up as carefully as possible.”

But in the end, Amelia secretly infiltrated this place and saw the truth, so he had no choice but to confess everything honestly.

To summarize, that’s the story……

“Does that answer your question?”

“I don’t know.”

It’s not a story that’s completely unbelievable.

But I can’t deny that there’s something fishy about it.

The fact that he wasn’t surprised when I talked about the outside world.

The fact that he knew time was passing, and so on.

If this story is true, a lot of the questions I had would be explained, but……

‘It feels like he’s just making things up to fit the situation.’

When I think about it, it was like that in every world.

The best way to hide the truth is to tell only a few parts of the truth.

And the biggest question hasn’t been resolved in the first place.

“So, you’re saying you have nothing to do with the disappearance of the Silver Lion Clan?”

“That’s right. Why would I have any reason to harm them in the first place?”

Sigh… What should I do now?

If he had just hit me in the back of the head, I would have just smacked him back and it would have been over.

The situation has become a bit complicated.

‘Should I just believe this, or not?’

I hesitated for a moment, but the answer came quickly.

‘There’s no way I can believe it.’

There’s no one in this world you can trust except your comrades.

Okay, so……

‘Okay, conclusion done.’

The things I have to do from now on are also clear.

“Since we have things we’ve hidden, we won’t hold you responsible for your comrade breaking our village’s laws, or for your ‘mistake’ that resulted from it. How about that?”

To the village chief’s words of trying to smooth things over, I replied with a hearty laugh.

No, to be exact—.

“That’s a relief. I’m glad the misunderstanding is resolved.”

“Yes, I’m glad you’ve resolved your misunderstanding too… Huh?”

I smiled and brought down the hammer.

Thwack-!

The strong sensation from the hammer hitting his forehead.

Soon, thick blood flowed from the wound.

In that state, the village chief showed emotion for the first time.

“………Why?”

An emotion that was too calm to be anger, and too lively to be sadness.

Looking at his fishy eyes full of questions, I answered.

There were many suspicious parts in the story.

I felt like he was stalling for time.

I had a gut feeling that he would give me time and then hit me hard in the back of the head later.

There was no need to present even such illogical reasons.

Just one sentence was enough.

“Your eyes are annoying.”

“…………?”

“So, I hit you. Is there a problem with that?”

A barbarian doesn’t need any other reason.

***

Is the village chief an enemy or an ally?

If he’s an enemy, what kind of scheme is he hiding?

What is the truth and what is a lie?

Such worries are no longer meaningful.

With one swing of the hammer, the complicated story became much clearer.

The village chief and I have become an irreversible relationship.

So, I’ll kill him here.

If I fail to kill him……

‘I’ll escape this village with my comrades.’

A situation that is too clean and clear.

However, the village chief still seemed unable to understand and asked me.

“There was no reason for you to use such an extreme method.”

“Oh! Really?”

“You care about your comrades terribly. But to put them in danger like this, it’s not like you at all.”

I don’t know how much he’s seen of me to say such things, but it wasn’t a story worth listening to carefully.

So, at this point……

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

I let out a battle cry and swung the hammer down again in a surprise attack.

Clang-!

Unfortunately, the village chief didn’t panic and drew his sword to block the hammer. But I wonder if the message that he didn’t want any more conversation was clearly conveyed.

The village chief muttered in a cold voice.

“Wrong choices have consequences.”

Seriously, it’s not cool at all when a fish head says those things.

Is he a patient who needs mirror therapy this time?

I don’t know, but I stuck out my snout like a fish and followed suit.

“Wong choises have conshequencesh.”

For some reason, the reaction came after a slight pause.

“…You were a madman.”

Well, even if you praise me here, I have no intention of letting you off the hook.

Clench-

I grabbed the hammer with both hands and put more strength into it, and the village chief’s sword began to be pushed back.

‘Seeing that he’s being pushed back in a two-handed situation, his strength is lower than mine.’

But did he make a similar judgment?

The village chief also ended the power struggle and tilted his sword, smoothly deflecting the hammer to the side.

Clang-!

The hammer, maintaining its mass, slammed into the floor.

At the same time, the village chief’s sword emitted a fierce light.

Whoosh-!

The same thing that sent Hipramant flying in one blow.

It looks similar to aura, but……

‘How many skills like this are there in the labyrinth?’

Because of that, I haven’t figured out what that skill is yet, but it wasn’t a big problem right now.

「The character has activated [Iron Fortress].」

「The effect of [Evolved Skin] is increased by 1.5 times.」

That’s because.

「You have 75% resistance to bladed weapons.」

After all, it’s just a bladed weapon, right?

Kwaaaang-!

The sword that pierced through Hipramant’s head like tofu was blocked by the shield and bounced off.

The condition of the shield is……

‘I wonder if there’s a slight scratch on it?’

Yeah, they say there’s no enemy as scary as imagination.

After experiencing it myself, it’s more manageable than I thought.

Well, it’s not like there aren’t any problems.

Whoosh-!

His agility is much higher than mine, and all of his attacks except for the first one are missing.

「The character has activated [Eye of the Storm].」

Even in a situation where I used [Eye of the Storm], which is especially effective in a narrow area, Tahal is only at 30%.

Thwack-!

And even if he hits me, he doesn’t do much damage.

‘His resistance seems low… but his regeneration is quite good.’

The wound from the first blow, which was the biggest, has already healed completely.

I quickly reconsidered my judgment.

‘It’s impossible to kill him 1 on 1 here.’

I give up on killing the village chief alone.

Therefore, this is what I have to do next.

“Village chief, do you know about the two ways to make people angry?”

First, I distract him with a random question.

“……?”

Just as he questions what I said.

Clang-!

I take out a Molotov cocktail from my subspace bag and throw it on the pile of corpses, breaking it.

And……

Whoosh-

With the flames blazing behind me.

Tap.

I dash up the stairs with all my might.

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

The stairs were quite soundproof, so there were no monster warriors, and I broke the ceiling so that the village chief couldn’t easily follow me.

Thud, thud thud-!

Perhaps because I didn’t have much talent in architecture, the basement began to collapse like dominoes as soon as I broke it a little.

Crash-!

I climbed the stairs, just taking the falling rocks on my head and shoulders.

And after about 30 seconds.

Clang-!

I was finally able to break through the floor door and get outside. In the living room on the first floor, my comrades and the monster warriors were facing each other, waiting for me……

“Something must have happened! We should go down too—.”

[We need to check if the village chief is safe—.]

The two groups stare blankly with their mouths open after discovering me.

Only Bersil, who was the only one who kept his senses, spoke with his mouth open.

“Uh… Yandel? What’s going on—.”

Seriously, can’t you tell by looking?

I had destroyed everything, but it was clear that the village chief would be up soon, so there was no time to explain.

Okay, so……

So that even a three-year-old can immediately understand the situation clearly.

Crack-!

I smashed the head of the closest monster warrior with my hammer and shouted.

“We’re escaping this village now!”