Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 559

After the search of Hamsik’s house was over, quite a bit of time was left hanging.

This was because, contrary to expectations, there wasn’t much to investigate beyond the stone door…

“These items came from the first place we discovered, so there’s no way they’re all ordinary. Commander, please trust us. Through research, we will definitely uncover everything hidden.”

“…We’ll be leaving this library tomorrow, so be sure to find a clue before then.”

“Yes… !”

While others rested, all the mages belonging to the expedition gathered and examined, and re-examined, the items looted from Hamsik’s house.

Well, it’s not like they’ll find anything useful by doing that.

‘Even if something does come up, I can just casually ask Raven.’

Among the mages who quickly set up a makeshift laboratory within the library, Raven, with the eyes of a scholar, is seen experimenting with various things.

He looks quite pleased.

‘Is that really so good…?’

It’s a taste I can’t understand as a Barbarian warrior, but as a friend, I should respect it. Besides, it’s good to have at least one person like that around.

‘Bersil, being a player, doesn’t seem to have much interest in academics itself.’

Anyway, since I was given free time until the next day, I just rested without any worries.

And how much time had passed?

“The reorganization of the squads is complete. All troops, please check your new affiliations through the posted notices!”

The personnel redistribution of the expedition was completed.

Seven people died during the library raid, and 27 more died this time, so it was necessary to rebalance each squad…

“Our Squad 4 hasn’t changed.”

Our squad, which had a small number from the start, didn’t have any changes in affiliation, and there were only slight changes in Squads 1, 2, and 3.

Squad 1, 49 people.

Squad 2, 49 people.

Squad 3, 48 people.

What used to be 60 people per squad had become like this.

Currently, we are a total of 37 people, so now there’s only a difference of about ten people.

“There will be a meeting! All squad leaders and commanders must attend!”

After the personnel redistribution was over, another meeting was held.

Ha, they really do this morning and evening.

I was killing time and entered the barracks last, and the meeting started right away.

“With your hard work and loyalty, our expedition was able to successfully complete the library raid. Nia Lapdonia.”

“Nia Lapdonia!”

Jerome, for some reason, is directly presiding over the meeting instead of leaving it to the vice-commander.

“The mages are working hard on their research, but no clues about escape have been found yet. Therefore, this matter will be discussed again after all the research is completed.”

“Then, today…”

“The reason I’ve called you all today is to discuss the plans for the future.”

That’s how today’s meeting agenda came up.

Now that the library raid is over, where should we head next?

Naturally, the eyes of each leader turned to me.

Since I’ve been here the longest and I’m the one who provided the map, they thought my opinion would be important.

‘…Where should we go?’

There are three candidate locations that come to mind.

1. Giant Island.

Here, it’s possible to farm Hipramant’s essence, and a boss monster called the Colossal Giant appears.

Also, there’s a portal stele [a stone pillar that acts as a teleportation device] connected to the second basement floor.

2. Rainbow Island.

The island in the direction where the rainbow was observed at the end of the rainy season.

Everything about the island is unknown, but my gamer’s intuition is telling me.

This island is the key to the first basement floor.

3. Village Chief Island.

There’s no need to say more.

If my guess is correct, there’s a portal stele leading to the first floor here, and even if not, the village chief is hiding a huge secret.

If I can catch him and find out what it is, it will be a great help for the journey ahead.

‘Hmm, what should I do?’

I’ve confirmed the expedition’s combat power while raiding the library.

To be honest, it’s not like there aren’t any shortcomings, but it’s definitely a formidable force.

Also, considering that this group of knights, mages, and priests is more specialized in PvP [Player versus Player combat] than monster hunting…

In fact, I judged that they could burn down the village chief’s village in one night.

‘But strangely, something feels uneasy…’

I decided to follow my intuition this time as well.

So, I unfolded the map I got from Hamsik’s house a while ago and pointed to one place.

“…I think this place would be a good next exploration destination.”

It was the location of the one remaining unvisited island, excluding Rainbow Island.

“First, after confirming what kind of place this island is. If there’s nothing special, or if it seems like it will take a long time to raid, how about heading straight to Rainbow Island?”

To summarize, reveal the map and then go straight to Rainbow Island.

After finishing the Rainbow Island raid, we would decide on the next destination based on what we obtained there.

However…

“I see. I understand the Baron’s opinion.”

Jerome just nodded as if he had listened well, but didn’t give any definite answer.

“What are you all doing? I didn’t call you all here just to hear the Baron’s opinion. Feel free to share your thoughts, whatever they may be.”

At Jerome’s words, the other leaders also shared their thoughts, and Jerome listened intently to each of those opinions.

And how much time had passed?

Finally, the destination was decided through his mouth.

“Tomorrow morning, we will head to this island where the person called the village chief is.”

I wondered why he even asked for my opinion if he was going to do this, but I couldn’t just blame him. He did follow my opinion when we came to the library island, after all.

‘Hah, it seems like the fact that we didn’t get anything from the library had a big impact.’

We came here following my judgment, but as a result, we only lost troops and gained nothing.

That’s why Jerome made the decision.

First, capture the village chief and get information, then move efficiently again.

‘Is this how it ends up…’

Aside from the uneasiness, I didn’t have any good reason to object, so I followed his decision without saying anything.

Ah, of course, I had this question.

It was something I wanted to ask since earlier.

“…Tomorrow? It’s the rainy season outside right now, where are we going?”

It’s not even like the rainy season is ending.

It’s only the second day, so dangerous monsters should be falling like crazy.

However, Jerome dismissed my concerns.

“Baron Yandel, you said you had experience moving during the rainy season. There’s no reason why we can’t do it.”

“Uh… but we were moving when the rainy season was almost over…”

“The overall investigation of this floor is also one of the expedition’s missions. So, shouldn’t we experience it properly at least once? That rainy season, that is.”

“……”

I feel it every time, but they were more hardcore than I imagined.

***

In the dead of night, when everyone except the mages who were researching had fallen asleep and only the night watchmen were quietly patrolling, guarding against any possible incidents.

I was currently lying blankly in my blanket.

I took a nap right after the meeting, so I couldn’t fall asleep…

“……”

It didn’t seem like I would fall asleep even if I forced myself to close my eyes, so I just spent time organizing my thoughts.

First 1st-grade monster kill.

Dozens of casualties.

The disappearance of Hamsik and the golden book.

The next destination decided at the meeting.

There were so many things that happened in just one day, and there were many things to think about accordingly.

‘What Jerome Saintred said was also meaningful.’

Today, the commander of the expedition said.

No matter how many people die, if they finish the exploration here and return me alive, the mission is a success.

Thanks to that, the anxiety that something similar to what happened in Ice Rock might unfold has lessened a bit.

‘If they were planning to kill me, it would have been more beneficial for them if there were more casualties in our Squad 4.’

But Jerome’s actions were the opposite.

Actions that he would never have done if he was plotting something behind the scenes.

That’s why I have more questions.

‘Why is the royal family… trying to rescue me? Wouldn’t it be better for them if I, who is like a thorn in their side, died here?’

…I don’t know.

The more I think about it, the more I seem to fall into contradictions.

So, to clear my head, I got out of my blanket and moved my position.

“Baron? Where are you going?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I’m just going to stretch my body for a bit.”

“Ah, I see. Understood.”

I told the night watchman the situation and actually walked around the edge of the vast library as if taking a stroll.

I was hoping that I might get lucky and meet Hamsik.

Actually, after about 10 minutes, I caught a familiar sound from somewhere.

[Beep… !]

“…Hamsik?”

[…This way! This way! Come up this way… !]

After quickly looking around to see if there were any eyes observing me, I quietly went up the stairs to the second-floor bookshelf.

Hamsik was hiding in an empty space where a book was missing.

[Why did you come so late… !]

“Ah, I was waiting until nightfall.”

[Is your body… is your body okay? I saw you were badly hurt earlier…]

Uh… I didn’t expect him to ask this first thing.

“…I’m all healed, so don’t worry.”

[How can I not worry…! Finally, someone who is qualified has appeared… !]

I couldn’t help but tilt my head at Hamsik’s words.

“If you’re talking about qualification… are you talking about that golden book?”

Before, Hamsik told me.

He said he could never give the golden book away. It was something he had to give to someone who was qualified someday.

[Yes…! From the moment you defeated Kashan, you became qualified!]

…So, the raid was the condition for qualification.

As a user, I felt a sense of exhilaration that my prediction was correct, but a question arose.

“Wait a minute, then is everyone here qualified?”

[Huh? No way! You’re the only one who’s qualified!]

“Hmm, is that so?”

Then what’s the condition?

Is it the first place in combat contribution? If so, it makes sense that I became qualified.

Ah, that’s not the important thing…

“So? I’m qualified, so what happens now?”

When I asked, showing my expectations for the reward, Hamsik said firmly.

[Here, take it! It’s yours now, this book.]

The golden book that had a story that ended weakly.

I wondered if I could see the rest of the story after I became qualified, so I quickly opened it.

However…

“It’s the same as what I saw before.”

[Is it?]

“It’s not ‘is it’… if I’m qualified, you should tell me how to use this book now. Are you just going to give me the book and that’s it?”

[Uh… is there something else?]

“Haa…”

Looking at that expression, it seems like he really doesn’t know how to use this book at all.

Actually, it wasn’t unfamiliar.

[Dungeon & Stone] was originally an unfriendly game.

Even if they threw something at you, they never told you properly, and because of that, users had to find out how to use it by doing all sorts of experiments themselves.

‘…It seems like something might happen if I put this book back on the altar.’

There are a few ways to use it that come to mind, but I couldn’t test them right away. If something came out, the reward would go straight to the royal family.

In the end, there was only one option I could choose.

“Anyway, I’ll gratefully accept this.”

I carefully hid the golden book that Hamsik gave me in my subspace.

“So, is there nothing else besides this?”

[Huh?]

“Like, giving me a blessing, or giving me exclusive equipment, there are many things, right?”

[You already took everything. My fountain pen, and the books I treasured… !]

Ah, that’s right.

“……”

[……]

A moment of awkward silence flowed between Hamsik and me, and I quickly changed the subject.

“That’s right. I don’t know if you know, but we’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

[Leaving… ?]

“We have things to do. I don’t know when it will be, but we’ll come back again, so don’t be too lonely.”

[Who’s going to be lonely! What a misunderstanding… I’m rather happy. Hmph! Now I can finally rest properly at home!]

I swallowed hard at Hamsik’s words.

Looking at him saying that, it seems like he doesn’t know at all what happened to his house…

“……”

[…Why did you suddenly become silent?]

“Ah, it’s nothing. I’m going to go now. I’m hungry… !”

I made a natural excuse and quickly returned to the campsite and lay down.

And the next morning.

When the entire expedition was packing up the campsite and preparing to leave the library.

“Um… Baron…?”

The Goblin Paladin, Sven Parav, came with shocking news early in the morning.

“Last night… she showed me the future again.”

“What scene was it?”

“That’s…”

Parav hesitated for a long time, then closed his eyes tightly and explained the scene he saw in his dream last night.

“Surrounded by the expedition… it was a scene of the Baron being brutally executed…”

The goddess has given me a death sentence.