Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 611

Mysteries (5)

The river flowed east from the temple.

Beyond that river, a group of humans had been discovered.

Although everyone assumed they were likely humanoid ‘monsters,’ they were still something.

‘We tried to make contact, but they quickly disappeared, so we failed,’ one of the scouts reported.

‘I see…’

Even though there wasn’t much information, the fact that something had been discovered was a positive sign.

There had been almost no progress in the exploration for the past two weeks.

‘Commander, may I ask for your opinion on how we should proceed?’

‘Opinion, my foot.’

I chuckled and said to the vice-commander,

‘I was planning to explore beyond the river anyway, so this works out well. Prepare for an expedition.’

‘An expedition, you say…’

‘The main force will stay here. Having too many people would be cumbersome.’

I decided that crossing the river with the main force could wait until we had confirmed what was on the other side.

‘Oh, and I’m coming this time, so don’t even think about stopping me.’

‘Yes… Then, I will prepare the team with the members you mentioned.’

The scout team, known for their speed and keen senses, were all included, along with mages, priests, and combat personnel, forming a special unit of 36 members.

For the record, Einarr also filled a combat role.

‘It might be better to leave Pnelin behind…’

Scout Captain Amelia seemed wary of Einarr, but I couldn’t help it.

He was helpful just by being there.

Since we didn’t know what kind of new monsters might appear, we needed to increase the essence drop rate with the ‘Beginner’s Luck’.

‘Vice-Commander.’

‘Yes. I will take good care of the main force, so you don’t have to worry.’

‘Then, I’ll trust you and be on my way.’

It wasn’t just a polite remark; I genuinely trusted him.

The vice-commander would handle things well without causing any trouble while I was gone.

‘Scout Captain, pick up the pace.’

As soon as we set out, we moved at a rapid pace, as if we were speedrunning.

It was already confirmed that there was nothing particularly dangerous in this area, and…

If we didn’t do this, it would take forever just to reach the river mouth.

‘Halt! We’ll camp here for the night and set off again tomorrow morning!’

We spent the whole day moving, and when night fell, we set up camp and rested together.

‘You’ve worked hard today as well, Baron!’

‘Hey! It’s Commander, not Baron! Don’t you know you smile so brightly every time you call me that?’

‘Oops, Commander! Then, I’m tired, so I’ll go rest first!’

As long as the journey had been, everyone’s faces were familiar now, but they still felt a bit strange.

The only members of the Anabada Clan participating in this expedition were Misha, Amelia, and Einarr.

‘Bjorn, I have something to ask… Is it okay?’

While I was patrolling the campsite, the secretary handed me a late-night snack and cautiously spoke.

‘Ask away.’

‘Why did you leave that child behind?’

‘Are you talking about Erwen?’

‘Yes.’

Secretary Misha nodded and continued in a small voice.

‘It doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to leave her behind, considering her abilities and everything. So, it felt a bit strange.’

Well, she wasn’t wrong.

Erwen, with her keen senses suitable for exploration and top-tier combat power, was very suitable for this mission.

But…

‘She said she didn’t want to come.’

What could I do if she said she would rest with the main force?

I thought it was unlike Erwen, but I figured she needed rest since she had been through a lot lately.

‘Ah… Is that so?’

Misha was taken aback by my answer, as if she hadn’t expected it.

However, surprisingly, she didn’t ask any further questions and left.

‘I see… Then, see you tomorrow.’

‘Yeah, get some rest.’

After seeing Misha off, I ate my late-night snack alone and organized my thoughts.

Then, I heard a sound nearby.

When I checked, Amelia was talking to the scouts in a secluded area.

I couldn’t hear the details, but…

‘Yes, Captain. I will keep that in mind!’

The last words she shouted while saluting clearly reached my ears.

‘When did she get so disciplined?’

She was a very capable woman in many ways.

She seemed like she would be clumsy, but in the end, she never did anything half-heartedly, no matter what she was asked to do.

‘Is everything done? It sounded like you were scolding them.’

‘Scolding? I was just giving them a warning about their formation being disorganized during today’s movement.’

‘Oh, is that so?’

We had a social agreement that it was scolding, but there was no reason to argue, so I just let it go…

‘By the way, are you going to keep wearing that eyepatch now?’

I asked, watching her toss the eyepatch off with one hand, and Amelia flinched as she replied.

‘…Only during exploration.’

‘Really? Wouldn’t it be better to wear it all the time to get used to it?’

The [One-Eyed] effect, which increases dynamic visual acuity, didn’t consume any resources, so there was no need to take it on and off.

No, rather, it was more beneficial to keep it activated at all times to reduce sensory errors.

‘…’

‘It seems like you only wear it during battles and live without it normally. Is there a reason for that?’

It was a question asked with 100% pure curiosity.

Amelia sighed deeply and trailed off with a bitter voice.

‘Wouldn’t it be strange? If a woman like me wears an eyepatch…’

It was an unexpected answer.

But on the other hand, it felt like something Amelia would say.

Looking at her, she was secretly embarrassed about many things. She seemed blunt, but she was quite conscious of how people saw her.

Amelia quickly changed the subject.

‘…But why didn’t you bring that child?’

‘Ah, are you talking about Erwen?’

Amelia tilted her head at my words.

‘No, I’m talking about that child. That… cute one…’

Ah, she was talking about Hamsik.

***

After about three days of travel, we arrived at the river mouth.

However, after arriving, I wondered if it was right to call this a river.

‘It’s really black, just like I heard…’

It was like looking at the Taean Sea, which was covered in spilled oil [a reference to a major oil spill in South Korea].

It was obvious that we shouldn’t drink it, and we had to be careful not to touch it.

‘The width is about the size of the Han River [a major river in South Korea]…’

In fact, it had been quite a while since this river was discovered.

The reason why we hadn’t explored deep into the river yet was simple.

It was because we wanted to investigate the river itself first before expanding the exploration area…

‘They said the depth is incredibly deep.’

Because the depth was excessively deep compared to its width, it took a long time to confirm that there was nothing below the river.

They had also investigated the black river water.

‘It’s said that it’s not dangerous to touch, but be careful not to touch it just in case.’

We carefully launched the small boats we had prepared into the river.

Originally, the boats wouldn’t float and would sink, but thanks to some measures taken by the mages, they floated perfectly well.

And how much time had passed?

‘Thankfully, nothing happened.’

No accidents occurred while crossing the river.

However, the problem was after crossing the river.

Thump-!

As soon as we set foot on the ground after crossing the river, a heavy vibration spread from the bushes.

The sound of a ‘large monster’s’ footsteps, which any high-level explorer would recognize immediately.

‘Prepare for battle.’

We secured a retreat route so we could return by boat if necessary and got into battle formation.

Thump-!

The unique footsteps grew louder, and finally, the creature revealed itself from the bushes.

Thump-!

A physique slightly larger than an ogre.

Unlike typical crustacean monsters, it had smooth, iron-clad skin and hoses around its neck.

And…

Flash-!

Red eyes that reminded me of infrared light.

‘…It’s a machine giant.’

‘It’s a 3rd-grade monster that appears in the Pantelion ruins.’

Fortunately, it wasn’t a new type of monster.

Well, it was such a rare monster that I had only caught it for the first time on the Library Island.

‘It wouldn’t be too difficult if it’s just one…’

Still, I decided to be careful just in case.

The one that appeared here might have other unique abilities.

Or maybe other enemies might appear.

‘Expand your vision and be vigilant of your surroundings!’

Therefore, rather than pouring all our strength into the battle, we continued the fight while preparing for any possible situation.

It was a ‘machine giant’ that belonged to the upper ranks of the 3rd grade, but it wasn’t particularly difficult. I had also leveled up a lot since coming to the first basement floor.

‘Behel—raaaaaaaaaa!!’

The Aegis Barrier. And the anti-magic power, which was its biggest weakness, was also supplemented by consuming the Bellarios essence.

「The machine giant has cast [Magic Ray].」

「The machine giant has cast [Request Support].」

「The machine giant has cast [Reactor]…」

No matter what it did, I blocked it without any problem and held it in place, while the scouts guarded the surroundings and protected the dealers.

Thanks to this, the dealers were able to safely unleash their full power, and the battle ended with us gradually piling on damage.

「You have defeated the machine giant.」

The machine giant’s body, which was mangled and sparking, disappeared into light.

And…

‘It’s an essence…!’

An essence had dropped.

Well, it didn’t drop when I caught it with Beginner’s Luck on last time.

It was a precious 3rd-grade essence, but I wasn’t as emotionally moved as I thought I would be.

How many 3rd-grade essences had I obtained just on the first basement floor?

I didn’t even know what season this was anymore.

I didn’t know for sure, but if this amount was released, the price of 3rd-grade essences would drop quite a bit.

The fact that 3rd-grade essences were so expensive was actually all due to the aftermath of the last dimensional collapse.

‘Store the essence in a test tube.’

As soon as I gave the order, Raven, one of the members of this expedition, approached and collected the essence.

I wasn’t as excited as when I got the Aegis Barrier, but I was still a little amazed.

‘I’m getting something that’s hard to get even if I try hard, just like this.’

The machine giant essence was a pretty good essence.

Putting aside the basic stats and active skills, the value of the passive skill [Mechanization] was quite good.

With this, it was possible to recover MP by consuming magic stones. The recovery efficiency was terrible, so money was consumed like water, but…

‘Still, the high point was amazing.’

If you had enough money, your MP would be almost infinite.

‘By the way, the human group isn’t visible?’

‘We need to search the surroundings properly.’

After the battle, we began to create a map and expand our territory.

However, finding the human group that the survey team had witnessed that day was not easy.

They definitely hadn’t seen it wrong.

‘And after we caught the machine giant, the monsters haven’t been seen either…’

Please, anything is fine, just show up—.

‘Yandel, come here! The scouts have found footprints!’

‘What?’

Upon hearing Raven’s words, I immediately headed to the outer edge of the formation where the scouts were.

‘Ah, you’ve arrived.’

Amelia, who had been looking at the ground with her back bent, looked up at me.

‘So, where are the footprints?’

‘Here.’

When I checked, there were clear footprints of a very ordinary person on the ground.

‘It’s not a group, it’s just one person.’

‘Where are they going?’

‘We’ll find out if we follow them. Judging by the traces, they haven’t been there for long.’

‘Then let’s follow them quickly.’

Amelia took the lead and began to follow the footprints, and we followed behind, keeping an eye on our surroundings.

And…

‘They’ve stopped.’

The footprints, which had continued for hundreds of meters, stopped in the middle of an open space.

‘Did they notice we were following them and erase their tracks?’

Amelia didn’t answer my question.

She just looked around with a focused gaze, and then muttered with a cold look.

‘…It was a decoy.’

Oh, for crying out loud.

‘Are we surrounded?’

‘Probably, with a high probability.’

Even Amelia, who was an expert in this area, wasn’t sure if she was confused.

However, the answer to the mystery was soon revealed.

‘It really was a trap.’

‘…Prepare for battle!!’

As soon as we got into formation, people-shaped figures appeared naked from the forest.

I took a long breath when I saw them.

‘They said they were humans.’

They were not human.

Some of them had pointed ears, some were short and stocky, and others had animal ears on their heads.