Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 612

Pointed ears.

Short, stubby legs. Animal ears and scaly skin….

The creatures that surrounded us had appearances reminiscent of the various races of Lapdonia.

But….

‘What on earth are these things?’

‘Well, they must be… monsters?’

They were distinctly different from the various races.

It was closer to the uncanny valley, one might say?

They resembled the various races, but also possessed unsettlingly alien differences.

‘These… are the most gruesome monsters I’ve ever seen.’

One with pointed ears had horns sprouting from its forehead.

There was one with short legs but a normal-proportioned upper body.

Another had animal ears but was covered in scales, possessing traits of the Dragonkin [a race with dragon-like features] at the same time.

Some had an extra arm and leg in strange places, while others had perfectly normal bodies but disproportionately large heads.

Also, all of them had such severe facial asymmetry that you could tell they weren’t normal at a glance….

‘If a god were to create life with clay, and then put monsters in a container and shake it vigorously, I imagine they’d look like this.’

That muttered comment was spot on.

It was as if everything about their creation was determined by a random dice roll.

And to point out a few more characteristics.

[Kyahhhhh-!]

They seemed to have the intelligence to lure enemies, but no language system.

Also….

‘Commence battle!’

‘Everyone, hold your positions! We need to gather information about the enemy first… Huh?’

Contrary to our caution, they were incredibly weak.

Thwack-! Crunch-!

The ones that fell like autumn leaves, their heads crushed by the hammer I swung to test them.

‘…What is this?’

They had evaded the senses of Amelia and the entire scouting party to surround us, so I expected them to be quite formidable.

‘…These guys are nothing special!’

‘Kill…!’

Each member of the squad realized that the enemies were no match for them and began to engage more aggressively.

I, on the other hand, was trying to restrain them, telling them not to let their guard down….

Crunch-! Slash! Kwaaaang-!

Until everything around us was cleared, no anomalies occurred.

‘Why are they so weak…?’

Their physical abilities were more developed than those of ordinary humans, but that was ultimately all they had.

They didn’t summon spirits like the Elves, use Number items like the Dwarves, or wield the powers of contracted spirit beasts.

They also didn’t manipulate the power of essence [a form of magical energy].

However, there was one peculiar aspect.

‘Raven, did you cast a distortion spell?’

‘No, I didn’t.’

‘But the corpses remain….’

Dozens of monsters lay scattered in the open space, their heads, arms, and legs crushed.

‘…Are they alive?’

‘Well… they’re not breathing. Their heartbeats have stopped too.’

I cautiously approached and examined them, but they didn’t seem to be alive, only their corpses hadn’t disappeared.

‘Check them out.’

After putting the remaining troops on alert, I had the mages investigate the corpses.

Well, to do a proper study, we’d have to cast preservation magic on the corpses and return to the main camp….

‘Geez, it’s like all the ones that look like our Barbarian are missing.’

There was one fact that could be easily determined even with a quick examination.

Besides their appearance, which looked like they had been run over by an 8-ton truck, these guys had one more thing in common.

‘Their hearts.’

Hearts.

‘They’re very similar to the Barbarian’s heart.’

These guys had the hearts of warriors.

***

My thoughts grew complicated.

That’s because I had learned a secret through my conversation with the vampire uncle.

[Duke… what race do I look like to you?]

[……Aren’t you obviously human?]

In the era the Duke lived in, ‘various races’ did not exist.

Clearly, the history of Lapdonia states that ‘various races’ lived on this land even before the witch’s curse covered the world.

How could this be?

Among the many possibilities I had considered at the time, the most plausible was this.

‘A similar but different world.’

Just like how there are parallel world theories on Earth, I thought maybe this was such a case.

It was a world where you could cross into a labyrinth through a dimensional gate and have mysterious adventures.

I thought it wasn’t entirely impossible.

However, now things were a bit different.

[The study of alchemy, you know. It was actually a study that started to create ‘humans’ in the old days.]

Alchemy.

[Oh, didn’t you know? Ancient records can be sold to the royal family for a high price.]

Despite actively collecting records, an unusually large portion of ancient history was lost.

[Humans can handle any power. Even aura, divine power, magic, and spiritism.]

The characteristic of humans to possess the potential of all races.

And….

[It was different from magic or essence. It was as if there was power in his voice. It felt like it was imprinted in my blood and soul from birth. That he was my king, my master.]

Even the veiled special ability of the king.

[Ah, come to think of it, there was also an incident where the old man of the magic tower realized his identity only after we knelt, and then followed suit.]

Numerous pieces of information gathered during the journey combined to point to one possibility.

Perhaps.

Just maybe, by some chance.

The five races other than humans might have been created.

By someone’s need.

No, to be precise….

‘It must be the royal family. It can’t be anyone else.’

Suddenly, I felt like a conspiracy theorist, but if you think about it in reverse, it makes some sense.

In a way, the various races are the slaves of humans.

Slaves who enter the labyrinth with their superior physical abilities and diligently mine magic stones.

‘The various races even have high taxes.’

Of course, there is a historical background to why the taxes on the various races have increased.

However, now even that history is questionable.

Not that I doubt that history exists….

‘Was there no mastermind behind that history?’

Secretly pushing the various races from behind, guiding them to make that happen.

Looking at it, it wouldn’t have been too difficult for the royal family, which had numerous agents—.

‘…What are you thinking about so suddenly?’

‘I was wondering what flavor of jerky to eat later.’

I vaguely brushed off Raven’s question.

I was sure of it, but it was still just a possibility….

And if this was true, I shouldn’t say any more.

It was too heavy a secret to reveal.

‘Ahem, anyway, put preservation magic on all the remaining corpses and keep them safe. We’ll have to go back to the main camp and study them properly later.’

‘Are you planning to go back right away?’

‘Of course not. The exploration will continue as planned. We haven’t found out anything properly about this place yet.’

After the battle ended and the investigation was roughly finished, I led the team to resume the surrounding exploration.

One day, two days, three days.

We extensively searched to create a map and encountered numerous monsters.

We encountered not only the numerous mechanical monsters that appeared in the Pantelion ruins, but also the mechanical giants several more times.

Among them were also ‘Doppelrs’.

For reference, ‘Doppelr’ was the name Raven gave to the monsters that resembled the various races….

The origin was an ancient word, and the meaning was simple.

‘Another being.’

Raven’s unique, boastful naming sense was evident, but if you look at the meaning, it was quite a fitting name—.

‘Yandel.’

Oh, jeez, you scared me.

‘If you’re here, make some noise. Did you finish your search and come back?’

Amelia nodded at my question and immediately got to the point.

‘During the search, we found a peculiar artificial structure leading somewhere. It would be good to go and check it out together when it gets light.’

‘Artificial structure?’

I asked Amelia for more details, and after hearing everything, I had a strong feeling that we had finally achieved something.

However, since everyone was exhausted, we decided to rest sufficiently and check it out in the morning, as Amelia advised.

‘It’s here.’

The next day, the place Amelia led us to was an ordinary jungle. No matter how much I looked around, it was no different from any other area we had explored so far.

But….

‘…I’ll have to pay more attention to the ground from now on.’

‘We were lucky to find this too.’

When we cleared away the knee-high bushes, something hidden underneath revealed itself.

A hatch that looked like a manhole cover installed on the bare ground.

It even had a handle on top, as if it was designed to be opened by turning it.

‘We didn’t touch it after discovering it, in case there were traps installed.’

‘Good call.’

I asked the mages to investigate, and soon a report came back that there didn’t seem to be anything particularly dangerous.

Whew, so is it really just a matter of opening it?

Click. Click, squeak, thud-!

When I turned the handle, I heard the sound of the lock releasing at a certain point, and the hatch opened.

It was a cylindrical structure, and there was a ladder attached to one side of the wall to go down.

‘The depth is….’

The depth, as confirmed by the light orb magic, was about 20 meters.

However, the angle made it impossible to see what was below from above.

‘Then I’ll….’

‘No way. I’ll go down.’

Before I could say anything, Amelia cut me off and stepped forward.

She looked like she wouldn’t back down no matter what I said.

We stared at each other, having a silent battle of wills.

‘What are you two worrying about?’

Raven chuckled and stepped between us.

‘I’ll check it out.’

‘What?’

‘Oh, with magic, of course.’

‘Ah….’

As Amelia and I stepped back with embarrassed faces, Raven floated a recording crystal ball in the air and sent it down. It was a much safer method than having a person go down directly.

However, there were limits to exploration with such tools.

‘When you go down, there’s another straight passage, and at the end, there’s an iron door blocking the way.’

As soon as it went down, it was blocked by an iron door, so there was nothing more to find out with this method.

Therefore….

‘…Don’t even think about going in first. I’m the leader of this exploration team.’

In the end, it was decided that Amelia would go in first.

‘Geez, when did you get so mad about me giving things weird names.’

Anyway, Amelia went down the ladder first, and then a mage went down.

And after a certain level of safety was secured, I went down….

‘….’

Even after canceling [Giantification], the interior was so narrow that the process of going down the ladder was quite uncomfortable.

Even if I hunched my shoulders, it was so tight that I could barely fit.

‘Barbarians have it rough.’

Building structures that discriminate against races exist in every era.

‘This way, Yandel.’

After struggling to get down, Amelia, who was in the passage, called out to me.

‘Unlike the top, there are no locks. And no matter how much I use aura, it doesn’t even scratch it, no matter what it’s made of.’

Hmm, if it doesn’t scratch with aura, it’s practically immune to physical damage….

‘What about magic?’

When I asked, the mage who entered second cautiously answered.

Was this guy the right-hand man of the investigation leader?

‘Besides the dimensional isolation phenomenon, a special magic flow structure is observed. However, the density is very low, so the possibility of it being an attack-type trap seems low. With this weak flow… it must be just enough to open and close the door.’

‘And?’

‘Strangely, the dimensional isolation phenomenon is not covering the door, but beyond the door.’

‘Hmm, so does that mean that the aura doesn’t work because of the isolation phenomenon?’

‘That’s what it looks like to me.’

‘A metal that doesn’t scratch with aura….’

Tap tap.

I knocked on the door as if I was knocking.

I didn’t know what was hidden inside, but the iron door alone felt valuable.

‘Investigation Vice-Commander.’

‘…Are you talking about me?’

‘Yes. Can’t we take this whole thing? It would be good to melt it down and make armor out of it.’

‘Uh… I think it’s worth a try. Putting aside making armor, it’s definitely a very precious mineral.’

Okay, I see.

I don’t know why they’re putting aside making armor, but it seems like the mage agrees with the idea of taking it—.

‘Huh?’

Then, suddenly, a faint vibration echoed from the door.

‘Yandel, step back!’

Amelia shouted, and I was so surprised that I stepped back without thinking.

But what happened next was surprisingly uneventful.

Click, click.

I just heard the sound of something turning inside the door. Then, with a thud, the round door opened smoothly.

[First record access qualification has been verified.]

[Entry is permitted.]

What is this?

‘Do you know why it suddenly opened?’

‘I don’t know. It definitely didn’t react when we touched it.’

‘I see….’

I was a bit dumbfounded, but there were two possibilities. Someone opened the door after hearing my knock.

Or….

‘A specific condition that I don’t know about was met.’

Personally, the latter possibility seemed more likely, but it wasn’t important.

While the mage was using a message stone to report the situation to the top, I slowly stepped through the iron door.

And….

‘Huh?’

A problem arose here.

When I suddenly turned around, I saw Amelia stuck to the door.

She had her palm flat against the air, as if she was doing a mime act.

Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.

‘What is it? Could it be that you can’t come in?’

‘How did you get in?’

Sensing the abnormality, I quickly went outside and asked, and after a few experiments, I was able to confirm one fact.

‘The door is open, but the dimensional isolation phenomenon is still in effect. I can’t understand it at all….’

The cause was unknown, but only I could enter beyond this door.

Therefore….

‘Then wait here. I’ll go take a quick look.’

‘What? Wait a sec—.’

Before Amelia’s nagging could start, I quickly went back inside the door.

Whoosh-!

The interior was dark, but it was better after activating the Barbarian Candle mode [a skill that allows the user to emit light].

‘It’s like I’ve entered a submarine….’

Everywhere I looked was covered with iron plates, and pipes and wires of unknown purpose and use were visible everywhere.

Clunk, clunk.

There were no forks in the road, so I just had to go straight, and after walking about 100 meters, another hole appeared where I could go down a ladder.

However, instead of going down blindly, I decided to open the iron door next to it and check it out first.

Clunk.

Fortunately, the door opened easily without any resistance.

I quickly glanced inside and then slowly closed and opened my eyes once.

‘Hoo….’

A passage that stretched out so long that I couldn’t see the end.

Test tubes filled with green liquid were lined up in rows.

Honestly, it didn’t feel real.

I didn’t know why the game genre suddenly changed to SF, but….

‘Doppelrs.’

The monsters that resembled the various races, which Raven had named, were crouching in the test tubes, glaring at me.