Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 615

A device that turns monsters into magic stones. What would happen if a human went into that device? I don’t have that data yet. But… Tap! The moment I saw Raven, I kicked off the ground and shot forward. The fact that the kidnapped Raven was standing on that rail was enough to prove, to some extent, that the device doesn’t just turn monsters into magic stones. Zzzzzzz- Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to pull Raven off the moving rail. There weren’t any restraints in the first place. I just had to grab Raven’s waist, lift him up, and bring him down… “Raven! Raven! Wake up!” No matter how much I grabbed his shoulders and shook him, he just stared blankly into the air and wouldn’t wake up. Thump, thump. Not stopping at shaking, I even slapped his cheeks with my thick hand—. “Ugh….” What, is it working? After confirming that he was groaning as if he was talking in his sleep, I slapped his cheek with more force. Slap, slap. “Ugh….” Thud! Thud! “S, stop….” Raven, who was now even uttering small, complete words, seemed to be getting better. Maybe the condition for waking up from that charm state is a certain amount of damage. With that thought in mind, I pushed even harder. “Raven! Raven! Wake up!” Thud! Thud! “S, stop….” Thud! Thwack! “S, stop… I said…!” “…You’re awake!” My efforts paid off, and the intelligence that Raven usually possessed slowly began to return to his pupils. “Are you okay? How’s your body? Can you move? Any strange symptoms? Where are the other comrades? Oh, do you want some water?” “…Water.” “Ah, here it is. I’ll tilt it for you, so drink slowly.” I brought the canteen to his mouth and fed him water, like giving a baby a bottle, and Raven finally came to his senses. “…Thank you. For saving me.” “No need to thank me. It’s only natural.” “My jaw is a bit stiff, but I’m wide awake.” “They say a beating is good medicine.” “It’s a bit bitter medicine, though.” Okay, if he’s joking like this, he seems to be completely fine… “So, what happened?” “…It seems like some kind of mind control. Not long after Yandel went inside, we all suddenly lost consciousness.” “So, you don’t remember anything?” “No. It’s not like that. It’s not like I completely lost consciousness….” Raven, who vaguely remembered the events as if he had dreamed them, slowly began to explain. “It felt like I was drunk and my body was being controlled by something else.” When I touched the strange stone and lost consciousness. Raven and his comrades, who had also lost consciousness, were just standing there blankly with the other members, swaying. Then, at some point, flying objects flew in from the sky, and they were carried across the river to the temple. “After that, it felt like we were constantly waiting for something. While we were gathered in one place, one by one, we were dragged somewhere. And it just so happened that it was my turn this time….” “One by one.” “…Yes?” “You said one by one was dragged away first…?” My heart sinks. However, Raven didn’t seem to know the reason why my expression had changed so drastically. “Hah… It’ll be faster to see it for yourself.” I then headed to where the rail that Raven was on was heading. That is, to the place where the device that turns monsters into magic stones was located. Flash! Light was emitted, and the monsters turned into fist-sized magic stones. “W, what is this…” Raven’s face turned pale as he realized that he would have passed through that place if I had been just a little late. Also, did he realize the reason for my hardened expression? “Could it be that all the people who were dragged away first…” Raven couldn’t finish his sentence, afraid that his words might become a reality. It was time for me to steel myself and check. “Raven, how many people… were dragged away?” “I don’t know exactly… but it’s well over ten.” “Who were they…?” Raven frowned as if trying to force his memory, and called out the names one by one. And at some point, he suddenly lost his words. Thump! My heart fluttered greatly at that action. My subconscious, which had experienced so much misfortune, had already noticed it. Why Raven had lost his words. “…Tell me. Who was it?” Raven’s small lips parted, and the ominous premonition came true. “It was Emily Raines….” Damn it. *** My heart is beating fast. Thump! My heart is supposed to be an organ that evenly supplies blood to the body, but for some reason, it feels like all the blood in my body is gathering in my head. “She was right before me….” In short, it’s already too late. However, I tried to stay calm and checked what I needed to check. Yes, it’s not certain yet that Amelia is in trouble. “Where are the remaining people…?” “I don’t know. I don’t remember everything… other than that it was a large space with a rectangular structure….” My judgment was that I had to rescue the remaining people first, but unfortunately, Raven didn’t know the way to get there. ‘In the end, I have to search the entire building…’ The problem was this rail. If the rail keeps running, there will be more victims while I’m searching. Yes, so… Crash! I slammed the hammer down on the rail. Crack, crackle, crack! The rail, which was shattered by the physical impact, made a creaking sound and then stopped working. And at the same time. Beep! Beep! Beep! A siren-like sound rang out, and drones headed this way. I wondered if they were going to stop treating me like an invisible barbarian and start attacking, but for some reason, the drones just passed me by and took their places in front of the damaged rail. “They seem to be… trying to repair it?” “….” “What are you going to do?” “I’ll leave it alone for now.” I had a feeling that destroying those drones would just be a waste of time. It felt like they would just fly in from somewhere else and try to fix it. ‘It would be better to find out exactly how long it takes to repair it.’ “Raven, follow me for a moment.” “Uh, where are you going?” “I need to find out what this place is first.” After that, I led Raven along the stopped rail for a long time. Soon, another rail that was working properly appeared, and that rail was moving boxes full of magic stones somewhere. “But… wouldn’t other people have come if we had just waited here instead of breaking the rail?” “…Well, that’s one way to do it.” “Ah… you didn’t think of that.” No matter how hard I try to stay calm, it’s not easy. Everyone has a weak spot. “Anyway, look around carefully. There might be a way to save the people who passed by first.” “Yes….” Following the rail that was carrying the boxes, we arrived at a point where the magic stone boxes were gathered. There were three unknown machines, and a hook that was often seen in claw machines was connected to the ceiling, putting the magic stones into the machines. Thump, roll. As the magic stone rolled into the input, something on the ceiling emitted light, and when the light faded, something was created beyond the transparent glass panel in the center. “….” It was a monster. It had the characteristics of a goblin, an orc, and a ghoul. A monster with such a terrible appearance that I had never seen in the labyrinth. “What… is that?…” “We’ll find out something if we follow it.” The monster created by the machine got on the rail that had started working again and moved somewhere, and we carefully followed behind it. And we completely understood the structure of this factory. Flash! The created monster got on the rail, went into the device, and turned back into magic stones. For some reason, there were three magic stones, not one. Flash! Also, the three divided magic stones went through the machine again and went through the process of being reborn as goblins, orcs, and ghouls… ‘What the hell is this?’ After completing all the procedures, the monsters were once again controlled by the drones, went up to the upper floor of the building, and were imprisoned. “Could it be… that this is constantly repeating?” “…It seems like it.” I’m more confused than when I didn’t know anything about this space. What is this space? What is the purpose of repeating this meaningless act? But I was a little relieved. “In this situation… everyone might be safe?” “…We have to hope so.” “Anyway, it seems like the repair is almost done.” When we went back down to the basement, the rail that had been severely damaged had been restored to its original state to some extent. So, I thought about breaking it again, but… “How about doing what I said? We don’t even know where the other people are trapped.” At Raven’s advice, I postponed breaking the rail. “I’ll stay here and rescue people. Yandel, you go around and look for them. Isn’t that more reasonable?” Certainly, considering the work ahead, this was safer. Even if I couldn’t find where they were trapped, I could rescue more comrades. Well, it’s not like I’m not worried. “You seem fine now, but something dangerous might happen if I’m not here.” “That’s true, but…” “I’ll stay with you. After waking up about ten more people, it’ll be okay even if I’m not here.” “Ah… that might be better.” After that conclusion, we sat down in front of the rail and waited for our comrades to appear. One hour, two hours, three hours… The endless waiting time continued, and we continued to exchange opinions. “The moment you held that stone, you also lost consciousness, right?” “Yeah. But when I woke up, the stone was nowhere to be found, and ten days had passed.” “There were no abnormalities in your body?” “Not yet.” Raven’s expression became serious after hearing what had happened to me, but he couldn’t give me any advice. “Do you know what that stone is?” “No. I don’t know either. But…” “But?” At my question, Raven paused for a moment and asked back. “Do you know about Homunculus?” “Of course. Isn’t it an 8th-grade monster?” For reference, the main habitat is the Witch’s Forest on the 3rd floor, and even if it’s not there, they sometimes pop up in various places, so I used to catch them often. However, Raven shook his head at my answer. “What I was trying to say was, do you know about the Homunculus in alchemy?” “I don’t know anything about that.” “The Homunculus in alchemy originally means an artificial life form… no, to be precise, it means an artificially created ‘human’.” “Certainly… the Homunculus I met in the Witch’s Forest had a human-like shape.” “If you’re just talking about the shape, yes. Every time they walk, their skin keeps falling off, so genetically, they’re closer to a slime than a human, right?” “Anyway, what are you trying to say?” “It’s nothing much, but I suddenly had doubts about the ‘magic stone’ itself. We saw monsters turn into magic stones, and then magic stones turn back into monsters, right?” “So what about it?” “I just suddenly thought that if the legendary ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ existed, it might have had very similar properties to magic stones….” I listened to what he had to say, and it was just a wizard’s unique fantasy. No, is it a bit much to just dismiss it as a fantasy? ‘Magic stone…’ At that moment, when I felt a ticklish feeling in my head, like a feather fluttering but not quite catching it. “Uh…?” Raven’s eyes widened as he stared at one place. Wondering what it was, I quickly checked the direction, and I saw a comrade entering on the rail. A loyal knight who had been on the Ice Rock Expedition with me. “It’s Sir Meland Kaislan!” As soon as I saw him, I quickly approached him and got him off the rail. And just as I was about to slap his cheek in a hurry. “Wait a minute!” Raven stopped me and took out an item from his subspace. So, what was the name of that… “The Circlet of Anguish?” “Yes. I thought that if I put this on him, he might regain his senses.” Well, there’s a possibility of that… “But isn’t there already a proven method?” “That’s true, but I still have a taste of blood in my mouth right now?” “Ah…” No wonder his cheeks were more swollen than usual. I nodded, meaning he could do it, and Raven carefully put the circlet on him. And how much time had passed? “Ugh…” Kaislan regained consciousness.