Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 657

Outsider (2)

For thousands of years, the area outside the city walls was considered uninhabitable due to a witch’s curse. I don’t know much about what lies beyond either.

The day the royal army went underground to annihilate Noark, a mysterious mage suddenly appeared, rescued the Noark forces, and helped them escape outside the city walls.

That day was…

‘Year 154 of the Founding, June 2nd.’

Players who were mixed in with the Noark forces spread the news within the community, and it quickly reached the city. However, there are two puzzling things about this.

1. The news spread so quickly, as if they wanted the rumors to spread.

2. Yet, amidst all that, there wasn’t a single piece of solid information.

These circumstances suggest organized information control is taking place. Also, even the talkative clown hardly revealed any information about the outside of the city walls at the Round Table.

Well, if I had to pick one thing, it would be this:

[After going outside the city and wandering around, I realized something. The terrain and structure, even if there are slight differences, this land is strikingly similar to the 7th floor of the Dark Continent!]

According to the clown, this continent where the final fortress, Lapdonia, is located has a similar terrain to the 7th floor of the Dark Continent…

[…If that’s true, then that hypothesis might be true.]

[The hypothesis that the labyrinth is not a passage connected to another dimension, but a dimension created by someone?]

[The Crystal Cave, the Rocky Desert… perhaps they are places modeled after real spaces.]

The members of the Round Table each voiced their opinions upon hearing this, and some of those guesses were true, because I had discovered it myself through exploration.

‘Most of the places within the labyrinth are modeled after real places.’

I’ve seen countless circumstantial and physical evidence through explorations that were close to adventures, and I don’t doubt this premise at all. But…

‘That’s why it’s even stranger.’

All the ancient continent maps have been lost, and no data remains. However, it’s not like there are no records at all.

[Because they are one of the few families that still insist on using Central-style naming.]

[It’s natural that you feel unfamiliar. There aren’t many families left in this city who still have such strong Eastern Continent blood like us.]

[…It’s South-Central style naming.]

Among the residents of Lapdonia, there are still those who remember their ancestors and family history and try to maintain their identity. We barbarians are a prime example.

According to records, the barbarian tribe was a race that lived in the rugged lands of the northern and southern parts of the continent, fighting monsters. However, the problem is…

‘They said it took them over two years to get from the north to Lapdonia.’

That’s the distance conveyed in the records. But in the case of the Dark Continent within the labyrinth, it only takes a month or two to go from end to end. So, where does this discrepancy come from?

‘Well, this is actually the least of my concerns.’

On the first floor of the underground, the vampire uncle told me.

[There were only humans in that era…?]

In ancient times, there were no other races. And if that’s true, it means that all the history and records of this world are fabricated. What is the truth? What kind of secrets are hidden in this world?

Until now, I just thought I should do my own thing, so I didn’t try to find out so actively. But now, the situation has changed. The Noark guys are desperately attacking and have even occupied one area inside the city walls. The royal family’s reaction to this is also somehow suspicious.

‘…I need to know now.’

I need to know the information they have to prepare for the future. Isn’t that how it is when playing games? If you don’t know, you just end up getting hit unfairly…

“…Yandel?”

“Ah, sorry. I was just thinking.”

I ended my thoughts at this point and headed back to where the others were.

“Hahaha! Did you see that! My spear is stronger than an arrow!!”

“…I, I was just pulling back a bit so you wouldn’t get hurt! One more time! Let’s do it again!”

“Huh? Where did you go, mister?”

Yeah, let’s just rest today.

***

The next day, after the welcome party that lasted late into the night, I woke up around sunset and headed to the sewers with three guides. Oh, by the way, the guides were Amelia, Erwen, and Bersil…

“Wow… it’s been a while since I’ve been in the sewers. But mister, what are we here for?”

“I came to find something.”

“Ah! So that’s why you called the three of us!”

Amelia and Erwen are the most specialized searchers among the Anabada members, and Bersil is the only mage.

“Um… could you tell me what you’re looking for? I think I can help more proactively if I know what it is.”

At Bersil’s question, I honestly revealed the reason for coming here.

“Today, we’re going to find a path that connects to the outside of the city walls.”

“The outside of the city walls…?”

I nodded in agreement, and Bersil, who had been momentarily flustered, regained his composure and cautiously asked.

“…Do you perhaps have a plan to go outside the city walls?”

“Yeah. I think I need to go out there myself at least once to judge what’s real and what’s not.”

“Ah…”

“For now, keep it to yourselves. Got it?”

They weren’t the type to go around blabbing, so I just gave them a brief warning and continued moving. There’s no way a hidden path to the outside world would be in the sewers where vagrants hide. First, I need to go further down the sewers to the underground fortress where (former) Noark was—.

Thump.

At that moment, Amelia, who was leading the way, stopped and gave a silent signal to be quiet. Erwen also nodded slightly at me, so it seems they felt something at the same time…

‘Slowly.’

‘Step back.’

‘This way.’

Following Amelia’s signal, we hid in a side path, and soon, even my dull ears could hear footsteps.

Thud, thud—

At least two people were wandering around the sewers, and the approaching sound grew louder.

‘Are they vagrants?’

That was my first thought, but if they were, Amelia wouldn’t have tried to hide. We waited quietly, holding our breath, and finally, they passed by where we were hiding.

‘…Knights?’

They weren’t even ordinary knights. They were a pair of fully armed knights with the royal family’s emblem on their chests, not belonging to any specific family.

“Emily, what’s going on? Why are those guys patrolling the sewers at this hour?”

“Ah, didn’t you know? After that incident a few months ago, security has been tightened, and knights are periodically patrolling the sewers.”

“I think I saw it in the newspaper too. Thanks to that, the vagrants living in the sewers have been wiped out…”

Well, have I been reading the newspaper too little lately? Anyway, I was really surprised that knights were suddenly patrolling. It’s like a guilty conscience. I thought they might have been deployed because they knew we were coming here.

“Then let’s keep moving. The patrol force deployed in the sewers is small, and they don’t seem to be searching very thoroughly, so we shouldn’t get caught easily.”

“…That’s a relief then.”

It’s a bit out of the blue, but even after seeing the patrolling knights, I wasn’t particularly nervous. It’s partly because I trust Amelia’s infiltration skills. Should I say that things are different from the old days? Even if something goes wrong, I can turn two knights into former knights in the blink of an eye. In fact, if they don’t want things to go wrong, they should be more careful, not us…

“There’s a device again today. Wait a moment.”

When we arrived at the path to Noark, Amelia squatted down in front of the entrance and touched something with her hands. And…

“You can go in now. I’ve carefully disarmed it so that no traces remain.”

Ah, so there was a device. In movies, there’s something like that, where they put a small piece of paper in the door to see if someone has entered.

Thump, thump.

We went down the stairs, and unlike the sewers, an underground space with an unknown purpose appeared. The height of the ceiling and the structure of the walls were all different, making it feel like we had entered a three-dimensional maze.

‘Come to think of it, this was the place… where I fought that Karui priest.’

Was her name… Elisa? It was when I had just eaten the Orc Hero essence, so it’s too long ago to remember well. Anyway. She was quite a formidable opponent, but not only me, but the overall specs of Team Half-Pint had increased significantly, so we were able to defeat her…

‘There’s no one who was with me back then.’

Should I have brought Misha? Then I could have chatted while talking about that—.

‘Ah, come to think of it, Amelia was there too.’

Of course, back then, we weren’t allies, but rather enemies. Well, she was kind enough (?) that we all survived even after losing the fight.

“Tersia, do you sense anyone?”

“No.”

“That’s a relief then. I don’t either. It seems that they don’t patrol from here, so let’s pick up the pace.”

After that, we increased our speed, and the maze section ended quickly, and we finally arrived at our destination.

“This is Noark…!”

A vast space that was hard to believe was underground. Bersil exclaimed in admiration as he looked at the stone gate, which was much larger than the royal palace gate.

“Is this your first time coming here, Mr. Gowland?”

“It’s my first time coming this deep. I participated in the first subjugation, but as you know, we had to retreat without even getting this far.”

“Ah… I heard. They said a lot of people died back then…”

Listening to their conversation, I suddenly remembered a player from Canada I met in the community. He was a guy who was pulled into the community the moment he was stabbed in the neck during a battle.

‘When I go back… I promised to give him the news.’

It’s funny, even though I had forgotten about it for a while, I still clearly remember the address and the words he left. Was it because it was so memorable?

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”

“Ah, I’m coming…”

I was lost in old memories for a moment, but then Amelia opened a small door next to the huge gate, and Bersil, who was new to this, tilted his head.

“Huh? Aren’t we going through that door?”

“There’s no gatekeeper, so it doesn’t matter. But why would we go through the hard way when there’s an easy path?”

“…That’s true. But are there usually gatekeepers?”

“There were. They weren’t well-known in Lapdonia, but they were one of the strongest in Noark—.”

As Amelia said that and was about to go through the side door, a loud laugh suddenly erupted from behind.

“…!!”

Erwen and Amelia, who hadn’t sensed any presence, turned around in surprise, and so did I.

“To be praised like that, I am truly grateful!!”

When I turned around to see the owner of the voice, I saw a man with a physique as sturdy as a barbarian. He had an impression that was far from discreet. But the reason he was able to approach this close without being noticed was very simple. Because [Dungeon & Stone] is a team game.

“Since we’ve crossed paths, let’s introduce ourselves! I am Lex Aures, the former gatekeeper of Noark!”

The man, who was standing at the forefront as a tank, revealed his companions who had been hidden behind him.

“Ah, and these are my colleagues…”

‘One, two, three, four…’

There were five in total. They had the numerical advantage, and it didn’t seem like the qualitative advantage would make much of a difference. It’s hard to believe that our members would be inferior in the latter…

Thump-!

The world is relative.

“Huh? Baek-ho! Why are you so quiet today? Didn’t you say you were close to that Baron Yandel over there?”

…I never thought I’d run into these guys here.