Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 664

The uncomfortable journey began outside the city walls. However, this journey had clear advantages. It was because a treasure trove of information poured out before the journey even started.

“Where is this place… Well, would you like to see the map we made?” Lee Baek-ho had ventured outside the city walls much earlier than us. Unfortunately, the quality of the map he made wasn’t very good. It felt like a map made before the discovery of the Americas, you know?

Well, it’s not like the quality would have been any better if I had made it myself. Anyway.

“…What is this border line here? It looks familiar.” The map, which was still being made, had an unidentifiable border drawn on it. It felt like the national borders marked on a world map.

“Ah, that’s to mark the terrain that matches the Dark Continent on the 7th floor.” …No wonder the shape of the border line looked familiar. It was the shape of the Dark Continent.

“Isn’t it amazing? Originally, in the labyrinth, this is the coastline and you can’t go beyond it, but here, the land continues beyond that.” I couldn’t refute the words ‘Isn’t it amazing?’ because the map Lee Baek-ho showed was very impressive. The clown said that the outside world was exactly like the Dark Continent, but in reality, that was only a small part of it. The Dark Continent was located in the southeast of the continent, and the north and west of the continent were full of unknown lands.

“What are these circles marked here?” “Ah, those? They’re islands.” “Islands…?” “There’s that one island on the 6th floor, you know? The one with that strange, unknown monument in the center.” “Are you talking about Starnells Island?” “Ah, right, right, that place. The terrain there is very similar. The monsters that appear are the same too.” “I see…” It was a strange coincidence… but it felt unsettling to just brush it off. An island that should be in the middle of the sea is attached to the continent. Could this also be related to a secret of the world that I don’t know yet? I don’t know, but my knowledge is gradually increasing.

“Then this must be the eastern region of the Great Forest.” Lee Baek-ho retorted, ‘To be precise, it’s the southeastern part of the Great Forest,’ but that was a trivial detail that could be ignored.

“So, where are we going from here?” “Here.” Lee Baek-ho pointed to a spot on the map, a mysterious land outside the Dark Continent. “We can get most of the materials that guy mentioned earlier here.”

“How long will it take?” “About half a year on foot?” “…What?” That means a year would have passed by the time we got back. What kind of nonsense is this? I frowned and stared at him, and Lee Baek-ho smiled playfully.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take a portal in the middle. We’ll probably arrive in less than a month?” “Portal…?” What is he talking about now? “It’s like the military platform in Lapdonia. It connects specific points to specific points.” It was literally a new world, you could say? The more I heard about the outside world, the more I felt like I was back in my newbie days. It felt like playing a new game.

“Okay, let’s get going. We’re planning to reach the portal tonight, so everyone, keep up.” …It’s like taking a bus or something.

***

In [Dungeon & Stone], ‘time’ is very important. That’s because each floor in the labyrinth has a set time when the field closes. If you don’t use your time efficiently, it naturally becomes impossible to go to the upper floors… Whoosh-!

In a way, this is also an advantage of a ‘min’ character [a character focused on agility and speed]. Explorers, regardless of their position, must complete their own ‘movement mechanism,’ but ‘min’ characters mostly complete it naturally. Unlike ‘power’ characters.

‘Ha… It’s just me again.’ Thump-! Thump-! As I ran through the forest with heavy sounds, I kept having moments of existential crisis. That’s because I still haven’t figured out my movement mechanism. Well, it’s an advantage that I don’t get tired easily because my stamina and energy stats are high… Thump-! Thump-! My movement speed itself is significantly slower than other classes. Just like this.

Whoosh-! [Heeheehee-!]

Even the mage, GM, was flying quickly by combining levitation magic and various other spells, and the healer named Jaina was moving comfortably by summoning a mount. And…

‘…This is kind of embarrassing.’ I was barely keeping up at the very back, and it was obvious that the whole group was moving slowly to match my pace, even though they could have gone faster. It was like receiving implicit consideration?

“Hahahaha! This is quite amazing! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone slower than me!” …Damn it. How did this tank complete his movement mechanism so quickly? Instead of thinking about getting tougher.

‘Tsk.’ While clicking my tongue inwardly, I glanced at the woman who was comfortably riding her mount in front of me. ‘A contract mount… She was indeed a priest of Karui.’ I could tell her class by looking at her mount, but it didn’t really matter. They probably showed it like this because they thought it would be difficult to hide their class in the first place.

“Whew, at least we arrived before morning.” We arrived at our destination in the early hours of the morning, after late night, and took a short break. “We’ll rest here today. We don’t have as much time to replenish our mana as I expected…” “We don’t need to change the schedule. We have the Havelion Army now.” “Oh, that’s a relief then.” “Havelion Army, can you come here? It would be safer to match the mana wavelengths in advance.” “Yes? Ah, yes…!” While everyone rested on their own, GM was called by the Destruction Scholar and matched a combination that I couldn’t understand. And…

“Can we talk for a moment?” Lee Baek-ho, who had approached silently, called me aside to a secluded place. “Aren’t we really meant to be? I never thought I’d be wandering around with you like this, hyung [older brother or older male friend].” “…” “Ah, don’t worry, no sound will leak out!” “Haa…” I looked around and sighed, glaring at Lee Baek-ho. I had so much to say, starting from the way he had strangely told me how to get out, but I swallowed it for now.

“But hyung, I’ve been wanting to ask since earlier. GM doesn’t know that you’re a player, right?” “Yeah. He doesn’t know, so just stay like that.” “Wow, I bet his expression would be priceless if he knew your identity?” Well, I’m curious too, but I can’t confirm it just for that, so pass.

“I have a question too, is that okay?” “Yes, go ahead.” With Lee Baek-ho’s cool acceptance, I didn’t hesitate to ask the question I wanted to ask. “The Noark guys went into the city to survive, right?” “That’s right?” “What exactly does that mean?” “Ah, that…” “Since I’m out here like this anyway, tell me honestly. Huh? Is it because of the gray world?” I asked, not hiding my frustrated feelings, and Lee Baek-ho seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding. “Gray world… That’s a very poetic and fitting expression, isn’t it?” “Forget about that and answer me. Huh?” “Actually, that doesn’t matter much. It’s not a big deal in the first place.” “…Not a big deal?” “Anyway, that’s not important… There’s another reason why the Noark guys desperately returned to the city.” Lee Baek-ho paused for a moment and looked at me. What is he going to say that he’s taking so long to—.

“There’s a monster.” “…Huh?” “A really, really terrifying monster.” Even though he emphasized it so much, I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I sent him a look to add more explanation, and Lee Baek-ho shrugged. “It doesn’t seem to have a specific habitat. It appeared wherever we went. Every time it appears, thousands of people die without being able to do anything…” “Die…?” “The only thing we’ve figured out so far is that the more people there are around, and the longer those people have stayed outside the city walls, the higher the probability of it appearing.” The moment I heard that, I felt a strange sense of discomfort. It was a feeling that was both familiar and vague, you could say? Why did I get this feeling? While I was pondering the reason, Lee Baek-ho asked me.

“Hyung, but isn’t it very similar?” “…?” “The fact that it appears when the conditions are met, doesn’t it seem similar to a floor boss?” Ah, right. That’s why.

***

“So, is it dangerous now too?” “Well, there’s a good chance. But what can we do? The way back home is already blocked. We have a small number, and we haven’t been out of the city for long, so we’ll have to trust that.” Ha… No matter how much he says that, my anxiety doesn’t go away. That’s because the thing I hate the most is probability. Just like 0 and 1 are completely different numbers. Unless the probability is 0%, it no longer has any meaning. Because what’s going to happen will happen anyway.

‘Would I have been more comfortable if I hadn’t heard it…’ That thought suddenly crossed my mind, but I’m the type who prefers knowing what’s coming rather than being hit without knowing. So, I grilled him about that ‘monster’ and heard a completely unexpected story. “Actually, it’s not that destructive or imposing…” “Not?” “It doesn’t take any damage. Not at all.” “…Huh?” “I mean, literally. Whether you use magic, aura, or skills. It’s completely immune.” The first thing I thought when I heard that was, ‘Is that even possible?’ A monster that can’t be stopped by any means, let alone defeated?

“That’s why its nickname is the Reaper. The Reaper.” Just from the description, it seemed like a very fitting nickname. Especially in that it’s an existence that humans can’t resist. “Is that so…?” “How is it, did you get a chill down your spine?” Well, I don’t know. What should I say about this? As much as I felt fear, my curiosity was also growing. It was an unavoidable instinct as a gamer. ‘Tsk, there must be a way to counter it…’ Isn’t that right? Even monsters with gimmicks that seem impossible to catch eventually have a strategy if you keep banging your head against them. Well, in reality, you can’t just bang your head against it. Still, having this thought is as natural as a physiological phenomenon…

“What would it drop if we caught it…?” Lee Baek-ho tilted his head slightly at my mutter, and then his mouth dropped open. “Wow… you’re really crazy too, hyung.” …What is he talking about? Where else is there a barbarian as normal and sound as me?

“Okay, then what about that?” “What?” I changed the subject and asked a new question. “You said that something would happen in a year, right?” “Ah… that…?” “We might not be able to go back by then, can’t you just tell me?” “No. We might be able to go back before then.” Lee Baek-ho cut off my additional question. However, there was something I could figure out from that. ‘That’s why he was pissed off.’ When the magic circle was broken, Lee Baek-ho was furious and sought a way to return to the city as quickly as possible. This implies that it is related to that ‘event’. Also…

‘He doesn’t want me to know the details.’ He thinks that if I know about that event, I will somehow interfere or something. In short, it means that the event is likely to be a bad event for me… “Then I’ll go!” As expected. As soon as the conversation became uncomfortable, Lee Baek-ho ran away. And…

“Oh, you seemed to be doing something with that old man, is that all done?” “Yes. Matching the wavelengths doesn’t take that long.” “I see.” GM, who had finished his work and returned, cautiously requested a private conversation. “Could you possibly spare some time?” Okay, it’s his turn this time. I followed him, pretending not to know anything, and GM stopped in a secluded place, turned on voice control, and immediately opened his mouth. “This might be a rude question…” “It’s okay, speak freely.” “What is your relationship with Lee Baek-ho…?” Ha, how should I explain this?