Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 669

The 9th floor of the labyrinth, Star Tomb.

It’s the final gateway to the 10th floor where the ‘Abyssal Gate’ is located.

A monster that only appears there has shown up.

Of course, it’s a type I’ve hunted before in the library on the 1st basement floor, and it wasn’t too difficult to deal with, but…

「You have defeated Brachiaistello.」

This guy’s appearance is telling.

‘First of all… this isn’t the labyrinth.’

The place we’re in right now isn’t inside the labyrinth.

To begin with, the royal family closed the labyrinth itself, and there are clear differences from the labyrinth that we didn’t recognize immediately.

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s simply ‘outside the castle walls,’ as there are many strange things about it.

Anyway.

‘I should have noticed when I saw the crater…’

Everything is confusing, but one thing is clear.

Even if there are some differences from the labyrinth, this place is modeled after the 9th floor, ‘Star Tomb’.

And perhaps because everyone is aware of that fact.

“……”

“……”

As soon as the battle ended, a strange silence fell over the group.

“Huh? Why the sudden change in your expressions?”

Only Lex Aures was unaware of the current situation.

In our team, he’s in a very similar position to Ainar…

‘Why are all the warriors in this kind of position?’

I suddenly have that question, but it’s not something to dwell on right now.

How long did that silent time, with only Aures tilting his head, continue?

Swaaaaaaaaash-!!!

Heavy rain poured down like a storm.

“This is…”

Baekho Lee, who had been quietly looking down at the corpse of Brachiaistello, muttered.

“It might be a pretty dangerous situation, for sure…”

It was a murmur that explained our current situation better than anything else.

The 9th floor is not a place you can enter without preparation.

Just like this.

Swaaaaaaash—

As if stage lights were turned on, a red light poured down from above, covering a radius of about 50 meters.

It was the infamous field effect of the 9th floor, Star Tomb.

“Huh…? This is that thing…”

Aures stood there blankly, as if he had bumped into an acquaintance while walking down the street.

“Why are you just standing there when you know? Get out of the way!!”

At that urgent shout, everyone snapped to attention and moved out of the range.

Ah, of course, since speed is key, those with more mobility took care of the mages and priests.

Being mobile and being agile are two different things.

Even mages need to cast spells to move quickly, and Jaina, a priest of Karui, needs to summon a mount…

Clench.

In such an emergency, there’s no time for that.

Tap.

Just as I barely managed to get out of range, taking care of the GM who was flustered by the sudden situation.

Kwaaaaaaaaang-!

A red meteorite that fell from the sky collided with the ground where we were and exploded.

And…

Whoooooooosh-!!

A strong gust of wind, strong enough to easily push an adult male, blew and dust rose.

Of course, thanks to the pouring rain, the visibility quickly recovered, but…

“A-are you all alright?”

Wow, I’m getting goosebumps all over my body.

“…From now on, we need to be on high alert at all times.”

Looking at the crater that formed at that spot after the dust settled, I felt my legs go weak for some reason.

That’s because it was like that in the game.

‘Instant death.’

That meteorite has an instant death effect.

If it hits within a 5m radius of the center, the game over screen pops up in one hit, no matter how much you’ve leveled up your character.

Well, if you get hit on the outer edge, it only deals fixed damage, but…

Actually, that doesn’t mean much.

After all, it deals damage that kills most tanks in one hit.

“Hoo…”

Seeing the others who were stunned by the powerful explosion, I felt a pang of sympathy for them.

I quickly shouted loudly.

That’s because if the meteorites are the same, there’s a high chance that what happens after will be the same as in the game.

“Everyone, snap out of it!”

As I shouted to wake everyone up.

Flash-!

A bolt of lightning struck the center of the crater.

And…

‘So this guy shows up too.’

Something like a white bud that formed at the spot where the lightning struck quickly grew in size and took shape.

A bipedal, two-armed, ‘humanoid’ monster with a neck standing up along its spine.

Ah, of course, that’s just the classification; it’s far from human.

After all, there’s no human made of light with electricity flowing all over their body…

Chijijijijijik-!

The size is also a problem.

There’s no human that big in the first place, right?

Unless it’s a barbarian with [Giantification].

“Gigazerous…!”

Again, as soon as he saw the monster, the GM opened his mouth out of habit and started explaining.

However, it felt a little different from before.

“It uses very powerful electric-type abilities, and it’s an incredibly agile monster, unlike what it looks like!”

Unlike before, when he explained with composure, the GM quickly finished his explanation like a machine gun.

But because of that, the most important explanation was missing.

“It’s a 2nd-grade monster, so everyone be careful!”

2nd-grade monster, Gigazerous.

Like Brachiaistello, it only appears in the Star Tomb, and among 2nd-grade monsters, its single combat power is among the top.

I usually called it the ‘Thunder Giant’.

That’s because no matter how you look at it, that suits it better than Gigazerous.

「Gigazerous has cast [Great Discharge].」

As soon as I took out my shield and ran forward, electricity exploded from the Thunder Giant’s body.

Chijijijijijik-!

Guarding was meaningless.

It’s impossible to block such area skills even with Aegis’s Barrier.

You just have to take the hit…

「The character has cast [Scales of Greed].」

Blue scales sprout on my body, which has been enlarged once with [Giantification].

‘Dragon Mode’ obtained through the essence of ‘Bellarios’.

‘Ugh, it’s tingling.’

The electricity emitted by the Thunder Giant touched my body and my muscles cramped, but…

「The character is [Paralyzed].」

The damage I took was just that much.

「The paralysis has been removed.」

Thanks to the magic resistance setup, the paralysis was removed in less than 2 seconds.

However, when I glanced behind me…

‘That Baekho Lee bastard is still paralyzed?’

You haven’t finished your CC [Crowd Control] defense mechanism yet?

‘That’s why you haven’t even reached the 10th floor yet.’

Smiling at knowing Baekho’s weakness, I dashed forward even more forcefully.

And…

「The character has entered the range of [Short Circuit Zone].」

As soon as I approached him, the white orbs that had formed in the air emitted electricity and connected to my body.

「The character’s soul power is continuously decreasing.」

「When soul power is consumed, fixed damage is taken in proportion to the consumption value.」

「All of Gigazerous’s damage is applied as electric damage.」

「The character is [Conductor].」

「When electric damage is taken, [Great Discharge] is cast.」

[Short Circuit Zone].

A passive aura skill that anyone who has raised an electric-type melee character would want.

Chijik-!

The Thunder Giant slammed down on me with its huge fist.

「Defense successful.」

「Aegis’s Barrier absorbs all damage.」

I blocked it with my shield and absorbed the impact, but…

Like water droplets splashing, lightning flew from the white grains that had fallen around.

Well, is ‘flew’ the right expression?

Tsuzuuuut-!

Just as you can’t follow the speed of light with your eyes, when I came to my senses, the white lightning that had been emitted from those grains was already connected.

Of course, the amount of damage itself wasn’t great, but…

「The character has taken electric damage.」

「[Great Discharge] is cast.」

Just like when electricity was emitted from his body earlier, light burst from my body and lightning bolts shot out in all directions.

And in a form that was 300% more amplified than before.

Chijijijijijik-!

Fortunately, the damage wasn’t great because they had already distanced themselves from me.

But…

‘In this state, I can’t expect melee support…’

Having quickly finished my assessment, I ignored the tingling in my body and grabbed the monster’s body, running forward to create even more distance between me and my companions.

I could feel my body condition deteriorating in real-time, but that didn’t matter.

After all, everyone has their own role, right?

If the tank’s role is to get hit.

「Jaina Flyer has summoned [Healing Leech].」

The healer’s role is to heal.

Tap.

The translucent leeches that stuck to my body continuously injected HP and MP into my body.

「Jaina Flyer has cast [Curse of Regeneration].」

She casts a continuous healing skill that is somehow classified as a ‘curse’.

「Jaina Flyer has summoned [Vessel of Life].」

Also, a structure similar to an altar is erected in the center of the battlefield, and it is connected to all the members with red threads.

‘Okay, this is enough for tanking…’

The rest is up to the damage dealers.

“…Huh?”

…Just as I thought that, an incident occurred.

***

In [Dungeon & Stone], what is the most important job?

If someone were to ask that, I could confidently answer without a moment’s hesitation.

The most important job is the tank.

Isn’t that right?

If the damage dealer’s skills are lacking, they often just fail to catch the monster, but when the main tank’s specs are lacking, it almost always leads to a wipeout.

In fact, because I have always performed my duties as a tank, I have been able to safely protect my companions even while continuing dangerous explorations.

…Except for a few times.

Anyway.

I value the importance of the tank much more than mages and priests.

But…

‘Damn new map.’

Outside the castle walls, which can be seen as a kind of new field.

And in this place, where we crossed over on an unidentified dimensional stone, my common sense was useless.

That’s because…

“…Huh?”

I was performing the tank role, and the damage dealers were steadily dealing damage, when suddenly the Thunder Giant started showing strange symptoms.

It suddenly started ignoring me and rushing towards the damage dealers behind me.

Flash-!

Since it has a blink-type movement skill, it was impossible to stop it in the middle.

“Ugh! Ugh…!”

Unfortunately, the first target of the sudden behavior was the GM.

The GM quickly activated a mana shield when he saw the monster appear right in front of him, but…

Kwajijik-!

As expected of a 2nd-grade monster, it easily shattered the hastily made mana shield and landed a clean hit.

However, it was still worth it to reduce the impact.

Otherwise, he could have died in one hit.

“Damn it! Havelion! How are you? Are you alive?”

“I-I’m alive!”

“Then heal him quickly! If that bastard dies, we won’t be able to fix the magic circle!!”

We haven’t even found a way to escape from this place yet, but I don’t know what the magic circle is for…

At Baekho’s shout, Jaina began to focus on healing the GM.

And…

“Behel—raaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

Just as I, who had belatedly followed, was about to mark the monster again.

Flash-!

Once again, the monster used a teleportation skill and disappeared before my eyes.

‘No, what the hell is this…’

The same sudden behavior, not once but twice.

It was no longer meaningful to deny it.

‘Threat level doesn’t work…?’

The ‘threat level’ raised by [Giantification].

And the unconditional aggro [aggression] effect of ‘Aegis’s Barrier’, which can be activated based on that threat level.

It was ignoring both of these.

As if it was being judged as a ‘person’ rather than a monster.

“Hold on tight!”

“Kyaaak!”

Fortunately, the archer reacted to the second surprise attack and safely snatched the healer.

But even so, the situation was not good.

Chijijijijijik-!!

It’s not a simple monster; it’s a 2nd-grade monster.

If the tanking isn’t done properly, there will inevitably be casualties…

‘What should I do?’

It was a long time since I felt such helplessness against a monster, and my head was getting complicated.

“…Damn it.”

Baekho Lee clicked his tongue while looking at the Thunder Giant.

It was a bit strange nuance, as if he was genuinely frustrated with the situation and cursed.

Should I say it felt like he was somewhat regretful?

“I really didn’t want to show this.”

…What is it?

As if he had a way to overcome this situation.

“Everyone, run away as far as you can.”

Baekho, who muttered that, stretched his hand forward.

And…

Jijik—

A dark sphere formed in front of his hand, rotating and sucking in the surrounding air.

‘No, wait a minute.’

I’ve seen this somewhere before?

“R-run away quickly! Even the Baron won’t be safe if you get caught up in it!”

Aures, who had started running in the opposite direction of Baekho, shouted urgently.

I quickly came to my senses and followed him.

And how many seconds had passed?

“The charging should be enough.”

With Baekho’s short mutter.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang-!

The dark sphere exploded, and a black flash covered the whole world.

「You have defeated Gigazerous +EXP 8」

My vision went dark as if I had gone blind, but I had no doubt that the battle with the Thunder Giant was over.

Because I know.

What the identity of this skill I just saw is.

“Annihilation of the Stars…”

The active skill of the Dark Lord, Deadred, and with its destructive power, it is the strongest attack skill in [Dungeon & Stone], unmatched by any essence.

‘Crazy…’

This bastard had this skill…?