Surviving The Game As A Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 675

Slowly opening my eyes, I take in the sounds and sights around me.

‘…Right? I think I’m right?’

First off, my wrists are handcuffed and secured to a handle….

Clunk!

I’m inside a large van that’s moving.

‘Wait, if that guy is the one, what the heck happened? It’s not just that someone who’s been missing for over a year was suddenly found at home… I never knew he was this aggressive…’

Hmm, is this the setup?

It feels like the tutorial part of a game, but the difficulty is way too high.

Not only did five burly men enter by punching in a password, but they also used a taser gun?

‘Yeah, not giving me even a single sword and putting a taser gun on a ranged mob is basically telling me to just get hit.’

Based on my prediction, being defeated and captured at the starting point was definitely part of the plan.

Most likely, the trial will proceed from here—.

‘Everyone, stop! We’ll know when we get to the station and take his fingerprints. Whether this guy is that Lee Han-soo or not.’

…Whew, still, it’s a relief.

That I’m still alive.

‘Team Leader Kang? This guy is smiling?’

‘What?! He’s awake?’

The man next to me tells them that I’ve woken up, and ‘Team Leader Kang,’ who was in the passenger seat, turns around in surprise.

‘What, they didn’t kill him either?’

Did I wake up too early?

Still, seeing that there are only three people in the car, it seems like the other two were taken to the hospital to get treated….

‘Lee Han-soo! You stay still! Whatever you’ve been through, if you cause trouble here again, then no matter what your mother says, we’ll have to go by the law!’

It seems Team Leader Kang is worried that I’ll cause a ruckus in the car again.

Hey, do I look like an idiot?

‘Yes. I’m sorry. I’ll stay still.’

I use the most polite tone possible to make it clear that I won’t cause any more trouble.

But, was this situation so absurd?

‘What, this guy… why did he suddenly become so docile?’

Well, it’s because I’m under crowd control [CC, a term used in gaming to describe abilities that limit a character’s actions] right now.

Unless I had the body of a warrior with the power to instantly shatter handcuffs.

Normal Lee Han-soo becomes useless just by being handcuffed.

Therefore….

‘It could be like an escape mission. If there are dreams where you just beat up monsters, there are dreams like this too.’

Instead of making a futile escape attempt, I decided to play along and gather information.

Right now, it can be seen as a kind of tutorial process.

Yeah, so….

‘Officer, I was too flustered earlier. I was surprised when strangers suddenly tried to enter my house by punching in a password… I apologize again for what happened earlier.’

Abandoning the barbarian way of thinking, I offer a clean and polite modern apology.

But why is it?

Team Leader Kang’s expression, after receiving my apology, only becomes more bizarre without showing any signs of softening.

‘Bullshit.’

…Huh, I apologized, and he says bullshit.

I should have definitely finished him off back then—.

‘You were smiling.’

…Huh?

‘…Absolutely not, officer.’

‘Ha… I really got stuck with a crazy bastard. Hey, what did this guy call us earlier?’

‘He called us goblin officers.’

Ah, that….

‘Haha, I misspoke because I was agitated. How about you calm down and explain the situation to me—.’

Team Leader Kang cuts me off as if he doesn’t want to hear it and shouts.

‘Shut up!!’

What’s with this sudden outburst?

‘Just shut up, you bastard!! I’m barely holding it in right now!’

Ugh, spitting.

‘…’

Honestly, I don’t understand why he’s having such a sudden outburst, but it seemed better not to provoke him any further.

Therefore, from this point on, I quietly shut my mouth and organized my thoughts alone.

How long did we travel by car?

Soon, the car entered a nearby police station and stopped, and the tightly closed door slid open.

The warm sunlight that pierces the eyes.

The air of freedom with the fragrant scent of flowers.

‘Get out.’

Oh, finally, an escape opportunity is opening up—.

‘Don’t even think about doing anything weird. Unless you want to taste electricity again.’

Ugh….

‘Okay, well… I need to get these handcuffs off first. I’ll consider the moment the handcuffs are removed as the starting point, so let’s hold back for now.’

I cleanly give up on the escape opportunity and follow ‘Team Leader Kang’ into the police station with my arms restrained.

And then, I take the elevator up and arrive at the interrogation room.

‘One, two, three, four, five, six….’

There are a ton of goblin officers not just in the entire building, but on the same floor.

When is the tutorial going to end?

I don’t know, but for now, I follow Team Leader Kang’s instructions, get my fingerprints taken, and get locked up in a detention cell for a while. Soon, I’m called out again for questioning.

‘We’ve contacted your family, so they’ll be here soon. Ah, and I don’t think you heard it earlier because you were unconscious, so I’ll say it again, Lee Han-soo, you have the right to remain silent….’

Unlike before, Team Leader Kang, who started using honorifics, asked this question as soon as he finished reading the Miranda rights.

‘Name Lee Han-soo. Age 30. Missing from home over a year ago. First, tell me this. Why were you there today?’

‘I just opened my eyes and was there.’

A sincere answer without any exaggeration.

But did my barbarian way of speaking, which came out without me realizing it, bother him?

The lackey next to him gets angry and raises his arm.

‘…You were there? You’re young, how dare you speak informally to Team Leader Kang!’

‘Stop it, Detective Park! He’s someone who went missing and was found after more than a year! We don’t know what he’s been through, so let’s hold back for now.’

‘But Team Leader! Because of this guy, Ji-hoon was taken to the emergency room! To the emergency room!’

‘…That’s enough, if you’re going to interfere with the investigation, get out of here, you bastard!’

Lackey A turns his back, clearly showing his resentment at Team Leader Kang’s harsh order.

‘Ha… I’m sorry for the commotion, Lee Han-soo. I’ll start the investigation again. We have a lot of questions for you right now. Of course, you can exercise your right to remain silent, but I hope you don’t.’

‘Yes, don’t worry. I will cooperate fully with the investigation.’

‘No, don’t just listen carelessly, I mean it. A South Korean detective was injured. One was almost strangled to death. If we don’t protect you, you’re in real trouble. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’

As I answered while half-heartedly listening, Team Leader Kang sighed deeply and resumed the investigation, and I also cooperated with the investigation in my own way.

The problem was that the other party didn’t feel that way.

‘So… you were playing a game called [Dungeon & Stone] and then you woke up and were sucked into the game world?’

‘That’s right.’

‘That way of speaking also came about because you had to survive as a ‘barbarian’ in that world. And now you fell asleep while exploring a place called Dream Falls, and this is that dream world?’

‘Oh, that’s right.’

As I nodded in admiration at his clean summary, I heard a sound that wasn’t quite a sigh from the side.

‘Wow… this guy is a real blockhead….’

‘Isn’t it something like schizophrenia?’

‘I think so.’

It was a bit unfair that they were treating me like a mental patient even though I was telling them the truth, but it wasn’t all negative.

If I look mentally weak, the other party will also be careless.

They are all ‘enemies.’

And in that sense….

Click, click.

I pick up the pen in front of me and fidget with it.

‘The tip is quite…’

Sharp.

Enough to incapacitate them by causing permanent physical damage if stabbed in a vital spot like the eye.

‘Anyway, I’ve also checked how to remove the handcuffs.’

Thanks to not neglecting to explore my surroundings while being questioned, I also learned how to remove the handcuffs.

I learned it by watching the man being questioned at the next table remove his handcuffs….

‘Waist.’

The officers keep the handcuff keys on their belts.

In short, it means that if I subdue Team Leader Kang, I can take the key from his waist and remove the CC.

‘Team Leader… shouldn’t we send him for a mental evaluation before the investigation?’

‘I’ll take care of it, so just do your work. Are you free?’

After that, I continued to be questioned and spoke honestly, and Team Leader Kang listened to my story surprisingly seriously, or perhaps with interest.

How much more time passed?

‘Are you hungry? Let’s eat first. Do you like Jajangmyeon [black bean noodles] or Jjamppong [spicy seafood noodles]?’

‘Jajang. Oh, and cider, cider too.’

‘…Alright.’

As I buried my face in the Jajangmyeon that Team Leader Kang ordered and inhaled it, I felt a sense of incongruity for the first time.

‘Kyahhhhh….’

Is this really this realistic?

‘Why do you suddenly have that expression? You were eating so deliciously.’

‘Well… because something feels strange.’

‘What’s strange? You look fine.’

‘I’ve tried eating something in dreams I’ve had before, but I couldn’t taste anything then.’

After hearing my answer, Team Leader Kang looked at me with a truly strange gaze, then brushed off his knees and got up from his seat.

‘The investigation is enough for now, and if you’re done eating, give me the bowl. There’s someone you’ll be meeting soon.’

‘Someone I’ll be meeting…’

‘Who else could it be. Lee Han-soo, you… ah, they’re here. Mother, this way, this way!’

It was when I turned around, following Team Leader Kang who got up from his seat and waved his hand.

‘Han-soo….’

The long skirt she always enjoyed wearing.

The old and worn-out sneakers.

The bucket hat pressed down low, as if to cover her disheveled hair.

Underneath it, the face I always wanted to see, yet never wanted to see again.

‘Ahhh…!’

My mother collapsed, covering her mouth.

And seeing that, I let out a hollow laugh.

‘Puh-heup…’

It certainly made me realize that this is a dream world, but….

‘Puh-heup! Puhahahahaha!’

Still, this feeling is really shitty.

***

It was a small room in an unknown goshiwon [a type of small, inexpensive housing].

My mother was always busy with work and came home late at night, and I was not mature enough to understand her.

My mother, who lived with the words ‘it’s because of you.’

My mother, who cried, asking why she gave birth to someone like me.

But I still liked my mother.

I begged her to always be with me, and my mother listened to that child’s whining just once.

That day, we were together.

My mother read me the fairy tale book I liked, and when I was hungry, she made me cup ramen. In the cold small room, we hugged each other tightly under the blanket and ate snacks.

I said I wished every day was like today.

And my mother said she did too.

The next day, my mother took me to an amusement park.

That was the last day.

In front of the merry-go-round, my mother suddenly disappeared, and I was taken in by the amusement park staff only when it was closing time.

I don’t remember well what happened after that.

Many adults approached me, and I moved through so many institutions that I slept in a different place every day.

Child abandonment and abuse.

Deprivation of parental rights.

The adults whispered difficult words in places where I wasn’t, and at the time, I vaguely felt it.

I’ll never see her again.

‘I understand. That you’re sick of it too.’

Of course, I now understand my mother’s feelings.

A sick child.

And a child who causes trouble for their parents.

It’s not just that.

A plague-like existence that causes unfortunate accidents wherever they go.

Lee Han-soo.

That was me.

So it was a natural thing.

Even if she was my mother, she was only a few years older than I am now.

She must have needed a place to hate.

And the desire to throw everything away and run away must have been a temptation every moment.

Well, what happened after that is a different story.

[Kyaaaaak! Don’t come! Never again! Please disappear from my life!]

When I became an adult and went to find my mother one day.

My mother screamed and shouted like that, and I never looked for my mother again.

So, when I heard the news about my mother from Hyun-byul, it was quite strange.

[We were talking about the inheritance for a long time… and she asked the police if there was a way to file a death certificate before the missing period expired.]

Did she find out about the news and become greedy for money?

Or did she want me to disappear as soon as possible?

Only this woman knows her exact thoughts, but one thing is clear.

‘Ahhh… Han-soo, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Mom….’

She’s not a woman who would cry like this now.

Well, thanks to that, I’m even more convinced that this place is a dream world.

‘I… I really wanted to meet you and say it. I know I don’t deserve it… but can you forgive me…? This pathetic mother….’

Looking at my sobbing mother, I finished my judgment.

‘This… I might be able to use this?’

It’s not bad at all.

Therefore, I reached out to my crying mother.

Suppressing all the emotions rising from within.