Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 691

I can’t follow the flow of this conversation at all.

Lee Baekho suddenly asks if she wants to kill him, and Jaina answers yes without any hesitation. What kind of relationship do these two even have?

“Oh, look at those eyes, all twisted again?”

“……”

“S-Stop it, Baekho… If we fight among ourselves in this situation, only the bad guy who trapped us here will benefit!”

Aures is unusually making sense and trying to defuse the situation.

“You just shut up. Do you think I don’t know you’re still in contact with the Castle Lord?”

“…W-What are you talking about! I, I—!”

“Hey, you can’t lie in here, remember?”

“……”

“But since you said you didn’t tell anyone about leaving this time, I’ll let it slide.”

“T-Thank you…”

Listening to the conversation, it seems even innocent Aures was plotting something behind the scenes…

‘If these guys are going to be like this, why are they even traveling together?’ It seems that for Lee Baekho, ‘companion’ is a completely different concept than what I know.

“…Lord, shouldn’t you step in? If this leads to a split…”

“Just stay still for now. I’ll step in if it gets serious.”

The atmosphere turned icy cold in an instant. The GM [Game Master] expressed concern, but I decided to watch the situation for now.

Isn’t that right? At first, I didn’t understand why Lee Baekho was so suspicious of his own companions.

‘Well, if there are such hidden circumstances, it’s understandable.’ I almost got fooled by their seemingly close relationship, but their core nature doesn’t change.

They are only traveling together because their goals align.

These guys are not ‘companions’.

“Old man… never mind. I knew from the start that you had other intentions anyway.”

Lee Baekho was about to say something to the Destruction Scholar, but he sighed and shook his head.

For some reason, he looks fed up. Well, did he suddenly have an existential crisis or something?

Tick-tock-

I don’t know why, but at that point, the usage time of the distorted trust ran out.

“It’s a waste to do more. Isn’t it proven that there are no traitors among us?”

“……”

Maybe it wasn’t so bad that we didn’t have another round here. Lee Baekho also put the distorted trust back into the subspace, as the Destruction Scholar said.

Oh, of course, he added some unnecessary remarks.

“Still, it’s a relief. If I had to kill someone I’ve been with for years, I’d feel a little uneasy, but it’s good that I don’t have to.”

Lee Baekho then smirked at Jaina.

“Ah, you probably don’t know? You were in a state where you couldn’t even remember properly anyway?”

I don’t know the details, but I could instinctively feel it. That these words were like a stab to someone’s heart.

Thump, thump. Jaina, who had been trembling silently, took one step, then two steps towards Lee Baekho and stopped. And then…

“Why don’t you try hitting me?”

Looking up at the sneering Lee Baekho, Jaina muttered through gritted teeth.

“Lee Baekho… we are not your toys for you to vent your anger on.”

“……”

“So, go throw your tantrums at your mom.”

A bold counterattack that made even the GM and Aures, who were standing next to her, flinch.

“Ah, I guess you can’t throw tantrums? You can never return to your original world—”

It was the moment Jaina was about to touch a nerve. In an instant, Lee Baekho’s figure disappeared from sight.

KWA-AAANG-! A deafening roar and a gust of wind spread in all directions.

“Wow, this is fun.”

The situation was very simple and clear. Lee Baekho tried to attack Jaina, and Aures, who was right next to her, blocked it with his shield.

“What is it? You regained your memories or something, and you already have someone to cling to?”

Even to an outsider like me, it was such a pathetic and third-rate villain line. It felt like I had seen the bottom of Lee Baekho in an unexpected place.

“Baekho, I know you’re impatient, but regain your reason. This is not like you.”

“What is like me?”

“You’re always fickle and picky, but at least you weren’t someone who would cause a ruckus like this.”

Aures, even in front of Lee Baekho, who looked like he was about to hit him, was confidently making eye contact and saying everything he wanted to say. ‘Yeah, that’s a tank.’ There are no bad tanks in the world.

***

“…Ha, I’m going to go cool my head.”

With those words, Lee Baekho left as if running away, and Aures, as if relieved, let out a long breath he had been holding in.

“Hooah… Baekho’s murderous intent is always terrifying. I thought I was going to suffocate to death.”

“Haha, for someone who said that, your eyes didn’t waver at all. I’ve seen you in a new light.”

“Ahaha… It’s my job to protect my companions. How could I back down…”

“…Thank you.”

When Jaina even gave a small thank you, Aures scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed look.

“Then, would you all like to go first? I’ll cool my head for a bit and follow you down.”

“Ah… Ah! Is that so?”

‘Is that so’ my foot. I quickly intervened before Aures could say anything more.

“Solo actions are not allowed. There’s no guarantee that it’s safe here.”

“Uh… but Lee Baekho went alone, didn’t he?”

Hey, don’t talk back. Is Lee Baekho the same as a priest?

“If it’s not allowed, then know that it’s not allowed.”

I said it firmly once again, but Aures didn’t back down.

“If being alone is the problem, then I’ll stay by her side. Would that be okay?”

Uh… If you put it that way, I don’t have anything to say… ‘Hey, you can talk this logically, why haven’t you been doing it all this time?’

Regardless of how strange it was, I had no intention of allowing it.

“No.”

“Why not?”

There are several reasons. The first is that I’m too uneasy to leave the only priest to this guy…

“You clearly said that being alone was the problem, didn’t you? So I’m saying I’ll stay by her side, so what’s the problem?”

The second reason is just this guy himself. If a man-woman problem arises in a team that’s already in the middle of a split, it feels like a real disaster party will start.

“Give me a proper answer. Otherwise, I will never back down—”

Hey, be quiet.

“Then you guys go down first. I’ll stay behind.”

Since he seemed like he would never give in if I just said no, I chose to do it instead.

“Uh… Uh? You don’t have to do that…”

Aures was greatly flustered as expected.

“It’s okay, Aures. I’ll follow you down soon, so don’t worry.”

“…I understand.”

When even Jaina said that, he had nothing to say and obediently drooped his shoulders and left. And then…

“He’s an interesting person, isn’t he?”

When only the two of us were left in the stone chamber, Jaina spoke to me.

“He’s been like that since before. Even when he’s joking around, he’s always glancing at me from the side.”

“You knew?”

“How could I not know? He’s so obvious.”

Is that so? To be honest, I didn’t really notice anything until today.

“Anyway, it’s just the two of us again.”

“Yeah, somehow it ended up like that again. Then I’ll be quiet now, so you can sort out your thoughts alone.”

After saying that, I sat cross-legged near the entrance, and Jaina also leaned against the wall a little further away. And then, a long silence followed.

As I was lost in thought and munching on jerky, she spoke first again.

“…Aren’t you going to ask?”

It felt like a random question, but there was no problem with the communication itself.

“Weren’t you supposed to need some time alone?”

“But we’re not alone anyway.”

Well, that’s true too.

“Then if I ask, will you tell me?”

To my question, which I asked as if throwing it out there, Jaina also answered as if throwing it out there.

“There’s nothing I can’t tell you. It’s not something I would bring up first, but it’s not something I’m trying to hide either.”

“……”

“And wasn’t that one of the reasons you said you would stay behind?”

Well, that was one of the reasons.

“There was a bigger reason.”

“What is it?”

“I thought it would be a headache if you two started dating in this situation.”

A straightforward and honest answer. Jaina, who heard this, laughed out loud as if she hadn’t expected it, and suddenly changed her words.

“No, I don’t think I’ll tell you after all.”

“…What, suddenly?”

“Just because. It’s not a particularly interesting story.”

“Is that so? Do as you please.”

Well, I was expecting something. I sighed, feeling a bit deflated.

Perhaps she felt a little guilty about that?

“But I’ll tell you one thing. I lied to you before, Lord. Or rather, I deliberately didn’t mention that part.”

“What was it?”

“The person I tried to save by offering my memories to Karui. I was the one who killed that person. Well, you probably expected it to some extent after hearing Lee Baekho’s words.”

“Can you tell me how that happened?”

“There wasn’t any great reason. Karui just asked for that person as a sacrifice. He promised to give me new powers, so I killed him.”

“……”

“It was a powerful ability that saved my life several times. But… I wouldn’t have done it. If I had known it would be this suffocating, I would never have…”

I could feel deep regret in Jaina’s voice, and I just didn’t ask any more questions and gave her some time alone.

10 minutes, 20 minutes… About 30 minutes passed before Jaina got up, and with the words that she was okay now, she went down the stone chamber first.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Aures approached me as soon as I entered the ruins. It seemed like the two of them were having a conversation, but I didn’t bother eavesdropping.

“Where’s Lee Baekho?”

When I asked the GM, I only got the answer that he hadn’t returned yet. Ha, is he going through puberty or something?

“Should we search for him?”

“No, what’s with the search? If we wait, he’ll come back on his own.”

“But there might be someone unknown in these ruins with us?”

“Let’s wait a little longer, and if he really doesn’t come, it won’t be too late to look for him then.”

More than anything, there are some conversations that need to be had when Lee Baekho isn’t around.

“Hey.”

I finished my conversation with the GM and turned to the Destruction Scholar.

“What is it? Lord.”

“There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

“Speak.”

Since this old man isn’t the type to talk much, I got straight to the point.

“Lee Baekho, did he seem normal to you?”

That’s what I’ve been feeling since earlier. Even if Baekho isn’t a normal person, he’s not the type to act so thoughtlessly.

He only does things that are ‘beneficial’.

“He probably isn’t normal. It seems you think so too.”

“So you also felt something was off?”

“His standard isn’t ‘good and evil’. He tries to think and act rationally in any situation. But what happened today was too emotional.”

“Is it possible that he was feeling impatient, and that’s why?”

“That’s a ridiculous story. If he was someone who would feel impatient about something like this, he wouldn’t have been able to pursue one goal for nearly twenty years.”

“That’s true…”

Then what on earth made Lee Baekho like that? Is there some kind of field effect that we don’t know about? But if that’s the case, why is everyone else except Lee Baekho so normal?

As I was pondering, the Destruction Scholar approached me and brought up another topic.

“More than that, I’m more curious about something else.”

“What is it?”

“As I kept organizing the situation, I came to the conclusion that there must have been an informant among us.”

“Wasn’t that issue over now?”

We even used the distorted trust, and even checked not only Lee Baekho’s team members but also the GM.

I couldn’t use it because it doesn’t work on me. But why is this old man bringing this up again?

“Don’t tell me… are you suspecting me and Lee Baekho?”

No matter how much I thought about it, that was the only answer, so I lowered my voice and asked, and the old man chuckled.

“That’s not it. Of course, you have a clear motive to hinder us… but there’s a more suspicious suspect than you.”