Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 692

“Stop dragging your feet and get to the point.”

“Isn’t there one more person who hasn’t received an answer?”

What is this old man talking about? He keeps saying things that don’t make sense.

“I’m talking about Bryatt.”

“…What?”

“Bryatt hasn’t been cleared as not being an informant, has he?”

“Don’t tell me… you think he’s still alive?”

“Well, as someone who saw the body myself, I think the possibility is very low… but his death doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”

The Destruction Scholar continued, his voice devoid of any emotion.

“No matter how many times I think about it, I keep reaching the same conclusion.”

“……”

“If there’s an informant among us, it’s none other than Bryatt.”

I don’t know what other basis he has, but the old man seemed convinced that Bryatt was the traitor.

Therefore, I also had a lot of thoughts.

‘The priest wants to kill Lee Baekho, the warrior is a stooge of the city lord, and the mage has other plans.’

And now the archer is a traitor… ‘Did Lee Baekho really assemble this team with his feet?’ Nothing surprises me anymore.

Squeak. As a woman opened the front door and entered the building, those gathered in the living room jumped up from their seats.

“Emily…! What happened?”

“The method? Have you still not found a method?”

It had been four months since Bjorn Yandel went out to find a way out and disappeared.

At first, they thought he would be a few days late in returning, but after more than a week, the situation changed.

Worried, they went down to the basement themselves and faced an empty underground plaza.

Therefore, they started making inquiries in earnest from then on…

“Yurven Havelion. What about that person? Has that person still not appeared?”

The anxiety grew as even the magitech scholar, who was said to have gone to see the magic circle with Bersil’s introduction, disappeared without a trace.

Of course, in the early days, the prevailing opinion was that the two had gone outside the city walls, and if they waited a little longer, they would return on their own.

However, as the period of disappearance lengthened, that opinion changed. It was true that Bjorn had gone out with the magitech scholar.

However, something happened outside, and that’s why they haven’t been able to return yet.

In fact, it didn’t take long for that speculation to turn into conviction.

Before long, the royal family’s forces began to be stationed in the empty basement…

“We still haven’t found a way to bring Bjorn back.”

Amelia, representing the clan, was running around everywhere to gather information, but the only information she had found so far was that the teleportation magic circle in the basement had been damaged.

It was information obtained by risking danger and infiltrating the military barracks to eavesdrop on the conversations of the commanders, and thanks to this, they were able to infer why Bjorn had not yet returned.

“I see…”

“Don’t worry. Still, we’ve made some progress this time.”

“…Progress?”

“It’s not that the way back is blocked, but that there’s no problem with going out.”

“Yes? Is that really true?”

“Luckily, we also got our hands on how to activate the magic circle. Whether it’s feasible or not, Gowland, you’ll have to see for yourself.”

Amelia took out a document that appeared to be from the military from her bosom, and Bersil read it quickly and meticulously. And…

“It seems that the royal family knew everything about this magic circle. The method of activating the magic circle is neatly organized like a manual.”

“So what’s the conclusion? Can you do it?”

“Yes. If I have this, I can activate the magic circle too.”

As Bersil answered with a confident voice, Amelia nodded her head in agreement.

“Then that’s settled.”

“Settled…?”

“Everyone, finish preparing for the expedition in three days.”

It was a sudden order, but no one objected.

“Ooooh! Are we finally doing something too!!”

Ainar, who had been dozing off, burst into cheers.

“Ugh… the leader who left home hasn’t returned for months, so we have no choice but to go get him ourselves.”

Misha nodded her head as if determined.

“Yes. He left all the work and disappeared on his own, so how hard do you think it was for me? I heard that Shavin Emuer said he would either kill him or make him resign when he comes back.”

Bersil, who was in charge of all the clan’s affairs, let out a sigh mixed with resentment.

“Putting all that aside, isn’t this a rare opportunity? For us to go save our leader.”

At the words of the navigator Auyen, Erwen closed her eyes and placed her hand on her chest.

“It was always the old man’s role to protect us and come to our rescue.”

The Anabada clan’s expedition was decided.***

Layton Bryatt. The archer of Lee Baekho’s team, who had a good personality and decent abilities. If this guy is really a traitor, there are suspicious circumstances.

He was also in charge of guiding our team.

[It’s not a monster, it’s a person.]

[There’s only one opponent… surprisingly, he seems to be in a deep sleep.]

Even if Lee Baekho didn’t sense anything, he, by the nature of his position, could naturally guide us to Hans L… or rather, to that unknown guy who was disguised as Hans L.

‘Besides, when everyone was trying to stop Lee Baekho from using the dimensional stone, he didn’t say a word…’

Once I started suspecting him, I really started to think that he might have been a traitor.

Well, nothing is certain yet—. Thump-! At that moment, a vibration was felt through the ground. However, I didn’t know where the direction was.

Usually, agile characters would take care of the briefing in this kind of situation, but the problem is that there are no such positions around right now.

Two mages, one priest, and two tanks.

“Where is it…?”

“It seemed to be over there…”

“It’s far away, so it’ll take a little more time to check with magic detection—.”

While they were floundering due to the absence of experts, the vibration was felt again. Thump-! A bigger vibration than before.

And this time, perhaps because I was on edge.

“It’s over there.”

This time, I was able to clearly recognize the direction, so I immediately took the group to the location. And… Thump-! Thump! Thump!

The closer we got, the louder and clearer the vibrations and roars became.

“————Ah, mal———!!”

I could hear the sound of a conversation, albeit faintly. Even if I heard it vaguely, it was Lee Baekho’s voice. But the problem is…

“He’s fighting someone… right?”

“It seems so.”

For now, it seems so. At first, I thought Lee Baekho was just smashing things out of anger.

“Hey, you bastard! If I catch you—!”

Listening to the conversation, it was clear that he was chasing someone. Therefore, I sped up and sprinted towards the source of the noise.

And… Tap-! The moment I turned the corner as if hitting a wall due to inertia. Flash-! A flash of light burst in front of my eyes as if a nuclear bomb had exploded.

My instincts as a tank took over before my head could process it.

[The character has cast [Giantification].]

I quickly inflated my body to block the narrow passage and protected my upper body with my shield. And as expected, immediately after that.

Kwaaaaaaaang-! An intangible shock strongly pushed my body back, and a hot heat was transmitted to my skin.

It felt like my whole body was melting. The parts covered by the shield, like I had applied sunscreen, were a little better, but… Sizzle-!

When the flash subsided, smoke rose from the hot armor.

Sting-! It felt like hot electricity was flowing from my toes to my head, but first, I checked the situation behind me.

“Is everyone okay?”

“I’m, I’m okay… Ack!”

What, are they badly hurt? As I was about to turn around with that question, I heard the Destruction Scholar’s voice.

“Everyone is hurt, but not critically.”

This type of personality is very helpful in times like this. In an emergency, a clean briefing that reduces waste is important.

Anyway, in that sense. Tap. I put aside my worries about the rear and ran forward.

It was somewhat dented and melted, but the wall structure itself was intact, with only smoke rising. It was not surprising.

That’s because I had tested it before. Even with [Star’s Demise], the structures here cannot be destroyed.

There are a few weak points where physical damage is possible, but those are extremely small, so they are out of the question.

‘Well, it seems like he used a different skill this time.’

How many hidden ultimate moves does this bastard have?

“Haa… haa… haa…”

After turning one more corner, I saw Lee Baekho standing there, panting for breath.

“…Lee Baekho.”

Lee Baekho, who seemed to have noticed my presence only after hearing my voice, calmly replied.

“Oh, you’re here…?”

“Tell me. What the hell is going on?”

“It’s nothing. I was trying to catch a rat, but it was so fast… I got a little carried away in anger.”

“A rat…?”

“But I don’t know if it worked out. Do you want to go together? To check if the rat was caught or not.”

“Lead the way.”

“Ah, yes sir!”

Regardless of his playful attitude, Lee Baekho quickly took the lead and guided us, and it was about a minute later when we followed him.

“Wow, it survived even after getting hit by that?”

Only bloodstains remained in the empty passage. By the way, these bloodstains were connected to the opposite side of the passage…

“But somehow, I don’t think it went far?”

Lee Baekho smiled and slowly walked along the bloodstains. One step, two steps, three steps… The steps that had been continuing stopped after about three minutes.

The bloodstains stopped in the middle, and Lee Baekho also stopped walking.

‘Instead of moving so leisurely, shouldn’t we hurry up and find out where it disappeared to?’

I felt impatient for no reason, but Lee Baekho just leisurely scanned the surroundings.

“What are you doing? We need to hurry up and find—.”

“Baron, do you know that?”

I tilted my head at the question that interrupted my words, and Lee Baekho continued as if explaining.

“In the world we lived in, there’s a creature called a chameleon. It’s amazing because its skin color changes depending on the surrounding colors, and it uses that when hunting.”

At first, I thought it was nonsense, but it didn’t take long to understand what he was trying to say.

In the first place, Lee Baekho doesn’t call me ‘Baron’ unless he’s not in front of others.

“But… looking at it, I keep thinking of a chameleon?”

With those words, Lee Baekho punched the empty wall. And… Thud-! At the same time as a dull, different sound than when it hit the wall, burst out.

“Cough!”

The ‘rat’ that had been hiding in stealth finally revealed itself.

“Got you, you little rascal.”

Lee Baekho, who was looking down with a creepy smile, grabbed the rat by the collar and lifted it up. The physique was close to that of an average man.

Judging by the fact that there is no fur or ears, it seems that the race is also human. The body is wrapped in tattered robes…

‘A wolf mask…?’

That would be the most noticeable feature right now. The rest can be found out slowly from now on—.

“What is this again?”

The body was limp as if it had already lost consciousness. But when I looked closely, dark-colored blood was flowing from its mouth.

I was startled and checked the pulse, but for some reason, I couldn’t feel any movement.

“Is it suicide…?”

Lee Baekho, who heard my muttering, chuckled and turned his head to look at me. And…

“Baron.”

He called me by a title he never uses when there are no ears to hear, and said.

“No matter what world you go to, small animals always have a similar commonality, do you know what it is?”

I already felt like I knew what he was going to say next, but unfortunately, Lee Baekho didn’t give me time to guess the answer.

“They always pretend to be dead when they’re at a disadvantage.”

“…?”

“Just like this.”

With those words, Lee Baekho punched the corpse’s abdomen once more.

“Cough-!!”

Lee Baekho reached out to the wolf mask, who was writhing on the floor like a bug.

“Now, let’s take a look at your face.”

It was time to take off the mask.

Lee Baekho’s hand that was taking off the mask was far from words like gentle or considerate.

He spread his palm, grabbed the mask, and then. Rip. He ignored all the devices for firmly fixing the mask and tore it off roughly. And…

“……”

The face beyond the mask was finally revealed. Lee Baekho, who was silent for a moment as if organizing his thoughts, opened his mouth, breaking the silence.