Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 696

“Haha… you’re still the same. I appreciate the concern, but there’s no need. Just because an ant worries about a human, it doesn’t mean anything will change.”

Aurel Gavis, with a benevolent smile, delivered a cutting remark. Seeing Lee Baekho awkwardly smiling, unable to manage his expression, it was clear that this exchange was a complete defeat for him.

“Well, then, it would be best to conclude today’s meeting here.”

“Um… Elder? There’s one thing I’d like to ask…”

“It’s late today. If there’s a chance someday, I’ll listen to the question you wanted to ask today then.”

“…Does that mean we’ll meet again?”

“Of course. You’re a model student, after all. I’m always keeping a close watch on you.”

“I-Is that so…?”

GM seemed less disappointed at the mention of another opportunity, and Aurel Gavis, with a warm smile, led us deeper into the cave. Thud, thud.

After walking for about a minute, a wide open space appeared.

“Wow…”

“How many are there?”

As soon as we arrived at the open space, everyone exclaimed in awe. It was understandable. On the walls of the spacious area, which was large enough to play soccer, dimensional steles were neatly arranged. There seemed to be hundreds of them, at a rough estimate…

“You all… hmm, this would be good.”

Aurel Gavis then pointed to the dimensional stele we would use.

“Um… is it possible to know where that leads to?”

“Hmm, I’d like to leave it as a surprise for later, but since you’re so anxious, I’ll tell you. If you go through this, you’ll return to the first place.”

“The first place… are you perhaps referring to the place where the magic circle was destroyed?”

“That’s right.”

GM looked relieved after learning the destination. But is this a case of ‘you can’t spit on a smiling face’? ‘It’s strange how he always answers his questions so well.’

I had a feeling that GM might have been aiming for that. Well, it seems like a pointless act to me. No matter how much they laugh and chat in front of him, this gloomy old man will be plotting behind their backs with a smile.

Whoosh-! As the portal opened, Aurel Gavis gave us a look as if to say, ‘Hurry and leave,’ and Lee Baekho spat on the floor. And…

“That damn unlucky old geezer.”

He stepped into the portal first, as if he couldn’t stand being in the same space any longer.

“I’ll go next. Just in case Baekho causes trouble in the meantime.”

The Doom Old Man went second, followed by Aures… After that, Jeina and GM went through the portal, and soon, only Aurel Gavis and I were left.

‘Now there’s no need to act.’

As I stopped in front of the portal with that thought, Aurel Gavis stared at me intently.

“Why, do you want me to leave quickly?”

I said, sounding annoyed, and Aurel Gavis smiled benevolently again.

“Hehe, that’s not it. When have I ever made you feel like I was rushing you? I just looked because it seemed like you had something to say.”

“…”

“It’s not like you? If you have something to say, go ahead.”

He says that, but he’ll never tell me the things he doesn’t want to answer. I looked around and, taking a cue from GM, I opened my mouth politely.

“Elder, I’ll ask just one thing.”

“It seems like you always ask me something whenever you see me.”

“That’s because you have so many secrets, Elder.”

“Hehe… go ahead and ask. What is it you want to know?”

“What exactly is this place?”

At my question, Aurel Gavis looked a little surprised.

“Why are you curious about that in particular? There must be other more important questions.”

“I’ve already asked other important questions several times, but I haven’t gotten a proper answer.”

I said, sounding annoyed, that I wasn’t going to waste my time anymore, and Aurel Gavis suddenly burst out laughing.

“…What? Haha! Hahaha! Ahahahaha!”

…Is he a crazy old man? What part of this is so funny? I couldn’t understand it at all, but the fact that this old man was in a good mood was a positive thing.

“Ahaha… I’m sorry. I suddenly remembered something from the past.”

“Something from the past…?”

“Anyway, I’ve had several things I’ve felt sorry for you about recently, so I’ll answer what you asked.”

“Oh, I’m so grateful that you would.”

“Don’t be sarcastic.”

“Yes…”

Since the old man was in the mood to answer, I decided to wait quietly without provoking him further. After all, this question seemed quite important.

[This place is somewhere outside the fortress walls.] Somewhere outside the fortress walls. [It’s a very meaningful place to me.] Aurel Gavis’s meaningful place.

Moreover, this place has a very similar structure to the first floor’s crystal cave. What kind of place is this?

“Shall we take a walk?”

As my questions grew, Aurel Gavis suggested a walk, and I readily nodded.

And as I followed behind Aurel Gavis, who had started walking ahead, he suddenly spoke in a Zen-like riddle.

“A lie you want to believe is the truth, and a truth you want to believe is a lie.”

“Yes…?”

“If you had to choose one of these two, which would you choose?”

I wondered why he was suddenly asking me this, but this old man wouldn’t be saying something pointless. I thought carefully.

Come to think of it, I had seen a balance game with a similar theme on the internet a long time ago. Curry that tastes like poop. Poop that tastes like curry.

Ah, of course, there were clearly different aspects from the Zen riddle that had just begun. But, rather, that made it easier to choose.

“I’d choose the latter.”

“You prefer the truth you want to believe is a lie?”

“Because it’s still the truth.”

“Hmm, I see…”

Aurel Gavis only gave an ambiguous reaction to my answer and didn’t say anything more. I gave him a sincere answer, though.

“We’ve arrived.”

The place where Aurel Gavis stopped was in front of a stone door blocking the cave passage. The stone door was covered in some kind of magic, and it opened automatically as soon as I put my hand on it.

And…

“…?”

A space with an unexpected structure unfolded before my eyes. A space reminiscent of the universe. A straight staircase led upwards.

“Be careful not to fall as you come up.”

As always, the old man started climbing the stairs without any explanation, and I silently followed behind him, looking around.

And how much time had passed? Thud, thud. Even as I endlessly climbed the stairs, I could tell.

He brought me here to show me that thing placed on the altar at the end of the stairs.

“What is that…?”

“You’ll know as soon as you see it.”

I wondered what he meant, but I actually knew as soon as I reached the end of the stairs. I knew what this object was, floating on the altar, surrounded by a thin membrane.

“Fragments of the Record Stone…”

There were even hundreds of them, not just one, floating in the air.

“Did you collect all of these by hand?”

Aurel Gavis nodded indifferently at my question. He reached out into the air, and one of the fragments, which had been scattered like a galaxy and slowly orbiting, was slowly pulled towards us.

“Would you like to read it?”

I nodded and silently read the ancient language written on the fragment. However, the problem was…

“An evil spirit from another world… how do I read this?”

There was something that couldn’t be translated.

“This isn’t just ancient language, it’s just like a pattern…”

“You don’t have to translate it. It’s like a name, if you think of it as a person.”

Well, then, I decided to move on for now… It didn’t take long to read all the remaining fragments. They were very short, after all.

“An evil spirit from another world ‘————’ lost three companions and finally realized the path they had to take…”

…Huh? No, wait a minute.

“Is this ‘————’ me…?”

I looked to the side in a hurry, but Aurel Gavis only smiled gently and didn’t answer.

“…”

Damn it.

Fragments of the Record Stone. Fragments of the ‘Record Stone’ that recorded all time, from the past to the present and even the future.

I knew the power of this ‘record’ better than anyone else. I had experienced it once before. Thump-! The past I had gone to through the fragments of the Record Stone.

From that time, I had done everything I could to change the future where a person died, but I had failed in the end. The stories written in the Record Stone are eventually completed.

Of course, there were also tricks like using ‘deception’ like Amelia… but…

‘This time, those tricks won’t work.’

How could I do it in the first place? I’m not a naive ten-year-old kid.

It’s impossible to have my companions pretend to die and deceive me. Besides, I don’t even know the exact timing. Thump-! Three people… ‘Three people…’

In [Dungeon & Stone], it’s commonplace for companions to die. But why does this small number feel so big and desperate? Thump-!

Even though my heart was already tightening, my mind was coldly thinking. Who are those three? No, to be precise, who would I rather they be?

Even thoughts that a leader should never have quickly flashed through my mind. At that moment.

“Knowing the ending is truly a painful thing.”

Aurel Gavis, who had given me the biggest dilemma of my life, nodded as if he understood me. At that sight, the blood rushed to my head.

“…What?”

I felt like I wanted to punch that old, wrinkled face right away. But…

“…”

I had to hold back. Punching him here would only be to my detriment. Yes, so…

“When…”

I asked him, gritting my teeth so hard that my body trembled.

“Do you know when… the things written here will happen…?”

“I don’t know. If the Record Stone was intact, I might know. But it’s difficult to guess the timing with just the fragments that have fallen off.”

‘What, so you’re saying you can’t help me at all?’ The moment I felt something like a thread snap in my head, Aurel Gavis continued.

“But looking at the way the Record Stone is recorded, this must also be one event.”

In other words, it doesn’t mean that three people will die one by one over a long period of time, but that three people will die during one continuous ‘event’.

I then asked him, gritting my teeth.

“…Is it possible to know who those three are?”

A question I had hesitated to ask hundreds or thousands of times in a split second. But this old man, as if he knew my worries, answered immediately.

“I don’t know.”

‘I don’t know’ without any excuses or explanations. But for some reason, that made me angry, but also relieved. If those names had come out, I would have really gone crazy.

“You seem to be in a complicated state of mind. Are your companions that important to you?”

“…Don’t provoke me. I’m really at my limit right now.”

“If that’s the case.”

With superhuman patience, I managed to say that, and Aurel Gavis didn’t say anything more, and after that, a silent time followed. Thump-!

Even though quite some time had passed, my heart was still pounding, and the strength in my toes showed no sign of letting up. But…

‘Information.’ Still, I regained some reason.

“Elder.”

“It seems you’ve regained some of your senses.”

After all, the ‘record’ is something I can’t do anything about right now.

“What exactly is the reason you showed this to me, Elder?”

I decided that figuring this out was the priority. This old man, whose specialty and hobby is playing with people, wouldn’t have shown this to me without a reason.

“Reason… To be honest, it’s closer to a whim. In fact, if you had left as you were earlier, and if you hadn’t asked where this place was, I wouldn’t have shown it to you.”

“…”

“But, you don’t seem to believe me?”

Of course, there was no way I could believe that. No matter how much I didn’t leave first and talked to him, I thought there must be a dark scheme behind showing me this. But…

“No matter how I look at it, you’re the former.”

“…?” “Earlier, you said you were the latter, but that’s just because you want to be that kind of person. You’re the former.”

At first, I wondered what he was trying to say, but soon I understood. It was an extension of the Zen riddle we had shared earlier. A lie you want to believe is the truth. And a truth you want to believe is a lie.

“You want my words of ‘whim’ to be a lie, but this is an undeniable truth.”

It sounded like a forced logic to distract from the point, but there was nothing sharp to refute it. But even so, I was looking for a way to find a gap.

“Of course, I’m not disappointed in you. If I asked a hundred people this question, everyone would choose ‘truth,’ but when they’re actually in that situation, the situation is reversed…”

“…”

“Isn’t that right, Bjorn Yandel… or rather, Lee Hansoo?”

Damn it, that’s why I have nothing to say. Let’s just give up on trying to win against this old man with words.

“…I understand. It’s just that I made things this way by talking to you, and it’s not like you were aiming for anything, right?”

As I said, resigned, Aurel Gavis looked up at the fragments of the Record Stone, spread out like a galaxy in the air, with a somewhat lonely look.

“I don’t know what you think of me, but I’m not a monster. And as Baekho said, I’m not omnipotent either…”

“…”

“I’m just an ordinary human who struggles, worries, and suffers while desperately trying to achieve one thing. Just like you.”

Well, I’m sorry to say this in the middle of a serious moment, but no matter how much he says that, he just looks like a crazy old man to me. There’s no need to ruin the mood by saying that, though.

“…Since we’re here, can we look at other things too?” “Your companions must be waiting outside, is that okay?”

“…Companions, my ass.”

They’re just ‘companions’ at best.