Surviving The Game As A Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 716

There’s a saying in the world.

That if you live as a prisoner for a long time, prisoners start showing off their shackles to each other.

Whose are bigger, heavier, and stronger.

How hard it is for them to wear them.

At first glance, you might think, ‘Hey, would they really show off something like that?’ but in fact, that saying might be true.

Because even I am not that different.

Good equipment.

Status.

Money.

Skills and experience, etc….

While feeling proud of the results obtained through hard work and feeling the desire to be recognized by others, sometimes a sense of emptiness sweeps through my whole body.

What’s the point of gaining wealth, fame, and power?

It will all be meaningless hard work as soon as I return to the original world.

Therefore, the man thought.

Good equipment.

Status.

Money.

Skills and experience, etc….

No matter how much I talk about these things, it will only sound like showing off shackles to someone.

‘Ha, I want a Big Mac.’

Because this world is a prison.

***

A man quietly looks in the mirror.

Thump-

A face that is considered fairly handsome.

And the white full-body armor that is worn over it.

Thump-

The man stared at himself in the mirror for a long time, feeling a strange awkwardness.

Ah, or is it not strange?

Swoosh.

The man touched the upper left part of his chest plate.

The part where his index finger touched was empty, with only a faint trace that could only be seen upon close inspection.

You know how it is?

Like when you stick a sticker on something for a long time and then peel it off, leaving a mark.

Tap.

The man took his hand off the mark.

He is no longer a holy knight of the Order.

Officially leaving the Order, he became an outsider, and he could no longer use the title ‘holy knight’.

As proof, he also returned the emblem that was attached to his armor.

He no longer needs to attend the dawn prayer, the pre-meal prayer, or the midnight prayer that everyone gathered for before going to bed.

But……

Thump-

Even so, the man in the mirror knelt on the carpeted floor, closed his eyes, and offered a brief prayer.

It was an act he had continued every morning since leaving the Order.

‘May the star that rises at twilight guide us……’

In fact, the man hated praying.

Even when he was in the Order, he complained inwardly about how often they prayed, and sometimes he made excuses to skip it.

But even so, the only reason he still continues the morning prayer is one thing.

It was the same reason why all humans pray to God.

‘Your servant earnestly begs, please do not take away your power from me. Have mercy. Save me from danger.’

Because he is anxious.

He had been raising a tank character that mainly used divine power, but if that divine power disappeared one day, he would just become a useless character.

In fact, there are quite a few cases where people lose all their divine power after leaving the Order.

Well, to be honest, praying also makes me feel at ease.

The desire to lean on something must exist even in a mere stone.

Thump-

The man, who had been kneeling as if in silent prayer, stood up.

And he looked up at the ceiling and said.

‘……Please, I beg you. Looking at it, it seems like the Goddess also cares about the Baron, so I’ll take good care of him by his side. Okay?’

It was a very casual way of talking to God, but it was not unfamiliar to him.

From the beginning, even when he was living in the Order, he would offer prayers with a pious tone, but inside he would use this kind of language, and yet his divine power steadily accumulated.

Maybe the Goddess prefers this kind of comfortable relationship.

……Or maybe not.

Knock knock.

Just as he was about to go out, he heard a knock on the door.

‘Parab-nim, are you inside?’

Waiting in front of the door was a familiar-faced woman.

A small physique.

Round eyes.

Overall, she had a gentle impression, but she also had an air of stubbornness and justice.

‘Marone-yang? What’s the matter? There’s still time before the assembly time……’

‘It’s nothing. I heard that it’s difficult to put on big armor by yourself… I came to see if there was anything I could help with. Well, it seems like you’ve already put it all on by yourself!’

‘Ahaha… At first, it was difficult for me to do it alone, but eventually, I got the hang of it. Thank you for your concern.’

‘Would you like to go together when you’re done? It’s almost assembly time.’

‘Ah, sure.’

So the two left the accommodation and headed to the assembly point.

Several people were already gathered in front of it, and the vice-captain with a serious expression was visible.

Versil Gowland.

Another prisoner in this vast prison, with shackles as proud as his own.

For reference, she recently got a new shackle.

‘I didn’t realize it at first, but lately, I’ve been feeling Yandel-nim’s absence a lot. It must be hard for Gowland-ssi too……’

‘Ahaha… I guess so. I suppose……’

Parab smiled awkwardly and took a breath.

Thump-!

Even though he hadn’t done any strenuous exercise, his heart was pounding from the moment he woke up.

A symptom that had appeared since the day he returned to this city.

It had been several days already, so he should be used to it by now.

But this thing just doesn’t seem to get used to it.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump-!

He still felt so anxious that he was going crazy, and sometimes he had panic attacks that made it hard to breathe.

Because of that intuition, which was either a blessing or a curse.

‘Please, let me get through today safely.’

Suddenly, his symptoms worsened, and he closed his eyes and prayed to the Goddess of this world once more.

And at that moment.

Pshewwwwwwwwww-!

A sound like a fighter jet taking off struck his eardrums.

At this, all the clan members gathered in the open space looked at the sky where the sound came from, and at the same time, they were stunned.

‘Huh?’

Something that was shot into the sky like a rocket, drew an arc and moved towards the center of the city.

From that high place in the sky, at a speed that seemed slow yet very fast.

Something shining, leaving a clear trail in the sky, was shot.

And……

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang-!

The alarm bells installed on the city walls began to ring all at once.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang-!!!

Soon, the entire city shook.

***

Drrrrrrrrr-!

A slight vibration was felt on the 6th basement floor.

I looked at Raven and quietly organized my thoughts.

‘There’s a portal……’

A barbarian does not limit his imagination by saying that something is impossible when he hears a ridiculous statement.

Well, the mage herself seemed unsure.

‘Th-That might not be the case……! I just vaguely felt the unique magical energy of a portal from over there……’

Even if she is not a ‘guide’ who instinctively feels the existence of a portal from afar, she is a mage who is more sensitive to magic than anyone else.

So there must really be a portal over there.

Besides… I had heard about this before.

Tuk, tuk……

The Round Table 20 years ago.

No, now that much more time has passed, it should be called the Round Table of twenty-something years ago, but anyway.

There, an evil spirit from another world named ‘Kagureas’ said.

[There is a portal in the basement of the royal palace.]

In addition to the dimensional plaza, there is a portal somewhere in the basement of the royal palace.

Maybe that’s right here.

‘Surely it’s not a portal connected to the labyrinth……?’

Well, I’ll have to check the details, but it’s unlikely to be connected to the labyrinth.

Because ‘Kakureas’ also said this.

[I don’t know much about it since I found out about it by chance, but it doesn’t seem to be a portal connected to the labyrinth.]

Well, this was also close to hearsay.

But since it was said by the first discoverer, it must be somewhat credible.

‘Is there anything else besides the portal?’

‘I think I need to take a closer look……’

‘Hurry up. Maybe we’ve made a huge discovery.’

Did she like the wording ‘huge discovery’?

Raven was not just following my request, but enthusiastically investigated the box(?) that was presumed to contain the portal.

She went around once.

She looked closely to see if there were any grooves and went around again. She said she was curious about the top, so she used levitation magic to go up there as well.

Kwaaang-!

She hit the wall with a mace, and even instructed me to dig down if I had a shovel, etc., etc……

After doing everything she could, there was only one thing she could find out.

That there was nothing to find out except for the existence of the portal.

Ah, is there one more thing now?

Of course, this wasn’t something I found out during the investigation process.

‘Huh? Yandel-ssi! Look over there! The ceiling we fell from has been restored!’

The floor of the 5th basement floor, which had caused us to fall here, had been neatly repaired at some point.

Looking at it, the slight vibration that had been heard was no longer felt at all.

Because of this, it felt like we had entered a completely isolated space, and I became very urgent.

‘Teleportation? We can use teleportation, right?’

‘Huh? Ah… J-Just a moment!’

Only then did Raven realize the fear that she might be trapped in this space forever, and she quickly drew a magic circle on the ground and experimented with something.

And……

‘Yandel-ssi……?’

‘Tell me quickly.’

‘There’s… there’s bad news and good news—’

‘Bad news first.’

‘I don’t think I can use multi-teleportation magic here… The magic keeps scattering……’

Damn it, are we really trapped here?

It didn’t make sense, but I tried to speak as calmly as possible.

‘Then what’s the good news?’

‘Although it’s not visible to the naked eye, there’s a magic circle for spatial movement embedded under this floor. Maybe that’s why the magic keeps scattering… But if we activate this—’

‘In short.’

‘We can escape, but we don’t know where we’ll end up.’

…So we don’t have to worry about being trapped here forever.

I feel a little relieved.

‘You know how to use military magic circles, right? It’s almost the same method. You create a magic circle at a designated coordinate and use only magic power to easily go back and forth……’

‘Just the key points.’

‘This magic circle has only one circuit. It can only go back and forth in two directions. So what are you going to do?’

It was a problem that didn’t need any thought.

‘Are you sure there’s nothing more we can find out here?’

‘Yes. I don’t know if there was any research equipment, but this is the limit with just our bare hands.’

‘I see. Then activate the magic circle right away.’

‘Yes.’

Raven, who seemed to have already known that I would make this choice, immediately started the activation process without any objection.

‘It will probably take some time. I’m going to check if there’s anything dangerous. I’ll tell you when it’s done, so rest.’

Since it would take quite a while, I approached the cube-shaped structure located in the center.

A gray structure that was neither black nor white.

The surface was soft enough to leave a mark when touched, but it had the durability to not even get a scratch even after being hit dozens of times with a mace.

‘If there really is a portal inside, there must be a way to enter……’

Well, maybe it’s the kind where an entrance appears if you use magic or put a card key on it?

But if it was magic, Raven would have noticed something……

As I continued to think, I thought it was a waste of time and brought up another topic.

‘Noark.’

A problem that might be much more important than that mysterious box. Who did these guys join hands with, and what are they trying to achieve?

It’s a bit suspicious to just say that they’re trying to overthrow the royal family.

‘……Sector 7.’

And is Sector 7 okay?

Looking at the situation, it seemed like ‘Ure’ had exploded once more right before the collapse……

I hope they’re safe—.

‘……Huh?’