Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 717

The 6th basement level of the royal prison, accessible only through a teleportation magic circle.

And…

‘She was young.’

The voice of a ‘young woman,’ presumably trapped there.

After hearing that voice, I looked again at the handprint and noticed it was quite low.

It was about the height a ten-year-old could reach if they stretched out their hand while standing…

‘No, wait a minute.’

Like a philosopher struck by inspiration in a bathtub, a thought hit me.

‘The Earth Witch…?’

The Earth Witch.

The main villain who plunged this world into ruin and caused the creation of the bizarre city called the final fortress, Lapdonia.

It didn’t seem far-fetched to connect the mysterious girl (?) trapped in the box with the witch.

After all, this is the basement of the ‘Royal Palace,’ right?

Considering the royal family’s tendency to keep secrets, it wouldn’t be strange if the witch’s grandfather, not the witch herself, was hidden here.

Also, more than anything…

—Is the Earth Witch really dead?

When I asked Auriel Gavis this question once, he clearly answered:

—She is alive.

The Earth Witch is alive.

It could be a hallucination, but I’ve actually met a girl who claimed to be ‘Alice Groundia’ several times in the labyrinth.

So far, I’ve been thinking that the witch was hiding in the labyrinth.

Well, that’s not important right now.

Knock knock knock!

I knocked on the wall with a fist the size of a watermelon, trying to communicate.

“Who’s in there? Say something. Are you really trapped? Huh? Talk to me! You asked to be saved, didn’t you?”

But for some reason, there was no answer.

I wondered if the voice wasn’t reaching this side, so I put my hand on the wall, but there was no reaction.

Even the handprint that seemed to have been imprinted from the inside had disappeared without a trace.

“Yandel, is anyone there?”

“Uh… well….”

After hesitating for a moment, I asked Raven directly.

“Raven, can you check if there’s anyone inside?”

“Hmm… I don’t think so?”

“…Without even trying?”

“Is there any reason to try? Judging by the amount of magic power, the portal’s volume inside isn’t much different from that of the cube structure.”

“……”

“To put it simply, no living thing can survive in there! Unless they’re curled up in a corner, they would have already been sucked into the portal!”

Oh, I see.

Raven’s logical explanation made me wonder for a moment if I had been hallucinating, but that suspicion didn’t last long.

After all, this isn’t the modern world, but a fantasy world.

There’s magic, superpowers, and divine power. It’s a world where mysterious phenomena that can’t be explained by things like the geocentric coordinate system actually exist, like fighting ghosts using those abilities.

“…So, what are you going to do? You can activate the magic circle anytime now.”

At Raven’s words, I pondered for a moment.

What should I do?

Should I investigate this box further here?

“Yandel, you always tell us, right?”

“……Huh?”

“Prioritize. Is curiosity first? Or is something else first?”

At those words, I was momentarily speechless.

‘Curiosity……’

It’s not wrong, but strictly speaking, it’s not just ‘curiosity.’

The moment I heard the voice from that box.

I felt an inexplicable sense of destiny.

It was as if the ‘someone’ trapped inside had called me here.

“Raven, what do you think is the probability of accidentally falling through the floor while running through the 5th basement level passage?”

“It would be extremely low. Unless ‘Ure’ exploded twice in a row and the underground prison collapsed.”

Oh, the sarcasm.

It’s not like you didn’t notice what I was trying to say.

Swoosh.

I slowly raised my head and looked at the ceiling.

Originally, there was a hole where we fell.

Everything else was fine, but for some reason, a hole appeared only in the part where we were running.

Even that hole was restored in less than a few minutes.

And since then, not even a single piece of stone has fallen, and it’s as stable as a scientific bed.

“I know what you’re saying, Yandel. I don’t really want to stop you from doing whatever you want to do. But shouldn’t we decide quickly?”

At Raven’s urging again, I asked one last question.

“This… you said it’s a two-way magic circle, right?”

“Yes. I don’t know where you’ll arrive by using this magic circle, but there will definitely be an identical magic circle there. You’ll probably be able to come back if you want to.”

Okay, I see…

Thanks to that, I was able to end my worries more easily.

“Activate the magic circle.”

There is no doubt that some great secret is hidden here.

But now is not the time to investigate.

For now, I’ll be satisfied with finding the way, and it’s right to come back and investigate after making thorough preparations.

As Raven said just now.

There is a priority in everything.

How safely I and my companions can get through this situation is much more important than that investigation.

Therefore…

“Then, shall we do it?”

I nodded, conveying my intention to Raven, who asked one more time.

After waiting for a while, the magic circle was activated.

Flash-!

A flash of light filled my vision for a moment.

Soon, the light gradually faded, and my vision recovered.

“This is……”

White walls, white ceiling.

A sealed room with bright lights shining down like fluorescent lights.

Raven, looking around with uneasy eyes, pointed to one wall.

And…

“Why is only this wall made of metal?”

“……”

“Oh? Looking at it, there’s a tiny gap between the metals. It seems like it’s a structure that opens sideways……”

“……”

“Hey, Yandel? Yandel? Can you hear me?”

“……I can hear you.”

I was just a little dazed; it’s not like there’s something wrong with my senses.

Thud, thud.

Only then did I come to my senses and approach the ‘metal wall that was presumed to be a door.’

Raven was muttering to himself, making various guesses about ‘it.’

“Is something magical needed? But I don’t feel any magic power……”

Something magical, magic power, etc.

The most reasonable possibilities that a mage would think of first when seeing a ‘door’ without a doorknob.

For the most part, the mage’s reasoning is the most accurate.

But…

“Step aside.”

“…Yes? Ah, if you’re going to open it with force—”

“Don’t worry, it’s not that.”

I stood in front of ‘it’ and slowly reached out my hand.

I still have no idea why ‘this’ is in this world.

But I know how to use ‘this.’

Click.

So, I stretched out my index finger, which was the size of a German sausage, and pressed the button.

And soon.

Ding-!

A cheerful sound that didn’t fit this world.

Whirr.

The elevator door opened.

*

Raven didn’t think deeply about the principle of this ‘mechanical device.’

He was only curious about two things.

The flimsy security of the door opening when a button was pressed.

And the fact that no magic power was felt.

Other than that, there was no particular reaction.

“Ah, now that I see it, it seems like a device similar to a magic power elevator. We have something similar in our magic tower.”

Even while listening to those words, I was sure.

This ‘mechanical device’ does not operate with magic power.

Well, Raven still seems to believe that there is a subtle circuit that cannot be felt…

‘That’s impossible.’

Even if it’s not the magic tower, I’ve ridden a magic power elevator a few times.

But it was completely different from this one I was riding now.

It was also less safe, almost like an iron cage, and it was a type that moved the pulley with magic power.

But what about this one?

“……Yandel?”

Whether it’s electricity or magic power, I can’t tell by looking at it.

No, can you tell by looking at it?

‘Damn it, why is this here……’

Even the design is different at a glance.

It’s so elegant that it wouldn’t look out of place even if it were installed in a hotel that costs millions of won a night…

Whirr.

It’s very modern.

The lights on the ceiling, the buttons next to the door, and even the mirror on the wall.

In the mirror, a barbarian and a mage were standing in full gear, but even so, the moment I entered this elevator, I was under the illusion that this was the modern world.

“But how do you operate this kind of elevator? Usually, you ask the manager to operate it by sending a voice message……”

Listening to Raven’s voice expressing his doubts, I naturally pressed the button.

After all, there was only one button besides open and close.

“Oh! W-wow, it’s moving!”

The elevator started to move as soon as the floor was pressed.

It feels like it’s going up, not down…

“…Hey, Yandel, say something. It’s scary when you keep doing that.”

“……”

“We don’t even know what will come out when the device stops and the door opens……”

Certainly… I’m scared too.

What will be on the other side of this door?

In the current state, I couldn’t even imagine it.

Whoooosh……

So, I just waited quietly.

I was ready to swing my weapon at any time, but I didn’t get too nervous.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds……

I calmed my breathing while counting the time silently.

And so.

’50 seconds.’

About 50 seconds passed.

The speed of going up seemed to slow down, and the movement stopped smoothly, and the scene beyond the door that I was so curious about unfolded through the slowly opening door.

First of all.

It was a space like a hotel lobby.

A chandelier and a small fountain in the center.

A shiny marble floor.

And…

Thud.

A knight standing in front of it.

“……”

The knight looked at us without any sign of panic.

As if he knew about the visit in advance.

He stood in the front, like a royal guard on duty, without asking anything.

‘……Is this a mid-boss from the start?’

In a game, it felt like a mid-boss appeared as soon as you entered the dungeon.

I knew it at a glance.

That he was not an easy opponent.

‘Well, if he’s guarding a place like this, it goes without saying.’

Of course, that didn’t make me shrink back.

After all, who am I?

A super-powerful barbarian who is confident that he will never lose to a guy who uses ‘aura’ [a type of magical energy].

That’s me.

The only problem is whether I can protect Raven behind me…

Swoosh.

Thinking that, I took a step back, trying to occupy a space that would be easier to protect Raven, when the knight gently drew his sword and pointed it at me.

And…

‘…Huh?’

That was the whole situation.

Swish-!

When I came to my senses, a thin line was drawn on my cheek.

Trickle.

Belatedly, a drop of blood flowed down with a stinging pain.

‘I was cut……?’

It was unbelievable.

Of course, it wasn’t impossible that this knight was a master of quick swordsmanship and that he cut me in a way that I couldn’t even see.

Also, the fact that there was a distance of more than twenty steps between the knight and me was absolutely not impossible in this world.

But…

“……Interesting.”

If such a blow penetrated my physical resistance and made me bleed, it becomes a completely different story.

Even just now, this bastard didn’t use aura.

‘If it’s not aura……’

Without even caring about the cut, I stared at him as calmly as possible.

No, to be precise, I looked at the sword he was holding.

‘Is it the sword after all……?’

The secret of the previous blow was likely in that sword.

Ah, of course, the sword itself was something I had never seen before.

Even if I searched my database, there is no such numbered item.

But, if that’s not the case, it can’t be explained.

Therefore…

‘I have to somehow take the sword away or induce a fight in a way that prevents him from using it—’

As I was figuring out how to fight in my head, the knight suddenly put his sword away, as if the previous one was just to gain the upper hand, and turned his back.

And…

“Follow me.”

The guy started walking on the marble floor, turning his back and making a thudding sound.

Instead of me, Raven, who was behind me, carefully asked, peeking out his head.

“Uh, where are we going……?”

A voice like a frightened herbivore.

The knight, with his back defenselessly turned, answered the question as he walked.

“Audience chamber.”

“…Huh?”

It was a completely unexpected situation.

“The Founding King has granted you an audience.”

……I never thought I’d get a chance to meet the king like this.