Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 726

727. Betrayer (1)

‘Why are you here?’

That’s what he seemed to be saying with just his eyes.

On one hand, I thought maybe this guy had a talent for ‘acting,’ but on the other hand, I understood his feelings.

I was the one who had been stuck with the king and hadn’t shown my face outside for days.

It must have been a completely unexpected situation for him.

Well, they might have gotten information about me showing up in District 5 before coming here, but…

‘Would he have been even more surprised then?’

Yeah, probably.

Like, ‘Why the hell is that punk who should be in District 5 here?’

“Ah, it’s been a while.”

I said with a smirk, and he seemed to snap out of it, barely moving his stiff facial muscles to reply.

“…Pshh. I’ve been getting a lot of support lately, you see.”

He answered with his usual relaxed(?) tone, but I could clearly see that he wasn’t okay inside.

That’s because summons that have reached a certain level react and act according to the summoner’s will, even without separate commands.

And…

“Psh, pshh…”

No sooner had he let out an awkward laugh than the chimera he was riding on, which had been confidently extending its front legs, began to retract them and back away.

“Where are you going?”

I asked, smashing the surrounding corpse soldiers with a single swing of my hammer, and he stammered in response.

“W-well… I guess ambushing at night is kind of cowardly… Pshh… I’ll, I’ll see you next time!”

Does he even know what he’s saying right now?

I couldn’t tell, but the warrior’s instinct to seize an opportunity kicked in.

The ‘necromancer,’ who should have been at the very rear, had appeared at the front line.

Honestly, I don’t know why.

Well, if I had to guess, maybe he just wanted to show off…

Anyway, that’s not important.

Thump—

If I could smash this guy’s head right here.

‘Hmm, that wouldn’t be bad, would it?’

No, let me correct that.

It’s not just not bad, it’s the best-case scenario.

After all, this guy is also on my kill list.

“Why are you just leaving? Come here for a second.”

I called out, flicking my extended hammer, and the chimera started running away, turning its back completely.

“No, just a second, come here! Let’s just talk—.”

Despite my repeated attempts at persuasion, the four-legged chimera’s pace only accelerated as it turned away.

“I, I have something urgent to do, so I’ll be going now… !”

Hey, I just want to talk for a bit.

He’s really quick on the uptake.

“Behel—raaaaaaaa!!”

I immediately used [Giant Form] to increase my size and ran forward.

Well, since I went outside the gate, the person who was supposed to stop the corpse legion would be gone, but…

‘They’ll manage somehow. I’ve given them enough time to prepare.’

Besides, it wasn’t like I wasn’t contributing at all.

[Giant Form] was used to increase my stride, but it had an unexpected effect.

Thump! Thump!

Just by running with heavy footsteps, the combat-modified corpses were crushed and burst.

Just like that.

Crack-!

Ah, of course, the distance didn’t close easily despite that.

If I had even one movement skill like [Leap], it would have been a great help, but unfortunately, my shield barbarian build didn’t have any movement skills.

Thump-! Thump-!

So, I stubbornly dragged my large body after him, and he did everything he could to shake me off.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Corpse Explosion].」

He detonated the modified corpses to spew poison.

「Abet Necrapeto has cast [Curse of Stone].」

He used crowd control [CC] skills.

He put a giant corpse monster in front of me to block my path.

He used some strange smokescreen to confuse my vision.

He did everything he could, but it was impossible to stop a shield barbarian who was almost 70% complete in terms of combat.

“Ugh…! This is cheating!!”

In a way, it was all a predetermined sequence that such praise would come out.

A tank that cannot be stopped by any means is nothing short of a disaster for ranged classes.

“Just give up and stop! If you stop now, I’ll resolve this through dialogue! I swear on the honor of a warrior—.”

“Don’t lie! You’re just trying to have a ‘conversation’ with your body!”

Sigh, how did he know?

Thump-! Thump-!

In the end, I gave up on trying to persuade him with conversation(?) and silently moved forward.

Actually, there was no need to rush.

Even if I just kept running like this, the distance would slowly close. It seemed like he was just as lacking in movement skills as I was…

‘It’s kind of funny.’

He used to be a much more imposing guy back in the day.

Now, just seeing my face makes him turn around and run away.

A lot of time has passed since then.

Thump-! Thump-!

Anyway, as the silence continued and the distance slowly closed, a complaint burst from his mouth.

“Agh! Bjorn Yandel…! Why the hell are you even here in the first place!”

“…Huh?”

What’s he talking about now?

It didn’t sound like he was just saying it out of confusion.

“Everyone, do something! Are you just going to let that monster run wild?”

The corpse collector shouted as if talking to his comrades.

However, no support magic came flying, and no one appeared like a hero to save him, and his resentment grew.

“Are you going to keep ignoring me! It’s your fault! It was you guys who said that since Bjorn Yandel was in District 5, we should mess with District 9 to distract him!”

Oh, so that’s what happened?

It was like hitting a rat by backing into a corner, but as a result, my appearance in District 5 ended up ruining their plans—.

“Oppa, why is that our fault? If you’re going to blame someone, you should blame the commander or the vice-commander.”

I heard a voice and looked up to see a familiar face flying at a low altitude on a broom.

The Screaming Witch, Liranne Vivian.

“And we told you from the beginning, don’t be reckless and stay in the back. But I remember it was you who insisted on taking the vanguard!”

“…Is that important right now! Why did you only show up now! Use any magic, just stop that guy—.”

“Ehh…? I don’t want to.”

The Screaming Witch refused with a disgusted expression.

“…Huh?”

“Don’t you remember? How am I supposed to stop a monster that reflects every magic I use?”

It seemed like she was talking about the already gone ‘Essence of Gacha Bone,’ but it didn’t really matter.

I had a much better defense skill now.

「The character has activated [Scales of Greed].」

Therefore, I activated Dragon Mode in advance, just in case. Of course, this skill doesn’t have a ‘reflection’ mechanism, but…

Actually, that doesn’t matter much.

The new effect of [Aegis Dragon Armor] allows me to accumulate stacks proportional to the accumulated damage and then unleash it all at once.

‘Too bad.’

It would have been better if they had attacked me to help me accumulate stacks.

Of course, it would have been a terrifying thought for the enemies facing me.

But so what?

That’s the fact—.

“So, take my hand, oppa.”

Huh?

“Take your hand?”

“It’s a bit much to ride together, but… it’s not like we have a choice, right?”

It was a conversation that would make any barbarian listening go crazy.

‘Damn it.’

Are these so-called Orculius elites thinking about running away first? At this rate, I’d end up like a dog chasing a chicken, just staring at the roof.

Therefore…

‘Ah, I had that.’

I took out a hand axe from my subspace and threw it forward with all my might.

I rarely used it in actual combat, so it didn’t come to mind right away, but thanks to the practice I did from time to time, the hand axe flew powerfully to the desired point.

“Kyaa!”

Vivian hurriedly changed direction and barely avoided the hand axe as she was about to grab his hand.

And…

“Hurry!”

Vivian reached out again, approaching at the corpse collector’s urging.

I threw the hand axe again, and they seemed to have prepared for it, as a shield immediately activated.

Ah, of course, it didn’t mean much.

It was just a normal axe throw without the help of skills.

Whoosh-!

My excessively developed strength was indistinguishable from a skill.

Crack-!

As expected, the shield shattered as soon as it was hit by the hand axe.

“Kyaa!”

Vivian screamed and fell off her broom, rolling on the ground as the handle of the hand axe that had broken through the shield hit her temple.

And…

“Damn it!”

The corpse collector just cursed and continued to move forward without trying to help his comrade who had fallen behind while trying to save him.

“H-hey, where are you going!!”

“…W-well, I can’t help it! Even if a mage is replaceable, I’m not!”

“Don’t give me that crap! Come back and take me with you! You bastard!!”

“Those who want to live, shall live…! Pshh…!”

It was such a pathetic line that even I, who was chasing him hard, was stunned.

“Hey! You son of a bitch!!!”

In the end, Vivian screamed and spat out words of resentment, but the corpse collector didn’t turn the chimera’s head.

***

Should I chase the corpse collector like this?

Or should I make sure to catch at least one of them?

I hesitated for a moment, but in the end, I stopped in front of Vivian, who was sitting down with a broken ankle.

“Ha, I can’t believe this.”

I had seen such a shocking scene that I felt all the strength drain from my legs.

“…I surrender.”

What? It’s not surrender, it’s defeat.

Thump.

As I approached without saying anything, Vivian started grinding her teeth, making a clicking sound.

Surprisingly, the object of her hatred wasn’t me.

“…Oppa, can’t you just let me live? I’ll definitely kill that bastard… Okay?”

Her eyes were filled with 100% sincerity.

I thought maybe it would be beneficial for me to just let her go.

But…

“Yeah, no.”

I refused firmly and raised my hammer.

“No, really…! I, I can do anything you want… Okay?”

Vivian tried to use her appearance and gender as a weapon, but unfortunately, she had chosen the wrong opponent.

After all, I was a K-Barbarian who was born and raised in South Korea and knew what true gender equality was.

If I were to put down my hammer here, wouldn’t the men who had died so far feel wronged?

Swoosh.

Men and women are equal.

As proof, if you hit them with a hammer, both men and women will have their heads smashed in the same way—.

“Comrades!! You’re trying to go to where your comrades are!!”

Huh?

Vivian, who had tightly closed her eyes, slowly opened them and looked at me as I paused with my hammer raised.

“…A-are you not?”

She’s still trying to test me even in this situation.

“If you have something to say, say it quickly. I don’t have time.”

“I, I can take you to where my comrades are! S-safely and comfortably!”

Hmm…

“I can also help you in many other ways! D-do you need a mage?”

I already have a mage.

“Especially if it’s about catching that bastard, I, I can even give you my soul…!”

What should I do…

If I quickly smash her head and chase after the corpse collector, I might be able to catch up…

‘Let’s think about it for just 10 more seconds.’

That’s when I was pondering during the given time.

“…Be, betrayer!”

I tilted my head at Vivian’s sudden outburst.

“…Huh?”

“I can also tell you who the betrayer is among your comrades!”

…I guess I should at least hear her out.