Surviving the Game As a Barbarian [EN]: Chapter 9

Strictly speaking, the term ‘we’ isn’t accurate. The duo, Fatty and Skinny, were interested in Erwen, not me. Tap, tap. I nudged Erwen with my foot again. “Ugh…” Ugh, my foot. Get up already. I know you’re not sleeping. I saw you peek as soon as you heard their voices and then cover your face with the blanket. “Kyaa!” I didn’t have time to argue, so I just grabbed her shoulder and forcibly pulled her up. “Why were you pretending to sleep?” “Well…” Erwen trailed off, avoiding my gaze. From my perspective, needing to get information and make decisions as quickly as possible, her attitude was quite frustrating. Whisk. I grabbed her chin and turned her face to look at me. Erwen reluctantly opened her mouth. “If I wake up, you’ll leave…” Indeed, so that was it. I had made a vow. So, if a conflict arose with an explorer while on night watch, we would have to fight together. But, unfortunately, this happened on the last watch I had promised. Well, I don’t care about honor or anything… But she doesn’t know that. So, she tried to hold on somehow. The night buddy vow ends the moment she opens her eyes. “Hah.” I took a deep breath. If a grown man like Uncle Hans had done this, I would have been angry… But since it’s just a 20-year-old, I feel pity first. Of course, that’s that, and this is this. “What happened with those two?” “Nothing happened.” “Then why did you hide?” “…The patterns on their clothes were the same. The same as the human man who tried to hurt me. They must be from the same group.” A group, huh… Damn, the situation is getting worse? I even started to wonder if it wouldn’t be better to just say goodbye to this elf girl here and go our separate ways. “Let’s talk while we move.” “Are you helping me?” “I’ll decide after I hear the rest of the story.” First, I moved away from the place where Erwen was. Then, I almost ran, trying to figure out the rest of the situation. “Tell me everything that happened.” Erwen must have sensed the mood because she recited the important information concisely without complaint. “The person I met as a night buddy on the first day attacked me while I was sleeping. I later found out that he was a high-ranking member of a group that mainly operates on the first floor.” For reference, the group’s name is the ‘Crystal Alliance’. “I barely managed to escape, but since then, people from the same group have attacked me whenever they see me. That’s how I got injured.” I paused for a moment. “Wait, how did they know about that?” “Message stones.” So, what the heck is that? There was no such thing in the game I played. “Tell me more.” “It’s a magical tool that allows you to communicate between message stones that have been resonated in advance. I heard the range is about 300 meters.” “I see.” It’s a kind of walkie-talkie. If you tune the frequency in advance, you can communicate up to a 300-meter radius. The situation was slowly becoming clear. If you have this kind of magical tool and a lot of manpower, information can be easily transmitted even in this closed environment. However, the problem is… “Why are they chasing you so hard?” Erwen hasn’t done anything wrong. But why are they going to such lengths to chase a victim? “Is it perhaps to silence you?” “…I don’t think it’s just that.” “There’s more?” “Well…” Erwen, who had been answering my questions straightforwardly, hesitated to speak again. With this attitude, there’s no way I can help her. That’s what I was thinking. “Wh-when I first escaped, I swung my knife around. But it hit a bad spot…” “…A bad spot?” I felt a chill. I kept feeling a breeze between my legs. “Th-th-there, you know…?” It’s true. “Ahem, anyway, from what I heard from the people chasing me, it was completely severed, so they couldn’t even reattach it with a potion… I think that’s why…” They have a good reason to chase her with their eyes burning. “I-I-I’m sorry…” It’s not something to apologize for. The one who caused it was that guy, wasn’t he? It’s his own fault. The problem is that there are too many guys in the world who don’t know that simple logic. “Mister, I think there’s a pursuer.” “What?” “Don’t look back.” I focused on my hearing, but I couldn’t hear anything unusual. “The distance… I think it’s about 150 meters behind us.” It’s a distance where it’s strange to sense anything, but she doesn’t seem to be lying. There’s no reason for her to do that. So, is this the innate sense of an elf? Suddenly, she looks different. “I need to increase the speed, are you okay?” “Yes. I can still handle it.” Even though the white bandage was stained red, as if the wound had opened, Erwen didn’t make a sound of pain. She has a good spirit. Well, my head is getting complicated though. “What’s the distance to the pursuer?” “…Still about 150 meters.” The distance isn’t increasing even though we’ve increased our speed. The situation is not good. By now, the pursuer must be using a message stone or something to inform his colleagues of our location. I have to take care of him. If their target was me, I would have made that decision for sure. But I’m still just running. Because once I kill him, I won’t be able to back out anymore. So, let’s check before I get involved. “Um, mister…?” How much risk do I have to bear, and what can I get in return? I need more detailed information. “Erwen.” “Yes, yes?” “What are you good at?” “I’m confident in things like laundry and cleaning. I’m not good at cooking though…” What is she talking about? “I mean in combat.” “…Bow, bow! Oh, and spirit magic too!” She’s a textbook archer elf. “What’s your element?” “…Fire.” Well, that’s the rarest element. Thanks to that, I’m starting to get a picture. “Have you ever killed a person?” “No… But, I can do it.” That’s something you’ll only know after you try. “I see.” I asked her one last question. “Erwen, will you be my companion? The period is until we escape the labyrinth, and the loot distribution is 9 for me and 1 for you.” “I-I will!” With this, I also have a reason. *** “—I promise in the name of my clan.” “I also swear on the honor of a warrior.” We stamped something as a sign of trust, just like before, and evolved our relationship from a one-night night buddy to a temporary companion. Of course, while running like hell. “What’s the distance?” “About 100 meters!” Even at our maximum speed, the distance is closing. I made up my mind. “We’re going to the outer area.” “Yes!” We changed direction and entered a dark passage. The crystals shining on the walls and ceiling gradually decreased, and soon, pitch-black darkness loomed before us. My mind is complicated. Hah, I never thought I’d come back here on my own feet. “Erwen, summon a spirit.” A watermelon-sized flame rose above her palm, illuminating the surroundings. I carefully navigated the floor and quickly entered the darkness. And… “Cancel the summon.” I hid my body in the darkness. “What about the presence?” “You’ll be able to hear it soon, mister.” “I see.” I tried to stay as calm as possible and focused on my hearing. The best-case scenario is that the pursuer misses us and passes by. Then, there’s no need to kill him, and I can back out later. Tap tap tap tap-. Soon, I could hear the pursuer’s footsteps. However, unlike my expectations, his steps didn’t pass by but stopped. Right at the fork where we turned. Thud. Damn it… It seems that guy has a way to track us. Smell, sound, or maybe something magical. Step, step. The guy changed direction and slowly walked over, stopping about 30 meters away from us. The boundary where the abyss-like darkness begins. “…” He poked his head out and looked into it, And we watched him from within, holding our breath. “You’re here.” The guy, who had been sniffing a few times in the quiet silence, muttered to himself. And, he took something out of his pocket. It was something I had never seen before, but I instinctively knew what it was. A message stone. At the same time as seeing it, I gave a short signal. To Erwen, who had been aiming her arrow with the bow drawn all this time. “Shoot.” Thwack-. The arrow, shot before I even finished speaking, pierced the man’s forehead. Thud. Even though the dead man fell to the ground, I didn’t go out right away. “…” I could feel an undeniable tremor from Erwen, who was right next to me. “Good job. It would have been dangerous if you had hesitated.” It wasn’t just a hollow compliment, it was genuine. I also hesitated when I slammed the shield down on the old man, didn’t I? Erwen didn’t even have that much time just now. She probably knew it herself without me having to say it again. That she should never hesitate. “Yes…” “You rest for a while.” I ended the consolation there and came out of the darkness to search the corpse. The pursuer was quite lightly equipped, probably having left his backpack with his other colleagues for faster movement. ‘To feel regret in a place like this, I’ve become a local here too.’ First, I stripped the pursuer’s equipment from head to toe, and then organized the items I had acquired one by one. A belt, leather top and bottom, two daggers, a rather heavy magic stone pouch, a potion stored in a pocket attached to the belt, and a message stone. “Good. Come here.” After roughly sorting things out, I called Erwen. Then, I removed the bandage and treated the wound with the potion. The wound began to heal with a hissing sound. “Ugh…” It was okay to make a sound, but Erwen clenched her teeth and endured it. She has a tough side too. Or, is she just mentally broken? I hope it’s the former. I’m not good at counseling. “Are you feeling a bit better?” “Yes. I feel refreshed.” “Then change into this.” After a few minutes of treatment, I handed her the leather top and bottom I had just acquired. I judged that this was much more practical than the fluttering cloth clothes. “I’ll go change right away.” Did she think that following all my decisions would increase her chances of survival? It was something that could make her uncomfortable, but Erwen immediately took the clothes and went into the darkness to change. “It’s a bit big. Come here.” I cut off the protruding hems on her arms and legs myself. “Wear this too. It’ll be a little better.” It looks a bit loose overall, but it looks quite comfortable when she wears the belt. But maybe it’s because her clothes have changed, but her atmosphere has completely changed. Before, she was like an elf girl out for a stroll, but now she’s like a full-fledged female warrior. Even her expression. “…It feels really strange.” “You’ll get used to it.” “I guess, right…?” “Yes, you will.” I stuffed all the other items into my backpack and dragged the naked corpse into the darkness to hide it. And I held the message stone in my hand. “How do you use this?” “Just a moment. I’ll try.” Erwen looked at the message stone and clicked something. […Serdin, who was tracking the elf and the barbarian, has lost contact. All those receiving this message, gather in the goblin district.] So far, it’s as I expected.