Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 173

Choice 1

The day after Raven and I traveled to the Commelby district.

The whole team gathered in the pub for the final accounting.

“Wow, we made a lot of money.”

Magic Stones Income 25.19 million

Expandable backpacks and miscellaneous equipment 3.01 million.

The essence of Ifrit, excluding the test tube value, 9 million.

The byproducts of Miladon, 0.75 million.

So, in total…

‘Total 37.95 million Stones.’

Of course, dividing it equally by five is not the case.

For magic stones, it was agreed that Aynar would take 15%, and Mr. Bear 25%…

The essence and Miladon’s byproducts are special loot, so Raven takes 40%.

‘Let’s see, then my share is…’

7.1 million and an additional 2,500 Stones.

Coincidentally, my amount is exactly the same as Misha’s.

“Ayar, you get 5.843 million Stones.”

“Wow!!”

“What about the value of the essence?”

“Uh, the essence…? How much was that again?”

Aynar momentarily expressed confusion amidst the joy from the astronomical settlement.

“…I’ll pay for that together.”

I took out 2.157 million Stones from my share and handed it to Raven.

“What about Miss Karlstein’s share?”

“Nyang, I’ll collect that from Aynar later.”

“Uh, then, Miss Aynar, you don’t get paid anything today?”

I feel sad for her..

Worked hard in the labyrinth only to increase her debt.

She owed 4 million to Misha.

7.5 million to me, including the equipment cost from last month.

A total of 11.5 million Stones.

“How could this be…!!! I had money, but now it’s gone!! Something is wrong here!!”

“Nyang, The world is just like that. But you’ve become stronger by consuming the essence, haven’t you?”

Unlike Misha, who comforted her with words, I decided to give her a tangible reward.

“By the way, it’s about time we increased Aynar’s share.”

She consumed a grade 5 essence.

It’s hard to say that Aynar’s combat power is below average now.

“Ah, I don’t mind.”

“…From now on, I’ll only take 20%.”

Mr. Bear agreed without complaint, and Aynar’s share of magic stone increased to 20%.

Now it’s fairly distributed.

‘Phew, I’d like to adjust the special loot ratio as well… But Raven will surely throw a fit, so let’s do that later.’

Actually, it feels a bit unfair.

Tank, leader, and even a scout without asking…

And I spoon-feed them all the hidden pieces, right?

Shouldn’t I get at least 30%?

“Ah, then everyone just needs to contribute their team funds, and we’re done for today.”

“How much was the team fund again?”

“300,000 Stones per person.”

“Taking away again…!!”

Aynar’s debt increased by another 300,000 Stones.

Well, since I’m feeding and housing her anyway, what does debt matter?

***

Three days after the final settlement.

While Misha went out with Aynar to apply for her rank 6 promotion application, I lay in bed and collected my thoughts.

‘I’ve already saved up another ten million Stones.’

Excluding the money I lent to Aynar and the money in the joint account with Misha.

My growth rate has accelerated since reaching the fifth floor.

Now that I could play proactively, it allowed me to fully utilize my knowledge within the game.

‘One year.’

I roughly set a plan.

I will take one year on the 5th floor to lay the foundation and then move on to the 6th floor.

Of course, from the sixth floor onwards, it will be difficult to grow as fast as I am now.

It’s a layer that can’t be cleared by combat power alone.

From the 6th floor, it will be a long battle.

‘…But then again, I can consume that essence when I reach the 6th floor.’

As long as the formidable enemy, the Dragon Slayer, is targeting me, I need to become stronger as soon as possible.

‘Even if not for that, considering the current situation of the world, I don’t think I am good enough.’

The city’s atmosphere has been very heavy recently.

The explorer industry, to be precise.

Everyone seems on edge and tense.

It’s understandable.

Given that such an incident occurred.

‘471 people.’

That many people died on the 4th floor.

And only this time.

This was a much more serious issue compared to the last Tier 3 Layer Lord incident.

Not monsters, but plunderers.

A large-scale terror attack by a massive group targeting veteran explorers who have been navigating the Labyrinth for nearly a decade.

“BJORN!!”

When my thoughts reached that point, Misha returned from the guild.

Hastily holding a piece of paper.

“Look at this!! The royal family has issued a notice to explorers, Nyang!”

I quickly took the paper and read through it.

The royal family had set up a subjugation plan, and the notice was about rewarding those adventurers of rank 6 and above who participated.

The target of subjugation: Noarark.

‘…This is going to be a mess.’

The underground city was an open secret.

A group that everyone in the know knew about, but 99% of the population didn’t even know it existed.

Yet, through a royal decree, that group was mentioned.

“BJORN, what are you going to do, Nyang?”

“Well.”

The rewards were quite tempting.

Not only the measured amount per person, but also a 3-year exemption from taxes and exchange fees. In addition, the royal family would even give away essences they owned, depending on merit, which attracted a number of participants.

‘It seems the invitations to the mega clans are already finished.’

The notice also listed the names of the clans that had agreed to participate.

They must have been promised much larger rewards.

A kind of publicity recruitment, perhaps?

The mere presence of the big clans would significantly boost the confidence of ordinary explorers.

No, rather, they might consider it foolish not to participate in such a golden opportunity for subjugation.

However…

[Anyway, what I want to say is, do not participate at any cost.]

Recalling Lee Baek-ho‘s advice, I steadied my mind.

“We will not participate.”

I don’t want to get caught in a whale fight and get my ass kicked.

Besides, we’re doing well enough as it is.

There hardly seems any merit to participating in the subjugation.

“That’s good, Nyang… I had a bad feeling about it…”

“Anyway, just in case, I should meet with Raven and Abman to discuss. By the way, how did Aynar react?”

“She’s looking forward to it as an opportunity to gain fame. But don’t worry. I’ll talk to her properly, Nyang.”

“Then I’ll leave that to you.”

After ending the conversation with Misha, I headed towards the Mage Tower.

What would a mage’s perspective be?

The answer was surprisingly simple.

“Ah, that notice… I heard about it last evening too. I was actually going to ask you, but it’s good to hear you’re not participating.”

“Do you also oppose it?”

“Yes. Although I’m curious about the underground city, it’s called a subjugation, but it’s actually a war, right? I don’t want to get involved in such disputes over interests.”

Regardless of the rewards offered by the royal family, Raven wasn’t much interested.

A relief in many ways.

I got a similar response from Mr Bear’s tavern.

“Everyone at the tavern has been talking about it all day, but something doesn’t sit right with me. Well, the rewards are tempting though…”

Mr Bear mentioned that he might have participated in the subjugation if he were solo playing.

Well, Mr Bear is nearly forty years old.

A 3-year tax exemption is huge.

Especially since he’s almost single-handedly managing the taxes for his wife’s portion too.

“Haha, and next year, a child will be born. With the childbirth benefits, taxes will be reduced for 20 years, so there’s no rush.”

“I see.”

“If you guys aren’t participating, then I’m not interested either.”

Okay, that settles it, we’re passing on the subjugation.

‘…I’ll look into more detailed information once the community is open.’

For now, there’s nothing immediately actionable.

So, as I was about to return to the lodge to find out about things to do in the city this month, Mr. Bear made an unexpected suggestion.

“Mr. Jandel, how about a drink later?”

“Drink?”

“You’re the leader of a team now, and apparently, you don’t have any connections.”

“And?”

“There’s a gathering of 5th-floor explorers this evening. How about we go together?”

Hmm, networking…

Honestly, I’m not too keen on it.

However, it’s common among explorers here to meet with fellow explorers, hang out, and exchange information.

Maybe experiencing it once wouldn’t be too bad?

‘After all, only high-level information is available from the Watchers of the Round Table, making it difficult to know about these aspects.’

“Okay. So what time and where should we meet?”

After receiving the time and place, I spent some time at the library.

Ragna greeted me in her usual brusque manner.

However, I wondered if she had heard this news, being cooped up in the library.

Only, I was in the library, I wondered if she’d heard the news.

“Do you have something to tell me?”

“Are you… participating in the subjugation?”

“No, our team has decided not to participate.”

 

Ragna’s expression brightened when I decided not to participate in the subjugation.

Curious about her reaction, I asked directly.

“Relieved? Do you know something about Noarark?”

“I don’t know much about them… But I do know what kind of people the royal family are… There will definitely be tremendous sacrifices.”

Ragna answered in a voice as quiet as the crawl of an ant.

“The royal family?”

“Please pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Ragna quickly retracted her statement, looking as if she’d made a mistake.

I didn’t press further, knowing how dangerous it can be to speak ill of the royal family.

“Thanks for worrying.”

“Worrying…”

Ragna mumbled the word over and over again.

However, her reaction was a little unexpected.

Usually, she would insist she wasn’t worried, but this time she said, “Yes. I was worried, but I’m really glad.”

That left me feeling somewhat embarrassed.

But after saying it, Ragna’s neck turned a slight red, apparently feeling ashamed of herself.

So, I pretended not to notice.

“Will you cast that spell for me? I’m about to read some books.”

“Ah, yes. The spell. Of course.”

I don’t want to make things more awkward here.

***

10 PM.

Normally, I would be getting ready for bed at this time, but here I was in a bar I’d never been to before.

Not in the 7th district where I live, but in a bar located in the 8th district..

“Abman! It’s been a while! How have you been?”

“I’m doing as well as I can. And you?”

“Ha! Living every day like I’m not dying!”

Upon entering the private room, about a dozen explorers were gathered.

The organizer appeared to be a man with a welcoming face.

“And who’s this friend with you?”

“He’s the team leader of our team.”

“Ah, I wondered who had snagged that lucky spot, and it’s you?”

After entering the room, the organizer led a brief introduction session.

“I’m Perpe Derbes. Call me whatever you’re comfortable with. Pepe for short, a nickname only close friends use.”

Pepe…

A nickname too cute for a bearded man.

“…Let’s stick with Derbes.”

“That works for me.”

“I am Bjorn, son of Jandel.”

“May I call you Bjorn?”

“As you wish.”

Names were swiftly settled in true explorer fashion.

“Wait, Bjorn Jandel? That sounds familiar.”

One of the explorers cocked his head, then seemed to remember where he had heard it.

“Ah, the Little Balkan! The Barbarian who made a name for himself during the Tier 3 Layer Lord event, right?”

“Correct.”

As I readily admitted, Derbes’ look towards me changed a bit, a mix of surprise and curiosity.

“Oh, so you’re not even a year into this?”

“Don’t worry about that part. we’ve just returned from the 5th floor.”

With Abman’s assist, the doubts are erased, leaving only admiration.

“Advancing to the 5th floor in less than a year is truly remarkable…”

Derbes then introduced everyone in the room.

Famous as the Little Balkan and known for explosive growth, the reactions were mostly friendly.

Except for one.

“Jack Johnsonville of the 5th tier clan, Neviswolf.”

A blond, tanned man introduced himself with a confrontational gaze.

‘Why is he staring like that? Is he looking to get fucked?’

Although my Barbarian mindset was itching for action, I held back with superhuman patience.

I am one of the few modern people in this world.

Yes, I should be understanding.

“Ha, let’s just drink.”

Perhaps sensing the tense atmosphere, Derbes called for a toast to lighten the mood.

The gathering began.

People naturally drank and shared both everyday and industry chatter.

“How is it? Not bad, right?”

Abman whispered in my ear, and I chuckled and nodded.

I was worried the meeting would be filled with nothing but trash talk, but it was quite pleasant.

Well, except for one troublemaker.

“Why don’t we meet somewhere other than this old bar next time?”

Jack Johnsonville.

“There’s a tavern under our clan’s control with excellent drinks. Of course, it’s much more expensive than here. Hahaha!”

“Subjugation? Of course, we’re participating. Oh, you might be a bit scared since you’re in a team?”

“Still, give it your best. Who knows? You might catch a scout’s eye and join a clan.”

The only one affiliated with a clan in this meeting, boasting about it under the guise of casual conversation.

Especially, he’d interrupt whenever attention was drawn to me.

“Now I have to ask, Jandel, what’s your secret? How did you climb so fast?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? He formed a good team.”

“…”

“Ha, having good comrades is also a talent.”

Derbes tried his best to ease the tension whenever silence fell.

“So, Bjorn, how about you? What are your thoughts on your first meeting with us?”

Should I be honest?

After a brief hesitation, my decision was clear.

“I like it.”

“Of course, you would. You’re just a fledgling who’s reached the 5th floor.”

I am a K-Barbarian, combining the spirit of a modern person with Confucian ideals and the audacity of a barbarian.

I endure when I must, confident I can bear even greater insults with a smile.

But…

“What’s with that bullshit, you fucking idiot?”

“What? You talking to me?”

“Who else but you would be the idiot here?”

When there’s no need to endure, I don’t.

Exactly, because that’s what being a K-Barbarian is all about.