Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 301

Evil Spirit 5

“Bjorn! Although I was just watching from behind, it was still a fun adventure! Let’s meet again if we get the chance!”

“……Sure.”

With these brief farewell words, the Carlton group exited through the rift. Now, it was our turn to focus on what we needed to do.

“Alright, let’s go. Who knows what else we might find!”

“……Are you planning to just wander around and look?”

No, I intended to wander aimlessly but still find everything I wanted.

“Follow me. I know a few things.”

Oh, in that case.

Following the experienced Amelia, we retraced our steps from the boss room.

We discovered two hidden elements.

The ‘Shard of Earth,’ which increases earth resistance and physical defense by 1 each.

The ‘Book of Souls,’ which grants 3 additional experience points.

By the way, Amelia had already consumed them all when she was here before, so I took them all, and that concluded the exploration of the hidden pieces of the White Temple.

That was all the elixirs there were.

The rest can only be taken out and sold by using the ‘Distortion’ spell.

‘Now that we’ve gathered everything…’

“Amelia, how about we don’t leave right away and stay a bit longer?”

“Why?”

“Honestly, I’m tired from only getting 3 hours of sleep each day. How about we take a good rest here?”

“……”

Amelia looked at me with a disapproving expression.

It was obvious what she was thinking.

Time had flown by and the labyrinth would close tomorrow, so why rest now?

‘Tsk, we’ve already achieved our goal, yet she’s still so greedy.’

However, whining wasn’t my style, so I gave a reasonable reason for needing to rest.

“I need some time to clear my head.”

“Ah…”

Amelia, realizing something, accepted my request without hesitation.

“Fine. We’ll rest and leave when you’re ready.”

Despite everything, she does have a kind heart in this regard.

“Thank you, Amelia.”

“……Just get some rest.”

Amelia lay down on her sleeping bag, and I settled about 3 meters away from her.

Then I began to tally up my gains.

‘Let’s see…….’

I earned 156 experience points from the first kill in the White Temple.

Plus 1 for the bonus from the superior mutant, 3 for the guardian kill, and 3 more from the Book of Souls, totaling 163.

Of course, even with this, I was still far from reaching rank 7.

But……

‘At this rate, I might reach rank 7 in the mid-to-late 6th floor.’

My character was undeniably getting closer to completion.

I even got the Demon Crusher this time.

‘I wonder how I can take this with me…….’

As I was pondering this,

“Jandel, I have a question.”

“Ah! Are you talking about that Numbered item? I don’t know what it is either, but I liked the weight of it, so I thought I’d use—”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Oh, it’s not that?

I was worried she might suggest dividing the loot.

“Don’t you want to change things?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean your biological father, Jandel Jarku.”

Ah, that……

Damn, I was trying not to think about that.

“Maybe he could be saved.”

“Other than knowing he died when I was young, I don’t know why, when exactly, or how he died. How can he be saved?”

“If you want, after we finish things here, I could go up to the city and help—”

“Enough.”

I cut off Amelia’s words firmly.

“I don’t want that.”

“……Why?”

Amelia asked, genuinely curious.

I suppose from her perspective, my behavior must have seemed strange.

She didn’t know I was an evil spirit.

And……

“If things could change just by us meeting here, they would have already.”

The future does not change.

Amelia probably had a sense of this too.

But the weight is different for someone like me, who confirmed it from Auril Gavis and verified the cause and effect of Raven and Dwalki.

“What do you mean by ‘doesn’t change’?”

Amelia stood up and asked.

After a moment of hesitation, I spoke honestly.

About how I tried to change the futures of Dwalki and Raven but failed completely.

“That can’t be…….”

Amelia bit her lip, trying to deny it, and I asked bluntly.

“Amelia, didn’t you already know?”

“Know what……?”

“Otherwise, what was it? You were surprised to see the name ‘Nibels Entze’, or the look you gave when I wore this helmet.”

“That was…….”

“You knew, didn’t you? That no matter what we do, the past doesn’t change. Rather, things happened that way because we were there.”

“……”

Amelia said nothing.

She just clenched her fists and held back something.

After a brief silence, she spoke.

“……So you’re just going to give up? Even though you might be able to save your family, without even trying?”

Her tone was similar to usual, but there was an underlying aggression in her voice.

Maybe that’s why?

My response was a bit curt.

“He’s a father I’ve never even seen.”

“So, you don’t have any attachment to him?”

“……Yes.”

“I see.”

Amelia seemed to understand but clicked her tongue.

She seemed disappointed in me.

Hah, I shouldn’t have mentioned this topic.

I thought we were getting closer, but I messed it all up.

“……”

“……”

After that, we rested without exchanging a single word.

About five hours passed.

After a good nap, I decided it was better to go outside and do something rather than sitting on pins and needles.

However……

“Wait, can we stop by there for a moment?”

“Do as you wish.”

Returning to the boss room to use the portal, I approached the hut at the back.

It was simple curiosity.

In the game, it was just part of the scenery and inaccessible……

‘Oh, the door opens.’

With a creak, I entered the hut and looked around.

It felt strangely familiar.

A single bookshelf, a table, a carpet, a fireplace.

The interior wasn’t particularly special.

It was a common hut anyone could imagine.

But the size, structure, and arrangement of the furniture.

‘It’s exactly like that place……’

Without even needing to look around carefully, one place came to mind.

The only safe zone in the 3rd floor Witch’s Forest.

The Witch’s Hut.

The place where I once rested with Misha and summoned the Lord of Chaos by offering human firewood.

“You can search all you want, but when we searched there before, there was no arrangement by Gavrillius.”

Amelia’s voice, urging me to come out, made me glance at the books on the bookshelf before leaving.

Ah, all the books were blank.

Their titles were written in ancient language, so I couldn’t read them.

Hmm, maybe Raven could find something later?

“If you’re ready, let’s go.”

“Ah, just in case, I’ll go first.”

“……”

Soon, we stood in front of the portal.

Stepping into it would take us back to the place we first entered the rift.

Step.

As the tank, I stepped into the portal first.

Shoo.

The portal’s light enveloped me, and my vision flashed.

Slowly, my sight returned.

But what is this?

“Whew! You finally came out!”

A group of explorers stood in front of us.

As if waiting for us.

“Yes, the numbered item is out-“

We stared at each other, both groups momentarily frozen.

“Oh, what? Iron Mask?”

It was Beck’s exploration team, part of the Lord’s faction.

“Ha, this is quite a surprise? I didn’t expect you to be the guys those three bastards ran into inside.

“Three……?”

Following Beck’s gaze, I turned and froze.

Beep.

For some reason, a ringing echoed in my ears.

****

What is this?

For a moment, my mind went blank, but my brain processed the incoming visual information in real-time.

Calton Drek.

Aimburn Bertha Garcia.

And Jandel, the third son of Jarku.

The corpses of the three who had exited through the portal a few hours ago lay on the ground.

No, it wasn’t just these three.

There were two more corpses.

I could guess who they were.

[This is bad! Remude and Hans didn’t make it!!]

It was probably the two who were waiting outside.

So, how did this happen?

“……Bjorn.”

Amelia, who had come out behind me, assessed the situation and grabbed my wrist.

Was she telling me to refrain from acting rashly?

It seemed so, but…

Beeeep—

Ugh, so noisy.

I closed my eyes tightly and reopened them to regain my composure.

Everything before me remained unchanged.

“It seems fate has brought us together again, seeing as this is the second time we’ve encountered each other during this exploration!”

Beck stood up from the corpse he had been sitting on like a chair, smiling affably.

Amelia asked him,

“……Why are you here?”

“Well, we were wandering around as soon as the rift opened, and these two guys caught our eye.”

Beck nudged the corpses, presumably Remude and Hans, with his foot.

“We caught them and interrogated them. They told us that three of their comrades had entered the rift. So we waited, and then these three came out.”

Beck shrugged, omitting the details of what happened next, and Amelia didn’t press further.

It was obvious.

They killed these three and extracted the necessary information.

Like how the guardian dropped a ‘Numbered Item’ at the end.

Beeeep—

Amelia and Beck continued their conversation.

It was so noisy around me that I couldn’t hear them well.

So, I just thought absently.

[Ah, it might be a bit difficult for humans? Just call me Jandel Jarku!]

I knew they would die.

But I didn’t know it would be because of me.

‘If I hadn’t been there.’

Jandel Jarku would have entered the rift with all his teammates.

Thus, their comrades waiting outside wouldn’t have been spotted by these guys.

As a result,

He…….

No, they wouldn’t have died.

They would have continued their journey.

And perhaps……

[Heh, I’m sure he will become a great warrior. The child mixed with my blood and hers—]

Jandel Jarku might have seen his child grow up. Perhaps even entered the labyrinth together when they were adults.

‘If I hadn’t been there.’

The evil spirit wouldn’t have possessed Bjorn Jandel’s body.

Beeeep—

The ringing in my ears intensified.

It was a kind of defense mechanism.

To block out the voices echoing inside me, even a little.

A coward’s resonance.

Clenching my hands tightly, blood rushed to my head.

Beeeep—

‘If it weren’t for me.’

Dwalki wouldn’t have died.

Even if he became an explorer later, he wouldn’t have ventured into that dangerous place on the 4th floor.

Beeeep—

‘If I hadn’t come.’

Dwalki might have realized his love.

One day, by chance, they might have met as comrades and become each other’s healers.

‘If I…….’

Perhaps.

Maybe.

Yes, if I hadn’t been there.

Beeeep—

My ears, no, my head was buzzing.

“But why is Iron Mask here so silent?”

“Bjorn.”

Like a long-overdue assignment.

Emotions are just emotions, I said.

“Byjorn, get a grip.”

Emotions I had thrown into a corner of my heart, now overwhelmed me all at once.

I had to do something.

Knowing it was hypocritical to say it was for someone else, I did it for myself.

I opened my mouth that had been tightly shut.

“Amelia.”

Not the alias Emily, but her real name.

Maybe she understood the situation just from that.

“They’re part of the Lord’s faction. Hold back.”

Amelia’s grip on my wrist tightened.

Of course, it was meaningless.

Step.

You are a bitch

“Bjorn…….”

As I shook off Amelia and moved forward, Beck smirked.

“Heh, is Iron Mask angry? I didn’t ask you to hand it over. I just wanted to see what you got. We waited a long time, didn’t we?”

I didn’t catch the entire conversation between them, but I understood the context.

So, you’re curious about this, huh?

Click.

I pulled out the hammer I had stored in the subspace.

No.87 Demon Crusher of Kraul

“A hammer? Is there such a thing among the Numbered items…….”

Beck mumbled something, trailing off.

Then his expression changed.

“Wait, can I take a closer look? I think I might know what it is.”

“Go ahead.”

I took a step closer, and Beck cautiously approached.

And when we were at the perfect distance.

“Is that really it? Did it really come from inside?”

“Yes.”

Glad your curiosity is satisfied.

Thwack-!

Now, die.