Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 736

Clown 4

When Lion first appeared at the Round Table, Abet Necrapeto was utterly shocked.

[Your mother recommended this place to me. Is there a problem?]

Even in a gathering filled with the strongest players, his speech and behavior were completely unrestrained.

And then…

And…

[Please… stop. Any more and even I will be in danger…]

He had the strength to back it up.

[…]

[…]

Lion dominated the Round Table in an instant with his overwhelming killing intent, and no one dared to question his words.

He was a tyrannical existence. Much like the Mongol armies that had ravaged the West with their overwhelming force, the Lion Mask had conquered the Round Table immediately.

But what truly made him terrifying wasn’t just his power.

[If three people kill Vandemon, an essence drops with certainty.]

[A new holy relic has appeared by the oracle of the Star Goddess.]

[The Stone of Resurrection really exists.]

He knew information that no one else in the world should have known, speaking of it as if it were nothing special.

It made one wonder what kind of massive organization he must lead to possess such secrets so casually. He was an entity shrouded in mystery.

‘…So cool.’

Necrafeto admired him.

It was closer to worship than admiration.

How could he not?

If he wanted to crush someone, he crushed them.

He looked at everyone like they were insignificant bugs.

Then, when he got bored, he’d toss out bait and watch their reactions for fun.

To Necrafeto, he looked cooler than any villain he’d idolized as a child.

[If… if, hypothetically…]

[If I abandoned everything and wanted to serve under you… would you accept me?]

That was why he’d said those words at the final Round Table meeting.

Orcules was a decent group, sure, but compared to the Lion Mask, it felt lacking.

To Necrapeto, he looked cooler than any villain he’d idolized as a child.

[If… if, hypothetically…]

[If I abandoned everything and wanted to serve under you… would you accept me?]

That was why he’d said those words at the final Round Table meeting.

If he could serve under him, he might finally become someone truly special.

Though the answer he received was rejection.

[Insects? Puhuhu…! I suppose everyone must look like that in your eyes, Lion Mask?]

Still, he wasn’t too disappointed.

It just meant he wasn’t good enough yet.

If he built up more infamy, became even worse, maybe the Lion Mask would reach out to him first.

But then…

‘Bjorn jandel…’

The barbarian bastard who kept interfering with everything he tried to do, and even forced the ridiculous nickname “Toy Collector”…

‘…is the Lion Mask?’

His first reaction was denial.

Impossible.

He must’ve heard some nonsense somewhere.

But even as he thought that, something inside him accepted it. It was as if the truth he had tried to ignore with blurred eyes was beginning to sharpen into focus.

[The Lion is Bjorn Jandel]

Even as he thought that, part of him accepted it. It was as if the truth he had tried to ignore was beginning to come into focus.

[The Lion is Bjorn Jandel.]

That was what Queen had said when Lion returned after two years and six months away. The light eventually turned red, which only showed how deeply she suspected him.

[A new holy relic has appeared in the world through a revelation from the Goddess of the Stars.]

The Lion always knew the Reatlas Church’s information first.

If he were Bjorn Jandel, it made sense.

He was the one who received the oracle, after all.

[The Clown is the Corpse Collector.]

The same went for that as well. When he first openly fought Bjorn Jandel, his identity as Clown was revealed even while he was still wearing the mask.

[Are you—]

The killing intent he’d directed at him during that meeting hadn’t been some bored tyrant’s whim.

It had been revenge.

Tap. Tap.

In the end, none of that mattered.

 

The moment he saw those eyes looking down at him, he accepted it.

“You’re boring.”

The Lion Mask he had idolized was Bjorn Jandel.

***
His expression was exactly what I expected.

First denial.

Then betrayal as the clues stacked up.

And finally…

Fear of approaching death.

Thud.

When I canceled [Gigantification] and pinned him down with my foot, he scowled in pain for a moment before breaking into manic laughter. It probably was not just the shock of learning I was Lion. With only half his head left, there was no way he was still sane.

“…Ugh. Gross.”

Still, since I held back on my last attack, he did not die instantly. I considered finishing him off with one clean blow, but…

‘No matter how busy I am, looting comes first.’

If I killed him like this, I wouldn’t get much.

Maybe just the Staff of the Netherworld he was still clutching.

‘This is why top-tier explorers are annoying.’

In the lower labyrinth, you could just kill them and search their bags.

High-rankers all had subspaces.

As a necromancer, his was probably huge.

“Hey. You listening? Can you hear me?”

Despite asking him several times, he only laughed into the air.

“Tsk.”

I had no choice but to take out a potion from my subspace and pour it over his head.

What the… did this guy lose the ability to feel pain?

Even though the potion boiled and gave off steam, he showed no reaction and only stared blankly into space. He did not start screaming until his deeply dented head was halfway healed.

“Pssssssssssit! Pshshshshshshsit!! Pshit, pssit, pshsiiiiiiiit!!!”

His body jerked up and down like he was having a seizure, spewing something between screams and laughter.

“…What the hell is this?”

The grotesque sight gave me chills for a moment, but it was just a side effect of his brain returning to normal.

“Guh… guh… guaaah… huuuh…!!”

At some point, as if proving that his brain had simply been malfunctioning, his screams returned to normal.

Okay. That should be enough.

Tap. Tap.

I lightly smacked his cheek with my hammer.

“Can you hear me now?”

“…Uh… ah… ugh…”

Hmm. Guess his brain isn’t recovered enough to talk yet.

“If you can hear me, blink once.”

…Blink.

“Why are you only blinking one eye? It’s creepy.”

Blink, blink.

“It’s not your intention? Hmmm… okay.”

Whatever. Not important.

“Fine. Remove the ownership seal on your sub-space. Do it now.”

I immediately got to the main point, even though he looked like he desperately needed rest. Unfortunately, he refused me with nothing more than his eyes.

Blink blink blink blink.

His left eyelid opened and closed rapidly.

“You’d rather die than give it up?”

“Uh… ah… uhh…!”

“I can’t understand a word. Talk with your eyes.”

At my irritated tone, he blinked like crazy. At least it didn’t seem like he wanted to die.

“Then what? Got something to say?”

…Blink.

“Okay. I’ll pour more potion on you. But once you can talk, you hand over the subspace without complaints as payment for the potion. Deal?”

Hey.

“Answer.”

…Blink.

He blinked more slowly than before, as though he didn’t like the deal, but that was probably just my imagination.

If you gave a mute the ability to speak, they’d gladly pay a fortune.

Yeah. Totally reasonable and fair trade.

Crunch!

Just in case he tried to run once his head was healed, I crushed both his feet again.

Sssssssss—

When I poured a high-grade potion over his head to uphold my end of the deal, he screamed louder and louder. Nevertheless, his shattered head seemed to be slowly reforming.

“AAAAAAGH! Gghhh… Aaaagh!!”

Now those were proper screams.

Sssss—

About ten minutes later, he finally calmed down enough to talk.

“Th—”

“Subspace.”

“…?”

“A promise is a promise. Hand it over before we talk.”

“W-Wait, that’s not—”

“Then we’ve wasted time.”

I spoke flatly and slowly raised my hammer.

He frantically waved his hands.

“I-I’ll give it to you!”

Should’ve said that earlier.

“But, but you must keep your promise to talk for a little while…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

If he really handed it over peacefully, I was generous enough to let him leave some last words.

“I-It’s done.”

When he removed the ownership seal, a bright light shone from his heart, and a translucent marble orb emerged.

It looked ordinary at first glance, but up close, dozens of tiny magic circles overlapped inside.

Wow, a sub-space implanted inside the body rather than a bracelet…That must’ve been expensive.

“You’ve got something nice.”

“…I got lucky.”

Figures. Scumbags always live well.

“Y-You’ll need a mage to re-implant it later to use it…”

“I know, so there’s no need to explain.”

“……”

“Alright, I’ll give you ten minutes.”

Even as I set a strict limit, I was curious.

What would he say?

Beg for his life?

Offer a deal?

The answer was completely different.

 

Before he opened his mouth, he looked like a broadcaster preparing to go on air.

Then—

“Pshhit…”

He smiled.

Just like when he wore the clown mask.

And…

…He’s smiling?

As if hearing my thoughts, he spoke.

“What, did you expect me to tremble and beg for my life?”

Uh…

Would be a lie to say no, but admitting it hurt my pride. So I stayed silent.

He laughed again.

“Pssssit… I was truly shocked! Bjorn Jandel. Not only are you a player, but you were the Lion Mask too!”

“…What exactly are you trying to do?”

His dramatic tone finally got on my nerves.

“Eh? I just realized I’m about to die and decided to have a final conversation.”

Wow… this guy was completely in character. Honestly, I thought he was just pretending to be unhinged, but now I could tell it was real. And seeing his true madness, even I was at a loss for words.

“…Do you have no lingering attachment to life?”

“How could I not! But even if I poured that out, would you let me live?”

…That’s true. Still, isn’t it human nature to at least try?

“Pssit, I am different from those ordinary people.”

“How are you different?”

“Survival of the fittest is the law of nature. I have no intention of grumbling about it.”

“So? Why did you ask for time to talk?”

“Just, wouldn’t it be more fun that way?”

Oh, I see…

It seemed his head hadn’t fully healed yet. Right, that must be why he’s spitting out such nonsense ten minutes before his death—

Then I noticed something familiar in his grinning eyes.

…Huh?

Fear, despair, regret, longing… The kind of dark emotions any living thing would feel when facing death.

“Why? Are you disappointed? Because I’m not crying and begging?”

Looking closer, his body was trembling ever so slightly.

That’s when I realized.

“You’re pretending to be fine.”

“…What are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine. I was weak, you were strong. So you have every right to enjoy the victor’s privilege.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to be honest at the end?”

He deserved to die, sure.

But I still gave him that advice sincerely.

Everyone wears a mask.

That’s not wrong.

But at the very end, shouldn’t you take it off?

That was the only bit of kindness I could offer him.

But…

“Ps… sit…”

Even after my advice, he forced that fake smile onto his lips. Still, it seemed like my words reached some part of him.

“…Isn’t this world just too exhausting to live honestly in? Ah! Of course, that wouldn’t apply to someone strong like you. Pshhit!”

Compared to all that talk about the law of the jungle, nature’s order, and having no complaints, this sounded far more genuine.

Ha… this is driving me crazy…

I should’ve just killed him earlier.

Even thinking that, I still found myself asking him—

“…Hey. What’s your real name?”

Corpse Collector. Abet Necrafeto.

“Psssit… what’s this? You interested in me now?”

“Yeah.”

Somehow…

I’d become curious about this guy.

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com

Please join here, I need supporters to help me continue translating Surviving game as a barbarian and Lee Gwak
If it doesn’t work support me here buymeacoffee.com/hennoveltranslations. There are advanced chapters for supporters as well.