Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 738

Changed Fate(1)

I tend to imagine things often.

Most of the time, I picture the worst-case scenarios, but that doesn’t mean I never think about ordinary possibilities too. Take this moment, for instance.

“……Ugh, uh…….”

The man was writhing on the floor as though he was having a seizure.

I suddenly found myself wondering about his story, and ended up imagining things. What if I heard his tale and felt sympathy? What if some other reason cropped up that forced me to keep him alive?
Multiple scenarios flashed through my mind in an instant. Since his abilities were actually useful, maybe I could place some restrictions on him and use him like a slave. Or maybe he’d undergo a complete reformation and slowly earn our trust.

‘…Wait, that’s basically Auyen’s story.’

The man was writhing on the floor as though he was having a seizure.

Seeing him like that got me thinking.

What if I heard his tale and felt sympathy? What if some other reason cropped up that forced me to keep him alive?

Multiple scenarios flashed through my mind in an instant. Since his abilities were actually useful, maybe I could place some restrictions on him and use him like a slave. Or maybe he’d undergo a complete reformation and slowly earn our trust.

‘…Wait, that’s basically Auyen’s story.’

It ended up reminding me of our navigator, who used to be a plunderer, but anyway.

I even imagined a scene where the mercy I showed today would come back to save me like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings at a crucial moment.

In the end, though, it was meaningless.

[…O-of course! No one has ever asked for my r-real name until now!]

Surprisingly, he had a ‘cute’ side.

[It’s because they tried to rape me in the labyrinth.]

He had a somewhat sympathetic backstory regarding his fall from grace.

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

And even if he had broken himself just to hold on to some shred of sanity, so what?

“…Ugh… ah…?”

You still didn’t do it in the end.

To the people who lost someone precious because of your middle school syndrome bullshit—

“Apologize.”

If you had just done that much, maybe I could’ve reconsidered a little

[Well, if I had one, it would be dying in a cool way?]

Since he was spouting crap like that, I was able to finish him off cleanly without any lingering thoughts.

“…Don’t bother. Just die like the trash you are. That’s the most sincere apology you can give.” I seethed as I watched him die, half his skull crushed, lying there naked and pathetic.

His choking groans gradually faded, and the blood that spilled out with each cough began to dry. It wasn’t because he was getting better. Quite the opposite.

“…….”

Soon, the trembling stopped, and his gaze drifted into empty space.

Was he seeing something?

“Uh… ah…”

His lips barely moved.

I leaned closer to hear.

The pronunciation was slurred, but I could roughly understand.

“…Mo…m…”

It’s strange how everyone is the same at the very end.

“Mom… mama……”

Of course, that didn’t make me feel any sympathy. Just as Hans A, who tried to kill me, had a family too.

Crunch.

If you let your heart soften over things like this, you can’t survive in this world.

“Phew……”

I slowly raised my head and looked at the sky.

[Guehhhhhh……]

The three corpse moons were writhing as well.

If hell existed, it’d probably look like that.

As that thought crossed my mind, the ground began to shake.

Rumble—!

I lowered my head and looked towards the horizon, where I could see the green world collapsing in the distance.

The meaning was simple.

「A character possessing a symbol has died.」

Yeah. He’s dead.

No wonder it’s been quiet.

“……”

Just like when I killed the Dragonslayer.

Strangely, I felt nothing.

No excitement.
No satisfaction.

But no emptiness either.

So what was this feeling?

Instead of agonizing over it, I drew a line in my mind.

Corpse Collector, Abet Necrapeto.

Another name was crossed off my kill list, but it was still packed.

‘Long way to go.’

One by one, I’ll take them down eventually.

「The character is moving to Raphdonia」

***

When I opened my eyes after returning from the Netherworld, the first thing I saw was fire.

Roar—!

Left, right, front, back. Flames were everywhere. With every breath, hot, acrid smoke travelled down my nose and wound around my lungs.

「Fire Orb activated.」

「All continuous fire-based damage within a 15 m radius is reduced by 50%.」

Phew, it is bearable now.

‘Enemies…?’

With the Orb of Fire activated, I quickly scanned my surroundings but sensed no one else nearby.

‘None.’

I guess that’s natural since everything is burning. Still, it was better than being surrounded the moment I returned.

The problem was that I had no idea where my allies had gone.

‘…What the hell happened?’

I needed to grasp the situation fast.

Right before I entered the Netherworld, we’d been fighting Noark’s forces.

‘I was only inside for two hours at most…’

Yet the moment I came out, the streets were covered in flames, and there was no sign of anyone.

However, one thing was certain: this wasn’t the worst-case scenario. If Noark had won, they would be waiting here in a pincer formation, probably holding Astarota’s or Raven’s heads up like trophies.

Yeah. So—

Fwoooosh!

First, I need to get out of here.

Flames raged everywhere and thick black smoke clogged my vision, but figuring out the direction wasn’t that hard.

I wasn’t just any barbarian.

I was an elite barbarian trained by Rotmiller in navigation.

‘That way.’

Once the direction was confirmed, I activated Gigantification and sprinted through the flames.

But what the hell was going on?

One minute. Two. Three…

No matter how much I ran, there was no sign of the fire ending.

‘……Just how far did the fire spread?’

I didn’t know, but there was only one thing I could do: run toward District 7, my home.

10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes…….

As time passed, even my superhuman body was quickly reaching its limit.

Sizzle—!

It wasn’t the intense flames that were the problem.

I had the Orb of Fire, and my physical stats were so high that beyond a slight scorch on my skin, there was little damage.

But the smoke was the issue.

‘Dammit.’

In a fire, more people die from suffocation than from the flames themselves.

I couldn’t breathe properly. It felt like I was about to suffocate.

Sure, with my ridiculous lung capacity, I’d basically been holding my breath this whole time…

But sprinting at full speed while doing that?

It was killing me.

Boom. Boom.

Running at full power while holding my breath… I’m seriously going to die like this.

Riiiiiiing—

A sharp ringing suddenly filled my ears, like an alarm signaling I’d hit my limit.

It grew so loud that I couldn’t even hear my own heavy footsteps or the roar of the flames.

Riiiiiiing—

My vision blurred. Every second felt unbearably long.

I began to feel dizzy, like I had motion sickness.

‘…Shit. Am I really going to die like this?’

A healthy body supported a healthy mind, but when my body was pushed to its limits, my thoughts turned dark, tempting me to give up and rest.

But…….

‘…Cut the crap.’

Instead of being killed by a blade or eaten by a monster, I was going to die from running out of oxygen?

I wouldn’t be able to accept dying like that.

Smack!

I slapped my own head to force my fading consciousness awake.

Then—

Boom. Boom.

I kept running.

Boom. Boom.

I had no idea how much time passed like that.

My sense of time blurred. I couldn’t even think about whether I was still running in the right direction.

Then—

My legs suddenly gave out.

My body pitched forward.

And—

Thud!

I slammed into something hard, and my mind snapped awake.

“A… wall?”

A wall.

A fortress wall.

I didn’t know how much time had passed to get here, but—

“A… wall…”

The moment I realized what I’d hit, strength surged back into my body like magic.

There was no time to look for the gate.

Barbarians aren’t the type to find roads.

We make them.

Gripping the cracks between the scorching bricks, I climbed the castle wall like a cockroach.

And the moment I finally reached the top—

‘…I live.’

Once I confirmed I’d survived, all the strength drained from my body. It was still hard to breathe at the top, but to a man wandering the desert, even a drop of water tastes like the spring of life.

“Haa… haa… haa……”

The acrid smoke made me cough repeatedly, but I forced myself to breathe as deeply as possible.

After a while, my body recovered a bit.

‘…Barely made it. Seriously.’

Only then did I get up and look around. From the high wall, which usually offered a view of the entire city, the scale of the fire became obvious.

“This is insane…”

District 8 was completely ablaze, pouring out massive clouds of smoke.

“…The fire’s spread to District 7 too.”

District 7 was in a similar state. From above, more than a third of the district was engulfed in flames.

“Damn it.”

The thought of the money I’d invested made my stomach churn, but I quickly cleared my head. Money can be earned at any time. In a crisis, you have to remember your priorities. My current priority wasn’t ‘money’ or ‘the aftermath’, but finishing this war safely.

‘Phew… what now?’

After barely escaping death, realistic problems started flooding my mind again.

Astarota and Raven were missing. My clan members were hiding in the barbarian holy land. Amelia and Auyen had last been seen in District 4, being chased.

‘I’m worried about Raven, but…….’

Still, I chose the barbarian sanctuary as my first destination. Charging back into that sea of fire alone to look for her wouldn’t accomplish anything. It was better to regroup with my clan and search together.

Once the decision was made, there was no time to hesitate. I sprinted along the wall. It would be much quicker and easier to move along the wall than to jump back down into the burning city.

Thump—! Thump—!

I was sprinting toward the Sanctuary when—

“……?”

However, as I mindlessly followed the wall toward the sanctuary, I suddenly tensed and stopped as a sense of unease washed over me.

Through the thick black smoke blocking my vision, a figure appeared.

No, more precisely…

“…You’re here.”

He had been waiting for me.

‘A black wolf mask…’

The design was an exact match to the one owned by Lee Baek-ho’s former comrade, ‘Briat.’ Thanks to that, I was able to identify the bastard in an instant.

Hirkumuta.

The ancient organization founded by the followers of the Last Great Sage, Diphlun Graundel Gavrilius.

The wolf-masked figure, presumably a member of the organisation, shrugged as he looked at me.

“It’s been a while, Bjorn Jandel.”

“…?”

“Ah, should I call you Sir Lion instead? Hahaha!”

I let out a quiet sigh.

‘Like I didn’t already have enough to deal with.’

What the hell is this guy now?

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