Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 60

To save time, I took off the ring first.

No. 9425, the Frost Spirit Ring

A numbered item I obtained by deceiving an old master of the Artemion School.

“Here, take it.”

“Huh? A ring? Why this all of a sudden…?”

Misha, who had casually accepted it, soon wore a confused expression.

“This ring was something I was saving until I found the right person to give it to.”

“Nyah But… Why give it to me?”

Well, the circumstances have changed.

I replied briefly.

“Swear to your guardian spirit. In exchange for this, you will stay with me.”

The Frost Spirit Ring was valued at 1.5 million stones.

However, it’s so rare that even those who desire it find it hard to obtain.

If its true value were known, its price would skyrocket.

“Wh-what?! Bjorn, are you insane?!”

Misha exclaimed in shock, but my mind was clear.

Would I give away something like this without a reason?

I will use it for survival for now, but I need a promise that she will continue to follow and help me later.

Of course, this wasn’t a one-sided contract.

“The moment you accept this ring, I swear on a warrior’s honor to assist you. I expect the same from you.”

“Are you serious…?”

To prove it, I looked into Misha’s eyes and spoke each word deliberately.

“I am serious.”

A true win-win.

A kind of fellowship oath.

And understanding this,

Misha, with widened eyes, stared at me for a while and then spoke in a voice devoid of playfulness.

“…It’s sudden, but I can tell you’re not joking. I won’t lie, I’m flattered by such an offer!”

“Then, that’s good—”

“But Bjorn, sorry. I’ve never thought of you that way.”

“…What do you mean?”

Misha closed her eyes tightly.

Then, as if having made a decision, she looked straight at me and responded.

“I… prefer skinny men.”

“Skinny men…? What are you talking about? I don’t understand—”

“Nyah! It means you have no charm as a man!”

I was momentarily stunned.

Was this what it felt like to be rejected without even confessing?

It was unclear, but one thing was certain.

“…There’s some misunderstanding.”

“Let’s just leave it at that. We still have to travel together; no need to make things awkward—”

What was she saying?

I didn’t want to sound too snobby, so I tried to spin the truth, but it didn’t work.

I was worried that I might seem too snobbish, so I offered my help in a roundabout way, but that was a mistake.

There’s a way Barbarians do things.

“I meant that accepting this ring was to form a fellowship oath.”

“A fellowship oath…?”

“Of course, you can end the contract anytime by finding a similar ring or by providing benefits worth 1.5 million stones. Now, do you understand?”

“How could I?! What on earth is this ring worth 1.5 million stones!”

“It’s a bargain at 1.5 million stones.”

“No, but, what is this ring—”

I cut her off.

“This ring can fulfill your long-standing wish.”

“…What? My wish?”

“For instance, now your brother can no longer call you halfing or anything.”

Was it a sensitive topic?

Misha stiffened.

After a moment of thought, she forced a smile.

“Nyah, you think I’d fall for that? Even if you’re embarrassed, don’t make up such lies—”

“It’s not a lie.”

The conversation halted, and silence ensued.

Misha’s forced smile vanished.

Instead, she looked at me coldly.

“This is taking the joke too far.”

Her voice was unusually cold.

“I gave you a chance to laugh it off and end it. Why do you keep lying? Think it’s funny because I play along?”

Misha bit her lip, visibly upset.

“…I shouldn’t have told you that.”

I hadn’t anticipated this reaction, but perhaps it was to be expected.

Trauma.

A wound festering for a lifetime, painful even at the slightest touch.

“I didn’t bring it up to pick at your wounds. I truly—”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing. How would you know something even my tribe doesn’t?”

Instead of answering, I remained silent.

Not everything needs to be explained, nor did I want to.

We couldn’t keep this up forever.

Let’s end it quickly.

“Misha, just one question.”

“Go on.”

“If everything I’ve said so far is true, would you accept my offer?”

“Still playing games—!”

I cut off her imminent outburst with a shout.

“Just answer!”

It was a simple question.

Yes or No.

My shouting seemed to startle Misha, and she bit her lip again.

“…If what you say is true, I’d owe you a debt greater than my life. But—”

But what?

“That’s enough.”

I stepped closer and grabbed her wrist.

“Misha Karlstein, it may be hard to believe, but I swear on a warrior’s honor that everything I’ve said is true.”

“…What?”

Confused, Misha looked at me.

Perhaps using the warrior’s oath from the start would have been easier…

Well, it doesn’t matter now.

“So, remember your words when you awaken.”

I pulled Misha closer and slipped the ring onto her finger.

And then…

Crack!

I shattered the blue gemstone on the ring with the force of my grip.

「The Frost Spirit Ring has been destroyed.」

「The Glacier Beast Skadia is released from its seal.」

Like ripples on a lake, a wave of cold spread across the ground.

Whooosh!

No. 9425, the Frost Spirit Ring.

This was the unique effect that occurred when this item was destroyed.

Although it didn’t cause any damage and could be considered a meaningless option, I had discovered something after various attempts.

「Special conditions have been met.」

If the wearer was a beastman, a separate event would occur upon the ring’s destruction.

「The Ice Beast Skadia proposes a contract to Misha Karlstein.」

A Soul Beast contract.

It could forcibly awaken the special abilities inherent to the beastman race.

「The contract has been successfully concluded.」

A cold whirlwind swirling around Misha like the eye of a storm.

As it gradually subsided, Misha opened her eyes.

Her red pupils displayed a mix of complexity and a hint of emptiness.

“Is it really this easy… What have I been doing all this time…”

Mumbling incoherently, Misha turned to look at me.

Her face was filled with a sense of betrayal as she asked.

“Bjorn, what is this ring exactly? If something like this existed, why didn’t my father ever tell me about it!”

Whether the beastman tribe was aware of this ring’s existence, I couldn’t be sure.

But if I were to give her the answer she sought…

“He probably didn’t know about it either.”

“…Didn’t know?”

“Yes, a wizard apparently discovered it only after long research. It’s unlikely he hid it from you because he didn’t consider you his child.”

This would probably be easier on her psyche.

Despite my answer, Misha still looked full of questions.

“Wait, then how do you know about all this? And where did you get this ring?”

Explaining wouldn’t be difficult.

I had made up stories in advance.

But there was something else to do first.

“First, you should get dressed before we continue talking.”

“…Clothes?”

Misha tilted her head in confusion and then followed my gaze downwards.
Realizing her current state…

“Uh, ah? Uhh? Why, why am I completely undressed?!”

She shrieked, sounding like a malfunctioning robot.

“I’ve folded everything up next to you. Get dressed, and then we’ll talk.”

“Okay, okay…”

While I turned away, Misha quickly dressed herself.

“Can you turn back now?”

“That was quick.”

“Should I have taken my time?!”

As I turned back, Misha, now in her regular clothes, came into view.

A thin cloth garment worn under her armor.

It fit her so snugly that her curves were even more pronounced.

“Aren’t you going to put on your armor?”

“Answer this first! Why was I, I, naked?!”

“Well, I took them off.”

“Yo-you, you did?!”

“I had no choice. I heard that all equipped gear should be removed for this ritual.”

By the way, that was a lie.

It wasn’t something I heard; I had experienced it firsthand.

Damn, all my hard-earned equipment was reset, and I ended up getting a game over.

“…Wait a minute! Did you ask that question at the beginning for this reason?”

“What question?”

“About marriage and stuff.”

Ah, that.

I nodded honestly.

“I thought it would be upsetting if you were married.”

I am a proud Confucian from Korea.

Undressing a woman, especially one who might have a husband, is an act of disrespect I could never commit.

However, Misha shouted in disbelief at my response.

“You thought of that, but didn’t think to tell me in advance?!”

“I didn’t intend to hide it. But you didn’t believe a word I said, did you?”

“That’s true, but…”

Misha seemed to run out of things to say as I logically countered every question.

So, it was time to be a bit more assertive.

“Actually, it was quite a hassle to undress you in a hurry. Tsk, I didn’t realize you wore so many
trinkets.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Before you apologize, don’t you have something else to do?”

I looked at her intently as I spoke indirectly.

It’s a rule that one should boast as much as possible when they have the chance.

“…Thank you.”

“Is that all?”

Misha hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“…Thank you very much?”

“Don’t try to gloss over it. There’s something we need to address properly.”

“Do I really have to say it out loud?”

Misha avoided my gaze, her face a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness, but I wasn’t one to let it slide.

Such things always need to be addressed clearly.

“Of course.”

Upon my firm response, Misha’s expression changed.

The playful atmosphere was gone as if she never intended to let it slide.

She adjusted her posture and looked at me.

“Bjorn, let me tell you. I… once… even tried to take my own life.”

Suddenly?

Though I hadn’t sensed such a feeling from her, I listened attentively to her serious voice.

“It was my father who found and saved me then.”

“I guess you should be grateful to your father.”

“I wish it was a beautiful story like that… But it’s not. Do you know the first thing he said when I regained consciousness? If I really wanted to die, I should go to the labyrinth and die there. How much more would I embarrass our family?”

Ah, uh, um…

This was far more dysfunctional than I had anticipated.

As I contemplated whether I should correct my earlier misstatement, Misha continued calmly.

“So I entered the labyrinth. Not because I wanted to die as my father said, but to escape that household. I thought, even without the Soul Beast, if I became a renowned explorer and gained recognition, maybe my father would look at me differently.”

Her voice was restrained, yet it vividly conveyed all the emotions she must have felt growing up.

“Of course, I don’t know if this will make my father recognize me. But somehow… now I feel like it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Then Misha bowed to me.

“…Thank you, Bjorn. I will never forget this debt for as long as I live and will repay it.”

Her sincerity seemed unlikely to fade over time.

And in that sense, enough of the melodrama.

“Did you swear to your guardian spirit?”

I asked, having listened carefully.

Misha smiled slightly and nodded.

“I swear to my guardian spirit.”

Okay, clean and nice.

Summoning, Enhancement, Ability.

A beastman who contracts with a Soul Beast typically acquires one of these three types of abilities.

Misha was of the Enhancement type.

「Misha Karlstein’s body is now permanently imbued with the power of the Ice Beast Skadia」

In addition to a leap in physical abilities, she now had a constant ice attribute.

Just like how my abdomen felt chilly where I was hit.

“Ouch! I did hit you because you asked, but I didn’t know it would be like this. Are, are you okay?”

My skin reddened as if it was frostbitten.

Seeing this, I grinned.

‘Summoning or Ability would have been better, but…’

Still, this wasn’t bad.

Being hit confirmed it.

I had finally gained an elemental attack method I had longed for.

Now, even spirit-type monsters were fair game.

“Eh? Wake up, Bjorn! Why are you grinning like an idiot?!”

“It’s nothing. Let’s move on. We’ve been here too long.”

After a quick cleanup, I moved on with Misha, and we decided to test our skills against a Grade 9 spirit-type monster, a ‘Wraith’.

「The Wraith casts [Corpse Flame].」

[Corpse Flame].

An active skill blending dark and fire attributes.

Its power was lower than a Grade 9 spell…

And with my vampire essence granting dark resistance, it was barely warm to me.

Such spirit-type monsters were usually weaker than their rank implied.

They were only troublesome early on when I lacked the means to fight them.

「Wraith defeated. EXP +1」

I used a holy water-sprinkled mace.

Misha, with frost imbued in her fists, took down about a dozen wraiths.

“Hmm, every punch feels weird…”

She used fists instead of a spear for a simple reason.

‘As expected, weapons don’t apply to a first-stage awakening.’

Just as Barbarian soul engravings have stages.

The beastman’s Soul Beast contract also grows gradually.

Fortunately, Misha was originally a martial artist class. She only resorted to using daggers when she felt limited with her fists.

「Witch’s Lamp defeated. EXP +1」
「Dire Router defeated. EXP +2」
「Mutated Lesser Spirit defeated. EXP +2」

We continued to wander through the forest.

Taking down monsters as we saw them, without overexerting ourselves. Also taking breaks to conserve energy.

「Woodman defeated. EXP +1」
「Homunculus defeated. EXP +2」

About 11 hours had passed.

We hadn’t encountered any Grade 7 monsters yet, but battles with lower-grade monsters weren’t particularly challenging.

There had been no dangerous situations, and contrary to our concerns, the wench Elisa hadn’t shown any signs of tracking us down.

‘Could something have happened to them?’

Maybe, but it’s also possible that nothing had.

Instead of harboring idle hopes, it was better to stay prepared mentally and continue with what could be done right now.

‘Sigh, still no essence.’

I lamented silently.

Holy Water and the Ice Beast Skadia.

These two attack methods had made it possible for us to hunt spirit-type monsters without issues…

But that didn’t change much.

‘About 30%, maybe.’

I thought.

That was roughly the chance I estimated for us to safely survive and return to the city.

「12 hours have passed since you entered the Witch’s Forest.」
「Field Effect – The Witch’s Forest is strengthened.」
「Status Ailment [Witch’s Eye] applied.」

The real survival challenge begins now.

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