Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 790

Red Ocean (2)

Basement Floor 1.

It was a hidden area that could be accessed by collecting three Nameless Fragments from the Sculpture Temple on the third floor and placing them on the dimensional monument located on the first floor.

Only a handful of people have explored this place so far, and the lack of reliable first-hand information has allowed all kinds of wild rumors to spread—rumors that made the first underground floor sound like it was overflowing with valuable rewards.

Single numbered items, new essences, new monsters, and more.

The rumors made it sound like the first underground floor was overflowing with valuable rewards just waiting to be claimed.

‘Well, looking at the rewards alone, it’s not exactly a lie……………….’

But in my view, it’s high risk, high return.

Even with our experience, there were moments we doubted whether we would ever make it out, and that was before considering how many people lost their lives along the way.

“What a bunch of idiots…” Raven muttered, clicking her tongue. “They’re willingly going back in, even after the royal family officially designated it a forbidden zone.”

Although Raven dismissed their actions, I could understand what had driven them to go down there.

An explorer’s greed is like the abyss.

No matter how deep you go, there’s no end.

…It was the same when we first descended to Basement Floor 1.

Back then, the area in front of the Dimensional Monument was packed with explorers.

Every single one of them was smiling as they gathered there.

Even as Berzak, the Lord of the Abyss, roamed the floors, they couldn’t let go of their greed. They kept talking as if his presence alone meant the conditions to open the portal had already been met.

“You should know that too, Baron Jandel… isn’t this what it means to be an explorer?”

That was when I truly understood just how reckless people could become in the name of exploration. It was as though they had given themselves over entirely to their greed.

“In any case,” Raven went on, as if voicing my thoughts, “it makes sense if their target is the first underground floor. I was wondering who would push themselves to rush through the floors like that, but they must have been desperate.”

I nodded at Raven’s muttering. The greatest enemy when entering Basement Floor 1 is ‘time’. You have to reach the third floor, obtain three Nameless Fragments and return to the first floor within seven days before it closes. Only after fulfilling these conditions can you enter Basement Floor 1.

“So, what are you planning to do?”

At Kaislan’s question, I paused for a moment to think.

To be honest, whether they went to Basement Floor 1 or the 2nd Floor was none of our business.

The odds of them never returning were higher anyway.

Well, I was curious to see the faces of the fools who came up with such a reckless plan, but…

“We keep moving.”

Deciding it wasn’t worth wasting our limited time on such a minor curiosity, I pushed the thought aside and we pressed on, focusing entirely on moving up the floors as quickly as possible.

By the morning of the sixth day, we had passed through the Forest of Witches and arrived at the entrance to the Sky Tower on the fourth floor.

However, there was a problem.

“…That’s a lot of people.”

Dozens of explorer teams were gathered at the centre of the Forest of Witches, waiting at the entrance to the fourth floor.

There was nothing particularly strange about that, of course. The fastest clear times didn’t differ by much, so it was only natural that the explorers would reach the fourth floor around the same time.

‘To think there’s a waiting line even after we climbed at this speed… everyone must be serious about this expedition.’

I scanned the area to see if Team 2 was there, but I couldn’t spot them.

They had either already moved on or hadn’t reached here yet. As I guided my team into line, I could feel the other explorers watching me.

“…It’s Viscount Jandel.”

“So he finally showed up? Not as impressive as I expected.”

“I told you already, without his fame and reputation, he’s just like any other explorer.”

Surprisingly, what I felt from them was hostility more than anything else. Was it because only high-ranking explorers were here? It seemed they viewed me more as a competitor than an object of admiration.

“I don’t see many teams wearing the Royal Crest,” I said.

As before, it was Raven who answered. “Given the nature of the military, their composition likely prioritizes combat over mobility.”

“Ah, that makes sense…”

The line kept moving at a steady pace, growing noticeably shorter even during our brief exchange. Given the circumstances, we didn’t have to wait even five minutes for the portal’s color to change.

Six people would step forward to fill the slots, the portal would change color almost immediately, and then the next team would enter, with each cycle taking about a minute per group.

Rumble—!

Suddenly, the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.

But, as expected of high-ranking explorers, no one panicked.

They all immediately understood what it meant.

“…A rift has opened.”

A rift had appeared on the third floor.

And the reactions of the explorers here fell into three distinct types.

“So the rumors were true. Since the labyrinth hadn’t been opened for a while—”

“Shh, keep it down.”

“Anyway, does this mean we can look forward to the 4th and 5th floors?”

Some paid no attention to the third-floor rift and instead looked ahead, their eyes filled with anticipation.

“Briem! Where’s the rift located?”

“Not too far from here. If we move at full speed, we should reach it within an hour.”

“An hour… That’s tight. But if we can get in, it won’t be a loss…’

Those who checked the rift’s location and began weighing their options.

“This way!”

“Run!”

“Captain, what are we doing? They’re already running!”

“…Damn it! We’re going too!”

Those who made an immediate decision and rushed off without hesitation.

We were the former. There was nothing in the White Temple that we needed, and since the guild master’s goal was an “achievement”, he didn’t raise any objections either.

After all, how much of an achievement could clearing a third-floor rift really be?

Even so, the rift opening worked in our favor.

“Oh, it’s our turn now.”

With so many explorers rushing off, we ended up moving much further ahead in the line.

「You have entered the Sky Tower of the 4th Floor.」

As expected, we didn’t encounter anything particularly noteworthy in the Sky Tower, aside from the rift that opened around the tenth day. We tried to reach it as soon as it appeared, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to enter.

“That’s a shame…” Raven said, sounding disappointed. “It wasn’t the Golden Ruins, right? That place practically rains money.”

“…It was probably the Doppelganger Forest.”

Although missing the rift was disappointing, as explorers with the right mindset, we put those thoughts aside and kept climbing the tower.

Unlike the previous floors where we could skip almost every battle, combat was unavoidable on the 4th Floor. As battles broke out, I closely observed the combat power of our new members.

‘Better than I expected.’

Beleg Shusia di Tersia.

A hero of the fairy race, formerly known as the Chaser during his adventuring days.

I had heard he used to go by a different name, but his alias changed after he relentlessly pursued the Dragon Slayer following the destruction of the fairy village a few decades ago.

And true to his title, his specialty is tracking and detection.

‘His combat power seems to be somewhere between Level 2 and Level 3……………….’

What was unusual was that, despite being an archer, he didn’t use a bow. His combat style was something like this:

Whoooosh—!

He would summon an army of spirits known as “Summons.”

「Beleg Shusia di Tersia uses [Skill Transfer].」

Then, through the [Skill Transfer] essence, he shares his various ‘bow-type’ essence abilities with his summons.

And then—

「Beleg Shusia di Tersia has no weapon equipped.」

With the [Commander] effect, he amplifies the attack power of all his summons several times over—

「Beleg Shusia di Tersia uses [Horn of Souls].」

「Summons deal additional damage when striking the same target.」

He increases his firepower through several support skills.

All things considered, this technically made him closer to a summoner or a special ability user than a true archer.

‘Whatever, as long as he fights well.’

Beleg’s build was more complete than I had expected.

As expected of a former player.

‘Yeah… definitely better than the guild master.’

As for the guild master, his abilities fell far short of my expectations.

He does possess some rare essences, and objectively speaking, he is still a high tier combatant, but…

‘That’s all there is to it.’

It feels like he’s already pushed himself to his absolute limit.

I got the sense that he had only just managed to scrape his way up to his current level of skill. Even if it weren’t already too late to completely change his essence combinations, and it definitely was, he simply didn’t have the potential to make up for his shortcomings.

「You have entered the 5th Floor, the Great Demon Realm.」

As I continued my little “tests,” we eventually reached the fifth floor, only to realize it looked different the moment we stepped inside.

Normally, since the entrance was a safe zone, it would be filled with camps where explorers gathered and rested, but…

“…There’s no one here?”

“That just means we got here early.”

Of course, it didn’t seem like this place would fill up even if more time passed.

Anyone skilled enough to enter the labyrinth wouldn’t need to set up camp in a safe zone in the first place.

“There’s no sign of them. Looks like we got here before Team 2.”

“Unless someone removed them.”

We left a simple marker at the entrance for Team Two and continued our exploration.

Naturally, we chose the Wraith Canyon—the most difficult but shortest route.

「The character has entered a special area.」
「Field Effect – Wraith Canyon applied.」
「Status Effect [Earthbound Spirit] applied.」
「Dark resistance and physical resistance decreased by -100.」

The ground trembled in steady intervals, while eerie ghostly cries echoed all around us. A foul presence hung in the air, leaving my skin prickling with discomfort.

Although it was more unsettling and unpleasant than passing through the Frost Canyon or the Hellfire Canyon, as explorers who prioritized efficiency, this was still the best option.

“Why does it have to be this place of all routes…”

In the labyrinth, time is quite literally money.

Sure enough, the moment we chose this path, we began encountering other explorer groups along the way, people just like us, rushing to climb the floors as quickly as possible.

‘Not exactly a great place for hunting.’

Hmm, I wondered, a sudden curiosity taking hold. Since this wasn’t a good hunting ground, would we have run into explorers out hunting if we had taken a different route?

Probably.

If you can monopolize the fifth floor, the efficiency isn’t bad at all.

“At this rate, we’ll reach the sixth floor tomorrow.”

Time passed quickly, and before we knew it, it was the sixteenth day since entering the labyrinth.

We were just one day away from the 6th Floor.

“Seventeen days to get there is pretty fast, right?”

“Unbelievably fast. Back during the war, I think the average travel time was closer to twenty-five days, wasn’t it?”

Arriving on the morning of the 17th day was certainly a record-breaking pace.

If we hadn’t been so concerned about conserving our energy, we might have forced our way there by day sixteen.

‘Is it because the overall level of the team has increased?’

Either way, nothing particularly eventful happened after we reached the fifth floor. The only notable thing was another rift opening.

“The rifts really are opening on every floor.”

“To think we have a scout and still can’t get in… just how fast is everyone else?”

‘Are we just having terrible luck with rifts this time…?’

It was while I was thinking this and setting up camp that—

“Jandel.”

Beleg, our team’s scout, lowered his voice as he called my name.

It didn’t take long to understand why he had suddenly stopped resting and turned serious.

“…Explorers.”

“There are quite a lot of them. Well over forty.”

“Let’s wait for now. If they’ve noticed us, they’ll turn away.”

It almost went without saying, but in the labyrinth, monsters aren’t the only thing you need to be wary of.

If anything, you have to be even more cautious of people.

“…They’re not changing direction.”

The group was heading straight toward us.

It’s an unspoken rule in the labyrinth to steer clear if someone has already set up camp.

Step. Step.

As we all stood ready, the group of explorers soon emerged from the darkness.

The moment they saw us preparing camp, a flicker of surprise crossed their faces.

“…The Anabada Clan?”

Just as I had identified their clan by their insignia, they recognized ours as well.

Though, in their case, they probably would’ve known who we were even without one.

“What are you looking at? Move along.”

“Ah, my apologies. I’m well aware of the rule, but as a captain, I want to shorten our route even a little.”

“I said move along.”

That made twice now.

Yet the man didn’t budge, only slowly scanning our group.

“By the way…”

That sticky gaze—one that could only come from weighing potential gains against possible losses.

I felt it clearly.

“…It seems you haven’t regrouped with Team Two yet?”

Yeah… this was the labyrinth.

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