Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 834

Grudges and Favours 1

Ludria Island.

It was not quite as remote as Grand Rock, located at the far northern edge of the Great Ocean, but it was still a tropical island near the outer edge of the floor.

Beyond the sandy beach, beneath the shade of a palm tree, nine explorers were gathered together.

The scene looked almost peaceful.

Lek Aures.

A huge man with the build of a typical tank was wringing water from his soaked shirt, as if he had just gone for a swim.

Belbev Ruingenes.

The old man sat on a fallen tree as though it were a chair, quietly reading a book.

Jaina Flyer.

The priestess in a black robe seemed unwilling to mix with the others. She stood a short distance away, leaning against another tree with her eyes closed.

Lee Baek-ho.

That blond bastard with an irritating face was sitting in front of the campfire.

No, he was not merely sitting there.

He was smiling and chatting as if he were enjoying himself.

Baek-ho…!

There were five unfamiliar people mixed in with the ones I knew, but unfortunately, I had no time to examine them one by one.

Screeeeech!

My ears rang, and my mind went blank at the unexpected sight.

My ghostly hands began to tremble.

I calmly closed my eyes, then opened them again.

But just like when I first arrived in this world, nothing changed.

…Baekho.

The man who had killed James Calla and Versyl Gowland.

On the very day I founded the Anabada Clan, the day I swore never to feel that damned emotion again, he had smiled as he crushed that resolve beneath his feet.

It was not strange for him to be here.

After that day, I had found no trace of him and thought he had vanished somewhere.

But of course, he had simply been lurking behind the scenes, scheming and scavenging anything useful he could find.

Like a cockroach.

Badump!

A wave of pure hatred surged through me.

For a moment, I nearly planted the flag right there and crossed through the portal to him.

However—

No.

I desperately suppressed my poisonous urge.

Realistically speaking, there was no way I could defeat his party with the people currently at my side.

No…

More importantly, this flag was the only means I had of reuniting with my clan members.

If I wasted it just to punch that smug bastard in the face once, how could I ever justify it to myself?

What if my companions died while I was chasing personal revenge?

What if people I could have saved ended up dead because of that choice?

I would regret it for the rest of my life.

And I would hate myself even more.

Knowing I had the chance to save them, yet chose not to.

“Haah…”

I let out a long breath and slowly calmed the hatred boiling inside me.

Letting out a silent sigh, I finally tore my gaze away from Baekho Lee.

If I looked at that face for even a second longer, I felt my resolve might crumble.

So I forced myself to focus elsewhere.

The others.

…There were five more people.

There were five unfamiliar faces among the members of Baekho Lee’s party.

Simply learning who they were could prove invaluable in the future.

So I carefully studied each of them, searching for any details that might reveal their identities.

I examined their appearances, equipment, mannerisms, and the way they carried themselves, committing every clue I could find to memory.

First, there was the kid happily grilling something over the campfire.

I don’t think he’s actually a child… Is it some kind of magic?

Next was a mysterious figure wearing a mask.

They were around five foot five, but their entire body was covered, making it impossible to tell whether they were male or female.

Then there was a swordsman standing by the fire, listening closely to Baekho.

I had never seen him before, but judging by the frown on his face, Baekho was probably saying something irritating.

Honestly, that was only natural.

That bastard was completely unfit for society and always had something unpleasant to say.

Anyway, next…

Even through the black-and-white filter, I could tell that the elf’s skin was unusually dark.

A dark elf…

But I had heard that dark elves went extinct centuries ago.

And that definitely wasn’t the result of a simple tan.

It was certainly intriguing, but there was no way for me to figure it out from here, so I moved on.

The next person, however, was someone I recognized.

A dwarf with several hand axes hanging from his belt like a ring of keys.

What was his name again?

I couldn’t remember at the moment.

Still, I knew who he was.

He had once been considered one of the most promising members of the Golden Generation. Then, for some unknown reasons, he murdered Dumoka, the former leader of the dwarves, and fled before eventually joining Orcules.

He was ranked much higher than the Corpse Collector, but since I had never seen him fight, I could not say for sure how strong he really was.

And then, the last one.

A beastman was sprawled out on the beach some distance away from Baekho Lee’s group.

It was not as if he was peacefully enjoying the starry night and becoming one with nature.

He was surrounded by bottles.

Drinking inside the labyrinth…

Was there something wrong with his head?

Then again, considering he was hanging around Baekho, that much made sense.

In any case, the important thing was that I did not recognize him either.

So I only know one of them…

At this point, I was no longer just frustrated.

I was honestly amazed.

I hated to admit it, but anyone moving together with Baekho had to be highly skilled.

And yet, I only recognized one of them.

Where the hell does that bastard find people like this? Is there some kind of dark-web job board for psychopaths?

I desperately wanted an answer, but since that was impossible, I focused on memorizing their faces and every detail I could see.

Maybe I had simply fallen behind on current affairs, and that was why I failed to recognize them.

After committing their appearances and characteristics to memory, I decided to have my allies investigate them later.

Alright. Investigation complete.

After giving Baekho’s party one final look, my gaze settled on him once more.

Of course, I couldn’t remain here forever.

Learning that Baekho had recruited several new members was valuable information in itself. I should have been satisfied with that and returned to my original objective.

Yet—

Even though I knew that was the rational choice, my feet refused to move.

Lee Baek-ho…

He was the living proof that your fellow countrymen could be more dangerous than the natives.

Any lingering affection I might once have felt for him had long since vanished.

Now, all I felt when I looked at him was anger.

Hatred.

Disgust.

But those emotions were not the only reason I remained rooted in place.

…Why is he in the labyrinth?

To hunt monsters with his new companions?

To level up?

To gather treasures and powerful essences?

I didn’t believe that for a second.

No.

He’s plotting something.

That was simply the kind of person Lee Baek-ho was.

Nothing he did was without purpose.

Nothing was ever as simple as it appeared.

So what was it?

What scheme was he weaving beneath that carefree smile?

What was he after this time?

Could the Lord of Tears be involved…?

I had no evidence.

Yet I couldn’t simply dismiss the possibility.

After all, who in the entire labyrinth was more suspicious than that bastard?

And if there was even the slightest profit to be gained, Baekho would not hesitate to sacrifice thousands—or tens of thousands—of lives.

No.

Maybe he’s even connected to the dimensional collapse itself.

Others might call that a baseless leap.

I wouldn’t.

To me, Baekho Lee was the source of every disaster and the most poisonous existence in the labyrinth.

Hell, the Earth Witch would probably be more beneficial to the world than he was.

Probably.

Haah…

The truth was, I had no idea what Baekho was thinking.

I never had.

Still, there was something I wanted to tell him if we ever met again.

Not that my voice could reach him from here.

Lee Baek-ho.

I finally understood why he had spent decades searching in vain and still failed to open the Gate of the Abyss.

Lee Baek-ho always sought the easiest path.

Whenever something went wrong, he looked for faults in others.

Whenever he faced a problem, he searched for answers from someone else.

He never once considered changing himself.

But I was different.

At least, I wanted to believe I was.

Dimensional Collapse?

I’ll survive this one too.

And when I do, I’ll become strong enough that I won’t need to rely on anyone else’s hand.

And when that day comes—

Just as I did with the Dragonslayer—

I’ll come find you too.

Honestly, I should have said that to his face before he ran away last time.

Still, the thought eased some of the weight on my chest.

Alright, let’s go.

Just as I was about to turn away from Baekho and move on—

Hmm?

Something caught my eye.

Ruin Gramps.

Just like before, he was reading a book.

Come to think of it, he had been doing the same thing whenever we explored outside the walls. Whenever the group stopped for a break, he would quietly pull out a book and read by himself.

Back then, I assumed it was some kind of grimoire and paid it no attention.

What is he reading, anyway?

Suddenly curious, I drifted behind the Ruin Scholar in my spirit form and peeked over his shoulder.

And then—

[The snow-white fur of Reina, the White Rabbit Tribe warrior, glistened with sweat. When I grabbed her small, adorable tail, Raina flinched, and her white ears sprang upright…”
…

I was speechless.

Ah.

Uh.

Well…

I genuinely did not know how to react to that.

But one thing became crystal clear.

What a complete waste of time.

My opinion of Baekho Lee’s party dropped another level.

***

Although I had wasted some time after finding Baek-ho’s party, I moved quickly without taking a break.

Thanks to that, it didn’t take me long to search the entire sixth floor.

Not that I found them, though.

So the sixth floor is a miss too…

I even checked the underwater islands, but I could not find a single trace of my allies.

Where the hell is everyone?

Vwoong!

My impatience grew as I cleared one area after another.

It was not because I kept imagining the worst-case scenario. Of course, I could not completely rule it out, but the chances were extremely low.

And it was not just because I had strengthened them.

Objectively speaking, the Anabada Clan was powerful. They would not fall apart instantly just because I was missing.

The real problem was—

Please. I should have found them by now…

If my allies were inside one of the fog-covered areas I had never visited before, then I had no way to find them.

The fifth floor is empty too…

Feeling more and more uneasy, I searched the next floor even more carefully.

But I found no trace of them in the Great Demon Realm.

In fact, I could barely find anyone at all.

The reason was simple.

The Lord of Tears.

So this is where it ended up.

It had been dropped onto the fifth floor and was now wandering around there.

For reference, being forcibly separated from the island he had been clinging to immediately pushed him into Phase Four, causing him to remove his blindfold.

This is hell…

It stared up at the sky in despair, and around it lay mountains of explorer skulls, all melted clean by the monster’s acid skill.

Huh…? What the…?

Why did it feel like our eyes had met?

That should have been impossible, but it still sent a chill through me, so I moved farther away.

Then—

Crunch!

With the sound of something shattering, the Lord of Tears reached toward me.

Startled, I hurriedly moved even higher.

And then—

Nothing happened.

It returned to its black-and-white state and froze like a statue.

Whoa, that scared me…

Rather than try to figure out how it had managed to move, I quickly put more distance between us.

Because what if he moved again?

I had no interest in getting caught up in whatever that was.

After that, I finished searching the rest of the fifth floor and descended to the fourth.

The fourth floor did not take long either.

By now, I had become quite skilled at moving in my spirit state, allowing me to search at an incredible speed.

And then—

Finally.

I found what I had been looking for.

It was not in the main field of the Tower in the Sky, but in one of the hidden fields on the fourth floor.

More precisely—

The Larkaz’s maze.

A place deeply connected to me.

And there, I saw her surrounded by dozens of hostile explorers.

Aynar…!

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