Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 171

Burning (3)

After Aynar obtained [Wings of Greed].

Raven used Aynar like a puppet, testing the essence’s performance.

First and foremost.

“I can’t fly……!!!”

Flight using the wings was impossible.

Moreover, since the wings were made of light, it was impossible to use them for attack or defense, or even to move them at will.

Just wings that moved according to Aynar’s mood.

Flutter, flutter!

Oh no, I’m in a bad mood.

It’s all about balance.

It these could fly, wouldn’t it be a total cheat?

“…But it does suit you very well.”

“Nyang, you look really, really strong.”

“Really?!”

The wings begin to flap once again at the mention of looking strong.

Flutter!

Well, this must be something that feels good to look at.

Indeed, even I have to admit the wings have a certain cool factor.

The effect of absorbing the surrounding air each time it healed was quite spectacular too.

“If we had known it had these abilities, Mr. Jandel could’ve taken it. Aren’t you regretting it?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you’ve lost your vampire essence, so you don’t have any health regeneration abilities.”

Ah, that’s what she meant.

But it’s not the right essence for me.

The passive ability doesn’t suit a tank.

After all, I could somewhat manage regeneration with stats alone, and there were far better options available, so why bother?

‘Above all, it suits Aynar well.’

The effect of [Scars of Explosion] is simple.

Explosion upon striking the same spot twice.

In the game, it felt similar to a critical hit.

It increased accuracy or was slightly more likely to explode when facing slow monsters?

But with [Repeated Slash], it’s a different story.

“Let’s continue moving then.”

Not long after resuming our exploration, a group of monsters appeared, and everyone could clearly see Aynar’s growth with their own eyes.

Boom!

An explosion occurred as soon as she used [Repeated Slash].

The head of a Level 7 monster burst instantly and vanished into light.

Even Raven, who was watching, was taken aback by its power.

“…Did you really feed Miss. Aynar the essence with this in mind? Because of my assumption that it explodes from repeated strikes?”

Well, it wasn’t an assumption for me.

Of course, I couldn’t say that, so I vaguely danced around the question.

“You are our team’s mage. Of course, I trust your judgment.”

“Uh… Thanks for that…”

Raven couldn’t say anything in response and just shut her mouth. Meanwhile, Aynar couldn’t contain her excitement and continued to mow down monsters.

“Bethel—raaaaaaaaa!!”

Explosions blossomed with every swing of her sword.

Boom! Boom!

Thanks to the twin stats (Strength and Agility) attached to Bertas’ essence, her movements were much smoother and more powerful than before.

Of course, since I wasn’t pulling aggro, she kept accumulating injuries…

“Wings!”

Casting [Life Drain] and [Wings of Greed] together quickly healed the wounds.

‘I think I’ve got her character concept down’

Named the Berserker Barbarian.

I watched Aynar’s battle with unabashed satisfaction.

There was a bit of envy in my heart.

Before I knew about shield barbarians, I always developed characters in such a manner.

Thrilling battles are truly a man’s romance.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to increase her Strength stat so that she can wield a greatsword in each hand?

I considered it for a moment. A barbarian warrior swirling through the battlefield like a whirlwind, wielding massive greatswords in each hand.

And behind her, wings of light as well?

Oh, shit.

‘That would be cool.’

Maybe it could fulfill a vicarious satisfaction.

“Bjorn!”

“Got it. I’ll help now.”

However, her character wasn’t quite finished enough to overcome the numerical disadvantage, so I gradually joined in and finished the battle.

Was that alone impressive enough?

“Nyang, to think that just one essence can make her so much stronger…”

Misha looked on with a bit of envy.

Well, she doesn’t have an essence higher than Level 5 yet.

Seeing Aynar, who had both Level 5 and Level 4 essence, might make her feel deprived.

Especially since Aynar was also a rookie explorer, like me.

“Don’t worry. You’ll become stronger too.”

“Nya…”

Misha suddenly looked dejected, but there was nothing else I could immediately say to cheer her up.

After all, I was planning to get that essence only after we had taken everything we could from the Hellfire Gorge.

Would it take about half a year?

To acquire the core of the Ice Dual Swords Master, it might take several years.

‘Getting to the 5th floor has piled up tasks like a mountain.’

After collecting the magic stones, we continued our exploration.

The forest was huge, with trees burning and spewing devastation.

As we advanced, killing monsters, time quickly passed, and soon the 30th day dawned.

[08:10]

Only 16 hours left until the labyrinth closes.

‘We’ve finally arrived. Just in time.’

A giant tombstone revealed itself between the trees.

“Everyone, stop!”

“Is it a trap?”

“I don’t know. But it could be.”

Raven immediately went on alert upon seeing the artificial structure.

It’s a commendable attitude, but…

‘It’s just a tombstone.’

In the game, this stele had no function.

By the way, if we went in a different direction in the field, we’d find an identical tombstone, serving as a kind of landmark.

A sign indicating this was the center.

Well, there might be hidden elements I haven’t discovered…

‘But that’s unlikely.’

I’ve tried all sorts of things out of suspicion, but nothing came out.

“So, what do we do?”

“Let’s prepare for battle first. Something might be summoned if we enter its radius.”

“Alright then.”

Not wanting to disregard the mage’s opinion in such a situation, I obediently followed her instructions.

Fortunately, Raven wasn’t the type to cautiously waste time without reason.

“I don’t feel any magic. But just in case, I’ll approach it slowly.”

She then slowly closed the distance and stood in front of the tombstone.

Naturally, no monsters popped out.

“Mr. Jandell, want to touch the tombstone?”

Yeah, she always makes me do these things, don’t she?

Knowing it was safe, I just touched it.

As expected, the tombstone didn’t react at all.

“Can we stay a bit longer to check things out?”

“If you want.”

I agreed to Raven’s request.

Considering this was the real version, not the game, there might be clues we didn’t discover in the game.

So, 30 minutes passed.

“Raven, let’s move on now.”

“Oh, no! A man-made structure standing tall in such a forest must have a story behind it!”

It seemed she had fallen into the same trap as me.

How many months had I wasted thinking the same thing?

“Just a little more, and I feel like I might discover something…”

Just a little more? How much is just a little?

“We don’t have much time left. If you’re really curious, we can look up related records after we get out.”

I decisively drew a line, and Raven reluctantly gave up and followed my lead. After all, she doesn’t like to be a burden to others.

She’s easy to manage.

“Let’s go, then.”

We then explored the area around the tombstone.

The reason being, there might be something nearby. Since we couldn’t go far with the remaining day, everyone agreed without complaint.

‘After searching this much, something should turn up by now…’

That’s when, after about two hours of thorough searching.

“Bjorn! Look over there, over there, Nyang!”

Misha pointed and shouted.

“…A house?”

In the middle of the burning, monster-infested forest.

A two-storey brick house stood boldly.

‘Phew, looks like I won’t need to come back here again.’

This was exactly the place I had been looking for.

***

The blackened wooden door opened feebly.

Creeak.

That sound was somewhat annoying, so I just tore it off and threw it on the ground.

“Nyang, Can you not destroy everything you see?”

“…Stop nagging.”

“It’s not nagging, it’s just—”

“Got it. I’ll be careful.”

Complaining about breaking just one door?

“…This place feels eerie.”

The building was almost a ruin.

Even though we confirmed there were no monsters using magic, we cautiously searched inside in case of traps.

Still, it didn’t take long.

Everything from the sofas to the outer walls was burned down to its skeleton.

We quickly finished searching the first floor and moved up to the second floor.

In what seemed to be a bedroom, we found a book.

“Raven! It’s the kind of book you like!”

The book was relatively intact, possibly because it was inside a drawer.

Though the exterior was completely charred, there were still quite a few intact pages inside.

‘…Was this here before?’

An item that couldn’t be found in the game.

Raven’s eyes lit up as she took the book from Aynar and carefully opened it.

“It’s written in ancient language.”

“Can you read it?”

“Yes. This is my specialty. Anyway, it looks like a diary.”

Raven then began reading aloud, showcasing her knowledge.

The content was quite interesting.

[Day 192, the rescue team didn’t come today either. Now, only three of us remain from the exploration. Tarvian suggested building a house, and I agreed. Demon meat tasted disgustingly bad today as well.]

[Day 271, a decent house has been completed. We drank the wine we had saved. When was the last time we laughed and talked like this? Shit, if Zephyros hadn’t gotten drunk and started talking nonsense, my mood would still be great.]

[What’s the point of living in a world that’s been destroyed?]

[Even if everything is burnt to ashes, there is still hope.]

[As evidence, we are still alive.]

[Day 467, Tarvian is pregnant. Whose child could it be? Neither Zephyros nor I asked. Ah, Tarvian, the wisest yet most pitiable woman. Today, I desperately crave alcohol.]

[Day 672. Or is it 673? I’m not sure, but a crisis has occurred. The Fire Orb has started to lose its power. The outer walls are already being scorched by flames. Only Tarvian, the mage, can fix it. But what’s the point if extending its life costs her own?]

[Day 711, for the first time in a long while, Zephyros and I agreed on something.]

[Today we die.]

[If the world hasn’t been destroyed by the witch’s hand and someday someone finds this place, please use the item in the basement to save the world.]

A diary without even the speaker’s name.

Only four intact pages were found.

Yet, Raven was shocked as she recited the last entry.

“A witch…”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“The diary is written in ancient language… The person who wrote this diary is from our dimension!”

“Uh?”

Misha gave a ‘so what?’ look.

But Raven was too preoccupied to explain kindly.

“What? Ah, is it because this is in another dimension? So, records from that time are left here? No, how did these people come here?”

Raven mumbled to herself, trying to piece together her thoughts.

However, that contemplation didn’t last long.

“The basement! Let’s check the basement first! If what’s written here is true, there must be something down there.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

We went back to the first floor and cleared away the rubble, revealing a path leading down.

It was quite dark, so we used a light orb spell.

Step by step.

Descending, we found a small space about 3 square metres in size, seemingly used as a storage room for food and supplies…

There was a box that looked valuable at first glance.

“I’ll open it.”

“Oh, will you?”

Yes, all those times I took the lead on tasks like this were finally paying off.

‘Did I play it cool?’

With that thought, I opened the box.

Inside was a single orb.

Before Raven could say anything, I reached out and touched it.

「You have been registered as the user of the Fire Orb.」

This was a bound item.

See You On Monday

Tips here