Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 583
Opening the Door (4)
The structure resembled a straight hallway, though calling it that might be somewhat misleading. While their proportions were similar, the absolute size was huge.
It’s probably three times larger than the Hall of Glory, where knighthoods are conferred…….
Whoooooosh—
Even with the flare, the end was nowhere in sight. Instead, the bright light cast deep shadows along the rows of statues lining the walls, exuding an eerie atmosphere.
‘Statues of the Guardians…’
Just what kind of place is this? I hoped it wasn’t a location that required solo play instead of party play.
Despite my concerns, I remained vigilant, preparing for any potential dangers. Just then, as the promised time passed, portals began floating in the air.
Whoosh—
A portal just large enough for a single person to pass through.
They opened only briefly, each one spitting out a single person before vanishing, as if their purpose had been fulfilled.
“Glad you made it safely.”
Amelia, who came in right after me.
“Ugh… This place is creepier than I expected.”
Next came Aynar, looking thoroughly demotivated. After that, more portals opened, bringing in the rest of our companions.
“Everyone stay put! There could be traps around!”
Even though all the members of Temporary Squad 4 had entered, I didn’t start exploring right away. Instead, I waited for the other squads to arrive.
There was no need to rush, the search could begin once everyone was here.
Squad 3, Squad 2, Squad 1…
As I waited in silence, over a hundred people entered, including the village chief.
“Mages, secure visibility first! Everyone else, don’t act recklessly—wait for orders!”
The village chief shouted in Jerome Saintred’s voice. Watching him act so naturally was irritating, but at the same time, it was somewhat reassuring.
Good—he actually came.
I was secretly worried that he would just dump me here and not come in himself.
‘So everyone has arrived successfully’
Either there was no limit to the number of entrants, or the limit was extremely lenient.
Of course, that didn’t mean it was a cause for celebration.
Given the nature of Dungeon & Stone, places like this have high difficulty settings.
“Baron Jandel, what should we do now?”
The village chief asked me, and I pretended to offer my opinion while actually giving him instructions.
“Hmmm… that makes sense.”
The village chief pretended to think for a moment to avoid looking like my puppet in this matter, and after a while issued orders to his vice commander.
The village chief pretended to think for a moment to avoid looking like my puppet in this matter and, after a while, issued orders to his vice commander.
“First, we’ll assemble a reconnaissance team to survey the area!”
And so the exploration began.
Initially, knights scouted the surroundings, and if anything suspicious came up, they refrained from touching it and called in mages for examination.
Before I realized it, we had already completed a map.
“Having this many people really does make things convenient.”
It almost felt like cheating.
If it had just been our clan, mapping alone would have taken forever.
“No monsters discovered within the area.”
“Do not touch the statues! We’re detecting a faint but unmistakable mana reaction from them!”
“We’ve crossed through the portal, but this doesn’t seem to be inside the rift itself.”
“All terrain features exhibit restorative properties.”
What would normally take an entire day was completed in a fraction of the time thanks to the sheer manpower.
Thanks to the sheer manpower, what would normally take an entire day was completed in a fraction of the time.
All I had to do was stand quietly next to the village chief, listen to the reports, and process the information.
“Is this… the taste of power?”
The convenience made my past explorations feel barbaric in comparison.
Instead of a pen, I racked my brain, compiling the gathered information.
From my perspective, there were three key points:
1.The Guardian Statues
If the mages’ speculations were correct, then these statues were more than just decorative.
They undoubtedly served some purpose, and I had a rough idea of what that might be.
They clearly had a function—and I had a hunch about what that might be.
Or rather, a hope.
2.The Possibility of New Guardians
All the stone statues here depicted Guardians from the 5th floor and below.
“However, what’s unusual is that even the Vampire Duke, Cambormere—who could be considered a kind of hidden boss—is among the statues…”
But the real problem was something else.
‘Why are these guys here?’
There were statues of monsters I’d never seen as Guardians before.
To be clear, they weren’t unidentified entities either.
Like how Cambormier’s true nature was that of a Level 5 Vampire monster, most of these statues were of creatures whose experience points I’d already maxed out.
But the problem here was…
‘Drakes never appeared as Guardians, though…?’
A monster that had never appeared as a Guardian in any Rift was now standing proudly among the Guardian statues.
Perhaps this statue collection wasn’t limited to Guardian monsters? But that didn’t make sense either, since all the other statues bore the hallmarks of Guardians.
Take the Lycanthrope statue, for example.
The only Lycanthrope that wielded an ice club was Tarunbas, the Tyrant of the Glacier Cave.
“If they really are Guardians… then this means new Guardian Essences have appeared!”
“But we haven’t confirmed anything yet.”
“No, I’m certain! Just like how Baron Yandel previously defeated the Vampire Guardian and obtained its essence, these must be Guardians from undiscovered rifts!”
Perhaps this was similar to the case of the Crimson Fortress.
It wasn’t easy to accept that so many rifts existed beyond my knowledge.
But the longer I stayed in this world, the more I had to admit it.
I just knew far more than others.
To claim I knew everything about Dungeon & Stone—that had been arrogance.
This basement level was proof of that.
Not to mention, I had no idea you could use restrained desire to upgrade vampire essence into ogre essence.
Anyway, moving on.
3. The Massive Stone Door.
At the end of the corridor, past the statues, stood a giant stone door. Even a Tier 1 magic spell didn’t leave a scratch on it.
And…
4. That’s it.
In short, we’d have to meet some unknown conditions to open the door and proceed to the next stage.
Therefore…
“That’s enough searching. Gather everyone. No, I think it’d be best to gather everyone now.”
I told the puppet Village Chief to assemble everyone.
“I mean, it is pretty clear by now, right?”
“All troops, prepare for battle…!”
Following the orders of the Village Chief, the vice-commander rallied the troops with a shout. Amidst the tense atmosphere, I slowly approached one of the statues.
And then…
Thud, thud.
I reached out and touched the easiest target, the King Slime statue.
Zzzzt—
A strange, electric sensation ran through my fingertips upon contact.
Instinctively, I knew something had been activated.
But…
‘I didn’t expect this.’
At best, I had anticipated the statue coming to life, but what happened next left me momentarily stunned.
“…A portal?”
A portal had materialized around the statue.
We arrived here by stepping through a mysterious stone door on Basement Floor 1, only to be met with yet another dimensional portal. However, guessing where this portal led wasn’t particularly difficult.
“Could it be connected to the Green Coal Mine…?”
“Isn’t that the most likely possibility?”
Judging by the murmurs, the other explorers seemed to share similar thoughts.
But I wasn’t quick to jump to conclusions.
“We should decide who’s going in first.”
There was no guarantee that this portal led to the Green Coal Mine, nor was it clear how many of us could pass through it.
So, I proceeded with the selection process as cautiously as possible.
That’s because there are three types of portals.
1. Permanently Active Portals
The Dimensional Monument fell into this category.
However, given the circumstances, this seemed the least likely possibility, as we had never seen a portal of this type open within a rift before.
2. Portals that remain until a set number of people pass through.
This is typical for first-floor rifts.
Multiple portals appear across the floor, and once five people pass through each one, they all disppear.
3. One-Time Use Portals
The Doppleganger Forest on the 4th floor is a good example.
Each portal can only be used once.
However, if you’re bound by a binding spell, all linked members transfer together.
(By the way, it’s already been proven that even a six-person party
can be transported at once if they are bound.)
‘Okay, the lineup’s done…’
As usual, we had five- and six-member teams, but also larger ones—ten, twelve, fifteen, eighteen members. We formed the teams in multiples of five and six and decided who would enter first.
It might all end up being pointless, but not doing everything you can in a labyrinth is a sin, at least according to my beliefs.
“Then I’ll go first.”
After casting a new binding spell, I cautiously stepped into the portal and couldn’t help my surprise.
“……”
Rail tracks on the ground.
Scattered mining debris.
A broken cart filled with coal.
Up to this point, there was no problem. The place I’d arrived at was indeed the Green Coal Mine.
But there was one major problem—
“What the… Why is no one else coming?”
No matter how much time passed, no one else came through.
“……”
“What the hell? Why isn’t anyone else coming?”
No matter how much time passed, not a single person followed.
“……”
Just in case, I searched the area and waited a while longer, but there was no sign of the portal reopening.
Which made my brain go into overdrive.
‘Why aren’t they coming?’
Did something happen outside?
Don’t tell me… did the village chief pull something again?
Or maybe everyone did enter, but we just got placed at different start points and haven’t run into each other yet?
“…For now, I’ll handle this alone.”
Either way, waiting here seemed pointless, so I slowly began advancing.
This wasn’t an ordinary Green Coal Mine.
It wouldn’t be strange for a powerful monster to appear at any moment.
As I reminded myself not to let my guard down and moved forward cautiously—
“…Huh?”
[Squeeee—!]
The Guardian of the Green Coal Mine appeared out of nowhere.
Normally, I would’ve had to walk much farther, even after defeating the mid-boss, but…
Crash—!
Since it charged at me the moment it saw me, I smashed it to death with my hammer.
「You have defeated the King Slime.」
[Guardian Kill Bonus. EXP +3]
…Seems like I received the exp points properly.
Might’ve just been my imagination, so I decided to set that thought aside for now.
Whoooosh—!
As soon as the battle ended, a portal appeared. I stood there, staring at it in a daze.
“This is it…?”
It felt a bit anticlimactic, but it really seemed like the end.
Unless something else was waiting beyond that portal, of course.
The portal didn’t look like it would disappear right away, so I regained my composure and checked the spot where the King Slime had fallen.
“Tch, at least drop a Riftstone or something.”
The loot was a single rainbow-colored essence, confirming it was a guardian’s essence.
To me, it was trash.
Even if I put it in a testube and sold it, it wouldn’t fetch much profit…
And besides, there wasn’t even a mage around to bottle it for me.
It wasn’t like I could just consume it either.
Tsk.
I took my eyes off the guardian essence and quickly stepped through the portal.
“Bjorn…!!”
Fortunately, the portal led back to the same place I’d been before.
“Bjorn…!”
“T-Thank goodness! Chief!!”
“What happened in there?”
The squad members rushed over, their eyes filled with concern. But before explaining anything, I first asked about what had happened after I entered the portal.
Why had no one followed me in?
The answer matched what I had suspected.
Unfortunately.
“It’s not that we didn’t enter—we couldn’t. Jandel, the portal disappeared right after you went in.”
…So it really was a one-person rift.
Still, it was better than them being unable to follow me because something had gone wrong out here.
“Sigh…”
I couldn’t help but let out a deep breath.
I turned my gaze away from my companions and scanned the rows of statues lining the hallway.
The Guardians from below the 5th floor—each with different types, difficulty levels, and strategies required to defeat them.
‘I have to take all of these down alone…’
The road ahead was already looking painfully long.
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