Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 589

Boss Run (2)

Amelia Rainwhales.

A highly talented individual who can use aura and is a competent guide.

Her class is…

“Probably something like a Clone Thief.”

Anyway, she is currently at level 8, and has one empty Essence slot. It was originally full, but she erased one right before coming down to the first basement floor.

[Affinity]

The Essence of the Rank-5 monster Kaprabara with a passive that prevents the monsters from initiating combat first.

It would have been quite useful when she was moving alone, but now that she’s with us, it’s an unnecessary Essence.

Well, there was another Essence with a similar effect, but…

“Emily, erase Esgen’s Essence too when we get back to the city.”

“Esgen’s Essence…?”

“What’s with that surprised face? Like I said before, your solo days are over now.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

What do you mean, I’ll think about it.

With her [Source of Immortality], even if we bring a priest, she can’t receive a proper healing.

‘Why is she so reluctant to erase it?’

If you have companions, Esgen’s Essence can easily be replaced with potions or other items.

But why is she so fixated on this Essence?

‘…Does she still not fully trust us?’

Hmm, maybe that’s it.

She probably survived several life-or-death situations using that skill when she was alone.

She probably needs more time to adjust.

“Fine, think about it. It’s not like we have a priest in our clan yet anyway.”

I ended the conversation, deciding to persuade her gradually on this issue.

Just as I was about to move on to talk about the boss—

“Looks like… things worked out, huh?”

Amelia suddenly threw out a random comment.

When I looked at her, asking what she meant, she coughed awkwardly and continued in a small voice,

“With Misha Karlstein, I mean.”

Ah, so that’s what she was talking about.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t really updated her since then. She must’ve been curious about what happened.

“Thanks to you, it was resolved well. I confirmed that she’s hiding nothing—”

“…You got confessed to.”

“…Huh?”

“I heard… Kalstein confessed to you.”

Uhhh…

I couldn’t help but feel genuinely flustered.

“Judging by your face, it’s true.”

“True or not, how the hell do you even know about that?”

“I heard it from Tercia.”

“From Erwin…?”

“She said she was looking for you that day and overheard your conversation inside the room.”

“Ah…”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Amelia cautiously asked,

“So… what did you say in response?”

I considered whether it was okay to talk about it without Misha’s permission, While I hesitated, I decided to honestly recount the events of that day.

After all, I did receive Amelia’s help in this matter.

“We agreed to stay friends.”

“I see. So, it wrapped up cleanly.”

“Yeah, so you don’t have to worry—”

“Sounds like a mud fight waiting to happen.”

“…Huh?”

“No, just talking to myself.”

It was so ominous that I asked what she meant, but she refused to elaborate and changed the subject.

“Jandel, just to check…”

Her voice grew serious, and I already felt uneasy about what she was going to say—

“Do you, perhaps… like men?”

“…What?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t have any prejudice about that. I’ve met people in Noarc who—”

What is she even talking about?

“Watch your mouth, Amelia Rainwales.”

Suppressing something boiling deep inside me, I barely managed to speak.

“I like women. A lot.”

“…Oh, is that so? Ah… well, I didn’t know it was a lot—”

“So don’t ever say something like that to me again. It was even more humiliating than when you called me ‘Hans’ by mistake.”

“…Sorry. I’ll be careful. It won’t happen again. Really. I swear on my sister.”

Her swift and sincere apology made me sigh and swallow my anger.

“Sigh…”

It’s really strange.

It’s not like I particularly hate homosexuals or anything, so why did that make me so angry?

I don’t know, but Amelia, while watching my reaction, continued what she wanted to say.

“Anyway… if that’s the case, then it’s a relief.”

“A relief?”

“You’re a noble in this world, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

I tilted my head, and Amelia averted her gaze.

“I mean… I don’t know about your original world… but in this one, it’s okay.”

“…?”

“No one will mind, even if you like women… a lot.”

How the heck did the conversation get here?

I couldn’t understand it at all, but I drew strength from my core.

Even if she’s a precious comrade, there are times when I must reprimand her.

I had inherited both humanitarianism and a Confucianist mentality.

I was also a pure-blooded Korean, who had inherited the surname Lee of the Joseon royal family. Korean through and through. In short, I was a Triple-K Barbarian.

“GAL—!!!!”

This is an absolutely unacceptable topic.

“Gal…?”

A Confucian war cry Amelia had never heard before.

As someone with the duty to benefit the world, I quickly explained the meaning behind that shout.

“It’s a common phrase in my world when scolding someone.”

“…Did I say something worthy of scolding?”

Hoho, you still don’t understand the principle?

I had every reason to be even harsher with her, but since she’s a precious comrade, I decided to calmly explain.

“Of course. Our royal family doesn’t tolerate such promiscuous cultures.”

At my words, Amelia seemed confused.

“Your royal family…?”

“I didn’t tell you because I thought it might burden you, but my surname ‘Lee’ signifies the bloodline of the Joseon royal family.”

“Are you saying… you’re royalty right now?”

“………………Well, a collateral branch.”

I felt a bit guilty, but technically it wasn’t a lie. I could interpret my lineage like that.

Given my monoethnic background, there was a chance that my lineage included some royal blood.

“…Royalty. I’m surprised.”

Amelia accepted it more easily than I expected.

However, one thing seemed to puzzle her.

“But didn’t you say the country you lived in was called Korea?”

“Joseon is… an ancient kingdom that has already fallen.”

“I see… So you were the descendant of a fallen ancient kingdom.”

Uh…

“Yeah.”

There’s room for that interpretation too.

It’s a cooler identity than just being some commoner with the surname Lee.

“Now it makes sense. Why you were so obsessed with survival… You must have grown up in an environment where you had no choice. And you must have felt a sense of duty too.”

“……”

I decided to keep my mouth shut.

But revealing my background seemed to triggered her curiosity.

Amelia started asking all sorts of questions.

“Joseon’s quite a strange country. Even royalty could only have one wife?”

I had no real answer for that.

In reality, Joseon practiced polygamy.

Not just wives—there were concubines. Lots of them.

Is polygamy… actually a pretty foundational system?

The thought suddenly crossed my mind, but I shook my head vigorously.

No, that can’t be.

The current royal family, the K-government, which inherited Confucian values, enforces monogamy.

‘…But this is a different world, isn’t it?’

Come to think of it, in Korea under the K-government’s rule, murder is treated as a capital crime.

And right now, I’m a murderer who’s killed hundreds.

‘But is there any reason to be bound by that?’

The demon sealed in my left arm whispered, but I shut my ears and eyes to it.

No need to make excuses about Confucianism or social systems. I was just born in that world, so this kind of talk causes an instinctive revulsion.

But maybe she noticed.

“…Is this a sensitive topic for you? Sorry.”

Amelia apologized again, and since I might have overreacted, I accepted it.

But accepting the apology didn’t resolve my curiosity.

“It’s fine. But why did you bring that up all of a sudden?”

When I asked her, she simply said that it seemed like I needed advice, then muttered under her breath.

“This isn’t going to be a muddy fight.”

A strangely solemn tone.

“This will be a bloody fight.”

“…What are you even talking about?”

“Ah, nothing. Just talking to myself. Don’t mind it.”

How can I not mind that?

***

What could be a better fit for my Triple-K mindset?

After I finished my conversation with Amelia, which really made me think about that question, we finally started talking about raiding the boss.

“Are we really just jumping down?”

Finally, we arrived at the boss room—

No, more accurately, the entrance to the boss room.

Whoooooosh—!

A cold wind blew in from the edge of the cliff.

Below was only darkness. A bottomless abyss.

“Don’t be scared. There’s no fall damage.”

“Fall damage…?”

“It means you don’t take damage from falling.”

Even after I explained, Amelia didn’t seem to get it.

She also seemed pretty hesitant about jumping.

So I just hoisted her over my shoulder and leapt down.

“…!”

A normal person would have screamed, but not Amelia. She just gritted her teeth and pulled my hair.

Thud!

With a heavy thud, we landed at the bottom of the cliff.

After regaining her balance, Amelia climbed off my shoulder.

She glared at me and sighed.

“You can be gentle. Why are you always like this?”

“What did you say?”

“…”

“Never mind, Barbarian. So where’s the enemy?”

She called me “Barbarian” instead of Jandel. I guess she’s still a little mad, but I’ll make it up to her later.

“It’ll show up soon.”

Just as I raised my shield, the entire space began to tremble.

And then it appeared.

Thud—!

A body larger than most ogres.

 

Three horns on its forehead and a single cyclopean eye.

Its chest was grotesquely torn open, exposing ribs.

Slurp.

A grotesque tongue slithered out, licking the air as if it had found its prey.

But I wasn’t interested in all that.

…It doesn’t talk either, huh.

‘…This one doesn’t talk either.’

Originally, it used to gloat about how it had finally lured us in after making us run all through the rift.

“Then get ready, Amelia.”

“You, just now, you called me by my—”

“It’s just the two of us here anyway.”

“Jandel, mistakes always happen when you least expect them.”

Wow, she’s really lecturing me.

It’s been a while since I called her by her real name, so what’s the big deal?

“I’m only saying this for your own goo—”

“BETHEL—RAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Before her nagging could drag on, I activated [Gigantification] and charged forward.

Once I clashed with the monster and held it in place, Amelia stopped talking and began doing her part.

〈Amelia Rainwales has cast [Self-Replication].〉

As expected from a Clone Thief, she summoned her clones first, then attacked the target from both sides to make up for our small team.

She and her clone attacked in harmony, like twin swordswomen forged by years of practice.

〈Amelia Rainwales has cast [Asura’s Kick].〉

She landed a powerful kick on the monster’s head, which was several times her size.

[Amelia Rainwhales has: Power of the Abyss.]

She then used Aura to slice through its tough hide.

The difference from when I came here with Raven was clear.

While a mage spends a long time preparing a single powerful strike, Amelia, as a melee damage dealer, consistently dealt high DPS.

And…

‘Her base value is so high that her damage potential is naturally high.’

Calculating it over time, Amelia could deal far more damage than Raven.

Of course, that’s assuming she can maintain full DPS the entire time.

‘The biggest issue is resources, huh…’

Her burst damage is second only to Erwin’s.

However, the duration of that damage is extremely short. Given her Essence composition, her MP runs out quickly—

‘Now that she’s the only one dealing damage, that weakness is even more apparent.’

The MP consumption of [Self-Replication] is among the highest.

Because when clones use skills, the cost increases fivefold.

Until now, she’s managed with the inflated MP pool from [Power of the Abyss], but…

‘This is a problem that should’ve been solved long ago.’

The only reason this weakness hasn’t surfaced yet is because of Amelia’s immense skill.

Just look at her!

 

The only reason this weakness hasn’t surfaced yet is purely due to Amelia’s sheer skill.

Just look at her.

[Amelia Rainwhales has cast: Substitution.]

She only used her clones to draw attention while landing decisive blows with her main body.

She carefully aimed for weak points while maintaining her own pace to ensure her MP never dropped below a certain threshold.

That was why she activated her aura in brief intervals, since it used up a lot of MP.

Just like this.

Slice—!

After a long battle, Amelia’s aura finally cut through the monster’s neck.

If she had looked truly exhausted, I was ready to step in and help.

To think she’s pulling off this kind of performance with a half-finished build…

I couldn’t help but smirk.

[The Character has defeated Hell Giant Herja. EXP +6]
[Guardian Kill Bonus: EXP +3]

Seeing a teammate grow stronger was always a joy.

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