Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 599

Third Record (2)

The fifth floor of the labyrinth, the Great Demon Realm holds significant meaning for explorers.

After all, it’s where they begin operating in full-fledged clans.

“That’s when how you’re treated changes.”

If you’re human, starting from the 5th floor, you practically don’t have to worry about taxes anymore.

That’s why residents of Laphdonia consider 5th-layer explorers the best marriage partners.

It’s almost like getting hired by a major corporation.

In reality, most 5th floor explorers enter the labyrinth as if going to work. Upon arriving at the fifth floor, they head to their usual hunting grounds and mine mana stones nonstop until the labyrinth closes, then get paid according to their performance.

Well, some dislike this lifestyle and choose to operate their own teams instead of joining a clan…

‘I suppose those people are more like successful small business owners.’

Regardless, they remain top-tier marriage candidates.

But…

“It is ironic.”

Marriage desirability peaks on the fifth floor and then steadily declines starting from the sixth floor.

Ah, and for reference, this is based on a book I found in the library.

Apparently, the data was compiled into a book after surveying over ten thousand residents… And the reason for their decreased favorability was pretty interesting.

1st: It seems too dangerous.
2nd: It seems unrealistic to meet someone like that.
3rd: They seem like they’d have a nasty personality.

That third one might sound odd, but it’s not baseless prejudice.

Time flows differently for explorers than it does for regular people.

Their mental wear and tear are different, and from the 6th floor onwards, the stress levels during exploration increase drastically.

Because of this, many famous explorers are known to have eccentric personalities.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

At the village chief’s voice, I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Ah… I was just checking the surroundings.”

It wasn’t a random excuse. I had actually been surveying the area, and my thoughts drifted from there.

The fifth floor of the labyrinth, the Great Demon Realm.

Despite its fearsome name, this floor is actually quite safe.

But…….

“It’s a bit different from what I remember.”

The place where we opened our eyes looked slightly different from the fifth floor I was familiar with..

The terrain and overall atmosphere were the same, but there was one critical difference.

“A Level 3 monster shouldn’t appear in the Great Demon Realm.”

At one of the paths leading down, a Level 3 monster was standing in our way, staring at us.

“Mister, that’s a Vandemon, right?”

Vandemon.

A rare monster that is difficult to encounter due to its specific spawning conditions.

I still haven’t received any experience points from it.

‘It’s not like I need its essence, so there’s no point in the three of us going out of our way to hunt it…’

At first, I tensed up when I saw it, but for some reason, the creature just stared at us without approaching.

“Gahyunn, do you have any intuition about which direction we should go?”

“…None at all. No instincts are coming to me. It’s as if my ability itself has disappeared since we arrived here…”

Hmm, is that so…

“Still, I can’t shake the feeling that this place is the final trial.”

“Uh…isn’t that just wishful thinking?”

“Baron… That’s a bit… Well, I can’t deny it, but…”

Gahyun let out a deep sigh and grumbled.

“Isn’t it about time this ended? It’s already been over half a year since we entered this place!”

Having just finished Chapter 2 and woken up in Chapter 11, I couldn’t find offer any comforting words.

After all, I hadn’t been playing for even twenty-four hours here.

“Enough. Let’s put our heads together. To summarize, we need to find that evil god here, right? Which direction do you think we should go?”

Jerome cut through the awkward atmosphere and refocused the discussion.

And then…

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“There’s no need to think about it.”

Gahyun and I answered Jerome simultaneously.

What the hell?

“Gahyun, you go first—”

“Baron, you speak—”

 

We both tried to give each other a chance to speak, but we ended up talking over each other again, which made us both feel awkward.

“……”

“……”

Internally, though, I was thinking, “Can I just talk now? What if I talk at the same time as him again?”

‘Now.’

I seized the moment and pointed toward the path blocked by the Vandemon.

And then—

“I think—”

“I believe—”

Seriously, why does this old man keep doing this?

Annoying.

“Gahyun, are you doing this on purpose?”

“W-Why would I?!”

When I glared at him, he looked at me with a wounded expression.

The village chief stepped in with a neutral expression to resolve the situation.

“Stop acting immature over something like this. You both pointed to the same place earlier, so you’re probably thinking the same thing. Right?”

“Well… I guess so…”

“I agree.”

Again, we spoke simultaneously.

“Obviously—”

“Obviously—”

Now this was getting irritating.

Whatever.

I decided to ignore it and spoke up. Unfortunately, so did Gahyun.

“We should go that way.”

“We should avoid that path.”

Gahyun and I looked at each other and fell into awkward silence again.

“……?”

“……?”

Damn, I really don’t get along with this old man.
***

“Wouldn’t it be wiser to go somewhere else since there’s danger over there?”

Surprisingly, Gahyun started from a similar point of reasoning as I did, but came to a completely different conclusion.

The difference lay in our thought processes.

“No. Precisely because there’s danger, we should start there.”

This chapter is about finding the evil god, Karui.

And in my view, Karui was most likely hiding in one of the four types of canyons.

After all, treasures are usually hidden in such places.

“Why go through unnecessary trouble when there’s a clear signpost right there?” I retorted.

“It’s too early to assume it’s unnecessary trouble! What if we’re supposed to search the other three canyons for something important?”

“And what if the difficulty increases over time? A wrong choice could lead to irreversible consequences.”

“T-That’s too much of a leap!”

“Gahyun, in rifts, you must consider every possibility and stay cautious. Especially in a place you’ve never been. Judging by your careless words…”

“……?”

“You are a mage. Not an explorer.”

“W-What?!”

Looking at Gahyun’s face, red with blood pressure, I remembered the time when we were debating which of the Level 1 monsters to summon on Library Island.

We had argued just like this back then, too.

“Anyway, arguing between ourselves won’t settle anything. Chief, you decide.”

Seeing no point in wasting time, I left the decision up to the village chief. Of course, the outcome was already set.

“Hmm… I think I’ll side with the Baron on this one.”

The village chief pretended to think for a moment before raising my hand.

“W-What the…!”

Gahyun didn’t seem pleased, but he couldn’t argue directly against the chief.

Alright. Route decided.

Even though it may have worsened my relationship with the old man, I honestly didn’t care.

If anything, it was kind of satisfying.

I approached the high priest, who had been unusually quiet.

“High Priest, why are you standing alone by yourself?”

“Oh… Ah! I was just deep in thought. About the evil god, that is. I was wondering if this might be where we finally meet him.”

“Why? Nervous about it?”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

The high priest’s expression was deeply troubled.

Was this some kind of religious dilemma?

As a non-religious person, I couldn’t understand, but it wasn’t something I needed to dwell on.

“Whatever your concerns are, I don’t care. Just don’t let them slow us down. Understood?”

“…I’ll manage on my own.”

Tch, the way he talks.

Anyway, after checking on the high priest, we briefly discussed the Vandemon.

By the way, the instructor wasn’t me, but Gahyun.

Though he lacked the explorer’s mindset, his knowledge wasn’t lacking.

‘A few details were missing, but…’

Well, it didn’t matter.

If I had explained, it would’ve just seemed odd.

…And it was annoying.

「You have defeated the Vandemon. EXP +7」

The fight with Vandemon wasn’t difficult at all.

That’s because we were stacked with broken buffs.

Unlimited divine power from the priest.

Doubled stats for the knight.

Powerful ancient magic from the mage.

Even though I couldn’t perform my usual tank role as well, with all those boosts, taking down a Level 3 monster was a breeze.

 

Maybe we should have tried with only three people.

The only loot we got from the Vandemon was a single magic stone, but I wasn’t too disappointed.

That kind of thing didn’t matter much.

Something else bothered me more.

“It wasn’t even hard. What’s an old man like you so scared of?”

“…Baron, what did you just say?”

“Nothing?”

“That was definitely something! You were talking about me!”

“But you’re not exactly young either, are you?”

It might’ve seemed childish, but I wasn’t about to let Gahyunn have the last word.

After all…

‘Since when did he start acting so high and mighty? He’s a noble, sure, but he doesn’t even hold a title.’

I needed to put him in his place at least once—

“Mister…”

Just as I was about to press further, Erwin called out to me.

“…What is it?”

“I-It’s nothing…”

“Nothing? Spit it out.”

“Well, today you seem a bit unlike yourself.”

For some reason, a laugh escaped me at her careful words.

“What do you mean, unlike myself?”

Now that I think about it, everyone always had their own expectations of me.

Her, Amelia, even Misha…

“Oh, I see. This isn’t the version of me you like, huh?”

As I stepped forward, Erwin took a step back.

She looked at me with fear.

A look I’d never seen from her before.

“What… is this?”

That expression instantly brought me back to my senses.

At the same time, I vividly felt the flood of emotions that had been surging through me.

I hadn’t noticed the change until now because it had felt so natural…

“Damn it.”

Realizing my condition, I dropped my hammer to the ground.

And then—

BOOM!

I bent over and slammed my forehead hard against the hammer’s head.

“Hah… Now I’m finally coming to my senses.”

The moment we entered the Great Demon Realm, something had gone wrong with my head.

No, perhaps…

“So barbaric…W-Why are you suddenly looking at me like that?”

Maybe I wasn’t the only one affected.

「A character has entered a special zone.」

「Field Effect – Great Demon Realm has been applied.」

「Self-control is continuously decreasing.」

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com