Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 600
Episode 600
How should I describe my current state?
First of all, it’s definitely not a status effect like “Fear” or “Frenzy.”
But I’m certainly not in a normal state either.
Thump-thump!
Something in my chest feels suffocating.
“W-what?! You’re not seriously thinking of hitting me with that—?”
“Gahyun, shut up for a second. Let me think.”
It feels like the filter in my consciousness has disappeared.
Impulsive thoughts keep popping up, and before I can even control them, they spill out of my mouth.
“Sorry, Erwin. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Ah, no! I wasn’t scared!”
“…Yeah, right.”
Just now, I thought I should apologize, and before I knew it, the words were already out.
So, what could be the cause of all this?
It’s definitely a field effect.
I don’t know the exact details of it.
But it’s probably a mental debuff.
“It’s getting worse over time.”
Yeah, that seems to be the case.
I was perfectly fine when I first got here.
At the starting point, I was perfectly fine, but as time passed, my mental state started deteriorating.
And…
“That old man was acting the same.”I mumbled to myself
“…Old man?”
“Ah, sorry. I meant to keep that thought to myself.”
“What the hell are you thinking about? First, you smash your own head with a hammer, and now you’re saying all this—?”
Ugh, he just won’t stop yapping.
“I’ll explain, so just shut up.”
Honestly, I’d love to just smash him with the hammer right now, but I barely manage to hold back.
“Something’s wrong with my head. I keep getting these strong impulses, and they’re getting worse over time.”
“Impulses…? What kind?”
“They change every time.”
“At least give me an examp—”
“Right now, I feel like smashing your head in.”
At my curt reply, Gahyun recoiled in shock.
Then a realization dawned on his face.
“Then earlier, when you hit your own head with the hammer…!”
“Exactly. I thought it might help.”
And it actually worked pretty well.
The shock cleared my mind and helped me regain control.
And in that sense……
“Somehow, I feel like you’ve got something wrong with your head too.”
“…Me?”
Gahyun acted like he was completely innocent, but I was almost sure he had a problem too.
Sure, he’s always been a cranky old man, but he’s not the type to cross the line like this.
“Erwin, you seem fine… Tell me, does this old man seem normal to you?”
“…No. He’s acting weird.”
“See?”
“……I guess I have been a bit more emotional than usual.”
With Erwin siding with me, Gahyun finally admitted it.
“But it’s not that serious! It’s not like I have urges to hit someone like you!”
Well, if that’s true, that’s a relief.
But the fact that he got so worked up and raised his voice makes it hard to trust him.
“Anyway, that confirms it. The two of us are clearly affected. Count, High Priest, what about you two?”
We checked their conditions next. While they couldn’t say they were completely fine, they weren’t showing any outward symptoms.
“Hmm. Maybe it’s just a difference in mental strength?”
The village chief is a monster who’s lived for thousands of years, and the High Priest is a devout believer. It wouldn’t be strange if they had stronger mental strength than I do.
But……
“Maybe the debuff varies slightly depending on each role.”
My hypothesis was based on Erwin.
As the “Witch” of the party, she was the only one unaffected.
“…We need to hurry.”
At my words, Gahyun threw in another complaint.
“What do you mean, hurry? You’re not seriously thinking of continuing the journey in this state, are you?”
“Yeah.”
There’s no other way.
Sitting around won’t make it better. We need to keep moving—fast.
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing! What if someone loses control and attacks from behind?! What then?!”
“Don’t worry. It’s not like we have no countermeasures.”
And I didn’t even need to test it again.
“Wait, why the hammer all of a sudden during the conversation…?”
Oh, that?
“Your voice was getting louder. Thought you might’ve lost it again.”
“…….”
“Oh, you’ve gone quiet. Guess you’re back to normal.”
“….”
The hammer keeps people in check.
***
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4…
We kept descending into the canyon path.
Unlike the Great Demon Realm of the fifth floor, the monsters here were Level four or higher. However, the battles themselves weren’t too difficult.
Whoooosh—
Even if we got hurt, infinite divine power healed us instantly.
Crash—!
In my mercenary character, my attacks were lethal, even to high-level monsters.
Slice—!
The village chief’s fancy aura usage didn’t even need mentioning.
With Gahyun’s ancient magic and Erwin’s charm spells added in, the battles became disappointingly easy.
Yeah, the battles, at least.
「Control is declining.」
As we followed the canyon deeper into what looked like the abyss, no one said a word.
As of yesterday, a new rule had been enforced.
Any non-strategic talk was strictly forbidden.
“…….”
“…….”
Because, as they say, words are seeds.
And that means if you don’t speak at all, there’s no risk of conflict sprouting.
“…How long are we going to keep up this ridiculous silence?”
Like with all rules, someone eventually rebels.
Not that I was worried.
“Baron! I say this silence is completely—”
Tch.
I raised my hammer and glared, and the mage instantly regained his composure.
“M-My apologies. This wretched curse got to me again… Truly sorry. It won’t happen again—!”
“This is your final warning.”
“…Understood. I’ll be careful.”
Maybe it was because I whacked him yesterday, but he was snapping back to clarity quicker now.
Still, even so, aggressive words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
“‘Careful’ isn’t enough. Just shut up and do it. Is that so hard?”
“Uh… mister…?”
“…I got carried away too. I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.”
Sigh… This is why we banned small talk.
In our current impulsive and edgy state, any stimulation is dangerous.
“I’m seriously going to lose it.”
It’s overwhelming.
Even a momentary lapse in focus brings out the aggression.
How are the village chief and the High Priest so unaffected?
I understand the Village Chief, but the High Priest never seemed to me to be someone with extraordinary mental strength.
“Mister! That flower over there!”
“My turn, right?”
As Erwin pointed to a cliff’s edge. I rushed over, plucked the flower, and popped it into my mouth.
Simple reason:
「Control slightly improves.」
This flower reduces mental debuffs when consumed.
Interestingly, I was the one who discovered it.
I thought it looked suspicious, so I made Gahyun eat one.
“…Mister, you’re really struggling, huh?”
“…I appreciate the sentiment, but please don’t talk to me right now. In this state, I can’t even hear kindness properly.”
“Ah… sorry.”
Come to think of it, Erwin’s pretty impressive too.
Before she erased her last essence, she must’ve felt like this all the time—
“Huh? Everyone, stop for a second!”
Gahyun suddenly shouted, stopping us.
“From below! Don’t you hear something from below?”
“Now you’re hearing things…?”
I sighed and raised my hammer, but the chief stopped me.
“Baron, put the hammer down for now. Sir Gahyun is right.”
Wait, really?
I signaled Erwin, but she just shook her head.
Looks like her stats were too low to hear anything.
“If you focus Baron. You’ll hear it too.”
Following the chief’s advice, I closed my eyes and concentrated. Sure enough, I heard something.
[This way…]
Something was whispering, calling to me.
“Finally, something’s happening.”
Some might find this creepy, but right now, I’m just relieved.
After all, how many days have we been struggling?
I just want to clear this chapter and get out of here as soon as possible.
“What do we do?”
“What else? We check it out.”
This time, Gahyun didn’t argue.
He must want this to end just as badly.
“Stay close.”
As we picked up speed, the voice from below grew clearer.
[Good…]
[Come closer…]
[Such a lovely soul you have…]
I don’t like how blatantly ominous this is, but we have no choice.
Whether it’s a mid-boss or the real deal, we just have to kill it and move on—
“But Baron… ?”
At that moment, someone spoke to me.
“Have you ever considered worshiping someone other than your ancestors?”
Surprisingly, that line came from the High Priest, not Gahyun.
I let out a dry laugh.
“Hah…”
He’d been holding it together so well. So even the model elder had his limits.
“Trying to convert a barbarian? You do realize that’s incredibly offensive, right?”
“……”
“But given the situation, I won’t demand an apology. I’m not that mad.”
He’d behaved well until now, so I was ready to let it go.
But even with my forgiveness, the high priest simply looked at me with a disturbing smile.
Maybe that’s why…
“……?”
It took me too long to realize the change.
My voice…
I can’t speak.
It’s like something’s blocking my throat, cutting off my words.
When I quickly checked my surroundings, I realized that this wasn’t just happening to me.
“….”
“….”
The silence is overwhelming.
It’s not just because of the no-small-talk rule.
No breathing, no footsteps.
Not even the sound of the wind that had been blowing from below this whole time.
[This way…]
Apart from that mysterious voice, there’s nothing.
Complete, perfect silence.
The moment I fully realized this—
BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!
The ground vibrated beneath our feet.
Before we stepped into this place—
Boom—!
The mages who thoroughly inspected the portal swore that what lay beyond it was undoubtedly a rift…
「The character has entered the range of [Forbidden Speech].」
「All elemental skills are sealed.」
「[Gigantification] has ended.」
Why is a Floor Lord here?
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