Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 602

Third Record (5)

Boom

The moment I pulled Erwin close and braced myself for the fall, the ground beneath us caved in, sending me into a free fall. However, it felt different from the usual feeling of falling under gravity.

WHOOSH—!

Instead of falling, our bodies rose above the collapsing ground, defying gravity.

It was a levitation spell.

“Is everyone… alright?”

I quickly scanned my surroundings and spotted Gahyun and the village chief floating in the air as well.

This time, I genuinely praised them.

“We survived thanks to you. Good job.”

I was too disoriented to give proper orders, but they managed to react like this on their own.

“…It’s nothing worth praising.”

Huh, the old man’s getting embarrassed?

Maybe it’s awkward because we were just at each other’s throats?

Whatever it was, I had to confirm something first.

“How long can you maintain the spell?”

“Long enough to reach the ground safely.”

Good. That’s all I needed to hear.

“Great. Then begin descending. No need to go slow, just avoid getting seriously hurt.”

I judged that if something were to happen while we were in the air, we wouldn’t be able to respond properly.

As soon as I gave the order, Gahyun also snapped back to focus and began descending.

CRASH! BOOM! RUMBLE…

The area was a literal hell.

Everything we saw was crumbling and collapsing into the darkness, and huge stones fell from above, narrowly missing us.

And then…

“Now this feels like a real expedition.”

Even as we fell rapidly, the chief looked around curiously.

I’d never seen him so lively before.

He clearly had a few screws loose, but I had no time to worry about that.

‘What was that back there?’

The Floor Lord had grabbed the High Priest right before the explosion and dived into the darkness.

The man I thought was our enemy had suddenly started acting like he was helping us…

“Erwin, did you control it? Did you make it grab the High Priest and jump?”

It was the most likely scenario, so I asked her first.

“No. I tried, but it didn’t work.”

So the Floor Lord did it of his own will?

“Perhaps that monster wasn’t actually our enemy,” The village chief chimed in, possibly overhearing our conversation.

Well, it wasn’t a wrong assumption.

At first glance, I thought the Floor Lord was the boss.

But…

‘Looking back, maybe it was an ally.’

It reminded me of Hamsigi from Chapter 2.

He had said that higher beings would act favorably toward Erwin.

BOOM—! CRASH—!

As I was considering this while descending—

CRASH—!

A massive boulder slammed down right above Gahyun’s head.

It was a close call, but thanks to the barrier he’d set up in advance, no one was hurt.

However, the problem was…

“Ah…”

That ominous “Ah.”

And as expected, my gut feeling was dead-on.

“What’s wrong?”

“That last hit… disrupted the levitation spell’s computation.”

“Computation? Speak clearly—”

That’s when it happened.

“Ah…”

We floated briefly in place, then—

“KYAAAAAH—!!”

We fell.

***

My head is pounding.

My lungs feel like they’ve been pierced, and I can’t move my spine properly.

But…

‘I’m alive.’

What about the others?

The last thing I remembered was desperately holding onto Erwin as we fell, bracing for impact with my back.

“…Ah, ah…! Mister! Mister! Can you… hear me…?”

Through the ringing in my ears, I could make out Erwin’s panicked voice—distorted like a broken radio.

The village chief’s voice also reached me.

“Don’t… shake him… Wait… He’ll be fine… after drinking a potion…”

“Mister! Mister!”

“He’s completely unresponsive…”

As the voices gradually grew louder, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Mister…!”

“I’m… fine… Stop.”

“Ah! Sorry!”

Finally, Erwin got off me, making it easier to breathe.

“Just hold on. Judging by how fast you’re healing, you’ll be able to move soon.”

“How long was I out?”

“About five minutes.”

“What about Gahyun?”

When I asked for a status report, the chief pointed to a spot nearby.

I strained my stiff neck to turn and saw Gahyun lying beside me with a clearly broken leg.

“He’s not dead. Seems like he used magic at the last second to slow his fall. I gave him a potion, but… no idea when he’ll wake up.”

Right, got it…

“And you?”

“I’m fine. I stayed conscious until the end and absorbed the impact properly.”

Lucky him.

If my defense stats had been the same, my body wouldn’t have been this wrecked.

“…Any enemies nearby?”

“None for now. Focus on healing.”

“Got it. By the way, your tone…”

“Well, I outrank you in both age and title, don’t I? After facing death together, I figure I can speak a little more casually.”

Fair enough.

It’s not like anyone would question a sudden shift in speech.

“Then I’ll just… rest a little longer…”

After that, I closed my eyes until my body recovered enough to move on my own.

“Want some water?”

“Thanks.”

As soon as I stood up after drinking, the chief immediately asked:

“So, what now?”

From Team Half-Ling to Clan Anabada.

Every time something happened, this line always came up.

People always looked to me for answers. At first, it was frustrating, but now I just accepted it as my fate.

On the other hand, I’d hate it if someone else took all the responsibility and just gave me orders.

“Will we wait until Sir Gahyun wakes up.”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what the best course of action was.

This was my first time in this rift, after all.

From its unusual structure to the Karui priest…

Frankly, it was giving me a headache.

But…

“No, first we’ll secure carry Gahyun with us and scout the area.”

Let’s start with what we can do.

Delaying might just make things worse.

“I’ll take care of Erwin and Gahyun. Count, you take the front.”

“Understood.”

It was the most dangerous role, but the village chief complied without protest.

It wasn’t just because he knew he was the best man for the job.

“Keep your promise.”

In exchange for risking his life in this rift, I had promised to bring ‘Karui’s Heart’ back to the city.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of breaking it.”

“Good. And check the notebook later if things go wrong.”

“Notebook?”

“I put it in your bag when I gave it to you. Wrote down everything you might find useful—should help you going forward.”

I didn’t know there was a notebook.

I had received the bag right before entering the rift and the village chief had even instructed me to leave it behind outside just in case.

‘I’ll check the notebook as soon as we get out…’

As we moved through the rubble—

“……”

“……”

But at this point, We all knew what it meant.

「The character has entered the range of [Silence Command].」

「All Essence skills are sealed.」

The Floor Lord is nearby.

Should we avoid it?

I wasn’t sure what the right call was, so I signaled to the village chief, who seemed to be waiting for orders.

‘Keep going.’

We knew nothing about this chapter, and we needed intel. And besides—

‘It might still be an ally.’

Even if it was just a theory, the fact that it had dragged the High Priest into itself and leapt off the cliff before it exploded was enough—at least for me—to take the possibility seriously.

And as we kept moving on, we again came face to face with the Lord of Silence, Siliut. In the heavy, suffocating stillness, we found it partially buried beneath a pile of rocks.

As I had expected, it wasn’t in good condition. Of the three arms exposed to the air, two of them had bones protruding out of them. It blinked at us, seemingly without the strength to even move out of the rubble.

“….”

Seeing that it was no longer a threat, I felt relieved, but it also sent chills down my spine.

I knew the explosion was powerful, but to reduce a Floor Lord to this state…

What would’ve happened if we’d taken the blast head-on?

‘The High Priest… isn’t here.’

After scanning the area, I set down Erwin and slowly approached the creature.

The Lord of Silence, Siliart.

It didn’t react as I got closer.

It just stared at me with weary eyes.

“….”

Once I was within arm’s reach, I carefully stretched out my hand and touched its face.

Even upon contact, it remained silent.

As if it had no reason to oppose us.

‘Why did you help us?’

I wanted to ask, but no sound came out.

Not that it would’ve answered even if I could speak.

So I answered myself.

‘…Right, you must have your own reasons too.’
I’m beginning to understand this labyrinth.

The Rift Guardians, the Floor Lords they were once real beings that eisted

Then again, maybe all the monsters in this labyrinth were the same.

In a way, they were even more pitiable than me, dragged into this mess in a foreign world.

Swish.

I pulled my hand back and backed away. The village chief signaled with his hands.

‘Kill it.’

A simple hand gesture.

But I silently shook my head and gestured for him to fall back.

“…?”

Although he was puzzled, the village chief complied, likely out of respect for our agreement.

And the moment we left its range—

“Why didn’t you kill it?”

The village chief asked.

“It didn’t seem dangerous in that state.”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure why I made that choice.

But…

“Hmm. I suppose that makes sense.”

The chief accepted it easily, but I remained confused.

Because I knew that wasn’t my only reason.

The Essence of the Floor Lord.

The Floor Relic.

The Floor Stone used to open rifts.

If I killed it, I might’ve gotten all that.

But I didn’t.

“It’s not pity, but…”

It was hard to explain.

Just an impulsive decision—

[Come here…]

Then, the mysterious voice returned again, cutting off my thoughts.

It came from the opposite direction of the Floor Lord.

At least one thing was clear now.

‘So it wasn’t the Floor Lord’s voice…’

The perverted voice luring us in didn’t belong to the Floor Lord.

Then again, it never spoke in the game, so it was suspicious.

“So we head toward the voice?”

I nodded, and the village chief took the lead.

After following at a distance with Erwin, we soon found the source.

[Good…]

[Yes, come closer…]

It was something I never expected.

“A Soul Eater…?”

A Level 5 rare monster.

Only one ever spawns in the Great Demon Realm when a labyrinth opens—and killing it gives 100 to 200 EXP.

[I shall grant your deepest desire…]

What… is this?

Wasn’t this supposed to be a boss-level encounter?

「The Soul Eater has summoned [Phantom Knights].」

The skills looked pretty standard too…

SREEEEEEECH!!

The village chief casually swung his sword, and the Soul Eater was cut in half.

[Soul Eater has been defeated.]

It was baffling but not problematic.

If this were a novel, it would be a random MacGuffin that just happened to be here.

Something that seemed significant but was, in reality, just an ordinary mob.

I could’ve dismissed it as that and moved on.

But…

‘What the hell is this now?’

What happened next left me stunned all over again.

[Guardian Slayer Bonus. EXP +3]

A rainbow essence appeared, signifying that it was a Guardian.

Whoooom—!

A portal appeared, signaling that the rift had been cleared.

Red and blue.

For some reason… there were two of them.

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