Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 608

Mystery 1

A horse racing across the sky during the dry season.

The notebook that the village chief left me didn’t mention how much it sparkled, but whatever.

Since this was a sudden encounter, I had to make a quick decision.

Of course, the notebook said that as long as you didn’t attack or approach it, nothing bad would happen…

‘But that doesn’t mean I should just let it go, right?’

Honestly, the moment I saw it, I felt my mouth water.

It felt I was looking at some kind of legendary monster.

‘What should I do?’

Since the village chief had specifically warned about it, it must be quite dangerous.

However, if we can hunt it successfully, the reward would match the level of risk involved.

That’s the law of Dungeon & Stone.

Great risks always come with equally great rewards.

“Whoa! It’s getting away!”

“Shouldn’t we do something? It’s clearly a new type of magical beast…!”

“Everyone, stay in position and wait for the commander’s orders!”

I finally made my decision.

There was a chance that thing held clues to an escape even the village chief didn’t know about, but…

‘For now, just let it go.’

Today wasn’t the right time or place.

We weren’t on land, and our forces were spread across four ships.

Since we still didn’t know how dangerous that thing was, it made more sense to prepare thoroughly and attempt a raid in a more suitable location.

So…

Click— Click.

Grabbing the message stone like a walkie-talkie, I spoke.

“Do not attack the monster in the sky. That’s a direct order from the commander.”

The Barbarian Commander’s order echoed to all the senior officers aboard each ship.

Naturally, no one disobeyed or acted out of turn.

Thunk.

Stopping at the ship’s bow, I watched the horse’s grow smaller in the distance and smacked my lips.

“Tsk.”

Well, I’ll probably get another chance someday.

***
A handy little tip about Raphdonia:

99.9% of this world’s currency is distributed through the Dimensional Plaza checkpoint.

That’s why they use “Stones” as the currency unit.

A 100-Stone coin has exactly that much magical stone value.

And in other words…

Whoooooooosh—!

Right now, we’re burning about 500,000 Stones per hour. That’s because we’ve been running the magitek propulsion system at full power the entire voyage.

Oh, and that’s per ship, by the way.

“Pouring in cash sure makes us fast.”

Even the sea monsters we occasionally encountered didn’t dare come near us because of our speed.

“Auyen, how long do you think it’ll take us to reach our destination at this rate?”.

“The estimated time has been cut in half, Supreme Commander.”

A journey that would have taken a month was now shortened to half a month.

Well, if we hadn’t gone back to the Library Island, we wouldn’t have needed to rush like this…

‘Well, no use it regretting it now.’

Thanks to the engine running at full power, the delay was minimized to just a few days.

Of course, the cost was an absurd amount of magical stones.

“Hahaha! See that? We’ve already burned over a million Stones! Ah, wait, for four ships, that’s 3.78 million Stones!”

“…It’s 4 million Stones, Pheneline.”

“…Hahah! Well, this is kinda fun!”

Aynar, who was helping with navigation, got excited every time Auyen gave the order to feed more mana stones into the magi-engine.

Spending money like water was apparently her idea of a good time.

Of course, not everyone was as carefree.

“So, two weeks until we arrive, huh…?”

“For four ships, how much are we talking?”

“Hard to say exactly, but probably enough to buy a decent mansion in a major city.”

“Phew…”

Honestly, I felt the same way.

Even though we were using mana stones we got from this floor, just watching them get consumed was painful.

But there was no other choice.

We had to shorten the time it took to reach Rainbow Island as much as possible.

“It’s because of the rainy season, right? That’s why we’re rushing?”

“Exactly. If it takes a full month to arrive, the rainy season will start again right after we get there.”

Rainbow Island is shrouded in mystery, so we need to secure as much exploration time as possible without overlapping with the rainy season.

“Which makes me wonder—what were you doing during that detour? From what I can tell, it seems like you prioritized that over saving time.”

“Ah, that…”

After hesitating briefly, I explained Hamsiki’s existence to Raven, who still didn’t know about it, and how I’d brought him out.

“A monster appeared from the rift? So you thought you might need its help?”

“…You could say that.”

“Hmm…”

Raven gave a curious look but remained silent for a while.

“Oh, right. Speaking of secrets…”

“Yeah?”

“I finally decided on a name for the crown.”

Ah, finally.

I was starting to think she was planning to keep it to herself forever.

“What is it?”

“…The Crown of Torment.”

She announced it shyly, then explained her reasoning.

It granted mental immunity, but since it came with significant drawbacks, the wearer needed to agonize over whether to use it, or something like that?

“…What do you think?”

Well, I’m not sure.

If she had said the name came from all the torment she went through naming it, I might’ve believed her more easily.

“It’s a good name.”

“Heh, right? So, promise me. When we finally reveal this to the public, you’ll use that name and credit me for it. Oh, and say I was the researcher too.”

“Got it.”

After I confirmed, Raven nodded in satisfaction and disappeared. After that, the journey continued without any major incidents.

I spent most of the time chatting with my allies, and the rest was patrols and experiments with Hamsiki in my cabin.

“Hamsiki, you doing okay?”

[…Send me back.]

“Today’s experiment is about life flashing before your eyes. They say when people are on the brink of death, forgotten memories resurface—”

[No! I’m not doing it! Never!]

Geez, so sensitive.

At first, he was pretty cooperative during experiments.

“Hmm, has repeated failure made you dejected?”

When I muttered that in an analytical tone, Hamsiki exploded.

[BEEEEEP—!!!]

That’s the adorable howling noise he makes when he’s really angry.

To anyone else, it just sounds horrific.

In fact, when Raven visited the room once, she turned pale and bolted.

“Don’t be mad. The flashback thing was a joke. Oh, and I brought something you’ll like.”

I pulled out a few books that Raven had given me, and Hamsiki’s expression immediately brightened.

‘Raising this guy is like raising a kid.’

The books were written in the ancient language so Hamsiki, who only spoke the ancient language, could read it.

They weren’t even storybooks.

But Hamsiki acted like nothing could be more enjoyable. He buried himself in the books while I lay on the nearby bed to rest.

And then…

One day, two days, three days, four days…

Time passed like that.

Aynar came to my cabin while I was resting.

“Bjooooooorn!”

“It’s Supreme Commander, not—”

“Auyen says we’ll reach our destination in an hour! Come out!”

Finally.

It was time to tighten my loosened guard again.

***

When I reached the wheelhouse, Auyen was gripping the helm and studying the map with sharp eyes.

“Ah, Commander. You’re here.”

The only member of the Anabada Clan who consistently addresses me as “Commander”—my sailor.

“Aynar said we’re arriving soon?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Are you sure? Yesterday, you said we’d arrive by this afternoon.”

“I had to recalculate because there was a shift in the winds near a certain area we picked up speed.”

The wind, huh…

True, my hair was flying wildly the moment I stepped on deck.

I walked to the railing and looked down; the waves were rougher than before.

[If waves start to approach you during the rainy season, stop immediately and find shelter.]

The village chief’s notebook suddenly came to mind, but I doubted that this was what it referred to.

It wasn’t the rainy season.

The currents were rough, but it wasn’t like waves were crashing over us.

“So, are you confident in your calculations?”

“Yes. I’ve double-checked multiple times, accounting for the speed change.”

“If you say so, I believe it. Good work.”

After Auyen’s report, I used the message stone to inform all ships that we were nearing our destination, and to tell them to be ready for whatever situation we might encounter.

“Erwin! Still nothing?”

“Nope! Still nothing in sight!”

We were close, but even from the crow’s nest, Erwin couldn’t spot anything.

 

“……”

As we slowed down and moved ahead, the wind suddenly died, and we entered a windless zone.

At the same time, the ship stopped.

Despite having a magic-engine that moves just fine without wind.

“We’ve arrived, Commander.”

“So this is the place?”

“I can’t confirm whether this is the exact spot where the pillar of light appeared that day… but this is definitely the location marked on the map.”

“Hmm…”

I didn’t doubt Auyen’s words or skills.

Though I’d rescued him while hunting plunderers, he was skilled enough to amaze even the skilled sailors who came with the expedition group.

If he was this confident, it had to be true.

Also, when we arrived, the ominous winds that had been blowing suddenly stopped.

I needed to shift my perspective.

We had arrived at the right place.

But if we still couldn’t see anything, there had to be another reason.

For example…

“Then it must be one of two things.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s either underwater or floating above us.”

“Ah…”

No one reacted with disbelief.

After all, islands like this existed even on the 6th-floor Great Sea.

The Subterranean Island where the Deep Sea Giants appeared, and the Stormcloud Island, which we couldn’t explore due to lack of time.

“First, we’ll check underwater.”

If something was hidden, it was more likely to be underwater.

After all, the entire of Basement Floor One was an ocean, right?

So I ordered the anchor to be dropped to check the depth.

But…

“Commander! The anchor didn’t reach the bottom, even after we let out all the rope!”

How deep was this place if the ship’s anchor couldn’t touch the bottom?

This is getting more suspicious.

“…We’ll have to go down ourselves.”

I formed a special task unit with the most capable members and sent them down into the sea with oxygen tanks (aka mages) on their backs.

I wanted to go myself, but…

“Absolutely not!”

For the first time, the vice commander raised his voice at me, and I had no choice but to back off.

He argued that it was unacceptable for the commander to take such risks and insisted that the elite personnel gathered by the royal family could handle it.

“But you sent the count into the Rift just fine…”

“Yes. And our expedition lost its commander for a while that day.”

“Uh…”

Fair point.

Still, considering he once told me he hated responsibility, I wondered if there was another reason he was being so firm.

‘It’s a shame I can’t go myself, but at least I get to rest.’

While I waited onboard, the first deep-sea expedition ended.

And the result: failure.

No monsters, no obstacles.

“…We never reached the bottom.”

They dove as far as the oxygen tanks (mages) allowed, but they touched ground.

I didn’t bother sending a second team.

It didn’t seem like further attempts would yield different results.

“Then we’ll have to check above.”

So, naturally, we shifted focus to aerial exploration.

“Go, Survey Captain!”

As soon as the diving team’s rest ended, the survey mages flew up using levitation spells.

“…I’m glad I chose research back then.”

Raven, who had come up beside me, let out a relieved sigh.

“By the way, I just realized something, why does the investigation department have a captain while the research department only has a department head?”

“…You focus on the strangest things.”

“You didn’t put much thought into the naming, did you?”

Well, not exactly wrong.

“Enough. Watch the sky. If they fall, you’ll need to catch them.”

“Got it.”

We stared upward for quite some time.

Thankfully, the survey team returned safely.

“The wind currents were so violent around 200 meters up that we couldn’t go any higher.”

The first aerial exploration also ended in failure.

However, unlike the deep-sea expedition, it wasn’t a complete failure.

“But… one of the team members mentioned seeing something up there just before descending.”

If that team member hadn’t been mistaken, then there was something in the sky.

‘The problem is… how do we get up there?’

It was time to use a gamer’s imagination.

Continue reading more chapters at henprogressive.com

Please join here, I need supporters to help me continue translating STGB and Lee Gwak