Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 103

Mafia(2)

When I first saw Mr Bear’s crossbow, this was the first thought that crossed my mind.

Could it really be used as a weapon?

Surprisingly, the answer was yes.

With a whooshing sound, Mr Bear skilfully loaded an arrow into the crossbow and aimed precisely at the target before shooting.

However…

“Tsck, as expected, it’s blocked.”

The Yeti managed to block the arrow with both hands, saving him from instant death.

But that was all it was – narrowly avoiding instant death.

Both hands were skewered by the single arrow.

The Yeti roared and strained, but the arrow did not come out.

It didn’t seem like there was anything special about the arrow.

‘Could it be a [Hook Arrow]?’

I had my suspicions about a skill, but nothing was certain.

It wasn’t the time to think about that now.

[Screeeeech!!]

The massive form of the Yeti rushes towards me, stomping.

With its hands sealed, it didn’t seem particularly threatening.

But what was this?

“The rest is up to you.”

Mr. Bear, having finished his task, slung the crossbow back over his shoulder.

One more arrow would have done the trick, but his action suggested he didn’t want to engage in unpaid labor.

‘Is he an explorer? His calculations are really sharp.’

To ensure I couldn’t dispute the distribution later, I too ran forward with my shield.

“…What in the world!”

Carlson’s voice was filled with horror.

Even for a Barbarian, facing such a monster head-on seemed impossible.

But that was a story for a bare-ground Barbarian.

I blocked the Yeti’s charge with my shield, creating a wall.

Boom!

I felt a heavy impact, but it was manageable.

After consuming the essence of an Orc Hero, there was hardly any force I couldn’t match. Besides, the Yeti was only about 1m taller than me.

[Character takes cold damage from [Chill]]

My bones felt chilled, but it wasn’t painful.

“Michelle!”

“Ah, yes!”

At my shout, Misha, momentarily frozen, stepped on my shoulder and leaped.

And with the sword she had now mastered,

Swoosh!

She stabbed both of the Yeti’s eyes from below upwards simultaneously.

Since it wasn’t the dagger she used to use, the sharp blade was enough to cut through the Yeti’s brain.

Thump!

The Yeti collapsed with a heavy noise and vanished into light.

「You have defeated the Yeti. EXP +3」

Sadly, no essence was dropped.

Sigh, I would have fed it to Misha right away.

‘So the start is a dud.’

Now, there were only five more creatures, excluding the guardian, that had essences worth feeding to Misha.

“Eh? Why are you looking at me like that, nyang? Did I, did I do something wrong, nyang?”

…Maybe one will come my way?

****

“You two, good teamwork?”

After Mr Bear’s brief appreciation, we resumed our journey. We entered the ice cave and moved in formation, killing countless Frost Wolves, a rank 9 monster.

After all, they’re the only ones in this section..

「You have defeated a Frost Wolf. EXP +1」

Anyway, Misha and I put in some effort here.

Well, Mr. Bear did contribute by taking down wolves with his crossbow…

But it wasn’t quite on the same level as Misha or me.

‘Powerful in a single shot, but lacks area damage?’

As I carefully analyzed Mr. Bear while navigating the cave, the first chapter came to an end.

For the record, it took me about six hours to get to this point.

We had to wander a lot.

‘…It doesn’t appear here either.’

Honestly, if I had taken the lead, we could have cleared this chapter in an hour. It was like the underground dungeon of the Blood Tinted Castle, with identical terrain features.

‘Left, left, right, right, left, seven straight ahead, left……’

Pillars appeared at regular intervals.

When I saw the pillars appearing at regular intervals, I realized the path could be easily found.

However, I wasn’t trying to test them just for the sake of it.

‘I doubt someone who knows how to open rifts wouldn’t remember such a simple thing.’

It seemed like one of two things was true:

Either the Mafia wasn’t a player.

Or they were pretending not to know.

‘Well, if we keep watching, they’ll eventually show a gap.’

That led us into the second chapter.

“This cave feels ominous…”

We descended further down an ice staircase that appeared at the end of the cave. All the while, I kept a close eye on our party’s actions.

There was a hidden piece here.

It wasn’t much, but breaking the third pillar would reveal an elixir. When consumed, it temporarily increases cold resistance.

“They didn’t even bother to take this…”

Even as we passed the point and reached the bottom of the stairs, no one behaved suspiciously.

‘Well, even if they knew, they wouldn’t make it obvious. They could just come back and collect it after everything is over.’

I decided not to underestimate them prematurely.

After all, it’s better to assume an enemy is strong.

Hmm, at least that’s how I saw it.

“It feels like we’ve come down a lot, but it’s surprisingly bright.”

Carlson muttered behind me.

I felt the same.

The cave walls emitted a white light, as if the entire cave was made of transparent glass.

“It’s kind of beautiful.”

“Nyang nyang, right? I thought so too.”

“Hey, but what’s that?”

Jensia, who had been having a difficult conversation with Misha, pointed to a spot.

A vast cavern opened up as we descended the stairs.

A totem-like object in the center stood out, radiating presence.

“Ah! It lights up when I touch it.”

“It might be dangerous, so step back.”

“Ah, yes!”

Jensia fidgeted, worrying she might have done something wrong. Mr. Bear chuckled.

“What’s there to be surprised about? It seems like that’s the key.”

“The key?”

“Well, a few monsters will appear, and then the path will probably open.”

Mr. Bear once again showed his gamer-like way of thinking.

His words were not wrong, though there were a few corrections to be made.

[The long-sealed tyrant awakens]

In this chapter, it wasn’t just a few monsters that appeared, but the final boss itself.

Of course, it first unleashed a horde of lesser mobs.

The entire space vibrated, shedding ice dust, and soon, a piercing howling filled the air.

[GWAAAAAAAAAA-!!]

The roar was no less intimidating than that of a tier lord.

「Ancient beasts, sensing the tyrant’s presence, wake from their long slumber.」

Crash!

The surrounding ice walls started to peel away layer by layer, releasing the beasts.

“Grrr…”

The beasts, seemingly weak from being thawed, slowly rose to their feet.

“What do we do?”

“Huh, I didn’t expect this.”

Regardless of Mr. Bear’s cool muttering, I gave the order.

“Let’s head towards the staircase. There’s no wall there.”

“Yes, that seems like a good idea.”

Mr. Bear agreed with my suggestion.

And then the battle began.

In the first wave, there were about twenty Frost Wolves, and from the second wave on, Grade 8 monsters began to appear as well.

[Screeeeech-!]

The Shabel Tiger and Worm Stone we had already farmed for experience in the Beast’s Lair, and the Ice Golem, which only appears here.

“It feels like my body isn’t moving well…!”

Grade 8 monsters began to appear as well.

Due to the slow aura that was being spread by a certain creature, I smashed it with my mace whenever it appeared.

「You have defeated an Ice Golem. EXP +2」

Since Misha and I had come prepared to clear this rift by ourselves, there wasn’t much danger.
Well, ‘Jenson’ would have had to risk his life, though.

But being able to clear the wave before the next one started was something to be grateful for.

‘Once you start getting pushed back, there’s no answer, but if the opposite happens, it’s a relatively manageable chapter.’

After about 30 minutes, we reached the ninth wave.

Here, the Yeti appeared once more.

Of course, it was significantly different from when we first encountered it.

If it was merely a gatekeeper before, this time does it qualify as a mid-boss?

[ROOOOAR-!!]

The Yeti appeared alongside lower-level monsters.

This alone increased the difficulty several times over, but this Yeti was a ‘superior mutant’ version.

In other words, a named monster.

Named monsters have higher intelligence, individual names, and their own unique histories, and…

「The Lord of the Snowfields, Katumba, has cast [Suppression].」

Despite being a monster, it had the characteristic of using abilities from other creatures.

“Cough! What, what’s happening! Why couldn’t I move just now…?”

This Yeti had an additional skill: the Stone Golem’s [Suppression], the very skill that had been used on us by the plunderers before.

The countermeasure was simple.

“Cough! Th-this time too…! Everyone, be careful! That thing is using something strange… Cough!”

Like Carlson, who got mauled by surrounding mobs every time he stopped.

“Ugh.”

Or, as Misha did, following the advice given earlier, biting her tongue to maintain a bleeding state.

Otherwise…

「Your character’s magical resistance is above a certain threshold.」

「You completely resist the effect.」

Having a high magical resistance stat was another way to counter [Suppression], which temporarily rendered one ‘unable to act,’ making it somewhat easy to overcome.

Well, that’s probably why it’s considered a level 8 monster.

“Behel—rAAAAAAA!!”

Using [Wild Burst] to increase aggro, I charged forward.

Regardless of ‘Jenson’ being nearly half-dead.

If we didn’t defeat this creature before the next wave, even I would be in quite a bit of trouble.

「Your character suffers cold damage due to [Frostbite].」

As I took my position in the center, the Yeti… Katumba, was it?

Anyway, as this creature led the charge, all sorts of mobs began to swarm.

But I focused solely on Katumba.

After all, being nibbled and bitten by level 9 and 8 monsters was merely a tickle by now…

“How can you just go off alone like that!”

Misha, whose speech had worsened from biting her tongue, followed me immediately, clearing the surrounding mobs.

Her dual swords made it look almost like she was dancing…

「The Lord of the Snowfields, Katumba, has cast [Cold Blast].」

Was it because I glanced away for a moment?

I couldn’t dodge or block the blizzard it spat out in time.

Due to the lack of cold resistance, my skin felt painfully cold…

‘But the rest of me is fine.’

Thanks to my body regenerating in real-time, it seemed I hadn’t reached the point of getting frostbite. I engaged even more aggressively in close combat with the Yeti.

That’s when it happened.

“If you don’t want to die, you better run.”

Mr. Bear muttered loud enough for me to hear, and then…

[Abman Urichfried has cast [Enhancement].」

「The effect of the next active skill used will increase in proportion to soul power.」

[Abman Urichfried has cast [Hazardous Material].」

Somehow, my instincts told me:

To heed that man’s warning.

In an instant, as I pushed off the ground to widen the distance…

Whoosh-!

An arrow was shot.

And then…

Boom-!!

It exploded upon hitting the Yeti’s head, spewing flames and causing an explosion.

The radius was about 3 meters.

Compared to the area spells Raven used, it wasn’t a wide range, but…

“What kind of arrow is that, Nyang?!”

All monsters within the radius were killed.

So, I had to update the information I’d been slowly gathering about Mr. Bear.

I thought he was a single-target high-damage dealer, but…

「Bonus for defeating a superior mutant. EXP +1」

Fuck, there you are.

An AoE (Area of Effect) skill.

***

Mr. Bear’s Area of Effect skill.

I wasn’t exactly sure if that was an AoE skill, but anyway.

Thanks to his full effort, the ninth wave ended easily.

And because of that…

“There, an essence!”

We got to settle the rewards a bit earlier.

Magic stones can be picked up later, but essences, not so much.

“To get two in one go, we’re in luck.”

Mr. Bear didn’t seem too interested in the essence.

He just wanted me to split them up.

I felt similarly.

At least halfway.

“You two deal with that red one.”

I didn’t care whether it was a Frost Wolf’s or a Shabel Tiger’s essence.

But…

“We’ll take this one.”

The blue essence floating where the Yeti had stood just before its demise.
Carlson stuttered as he asked,

“Is that, by any chance, the Yeti’s essence?”

“So what if it is? Got a problem?”

“No, no, of course not. Absolutely not.”

As if trying to dispel his greed, Carlson frantically waved his hands and stepped back.

There was a hint of regret in his eyes, but…

Well, if you feel unjust, you have to become stronger, right?

In a world where power is everything and revered above all.

“Then there’s no problem.”

I called Misha over.

But did she misunderstand something?

“Congratulations, Bjorn. You’ll become even stronger!”

“What are you talking about? This is for you.”

“Eh? You’re giving this to me…?”

Misha, who had been sincerely offering congratulations, suddenly stiffened at my words.

Then, she cautiously asked a question.

“It’s not that I don’t want it, actually, I really, really want it, nyang… but just in case, you won’t misunderstand my question, right, nyang?”

“Go ahead.”

“…If I take this, how much do I have to pay you, nyang?”

Does she think of me as some kind of greedy boss?

Hey Folks,

It takes a lot of time and effort to translate each of these chapters, so if someone wants to help me out. Try to become my Patreon here or buy me a coffee here, you will get instant access to 15+ chapters with (2+1) chapter updates for a month. 

I use the funds I receive to maintain the website, buy raws, buy tools and add free chapters for the community. So please consider helping if you can.