Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 105

Episode 105 P.K(1)

The one who opened the rift.

Who is the mafia?

This is the question I’ve been asking myself ever since I entered the Glacier Caverns.

To me, the mafia represented a ‘variable’.

It was necessary to determine whether this variable would be positive or negative. So, I didn’t jump to any conclusions about Mr. Bear being the mafia and kept all possibilities open while gathering clues.

And then, the result.

“Yeah, it was them.”

I found the suspected mafia.

However, that was all there was to it for now.

What exactly does this guy want?

“Sigh, it’s not like I can just kill him off.”

Not knowing what’s going on makes me even more annoyed.

And for good reason—if this guy really is the mafia, there’s a high chance he could become a negative variable later on.

But…

“I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye on them.”

There’s only one mafia.

And so far, he hasn’t done anything yet.

Rushing to kill him would only cause problems.

Unless the two innocents are going to be ‘silenced’ as well.

****

“Michelle, are you feeling okay?”

“…Me? I’m fine?”

Misha replied nonchalantly, but in reality, she must be harboring fatigue from yesterday.

Unlike Jenson or Mr. Bear, we had to stand guard and only managed to sleep for three hours.

“Don’t worry. It’s better than the Witch’s Forest, isn’t it Nyang?”

“That’s… true.”

I chuckled, brushing off the concern.

After surviving that ordeal, this much wouldn’t shake me.

“Enough blabbering, shall we get going?”

As soon as Mr. Bear spoke up, Misha hurriedly stepped back to her place.

At the very back of the formation.

A spot where she could immediately notice if anyone attempted any foolish acts. Without her, it would have been burdensome to play the role of a tank and stand at the front.

Thud.

I take the first step, and the others follow at a brisk pace.

“It feels different from 2D graphics when you’re actually here.”

A dark ice cave.

The frost-covered ground was slippery, and the overall terrain structure was more three-dimensional than the crystal cave on the first floor.

There were steep slopes, and at times, the path was cut off, requiring us to cross by rope.

But still…

“It’s a relief there seems to be only one path.”

Even without a scout, there was no getting lost.

There were side paths here and there, but they soon led to dead ends.

All we had to do was follow the main passage.

Smashing through monsters that emerged from the ice walls.

Thwack!

For reference, the monsters appearing here were Wormstones, Shavel Tigers, Frost Wolves, Ice Golems, and Owl Bears.

Unlike the Blood Tinted Castle where Level 7th monsters like ‘Bone Knights’ appeared, this place was mostly filled with 8th-grade monsters.

‘But the actual difficulty is higher here’

Status ailment [Hypothermia].

A debuff field effect that, without cold resistance, could reduce Agility by up to -30 and double the damage from cold attributes.

“Miss Neaprin, be careful. Your body stiffening up might be why their attacks feel more painful than before.”

“Ah, so that’s why…!”

As the journey progressed, ‘Jenson’ by my side, who was part of the second row, began to groan.

Of course, we didn’t slow down or anything to accommodate them. Their share of the burden was almost negligible anyway.

Thump.

In reality, it was me, Mr. Bear, and Misha protecting Mr. Bear. The three of us were paving the way, gradually reaching the climax of the chapter.

Did it take us about four hours to get here?

Winding through the corridors, ascending and descending, we finally came upon a vast cavern.

“Wow, what a sight.”

Three monsters trapped within pillars of ice, as clear as crystal.

“Judging by the white skin, they must be Ice Orcs.”

“…Ice Orcs?”

“They’re only level 7, so don’t worry.”

Each Ice Orc wielded a different weapon: one held an axe, another a hammer, and the last one a shamanic staff.

“…Do we have to fight those too?”

“They wouldn’t be here without reason.”

Mr Bear replied sarcastically to Jencia’s mutterings.

And at that moment.

Crackle-

The ice pillars confining the Ice Orcs started to crack and shatter all at once.

“Ah, not even giving us time to look?”

Regardless of Mr. Bear’s relaxed reaction.

“Don’t panic and maintain formation!”

I urgently shouted at Jenson, who was fidgeting nervously. After all, maintaining formation would make it easier for Misha to keep an eye on you all.

“Ah, yes!”

As Jenson took position by my side and Mr. Bear stepped back to take a sniping position.

Boom, crash.

Ice shards fell as the trio of Ice Orcs woke from their slumber, exhaling fiercely as if they were mid-bosses.

[Shrieeek-!]

One shaman and two warriors.

A well-balanced team, and with [Hypothermia] in play, they were quite the formidable opponents.

Especially if you’re unaware of their tactics.

“Huff…”

I exhaled deeply, raising my shield.

I was quite tense.

Not because the orcs were unbeatable, but for a different reason.

‘If someone’s going to pull a fast one, now’s the time.’

There’s a mafia among us.

Of course, I don’t know what their goal is.

Maybe they just wanted to break through the rift, without any intention of harming others.

But I had to be prepared for the opposite scenario as well.

Therefore—

Boom!

I focused solely on defense.

It’s better to hide our full power in case of emergencies.

In that sense, I had already instructed Misha not to take any unnecessary actions and just observe.

“Why aren’t you rushing to your lover’s side? Still here?”

“You never know what might come from behind, Nyang. And he’s not my lover.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like that yet.”

Mr. Bear questioned Misha’s positioning, but seemed to accept the explanation and let it go.

And then….

“Tsk, those guys are practically non-existent; looks like I need to put in some effort this time.”

He unveiled a power that had never been seen before.

[Abman Urichfried summons Ironwool Erdun.」

A portal opened in front of Mr. Bear, and out came a bear of immense size, a spirit beast.

‘…Erdun?’

I was honestly a bit surprised.

Given he was a level 5 explorer of beast human lineage, I had suspected he might already have a spirit beast contract…

‘But a summoner, huh.’

It made sense now how he could solo despite being an archer.

If you have a tank spirit beast, there’s no need to stick with a team, right?

[ROAAAAR!!]

The summoned bear cub charged on all fours and, standing next to me, roared and took a stand, starting to focus on one of the warriors.

‘Guess we’re switching to plan B.’

I acted entirely rationally.

Nothing had changed, after all.

Because I hid my power, Mr. Bear had to bring out his spirit beast, which he had been saving.

[Shrieeek!]

For that reason, I let the Ice Orc’s hammer hit me.

Getting hit without making a fuss would be too obvious, so I took it head-on, like heading a ball.

Boom!

Thanks to wearing a helmet and having a decent skull density stat, my head didn’t shatter.

Just a bit of dizziness as my brain shook, but even that was quickly recovering thanks to my natural regeneration rate.

But then…

Thud.

I deliberately collapsed to the ground.

It was a calculated move; dealing with the orcs too easily wouldn’t give me a chance to probe the mafia’s intentions.

“Are, are you okay… ugh!”

Carlson, startled, rushed over to me, taking the aggro.

And at that moment.

「You have defeated an Ice Orc Warrior. EXP +3.」

An arrow shot through the head of the hammer-wielding orc.

This shifted the shaman’s aggro to Mr. Bear, but…

The 5th level explorer was skilled.

Swiftly dodging the shaman’s spells with his tall, 190cm frame, Mr. Bear reloaded his crossbow and fired accurately.

「The Ice Orc Shaman casts [Steel Ice Wall].」

The shaman’s defensive skill was meaningless against that formidable arrow.

How could a level 7 monster block something like that?

BOOM!

The arrow shattered the ice wall and exploded upon hitting the shaman’s head.

「You have defeated the Ice Orc Shaman. EXP +3.」

Now, only one orc remained.

‘Is he going to take them all down with just three arrows?’

A sense of anticlimax washes over me.

If the fight is too easy, it undermines my plan to make things challenging, making the situation overwhelmingly one-sided.

‘Is this what a 5th level archer is capable of?’

Shit, the ground is cold, should I just pretend to have regained consciousness now?

As I pondered this, someone murmured.

“So that was the spirit beast.”

A voice cold as ice.

“Now we can proceed as planned.”

As Mr. Bear was reloading his next arrow, he suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed.

Thud.

The mafia had finally made their move.

To become the mafia, a few prerequisites must be met.

Knowledgeable enough to know how to open a rift.

Skilled in navigation to return from the second floor in just 19 hours.

Capable of clearing it alone.

With just these, a figure begins to emerge.

An explorer with a level five strength.

This is the true identity of the mafia.

The problem is, all three of them sufficiently met these criteria.

1. Mr. Bear.

A level 5 explorer.

Somewhat player-like mentality, etc.

2. Carlson

He only mentioned his name during introductions.

He didn’t talk about the essence he owned either.

Moreover, his low-tier equipment was well-maintained.

As if it was brand new.

I wondered if it might be a disguise, and kept an eye on him, but he also refused to consume the Frost Wolf essence, giving reasons.

Suspicious enough.

Though, not as much as the next.

3. Jencia Neaprin.

Claimed to have received scout training and had a knack for it.

Said observation was her specialty.

I think it was all insurance.

To make her subsequent remarks sound natural.

[Do, do we have to kill that and go down?]

When we encountered the yeti blocking the cave.

[Ah! It lights up when I touch it.]

In the second chapter too.

[I feel like my body isn’t moving well…!]

When the mid-boss cast [Suppression].

[By the way… is it all over now?]

Right before the last wave began, when everyone let their guard down.

She always feigned ignorance.

As if she knew the strategy.

Of course, this was nothing compared to Mr. Bear or Carlson.

If it hadn’t been for the dirt on her shoes.

As soon as we entered the rift, the first thing I checked was everyone’s shoes. To open the ‘Glacier Caverns’, one had to visit the beast’s lair on the second floor.

Jencia was the only one with mud on her shoes.

Well, it would be understandable if she hadn’t cleaned off the dirt from the city, but…

“Now that I think about it, there’s something odd. After falling into the water, Jencia’s scent changed.”

Misha’s report made me certain.

Though not as keen as a Rottweiler’s, her beastly olfactory stats were high enough.

“It used to smell worse.”

“Like the beast’s lair?”

“Ah! Now that you mention it, yes. That’s why it was familiar!”

Jencia is the mafia.

And I judged her to be a malignant variable with a high chance of becoming a negative factor.

Thanks to this, we could prepare in advance.

Puff!

The moment Jencia’s sword pierced Mr. Bear’s abdomen, Misha, as if she had been waiting for this, threw a vial that hit its mark.

Crash!

The glass shattered, spilling its contents.

“Thanks, this should be worth 30 million stones— Aaah!”

Jencia, who was about to make a leisurely comment, was startled by the solution dousing her and stepped back in shock.

“What, what is this! You, what did you do to me…”

I quickly got to my feet.

Could it be that her choosing this moment to strike was partly because she thought I was unconscious?

“What is it, what’s happening…”

Jencia looked even more confused.

Instead of answering, I let out a battle cry.

“Bethel—raaaaaaaaaa!!!”

What else could it be?

From this point on, it’s self-defense.

See You Guys on Monday, Happy Weekends