Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 138

Episode 138: Awakening (1)

The Dragon Slayer, Regal Vagos.

A member of the Dragon Tribe who received the Dragon’s Curse after killing the ancient Dragon who served as the chief of his tribe.

He disappeared after the incident, but about 10 years ago, he emerged as a member of the Orcules, attacking the fairy tribe’s sanctuary alone.

His primary weapon is a longsword made of Arc Steel, nicknamed the Dragon Slayer Sword, and he has a total of six confirmed Essences…….

‘Three of level 5, two of level 4, and one of level 3.’

Judging only by the known essences, he’s close to a typical brute force swordsman.

Since all his skills are in the form of self-enhancement, as long as he has the right equipment, there’s no such thing as a bad matchup for his class.

Well, that was information from ten years ago, so things might have changed…

But the likelihood of that is slim.

How could a criminal possibly erase his essence?

‘So, he crawled all the way here because of this one item.’

By the way, the most worrying part, the ‘Dragon Speech’,the unique skill of the dragon tribe, is said to be sealed due to the “Dragon’s Curse.”

That was somewhat relieving to hear.

Honestly, knowing he was of the dragon tribe had me pretty scared.

“That’s all I know.”

“Got it, thanks. That was very helpful.”

Having learned the enemy’s information through Rotmiller, I calmly organized my thoughts.

Ah, of course, while running towards our destination.

Tadadadat-!

First off, the Dragon Slayer, Regal Vagos.

An unexpectedly big fish.

If it weren’t for the ‘Guardian of Balance’, the gem and everything else would have been irrelevant; my head would have been cut off before I even realised it.

Tadadadat-!

Feeling an inexplicable chill, I checked the time.

[08:57]

It’s been about three hours since we encountered him.

Meaning, in 9 hours, our game of tag begins.

Of course, this is assuming he keeps his promise.

‘Twelve hours…’

It’s frustratingly insufficient.

My bold stance coupled with the warrior’s oath.

Perhaps he agreed to the deal out of curiosity, or thinking he had nothing to lose.

But…

‘If it weren’t for that damn ring, he might have coolly waited a day.’

24 hours and 12 hours are worlds apart.

Enough time to prepare and even rest at the end.

‘Sigh, nothing ever goes smoothly.’

A sigh naturally escapes, but I gather my will.

Goblin traps, a psychopathic bitch, the Blood Tinted Castle, Witch’s Forest, the Layer Lord, and so on.

Clearing the mind of the hopelessness of the past,

I Focus solely on my goal.

To survive.

If possible, all of us together.

Absolutely.

“Bjorn, we’ve arrived.”

When my thoughts reached that point, Rotmiller stopped walking.

There was a dead end ahead.

The closest corner in the 11 o’clock direction from where the boss room was located.

Simply put, the location of the second mid-boss.

Click, whirrrrr.

Rotmiller operated a mechanism, and a wall slid aside, revealing a hidden space.

Whoosh.

Stepping forward, torches lit up the stone chamber.

The only difference from the 7 o’clock corner, where ‘Baphomet’ appeared, was one.

“Ugh, I think that place was better.”

Instead of a goat’s head, a mountain of corpses with their eyes gouged out filled the chamber.

I braved the stench and dropped a drop of blood on the magic circle.

「The maze’s demon detects blood.」

Okay, we’ve obtained one thing.

「You have defeated Argos. EXP +5」

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

Larkaz’s maze contains many hidden spaces besides the mid-boss rooms.

The rewards vary greatly.

 

There might be one-time consumables hidden, or rare monsters may appear.

Well, what I need is something else.

‘This time, a dud again?’

After defeating ‘Argos’, we focused on searching around for hidden rooms.

Going after another mid-boss wasn’t feasible due to time constraints…

For my plan, I needed to find ‘that room’.

‘Well, we’re doing a pretty good job finding them, though.’

With Rotmiller leading the way and seriously looking for hidden rooms, we found one every two hours.

Thanks to the heightened sixth sense stat due to the Dragon Slayer party entering,Rotmiller was uncanny at spotting things we would otherwise have passed by unnoticed.

The problem is that the room I want hasn’t appeared yet.

[05:30]

As time passed, it was nearing the end of the 12 hours I had promised him.

“Wait, stop. I have a strange feeling.”

Rotmiller halted the group and, after examining the walls around us, found a hidden room.

Ssshhhk.

A small stone chamber of about four square meters with neither monsters nor hidden treasure inside.

After checking inside, I closed the chamber again.

‘We found it.’

Finally, the first set of preparations for my plan was complete.

So, I stopped the group and took a break.

“Everyone, rest for a bit. I’ll keep watch.”

“Rest? What’s so special about this room that…”

“I’ll explain everything if we make it out alive. Just follow my instructions for now.”

“…Understood.”

The dwarf dropped his questions at my firm tone.

Not so much dropped, but rather decided to trust me and not ask further for the time being.

“Sigh…”

As my weary companions fell asleep, I let out a long sigh.

Thinking about how to explain things to Rotmiller already gave me a headache.

From summoning the mid-boss with a drop of blood to this moment. There were too many parts that wouldn’t be satisfied with a simple “I read it in a book.”

‘Anyway, I’ll think about that later…’

I take another deep breath, clearing my mind of future worries.

I’ll figure out a way to explain it.

Yes, as long as we can survive and return.

I focus solely on the present moment, organizing my last thoughts.

[You said there was a portal in the center, so why aren’t we going there, Nyah?]

The reason for not heading towards the portal is simple.

He would surely be there during the 12 hours.

If we went and he thought we were fleeing, the precious 12 hours we gained would be wasted.

I judged it was better to use that time to prepare.

But…

‘He must be starting to look for us by now.’

The promised 12 hours are up.

Fortunately, the initial preparations were completed on time, allowing us a moment of rest before he arrives.

However, the situation remains grim.

‘The success rate is less than 10%.’

That’s the cold, hard estimate of our chances.

It makes sense, considering only six of his essences are known. The remaining two or three shrouded in mystery add variables, not to mention the biggest obstacle being the high priest of Carui.

Therefore…

Crack.

I pulled out the brilliantly red gem and held it in my hand.

After swallowing it as a hostage and using [Gigantification] to spit it out once it was safe, this was the item.

The final reward of Larkaz’s maze, and the very item that the worst criminal known as the Dragon Slayer desperately sought after.

‘Restrained Desire.’

I didn’t want to use it if possible.

This item would be most effective when applied to a level 4 guardian essence.

But if I’m going to die anyway, I won’t be able to use it.

‘I guess I have no choice but to use it.’

I made my decision.

What lies ahead, I, too, cannot predict.

And this item, if not now, I won’t be able to use it.

“…”

The calm before the storm, this quiet moment, will soon come to an end.

It’s better to make all the preparations we can in advance.

Because when the time comes, there might not be any time to wish we had.

‘It’s a bit of a shame, but…’

I put strength into my hand.

Crack!

The gem split, emitting a dazzling red light.

The next moment I came to my senses.

「The character has used ‘Restrained Desire.’」

「The character is transported to the Room of Balance.」

I found myself standing in an unfamiliar space.

Whoosh!

A flame lit up, illuminating the space.

I took a step forward and looked around.

Thud.

A stone chamber reminiscent of the Sky Tower.

The floating flames flickered faintly, illuminating three stone doors on the edge.

‘Fascinating.’

So this is how it actually works.

In the game, you’d just press keys to make a selection, and that was it.

「Please select the essence you wish to replace.」

I carefully observed the unique murals drawn on each stone door. They weren’t colored, but they weren’t hard to recognize.

Thud.

A hideous creature, its rotting arms and legs moving in a tight clump.

‘That must be the Corpse Golem.’

Something in human form with pointy fangs and razor-sharp nails, its eyes made with a blood-red gem.

‘That’s a Vampire.’

A muscular warrior screaming with a giant flag as the background.

‘That must be the Orc Hero.’

Each door represented one of the three essences I had absorbed so far. There were no instructions, but it was clear what I had to do.

Opening the desired door would replace the corresponding essence.

‘Restrained Desire’ is such an item.

A gacha-type item that replaces a level 4 or lower essence with a random essence of the same grade.

Thud.

I walked towards one of the doors without hesitation.

After all, I had already decided what to choose.

‘Orc Hero.’

Of course, not this one.

Although it’s a level 5 essence, it’s part of my final combination, a core essence.

‘Corpse Golem.’

Pain resistance was surprisingly useful, but truthfully, based on abilities alone, it wasn’t much help to me.

So, I had been saving it to erase once I filled up on essences.

But, I passed on this too.

It would be wasteful to apply ‘Restrained Desire’ to a level 7 essence.

‘Vampire.’

Soon I was standing in front of the stone door with the Vampire’s image on it, and I reached out to it.

A skill set and stats that match a tank.

Moreover, it was a rare essence with all three skills attached, obtained after defeating a rift guardian.

‘Restrained Desire’ has its hidden elements.

「You have selected the Vampire’s essence.」

「It’s a guardian essence.」

「The grade of essence you can select has been upgraded.」

Offering a guardian’s essence as a sacrifice allows for the selection of a higher grade essence.

Simply put, sacrificing a level 4 guardian essence enables the acquisition of a level 3 essence.

‘That bastard must have come for this too. Considering he came all this way just for this item.’

I was the same when I played the game.

When I consumed a guardian essence that was high grade but didn’t suit my character, I headed to Larkaz’s maze to try my luck with the gacha.

I never thought I’d have to use this item with a level 5 Guardian essence that was good enough for me.

“Sigh…”

I moved on, erasing any regrets, through the opened door.

Before I had taken a few steps, the straight corridor ended, and flames lit up, revealing three stone doors.

Whoosh!

True to the concept of balance, the three stone doors each depicted a physical, mental, and supernatural type monster.

Up to here, it wasn’t unusual.

But what is this?

「This is an essence that no one else possesses.」

「The Guardian of Balance recognizes its rarity and offers new selections accordingly.

As I examined the murals closely, I froze.

The first option was this.

A skeletal mage holding a staff in one hand and a casket with a red gem in the other.

A level 4 monster, Lich.

A typical ‘ability’ monster possessing a passive skill [Soul Casket] and several destructive active skills.

This far, there wasn’t a problem.

Only the gem embedded above the door didn’t make sense.

‘…Rainbow-colored?’

Just a second ago, the Corpse Golem had a black gem, and the Orc Hero had a green gem embedded. So, I thought this represented the color of the essence.

But rainbow-colored?

The same color as the gem above the door of the vampire, which was a guardian essence.

‘So, did another guardian essence appear?’

I quickly checked the other doors as well.

A level 4 monster, the Giant Soul Soldier.

A spectral monster with stats focused entirely on mental attributes, lacking physical strength or agility.

Again, the color of the gem implied a guardian.

Of course, up to here, it could have been passed off as ‘luck.’

Very rarely, but guardian essences did appear as options.

But…

‘This can’t be a coincidence.’

After checking the last option available to me.

The physical-type monster confirmed, I had to admit.

This wasn’t ‘luck.’ 

There were elements in the game I still didn’t know about.

Whoosh!

The gemstone reflected in the flickering flame was red.

Meaning, it wasn’t a guardian essence.

But, in the current situation, what did that matter?

Thud.

I walked towards the door as if enchanted.

It was unbelievable, the mural on the door represented only one thing.

Thud.

A level 3 monster.

And a boss level monster that operated alone at that.

Simply put, a monster that requires a party of 3rd and 4th rank explorers to have a chance of victory.

A monster that boasted the highest physical capabilities among terrestrial monsters.

‘Ogre.’

Without hesitation, I opened the door.

Hallelujah.