Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 178

Doppelganger (3)

In the darkness, where not a single ray of light enters.

Raven casts a light sphere spell.

“Li’eate.”

I reflexively closed my eyes before I could be blinded.

Turning to me, Raven asked., “Mr. Jandel, what are you doing right now?”

As I hesitantly opened my eyes, I saw a light sphere that, unlike usual, emitted a faint and soft glow.

Oh, so it’s dimmable.

“It’s nothing.”

I awkwardly brushed it off, and Raven scolded me, “By the way, if you’re going to do something like that, at least tell me in advance. You freaked me out.”

“What if we got caught by the guards outside?”

“We could just pay a fine.”

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of using the team funds—”

“It is for the team.”

When I cut her off, Raven sighs deeply. However, she didn’t say anything more.

Not that what I said was wrong.

Because that’s not what’s important right now.

“Doesn’t this seem strange? Starting off in a dark zone.”

“It’s not just any dark zone. Do you see that?”

Following Mr. Bear’s murmurs, Raven pointed at a tombstone placed against one wall.

Now, it’s time to get to the main point.

“It’s a layer tombstone. Do you know what’s going on with this?”

“It seems like a dimensional instability phenomenon.”

“…What’s that?”

“Portals are a type of dimensional magic, right? I heard that sometimes these things happen. There’s an error in the starting coordinate input.”

“…So, it’s just a coincidence?”

“Well, there are observations that the possibility of dimensional instability increases right before a portal disappears.”

‘Oh, that sounds like a book I’ve read before.’

I felt like chiming in, but I kept quiet.

After all, she’s going to explain everything, why bother raising doubts?

“Nyang, Bjorn, that’s when…”

After I gave her a look, Misha shut her mouth tightly.

And to avoid any possible slips of the tongue, she moved next to Aynar.

Okay, that part is over.

“Hmm, so the fact that we entered at the end was the cause?”

The corners of Mr Bear’s mouth lifted slightly.

As an explorer, he must have realized the potentially deceptive nature of the experience copy bug.

Raven, however, shook her head.

“That’s a bit ambiguous.”

Huh? What the hell?

I couldn’t help but join in the conversation.

“Ambiguous, what do you mean?”

“Even if there was an error in the coordinate input, falling to the very outer edges like this shouldn’t happen. If that this were to happen every time, why would anyone bother entering early?”

Hmm, that’s true.

Actually, I also had doubts about this part.

Dimensional instability is a surprisingly well-known phenomenon. Then, why aren’t people exploiting this sweet bug?

“Dimensional instability was first recognised 130 years ago when there was a major problem with dimensional magic circles causing the frequency to increase exponentially”.

“And then?”

“The Mage Tower received a request from the royal family to repair the dimensional magic circle. After the stabilization work was completed, the instability phenomenon almost ceased to occur.”

To put it simply, for a hundred years, a late entry wouldn’t have allowed anyone to use the experience copy bug.

“So what’s happening now?”

“…Perhaps it’s time for another repair?”

Raven cautiously added one more suggestion after making a plausible guess.

“So, let’s keep today’s incident a secret.”

“Explain further.”

“Right now, it seems that no one knows there’s a problem with the dimensional magic circle. But as time goes on and the phenomenon worsens, other explorers will begin to experience it.

Mr. Bear quietly listened and then nodded in agreement.

“So, you’re suggesting we use this to our advantage until then.”

“Yes. It will reduce our exploration time and increase our experience points. How great is that?”

I intervened.

“Wait, aren’t experience points meaningless for a mage?”

Mages can’t consume essences. So, even if they gain experience points, it’s of no use.

Then why is she so proactive?

Raven smiled mischievously and replied.

“It’s my personal interest. The same goes for that untouched layer tombstone. With that said, may I open it?”

“Go ahead.”

With my permission, Raven touched the tombstone.

Whoosh!

A portal opened, emitting a plethora of lights.

Raven closed her eyes as if to concentrate on the sensation at her fingertips and the flow of magic in the air.

Then she murmured briefly.

“This feels quite extraordinary.”

As a barbarian with zero magic talent, it’s a sensation I’ll never understand.

But, there is one thing I could feel for sure.

「You have opened a portal for the first time. EXP +2」

Ah, this sensation of gaining something effortlessly.

「You have entered the 2nd floor, Beast’s Den.」

「You have entered the 1st floor, Crystal Cave.」

We went up to take a look and then immediately came back down to the 1st floor.

After all, the Beast’s Den is hopeless for us.

That place has too many forks in the road, making it a waste of time unless you have a scout like Rottmiller.

‘Rottmiller himself said it’s better to just give up on the Beast’s Den.’

Having a scout means we won’t completely lose our way.

But there’s no point in going through there if there’s a faster route.

“Let’s start moving then.”

I took out a compass and found our direction.

Once we were out of the darkness, we headed northwest.

We didn’t get lost too much.

After all, I had properly learned how to find my way on the 1st floor from Rottmiller.

Of course, I’m still inexperienced…

“Abram, where’s the portal?”

“Over there.”

“Then from now on, we just need to head north.”

Having a scout in the team means we can navigate optimally with just a compass.

It’s like compensating for our lack of skills with a cheat key.

About 3 hours after entering the labyrinth, it happened.

“Stop.”

For the first time since moving from the outskirts, we encountered people.

A knight with the royal crest on his chest and a group of four soldiers.

“Do you have your identification?”

The knight who stopped us asked briefly.

They seemed to have been in several fights already, as their weapons and armor were stained with blood.

Not monster blood.

There are no monsters on the 1st floor that bleed red.

“I’ll ask one last time. Your identification?”

“Ah, here it is. You guys too, hurry up and show yours.”

Intimidated by the knight’s presence, we all hurriedly took out our identification received from the city and showed it.

Then, the knight stepped aside to let us pass.

He even offered a piece of advice.

“Be careful not to lose it. It seems some quick-witted ones are already targeting identifications.”

Right, of course.

They’re not fools. They must have realized it’s the only way to survive.

As I passed by, I asked something that had been on my mind.

“Is there a way to distinguish stolen identifications?”

“No.”

“Then why aren’t we suspected?”

Maybe my question felt a bit annoying?

The knight frowned slightly but answered my question.

“Blood.”

“…?”

“If it was stolen, there would be human blood on it. Besides, I know your face.”

Huh?

“I am a knight of the Count of Ferdehilt.”

Ah, he recognised me from the banquet.

What exactly the Count is up to, I can’t figure out. 

Back then, he made some significant remarks about calling me when ready, but I haven’t heard from him since.

Well, for me, no news is good news.

Then Raven chided, “Hmm, it feels good to have a celebrity in the team?”

“Don’t tease me.”

“Huh? I’m not teasing.”

Huh, did she think I was a real barbarian or something?

“Why don’t you lower your smile?”

“…Jeez.”

“Anyway, let’s pick up the pace from now on. If you’re tired, just say so.”

“What will you do if I say I’m tired?”

“Aynar will carry you.”

“Eh? Me?”

Both Aynar and Raven seemed reluctant, but it can’t be helped. The faster we move, the fewer people we’ll encounter.

“…Aynar, please carry me.”

After increasing our pace for about 30 minutes, our mage Raven chose to abandon her dignity and get carried on the back.

Thanks to that, our speed increased significantly.

Being carried seemed to bore Raven as she began to fiddle with Aynar’s body.

“Stop touching me!”

“Wow, Aynar, your body is softer than I expected?”

“…Are you teasing me? If so, get down!”

Aynar trembled with displeasure, obviously not enjoying the attention.

Just when I thought about warning Raven, I spotted something blocking our path and stopped.

“Bjorn, why stop?”

“Bodies.”

There were five corpses.

Four men and one woman.

Almost naked due to being stripped of their equipment, and judging by the blood, it seemed they had been dead for some time.

“Aynar, could you let me down?”

Raven dismounted and inspected the corpses.

“It doesn’t seem like they were killed by the knight.”

“What makes you say that?”

“The wounds. One was by a blunt instrument, one by an arrow, and the rest by fire. It doesn’t seem like magic, probably a special ability.”

Knights use swords.

They are considered the best weapon for utilizing aura.

But not a single sword wound…

“Nyang, Could they have been explorers from Noark? The lack of identification tags suggests they were killed by other explorers.”

Raven grimaced at Misha’s suggestion.

“It could be the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

The answer came from Mr. Bear.

“Remember what the knight we met earlier said. There’s also the possibility they were targeting other explorers for their identification tags.”

“Ah…”

“And their faces were made unrecognizable. Normally, there wouldn’t be a need for that, right?”

Of course, the truth of the matter is unknown.

But these bodies served as a warning to us all. They must have been explorers who reached the 1st floor’s outskirts early.

They must have been explorers capable of a speedrun.

Yet, just a few hours after the labyrinth opened, they died on the 1st floor like this.

“…We really need to be on our guard, don’t we?”

“Mr. Jandel, it looks like these guys were also heading to the Goblin Forest. Wouldn’t it be better to go somewhere else?”

“Going somewhere else won’t make much of a difference.”

“Huh, that’s true too.”

Ultimately, we continued on our path to the Goblin Forest without changing our plans.

After a while, we reached the 2nd floor portal.

[06:47]

An incredibly fast time, incomparable to our previous explorations. Even compared to when I did a speed run with Rottmiller, it’s only a 30-minute difference.

“Mr. Jandel, at this rate, you could really switch to being a full-time scout, couldn’t you?”

“Nyahaha, a barbarian scout, that would be something. Even if I told anyone, they wouldn’t believe it!”

“Bjorn is the hope of all barbarians!”

Everyone showered me with praise after checking the time, but truthfully, I couldn’t really credit my abilities for it.

This exploration started off on a different footing, after all.

Moving from the outskirts to the outskirts undoubtedly saved a lot of time.

“…Let’s just go up already.”

I quickly dismissed the compliments and stood in front of the portal.

“You’re just shy.”

“Yeah, that’s it, Nyang.”

What are they even talking about?

「You have entered the 2nd floor, Goblin Forest.」

「You have entered the 3rd floor, Pilgrim’s Path.」

「You have entered the 4th floor, Sky Tower.」

Day 7, morning.

We reached the 4th floor a day earlier than when Rottmiller was with us.

‘This puts us in the lead among explorers, doesn’t it?’

The result of combining my rapidly improved scouting skills with Mr. Bear’s navigator’s ability.

In fact, we hardly encountered any other explorers during our journey. A couple of large clans, and maybe about ten teams of five?

Every group we encountered, we only verified each other’s identification tags from a distance, weapons drawn.

The atmosphere in the labyrinth has truly become tense.

“Raven, any results?”

“None.”

Right after clearing the first stage, mindful of the last incident with the masked man, we ran detection magic continuously for about an hour.

‘Really, because of those bastards, we have to do all this.’

The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get, but what can we do? Given the current situation, we just have to be cautious.

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

Naturally, we chose the Staircase of Wisdom first.

A maze filled with traps and monsters.

Thanks to the extensive training I received from Rottmiller in this part, our clear time was reduced by about 40 minutes.

“Raven, how long did it take?”

“1 hour 58 minutes.”

Considering it initially took us 5 hours, the improvement was indeed incredible.

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Courage.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Wisdom.」

「You have chosen the Stairway of Courage.」

From then on, I continued to focus on overcoming the trials and gaining floors.

And as day 7 was coming to an end.

’27 stages on the first day…’

We achieved clearing a quarter of the tower in just one day. A pace that would have been impossible without consecutive Stairways of Wisdom.

“It’s a bit early, but let’s rest for today.”

The last Stairway of Courage we cleared required a four-hour wait for the next door to open, so we set up camp.

“How will we handle the night watch?”

“We probably don’t need to bother.”

We decided not to set a night watch.

Throughout the day’s exploration, we periodically used detection magic, but we didn’t detect any other explorers.

“Indeed, even if someone was hiding, a night watch wouldn’t make much sense. If detection magic can’t find them, what difference would it make?”

“Exactly my thought.”

“Then, how about we have a meal before bed?”

“Sounds good.”

After preparing a simple meal together, everyone went to their respective spots to lie down.

The 4th floor usually offers a comfortable rest… or at least it should have.

‘Damn it.’

Maybe it’s because of the masked man incident, but I couldn’t fall asleep easily.

Eventually, after tossing and turning for a while, I managed to drift off, only to wake up again shortly after.

Drrrrrrrrrrrr-!

A vibration transmitted from the ground I was lying on.

The entire tower was trembling slightly.

I quickly got up.

There’s only one reason for such a phenomenon to occur in the labyrinth.

“Mr. Jandel, this phenomenon… could it be?”

“Yes, just as you’re thinking.”

A rift opened on the 4th floor.