Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 295
Newbie (3)
I turned my head to see the hand on my shoulder.
A ring with a peculiar pattern was on the index finger.
‘A subspace ring.’
My heart pounded.
What could be inside that ring?
It felt like looking at a random box that hadn’t been opened yet.
Swoosh.
Before I knew it, my hand reached for the ring.
My treasure…
“What the hell, you bastard!”
As soon as I touched it, the man recoiled in disgust, removing his hand from my shoulder.
“Barbarian, you bastard! Don’t tell me…”
Seeing his terrified eyes, I could guess what misunderstanding he had.
His companions also muttered something.
“No wonder it was weird that a barbarian is a newbie.”
“A normal guy wouldn’t come down to this city.”
“Maybe he was kicked out of his tribe because of his nature…”
What nonsense are these lunatics spouting?
I needed to clear up the misunderstanding quickly.
So, I swiftly threw a punch forward.
Wham-!
The first hit landed squarely on the face of the guy who dared to act chummy by putting his hand on my shoulder.
“Ugh!”
Something white shot out from his wide-open mouth.
One punch and his crooked teeth were fixed.
“Betheeeel—raaaaaaaah!”
The explorers around quickly made space as they moved back, frightened by my battle cry.
“A fight!”
“Whoaaa!”
“The newbie is taking on Rex’s gang!”
What is this, a school classroom?
Even the staff sitting at the counter sighed as if to say, “Again?”
So, there’s no one to stop this, huh?
‘Good, I like this.’
I’m starting to like this place, Noark.
Maybe I secretly wished for such a masculine society.
“You bastard!!”
The buck-toothed guy’s companion, a bearded man, angrily drew his weapon.
Alright, so it’s a weapon fight?
I had been holding back on using weapons, but now I pulled out my mace as if I had been waiting for this moment.
However…
Whoosh-!
The bearded man dodged the mace by bending over.
And at that moment.
Zap, crackle.
A ball of electricity sparked from the hand of the man behind him and flew towards me.
It didn’t seem like magic.
Probably a supernatural ability user…
‘Yeah, my shield’s adamantium.’
Adamantium, a tier-5 metal that reduces attribute damage by 50%.
Zap-!
The current flowed through my shield and into my body, but I could withstand this level with just my anti-magic resistance.
Was this their first time dealing with someone like me?
‘If you want to take down a tank, you should start with a curse, idiots.’
As I swung my mace nonchalantly, the bearded man’s eyes widened in surprise.
“…!”
I understood.
He had closed in further, expecting me to be paralyzed, making it easier to hit me.
It was a perfect angle for a strike.
Wham!
Okay, that’s two down.
Thud.
The bearded man’s body flew into the ceiling and then crashed to the floor.
In baseball, it would’ve been a foul.
I tapped my shoulder with the mace and stared straight ahead.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming?”
The trio, who had lost two comrades in an instant, surprisingly acted rationally.
“Rex, let’s retreat.”
“…?”
“We just heard a rumor that the new guy who arrived yesterday was followed by Calte’s gang, and they were all found dead.”
Ah, so you haven’t heard the rumors yet.
It seemed they realized from the spectators’ murmurs that I wasn’t an easy opponent…
“But if we retreat now…”
“We’ll be a laughing stock. But isn’t that better than dying? They say one of his companions can use aura.”
“Aura…?”
The guy named Rex frowned.
And at that moment.
Swoosh.
Amelia, who had been waiting in another line, came over to stand next to me.
“Ah, you’re here.”
“You seem to get into all kinds of trouble.”
“This time, it wasn’t my fault.”
“…I know. I saw.”
Amelia said as she placed her hand on the dagger strapped to her thigh.
And maybe this was the deciding factor?
“How about we end this here?”
The man named Rex suggested.
Hey, that’s not how you negotiate.
“An apology?”
“I’ll apologize. I’m sorry for making unreasonable demands because I underestimated you.”
If you’re going to grovel, do it properly. Maybe that’s the culture here?
Surprisingly, he came out with a thoroughly submissive attitude.
‘So, what should I do…’
As I pondered and glanced at Amelia, she gave a slight nod.
She meant to let them go at this point.
“Alright, I’ll accept your apology.”
“Thank you, then…”
As I accepted the apology, Rex and his companions started gathering up their fallen comrades.
Hmm, what are they doing?
“Hold on.”
“…?”
“Leave everything those two have.”
“I’ve apologized…”
No, that’s that, and this is this, man.
What’s the point of a verbal apology?
“Now we’re on the same side. We should help each other out, right?”
Yeah, that’s the way of the world, isn’t it?
***
After a long consideration, Rex eventually sighed and stripped the equipment off his unconscious comrades.
“Is this enough?”
“The ring?”
“…Here.”
Phew, how much is this worth?
It’s almost like printing money.
Why were the people of Noark living in poverty?
‘Anyway, I’ll check what’s in the ring later…’
“Go on.”
“…”
After chasing Rex’s gang away, I stuffed all the stripped equipment into the subspace ring.
Phew, I wanted one of these because the expandable backpack was too inconvenient.
“They may look rough, but they have warm hearts.”
“…”
“What are you staring at? Let’s get back in line.”
We headed back to the counter.
Though other explorers had taken our spots, it wasn’t a problem.
I had already adapted to this city.
“Hey, human.”
“…W-what do you need?”
“As you saw, I have some circumstances. Can you let me take your spot?”
“…Of course.”
Thanks to the kind explorer’s generosity, we moved to the front of the line.
We saved about 30 minutes compared to where we were before the fight.
“People here are so kind.”
“…Someone might think you’re the local, not me.”
Haha, stop with the compliments.
“I just adapt quickly, not because I’m a genius or anything.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Haha, so honest.”
“…”
Anyway, being at the front, we quickly finished our registration ahead of schedule.
We skipped the rank adjustment application, of course.
“I thought you were going to raise it to rank 5?”
“It doesn’t matter. By now, our news would’ve reached the lord’s ears anyway.”
Since we had already achieved our goal thanks to me, so there was no need to publicize our ranks.
“It’s good that I acted as I wanted.”
“…It’s been fine so far, but be cautious from now on. This city doesn’t only have small fries like them.”
“Got it. So, are we done for today?”
“Yes, let’s head back and rest.”
We returned to the inn we had booked the previous day and switched to a long-term lease, avoiding going out.
And after some time passed…
Days passed, but contrary to Amelia’s expectations, there was no approach from the lord’s side.
Well, the plan was to get under the lord, but…
“Amelia, what’s going on?”
“…They probably want to observe us for a while since they don’t have any information about us.”
“So?”
“Let us continue to wait. The Lord will contact us eventually. He won’t leave high-ranking explorers unaffiliated for long.
Thus, time passed until the day of the labyrinth entry.
***
“Whoaaa!”
“It’s been so long!”
“Let’s make some money!!”
The dimensional plaza was bustling with crowds as if there was a festival.
It was a common sight on the day of labyrinth entry, but today the people seemed particularly excited.
It wasn’t hard to understand why.
Last month, most of the small number of people who entered the labyrinth returned alive, creating a rumor that it had become safer.
For those struggling, it was the best news.
Swoosh—
Passing by the dimensional plaza in a carriage, Alluva Raven bitterly drew the curtain.
It hit her anew.
“Yes, it’s already been a month…”
A month had passed since Bjorn Jandel’s death.
Despite being hailed as a hero among explorers, the world remained unchanged.
Only her surroundings had changed.
“Sigh…”
Raven briefly recalled the past days.
[So, Bjorn is dead.]
Surprisingly, the female barbarian warrior was the most rational.
[What do we do now? Let’s rest. We’ll talk about what to do next tomorrow. As for the guild…]
[What? What do you mean, what next?]
[We’re five now, so we have to enter the labyrinth together.]
To this, the fairy retorted aggressively.
[Exploration? Is that the issue now?]
[Then what’s the issue?]
[Revenge, of course!]
[Revenge?]
[Noark! All this happened on the island because of those people! The red-haired woman is suspicious too. If she’s alive and connected to what happened to him…]
The fairy’s eyes gleamed with murder.
[Even if she isn’t, it doesn’t matter.]
[……]
[I’ll find them all and kill them.]
It was understandable for her to lose her reason in anger.
Noark was the cause of her recent loss of her sister as well.
[Erwin, I understand how you feel, but calm down. How are you going to take revenge on people who’ve left? Let’s go back and rest today and talk about it tomorrow…]
[So, that’s all it was to you, wasn’t it?]
[What?]
[He must have been pitiful, thinking of you as comrades he needed to protect, dying alone.]
[…What did you say? Say it again.]
[R-Raven, stop! You can’t do this too!]
The warrior woman stopped her.
Usually, the beastwoman would have stepped in, but she didn’t seem to be in the right state of mind either.
Was that why it caught her attention?
[……]
The fairy approached the beastwoman.
[What about you? Are you in for revenge?]
[I, I…]
The beastwoman trailed off.
After a while.
[Bitch.]
The fairy spat out those words and left.
[I’ll meet with Erwin tomorrow. So, let’s…go.]
They scattered and returned home.
The warrior woman offered to visit the guild and report Bjorn Jandel’s death, but the mage stopped her.
[Please take care of Misha, Aynar. I’ll do this.]
[But…]
[You can’t even read, Aynar.]
[Alright. I leave it to you.]
Even until the moment they parted, the beast archer, who had a family, said nothing.
He just watched the team’s disintegration with a bitter expression, as if he had seen it many times before.
[Let’s see, the deceased is… Sir Bjorn Jandel, Baron?!]
There was an uproar when the death report was submitted to the guild.
Nearby explorers and even staff seemed to have many questions, but seeing Raven’s expression, they didn’t approach.
That day passed like that.
[Did you hear? Bjorn Jandel, the Baron, is dead.]
[To think the giant would go like that…]
[Such a pity, losing someone like him.]
News of Bjorn Jandel’s death spread through the city as quickly as his reputation had during his life.
Those who knew him came to visit his home.
[Aynar! Misha! Open the door! Is it true that Jandel is dead? Why… Why did this happen? Open up!]
Former companion, the dwarf warrior Hikurod Murad.
[…Murad, enough. I went to the guild and confirmed his death report myself. Let’s not add to their burden. Let’s come back another time.]
Brown Rotmiller.
And many other explorers indebted to the hero named Bjorn Jandel also came to his home.
[Thank you for saving us that day.]
[You won’t be coming to the library anymore…]
Flowers piled up at the door.
Many mourned his death, and the barbarians, who revered him as a tribe chief, locked the sanctuary and held a funeral for days, praying his soul in the labyrinth would return to the forest.
But the world did not change.
Only her surroundings changed.
[Let’s not think about exploring for a while. Everyone needs to rest.]
All exploration plans were put on hold.
What could the four of them do?
Especially when none of them were in the right state of mind.
Everyone needed rest.
Including Alluva Raven herself.
But…
‘Resting won’t change anything.’
After the fairy left that day, Alluva Raven instinctively realized.
The saying that time heals all wounds is a lie.
As days pass, things won’t get better but worse.
Therefore.
“We have to find out.”
Since that day, Alluva Raven hadn’t slept properly, burying herself in books every day.
Even today, she was on her way back from the library in the royal palace to her lab.
There was a mystery surrounding his death.
Although the city believed he died because of the ‘Stormgush’…
“It doesn’t add up.”
Circumstantially, he had succeeded in his hunt.
He even had the strength to anchor himself so he wouldn’t be swept away by the sea.
But, where did he disappear to in such a short time?
If he was truly swept away by the water, why were his belongings removed?
“There’s something more… Some huge secret…”
Raven clutched her chest as if struggling to breathe.
It might not be the rational deduction of a mage, but…
“There has to be more…”
She needed something to hold onto.