I Became a Barbarian Warrior Who Hid His Face in a World Where Everything Was Reversed

Chapter 6: No more ordinary days (6)

I searched the girl’s backpack.

There wasn’t anything valuable. Bread crumbs, a blanket, and her dagger were all I could find.

I tied a blanket around me and covered myself. The t-shirt was completely tattered so I just threw it away.

“You might want to focus on your stomach,” she said, “because a man’s stomach is attractive, but if it’s out in the open, it’s an easy target for the guards, and frankly, they’re just trying to get a look at you.”

I didn’t understand, but it seemed that a man’s stomach was a turn-on for women in this world.

I took her advice as much as possible and wrapped myself in a blanket.

I felt a little like a caveman tribal chief, but it was the best I could do.

The dagger looked pretty good, too. It’s a bit heavier than the goblin knife, but much sharper.

I decided to put the axe on my belt and use the dagger as my primary weapon for the time being.

“Aww. This is all she has⋯”

As I was preparing to leave after finishing my disguise, she was rummaging through the corpse of the maiden.

“Come here.”

I commanded, tugging on the enchanted rope that had become a leash, and she stopped and came running to me.

“Boo, you called.”

This is why training is so important. The selfish, sex-crazed woman was transformed into a human being after about two hours of manners training (physical).

I looked down at the brat, who had begun to notice me, and asked.

“What were you doing?”

“Well, I was looting the corpse. The living have to live off the dead and life is pretty tight, so I figured I could use some of the dead money.”

“You’ve been saying at great length that you took money out of her pocket. Give it to me.”

“Yes, yes.”

She grunted and politely cupped her hands together. In her palm were four silver coins.

I don’t know how much they’re worth, but I take them. It can’t hurt to have money.

“⋯I guess you two weren’t close?”

“⋯⋯No, we just worked together on a couple of projects.”

“⋯⋯Well, you two are pretty good together when it comes to that sort of thing.”

“Women are good at working together when they have a common goal.”

“Bragging. Asshole.”

It didn’t seem like she was going to attack me to avenge her co-worker.

I held still, raising my fist and placing it on top of her solar plexus.

As soon as my fist touched the underside of her small chest, her eyes squeezed shut and her shoulders shook.

“Hmph, hmph, hmph.”

She hadn’t even been hit yet, and she was breathing hard, bracing herself for the pain to come.

“Hmph, hmph, hmph.”

I pressed down lightly without much force, but she let out a harsh gasp as if she’d been stabbed.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh.”

“Sassy.”

“Yes, yes!”

I quietly lowered my fist, satisfied that it had the effect I wanted.

I patted her on the shoulder as she shook.

“Don’t feel bad. Let’s be good, okay?”

“Hmph, yes, yes!”

“Okay, lead the way.”

She grabbed her raggedy backpack and did as I asked, heading toward the escape portal.

I followed behind, comfortably holding onto the leash.

***

It’s definitely different than when I’m alone in the labyrinth.

“Come on, let’s take a break, can’t we rest?”

For one thing, I could take a break.

When you’re tired, you rest. Something so simple and common sense was not easy to do in the Labyrinth where emergency absurdities run rampant, especially when you’re alone.

It had only been a few hours ago that I’d been attacked by goblins while trying to force myself to rest.

I’d been forced to march half-heartedly and without sleep, but now I didn’t have to.

“Time to get moving again.”

“Already? What kind of stamina do you have?”

Of course, I hadn’t completely let my guard down. The right level of tension was essential.

-Aaaah!

Another advantage was the increased ease of combat.

“Crunch-!”

An arrow that flew through the wind struck a goblin in the head.

With an archer slave, when we find a goblin, I don’t even have to get into melee combat, she can just shoot an arrow from a distance and the battle is over.

“Kerrrrr, kerrrrr!”

“Kekekekeke-!”

“Ha, I killed one!”

Often, when more than one appears, one will die first, making the one-on-many battles much less taxing.

-Puuuuk!

A swiftly swung dagger pierced the goblin’s heart with a single stroke.

The dagger itself was of good quality, it was much sharper than the axe I’d been using, and it could cut through a goblin’s muscles without much effort but it paled in comparison to the axe.

The feeling of the blow piercing the goblin’s skin was off.

Still, it didn’t matter. It’s the only thing I can use right now.

‘By the way, do I feel a little lighter?’

It was a strange sensation that I’ve felt since I woke up from the sleep potion.

It was more than just a feeling.

I’d gotten used to killing goblins and being violent, but this felt different.

It feels like my body has grown again. To put it in a slightly game-like way, level up.

It’s a world where there are goblins, potions, beastmen, and women who love men.

Now I wouldn’t be surprised by anything.

“If this continues, the status window will appear.”

Ding!

[Sync 80% complete.]

“⋯er⋯”

I can’t believe this is actually happening.

***

Startled, I peered into the translucent status window in front of me.

[Sync 81% complete.]

The number went up by one.

I saw what it said⋯which I assumed meant that the synchronization was 81% complete.

“⋯⋯”

I don’t know much more than that.

I was surprised by the suddenness of it, but that’s to be expected after dealing with goblins and potions.

It wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be.

I was just a little curious. At the same time, it piqued my interest a bit.

I don’t feel like I’ve done anything, and I’m already at 81%.

I thought, “What will I be able to do when I get to 100%?”

I stared at it for a while and saw no sign of 82%. It seemed that the condition to increase the sync rate wasn’t just for time to pass.

I thought to myself, “Since most of what I do in the Labyrinth is killing monsters, I’ll have to kill monsters to increase my sync rate.”

In the end, the task is the same. Kill the monster and head for the escape portal.

I’m about to move on again, but while I’m looking at the status window, she is doing something to the goblin’s face.

-Pfft.

I grabbed the leash and tugged, and she came scurrying back.

“You bastard, what are you doing?”

“⋯Ah. I’m cutting off the goblin’s ears. If I bring the evidence of my hunt to the Explorers’ Alliance, I can get paid.”

“Really?”

“⋯?”

Ignoring her “I can’t believe you don’t know this basic common sense” look, I told her to go back to work.

As I silently watched her cut off the goblin’s ear, I suddenly remembered all the goblins I’ve killed.

“⋯How much do they usually pay for this?”

“About 20 silver coins for 10 goblins.”

I’ve stopped counting since then, but I think I’ve killed at least thirty of them.

I didn’t have that kind of knowledge, so I couldn’t help it, but it was a bit of a waste.

‘Yeah. Knowledge. I need knowledge.’

There’s so much I don’t know about this world now. I don’t know about labyrinths or monsters, or even basic things like the relationship between men and women or goblin ears.

This ignorance will pile and it will surely catch up with me one day.

I took this opportunity to ask Grumpy a few questions to clear up my doubts and gather a little information about the world outside the Labyrinth.

I didn’t ask a lot of questions and didn’t get a lot of answers, but I did get the bare minimum.

Soon, we were nearing the escape portal.

“Ker-er-er-er-er-er-er.”

“Ker-er-er-er-er!”

The final battle.

***

“No, is this⋯ right⋯?”

She opened her mouth in a daze, overwhelmed by the battle being waged by the man in front of her.

‘⋯That’s a real man?’

-Pooh-pooh!

Tough and rough, muscles flexing with every punch and swing of his fist and dagger, blood pulsing as if feverish with the excitement of battle.

“Krrrrr!”

A thick arm grabbed the writhing goblin by the hair and ripped its throat out.

-Chaaah!

The goblin’s blood splashed on the man’s helmet, and the goblin fell limp and died.

‘Were goblins always that weak?’

No. Goblins were clever and troublesome creatures.

Small and lithe, with great strength for their size, cunning with a knack for surprise, their pack mentality allowed them to fight in large numbers.

Their overwhelming numbers make them difficult to defeat, especially in their lairs, also known as goblin nests.

This is why goblins are often the first gateway and wall for novice explorers.

They don’t appear in the middle of the first floor for nothing.

The man wiped his helmet, checked for blood, and clicked his tongue.

The aura of a beast that had survived the wilderness made him no ordinary rug male, but a single, dominant male.

‘Looks like he came up from the depths of the first floor⋯and all by himself.’

-Pfft!

After a moment’s thought, she snapped out of it as something fell in front of her eyes, it was a goblin’s corpse.

The man had thrown the goblin’s corpse with one hand.

Throwing a goblin lightly with one hand was no easy task. On average, a goblin weighs around 40 kilograms.

The act of lifting it could be done by anyone with some strength.

Throwing it so lightly was something that only a blessed and trained explorer could do easily.

Nam Soo-jin did this as naturally as breathing due to her long experience of working hard and her excellent body, but she had no way of knowing that, and she just fantasized about it.

What level of explorer is he? Second floor? 3rd Floor? He may not know it, but she was confident that he was stronger than her.

“Pick the ears and put them in your backpack.”

“Yes.”

Despite the commanding tone, she reflexively ducked her head.

There was no reason to do this.

It wasn’t even a formal slave contract with magic involved.

She could have refused at any time, and she could have escaped at any time but for some reason, she didn’t feel like it.

Every time she looked at him, her legs shook and her bruises throbbed.

She still remembered the words he said as he placed his heavy fist on her chest.

– Let’s be good, okay?

The effect of the etiquette lesson that had been drilled into her brain for such a short period of time kicked in.

“What are you doing?”

A strong, masculine command, not at all like a typical male.

“Yes, yes⋯”

Without realizing it, she had created a third option: submission.

***

The white portal shimmered and glowed.

I squinted a little, my eyes adjusting to the slightly darker interior of the labyrinth.

Still, the white light is a welcome sight.

It almost brings tears to my eyes to think of all the trouble I’ve been through these past few days just to see that portal.

“Just touch the escape portal and your body will be sucked in by itself. Be careful, there’s a bit of floating.”

With that, I stepped into the escape portal.

The escape portal would take me to the entrance of the Labyrinth in Valerus City.

I carefully touch the portal.

Whoosh.

A slight feeling of floating.

“⋯er?”

It feels strangely familiar. I wonder when I’ve felt this sensation before, and an unforgettable memory comes to mind.

‘The hospital! When I touched the magic circle in the hospital!’

I woke up immediately after touching the magic circle and found myself in a goblin lair.

I wondered if I could return to the modern world but what I saw right after dashed my expectations.

Instead of the nostalgic modern world, I saw a strange landscape that looked like a medieval fantasy world.

“Ahhh.”

I let out an exasperated sigh.

To be honest, I was harboring some hope.

That this was all a terrible nightmare, that I could cross the escape portal, wake up from the nightmare, and return to the modern world.

It was a life of hard work with no way to see the future, an ordinary day repeating itself every day.

I was living happily with my sister, finding small pleasures in it all.

I looked down at the goblin’s blood and flesh splattered body.

– Tsk!

The sound of the goblin’s death and cutting flesh is still clear in my ears.

In the back of my mind, I remember fighting to convince my body and mind that this wasn’t real, that it was just a dream.

The weight of my dagger and axe hung from my waist.

I killed people with my own hands, not anyone else’s.

I felt the coolness of the helmet as I strapped it to my face.

The coolness of the helmet brought me back to reality.

“Haha.”

Although I had been denying it in my heart, I think my mind had realized the cruel reality.

There will be no more ordinary days from now on.

This strange world has become an undeniable reality.

From now on, I have to survive alone in this harsh world.

“⋯I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

I clenched my fists and glared at the flickering portal.

The magic circle and labyrinth portal I had seen in the hospital. I was sure there was some connection between them, since I felt the same sensation when I traveled through them.

– The Labyrinth is a place of mysteries and secrets.

Grumpy said the portals only exist in the Labyrinth.

If so, I would have to enter the Labyrinth again someday to learn more about the portals.

I steeled myself once more.

The Labyrinth. Portals. Magic circle.

To uncover the secrets of this mysterious phenomenon, return to Earth and find my missing sister.

“I must survive in this world.”