Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Wizard and Barbarian (3)

"Oh! Bjorn son of Yandel!"

After leaving the tower, I headed towards the barbarians-only dormitory.

Had it already been two months?

More than half of the familiar faces had disappeared, and new barbarians were filling the void.

I'd heard that it was an implicit tradition to leave this place as soon as you made enough money to do so…

‘Among those absent, there’re probably a quite a few who’d died this time.'

Since I was born as a barbarian, this might also be my destiny.

Unlike the fairies, who have their veterans help their newbie members up, the barbarians prefer to leave the newcomers to fend for themselves once they grow up.

"Is Ainar in there?"

"Ainar? She left for the sanctuary first thing in the morning!"

Yeah, that did sound like her.

I didn't show my face for two days after leaving the labyrinth, so I came here in a hurry, but in the end it turned out to be a waste of time.

"Oh, by the way, have you heard the rumours?"

"What rumours?"

"The Barbarian of Liberty! The whole city’s shaken up because of him, didn’t you hear?"

Instinctively, my body trembled.

"… I haven't heard anything. Do you maybe know his name?"

"Oh? I do not know! Strangely enough, nobody knows who he actually is!"

Fortunately, the guild seemed to have preserved my anonymity.

"Anyway, to think we have such a person among our people, I feel proud! He beat down hundreds of people by himself, and proudly torn apart the guild’s conspiracy against him! Amazing, huh?"

"… Hundreds?"

On my oath, nothing like that ever happened.

All I did was take the daughter of the regional chief hostage and lodge a complaint.

And yet were there already such rumours spreading?

I was quite worried about the future, but…

‘… It’ll all calm down soon. Those guys at the guild aren't idiots.'

"I’ll be back tomorrow morning, so will you let Ainar know when she comes back?"

"Of course!"

I left and headed towards the inn.

But what was this now?

"Y-, you…! W-, weren't you dead?"

The innkeeper looked like he’d seen a ghost.

Or rather, from his point of view, that was what happened.

I didn’t even have to dig deep, he confessed very quickly that he’d cleared out my room thinking I was dead.

"What happened to my luggage?"

"I cleaned it all up…"

"I’d paid for the next three days in advance, right?"

My voice that had unconsciously become annoyed, enough that the innkeeper's face began to turn white.

‘I can't let this go –'

No, wait.

When the hell did I start thinking like this?

My body trembled at the sudden feeling of discomfort that I’d noticed so late.

‘… Maybe it was from the first day.'

In fact, looking back, all of it was a little strange.

As soon as I opened my eyes, even though a man was decapitated right next to me, my mind was at peace.

It was the same with my first murder in the labyrinth.

I thought it was something I had to do, but the process was far too easy.

It wasn't even a gradual change or anything.

From the first day I’d woken up from this body, I’d been a radical brute like every other barbarian.

‘Today was the same.'

Organizing a jailbreak?

Of course, I could’ve come to the same conclusion after a lot of deliberation, but it was strange how little I’d hesitated.

And the same way I’d started an argument with that old man in the tower.

Did I get angry just because I heard something I didn't want to hear?

Lee Han-soo, the 29-year-old office worker, would never have done that.

He hadn't been timid, but he hadn't been outrageously bold either. At his core, he’d been a sceptic, who always observed everything for a long time before putting it into practice.

‘But what about now?'

Up until now, I’d thought my new, special environment the root cause behind my changes.

But the feeling of incongruity was getting bigger and bigger.

‘Surely –'

I was convinced.

Just like how the brutish instincts engraved on this body came out to play during a battle –

My mind, had also transformed.

No, it’d be more correct to call it harmonization rather than transformation.

"I, I told you, I told you I’m sorry! Please stop staring at me like that!"

Having finished my contemplation, I sighed.

I’d changed. There was no refuting that.

It was strange to have noticed it so late, but I was now at least certain.

But what could I do about it?

‘If I want to survive in this place, it's better this way.'

I decided to do the best I could with the hand I was dealt.

Well, that was the barbarian way.

"… For thirty thousand stones, I can let it go."

Although the innkeeper's behaviour had been atrocious, I decided to end it with a reasonable compensation.

Considering the fact that the most expensive item in my missing luggage was the clothes I’d bought for 2,500 stones…

The greatest desire was to take a break while arguing.

"Thirty thousand stones! For those few pieces of junk that sold for chump change –"

"Didn't you say you’d thrown them away?"

"…"

"Fine, if you don’t want to pay, that’s okay. I'll just tell everyone here what you made me go through."

"… How about staying here till the money covers your rent?"

"Absolutely not."

I had no intention of staying at this kind of an inn in the future.

Even if it was just stealing a dead adventurer's belongings, couldn’t he at least be moral enough to wait till the promised date?

"Whoo. You have to promise not to tell anyone about this."

"Naturally."

With an additional income of thirty thousand stones, I headed to the other inn I’d been eyeing before.

Although the meal had an average cost, and the rent per night was twice as expensive…

It was well worth it.

‘Now this is the life, even if just a little.'

First of all, the room was about a half larger than before.

It had windows, and even a private bathtub in the bathroom.

That it was much closer to the Dimensional Plaza was a bonus.

After scrubbing my body hard for about an hour to wash away the grime from the labyrinth, I threw myself on the bed.

It was fluffy.

In fact, it made me wonder if people lived for this kind of momentary happiness.

But was it worth it?

Suddenly, the events of the past few days, starting from the labyrinth, till returning to the city, unfurled in my mind like a panorama.

"Fuck."

Why was it so difficult to get a good rest?

As soon as the dawn broke, I went and bought everyday clothes from the first clothing store I saw was open.

And then I headed to the barbarian-only dormitory.

"Bjorn!! Where have you been all this time?"

"I had some business. Sorry for worrying you."

"Worry? What do you mean! There's no way I’d worry for you! Bjorn, even if you get thrown into hell, I’m sure you’ll be able to survive and return on your own!"

I see, is that how I look in your eyes?

Well, I liked this much better than some clumsy melodrama[1], anyway.

Since neither of us had had breakfast, we went to a nearby restaurant.

"Oh, did you hear?"

As soon as we sat down and ordered from the menu, Ainar started off with a question.

I wasn't particularly surprised, because I’d been expecting it this time.

"Ah, the Barbarian of Liberty?"

"Huh? Barbarian of Liberty? What does that mean?"

Uh, so you weren't asking about that?

"… It’s nothing. What were you trying to say, again?"

"Ah!"

Returning to the original topic, Ainar ducked her head and spoke with a low voice.

"I heard from the elder… that someone stole our Genesis Treasure[2]!"

"Genesis Treasure?"

I was floored.

There were six of them in total.

For reference, in the game, they'd been divided equally among the six races: the dwarves, the barbarians, the fairies, the beastmen, the dragonkin, and the humans.

And the problem was…

‘You can't enter the last floor without them!'

The Genesis Treasures were key items in [Dungeon & Stone].

To reach the game’s ending… no, honestly, I didn't even know if such a thing really existed, but in order to open the ‘Gates of the Abyss' at least, you needed to collect all six.

But was one gone?

"Who the hell did something so grand?"

"I don’t know either. Apparently, we got robbed on the day of our coming-of-age ceremony. The elder said that the other races might be in a similar situation."

"… I see."

It felt like someone had smashed the back of my head with a hammer, but I still quietly finished my meal.

‘Fuck, do I have to live here for the rest of my life?'

In a way, it was as if the most hopeful route I had before me had just disappeared.

Still, it’d take at least several years for the Genesis Treasures to become relevant for me.

‘… It's not something to bash my head against, when I haven't even reached the third floor yet.'

In the end, I still had work to do.

When the moment came for me to make a choice, I had to be strong enough to have as many options as possible.

Besides, who knew?

Perhaps the thief who’d stolen the Genesis Treasure would get caught soon.

"But, Ainar, are you free today?"

"Yeah. I decided not to visit the sanctuary today."

"Good."

After the brief meal, I headed to the business district with Ainar in tow.

"Is this Commelby? It's my first time here! So many people!"

Commelby.

Sectors 2 through 5, which encircle the first sector, Karnon, like a belt.

Commonly called, the Free Market.

As such, it’s the most thriving and commercially active area of the city, full of shops of all kinds. The middle class of Rafdonia mainly reside here, and the place is filled with artisans.

It was here that I’d stopped by along with Erwen, the other day.

‘Come to think of it, is she doing alright?'

Belatedly, Erwen came to mind.

When I’d first met her, she always used to visit my inn the first thing in the day.

But now that I’d left the inn…

It’d become quite difficult to meet her again.

I couldn't even remember exactly where the fairy-exclusive dormitory she stayed in was, even though I'd been there once before.

‘Well, it's not that I can't find it if I really look for it… ‘

But I wondered if there was any need.

As long as her older sister was still alive, there was no chance of the two of us going into the labyrinth together.

‘We’ll meet again if fate allows it.'

To be honest, after the sufferings of these past few days, my memories of Erwen had also faded a lot.

We hadn’t had that deep of a relationship in the first place.

"Ooh! Look over there, Bjorn! People are eating clouds on skewers!"

What? Did they even have cotton candy here?

Intrigued, I bought one and passed it on to Ainar after taking a bite.

By the way, it was real cotton candy.

"Oh, I can’t believe it! Are humans this clever? To make food like this!"

"Stop admiring it and start walking."

"D-, don’t leave me alone! I mean, I can't find my way home alone!"

Quickening the pace, we reached our destination in no time.

Where I’d disposed my equipment in the past.

This time, I disposed of all the equipment that had landed me in prison, as well as my own equipment that’d turned into scrap metal.

The selling price was about 800,000 stones.

I didn't dispose of the ‘item' I got just before leaving the rift, but…

‘Let’s price that at 500,000 stones.'

"Ainar, this is your share."

"I, I, can I have this much? You even got me an essence…"

"Don’t make a fuss, just take it. It’s you fair share."

For reference, the ratio was 8:2, as promised.

Still, among the barbarians of our batch, this should’ve been the biggest when it came to earnings.

"I promised you, didn’t I? If you follow me, you’ll make a lot of money."

"Still, 300,000 stones! Isn't that too much! How many cloud sweets can I even get with this?!"

It seemed that cotton candy had risen to be another monetary unit for Ainar.

"By the way, I’m feeling a bit peckish."

Was it because of the corpse golem essence, with its ‘appetite +9'? My hunger cycle seemed to have quickened a lot.

"Already? It hasn't even been three hours yet!"

"So you’re not coming?"

"Of course I’m coming! Today is my treat! I’ll buy you meat!"

After quickly disposing of the equipment, we stopped at a nearby restaurant for a bite.

And as we finished up and were about to leave –

"Thank you, Bjorn."

Ainar looked straight into my eyes as she said so.

Her lips were still stained with sauce, but her eyes were much more serious than usual.

But all that served to do was make me feel even more awkward.

"It’s fine. Like I said –"

"I'm not talking about the money."

Eh? Then what’re you talking about?

"It’s just… I just wanted to thank you for treating me the same as you used to."

I heard her nonsense, but I didn't understand at all.

However, Ainar's expression was much too serious for me to tell her that.

So I simply watched her, silent, as she struggled with her words.

"It’s… well, it’s my appearance, it’s changed a bit, you know. Others are now avoiding me because they don't think I'm a warrior."

"That’s –"

"And these days, wherever I go, humans keep sticking to me and flirting! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before…!"

Clearly, this was a serious concern for her as a warrior.

To be honest, I couldn't really sympathize.

It must’ve been because my nature was different from that of a barbarian.

As I listened quietly, Ainar cried out in a voice that burned with anger.

"Bjorn! Be honest! Am I that ugly?"

… What?

"I’ve decided! Bjorn! I can't enter the labyrinth with you anymore!"

No, no, wait.

How the hell did you come to that conclusion?!

While drinking lukewarm beer –

I sat alone on the first floor of the inn where I was staying.

"Whoo…"

How could beer be this fucking tasteless?

I made a bad choice with the inn.

The food was pretty good, but the owner couldn't brew alcohol worth shit.

"Whew…"

I took a deep breath to shake off the bitter taste.

My conversation with Ainar during the day came back to my mind.

After her bombshell of a declaration, we had a long conversation, but the result didn’t change.

"I’m alone, again."

Ainar left.

Due to the nature of barbarians, she wasn’t shy with her words, but from what I heard, it wasn't just a matter of appearance.

[Actually… yesterday, I received an offer from the elder, about becoming his heir.]

The elders of the sanctuary –

One of them, a rarity with a strong reputation as a swordmaster, favoured Ainar.

And today, she’d made a decision.

To learn swordsmanship in earnest under the elder.

[Can’t you go into the labyrinth anyway, isn't it just one day on the outside?]

I’d asked.

It was just one day every month.

So it might’ve been alright to take a day off every month to visit the labyrinth.

But Ainar only looked troubled.

[I wanted to, too, but… I heard that there’s a special training method, so I won't be able to leave the sanctuary for six months.]

Special training, huh?

If so, it was understandable that we couldn’t go to the labyrinth together for six months.

I knew what a great opportunity this was for her.

[I won't ask you to wait. I won’t ask you to unconditionally accept me back when the time comes, either. I’ll train hard, and I’ll definitely come back as a great warrior who won’t hold you back.]

So I couldn't hold onto her.

Even on this last expedition, she’d been forced to swear an oath under duress, to a pillaging criminal.

Also, what about the rift?

A wizard, a dwarf, and even I, her comrade, had contributed, while she’d been helpless in comparison.

‘Actually, that must’ve been the decisive factor behind her decision.'

I couldn’t say for certain, but the change in her appearance might’ve only been the last straw.

"Whoo…"

I gulped down another sip of lukewarm beer to quench the unfamiliar thirst brewing within me.

The bitter taste covered my throat.

‘In the end, I can only find a new colleague.'

I’d been hoping to take a little break and prepare better, this time.

Damn, why wouldn't these daily quests end?

Editor's Notes:

[1] 신파극 (sinpageuk, lit. new wave), originally came from Japanese and meant plays and theatre with Western influence. As such, they often dealt with the lives of the common people. In Korea, however, new wave cinema and dramas were created while under the Japanese colonial rule, and as such once the Koreans got their independence back, the term ‘new wave’ naturally became almost taboo. In modern context, new wave (perhaps undeservedly!) is used to denote forced, melodramatic development without rhyme or reason. Find more at Namu Wiki.

[2] 보구, in FATE franchise this stands for Noble Phantasm.