Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Companions (2)

After a brief spell of silence –

The dwarf, who was looking hesitant about what to say, finally spoke after a period of contemplation.

"Is that so…?"

His reaction was in equal terms bewildering and surprising.

"What’re you so surprised about? You must have at least one of these, too, right?"

"No, just… was your personality always like this?"

Well, I had no idea what misconception he’d had about me.

But this would have to be enough. I wasn’t going to suffer any more embarrassment.

As long as I gave him a little time, even with just this little bit of information I’d craftily leaked out, he should be able to make an estimate of my overall equipment level.

‘With this, no matter how short my career’s been, I don't think he’ll try and mess around.'

Of course, the recruitment notice had clearly stated ‘equal distribution'.

But I still remembered very clearly –

The expression on his face when he’d lamented that he only got rift stone and had to give up all the rest of the loot in the Bloody Citadel.

‘After all, no matter how nice somebody might be on the outside, adventurers are adventurers in the end.'

If you started off by giving an inch, they’d take a mile and still keep coming, forever.

Therefore, I plopped down on the seat opposite him, without even asking if I could sit.

And didn’t hesitate to ask –

"Not going to buy me a drink, Hikurod? You got that numbered item thanks to me, after all."

A statement that harkened back to my abilities and reminded him of his debt at the same time.

"Eh? Ha ha ha ha! Is that so?"

Although the dwarf laughed out loud, he didn't deny it.

Because I’d indeed been the biggest contributor in the ‘Blood Citadel'.

"Well, that’s not wrong! It's a bit late, but I'll buy you a round in thanks. Let's talk while drinking!"

"Good."

It seemed that the food would take a while, so we grabbed the alcohol that got served first.

And our conversation started in earnest as we drank.

The dwarf started with a string of rapid-fire questions.

"I was really surprised when I found out you were the one who applied, you know? What the hell happened? Did you find there some sort of treasure hidden in the rift? Surely that wizard girl must’ve looked around, too, but she never found it?"

It wasn’t surprising that he had so many questions.

After all, I’d changed too much.

Although, we weren’t familiar enough that I had to give him an honest answer.

"Yeah, that’s pretty much it."

"What do you mean? Please tell me more!"

"Like you said, there was a treasure there. That's it. Don't ask any more."

As I drew my line in the sand, the dwarf smacked his lips.

He understood that getting any more information would be difficult even if he pressed.

"I don't know what kind of treasure you got, but you got lucky too, huh."

Me, lucky?

This guy had been the one to benefit the most from the ‘Blood Citadel'.

While I got hurt to the very edge of death –

Wasn’t he the only one going in solo, who got out with a numbered item?

‘I wonder what exactly dropped… I’ll ask about it later.'

The meal I’d ordered soon came out, so the conversation went on while I was filling my stomach.

Starting with the obvious –

"So, have you got a full team?"

"I don’t really like any of the applicants, so you’re the first one I’m meeting face-to-face."

"I see."

Nodding, I went straight to the point like a barbarian should.

The real purpose behind the meeting –

"So? What do you think?"

Would Hikurod Murad accept me as a team member?

"Um, that’s… actually, I invited you just to check if it was really you. More than getting a teammate, I just wanted to talk to you. Um, although I wrote in the notice that we were going to explore the 3rd floor, I was considering going up to the 4th if the team seemed solid enough…"

He was just needlessly chattering on.

It would’ve been enough to say he never intended to accept me in his team.

"So, have you changed your mind now?"

At my piercing stare, the dwarf answered, stroking his well-kept beard.

"Heh heh, you could say that. After all, nobody would call you a rookie anymore if they just got one look at you. Really, if it weren’t for the fact that gathering the rest of the team would be problematic if they saw a rookie had joined, I wouldn't even have worried about it!"

Instead making such cheap excuses, I wished he hadn't said anything in the first place.

But the fact that the dwarves lacked the artifice to take such a tack was also a part of their charm.

"Then, is this it?"

"Hahaha! Let’s seal the deal."

I picked up my drink, and the dwarf followed suit.

"Here’s to the future!"

A team, was formed.

Although it had two people in it…

But I could just pretend in the future to have an intense discussion before I made the choices according to my own thoughts.

***

"Hikurod, didn’t you say earlier that a lot of people had applied?"

"Yeah?"

"Who were they?"

"Hm? Who cares? They were just 8th ranked kids with less than a year in the trade."

Oh? Didn’t that apply to me too?

After a moment of serious thought, the dwarf suddenly spoke up as if he’d remembered something.

"Ah! Come to think of it, I never asked! How did you get promoted so quickly? It’d be difficult to get rank 7 with just one corpse golem essence, right?"

"One corpse golem essence?"

My muttering trailed off.

Right, he’d passed out, hadn’t he? So he still didn't know, that I’d eaten the vampire’s essence.

Should I tell him the story?

While I was locked in an internal struggle –

"Oho! That’s right!"

Suddenly, the dwarf shouted that he’d got it.

"Hah! I didn’t think it through! Seriously, your equipment now is more than enough for the promotion!"

Ah, uh, um…

It was a plausible enough guess, but…

"… Yeah, that’s true."

Now that this had happened, I decided to keep the information to myself.

After all, the team hadn't even been officially formed yet, and others might join in the future.

It was better to be careful.

Maybe someday this could be my trump card.

‘It's enough to say that I have regeneration from my undying imprint.'

The most important part was over, so we continued small talk over a glass of wine.

I also had a question, as to why the dwarf had left his original team and formed a new one.

"You know, I just left my team for a while this time, right?"

"Right."

I heard that he’d applied for a leave of absence from the team, hoping to get a crack at the rift.

"But now that I’m back, they seem more interested in the warrior who temporary substituted for me!"

The dwarf belched out his anger towards his former colleagues in a voice filed with fury, but to be honest, I couldn’t particularly empathize.

‘Isn't it because you left the team for personal reasons, in the first place?'

The biggest victim had been the leader of his old team.

They’d been slated for a labyrinth tour, but a teammate suddenly said he’d take a break? He must’ve gotten swamped by a sudden deluge of overwork.

What if more such problems cropped up in the future?

Rather, didn’t he have a better choice?

‘I, too, if I’d been the team leader, wouldn't have accepted such a selfish guy back. After all, what happens once can happen again.'

Of course, I kept the thought bottled up inside my head.

"Oh my god, what idiots! Right?"

"Yeah. They really have no concept of loyalty!"

It was always better to agree unconditionally, in such a scenario.

But I could take this opportunity to satisfy my curiosity.

"I don't know how good they are, but they’ll definitely be crushed with regret if they get to know what you got this time!"

"What I got this time?"

"The numbered item!"

"Aah! I totally forgot! Next time we meet, I’ll tell them all about it! Make them understand how big idiots they are!"

Was he already fantasizing about the scene?

The dwarf took a large sip of alcohol and burst into laughter.

Anyway, this was a natural segue to what I wanted to know, right?

"Yeah, exactly! That’s why, I was asking…"

I probed carefully.

"What did you get this time?"

"Um, didn’t I tell you yet?"

"You didn’t!"

It was something I'd been curious about ever since we met up here.

I knew all the possible numbered items that could’ve dropped, of course, but this was an unprecedented variant rift that we’d cleared this time.

He might’ve come across a unique item.

Like the mysterious box that Raven had left open in the boss room.

‘Come to think of it, I never asked what was in it.'

I decided to enquire when we met up next week, and while I was waiting for him to answer, the dwarf grinned and put his thick arms on the table.

"These vambraces are from there."

Well, I couldn't get a feel of them just from the view.

"What’re they called?"

"The guild's appraiser called them something like the ‘Guardian's Bracers'[1] –"

"What the hell?"

How did something like that drop?

"… Yes? You’re familiar?"

"Oh, no, no. I was just surprised by how cool the name was."

"Heh heh heh! We really have something in common! I thought so too!"

No. 3112, the Guardian's Vambraces.

A numbered item belonging to the 3,000 sequences, which can drop only from rifts on the 4th floor or higher.

With unsurpassed effectiveness, how much would this cost on the market?

"I checked the price through the central exchange. Apparently, it’s around 50 million stones."

Fuck.

What was this, a joke?

How much had this dwarf bastard even contributed in the rift?

"Ha ha ha! They said that that was the old price, and these are almost never put up for sale, so they might actually be even more expensive now! Of course, I’m not selling either, but still!"

"…"

"Oh, hey, why’re you so silent?"

"It’s nothing. Just… I… I was a bit surprised, that’s all."

To be honest, I was so surprised that my stomach, filled with alcohol and meat, was now feeling unbearably sore with jealousy.

"I understand. 50 million stones? I thought I was going to faint when I first heard it! It must be the same for you too, huh?"

Was this retaliation for how I’d teased him about my new equipment?

Didn’t this bastard understand the concept of disproportionate response?

"Don’t be so down. Keep on adventuring, and you too could get a numbered item someday, right? Of course, it won't be as good as what I got! Hahaha."

Looing away from his grinning face, I slowly lowered one of my hands under the table.

It –

– Was the hand that wore the Ring of the Frost Spirit, No. 9425.

***

Guardian’s Bracers? 50 million stones? So what?

I decided to think as positively as possible.

Although I was so green with envy that I felt like hurling, it was a minor annoyance. Having a strong teammate was an unquestionable net positive.

‘… Let's just focus on building a team.'

The first task should be to raise the dwarf's adventurer rank to the next level.

If you want to find a good team member, you first need to look like an attractive team.

There’s a huge gap between the team leader being seventh ranked and being sixth ranked, which can’t be bridged by mere words.

"Hikurod, go to the guild today and raise your adventurer rank, first."

"… What’s this all of a sudden?"

"Don’t you have 50 million stones worth of equipment? If you apply for review, the guild will definitely take it seriously!"

"But, it’s too sudden –"

"So you don’t want to?"

"No, it’s not that…"

"Then go, now!"

I even followed him to the guild and watched him submit the application, in case he got sidetracked.

For reference, the evaluation results took six days, a little later than expected, but fortunately the promotion request was successful.

And then the quality of our applicants rose dramatically.

More than ten came in every day.

And while the dwarf and I were busy carefully vetting the applications, very happily –

"Oh, a wizard?"

Suddenly, a wizard's application arrived.

Of course, he wasn't somebody from the Magic Tower, and was only 8th rank, working in a guild or a public institution somewhere –

Still, a wizard was a wizard.

"Hey, Bjorn, isn’t something wrong? How can a wizard be attracted to a team like ours?"

"Yeah, it’s really weird. He could’ve picked a much better team than ours."

"Well, what should we do?"

There were some questionable parts, but we still decided to meet him, and informed the guild.

And, this morning –

Finally, a place and time were set for the appointment.

"He won’t ask for half the share, right? They say all wizards are snotty…"

I didn't know what made Hikurod so nervous.

He hadn’t given a single inch against Raven, who belonged to the tower, while haggling for his share.

"What’re you so worried about? If he makes a request like that, you just say it’s unfortunate and leave."

"That, ah, right?"

Was it because it was the first wizard he was meeting as a team leader?

While I was teasing the dwarf who was so nervous that his chubby legs kept occasionally knocking together, a man in a robe entered the tavern.

He looked at us and waved his hand.

"Yo, barbarian! Dwarf!"

Fuck, was this another landmine?

How could somebody sound so offensive with just a short greeting?

I was already expecting a catastrophe, but just in case, I decided to wait a little longer.

"Hahaha! Nice to meet you! Are you the wizard we’re here to meet today?"

"What’re the odds of you coming across a second wizard at the same time and place, d’ya think?"

At the young wizard's question, the dwarf looked at me in bewilderment.

Haah, really, why was he like this?

"… He means, you’re right."

"Oh, is that so! Hahaha! Anyway, nice to meet you! My name is Hikurod Murad!"

"That’s one weird name. I am Reol Webb Dwalky, an 8th rank wizard officially acknowledged by the royal family of Rafdonia."

"… R-, royal family of Rafdonia?"

Again, what was this guy so surprised about?

"It means he isn’t from a guild, he does administrative work in a public institution."

"Ah, is that so?"

The young wizard’s roundabout way of speech was also contributing, sure, but it was the dwarf, dazzled at every turn, who was really driving me up the wall.

"Haha! Even though you're a barbarian, you're very knowledgeable. What's your name?"

"I’m Bjorn, son of Yandel. Please sit down."

I’d just been planning to watch for a while, but it was so frustrating that I decided to take the lead in the conversation.

Because that’d save all our time.

"Dwalky, I’ve pored over your application. But I still have a few questions that I’d like to ask. Is that alright?"

"Of course."

"Do you have a labyrinth pass?"

"Would I have come here if I hadn’t?"

Well, assuming that was true –

"One more thing. Why do you want to be an adventurer, when you can make enough money in the city?"

It was rare for eighth ranked wizards to go on labyrinth expeditions.

For a simple reason.

They didn't have the skills to explore the middle or higher areas. But there was hardly any money to make on the lower floors.

Working in a public institution would net them much better income.

Considering the difficulty of obtaining a pass, and the risks involved, it wasn’t worth the cost.

"Hmm, that’s an unexpected question."

Dwalky, who’d tilted his head for a moment, continued.

"It’s simple. I want to become a great adventurer, to honour my liege, Baron Martoine."

His face was shing with pride as he declared his aspiration.

The dwarf, who’d had been sitting by the side listening quietly, apparently felt a chill down his spine.

"B-, baron? You, a-are a noble? No, why would a noble…?"

Nobles.

The most powerful group inside Rafdonia. The masses usually lived out their lives without ever meeting a single one.

As if he felt quite content with the dwarf's reaction, Dwalky burst out laughing and proudly declared.

"Fufufu, Aunt Enka, my mother’s sister, happens to be the wife of Baron Martione’s third younger brother."

"…!!!"

The dwarf was hyperventilating as if he was about to faint, and Dwalky patted his shoulder as if he understood.

There was a kind smile on his lips.

Seeing that smile, I thought –

"Don’t be too nervous. I won’t abuse my status to mistreat others."

– This punk, did he really have a few screws loose?

Editor's Notes:

[1] 팔목 보호대 (lit. wrist guard). This literally translates to ‘bracers’ which are used by archers. As this is supposed to be a melee warrior’s equipment, perhaps the author means ‘vambraces’ instead.

There's been a pretty big problem with the translation till now. Rank and level were being used interchangeably, which is obviously incorrect in hindsight – level is a more game-specific term and starts from one at the bottom, going higher. Rank/rating/grade is a term more specific to the reality, with rank nine being the bottom and going lower as you get stronger. Mostly all previous chapters have now been corrected, but if you notice an error, please leave a comment on the relevant chapter!