Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Companions (4)

Skills are, of course, very important when looking for colleagues.

But there are virtues that are just as important.

Reliability, for example.

In other words, can they be trusted?

Of course, when things go smoothly, this isn't much of a problem. You can just band together and laugh, hahahoho.

But what if they don’t?

When the worst happens, can you trust them with your back?

‘Maybe it's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of nature.'

This is the part that you can’t find out just by re-reading the application letter a few times, or after a few meet-and-greets.

Human nature is hidden deep within.

And I fervently hope that we do not ever need to show our true natures to each other.

Because that’d be for the best of us all.

"No matter how many times it’s been, I just can't get used to the stink of this place! Ha ha ha! Hey, Dwalky, you alright over there?"

"… Please don't talk to me… ugh – hurk!"

I turn my gaze away from the nauseous form of Dwalky, and glance around for a moment.

The place where I currently am is on the second floor, accessible through the portal in the eastern area of ​​the first floor, the habitat of the blade wolves.

The Lair of Beasts.

As can be inferred from the name, it’s a place where mainly beast-type monsters appear.

And that's why it stinks so badly.

That too, a very dense smell.

"Rotmiller, are you alright? I heard you have an olfactory essence?"

"Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine. This isn’t my first or second time coming here."

"Right."

Is this the true form of somebody in his eighth year?

Just looking at this uncle somehow gives me peace of mind.

I’ll have to nose in a bit more to understand him better.

"By the way, when will our wizard come to his senses? I need to go make some money… "

Misha Karlstein.

She shows no empathy for the suffering of her colleagues, and only cares about her own interests.

While I’m about to add this sentence to her character evaluation in my head, I freeze.

Am I not the same?

"Dwalky, calm down. How much of our time are you going to waste?"

"Right, right. If you can’t even handle something like this, you're no adventurer. Wizard! Grow up!"

As soon as I say a word, Misha, who’s next to me, immediately jumps on the bandwagon with a high-pitched tone.

But Dwalky shows a rather unexpected reaction.

"That’s right. Now I must act like an adult."

Uh, is that how he’s taking it?

To be honest, I thought he'd make some stupid excuse. Or maybe even get angry.

"Let’s go."

"Hah, but are you okay?"

"Of course, it’s tough. But even though it’s my first time, even though I’m a wizard… how pathetic would it be if I became a burden to my teammates?"

"I, uh, I didn’t say you were a b-burden…"

While Misha is embarrassed by the unexpected apology –

Dwalky, getting up from the ground with a pale face, mutters sadly.

"I can’t besmirch the honour of Baron Martoin."

"… Hey! You're pretending to be a noble again!! I won't be scammed anymore!"

"Ha ha ha! Let's go. I’m really okay, now!"

Seeing him so cheerful as if it’s all been a lie just now, Misha bursts into anger as if she’d been cheated once again. And finally, we slowly start moving.

"From here on, everyone, please follow my steps. Although it looks flat, the terrain is filled with pits."

"Pits? I’m looking, but I can't see any…"

"They’re usually filled in with trash, so it’s hard to tell them apart. So you could easily fall into one If you don’t take care where you step."

"… Rotmiller, I will trust only you."

The Beasts’ Lair is a canyon terrain.

The narrow path is lined with high cliffs on both sides, and any adventurer passing by must find their way by wandering through the cliffs tangled like a maze.

‘There are no traps, but the role of the scout is more important than in the Goblin Forest.'

For reference, the monsters that appear are blade wolves, wall mole rats, sabre tigers, werewolves, and vulkars, and most of them live in the caves on the cliffsides.

It’s common for adventurers who’re here mainly to hunt, to enter a cave and fight a group of monsters.

But our purpose is to go to the third floor, so we pass on it.

「You have defeated a giant blade wolf. EXP+1」

「You have defeated a sabre tiger. EXP +2」

「You have defeated a werewolf. EXP +2」

「You have defeated a wall mole rat. EXP +1」

As we move quickly while hunting only the monsters roaming outside the caves, the time comes to take a break.

Three hours left before the start of the second day.

[20:58].

Although the entire day has been invested in travelling –

Without Rotmiller as the scout, it would’ve taken twice as long to get here.

"The entrance must be narrow, so this’s be a good place to camp."

We clean up the den of a wall mole, and start preparing our camp.

The dwarf, Rotmiller, and Misha.

We have three adventurers with years of experience, so the preparations take barely an eyeblink.

Even the wizard, who’s had no presence so far other than creating drinking water, shines at this time.

"Since there’s alarm magic, one person on watch should be sufficient."

"Why do we need somebody on watch?"

"Dwalky, it's not because I don't trust you, so get any strange ideas. As you know, monsters aren’t the only ones to be wary of in the labyrinth."

To become a proper adventurer, you need to be on the lookout for other adventurers, who’re the same as you, more than monsters.

"The first watch goes to Rotmiller, who’s worked the hardest today, and we’ll take turns from then on in this order…"

"Wait, I don’t have to stand watch?"

"Leave this to us, and rest."

The wizard is excluded from the night watch roster.

Not because we’re particularly concerned about his weak stamina, but because this is the custom.

Adventurers are big fans of ‘grant honours according to one’s merits’[1], and the alarm magic is enough to compensate for a watch shift.

‘Well, actually, the custom came about naturally from trying to please the wizards.'

Anyway, it’s unbelievably comfortable to have stand on night watch only for two hours.

Sleeping six hours a day?

Compared to when I’d been in a two-person team, it’s almost like heaven.

Of course, the downside is that the number of people to share the loot has increased, but it’s a more than fair trade-off because we can now hunt more and stronger monsters.

"I, the great wizard, Reol…"

"Stop mumbling and wake up, wizard!"

"… Slurp, is it morning already?"

"I don't know if it's morning, but I'm sure it's time to wake up."

Day 2, 5 am.

The first night that I’ve been so worried about, passed by without a hitch.

The alarm magic detected monsters four times, and a group of adventurers approached the campsite when it was the dwarf's turn, so all of us had to wake up together…

That was all just par for the course.

"Dwalky must’ve adapted too by now, so I’ll speed up a bit from now on."

"Hmm, but there’s no need to be in such a hurry, is there?"

"It’d be convenient for camping if we arrive on the third floor as early as possible."

From the second day onwards, we reduce the chatter as much as possible and focus only on travelling. Of course, monsters block our way every few minutes, but…

It’s a welcome sight.

「You have defeated a half-moon rock bear. EXP+1」

「You have defeated a wall mole queen. EXP+1」

「You have defeated a blood blade Wolf. EXP+1」

I suppose I’ve hunted all the ninth ranked monsters in the Beasts’ Lair?

Because this is my first sojourn here, the experience points are piling up fairly quickly. Of course, I don’t have some kind of HUD with an exp bar.

‘If I count the monsters I've hunted so far… ‘

Only forty.

If I do get the proper bonuses for killing a high variant guardian, it’s forty-four.

‘There’s still a long way to go before I can reach level four.'

As the level goes up, the required experience increases explosively.

For level two it’s six, for level three, thirty, and for level four, a hundred and fifty.

Of course, it’s not a continuous geometric progression by a factor of five, but it’s safe to say that the level of difficulty is even higher than that.

If the monster goes up by one rank, the count increases by +1, but even with that, once you’ve run out of monsters you can reasonably hunt, it’s no longer a matter of supply and demand.

‘… Tch, it's not like I'm in a hurry to level up right now.'

I’m level three right now.

Meaning I can absorb up to three essences.

In other words, I still have an essence slot left.

Of course, I’m not expecting another essence to come out before I hit level four.

[Dungeon and Stone] isn’t as kind a game as that.

‘Why did I have to play a game like this… ‘

Such regrets well up in my heart, but what can I do?

The me of that time, who’d felt the more joy the more difficult the journey, had been a top-notch pervert.

"We’ll now slow down. From here on out, only higher species will appear, and the number would also increase dramatically."

As we trail after Rotmiller for about half a day –

The terrain, or to be precise, the colour of the cliffs, starts changing.

From reddish brown to black.

‘Is this the end of the second part?'

No rank nine monsters appear anymore.

Still, no one, including me, is too nervous.

"Even if it’s a higher species, on the second floor, that just means rank eight!"

Our team is rank seven on average.

And we have people who’ve been active on the third floor for a certain amount of time.

Well, I myself am a rookie –

But I’m an exception because I've seen it all in the game.

"By the way, did Bjorn say he hasn’t been to the third floor yet?"

"Yes, so?"

Thinking she might be trying to start up an argument, I answer in a stern tone, but Misha sounds genuinely admiring.

"Great. It took me a year just to get to the third floor!"

Well, that just makes me uncomfortable.

"… I just got lucky."

It's not a topic I'd like to talk about at length, so I try stalling, but then the dwarf also joins the conversation.

"One year to the third floor? So how long did it take you to get to the fourth floor?"

"Um, two years? I think it took about that long."

"Ah, just like me."

"Yieesh! I’m suddenly feeling a little embarrassed! Even though I’m your senior, team leader, you’re already sixth rank!"

"But instead, you were born into a good family, Miss Karlstein!"

"Yieesh! I told you, don’t bring up my family!"

As the conversation lengthens and there’s a sign of another quarrel starting up, Rotmiller, who’d been looking for the way forward, intervenes.

"Both of you, stop."

His voice, his tone, and his expression are the same as last time.

But why do I feel he’s more annoyed than last time?

‘Hey, he’s working hard on his own, so it’s too much to have to calm people down who’re lazing around in the back, is that it?'

But I don’t pay much thought to it.

「You have entered the Pilgrims' Path on the third floor. 」

It was a little past noon on the second day.

According to Rotmiller’s flawless guidance, we entered the third floor.

It was a bit disappointing that I couldn't hunt a few more reasonable rank eight monsters in the Beasts’ Lair…

Because not all of them appeared regularly on the second floor.

‘I'll get another crack them someday.'

Shaking off my remaining regrets, I focused on our current situation.

"Rotmiller! Get out of the way!"

The place where I was now, was on the third floor, the ‘Pilgrims’ Path'.

It was along the route from the Beasts’ Lair to the ‘Steel Rock Hill'.

And upon arrival, we encountered two seventh ranked monsters.

"Dwalky! Use corrosion magic!"

Entity name: ‘irontro'.

You could easily visualize them as wild boars with steel tusks.

Only, they about five times the size of a wild boar from Mount Jirisan in Korea.

「Reol Webb Dwalky has cast the eighth grade curse magic, [Corrosion].」

While Rotmiller, who entered the portal first, retreated to avoid the monsters –

Dwalky immediately cast a spell.

And in tandem, the dwarf and I dashed forward to block one each with our shields.

Clang–!

A heavy shock hit me from the front.

If it were the old shield, it would’ve gotten crushed the moment it met the charge.

Like the dwarf's shield was, over there.

「Hikurod Murad has cast [Emergency Restoration].」

"Bjorn? Why’re you suddenly looking at me like that?"

"No, I’m just not being jealous."

I really wasn’t.

If you use a hard shield in the first place, you don't have to fix it every time, right?

"What’s that, all of a sudden? Anyway, Bjorn! Don't even think about pushing them away, just don’t get pushed back!"

"You don’t have to spell it out loud, I already know!"

Irontro's active skill is ‘Counterweight'.

It has the effect of knockback immunity.

It was also the same essence that the dwarf had.

「Hikurod Murad has cast [Counterweight].」

Did he even have a conscience?

A crazy wild boar with that kind of a skill was charging straight at me, and this dwarf bastard was nagging me about not getting pushed back?

The anger inherent in the barbarian body surged up once again.

Was that why?

"Behel-raaaaa!"

Instead of waiting for the rest of the teammates to attack, I swung my mace and smacked the irontro on the jaws.

Cra-ack–!

At that moment when the steel molars that had already been [corroded] were shattered without resisting –

"Essence, here I come!"

Without my permission, Misha stepped on my back and leapt high, stabbing a dagger deep into the irontro’s head.

「You have defeated an irontro. EXP+3」

One down.

I thought of dealing with the other one as well, but stopped and watched for a while.

Dwalky was casting magic.

One of the few offensive spells he had.

「Reol Webb Dwalky has cast the eighth-grade attack magic [Ice Lance]. 」

A skewer of ice flew and pierced into the irontro's stomach.

If he’d aimed at the head or the heart, it would’ve been a one hit kill, but…

I’d have to give him some detailed feedback later.

Whoosh!

The battle ended with Rotmiller approaching the collapsed Aiantro, and firing a bolt into its forehead from the crossbow in his hands.

Of course, no essence dropped.

Well, that wasn’t what was important right now.

‘There was a monster right in front of the portal…'

Some bastards might be lurking nearby.

Editor's Notes:

[1] 논공행상 (lit. awarding paddy fields), investigate and rank one’s merits, small and large, and reward accordingly.

We're changing to using capitalized forms for skill names. Previous chapters would be retroactively updated in due time.