Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Team Halfwits (3)

After the shocking confession that I didn't have a mother –

"Uh, um…"

"Well, is that so…?"

A strange silence reigned, and bewildered gazes kept flying towards me.

I quickly went on to explain further.

"My mother died giving birth to me. And my father never came back from the labyrinth when I was young. So even now that I'm an adult, I can't meet them even if I want to!"

For reference, this was a hundred percent true – from what I’d heard from Ainar.

"That…"

"You must’ve suffered a lot as a kid."

But was it because it was the confession of the youngest member of the team, a barbarian who had just finished his coming-of-age ceremony?

The light of sympathy began to shine in the gazes that looked at me.

"Bjorn, you don’t have to force yourself to be fine in front of us."

"I’m sorry. I didn't even know that you were in such a situation, and I told you about my family…"

"Bjorn, I can't ever replace your parents, but if only you want –"

What the ever-loving fuck, you bastard?

I decided to ignore the rest of the dwarf's blathering.

"It’s all in the past."

For some reason, I seemed to have become the most pitiful of them all in an instant… what to do about it? It wasn’t true, so I didn't have to worry about it.

It wasn’t that I never had a real mother.

And above all, I was a munchkin barbarian who, unlike them, was on the track of the ultra-elite course by being promoted to a seventh ranked adventurer in only three months.

My core identity was the most essential part.

‘Well, but when you think about it that way, am I really not the most pitiful of us all?'

I suddenly thought that it might actually be the case.

I was summoned to a game world without my consent, and I had to suffer through the risk of death several times until now.

Fuck, why is my life so miserable?

"Bjorn, you don’t look so good! Are you feeling down because you brought up your mother?"

"Yeah, that’s…"

"If you’re missing your family, you can call me sister—"

Interrupting the cat-eared girl’s preaching, I got to the point.

"By the way, what’re we going to do now?"

We couldn’t hunt at our primary destination, the Orc Colony, because of those bastards.

Of course, they also said it was okay if we hunted on the outskirts, but how much could the income be if we went there and had to share the loot between five people?

"I think it’d be better to go to the Witch’s Forest first."

The dwarf offered an opinion as the team leader.

The Witch's Forest is a huge forest area surrounding the portal going up to the fourth floor.

Mainly seventh and eighth ranked monsters frequent the area, including spirit-type monsters with physical damage immunity.

"Of course, it’s not a good match for us, since we have mostly melee warriors, but since there’s a wizard with us, it doesn’t seem too bad a choice."

"Hmm, wouldn’t it be better to just go up to the fourth floor in that case?"

Rotmiller, who was listening, offered a new opinion.

I also thought this was a better option than the dwarf’s opinion.

To most adventurers, the Witch's Forest is perceived as an area they have no choice but to trudge through, because it has little merit as a hunting ground.

‘None of the essences I’d eat drop there, either.'

But the problem was, the dwarf didn't seem like this option at all for some reason.

"The fourth floor is… I think it's still too early."

I knew what the dwarf was worried about.

On the third floor, seventh and eighth grade monsters are the most frequent. And the fourth floor is the same.

However, there is a very crucial difference between the two.

"Like I said at the meeting, I’ve seen a lot of teams that think it’s easy and go upstairs, and then get wiped out. It almost happened to my team too, one time."

The presence or absence of a sixth ranked monster.

From the fourth floor, there’s a rare chance that sixth ranked monsters may appear.

In terms of the encounter frequency, it's like walking around all day and meeting once every three days…

Meaning, as long as you stay active on the fourth floor, encountering a sixth rank monster becomes an inevitability.

‘Will we be able to get past that one-time hurdle, or not? That is the question.'

In fact, even when playing the game, there’d been many times when I’d entered the fourth floor at a moderate level, and got bloodied for my hubris.

So, the dwarf's statement made sense.

"I don’t think it’ll be too late to decide about going to the fourth floor after we work together for at least a few more days."

Despite the deeply emotional exchanges we’d just had, or the deep interpersonal bonds that might have wrought –

This was our first expedition as a team.

It'd only been three days since we’d entered the labyrinth, and we still weren’t very used to each other.

"Moreover, as you know, this is first time in the labyrinth for Dwalky, and this is Bjorn’s first time making it to the third floor."

To summarize, the dwarf's argument was that we could choose to go to the fourth floor, but we couldn’t be too impatient about it.

"Well, then why don’t we just go to another area on the third floor? I think the Greentail Marsh would be fine… "

Misha, who was listening to the argument with a painful wrinkle on her forehead, offered a new opinion.

And she was beaten back right away by Rotmiller.

"It might’ve worked if we’d gone that way from the very beginning, Now it’ll take at least six days to reach the Greentail Marsh from here."

The labyrinth closes at the end of the seventh day on the first floor, the tenth day on the secondnd floor, and the fifteenth day on the third floor.

So what would happen if we invested seven more days on nothing but travelling? We were already on the third day, so even if we started moving right away, we’d only have five days or less left to hunt.

"In that case, I think it’d be better to go back to the Steel Rock Hill."

"R-, really? I just followed the scout every time, so I didn't know the route was such a big problem… "

At Rotmiller's expert opinion, Misha smiled awkwardly and scratched her cheek.

Tsk, I was keeping up with their conversation just in case, but it didn’t bear any fruit.

I was going to have to step in and clean it up.

"How long are we going to just stand around and talk? Now that we’re at this point, let's all get together and decide. Let’s hold a majority vote."

"Majority vote?"

"What? Would you prefer rock-paper-scissors instead, Rotmiller?"

"No, that’s a bit…"

Rotmiller gave me a disgusted look at my question. Actually, I was joking about whether there was aby better way, but…

Just because I was a barbarian?

Unfortunately, no one seemed to notice that it was a joke.

"I’m in favour of deciding by majority vote."

"It’s simple, but it’s the surest way."

"Anything’s fine with me!"

Anyway, we agreed that a majority vote would be held to decide what to do next.

And I was the first to vote.

"I think it’d be better to go up to the fourth floor."

Judging that the person going in front would help nudge the public opinion, however little.

"… The fourth floor suddenly started to feel dangerous. It feels like we're being too hasty in making our decision."

"Uh, did you feel the same, Miss Karlstein?"

"…"

Anyway, it was quickly concluded after each person gave their opinion in turn.

"Haah, since all of you are of the same opinion, there’s no point in me being stubborn."

We were now going up to the fourth floor.

Despite the dwarf's concerns, I had a reason to push for this decision.

Of course, it was a majority vote, but…

That didn’t mean much.

If I’d judged that it was too early for the team to enter the fourth floor, I would’ve kept them locked up on the third floor, even if it took drastic action like destroying their self-esteem.

"Oh? It seems like it suddenly got a little chilly… "

"Hmm, already? We should have long way to go before reaching the Witch's Forest… "

"No, it feels a bit different from that, I can’t really pin it down though."

Under Rotmiller’s guidance, we resolutely made our way through the darkness towards our destination.

Although the dwarf still had a pitiful expression on his face.

‘I don't think he was like that in the Blood Citadel, but he’s been overly cautious these days.'

Was it because he, as the team leader, had met each team member in person and selected them? He always had this strange sense of responsibility about him.

He was only a figurehead anyway, so he didn’t really have to do that, though…

‘Well, he never learned that I have a vampire essence, maybe that’s why?'

The dwarf didn't know my exact specifications.

So going straight up to the fourth floor might’ve made him feel a little more insecure.

And the fact that he didn’t realize how good his numbered item, the ‘Guardian’s Vambraces’, are, must’ve also played a part.

"Hikurod, when you enter the Witch's Forest, don't hold off using ‘it' and try it out."

The dwarf looked a little worried at my advice, then nodded his head with determination.

"I will do as you say."

No. 3112, the Guardian's Vambraces, is an advanced piece of equipment worth fifty million stones.

As it’s said, opportunity makes the thief[1].

The dwarf had asked me not to let the rest of the team know that he possessed such a treasure.

‘But if you don't use it when you have to, what’s the point?'

And, well, it wasn’t me who owned it, anyway.

Although we’d been depending on each other until recently…

"‘It’? What’s that? What’re you two talking about, as if there’s something only you two know!"

"You’ll know when the time comes, too."

I ignored Misha's curiosity and did a final recalculation.

‘With the frontline tank specs like this, I think a sixth ranked monster would be doable. The problem is the DPS side…'

Although we did lack somewhat in overall specs, our short time hunting together at the Orc Colony had given me some confidence.

As long as the frontline held, with these members, even a sixth-ranked monster wouldn’t be overly dangerous.

‘Unless some trolling bastard backstabs us while we’re focused on the front.'

There’d been a lot of NPCs like that in the game.

None of them are like that, right…?

‘Miss, why are you suddenly anxious again?'

Contrary to myself, who was worried about the future, Misha’s face had a slightly reminiscent expression.

"It’s been a while since I’d last been to the fourth floor, so I’m feeling a little excited!"

I heard that it was her first time returning to the fourth floor after her team disbanded a year ago…

But was it because she was a cat by nature?

She was making some kind of grungy hissing sound with every breath.

"We’re going to have to find a place to camp soon."

After moving along the edges of the Orc Colony for a while, it was time to take a break.

"Rotmiller, everyone looks physically fine, how about moving a bit more?"

"You have to go three more hours to find a better place than this spot."

"Hmm, then let’s do as you say."

For reference, the time was around 9 pm, which almost coincided with the camping time of the first and second days.

To be honest, I was very impressed.

‘Is this a what you call a skilful adventurer?'

Rotmiller must’ve picked the camping point according to our movement profile and had adjusted speed accordingly.

No matter how many days and nights you spend in the labyrinth, it's good to take your breaks at a specific time.

"Rotmiller, what’s your plan for tomorrow?"

"We might be able to reach the Witch’s Forest by lunchtime tomorrow."

Well, then it’d be the next day or so when we enter the fourth floor.

Whatever question I asked, the answer came back without any buffering time. This was a human navigation system no GPS could compare to.

"Bjorn, could you take the last watch? You’ll have to suffer quite a bit once we enter the forest tomorrow, so get some more rest today."

"Alright."

Tonight's first shift was the dwarf, and last shift was me.

The Witch's Forest was a place where melee warriors suffered the most, so that was how the turns were decided, giving us a bit more time for restful sleep.

Well, there’d surely be once or twice during the night when I woke up inadvertently, but anyway.

"Bjorn."

I opened my eyes at the whispering voice.

Rotmiller's face was visible under the flickering torchlight.

Since Rotmiller had the turn before me…

"… Is it my turn now?"

"Not yet."

"Then why…"

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I stiffened.

Dwalky, the dwarf, and even Misha. Everyone on the team was already awake except for me.

Armed and armoured.

I asked briefly.

"Monsters?"

"Both types."

Meaning, both natural monsters and adventurers…

As I was about to ask how far away they were, I heard an urgent cry from beyond the darkness.

"Damn it! Following me all the way here… "

"Run away!"

They seemed to be adventurers being chased by monsters…

Rotmiller closed his eyes, sniffed and sniffed again, then muttered briefly.

"Now I know for sure."

"What do you mean?"

When he frowned like this, something serious happened most of the time, so I unconsciously became uneasy.

And it was no surprise.

"Those who’re coming towards us now, must be the ones back at the Steel Rock Hill."

Things were getting fun again.

Editor's Notes:

[1] 견물생심 (lit. when you see an object, greed is born in your heart).

Project discontinuation notice.

Naver, the Korean webtoon/ platform, has launched a serial fiction service called Yonder for the English-speaking market. This project is included as part of its starter s. This translation had always been about letting people share and enjoy the great fun I'd had reading this story, so there's no particular need to keep this TL project ongoing.

For those of you who'd been following along on this journey, hope you've had fun! For the subscribers, we'll have some polls and discussions over on Ko-fi.

Cheers!