Surviving the Game as a Barbarian – 236



Episode 236: Awl (1)

Dark interior.

Wood tone blinds that allow white light to seep through.

A $200 single mattress and a work desk with a laptop on it. A tea table for one person with only one chair placed against the wall.

There was a woman standing in that narrow room.

She looked very confused.

“This is….”

It’s not a place I don’t know.

It was the first rental apartment I signed when I moved to New York to get a job and it was the place I called every midnight on the 15th of every month for several years.

“Why am I here….”

The woman felt a headache and recalled her memories.

She slowly emerged one by one.

[It’s a warlock!!]

[Turn off time. I will take care of it soon.]

Day 1 in the labyrinth where the war began.

A safe zone arrived through multiple teleportation magic.

A heartless decision that had to be made after a long leadership meeting.

[The royal bastards are trying to abandon us and run away!! Stop it!!]

While the knights were dealing with the explorers he and his clan members were running beyond the portal.

and….

Ssssssssssssss-!

A magic circle emitting brilliant light from the ground.

Kwahiah ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!

A huge pillar of fire covered the sky.

“No way….”

Only then did I understand.

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Why am I here having just returned to the city through a portal?

“It’s been 15 days…?”

The woman hurriedly turned on her laptop.

She then looked around the bulletin board to see exactly what was going on.

It didn’t take long for her to get the information she wanted as she often did this kind of work.

Among the explorers who came out through the portal only 103 survived.

Everyone is unconscious and even the high priest of the Toberan Church with the nickname ‘Agent’ has given up saying there is no way to fix it at the moment?

“Oh no….”

Bersil Gowland vice-captain of the Larrere Clan.

Her face turned pale as she realized the reality.

***

As soon as the computer turned on I first checked the chat room.

[Long Live Korean Independence] – 0 people are online.

As expected Lee Baek-ho did not return this time.

Well since the Ghost Master hit Ben himself even Amman couldn’t have done much.

It was definitely nice when he was around.

‘In the end the only way to obtain advanced information is from the Watchers of the Round Table…’

I try to erase my regret and move the mouse.

The round table does not open until three hours after the community opens. Until then I had planned to just glance around and see the atmosphere of this place.

‘As expected the players are also very dead.’

When the original community opens an explosion of posts are posted on exchange bulletin boards etc. by players who have been waiting for this time.

But what about this time?

‘Almost a third.’

This applies not only to bulletin boards but also to chat rooms.

Even the large chat room which always had more than 50 people only had a little over 10 people in it.

“under….”

I sigh when I encounter these changes.

It seems like some kind of ‘great flood’ has covered the world.

No matter where you go everything has been swept away and there is no normal place.

‘As time passes will this place be filled again with newbies…?’

Well it will be.

Even in our country nothing was left immediately after the war but in the end didn’t we get to where we are now?

Perhaps when that time comes I will no longer be a newbie but a high-ranking player.

Ah are you still in the top ranks?

Yes no matter how I think about it I don’t think there are many people who have even achieved noble titles.

Click click.

While thinking about various things I visited various bulletin boards as if surfing the web.

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Whichever bulletin board I went to most of them were full of stories about this incident and when I looked around my own stories came up occasionally… no quite often.

[What on earth is this Bjorn Yandel?]

-I thought he was in his 30s since he was a level 5 explorer but it’s been a year since his coming-of-age ceremony?

-What have I been doing for 5 years?

It was mentioned a few times during the 3rd tier monarchy but it was impossible to compare it to now.

The number of posts on my topic is enormous and each post has dozens of comments.

[these99: It’s not even level 5 in the first place. How is that person level 5? If it weren’t for the guild’s public achievements I would have already gotten to level 4.]

[└Writer: Wow is that it? It’s only been a year? I feel even more ashamed.]

[└NExtlevEL: Level 4 is an exaggeration. The author has no reason to feel ashamed. It’s level 5 so if the number is good it’s basically supposed to be taken within a year.]

[└NExtlevEL: Oh and I don’t think you have much essence? From what I’ve seen level 5 is barely able to do pull-ups.]

[└these99: Is level 5 within 1 year the default? What do you play alone? What do you do with this bullshit about level 5 pull-ups? I already proved it by being a corpse collector a long time ago?]

[└NExtlevEL: Are you American by any chance? Just by looking at it you’re creating a hero and I believe that. And even if he really won does he think he did it alone? It’s all about the team.]

[└Pnec: He’s right. The body collectors fought hundreds to one so how can they call it a mess? Are you an idiot?]

Players who express various opinions as if they were arguing about a celebrity on the Internet.

There were several comments that made my heart sink.

[fliccolo: From what I see he is also a player.]

[└Writer: Oh that could be possible. Why didn’t I think of that?]

These are questions that inevitably arise when you gain fame in a short period of time.

Still the path I took was helpful.

[└arolf5205: What about players? If you had seen it in person even once you would never have said that lol.]

[└stevencastle: All the kids who say things like this are the ones who were lucky enough to not get into the labyrinth. If you saw him biting off the corpse collector’s ear while blinded at the end you would never be able to call him a player.]

[└cherylvander: A real man himself.]

[└Ykbell: Even I got hot when I screamed while stepping on the goblin trap. It was a feeling that modern people could never express even if it was only a year later. Everyone who was there at that time will sympathize.]

[COOOOL75: Behel—laaaaa!!!]

It was a very strange feeling to see slanderous or praising posts about me.

It has grown to the point where it has become such a hot topic.

While the intense interest is burdensome I ultimately feel like it is a path I have to pass in order to move forward.

That’s because I’ll keep going up.

It is inevitable that the number of floors and reputation are proportional.

‘It’s almost time.’

After looking at the bulletin board for so long three hours had passed since I entered the community.

[03:01]

In the past I entered as late as possible to attract as much attention as possible but this time I entered as soon as it was time.

I was also curious about the small talk before the main meeting.

‘I guess everyone but the clown died?’

I pushed aside some anxiety and quickly double-clicked the mouse.

Flash-!

A light flashed before my eyes for a moment and when I came to my senses I found myself in a familiar customization room. I quickly put on the suit I wore every day and the lion mask and moved to the main room where there was a round table.

Kiiiiig.

Three people came there first.

Goblin fox antlers.

‘It looks like the clown is still there.’

As soon as I entered the three people who came first looked at me and let out a strange exclamation.

“ah….”

“Luckily you came today too.”

They always do this every time they come.

I put on a lion mask and sat down in my seat and rested my chin as if I had no interest.

If you keep doing this they will just play with each other.

Just close your eyes and listen.

“By the way there are already four survivors.”

The goblin was mumbling to himself as if the static air was uncomfortable.

“It’s fascinating. Even though others didn’t know I thought you were in danger. “How did you come back alive?”

This is something I was curious about too.

Except for a few priests most religious figures left through the portal.

That means it’s almost completely gone.

So what happened to the goblins?

“well. Because this is a story related to my personal life. Let’s just say I was lucky.”

“Tsk what’s so great?”

As the goblin evaded his efforts and escaped the deer antler ate it. And the two of them had a small chat.

Strangely enough the fox did not participate in the conversation.

But did they both feel that?

“Fox something is strange today.”

“yes. “I was just blankly from earlier…”

Antler and the goblin looked at the fox and expressed their doubts and the fox tilted its head in surprise at a late tempo.

“…yes? “What did you just say?”

“Do you think this is really strange?”

“If anything happens please tell me. “I don’t know about anyone else but I can do my best to help you…”

A goblin is chirping because it feels like this is the right time.

The fox let out a long breath and shook his head.

“Thank you for your concern but it’s nothing. So please stop paying attention.”

“Oh yeah. If that’s the case…”

For some reason the goblin changed the subject as if he was embarrassed by his tone which was even harsher than usual.

“Anyway no one else is coming?”

There are only 5 minutes left to enter.

There are two members who have not yet participated.

The clown I am waiting for desperately and the crescent moon desperately hoping for the stone of revival.

“I guess they’re both dead?”

“Hmm I don’t know about Crescent Moon but I don’t think that clown is dead.”

“…I guess so? “I guess?”

The goblin spoke in a somewhat regretful voice.

It was then.

Kiiiiig.

The customizing room in the hallway opened and people could be heard.

‘Are you a clown?’

I tried my best to pretend to be indifferent and turned my head to check the place.

and….

“uh?”

It hardened like goblin or deer antlers.

Well it wasn’t the mask I expected.

‘queen?’

A mask studded with colorful jewels harmoniously.

The eyes were decorated with various gold ornaments as if they were makeup and the forehead was in the shape of a crown.

And the outfit I chose was a gorgeous red dress.

‘Are you a returning member?’

I suddenly had that thought but I realized it wasn’t true when I saw the Queen Mask greeting me elegantly.

“Oh hello. “It’s my first time so there are a lot of things I don’t know but I’ll ask for your help.”

He was a new member.

***

First new member since I arrived.

Naturally everyone’s attention was focused on her.

Among them the one she was most passionate about was the fox.

“First time? How on earth did you get in? “Have you met the Master too?”

Unlike before when he was completely distracted the fox couldn’t hide his excitement and asked a question.

“Yes well… something like that right?”

As the Queen Mask spoke half-affirmingly the youthful excitement in the fox’s voice grew louder.

“Him! Where is he? No you can just meet. “I have one favor to ask you…”

“I’m so sorry. “I don’t think I can grant that request.”

The queen drew a firm line.

And he smiled and led the conversation in a relaxed manner that was unusual for a new member.

“Anyway then shall we just say things to each other?”

From the first time we meet her the queen speaks as if it were her own home.

She responded as if she didn’t deserve deer antlers.

“The rule is not to use your name.”

“okay! So this is a goblin that’s a fox this is a lion. Hmm then what should I call you?”

“Deer antlers.”

“It’s not just a deer?”

“Your name would have been written on your mask right?”

“ah! It was like that. Then I will become queen? Hehehe.”

So I continued to observe her as her attention was focused on her queen and she was chatting with her members.

Because not everything is covered with just one mask.

Goblins have bronze skin. So I guess she was from Southeast Asia or South America.

So what about this woman?

‘First of all it’s clear that he’s a Westerner.’

Blonde hair sparkling with her blue eyes.

The skin color is very white like that of a white person.

Of course this is all the information that can be known from the outside and even that is not helpful in inferring the identity in this world.

But still I couldn’t take my eyes off.

‘I think I’ve seen it somewhere before…’

A sense of déjà vu blooms without me knowing.

Why on earth do I feel like this?

“Anyway I’m so glad to meet you Fox. As you know there are not many female users right? Oh and Goblin her voice is really good. “It seems like Deer Horn is also very kind.”

As the queen who possessed a tension that made people feel intimidated stared at me the fox quickly added her words and warned her.

“The investigator…”

“excuse me.”

“yes?”

“I know what type of person you are but I think it would be better not to act too friendly to that person.”

“yes? why?”

As the queen tilted her head the fox looked at me and looked embarrassed. Did you think they would overpower it like they did with the Goblins?

Well I might have done it normally.

If I could be freed from that demonic tension with just one hit it would be a huge win.

but….

“Hmm investigator you are very quiet. Let’s talk a lot later when we become friends!”

“….”

I just chewed words and didn’t do anything.

The reason is simple.

I need to save my energy.

‘I guess you came at the right time.’

There is about 1 minute left until admission closes.

Another door in the hallway opened with a squeak.

“Oh I guess there are other members as well?”

For a moment all attention was focused on the queen. The members’ gaze moved in the direction where the shouting was heard.

“Hey! “Many of you survived!”

A clown talking to me from afar in his unique shitty tone.

“Honestly Mr. Goblin just die… huh?”

The jester looked at the queen and tilted her head.

“hello. Can I call you Clown from now on? “I’m really excited because I think he’s a really fun person!”

“…What is it? Who is this frivolous woman?

“I am a new member. “I think he probably came here after receiving a recommendation from his master.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

The clown who was looking at the queen as if observing took a seat. Then she took her attention off her and spoke to me.

“How are you Mr. Fishit?”

It’s a repertoire that has always been there.

This guy always pretended to be friendly with me.

As if she was the only one who could equal her in this position.

“Look forward to it. “I brought a lot of interesting stories this time.”

What an idiot.

“….”

I slowly improved my life.

Originally I would have had to use mind control and have the intention of killing him but this time I didn’t even need to.

‘If it weren’t for this bastard.’

Daria would not have died.

In addition many explorers would have been able to return alive and be embraced by their families.

But how is this kid now?

“Seeing as Mr. Fisht Crescent isn’t there I guess he’s dead?”

I’m splitting it brightly as usual.

Okay so…

“But Mr. Investigator why haven’t you said anything since a while ago?”

She opens her eyes with only one thought filling her mind.

The name is to live sincerely.

“Maybe somewhere… Eup!”

The moment their eyes met the clown grabbed her neck with both hands. Then he suffered as if he had entered a vacuum-like room and soon fell to the floor and wriggled.

“…!”

Members were embarrassed not knowing what the situation was.

I slowly got up from my seat and walked towards the clown.

Then I looked down at him from above.

“That’s it…”

It was a little funny.

He always spoke like an asshole and treated people like assholes as if something had happened.

“It’s like a bug.”

You can’t pretend to be friends from now on you bastard.