Surviving the Game as a Barbarian – 423



Episode 423: Like ice (3)

Elder Lich’s active skill [Soul Extraction].

The effect of this skill is simple.

If it is a skill acquired with essence or a skill cast by an Elder Lich encountered in a general field.

“The character falls into [faint] state.”

The fainting is over.

Please note that this applies only to designated targets not wide-area attacks but it is also possible to counter it using mental power anti-magic power and other skills.

but….

“The Glacier Wizard Cariathea guides the extracted souls to the chest of punishment.”

In the case of this [soul extraction] it is a little different.

In the game it was not only impossible to prevent [soul extraction] in any way except when it was outside the range…

It is not a simple fainting but an unusual situation is created.

Just like this.

Flash-!

The moment I opened my eyes what I saw was a crystal cave.

And it was a man illuminated by a soft purple light.

“Look here.”

he asks holding a hammer covered in goblin blood.

“Are you looking for a friend for the night?”

Race is human.

Age is estimated to be early thirties.

He is a little over 180 cm tall and has a good-natured and warm appearance.

‘… His feet were relatively large for his height.’

Anyway it was a face like this.

I thought it had become a blur in my memory now but when I actually saw it it came back to me.

Soon the man smiled and revealed his name.

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“Oh I didn’t introduce myself. “My name is Hans.”

Commonly known as Hans A.

He is the starting point of all Hans and a person for whom I am grateful who taught me the attitude with which I should live in this world.

He gave me a hammer a compass a canteen and shoes as gifts when I saw him for the first time helping me evolve from a barbarian into a civilized person.

“But why did you kill me?”

He suddenly asks with a devilish look on his face.

Blood is flowing from the red bloodshot eyes.

But so what?

“Well I guess I got killed because I did something worth dying for right?”

“You could have forgiven me.”

“Forgive me….”

“I had a daughter and a wife.”

Yeah that…

“know.”

How could you not know?

I saw a family portrait in your bag that was taken from me at that time.

She was a young girl about three years old and his wife who looked a few years younger than him.

but….

“When you saw that did you… regret killing me?”

I answered without any hesitation.

“no.”

It is sincere without a single lie.

So why do you regret it?

“If I go back to that time I will kill you just the same.”

“….”

“Anyway I wouldn’t have been the first target of looting right? “I guess those people didn’t have a family?”

Even if it wasn’t that way in the first place that’s true.

Is there an orphan in this world without a story?

“don’t worry. There was no problem living without mom and dad. Your wife and your daughter will too.”

The source is me.

So you can trust it.

Kwasik-!

There was no point in talking further so I immediately rushed at him and smashed his head with a light tap with the demon crusher.

But what is this again?

“…You’ve changed. “You weren’t like that back then.”

Hans A who has only his chin left opens his mouth and continues the conversation in a calm tone.

“…huh?”

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What is this? It’s scary.

[Soul Extraction] Was there something like this in the pattern?

Wasn’t it just the part where the characters you killed so far came out and attacked me?

A production never seen in a game.

“But what do you mean by changed?”

I was curious about what he meant so I asked him and he giggled.

“You were so nervous when you killed me.”

“Yeah so?”

“There’s no emotion anymore.”

“aha!”

“I’m sure you will continue to be like that. Even if someone’s precious parents are killed daughters and sons are killed and a family is destroyed. Everyone will tolerate it. Just because the target was your enemy.”

Speak very harshly.

I wonder if I accepted the conversation for no reason but I learned at least one thing for sure.

“You know this too right?”

This guy reads my mind.

“You are becoming a monster.”

So it pierces the deepest part accurately.

“Of course the target up until now was the enemy so he would have been able to deceive himself. “I’m not a monster yet.”

Kwasik-!

I hit him on the chin with a hammer but his voice did not stop.

[but.]

“Ha do you see how tough it is?”

[Unless it is an enemy.]

[If the person who has to die in order to live is someone who has done nothing wrong.]

[No if it is a colleague you wanted to protect more than anyone else.]

[Then what do you think?]

I didn’t answer.

Because I know it’s meaningless.

Because the source of this voice was inside me.

[You have already become a monster.]

To survive.

Doubts and anxiety that I have hidden in a corner of my heart and completely ignored.

[No different from the monsters you killed.]

“….”

[You are already from here.]

With those words Hans A became light and disappeared.

***

My uncle was clearly a useless person.

He is a gambling addict who cannot possibly have a decent job.

When he won money he gave me a considerable amount of pocket money but on the contrary when he lost money he became violent and made me the target of his anger.

However as the saying goes there is something to be learned if you look for the rocks on the next mountain.

So did his uncle.

Even thinking about cancer it wasn’t something I would say to an 8-year-old child whose father passed away less than a year ago…

If you have to roll the dice anyway.

Does he throw dice on a board he made himself rather than playing on a board made by someone else?

That advice engraved deep in my mind has been of great help in living in this world.

Therefore…

plod trudge.

Walking through a crystal cave.

It is not a real space.

A virtual space where I was dragged unconscious due to [Soul Extraction].

‘I didn’t know it was set in a crystal cave.’

For reference the background was always different in the game.

There were times when I woke up not in a labyrinth but in a royal palace or other places such as the rocky desert on the 2nd floor the Tower of the Sky on the 4th floor and the Great Sea on the 6th floor.

So what are the conditions for selecting a background?

‘Maybe it’s the most impressive space.’

It is a reasonable guess.

It was here that I almost died after stepping on a trap that I met Erwen and that I killed my first person.

You will never be able to forget the hardships you went through when Berzak the Lord of the Abyss was summoned.

Tuk.

I hurriedly opened my body at the sound of someone coming from behind and saw three people with familiar faces.

A mustachioed man holding a shield.

A blonde spearman with a tall physique.

and….

“Ki hee hee hee hee!!!”

A woman in a priest’s uniform laughing with her head half crushed.

It’s called (old) Elisa Half Head Mode.

“Hey it’s been a while for you too.”

Unlike Hans A they immediately attacked me without even trying to start a conversation.

and….

Kwasik Kwasik Kwasik-!

Within 10 seconds it all turned into a halo of light.

So what level am I now and how many essences have I consumed? It was a difficult enemy at a low level but now there is no difference from goblins.

In the sense that it is dealt with equally.

“Huh… So how many people are left now?”

I woke up in the crystal cave and once again counted the number of enemies I killed but I’m not sure what happened.

Well you can’t remember how many pieces of bread you ate right?

I can’t even tell you exactly how many people I’ve killed so far because I was an explorer and killed like I was eating.

‘…I think I remembered it before.’

What Hans A said feels even more weighty.

Actually I didn’t even remember his face until I met him here again.

To be exact I completely forgot about it.

“Elisa. “This person was so impressive that I remember him clearly…”

What was the spearman’s name?

Taser gun? Dyson? What kind of name was it…

As I remembered the names of the trio I had just defeated I immediately flinched.

This is because the name of the mustachioed man came to mind.

“Hans Argo.”

For reference the Hans code I gave was C.

“Nimiral.”

I’m just now thinking about it but does that mean I have to meet all the Hans I killed from now on?

A shiver runs down my spine.

This is not One Hans hell.

‘How many Hans have I killed so far?’

Fortunately when I looked back one by one I actually killed only a few people.

Should I say that it wasn’t long ago that I hit the last blow?

Hans E whom I met in the sewers while tracking Elisa used it as a meat shield when the trap was triggered.

It was Erwen who killed Hans J the wizard who betrayed us on Farune Island and the rest of us met only once and parted ways.

Except for just one person.

“My name is Hahans Krysen…”

Hans G the evil spirit summoner who was killed in the Doppelganger Forest.

Wow this is what it looks like.

Should I hit the hawk first?

“Why did you… kill me? “We are professional players like Gaga…”

Hans G who appeared from a side road with his soul’s best friend the fairy archer was speaking in a strange way.

Is that why you’re stuttering here too because that’s the most memorable scene?

Well the shock at that time was big.

“I didn’t even betray you! “Because that guy revealed that he was just an evil spirit—!”

So what should I do?

Kwasik Kwasik-!

Before the conversation continues I dash in and break his head.

A savage way of living in the world much more comfortably.

Afterwards as I was wandering around the cave I reconstructed the memories of the people I had killed in my life and attacked them in their recreated form.

“Now you know! Why did I have to become a plunderer! “There was nothing I could do in that damn place!”

Gencia Naprin the player I killed in the Glacier Cave.

I didn’t know at that time.

No I hadn’t thought about it exactly.

I’m sure there will be some players who start from Noark.

“They said it was a city mistake but that’s all it was! asleep! “Die!”

A trio of religious figures who attacked Team Banpuni after being manipulated by the tongue of Elisa a priest of Karui and were reunited in the hut and killed by me.

While killing these guys I truly realized.

The more you shed the grime of being a modern person the more you will be able to live like a human here.

Kwasik Kwasik Kwasik-!

In addition numerous looters encountered in the labyrinth showed up spreading their resentment.

Most of the guys I met in the beginning had their heads blown off with one hit but the guys in the second half were different.

Fuuuuuu-!

Lighthouse keeper of Orculis.

Whoa!

A knight I met in Noark in the past.

“In the end I was trying to help you!”

Pike Neldine was executed on charges of treason during the expedition.

Each one was not scary but as the number of them increased the burden on my body increased.

It’s like the weight of sin.

“I… killed so many people…?”

At least a few hundred people.

That’s also the number of lives I directly killed.

but….

“Yeah it worked out better.”

If I’m like this how bad can the Noark bastards and the Rose Knights be?

We continue to move forward using the misfortune of others as motivation.

plod trudge.

Into a dark cave where there is no destination.

Endlessly.

***

“Defeat the last enemy.”

“The character’s [faint] status will be lifted.”

“The Glacier Wizard punishes the vengeful spirits who failed to achieve their purpose.”

「A random penalty is given until the labyrinth is closed.」

***

When I opened my eyes I was being dragged.

My legs were being held by someone and my back was rubbing against the cold sharp ground.

“Ugh…! “This person doesn’t even have any gear on so why is he so heavy?”

Voice of Sven Farab.

Yes you were dragging me along.

‘If you look at the fact that it’s not glacier snow you’re halfway to success…’

I looked around while being dragged.

Strange phenomena that had never been seen before were occurring.

“Uuuuu…!!”

“Haa… haa… haa….”

Priests and wizards were struggling to move while carrying the unconscious physical explorers on their backs.

I first checked the watch on my waist.

‘About 15 minutes….’

Phase 2 started and I was passed out.

“Parabh let go now.”

“uh? “Are you awake?”

“okay.”

I couldn’t be a burden anymore so I quickly came to my senses and stood up. And Sven Farab was instructed to carry someone else.

“Priest Orman! Thank you for your hard work. From now on I will carry the person behind me. Please help someone else out there. “It will be better if we do it together.”

“Whoa… I’m sorry. Paladin Parav must be having a hard time too.”

“Haha this is nothing.”

Soon I got up from my seat and my vision became clear so I quickly glanced around to understand the situation.

‘Two priests three wizards two magicians one melee attack two paladins and one archer.’

A total of twelve people including me woke up from a faint.

Even if each person takes charge of only one person the number remains but the conditions are so bad that there are cases where one warrior carries two or three people.

The reason is very simple.

It’s not for nothing that I consider the [Soul Extraction] pattern to be a gamble.

‘Are Erwen and Amelia still together…?’

First he took over the two limp people and draped them one by one over his shoulders. And then he approached Jun who was moving while being carried by Futa Rickerburn.

“June.”

“…Are you awake?”

As I approach Jun raises his head while being carried by Futa Rekerburn.

He said as if he was embarrassed.

“Unfortunately I lost the use of one leg.”

A random penalty inflicted upon coming out of a stun state. This penalty is completely random and if you’re lucky you’ll just not feel the taste but if it’s severe one character will become an asshole like now.

This is probably the case for all people who are conscious but are carried on a piggyback.

“Yandel are you okay?”

“First of all… nothing seems to have changed right now.”

“I’m glad you’re safe. really.”

“When did you wake up? “I would like to receive a situation report.”

“This is the fifth time.”

“It’s faster than expected?”

Jun smiled bitterly at the thoughtlessly muttered words.

“There are only a few priests of Karui who I personally killed while working as an Inquisitor. Most of them were ordinary people without power. Thanks to that it was easy to deal with him there.”

“I see….”

It didn’t seem like he was particularly looking for words of comfort so he quickly got to the point.

“I want to hear what happened while I was passed out.”

“The first to wake up were Priest Orman and Priest Periton Eriavosti. “They really are people who don’t have a drop of dirty blood on their hands.”

Well you don’t know that.

Due to the nature of the job the priest himself has a chance of being dealt a last blow.

‘Even when we fought in the snow of a glacier the last blow was always struck by someone else.’

“However since the two of you couldn’t move us all we waited and started moving when enough people woke up to make movement possible.”

“How long has it been since then?”

“It’s 11 minutes.”

“Were there any others awake at that time?”

“Before we left no one from Noark or the Rose Knights had woken up but we don’t know what will happen now.”

Yes that’s right….

Not bad.

“Yandel it was just as you said. “I tried attacking them while they were unconscious just in case but it didn’t work.”

That’s because those who faint while Phase 2 lasts are invincible.

At that time Cariadea does not attack either.

The boss battle resumes 30 minutes after [Soul Extraction] was cast.

Anyone who does not return after that time will die.

Even if he died in it.

‘Even if Erwen is like that will Amelia… be okay?’

I am very worried but I have no choice but to believe.

Putting aside the problems for which there was no immediate solution I checked on the other members one by one.

There were a total of three people who suffered major penalties.

Jun becomes crippled.

James Collar a blind archer.

Old Didi his right hand turned gray and hard as a stone.

I don’t know what penalty the fainted crew will face when they wake up but for now that’s it.

underneath….

‘What am I?’

What penalty would be applied to me?

As I walked and checked various things I soon had no choice but to grit my teeth.

Crackling….

Of all the penalties I couldn’t believe I got this one.

“The use of the character’s active skills is restricted.”

Is this the curse of the Hans we met in the cave?