Surviving the Game as a Barbarian – 5



Episode 5 Give and Take (1)

Looking back I was a really funny person.

Although I always thought life was boring I never once thought about killing myself.

In the end the feeling of boredom was just an emotion and to me life was more precious than anything else.

I thought it didn’t make sense in many ways.

That thought still remains.

Therefore…

***

Crawling in the darkness on three legs.

You might be wondering what that means but it’s literally true.

Currently I am crawling on the floor on three feet dragging my right foot which is completely ruined.

If someone were to look at me now they would definitely think of an abandoned dog with a broken bone.

How do you know?

‘Because that’s what I’m thinking right now.’

The price of giving up human dignity was sweet.

First of all it doesn’t hurt because you don’t have to use your injured foot and your moving speed is actually faster than before.

Above all there is no need to step on a trap.

As a side note my elbows and knees hurt but this is it…

It’s quite bearable. It can be endured.

What can’t you do to survive?

I can eat dog poop with a smile.

Well… it’s definitely possible if you just give yourself time to prepare your mind.

‘But what happened to that guy?’

‘Mister’ is just a word I added.

I don’t know that person’s gender age or name.

I can only infer it from the tone of voice.

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For some reason I think it was a white man in his 30s wearing glasses.

Or not.

“[Bleeding] continues.”

Anyway what happened to the person who woke up in the body of Oreum the son of Kadua? Could he be dead? Or did he wake up in his original body again?

This is a question I’ve had since I opened my eyes.

Even if I intentionally try not to think about it the more shit the situation gets the more I think about that guy.

“[Bleeding] continues.”

I think I understand why humans believe in religion.

Reality is too difficult to live alone.

When despair sets in you need a place to turn. Just like I am right now.

“[Bleeding] continues.”

“[Bleeding] continues.”

「Warning: Your character’s health is below 5%. If not treated quickly the character may die.”

Afterwards I crawled while thinking about something else and came quite far.

It’s a subtle difference but I feel like the surroundings are getting brighter.

In many ways this is a positive situation.

At least it means that I went in the right direction and that my hypothesis that the entire first floor couldn’t be this dark was correct.

Let’s somehow get to a bright place.

Because there will be people there. Let’s ask for help by giving this magic stone. And then somehow…

‘You’re fucking funny.’

As I was whispering positive words to myself and giving myself a carrot my alter ego appeared.

‘Hey you idiot they’re busy but I’ll help them out in exchange for a piece of bread. ‘Maybe if I just take the magic stone and shield and kill him.’

Is it because I am?

This kid is smart.

‘What would you do if you met a goblin cub before a human in the first place? Do you have no brain? huh?’

As the main owner I cannot tolerate any more insults.

‘You idiot what are you going to do then? Still I have to go first. At least you can see the future from there. Even if goblins pop out wouldn’t it be better than fighting here?’

‘…That’s right.’

My alter ego nods and his mind becomes quiet again.

I kept crawling.

“Hehehehe….”

I feel like I’m going crazy.

No I might already be crazy.

Is it natural that this much blood was shed?

Since a while ago my self has been splitting into two coming back together and then becoming dull again and again.

It’s a kind of virtuous cycle.

If I become dull any further I will definitely not be able to open my eyes again.

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“Hehehehe….”

I laughed out loud.

I didn’t have the energy to do that but I still laughed.

Suddenly the surroundings became bright.

I saw a crystal shining brightly at the end of the passage in the distance.

Above all I could see the shape of a person standing in front of me backlit.

It’s not that I saw the goblin wrong.

An unmistakable human shape.

“Do… wow….”

I want to shout something but my voice doesn’t come out.

I desperately crawled and closed my eyes.

Then what is this?

The human figure got closer. As if there was a teleportation.

Surprised by that fact I closed my eyes again.

“[Bleeding] continues.”

This time it was closer.

About five or six people were standing in front.

You didn’t see it wrong right? I closed my eyes again and opened them.

「Achievement achieved」

Condition: Vitality drops below 2%.

Reward: Your sanity is permanently increased by +1.

Then I saw a blond man bending his knees.

Our eyes met right in front of his nose but he just observed me and the surroundings with a strange look and didn’t ask anything.

Rather than listening to what others say you are making a judgment based on your own experience and intuition.

As a veteran he came to a conclusion quickly.

“You’re a beginner.”

Fuck you help me.

As you can see I’m a shitty barbarian with nothing but a shield and all I have other than that is a goblin magic stone in exchange for a leg.

If you want I’ll give you everything. therefore….

“It’s suspicious. “How did a beginner get here faster than us?”

I quickly opened my mouth. But what came out was a sound similar to boiling phlegm.

“Grrr….”

No to be honest it seems more similar to the sound a goblin made…

It was enough to let me know that I was unable to answer.

Soon the blonde asked his colleague.

“Priest Ersina. “Can you please treat me?”

fuse? Could it be that there is a priest in the party?

I looked to the side with the eyes of a sentient being who had just experienced a miracle. Then there was indeed a red-faced goddess wearing a white robe.

Goddess Guan who made eye contact with me spoke clearly with her beautiful lips.

“I refuse.”

huh? what?

“okay. All right.”

Why do you agree again?

It was sad. I didn’t know why I was brought here and treated like this.

It was a moment when anger welled up in my heart.

“Can you give me a potion called Parts?”

“Is this just in case you can’t use your divine power?”

“You have a lot anyway. “I will pay the price separately.”

“Tsk.”

Only then did her man who had one of her swords on her waist click his tongue and take out a potion from her bag and throw it.

Her heart sank as she said that was my life.

Tuk.

Fortunately the blonde caught the potion properly.

“It’s not divine power so it’ll hurt a little.”

The blonde opened the cap and sprayed half of it on the wound and poured the other half directly into her mouth.

Soon I felt unbearable pain.

Is this kind of pain when pain that has been accumulated in the body without realizing it comes all at once?

“The body regenerates quickly due to the recovery effect.”

Her whole body seems to be melting.

This was the reason why potions were not allowed to be used during battle in the game.

I thought it was just blocked by the system but it turns out that it reflects reality very well.

Shit.

“Heo heo heo heo….”

How many minutes have passed?

The pain gradually subsides and I come to my senses.

“Now will you tell me Barbarian? How did you a beginner in the subject get here before us? “If you know of a new route I want to buy the information.”

Was that really the purpose?

I don’t feel bad. On the contrary I feel relieved to think that they treated me well for a purpose.

Because there is nothing more sinister than good intentions without reason.

Still I feel sorry for some reason.

I don’t know about secret passages or anything.

“…I was here as soon as I entered the labyrinth.”

She honestly told it like it was.

The blonde tilted her head and then nodded with an expression of understanding.

“Definitely… I’ve read about it in writing. “Sometimes that happens due to dimensional instability.”

My heart was pounding loudly.

I asked back as if I had misheard.

“This is your first time seeing this…?”

I couldn’t believe it at all.

Well this party has a priest and a wizard. This means that they are proper people who are active in at least the middle class or higher.

But this is your first time?

“Yeah the book says it’s a case that may or may not come up once every 100 years. “Falling to the outermost reaches like this”

Oh I see. It’s something that only happens once in 100 years. And that’s what I experienced the moment I first entered the labyrinth.

Now I understand why other barbarians don’t carry torches.

Doesn’t anyone worry about being struck by lightning just because it’s raining?

“It looks like it was my first time traveling but it must have been a disaster to experience such a rare event.”

The blonde looks at me with pity.

“It wasn’t the information I wanted but it was still an interesting story. “Let’s go without thinking about the cost of the potion.”

He may be a bit clumsy with his words but he seems to be basically a good guy.

“By the way I also took the shield that fell over there.”

When I look where the blonde is pointing I see a shield on the ground. The distance is about 20m. I was told that I would tie it around my waist but it seems to have slipped down.

“Then let us go.”

They passed me by without me even having a chance to say thank you.

In the labyrinth time is money so it’s not something you can’t understand.

No it’s almost a miracle that he even took this much time for me in the first place.

After looking at the spot they left for a moment I quickly ran over and picked up the shield that had fallen on the floor.

I’m sure I’m glad I survived…

Still something felt strange.

***

「Bjorn Yandel」

Level: 1.

Body: 25 / Spirit: 36 (New +1) / Ability: 1

Item Level: 24

Total Combat Index: 68 (New +1)

***

“That barbarian from earlier is lucky.”

“Well wouldn’t it be a bit ambiguous to say I was lucky? “I experienced something like that in my first trip…”

When the blonde smiled vaguely and answered the male prosecutor snorted.

“For someone who would step on a goblin trap it would have been the same even if this hadn’t happened. “You’re lucky that we met in the first place.”

“To be exact you probably met dross not us. “You didn’t even bother to use the potion right?”

When Archer Yeo who had been quietly listening intervened Prosecutor Nam shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s because people like that are widespread. I can’t survive for long anyway. “I’m sure our priest had the same thoughts as me right?”

The priestess smiled bitterly and did not respond and the female archer shot instead.

“Ersina would have treated me too if it weren’t for the temple’s rules. No if you didn’t have the potion you might have broken your own rules. “Do you think everyone is like you?”

“Well you don’t know that. “I’ve seen so many different sides.”

“…Parts you need to imitate the dross at least a little bit.”

“For example you were so considerate as to ask me if I knew about the secret passage?”

“yes. I heard that barbarians don’t appreciate help from others. “Maybe that’s why they were so considerate.”

“…I think you’re giving me too much lift?”

The blonde smiled awkwardly and scratched her head as the topic turned to herself.

However he also did not deny the word consideration.

“Ah if you want to take the shortcut you have to turn here.”

“As expected it’s convenient to have a guide in the party.”

“Ersina! Usually guides only know the direction to the portal. This is just because Drows are great. “Because I memorized all the geographical features on the first floor.”

The male prosecutor who was looking at the female archer shook his head.

“But how far do those blood stains continue? “Have you already walked quite a bit?”

“well. “But judging by your mental strength to crawl this distance I think you’re wrong in saying that I was just lucky.”

“Huh what kind of big deal is this?… Anyway it would end up being around here.”

The group that was following the blood trail took a shortcut. And after about 15 minutes we reached our destination.

“It looks like we were the first to arrive on this route. It’s worth the rush. Come on let’s make it work.”

When the blonde placed her hand on the monument located in front of the dead end road an intense light burst out and took the shape of a sphere.

It was a portal leading to the second floor.

“Wait a minute.”

Everyone was about to throw her body into the portal but Archer Chayeo stopped her group.

“Isn’t that what the barbarian was wearing earlier?”

“what?”

After checking the direction pointed by the female archer the group all became silent for a moment.

In the darkness revealed by the light emitted from the portal there was a blood-stained trap and an unidentifiable sandal.

“…I guess that’s right.”

The wizard made an interesting expression and created a new sphere of light and moved it across the passage.

Huuuuuung-!

The blood trail that started from the trap continued along the curved passage.

No matter how much I move the sphere of light I can’t even guess its end from here.

There was silence for a moment.

“…Hey Drous how long does it take to get from here to where we were before?”

“…assuming no shortcuts are used it will probably be 15km.”

“Hehehe you have a body like a monster. “To crawl that far away alone in this darkness.”

The wizard just laughed as if he was surprised.

However the male prosecutor next to him could not do that.

“…You’re out of your mind.”

He felt that this was a problem of the mind not the body. He thought about it.

‘…If I were in that situation how many hours would I have been able to crawl? ‘When you’re not even sure you’ll be able to meet someone and get help?’

I don’t know.

But what is certain is that the barbarian was crawling when we first discovered it. He continued to move his arms and legs seemingly unconscious.

What happened next?

He threw his hands up unable to speak properly.

In his hand was a small magic stone.

I didn’t think much of it at the time but now I think I know what that action meant.

‘I guess he was asking for help by giving me this.’

Because I have nothing else to offer in return.

So the barbarian held his magic stone tightly in his hand while crawling the long distance. So that if I ever meet someone I can show them right away.

Soon the man came to a conclusion.

“…I guess I should take back what I said earlier.”

Just got lucky?

People like that die early anyway?

Is that possible?

He knows from long experience.

“Drous what was the name of that barbarian?”

A crazy guy like that just won’t go away.

No matter how difficult and despairing the present moment may be.

Because death is never an escape.