Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

New Age (1)

New Age (1)

The absolute monarch, the founding king, also known as the Immortal King.

Ravigion III.

After the death of the king who ruled Lafdonia for thousands of years, the newly crowned King of Change implemented many policies to erase the deeply rooted remnants of his predecessor.

One representative example was the revision of the calendar.

One year, thirteen months, 365 days.

To make it easier to calculate the cycle of the labyrinth’s opening, one month was fixed at 30 days, and a 13th month with only 5 days was created to adjust the remaining days.

He also modified the portal to change the last labyrinth cycle of the year to 35 days.

They argued that it wasn’t practical to waste 5 days every year for the sake of intuition.

However, the King of Change steadily gained public favor by holding grand festivals every 13th month, and as the years passed, the controversy subsided as people adapted to the new calendar.

Ah, he also changed the era name twice.

At first, it was taken from the King of Change’s name, but because it was long and difficult to pronounce, the people used the king’s nickname, and naturally, the royal family also started using that name.

And so, time passed—

On the 2nd day of the 5th month of the 154th year of the Change Era…

…seven pillars of fire erupted from each Dimensional Plaza, engulfing the skies above Lafdonia. It was a disaster that would be recorded in history books by the hands of scribes and remembered for a long time.

__________________

“Damn it.”

I grab the side of the bed and struggle to sit up.

And I leave the room, using the crutches I placed next to the bed.

Ugh, damn stairs.

“Bjorn! Why didn’t you call me? Why are you struggling alone?”

Misha, who was cooking on the 1st floor, saw me and came to help.

This really makes me feel like a patient.

Ah, am I a patient?

They said I needed to rest for a month, but I still can’t put strength into my arms and legs properly.

“Here, sit down. This is your first proper meal since we came back, right? I put in some effort today.”

I catch my breath for a moment, holding a spoon, while Misha goes to get Ainar.

‘It’s already been three days.’

Three days have passed since that day.

Of course, it doesn’t feel real.

We had to go to the royal palace and give statements about what happened in the labyrinth on the first day we came back, even though we were all exhausted, and then I just slept after returning home.

‘…Those crazy bastards.’

I still shudder when I remember the moment the pillars of fire erupted.

I can’t believe they were aiming for an empty house robbery.

I never even imagined they would set a trap in the center of the plaza where the Dimensional Gates open.

And in all seven plazas, at that.

‘…What’s going to happen now?’

The damage we suffered was minimal since we exited normally when the labyrinth closed, but the 3rd Royal Knight Order, as well as many large clans, were literally annihilated.

Of course, there were survivors.

Some of them, who were in the outer areas of the center, managed to survive by immediately retreating as soon as the magic circle started glowing.

There were about a hundred of them, I heard.

Ah, for reference, that’s the total number from all seven Dimensional Plazas.

It’s a bit ironic.

[A good commander isn’t someone who makes perfect choices. It’s someone who makes the choices they have to make.]

Those who made the choices they had to make died.

And those who were abandoned survived after fighting desperately for days without proper sleep.

Their positions were reversed overnight.

What would have happened if I had listened to him and abandoned my companions to escape?

“I would have died.”

Misha’s voice came from behind as I muttered those words involuntarily.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“It’s nothing. Where’s Ainar?”

“She’s not budging even if I hit her.”

“She must be really tired.”

“Yeah. I’m just going to make another one when she wakes up.”

Geez, she’s tired too.

Misha took care of everything while we were sleeping, even waking up to cook for us. And she even got me crutches from somewhere.

She’s a companion I can’t help but rely on.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

I came to my senses, staring blankly at Misha, and picked up my spoon.

It tasted like the end of a hard day.

“…What are we going to do about Erwen?”

Misha asked as the meal was almost over.

Erwen went to the fairy sanctuary with her sister’s body after the first day’s investigation.

“Well, she said she would visit us after the funeral, so I’m planning to talk to her then.”

“Hmm, really?”

Misha, who was giving a lukewarm response, suddenly said,

“How about we just bring her here?”

What? Is she testing me?

Or just drawing a line beforehand?

Various thoughts crossed my mind, but it didn’t seem like that kind of tone.

“What do you mean?”

“That… she lived with her sister, right? It will be hard for her to stay there. But I’m a bit worried about having her live alone.”

“So?”

“Well, we can’t enter the labyrinth with six people, but I think it’s right to look after her until she recovers.”

Ah, right, this is the kind of person she is.

I teased her jokingly since I was proud.

“I thought you didn’t like fairies?”

“Eek, what do you take me for? Spit it all out, everything you just ate!”

Misha glared at me, grumbling.

It was a strange feeling.

Just a moment ago, my heart felt heavy with all sorts of thoughts…

“Why are you laughing? It’s creepy.”

“I’m just grateful.”

“…………Ugh, suddenly.”

…but I felt better now.

Misha turned away and gulped down water as if annoyed.

I silently watched her.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the ears and tail on her head, she would just look like an ordinary human.

Her short red hair had grown a bit longer since we first met.

A sharp nose and slightly upturned eyes.

Although you could tell she was a bit of an airhead just by talking to her for a few minutes, she looked cold and arrogant when I first saw her.

“…….”

“…….”

I belatedly realized that it was quiet.

An awkward silence filled the kitchen.

“I…”

That’s when Misha was about to say something…

Knock, knock, knock.

…we heard a knock on the front door.

“I’ll get it.”

“……Okay, I’ll clean up the table.”

I walked to the front door with my crutches and opened it, and a welcome face was standing there.

“Kyle Pebrosk.”

“Haha, it’s good to see you. Did you rest well?”

“I just slept as soon as I came back and just woke up.”

“Then do you have time to talk?”

“Of course. Come in.”

Kyle entered the house as I stepped aside. And he greeted Misha, who was cleaning up the table.

“Oh! Mr. Kyle?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Kaltstein. It seems like I interrupted your quality time.”

“Eek, don’t tease me! We’re not like that.”

“Hmm, you’re not? Then I apologize.”

Kyle apologized as if he really didn’t know.

Misha glanced at me and then turned away and continued cleaning.

So we sat down on the sofa in the living room.

“Actually, I wanted to visit sooner, but as you know, I’ve been busy.”

“I understand. After that incident…”

“Right, that’s right…”

An awkward silence fell as we mentioned that incident.

Misha then placed cookies she had bought on the coffee table and told us to talk comfortably before returning to her room.

“Oh, these are from Ranumus Bakery?”

“Really? It must be a famous place.”

The atmosphere changed thanks to that.

I spoke more comfortably,

“I want to hear about everything, if you have time.”

“We have quite a bit of time until the next schedule, but everything?”

“The Ruin Scholar. What happened with that old man?”

It was a story I was curious about but couldn’t hear.

I woke up right before Day 7 ended, and I had to look after Erwen.

And the Dimensional Plaza that day was pure chaos.

“Ah, you’re talking about that…”

Kyle took a bite of the cookie and started talking.

There were many parts I couldn’t understand since it was a story about a battle between mages, but to summarize…

He lost in a one-on-one.

He was overwhelmed by an overwhelming combination of magic before he could even properly use ‘Awakening’, which he had been preparing for years.

He activated the spell in an incomplete state and managed to inflict some damage…

“I thought I had finally caught up after all that effort, but I was mistaken. No, the gap seemed even wider than before.”

…but Kyle faced a wall.

A wall he could never overcome.

What was even more humiliating was that he survived despite that.

“…He said my talent was a waste. Isn’t that funny? I wasn’t even his opponent. He probably wouldn’t have even taken that much damage if he hadn’t tried to save me.”

Kyle’s expression was filled with shadows when he finished his story.

“It must have been a difficult topic to talk about, thank you for telling me.”

“I thought you should know. You might become their target because of this incident.”

Phew, so he also thinks that way.

“The royal family upgraded the Ruin Scholar’s threat level by one after this incident. He’s right below the captain now. Honestly, I think he should be considered on the same level as the captain after experiencing him firsthand… but they don’t seem to think so, no matter how many times I tell them.”

“They won’t know until they experience it themselves.”

A mage who can pierce through the magic resistance setup I barely managed to complete with a normal attack.

Just how many monsters like that are there in this world?

If we ever encounter him in the labyrinth, we’ll be wiped out in minutes.

“Anyway, I wanted to warn you to be careful.”

Although it seemed like the Ruin Scholar bastard wouldn’t bother coming after me for revenge, considering his personality…

The Clown was a different story.

“What happened to the Corpse Collector?”

“There’s no news yet. I heard he was fatally wounded before you left, but he’s probably alive.”

“…I see.”

The Clown was at least better off.

He lost his army of thousands of corpses.

It would take a long time to recover, so we at least have time to grow.

“Ah, so how many survivors are there?”

“You mean the ones who escaped through Dimensional Gate?”

“Of course. I heard about a hundred people survived.”

Kyle sighed at my words.

“To be precise, 103 people. I’m not sure if we can even call them survivors.”

“What do you mean?”

Kyle then explained, using mage jargon.

To summarize…

“So you’re saying it’s a unique spell with dark magic, so even divine power can’t heal it properly?”

“That’s right. They’re all unconscious right now. We don’t know when they’ll wake up. Or if they even can.”

“Geez, that’s messed up.”

After the talk about the survivors, we had a conversation about ‘that incident’.

How did it even happen?

Kyle, who could be considered a high-ranking official in the royal family, told me everything he knew without hiding anything.

“We were also confused at first. It’s a spell that would take at least a few months to prepare, even if you knew about it, so how could they prepare something like that in the plaza in just one day?”

The question everyone had, including me, on that day.

The answer was simple.

“It turns out they drew the magic circle in the sewers to avoid detection.”

As expected of those underground dwellers, they did it underground.

“According to the investigation, there was nothing wrong with Noark’s barrier. In other words, it means they have a way to come out, or they had people smuggled out beforehand.”

I smiled awkwardly at his guess.

It would probably be the latter.

For example…

‘Amelia.’

A spy from Noark who infiltrated the city.

Until now, it was ambiguous to call her an enemy.

I thought their hatred was directed towards the royal family, not me.

But…

‘I guess it’s right to consider her as an enemy now.’

She would continue working for Noark, and if I’m unlucky, I might lose my life because of it.

Unless I enter Noark.

“Then let’s get to the point.”

“The point?”

“The situation in the city isn’t good. Many of the key personnel who maintain this city are dead. If this continues, the economy will collapse.”

It was something I also expected.

Explorers are miners who extract resources from the labyrinth.

Although knights are strong, they can’t even hold a candle to explorers in this aspect.

But the high-ranking explorers are all dead.

Well, there are some large clans that boycotted…

…and some high-ranking explorers who were observing the situation because they didn’t feel safe even after the identification tags were introduced…

But the real problem was something else.

“They probably won’t enter the labyrinth anymore. At least not until they’re certain it’s safe.”

An unsafe labyrinth.

It’s a ridiculous expression, but I understand.

Less than two thousand explorers returned alive from this cycle.

Who would enter the labyrinth and mine magic stones in this situation?

“…It can’t be helped. Until now, the identification tags and the 3rd Royal Knight Order reassured the explorers, but now the truth has been revealed.”

The knights, who said they would protect us from Noark in the labyrinth, opened Dimensional Gates with the large clans. And they abandoned tens of thousands of explorers and escaped.

“It’s shameful, but someone even said this during the meeting. That it might have been better if there were no survivors at all.”

I smiled bitterly at Kyle’s words.

The more I experience it, the more I realize it’s a cruel world.

Well, nothing changes by complaining.

“So now I have to be wary of the royal family on top of the Ruin Scholar and the Corpse Collector?”

“Haha, there’s no way.”

Kyle waved his hand at my concern, which was half-joking.

“You wouldn’t know since you were just staying at home, but you’ve become a very important person to the royal family.”

“…Explain in detail.”

“Your story is spreading among the survivors who were with you on that journey. In a few days, there probably won’t be anyone in this city who doesn’t know who you are. You’re practically a saint who put the Corpse Collector in that state all by yourself!”

“…Alone? Please, don’t spread that rumor.”

“You’re a humble one.”

No, it’s not humility, it’s because I’m burdened.

I’m just a good guy who worked hard at the front.

It would be different if it were just that, but this is a fame I can’t handle.

If we’re talking about fighting alone, it was actually the Clown.

He was pushing back the main force, which consisted of hundreds of mid-level explorers, with his corpse army even while fighting our team.

‘Come to think of it, he’s a real monster.’

I organized my fleeting thoughts and returned to the main topic.

“So what does that have to do with the royal family? There are countless explorers at my level.”

“But there aren’t many symbolic explorers like you.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“There’s already distrust towards the royal family, isn’t there? It’s obvious that this incident will be the trigger. The royal family judged that if you become their rallying point, it might spread into a huge fire…”

Damn it.

“…Huh? Why that expression?”

I answered honestly,

“Because it sounds like you’re saying they’ll eliminate me.”

It was my 100% sincere thought.

But Kyle just laughed, as if he knew about my concern.

“Don’t worry. They’ve already decided on how they’ll treat you during the meeting.”

They’ve already decided?

Ah, so that’s why he said I didn’t have to worry about the royal family?

“Stop beating around the bush and tell me. It seems like that’s why you came today.”

Kyle smiled, as if he was proud of himself, and continued,

“Congratulations. You’ll be receiving a very, very, very big reward soon.”

The royal family decided to give me a carrot.