Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Tutorial (3)

As far as [Dungeon and Stone] is concerned, I am an expert.

What kind of monsters come from where, what habits they have, and what their weaknesses are, I know by heart.

Based on this, I made my final decision.

If you combine a barbarian's physique and my knowledge, it's enough to survive in this labyrinth.

At least, at the time, I genuinely believed so.

"Haaa…"

As soon as I entered the labyrinth, my vision went dark.

Not some kind of a metaphor or analogy, literally, I couldn't see anything. It was so bad I probably wouldn't even have noticed if someone covered my eyes with a blindfold.

Yes, there wouldn't have been much of a difference.

"Fuck."

I felt like I'd been ambushed out of nowhere.

All the barbarians had been just carrying the one weapon, so I didn't even have any doubts about this from the start.

There shouldn't have been any need for torches on the first floor.

Because the crystals on the wall act as a light source.

Of course, there's a dark zone on the first floor too, but except for the outermost area that leads to the second floor—

‘Oh, did I fall there now?'

I quickly hypothesized.

When entering the labyrinth, the starting position is set at random.

Of course, just because it's random doesn't mean you'll be thrown into a place like this. Even if you happen to start at the outskirts, there should still always be a shining crystal nearby.

However, this was not the world of the game seen through the monitor.

What if all of those things had been ‘conveniences' the game devs had given to the player?

In reality, what if an unlucky bastard got trapped in the dark zone as his starting point?

If so, could my current situation be explained?

No, it had to be that.

If the entire first floor was like this, I wouldn't have the confidence to survive a single day.

"Hooo… "

Still, I calmed down a bit after organizing my thoughts.

Fortunately, my eyes had adapted to the darkness, so my vision was much better than before. Although, I could still only the vague outlines of objects.

Well, the situation wasn't dire enough to contemplate committing suicide by biting off my tongue, anyway.

Let's go ahead and check things out first.

Since I was finally alone.

"Status window, equipment window, character information, status, inventory. Check journal… damn."

Nothing worked.

Well, I didn't expect it to, anyway.

"Let's go."

One hand holding the shield and the other touching the wall, I moved forward.

Barely faster than crawling.

Well, wasn't that obvious?

Even if it was slower than crawling, I simply couldn't increase my speed any further.

It was dangerous here…

"Aaaaaaah!"

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from my ankle.

It was the first time in my life that I'd felt this kind of pain, making my nerves go crazy. But I quickly figured out the cause.

What the hell was wrong?

Even without a battle log, the answer becme obvious very quickly.

「The character stepped on a goblin trap. 」

Fuck, I'd stepped on a trap.

What was the flaw in my strategy?

There was no need to think too hard.

The shield gave me psychological stability, true.

But in return, it obscured much of my field of view.

If I'd buckled my shield to my belt and focused on observing the terrain, I might've noticed the trap.

What was the use of a shield if you couldn't see anything, anyway?

I had to focus on practicality, rather than peace of mind.

Shit.

"Fuck it… hooo…"

My hair was about turn white from the pain.

I wanted so very much to scream, right now.

But I persevered desperately.

I didn't know if screaming might make me feel better.

But I knew for sure that it'd make the situation worse.

Thump, thump, thump.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

"Huuk, huuk, huuk…"

I pressed my lips together and forced myself to breathe slowly.

What I needed to remember right now was not how badly hurt I was.

There is only one type of monster on the first floor that uses traps.

Goblin.

And there was definitely one lurking nearby.

"…"

I reflexively raised the shield to cover my head.

Then held my breath, focussing on my hearing.

There was no sound. It was so quiet as if time itself had stopped.

… Wasn't there one?

I didn't know for certain.

Maybe. Maybe they'd just left their position for a while, or something like that. Even goblins had to shit sometime.

‘Fuck, I can't think that way.'

I crumpled up that creeping thread of hope like a ball and threw it out of my head.

There were two reasons.

First, there was a difference between thinking positively and being an optimistic idiot.

Second, what I needed right now was a negative mindset.

"…"

If you can't be sure, just assume the worst.

The goblin heard my scream.

It was hiding in the dark, waiting quietly for me to lose my strength.

That's why I didn't hear any sound.

Because, in the game –

If there was a trap, there had to be a goblin.

"Whew…"

I slowly exhaled the breath I'd been holding.

Anyway, it was all very quiet, so as long as you didn't get sloppy, you'd definitely notice others approaching.

First, let's do what I have to do.

"… Huuup!"

Crouch down, pull open the trap with both hands and pull your feet out. Then, after tearing off the hem of the trousers, take off your shoe and apply strong pressure to the wounded area.

I decided to throw away the damaged shoe.

In fact, it was tough to even call it a shoe anymore.

Because what I'd been wearing were closer to sandals.

Damn barbarian bastards.

If I'd started off with even just some simple leather boots on, they wouldn't have needed to be thrown away after a single half-assed trap like this…

‘What the fuck am I thinking?'

I found myself thinking unreasonable thoughts, and my heart went cold.

Let's not mourn the past anymore.

No matter how much you curse, the situation you're facing will not change.

In the end, it was my fault for not checking the terrain properly.

So stop whining, and check your body first.

‘Huh, this is really bad.'

I couldn't feel my right foot anymore.

There was a dull heat, but even that was getting faint.

"I know you're hiding, so come out."

I whispered quietly.

Still, there was no sign of life in the darkness.

So I slowly inched forward.

Step. Step.

One leg was sore, but the pain was not as great as I would expect. Probably because the trap had been soaked in some paralytic poison…

I didn't know if I should call this a good thing.

"Come out, you bastard."

I didn't hesitate to provoke the enemy, and kept moving forward.

Because time wasn't on my side.

If you have to fight, the sooner you get to it, the better.

Injuries were one thing, but I couldn't ignore the possibility that he was waiting for reinforcements.

"Aren’t you coming?"

Of course, these might all just be my delusions, and there might be no goblins here in reality.

Then I'd be a fool who stepped on a trap by himself and followed that up with a full-fledged stand-up routine.

But so what?

Even so, I wanted to survive.

"Then how about you just stay there? I will go."

Speed up.

It was merely a little bit faster than crawling, but right now it felt like running a marathon at full sprint.

One step, then another.

As I was walking, my right foot started to throb.

"Sssspp, haa, haa…"

Two possibilities.

Either the effect of the paralyzing poison had expired, or the pain has become severe enough that the poison was no longer enough to suppress it.

Come to think of it, neither one was a bad outcome for me.

If the effect was over, that was fine.

If I could feel the pain, that was because the nerves were undamaged.

‘No, why am I being so positive about this?'

Well, I didn't really want to think about it.

I didn't have the brainpower to spare.

"… Your mother is a fucking goblin."

Words poured out without any brain-to-mouth filter.

Was it because I'd shed so much blood?

My brain felt parched, as if it'd been dried and pickled in alcohol.

"Your father is also a fucking goblin."

Of course, I kept spitting out words as soon as they came to mind, but my feet did not stop.

"So you are one too, you fucking goblin."

Then, there was a sound for the first time.

It was obviously a small sound, but it was very loud to my ears that'd been perked up in concentration.

Squelch–

Finally, he showed his presence for the first time.

"What, couldn't stand your parents being cursed?"

Of course, I knew that wasn't the case.

It wasn't even a curse in the first place…

The sound came from behind.

It would be more accurate to say that he was forced to make his move since I was getting farther and farther away.

I accelerated further.

The sound of his footsteps also accelerated behind me.

Squelch– squelch– squelch– squelch–

His footsteps sounded unusual.

Every step he took, there was the sound of something sticky pressing and sticking to a smooth surface.

Even though I knew goblins were less than 1m tall as per the setting, I felt a pressure as if a huge monster was chasing me.

To shake off my fear, I kept talking to him.

I was a barbarian, in the end.

If I could just get him into close combat range, there was no way I'd lose to a goblin.

"Don’t just follow me, come have a go. You fucker."

For that reason, I continued to taunt him, but he just kept following me while maintaining a certain distance.

He didn't seem interested in hiding himself anymore.

"Gruck, gruck…!"

It sounded close to a bestial howl, but I could feel it somehow.

"Grurururuck! Gruck!"

He was giggling, now. He was genuinely delighted to see his prey bleeding out and slowly dying. He was hoping I'd hear the sound and be terrified.

… Smart bastard.

Okay, change of plans.

I stopped walking. Then I stumbled and fell to the floor.

Crack!

My forehead, which hit a rock, felt like it was going to split open, but I made no sound.

From now on, it was a battle of patience.

If he thought I was down for the count and approached me first, it'd be my win.

If I really went down before that happened, it'd be my loss.

"Gruck?"

I decided to believe in the toughness of this body that'd managed to walk about 300m with one foot hurt and insensate.

His footsteps sounded closer and closer.

Slow enough to make you yawn.

Despite the fact that his prey had fallen down as he'd expected, he was still suspicious.

‘Fucking crazy, why is this goblin so cautious?'

Swear words came to mind out of nowhere.

Goblins were the weakest mobs in the game. They used poison and installed traps, but apart from that, their combat power was poor.

But what about the goblin you actually encountered in reality?

Squelch–

He wasn't an opponent who could be taken lightly by any metric. I realized why the village NPCs talked about the goblins' cleverness so much.

They were several times more intelligent than those barbarian bastards.

Squelch–

The goblin stopped at a distance somewhere between 5m and 10m.

Why?

I was curious.

A dull shock transmitted from the shoulder.

Thump. Clatter.

What. Now this scumbag was pelting me with stones.

‘… You aren't gonna throw them until I'm just a bloody mess, right?'

"Grurururuck! Gruck!"

Unlike what I feared, the goblin instead spat out a howl of joy.

When I didn't react to the stone at all, he thought I was dead.

Squelch– squelch– squelch– squelch–

He came over to me quickly.

I could feel his excitement from the beats of his footsteps, which were almost skipping.

I calmed my own excitement and counted our distance through the sound. And when I decided that he was close enough –

"Fuck you!"

I jumped up and stretched out my hands towards him.

I'd judged that reaching out with my hands would be faster and have a longer effective range compared to picking up the shield and hitting him with it.

However, I soon had a gut feeling that the plan had gone awry.

Again, there were two reasons.

First of all, I was still about a step away from him.

And second, his movements were much more agile than expected.

"Gruck!"

The guy leaned back from the waist and stepped backwards.

I couldn't see him, but it felt like that.

I instinctively realized that I'd missed my chance.

Damn it, what now? I shook my head and prepared for the next plan.

But at that moment, my body moved by instinct.

"…?"

It was truly a strange feeling.

It was still dark before my eyes.

But I intuitively knew where the goblin was going.

By the time I consciously realized it, my hand was already on track and moving towards him.

"Gruck?!"

I felt him being caught by my fingertips.

Wrist, ankle, neck – it didn't matter.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

I screamed and slammed him to the floor. Crunch! There was the sound of something breaking. But I couldn't feel relieved, so I immediately climbed on top of him.

"Gr, gruck!"

Now things had changed.

"Now I'm up, and you're down. You piece of shit!"

I slugged him in the face like a madman.

There were times when I missed and hit the floor in my excitement, but this barbarian body was much stronger than I had imagined.

Instead of hurting my fists, the stone floor cracked and broke.

"…"

Soon, his movements ceased.

And…

Swaaaaaaaa–!

Dust scattered.

Dust that shined unusually.

I stopped my fists.

At some point, the goblin corpse lying on the floor had crumbled and started scattering into the air.

Really, this was nonsense.

"Haah, fuck, this same thing again?"

Please, I wish I could choose one or the other.

Was this actually a game, or just a similar reality?

I kept getting confused about which beat to go with.

「You have defeated a goblin. EXP +1」

Soon, the goblin's body disappeared without a trace.

Feeling frustrated for some unknown reason, I picked up a small stone that'd fallen on the spot.

「You have acquired a grade 9 mana stone. 」

It wasn't strong, but there was a faint light shining from it.

It was a mana stone, the currency in [Dungeon and Stone].

How much was this worth? A memory soon came to mind.

"A piece of bread."

The average value of the mana stones spat out by goblins in the game.

Some laughter leaked out.

"Kahahahaha…"

Was this the only thing I got from that fucking bastard?

All those complicated emotions became clearer as I calmed down.

Close to that feeling where you end up laughing after crying a lot.

"Kaha, kahahaha."

There's a labyrinth, and there're monsters.

A dead monster will disappear, leaving a drop item.

And in that city out there, all the various races live together.

Obviously, this is that kind of world.

But…

There will be no more confusion.