Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 595: RPG (3)

Most rifts are divided into chapters.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4...

Usually they end by Chapter 4 or 5, but occasionally there are rifts that go beyond Chapter 7.

Anyway, that’s not the important part.

‘So the city defense I just went through was Chapter 1.’

You could say that when I woke up as the mercenary Bjorn Yandel and fought monsters, that was Chapter 1.

But here’s the key point...

‘Could this be similar to the Doppleganger Forest?’

The 4th-floor rift, Doppleganger Forest.

Back then, the moment we entered, we were locked in iron cages, and only after two other teams entered the rift could we escape and start Chapter 1.

Each of the three teams started Chapter 1 at their own start points and then joined together at Chapter 2...

This maze we just entered fits exactly that type.

“I started in a village-like rural town. The army was in the middle of invading.”

Elwen’s experience of Chapter 1 was different from mine.

It was also a battlefield from the start, but it wasn’t a chapter where she just wiped everything out like me.

“I was at about a tenth of my usual strength... maybe even weaker.”

Elwen, who had an insane debuff from the start, barely managed to escape the village with the help of NPCs nearby.

And then...

“I just kept climbing the back mountain, but monsters kept appearing. Strangely, the soldiers who were following me attacked, but the monsters didn’t attack me.”

Luckily, it wasn’t just a mindless debuff.

“In any case, while wandering the mountain being chased like that, I arrived at this cave. I hid inside... but soon after, a knight found me.”

“Wait, did the knights or soldiers have a symbol like this on their chests?”

Before continuing, I drew the empire’s [N O V E L I G H T] insignia and showed it to Elwen, who nodded. freēwēbnovel.com

“Yes! That was it!”

Damn, the empire really doesn’t leave anywhere untouched.

“Alright, keep telling me. The knight found you, then what?”

“I thought I was done for, but he said he wasn’t here to hurt me, so I felt relieved.”

The knight introduced himself as a friend of my brother.

He gave me a compass and said that if I used it to get through the cave, I could meet my brother.

“He said he wanted to come with me but couldn’t, and that if I waited a few days, he’d send someone to rescue me.”

That was the whole of Elwen’s Chapter 1.

The moment the knight finished speaking, before I could reply, my vision went black.

“But suddenly, I felt a presence nearby... I’m so sorry.”

“No, if you don’t know what it is, stabbing first is the right move.”

“Uh... is that so?”

“Well done.”

I patted her head, and Elwen smiled.

It was an unconscious gesture, but because of her young appearance, it felt a little awkward.

It was like I’d become a barbarian uncle teaching a kid bad things.

“...Anyway, can you show me that compass the knight gave you?”

“Here you go.”

After that, Elwen handed me the compass.

‘So I just have to follow this direction...’

That seemed likely, but first, before setting off, I checked Elwen’s condition.

‘Her equipment’s all gone...’

Unlike me, who came with the Demon Crusher and Aegis Barrier, Elwen was completely unarmed.

Also...

“Her essences and spirits work, but... she can’t use her usual strength.”

Her MP was drastically low, and her output was only about a tenth of her normal state.

The only hopeful thing was [Chaos Circuit], but Elwen hadn’t confirmed that yet.

“I was worried the backlash might be huge, so I managed to regulate and run away.”

[Chaos Circuit] activates when all resources are consumed.

It turns MP infinite for one minute.

In that state, using [Focused Shot] and summoning the Spirit King can unleash tremendous damage for that minute.

‘...Though even fully charged, that’s only about 10% of her usual power.’

Aside from MP, lower stats mean lower multipliers, so damage differs even with the same charge time.

Still, she’d probably outperform most ranged dealers.

‘I should save that for emergencies...’

From various experiments, I found one more unique trait beyond “not being attacked first by monsters.”

“Ugh, ugh...!”

Her wounds don’t heal.

Not simply because her stats dropped and natural regeneration fell.

Potions work differently from stats.

Sssllooowww—

Her skin regenerated so slowly it was hard to believe.

‘This is problematic...’

What if she got stabbed in a bad spot now?

Just imagining it was terrifying.

“Elwen, no fighting from now on. Understood?”

“...Yes?”

“I’ll protect you no matter what, so just trust me and follow quietly.”

“Ah... yes!”

Alright, then, let’s start Chapter 2.

Step, step.

We left the sealed cave entrance and followed the compass deeper into the cave.

That’s when I realized something.

I’d actually thought this since the cave entrance...

“Uncle, this place is kind of...”

“Similar to the first-floor Crystal Cave?”

“Yes.”

There were differences, though.

There were no monsters here at all.

So we moved much more comfortably than expected.

Though just physically—the mind was still extremely uneasy.

‘Nothing’s coming out, I’m getting anxious...’

With such a long time of no stimuli, no matter how hard I tried to stay alert, my senses dulled naturally.

Even while walking, my mind kept drifting.

‘That’s weird...’

Rotmiller taught me scouting.

Naturally, the place he researched the most for speedruns was the first-floor Crystal Cave, and thanks to that, I was sharp on that area too.

Exaggerating a bit, I could tell where I was just by feeling the walls and noticing subtle differences.

So one question came up.

‘Is the maze’s terrain different?’

I guessed we were near the Land of the Dead.

But Elwen said she started in a normal village, not the Land of the Dead.

So what change had occurred here?

‘Will that village turn into the Land of the Dead after some time?’

That wasn’t an entirely absurd hypothesis.

One feature of the Land of the Dead was ruins of stone buildings buried in muddy black soil.

“...That’s troubling.”

“Yes?”

“The compass points west of the Crystal Cave, to the place with the Rocky Desert.”

“Yes, but...?”

Elwen gave me a look like ‘What’s the problem?’

That was probably the normal reaction.

But...

“I’m curious. What about other places?”

I had a feeling that as soon as we find the exit, we’d move on to the next chapter like in Chapter 1, meaning we’d never get to see Chapter 2’s structure.

“Other places?”

“I think something might be hidden at the center. I’m curious how the other exits look.”

“Well... you’ve always been curious, haven’t you?”

More like greed than curiosity.

Who knows what rewards might be hidden?

In Chapter 1 too, if it weren’t for gathering information, I’d have searched every place.

“Well, can’t we just go check?”

“But if there’s nothing there, it’d just waste time.”

“Isn’t that what exploration is all about...?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Having already made up my mind, I changed direction and headed for the center of the cave.

“Is this the place? There should have been a monument here...”

The cave’s very center.

Originally, the monument of Gabrielius should stand here—the same spot where the Witch’s Altar was in the Pilgrim’s Cave.

“Judging by the terrain, it seems we found the right spot, but there’s nothing here.”

Damn, a bust?

“Still, since we came this far, let’s search a bit—”

“Uh... uncle?”

Suddenly, Elwen stopped me, startled.

“I feel... something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“It’s coming...! Over there!”

Elwen pointed toward a wall.

But I didn’t doubt her instincts.

“Step back! Now!”

I moved Elwen behind me, readied for combat, and stared at the wall.

After a moment—

Pop—

A translucent strange creature poked its head shyly out of the wall, looking around quietly.

Our eyes met, and I was speechless.

“...Hamsik?”

Why are you here?

Black eyes, twitching ears.

A moderately protruding chin and front teeth.

Beige fur with a shiny sheen and a plump pink belly.

And adorable little paws.

It was obviously Hamsik.

But...

[Ham... Sik?]

The aura in its tone and voice was confusing.

[Yes, mortals dared to give me such a trivial name...]

A chill ran down my spine.

The moment I sensed it, I accepted it.

This being before me was not the same as Hamsik.

“...Who are you?”

[You are not permitted to ask that, mortal.]

Hamsik coldly brushed off my question and fixed his gaze on Elwen.

[Human girl, do you know your fate?]

“Uh... who are you?”

Unlike my question, Hamsik answered Elwen’s politely.

[I can either help or harm you.]

“...?”

[Pitiable one.]

Hamsik fully stepped out of the wall and walked toward us.

Though his gaze was majestic and heavy with gravity, his gait was unmistakably Hamsik’s.

Biological limits, perhaps?

While I was trying hard to figure it out, Hamsik spoke in a deep voice and revealed important information.

[Human girl, if the pursuers catch you, a terrible disaster will come. But...]

“...But?”

[If you die here by my hand, the world will remain intact.]

He spoke as if there were two choices.

Judging by Hamsik’s eyes, anyone could tell what decision he made.

‘Damn it.’

I came here expecting some loot, but a hidden boss popped out.

[You bear no guilt. You may curse me if you wish—]

I cut off his muttering.

Whether this was Hamsik before he lost his memories or one of his parents didn’t matter.

Whoosh!

I swung my hammer fiercely to block the way.

“Cut the act with that cute face, will you?”

[Cu-cute...? Me?]

Hamsik trembled with a sense of insult.

[Beep! Insolent mortal! How dare you—!]

And so the hidden boss battle began.

To sum it up, Hamsik was strong.

About a Grade 3 monster level.

Probably mid to upper tier among Grade 3s.

But...

[Beep! Let me go! I said let go!]

Hamsik had a fatal flaw.

High durability and regeneration, but long casting times and wide-area skills with low single-target damage.

He specialized in “grind”—using skills designed to overwhelm with numbers...

‘If I’d been a shield barbarian, I might have lacked damage.’

Having switched to mercenary and hammer barbarian, I was able to break through all his defenses and suppress him.

Of course, Elwen’s contribution was huge.

Even under that insane debuff, using [Chaos Circuit] she could hold her own.

‘How is it that she can still out-DPS me in that state...?’

“...Uncle! Are you okay?”

After successfully suppressing him, Elwen came running to me out of breath.

My lowered defense stats had taken a toll on my body.

But thanks to the fierce fight, I learned something important.

“I’m fine. No serious wounds.”

More precisely, serious wounds had already partly healed.

Somehow, after healing to a point, the recovery rate sharply dropped.

‘Is this some mechanism where the more you’re injured, the higher your regeneration?’

Seems like this status effect doesn’t just increase attack and lower defense.

‘If so, it actually synergizes well with [Hero’s Path].’

Anyway, my main concern now was self-feedback.

“Hamsik.”

[My name is not some petty ‘Hamsik’—!]

“Hamsik.”

[...What do you want from me, mortal!?]

I pulled out a small orb, and Hamsik’s eyes went wide.

[How did you get that—!?]

How did I get it?

When I briefly passed out earlier, I found it right in my pouch.

“Enough, just answer. What is this?”

[...]

I don’t remember informing him about Miranda rights.

“If you won’t say, I’ll keep it then?”

I politely asked for consent, but again Hamsik stayed silent.

Was it a treasured item?

“Answer.”

[...]

“Not going to?”

He muttered pitifully.

[I was going to give it... after testing and deciding it wasn’t a pointless death...!]

What the hell is this?

As a gamer who’s seen everything, I was pretty shocked.

[Why on earth do I have to endure this humiliation...!?]

...Could it be that I wasn’t supposed to just kill him?

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