Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Gnometree (4)

At first, I thought it might be the GM again.

But if it were the GM, he wouldn’t borrow the same face he used before.

And the atmosphere emanating from the knights and the people around him was completely different.

In short, this guy was…

‘The real Hans A.’

Not the GM pretending to be Hans A., but the real Hans A.

Therefore, there was only one thing I had to do.

“…….”

“I have to apologize…”

…and ignore him, clenching my teeth as if I didn’t hear him.

And…

Tadat.

…I run.

“Wh, why are you running…!”

“Woo! I suddenly feel like running!!”

“Th, this…”

The real Hans A. was flustered by my mindless dash.

But there was no way I would stop.

“Behel—laaaaaaaaaa!”

The distance between us widened quickly, and he didn’t follow me.

Fortunately, he didn’t have that much tenacity.

‘…Did I avoid him?’

I reached the front of the annex in one breath and tried to calm my pounding heart.

I only heard his voice, I didn’t see his face.

Thanks to that, we didn’t make eye contact, and I held my breath, so the probability of air contamination was low.

…This should be enough.

Right, it will be fine.

“Welcome back, sir.”

A servant greeted me as I was catching my breath in front of the annex.

And as I entered…

“Nyaha, Bjorn, you’re back!”

…Misha greeted me with an excited expression.

It was the High-Tension (Alcohol) Mode.

Erwen, who was sitting quietly next to her, wasn’t much different.

“Mister… Hehe, hihihi!”

She called me in a gloomy voice and then let out a creepy laugh.

‘What’s going on here?’

The living room was filled with empty bottles, and the smell of alcohol was strong.

‘It hasn’t even been an hour since I left…?’

What happened here?

I looked around like a detective and then realized that Ainar wasn’t there.

“Where’s Ainar?”

“The warrior-nim is sleeping after getting drunk.”

It was the servant of the annex who answered my question.

I asked for her location, and it turned out to be the central courtyard of the annex, not a room.

Snore!

Ha, seriously.

I carried Ainar to her room and threw her on the bed, then came back down. Misha was chugging from a bottle, as if she was enjoying herself.

“Keuh…!”

I cautiously approached Misha, sensing a strange danger.

“Did something happen while I was gone?”

Although she had gotten drunk after drinking a little at our team drinking parties, this was the first time I saw her chugging like this.

“Something? Nyaha, something, my ass!”

“But why are you drinking so much…?”

“I just drank because I was happy!”

“I, I see?”

She drank because she was happy.

It seemed like I was worrying for nothing.

Her body must have felt refreshed after the hot spring, and there was good alcohol next to her for free.

There was no reason for her not to drink.

“Right, at first…”

Misha’s expression turned serious as she wiped the alcohol from her lips with her sleeve.

I involuntarily averted my gaze.

Erwen, who was sitting on the sofa with a relaxed posture, caught my eye.

For reference, she was staring blankly into space…

“Hehehe…”

…and giggling for some reason.

Is laughing her drunken habit?

“Hey, Bjorn.”

Misha grabbed my wrist and spoke.

“Uh, yeah?”

“About you rejecting me that day.”

Uh… she’s bringing that up now?

It was an uncomfortable topic, but the atmosphere wasn’t right for me to refuse.

Misha then bit her lip and asked,

“Was it because I can’t give birth to barbarians?”

Huh? What?

Did Ainar say something strange?

My mind went blank for a moment, but my barbarian body was good at dealing with crises.

“There’s no way.”

My mouth opened without hesitation.

And it wasn’t a lie.

The reason I rejected Misha that day wasn’t because I wasn’t attracted to her or because she was a beastman.

I had a reason I had to keep to myself.

“Right, that’s right…”

Misha, who was staring into my eyes as if trying to discern the truth, then opened a new bottle and chugged it.

And…

“Then it must be…”

…she looked at me and then looked away, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, and then muttered,

“You… will… disappear someday… disappear…”

Misha trailed off and then lowered her head.

“Nyahaaan…”

As expected, she was way past her limit.

I let out a sigh I had been holding back and hugged Misha.

And I carried her to her room and laid her down on the bed.

Erwen was smiling when I returned to the living room.

“They’re finally… all asleep…”

What is she talking about?

“Go to sleep if you’re drunk.”

‘Neck Slice.’

“…Okay.”

I roughly knocked her out and threw her next to Misha.

___________________

It was late at night, and midnight was approaching.

Although I thought about cleaning up the empty bottles that were scattered around…

…I decided to just leave them.

It wasn’t my house.

They would clean it up after I left.

“Ha…”

I collapsed onto the sofa, which was a bit small for me.

My mind was racing.

It was because of what Misha said at the end.

[You… will… disappear someday… disappear…]

I knew what she was going to say.

She was probably going to ask if that was why I rejected her.

Of course, she wasn’t certain that I was an evil spirit.

No, she was probably more inclined to believe that I wasn’t.

She had seen me receive an oracle.

This was a city where it was known that evil spirits were the enemy of God.

But for God to help an evil spirit and even give him a sacred relic?

It didn’t make sense according to the world’s common sense.

It was just a sliver of anxiety that had taken root in her mind and came out because of the alcohol.

‘…But the good news is that it doesn’t seem like she’ll be hostile towards me even if I’m an evil spirit.’

I felt relieved by that fact.

I was also grateful, and I felt a sense of accomplishment, thinking that I hadn’t lived a meaningless life.

But the strongest emotion was self-deprecation.

‘What am I even hoping for?’

My top priority when I woke up in Bjorn Yandel’s body was my own survival.

I decided to somehow survive and adapt to this world, and then find a way to return to my original world.

But…

Wouldn’t it be bad to just live here?

Did I really have to go back?

There were fewer good things there anyway.

That thought had been growing stronger recently.

I could understand why players called the natives NPCs and distinguished them from themselves.

They needed to draw a line.

That this world wasn’t our world.

That we had a place to return to.

‘Enough.’

I forcefully stopped my endless thoughts.

Should I return home?

Or stay here?

I couldn’t make either decision yet.

I had made up my mind while watching the death row inmates who died because they couldn’t pay their taxes.

To decide after reaching at least the 6th floor.

‘It’s pointless to worry about it now.’

It wasn’t just the taxes.

The Dragonslayer, the Clown, Noark, the royal family.

There were many things that threatened my life in this world.

Whether I liked it or not, I had to become stronger.

After all, there was no point in doing anything if I wasn’t alive.

So, in that sense…

“Where are you going at this hour?”

“Ah, I’m just going for a walk. You don’t have to wait.”

I left the annex after telling the servant.

It was about time for everyone to be asleep.

[02:37]

A cool night air enveloped me as soon as I stepped outside.

But was it because we were right next to a mountain?

It felt a bit chilly.

Thud, thud.

As expected, there were few people on the street, but it wasn’t completely empty.

The brightly lit gambling house was still bustling with noise.

Well, it didn’t matter.

The place I was going to was outside this village.

‘It’s dark.’

A darkness that was almost like the labyrinth’s unfolded before me as I left the village.

The countryside in Korea was also like this.

An eerie nature greeted me as soon as I moved away from the lights.

‘It’s about time.’

I thought about lighting a torch, but I carefully moved forward, just in case.

After some time…

…the cave marked on the map I found in the annex appeared.

It was one of the tourist attractions here.

‘…There’s no one guarding it.’

I cautiously entered the cave, and the surroundings gradually brightened.

After all, this place was similar to the 1st floor.

It was a mystical cave with crystals embedded in the walls, emitting a blue light.

I moved forward without hesitation.

Although there were side paths, I just had to go straight from the entrance in the game.

Whoosh!

Indeed, a vast cavern soon appeared.

There was a rock in the center that vibrated at regular intervals.

‘Lignaracia.’

The origin of the name was from the ancient language, and it meant ‘blessing of the earth’, according to the map.

It was said to bring good luck if you touched it.

It was probably a superstition.

The real hidden piece wasn’t the rock.

Swoosh.

I opened my subspace pocket and took out my mace.

And I passed the rock in the center and clicked the interaction button on the wall with a mural.

Ah, it means I smashed it with all my might.

Kwaaang!

The wall crumbled and collapsed at my mace swing, imbued with the Ogre’s strength.

But I wasn’t worried.

This cave had a self-repairing magic circle.

It would be fixed in about 5 minutes.

‘Let’s go.’

I entered the passage that was revealed beyond the collapsed wall. There was a small space inside, just like in the game.

‘Judging by how it’s hidden like this, the one outside must be fake, and this is the real one.’

I placed my hand on the rock in the center.

It was an ordinary rock, unlike the one outside, which vibrated at regular intervals and gave off a mystical vibe.

But I felt something after a while.

「Imbued with the Earth Dragon’s energy. (1/3)」

A sense of fulfillment flowed into my body through my fingertips.

「Soul Power increased by +10.」

「Earth Resistance increased by +20.」

It was one of the hidden pieces that were quite beneficial.

Although there was a condition that you had to be a noble and be able to enter Gnometree…

…it practically gave you 30 stat points for free.

‘Most people who played the original version would probably know about this. They would have pressed the interaction key everywhere.’

Although it was just my guess, I thought there would be quite a few players who knew about this hidden piece.

Well, they probably wouldn’t know about this, though.

「The blessing engraved on your soul reacts.」

「Additional stat increase is increased to 30%.」

The stat increase rate from the Earth Dragon’s Blessing is upgraded from 20% to 30%.

‘I never expected to be the first to unlock this condition.’

It was definitely not a normal playthrough.

To become a noble at just level 5?

If it were a game, I would have definitely thought I was using a bug.

‘Anyway, should I go back now?’

I turned around to leave after obtaining everything, and then I froze.

It was only natural.

Rustle.

A man was standing in front of the wall, which was starting to repair itself as if time was reversing.

“Wow, you really were a player?”

It was Lee Baekho.

____________________

Countless possibilities swirled in my mind.

“…….”

Why was Lee Baekho here?

He had disappeared after that day.

Don’t tell me he had been following me all this time?

The answer was simple.

“Human relationships are strange, huh? I was following him, thinking he might be the GM in disguise again, and then you appeared.”

It was Hans again.

Lee Baekho had met Hans A. in Gnometree by chance and discovered me while following him.

And…

‘He must have been following me ever since.’

I could roughly picture the sequence of events.

Then what should I do?

The decision was already made.

“You’re saying that again. Aren’t you tired of it?”

It wasn’t a good idea to reveal my identity to Lee Baekho.

He was a fickle guy, just by looking at him.

Even if we were on good terms, he would pull out a knife and force me to choose if something didn’t go his way.

For example…

“It seems like that cat girl is starting to suspect something. Wouldn’t it be better to just kill her?”

Right, like that.

Although I felt cornered, I feigned ignorance.

“Now I understand why the chieftain called evil spirits evil beings.”

“Wow, you’re good at playing dumb, even in this situation.”

“This situation…?”

I put all my effort into making a confused expression.

But Lee Baekho just chuckled as if it was ridiculous.

“Right, this situation. The fact that you’re here is proof that you’re a player. Otherwise, how would you know about this hidden thing?”

Okay, I knew you would ask that.

I answered as if I had been waiting for it.

Subtly mixing in the truth.

“I’m a benefactor of the Dragonkin. I returned Dragonslayer to their tribe, and I’ve become close friends with the Ancient Dragon, ‘Lafir’. Even his daughter, the Dragon Shaman, is fond of me.”

It was an answer that implied I heard this information from them.

Lee Baekho tilted his head as soon as he heard it.

“…Uh, what? It’s true?”

Of course, it’s true.

I didn’t lie at all.

“Then you were the one who took down that Dragonkin bastard? Wow, this is amazing.”

Lee Baekho exclaimed as if he found it interesting.

I inwardly sighed in relief.

Although I had to reveal my hidden information to escape the situation…

‘Well, the ring broke anyway, right?’

It wasn’t that big of a loss.

The effect of the sacred relic was over, and whether I liked it or not, I would soon be reunited with him.

There was no need to hide like before.

“Indeed.”

He nodded after observing me for a while.

“It’s not that hard to believe. Right, they might tell you something like this if you made that much of a contribution? Well, it’s not that big of a deal.”

So it worked?

No, there’s no way.

It was too early to relax.

I didn’t let my guard down and waited for his next words.

That’s when, after a few seconds that felt like an eternity…

“But you know.”

…he asked.

With a smirk.

“Why are you answering so readily?”

My mind went blank.

“Last time, when I asked if you were a player, you clenched your teeth and didn’t answer.”

“…….”

“You’ve suddenly become very friendly.”

That damn bastard.

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