Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

"Deadred, the Lord of Darkness.

One line is enough to explain just how powerful this guy is.

He's the ruler of the 7th floor, the Dark Continent.

Well, in the case of the 7th floor, there are unusually two rulers...

But that doesn't mean their power is any less.

Anyway.

'How on earth did this guy manage to eat that...?'

To be honest, I just can't wrap my head around it.

Unlike the cheat version where you can just crush things with essences, on original difficulty, if you don't know 'that method,' it's practically impossible to clear.

Could it be that I underestimated Ibaekho all this time?

Maybe this guy is unexpectedly impressive.

'...Or he just got incredibly lucky.'

I don't know the exact circumstances of how he obtained Deadred's essence, but if I were to guess, it's probably been a very long time since he got it.

For one thing...

'Because the last time he was summoned was almost eight years ago.'

Given that the labyrinth is always full of explorers, secretly summoning a floor lord is impossible.

So, there's no chance to obtain it within the last eight years, even if you wanted to.

Ah, of course, by natural means.

'If it's the royal family, they probably have at least one floor essence stored in a test tube.'

It's also possible, through some deal, that Ibaekho obtained it.

Though that possibility seems slim given the circumstances.

'...So he really was summoned that day.'

The day when Ibaekho, dreaming of a harem while exploring the labyrinth, was exposed by a companion's betrayal.

Surprisingly, that timing fits exactly.

So I thought the royal family used the excuse of a floor lord to cover up the incident with Ibaekho.

I'd heard that explorers were dying en masse in the labyrinth.

'Surely it was Ibaekho who summoned it.'

If I speculate again, it would've been Ibaekho who summoned the floor lord.

When cornered, you have to gamble to shake up the game.

"Every time I see it, its terrifying power never ceases to amaze..."

Lost in thought, Aures next to me let out a long sigh and muttered.

"Is everyone unharmed...?"

Still, since he's a tank, it seems like a habit to ask about his comrades' well-being first.

"I'm fine."

"Same here."

While healer Jaina and archer Briot snapped out of it to answer Aures' question, the GM, still slung over my shoulder like baggage, was different.

Should I say he was still out of it?

"...W-what exactly was that just now?"

What, has this guy never even beaten the Lord of Darkness in the game?

I immediately recognized the skill as soon as I saw it.

"I-I've never even heard of such a supernatural ability existing..."

But I understood that vacant expression.

Even I was getting goosebumps from actually seeing its power for the first time.

Let alone someone who had no idea such a skill existed.

Chiiiiiik—!

The steam created as the heavy rain falling on the heated ground evaporated soared high like at a fire scene.

Of course, that didn't last long.

The heat cooled quickly, the steam vanished, and visibility was restored.

"......"

A crater far larger than when just one meteorite fell.

Inside stood only Ibaekho, lonely and solitary...

"Surprise!"

Soon Ibaekho looked up at us with a playful expression and waved.

Seeing that, he seemed like just a funny guy...

'Who would have thought a nuclear bomb was hidden behind that smiling face.'

Maybe I should reconsider now.

I was certain he wouldn't lose if we fought.

"What are you waiting for? It's all over, so come on!"

At Ibaekho's call, we approached the crater again.

"Old man of ruin! Take a look at this first! This is really expensive, right?"

Ibaekho pointed with sparkling eyes to a spot where a pure white orb lay.

Chijijijik—!

Inside the orb, electric currents danced like a plasma ball.

You know the kind?

The sort you might see as a prop in a tarot shop.

"This is... the 'Orb of Thunder.'"

"Oh, right, that's the name. So how much is it worth?"

"For wizards, it's a treasure that's hard to put a price on."

"No, I'm asking how much though?"

At Ibaekho's persistent question, the ruin scholar roughly guessed the price, and Ibaekho's eyes went wide.

"Wow, it's that expensive? That could've been a disaster."

I could relate to Ibaekho's relief.

Wasn't it the skill that erased a space over 70 meters in radius?

If it were an ordinary monster, it would've been completely annihilated with no byproducts to collect.

"Uh? We just pick it up then?"

"Though it's the first time I've actually seen one, I know that byproducts don't require any special magical treatment."

"Oh, I see... then give it here."

The dropped 'Orb of Thunder' immediately disappeared into Ibaekho's pocket dimension.

For some reason, my stomach hurt, but I said nothing.

Not simply because Ibaekho was much stronger than expected.

'I have to credit the skill he showed.'

It was a secret trump card skill he'd been hiding.

If he'd saved it to show only at the end, the battle would've been much harder.

Besides, we didn't immediately need the 'Orb of Thunder.'

'It'd be nice to make a hammer with it when I go to the deal-tank barbarian...'

But since we already got the 'No.87 Crawl's Demon Crusher,' it wasn't that meaningful, and no one in the party needed a thunder weapon.

So this time, I decided not to claim a share.

If something we really want appears later, we can use this concession as leverage.

"Okay, loot's done... let's get back to work."

Having finished the loot, Ibaekho immediately turned his back and approached a monument that had fallen to the ground when the crater was formed.

"Well, luckily there's not a single scratch. Should we just put this into the pocket dimension as is? Might have some value as a material."

When Ibaekho said that, it felt like he was trying to change the subject.

'Maybe he's avoiding bringing up [Star's Extinction]?'

I couldn't tell his true intention, but because of that attitude, the timing to talk about the essence was lost.

'...Though asking probably wouldn't have meant much.'

Anyway, I was also curious about the monument, so I quickly approached them.

Ibaekho and Aures were in the middle of trying to put the monument into the pocket dimension...

"Step aside. I'll help too."

When I joined in, the monument, which weighed more than a ton, was easily lifted.

And then...

"Ugh?!"

As soon as the edge entered the pocket dimension, it was violently bounced out by a tremendous repulsive force.

Kuuuung—!

The monument crashed halfway into the ground with a heavy thud.

"Damn! What is this!"

Ibaekho fussed while the GM crouched beside the monument.

"...This is very unusual. There's absolutely no magical circuits or anything inside, yet the pocket dimension has such intense rejection."

"It is definitely suspicious."

"Yes... we need to investigate it more precisely over time."

"What do you think? I want to investigate this for a while... Ah, Baron, you agree?"

Watching Ibaekho trying to regain initiative naturally, I smirked but nodded.

"Yeah, I agree."

Heavy rain poured down.

A dangerous area where meteorites even occasionally fell, but maybe this is the key to returning where we belong.

"Well... then we'll first analyze the composition. Aures, could you hold this for a moment?"

"Oh! Of course!"

Time passed quickly.

The 9th floor, Star Grave.

Strictly speaking, it's a place very similar to that, but anyway.

This place wasn't good for thoroughly researching anything in one spot.

Swoooosh—!

The pouring rain # Nоvеlight # was like a storm, rising the water level like a flood beyond cold or discomfort.

Kwahaaaang—!

Meteorites occasionally fell.

Flash!

Lightning, blizzard, strong winds, hail, earthquake, hurricane, and so on.

All kinds of natural disasters occurred, and during all that, monsters kept appearing and fighting was unavoidable.

The problem was...

"Hey, if we had a week, shouldn't we have figured something out by now?"

"......"

"Old man of ruin, I didn't think you were like this, so why? If you can't do it, just say so. That way we won't waste our time. Okay?"

Even after a week of precise examination, all we found out was that this monument was very sturdy.

But on the bright side, there was some gain elsewhere.

As the number of battles increased, we learned more details about the monsters here.

'The threat gauge is completely dead.'

It's hard to draw aggro here properly.

Not because of some field effect or anything making threat zero.

Just...

"It seems like it's because the monsters here are intelligent."

At first, monsters would charge excitedly, but if I stood firm, they quickly changed their minds and targeted the dealers first.

Like they were learning.

'Since aggro doesn't work properly, the difficulty feels like three or four times harder.'

Of course, it wasn't that I narrowly survived every battle.

There were some truly dangerous moments, but...

Isn't it said that humans are the most adaptable animals?

"Monsters spotted north-northeast ahead!"

"...Reditrous."

"To your positions!"

Instead of charging forward as the main tank alone, I stayed near the group and acted as a shield.

And...

"It's only one! Don't rush, focus on protection!"

Using the fact that monsters here were extremely few compared to normal fields, we fought as safely as possible.

"Hey, why are you trying to collect all the materials from these grade 5 trash mobs? We have no space, so just dump the bulky ones!"

"Even if the grade is low, they're very rare materials. If we return to the city later—"

"You're so greedy. Even if we only bring back the essentials, that'd be a huge haul."

"......"

Among the byproducts, I kept mostly the valuable ones and discarded the rest.

Since returning to the city would take at least several months, the inventory might be full by then.

It was a choice to reduce time waste.

"...So, Baron, what do you plan to do?"

"I think it's time to stop investigating and start moving."

"Where to?"

"First, I think it's best to just keep moving steadily in one direction."

"Well, that might be better. But which direction?"

We were currently on the 9th floor Star Grave.

And in the center is the 'Primeval Land.'

By the way, if certain conditions are met here, you can summon the 'Primeval Dragon' and kill it...

'But summoning it means game over, so I'll skip that...'

I said the destination I'd been thinking of.

"To the west."

"To the west from here... the Old Rock Grassland? Why there?"

Simple reason.

"There's a 'Spirit Gate' in the Old Rock Grassland."

"Oh, you want to check where it leads?"

"Well, not sure if it even exists."

"I see. I thought you wanted to go there for the level 8 engraving materials!"

...That perceptive guy.

"Enough, let's get moving. There's no use investigating here any longer."

"Yes, yes! Everyone heard that? Let's go!"

After wrapping up, we moved westward as planned, and about four days later, the Old Rock Grassland appeared.

And...

"...Ha, I never imagined we'd be stuck here."

About halfway through the Old Rock Grassland, a dead-end blocked us.

Swoooosh—!

A gray world, dying and losing all color, like what we saw once on the Lapdonia coastline.

"Don't get close. Touching it means instant death."

Oh, so if we push here, Ibaekho dies?

I thought that for a moment but didn't try it.

First priority was to work together to get out.

"Let's try moving around following the boundary."

From then on, we moved with the boundary on our left.

One day, two days, three days, four days...

And then, fifteen days.

After moving quickly for a whole 15 days, we gradually grew silent.

The more we completed the map's outskirts, the more ominous certainty rose.

"Hey, um..."

"Just stay quiet. Nothing's certain yet."

"Okay..."

Two more days passed, bringing us to the 17th day.

We returned to the Old Rock Grassland again.

We'd made a large loop with the boundary on our left...

Siiiiiick.

Drawing a line connecting the incomplete circle on the map, I sighed deeply.

No longer was there any point in denial or holding back.

"Damn it."

We're trapped here.