Surviving as a Barbarian in the Game - Episode 27
27angry crack (1)
people grow.
Each method is different.
Reading a book, reflecting on your past, having an honest conversation with a friend for the first time, or realizing a dream you sincerely hope for..
or.
Feeling jealous of someone else's good fortune, witnessing someone else's misfortune, or realizing the power of desire..
All inspiration from experience helps in growth..
Today I wasn't much different either..
Well, mental growth will only be a small part of it..
“One shortbow, one plate gaiter, three bottles of minor potions, and a dozen regular torches... What is this, a portrait? Are they family? Anyway, throw this away…….”
If you add it all up, it will be well over 800,000 stones..
I chuckled as I cleaned up the yellow-haired group's backpack..
Now that I think about it, I was always like this.
Experiencing shitty things doesn't always lead to growth..
but…….
“With this, I can fit three more armor parts..”
When I grew to the next level, shitty things always followed..
Shit, I finally know what to do..
***
walking in a cave.
with Einar.
“Bjorn, where will you go now??”
“I'll move south where the gnomes appear..”
After resting for a total of 8 hours, 4 hours per person, Einar also felt a little refreshed..
Compared to usual, the tension is like crawling on the floor..
“Bjorn, you can move quickly. You don't have to worry about me.”
“Why are you impatient??”
“I am… I want to become stronger as soon as possible.”
“Right.”
I don’t think you need to worry about Einar anymore..
Now that you have a clearer goal, dark emotions will become nourishment rather than poison..
Hmm, is that common??
“I also feel the same way.”
While I was on watch, I looked back on the steps I had taken so far..
Coming of age ceremony, entering the labyrinth, night friends with Hans, Erwen, goblin forest, 4:2 battle with crossbow party, etc..
Even now that I think about it, there was nothing really wrong..
I figured out the best option to choose from given the situation..
but…….
In other words, it would mean that you were only focused on avoiding the moment..
“why does it stop suddenly?”
“No, I'll keep moving..”
There is room for extenuating circumstances..
There was no tutorial or system text..
As soon as I opened my eyes, the person's head was cut off, and from then on, events that were far from reality continued to unfold..
Therefore, we had no choice but to act as passively as possible, prioritizing safety..
But so what was it like??
“Bjorn… … ? expression is not good.”
“never mind.”
Always chose the best option?
dog sound.
Well, in the end it's just a response..
How good of a choice would it be for someone who tries to fix things after something happens??
If you really want to survive, you need to be more proactive in the future..
Then there are different options to choose from..
Didn’t your uncle also say that he was addicted to gambling every day?.
Instead of playing on a board made by someone else, throw dice on a board you made yourself..
Okay, change of plans..
“Einar, do you really want to become strong??”
When I suddenly stop and ask, Einar shows deep doubt..
“…what does that mean?”
“It asks about determination. There is definitely a way to become stronger. But it comes with risks. what should you do?”
High risk high return.
What kind of answer will he give to this proposal??
After watching for a moment, Einar swallowed his saliva and his eyes lit up..
“Of course I will. If we don't become stronger, won't we all die anyway?!”
Yeah, I guess so..
Because it was a game with that kind of world view..
Einar, who expressed his consent, then shouted:.
“i am a warrior!”
They said it wasn't like that earlier.?
eat.
While looking at the barbarian's attitude, which is so inefficient, yet sometimes more efficient than anyone else's, I realized something again..
“So, what is the way to become stronger??”
The easy way is the slow way.
And the fucking thing is a natural disaster..
No matter which path you take, it comes before your eyes without warning..
It was much more frequent with my twisted nasolabial folds..
so that…….
“will enter the rift.”
A sure win.
This time, I'm going to find the damn thing first here..
As someone famous said.
The pain that doesn't kill me will make me stronger.
***
“Oh oh! Right!”
Einar heard my plan and let out an exclamation..
And I asked carefully.
“…But what is a crack??”
How is it that they are natives and have less knowledge than me??
I hope you read at least a book.
uh… I still can't read letters properly.
“The crack... In short, it is a labyrinth within a labyrinth..”
I skipped the detailed explanation..
Because you won't understand anyway.
“A labyrinth within a labyrinth?”
“okay.”
[[Dungeon & Stone] should be said to be like a game that few games have these days.?
If the person I had to explain to was a modern person, I would have said 'instant dungeon'.
“Occasionally, portals open at random locations on each floor. When you enter there, a new space appears that is neither the second nor the third floor..”
“ah! Are you talking about the Frost Lord's Palace?!”
I've heard it though.
The Frost Lord's Palace can be entered through a crack on the 8th floor..
How much trouble did I go through just to try one of the frost lord's essence?…….
“But is it possible with just the two of us? He heard that the chieftain went there when he was young and almost died..”
“Okay. Because we are on the first floor.”
1There are a total of four types of cracks that open in the floor..
Whatever it is, the difficulty level is incomparably easier than the cracks on other floors..
If you were to use us as a standard, there would be about seven stars..
Of course, assuming a perfect score of 5..
“But how do we get into places that appear randomly??”
“do not worry. Because there is a way.”
Even after all this, I was a dead person for 9 years..
Discover hundreds of hidden pieces in this unfriendly game..
“Bjorn, I only trust you.!”
Heading south, I turned east.
Originally, I was going to hunt gnomes, kobolds, and stone golems on ‘Black Rock Mountain’, the second floor of the southern route..
Although ‘suppressing’ the stone golem is a pain, there is no strategy to attack it if you prepare in advance..
However, there is no telling how many years it will take to reach the 8th floor if you play with safety precautions like that..
“Two barbarians. Are you not looking for a friend for the night? If the three of us sleep together, we can sleep more.—”
“go away.”
“No, I was just asking.—”
“3I'll explode your head in a second..”
1As I was crossing the floor, a few people other than monsters stuck to me, but they were all cleared away at the Einar line..
…But can’t I just say I don’t like it??
“I hate humans more than ears.”
It seems that Einar has evolved beyond distrust of humans to the point of hatred..
Pow! Pow! Kwasik!
After traveling for almost 20 hours, destroying every monster that blocked our way, we finally reached our destination..
The time is around 4 am.
I can feel once again how spacious the first floor is..
No matter how difficult it is to get lost in an ant cave structure, it takes more than a day just to get from the western end to the center..
“Bjorn, isn’t this the entrance to the first floor??”
Strictly speaking, the term ‘introductory part’ is an oxymoron..
Most starting points are biased to one side, whether north or south..
Above all, there is no light here.?
Grumbling!
Burning the regular torch obtained by killing the yellow-haired party, we entered the dark area..
And how long has it been since?
「I hunted a gnome. EXP +1」
「I hunted a blade wolf. EXP +1」
Einar, who has completed the eighth battle, lets out an exclamation of wonder..
“All four types of monsters appear, I had no idea there was a place like this in the center of the first floor..”
This is probably common knowledge for most explorers, but it is not a place that most people come to often..
To use a metaphor, should it be said to be the point where the Korean Wave and the Warm Current meet??
Where I am now, bladewolves from the east, ghouls from the west, gnomes from the south, and goblins from the north all appear..
but…….
“It's strange that there are no people..”
This area is not popular among explorers.
The reason is simple.
Even if all four types of monsters appear, it only becomes more difficult to deal with them..
The number of monsters themselves is also small..
‘In addition, it has the fatal disadvantage of low cost-effectiveness since it requires the use of a torch..’
In fact, except for those who cross to save travel time, no one comes..
But stagnant people like this kind of space..
That's suspicious?
From the producer's point of view, it's perfect for hiding something..
“But why did you come here??”
“Just wait a moment. It'll be out soon.”
An hour of wandering around in the dark, changing directions.
Finally I got to where I wanted to be.
“Okay, we're here..”
Cavity with a radius of about 30m.
On the first floor, which is an ant cave structure, a tombstone stood tall in the middle of an open space on all sides, which is unusual..
“…What on earth is that??”
“It's a monument. To commemorate the person who first discovered this labyrinth.”
I carefully approached the tombstone and read the words written at the bottom..
[In memory of the last great sage, Difflan Groundel Gavrilius, for his great first step.]
First of all, the content of the text is the same as the game..
In other words, it would be correct to believe that there is a high possibility that the ‘hidden piece’ I found also matches..
“Einar, everything that happens next is a secret. Do you understand??”
“I will.”
“It takes an oath, not just words. If this becomes known, we may both be in danger..”
“…I swear on my warrior's honor.”
“thanks.”
I slowly unzipped the pockets on my waist..
Goblin, Gnome, Ghoul, Razor Wolf.
1The magic stone of the four types of monsters that appear on the floor and the magic stone of Deathfiend, a grade 8 monster..
And in front of you is the Great Sage Monument..
“I'll start soon.”
All preparations are in place to force open the crack..
***
[[Dungeon & Stone]'s Dungeon.
In other words, there is a cooldown for cracks..
1To take the floor as an example, it took at least 3 cycles, or 3 months city time, for the 'crack' to reopen..
Of course, it is rare for the cracks to open immediately after three months, and most cracks open randomly between the 5th and 6th cycle..
Was the maximum 8 cycles? Probably so..
“…….”
FYI, I figured this all out myself..
As I worked hard on the Frost Lord Essence, I needed to know more about ‘rifts’..
It wasn't efficient to go around the stairs every time and wait endlessly for a crack to appear..
“Is there something wrong??”
“no.”
After reminiscing about old memories for a moment, I placed Desfiend's magic stone in my hand in front of the monument..
If the most recent 'crack' was opened within 3 cycles, that is, if the cooldown is running, there will be no reaction.…….
Dedddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!
Before long, the placed magic stone glows and disappears, and vibrations spread around the monument..
It really works as expected.
Whoa whoa!
The vibration became stronger and a portal of black color opened..
“Come on let's go in.”
“Uh, uh. i get it!”
I quickly threw myself into it with Einar..
That's right, it fills up in 10 seconds..
「The character entered the first floor rift..」
I left behind Einar, who was always on his butt, and checked the surroundings first..
A red sky that looks like the world is about to end at any moment.
A flock of crows flying above and a dark castle visible in the distance.
Without further ado, it is the ‘Blood Citadel’, one of the four types of cracks on the first floor..
It is only natural that the grade 8 magic stone offered as a sacrifice belonged to Deathfiend..
Whoa whoa!
After waiting for a moment, a gap opened in the air and a person was spit out..
‘This was the decisive reason why I postponed coming here until a later date, as I know the ins and outs of not only how to definitively open a ‘crack’ but also the strategy..
I'm more scared of explorers than monsters.
“Hahaha! I finally succeeded in getting in.!”
What if we had formed a 5-person team with guaranteed confidentiality?.
If you enter this way, you must clear the rift with a random explorer who enters on a first-come, first-served basis..
If you think of it as a game, automatic matching is required..
I nervously checked the first team member..
“oh! It's reassuring to have two barbarians! Please take care of me! My name is Hikurod Murad! As you can see, it's a dwarf hahaha!!”
First of all, there is a dwarf who seems to talk a lot..
I don't know what your skills are, but this isn't bad..
I hope the remaining kids can stop at this level.…….
eat.
Of course, that would be too much of a wish for my topic.?
Hey, if you're going to come, please come..
Because I don’t expect it anyway.
「A new companion has joined the journey.」
Soon two more team members were added..
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