Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 587: Original (4)

The space I entered through the portal next to the troll statue didn’t take long to identify.

The cold seeping through my shoe soles.

Walls of ice reflecting a white light like transparent glass.

‘...It’s the glacier cave.’

The place where I met Bear Uncle and killed Xensia, the player from Noir Ark.

But there was no nostalgia—those feelings had already come rushing when I entered to hunt the Tyrant Tarunbas earlier.

‘Anyway, this must be the first floor crack...’

Thanks to that, the sample size increased.

Just as the hidden boss Cambermier Duke appeared with an extremely rare chance in the Blood-Red Fortress crack,

some cracks might have hidden bosses.

The guardian troll I’m about to face now is likely one of those cases.

“Let’s see its face first, then think.”

After stopping quietly at the start point to gather my thoughts, I moved forward through the passage.

Soon, the narrow path opened into a huge cavern.

No troll in sight yet.

‘As expected... the boss rooms are a bit different.’

Before the boss appears, I quickly scanned the surrounding terrain with my eyes.

Like how the Blood-Red Fortress had a coffin instead of a death knight where Cambermier appeared.

There were changes here, too.

Three ice orc brothers trapped in ice pillars.

The lack of these appetizer-like foes before the boss was also true for the Tyrant Tarunbas...

‘What happened here?’

The frozen cavern was filled with corpses.

Bodies torn apart, crushed beyond recognition, stacked like mountains.

But it wasn’t hard to tell they were Empire soldiers.

Thanks to the emblem on bloodstained, discolored flags.

The same emblem I saw in the doppelganger’s forest and the cave where I fought Captain Dreadpier.

‘The Empire army gets everywhere.’

Like England on Earth, maybe?

Besides Empire corpses, there were monster bodies.

Ice orcs, frost wolves, yetis, and more.

Monsters native to the glacier cave, and some unrelated specimens scattered about...

‘Isn’t that Tarunbas...?’

I found a corpse suspected to be Tyrant Tarunbas, original guardian of the glacier cave.

His usual club was missing.

Creak, creak.

What’s that sound?

After briefly looking around at the unnatural noise breaking the silence, I soon found the source.

Creak, creak.

A particularly large corpse pile at the cavern’s center was shaking.

Listening carefully, I heard noises from within.

gulp—

This time, a swallowing sound.

Curious, I approached.

[Aaaaaaargh—!]

Something buried beneath the corpse pile screamed and rose.

Over five meters tall.

Fierce, protruding fangs.

Aside from being much bigger than a normal troll, it had all the troll traits.

‘Well, the skin’s black, though...’

I’m a K-Barbarian who lived in modern times where saying anything about skin color can get you labeled racist.

So I focused more on other things.

‘It’s holding a club, too.’

With one hand, it was crunching on a human arm like a snack.

In the other hand was a club.

Originally carried by Tyrant Tarunbas.

Oh, and it has an official name.

No. 9712 ‘Snowfield Club.’

As a rather low-tier item, it’s a blunt weapon with a simple effect: adding cold damage to normal attacks.

Kuuung—!

After gulping down its “snack,” the creature took a threatening step toward me.

Still, I calmly tried to talk.

“I am Bjorn, son of Yandel.”

Kuuung—!

When I spoke to show no hostile intent, it stopped.

It looked down at me, tilting its head.

[Grrr...?]

Could it be that this time it understands?

That hope was shattered within a second.

[Aaaaaaargh—!]

Just naming myself made the troll roar and charge.

The bigger the hope, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) the bigger the disappointment.

“Hah...”

So it really doesn’t understand.

I had suspected that after seeing it gnaw on human limbs...

Well, it’s too early to give up.

Whooosh—!

Dodging its swinging club nimbly, I tried to talk again.

Just in case, this time in the ancient tongue.

[Calm down. I don’t want to fight you.]

[...]

[My name is Bjorn, son of Yandel—.]

[Aaaaaaargh—!]

Damn.

That didn’t work either?

At this point, there weren’t many options left...

“Aaaaaaargh—!”

I even tried speaking in its language, but still no communication.

So I pulled out my last resort.

Since Lapdonia and the ancient tongue didn’t work, nor its own language,

I had no choice but to attempt a physical conversation.

Bam—!

I hammered the jaw of the charging beast with my hammer.

People with anger control issues are easy to find in modern times, after all.

Like them, I hoped that showing a clear power difference would calm it down.

But...

‘Not exactly a petitioner.’

I didn’t use [Swing] fearing a one-shot kill, but it only got angrier and charged again.

Just like ordinary monsters showing aggression until their life flame extinguishes.

‘Okay, then I’ll give up on talking.’

Judging the main goal impossible, I focused on a sub-goal.

Gathering information about this guy...

Whooosh—!

The club sliced through the air with a tearing sound.

No flashy effects like glowing weapons or lightning bursts.

But precisely because of that, I recognized instantly.

‘...[Swing]?’

The troll used [Swing].

Surprising, but my mind calmly deduced the cause.

‘A high-level mutant...’

Glacier cave trolls are high-level mutants.

They use essence from other creatures.

Just like Vampire Cambermier used Nightfla’s [Pain Sharing],

this guy can use Ogre skills.

But that’s not the important part.

‘...Wow, it really exists.’

A curiosity I’d had for a long time.

What would a monster with both an ogre’s power and a troll’s regeneration be like?

Now that imagined monster was real.

But...

‘It’s underwhelming.’

If the ogre possessed troll essence, that’d be different.

This opposite case was surprisingly bland.

Well, maybe I’ve just gotten too strong?

If I had met this guy instead of Cambermier on the first crack, Bjorn Yandel’s journey would have ended that day.

‘Now, let’s test things out.’

I slowly dealt damage while studying its combat style.

Collecting as much info as possible would make it easier for those who challenge later.

Still, the fight ended quickly.

About 30 minutes, maybe?

Except the cave darkened at the end and the troll’s cooldown disappeared, there were no particular dangers.

[Corrupted Beast Kirdyu has been defeated.]

[High-level mutant defeat bonus. EXP +1]

[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]

Finally, when I smashed the troll’s head with my hammer, the portal opened.

As always, I ignored the rainbow essence and went out.

After defeating the troll, I cleared all unidentified guardians of Grade 5 but found nothing special.

The only one who could talk was Duke Cambermier.

‘There must be... some reason...’

No matter how much I thought, no plausible theory came.

Why could that guy talk?

What made him different from the other guardians?

Just luck?

I had no idea.

So I ended the secret digging and resumed the raid.

I cleared the third-floor crack, the White Temple.

[...] frёeωebɳovel.com

Strangely, the Knight of the End who appeared in the White Temple didn’t even utter his usual in-game lines and just charged me.

The same was true for the fourth-floor crack I challenged using borrowed gear.

“You... Hyedo... came to kill me...?”

The doppelganger who should have said such a line started the boss fight without a word.

Oh, by the way, the boss fight setup was different from the original.

We had to fight inside and outside simultaneously, and I wondered how it would work solo when the doppelganger turned into a teammate.

‘Did they really make this to be beaten?’

It fought disguised as me and used [Self Replication] to gain numbers.

But it wasn’t hopeless.

The doppelganger couldn’t copy the Numbers items.

Aegis Barrier.

Crowl’s Demon Crusher.

Two core items, plus ‘Wilderness Outlaw’—a counter to humanoid monsters.

And many other borrowed gears outside.

Using all that to the extreme, I defeated the doppelganger.

About seven hours later.

[Doppelganger defeated.]

[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3]

The doppelganger’s seal that had to be broken was lifted earlier, and I saw the [Crystallize] pattern 13 times in that state.

No matter how many multiplied, my full build prevented damage from ever landing.

‘Damn... I thought I was done for.’

I shared the battle details with everyone outside; they were speechless after hearing I fought for seven hours.

No one dared try the challenge, only gaped in awe.

“The essence of the doppelganger... tempting, but I must give up.”

“This is the kind of monster no one can solo.”

“I’m amazed you could solo a guardian from floor 4 or higher.”

“But... Baron, it seems you didn’t take the essence this time?”

That last question was something I pondered too.

Doppelganger essence is highly valuable.

Useful for almost any class.

But...

‘I don’t have enough slots.’

How much stronger could I get with two bodies?

Plus, the clones don’t copy Numbers items.

Also, [Self Replication] only synergizes if the clone has essence like Amelia’s [Dual Rule], so I gave up.

‘I need to keep a slot free for whatever’s coming next.’

Anyway, after the fierce fight with the doppelganger, I just relaxed and spent a day resting.

The expedition team’s atmosphere was unusual.

“Oh! You’re back! Good to see you!”

“Priest! Please look at this wound!”

The explorers chosen for the challenge went in and out of portals day and night, showing passion.

Knights, priests, and mages stepped back to their tasks, killing time.

They didn’t need experience or essence.

Only mages with scholarly zeal seemed interested in the current situation.

“The Baron will challenge the Golden Ruins tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, that’s planned.”

“I’m curious... what will the Golden Ruins be like? And what lies beyond that closed door?”

Those mages only waited for my actions and paid no attention to the already cleared statues.

The next day after rest.

[Golden Fang Calphion defeated. EXP +6.]

[Guardian defeat bonus. EXP +3.]

After breakfast, I challenged the 4th floor crack, the Golden Ruins, and cleared it in about three hours.

But unlike the doppelganger, it wasn’t as intense.

Just the tank’s fate.

‘Ah... I need some attack skills.’

[Swing] and Demon Crusher.

Thanks to these two, I managed to finish it.

Peeling Calphion’s shell off one by one inevitably took time.

It wasn’t a humanoid monster, so I couldn’t boost damage with Wilderness Outlaw.

‘...But I got it because I’m a tank.’

That’s common in RPGs.

A well-grown tank can solo bosses others can’t, if the matchup is right.

Assuming no time limit.

‘So if I exclude unidentified guardians, only the 5th floor remains...’

When I looked toward the 5th floor guardians, attention gathered.

Mostly curious looks, but members of Anabada looked somewhat tense.

“Surely... two portals opened starting from the 5th floor crack?”

“That’s right. Everyone’s curious who Baron Yandel will enter with.”

I looked around.

“...”

Expressionless Amelia and expectant Elwen.

‘Does she think this is a picnic or something?’

Misha looked tense, and Ainard avoided my gaze as soon as we made eye contact.

He seemed more unmotivated than usual.

Well, the person I’d bring was already decided.

Step by step, I passed by the group and stopped before one person.

“Arua Raven.”

“...Yes?”

She was completely surprised at being chosen, but no lengthy explanation was needed.

“I need you.”

Of course, the essence of a 5th floor guardian.

It had to be collected in a vial.

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