Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Tutorial (1)

Close your eyes.

And ask yourself.

If this is the beginning of a very, very brutal game, what am I supposed to do now?

‘First, you understand the situation and get all the information you can.'

After that, I managed to come back to myself a little.

Recalling the first task I set for myself, I slowly opened my eyes and checked my surroundings again.

Unfortunately, nothing had changed from before.

"…"

Also, it weren't some LED streetlights that illuminated the dark surroundings, but flickering torches.

The most striking fact of all, was that there were muscular savages everywhere I looked…

"Congratulations! Young warriors!"

Fuck, I wasn't seeing things.

I didn't know what they're doing in the middle of the night, but their expressions were pretty reverent.

Was that guy in the middle like a tribal chief?

Well, that didn't matter.

"As of today, you will leave the sacred sanctuary and be reborn as true warriors!"

I closed my eyes, letting out the presumed chief's words through one ear and out the other.

I was no doctor, but if I were to self-diagnose, right now I had blackout symptoms.

With no idea why I was here.

"Now come out one by one, and choose a weapon that suits you!"

So, let's reason things out.

What was I doing just before this?

As soon as I tried to recall to check if I had any brain problems, the memory immediately came to mind.

I'd been playing a game.

The final boss room was imminent, and I'd activated the portal while suppressing my excitement. Then, suddenly, some messages saying that the tutorial has been completed or that the transmission has begun appeared, and a bright light burst out. And…

Now that I'd come to my senses –

Somehow, it became even more confusing than before.

"Come out, Karak, third son of Farun!"

First, I decided to check the condition of my body.

I didn't feel any pain, but I still needed to check carefully.

With that thought in mind, I bowed my head – and stiffened.

… What was all this?

"Two-handed axe! Great!"

The hands I looked down on were embarrassingly gigantic. And surprisingly, they moved according to my will.

While I was at it, I checked the rest of me, and it was a spectacle.

Not only was there no shirt, but tattoos of all types were drawn all over the solid upper body muscles.

… Yes, they all looked the same size, adjusted to the same level for this giant body.

Once I cleared up the situation –

No, really, there was nothing to clear up.

For some reason, I had become a barbarian savage without realizing it.

"O Karak, third son of Farun! This makes you a warrior!"

Kidnappings, hidden cameras, psychological experiments, etc.

I immediately erased all such possibilities from my mind. It would've been foolish to twist the circuit of hope and try to forcibly fit the evidence even though the situation had already shown me the key.

It was more productive to admit the truth and move on.

What was happening to me right now was something that science or modern knowledge couldn't explain.

Other than this large body, there was plenty of other evidence, too.

"Next!"

First of all, the language that these savages spoke was not Korean, English, or Spanish.

A language I'd never encountered in any media in my entire life.

The problem was that I could understand it as naturally as my mother tongue.

It was as if knowledge had been engraved into my head.

"Come out, Ainar, second daughter of Penelin!"

Second, I was feeling used to this situation.

I wonder how that could be, but it really was the case.

At first, everything was unfamiliar, but after I came to my senses, I started feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

"You chose a sword! It is a good choice for you who are smart!"

That the young barbarians choose their weapons, one after another.

That's all they had in common, but…

This was reminiscent of the intro of [Dungeon and Stone].

To be precise, when ‘Barbarian' was selected from among the several races, the game started this way.

But was that really a coincidence?

The game I was playing when the mysterious light swallowed me was [Dungeon and Stone], and even the main character I was playing was a ‘Barbarian'?

"O Ainar, second daughter of Penelin! Now you have become a warrior. May the blessings of ‘Rafdonia' be with you!"

‘You crazy…'

I decided to quit trying to clear up my remaining suspicions.

Rafdonia.

The tribal chief just mentioned this one proper noun, which made everything else meaningless.

I now knew where this place was.

This world was the game I'd been playing for nearly a decade.

"This is, Dungeon and Stone?"

Uh, was somebody talking? What did they mean by those words?

As I glanced at the barbarian sitting next to me, I was stunned. He looked really different from the other savages nearby.

"What, what is this, why am I here…"

His breath was rough, and his eyes were full of confusion.

He even knew about [Dungeon and Stone]. Maybe he was in the same situation as me?

I felt the need to check it out, but unfortunately, I didn't even get the chance to try.

"Who just opened his mouth!"

The voice was so loud that my eardrums tingled, and my head felt dazed for a moment.

Of course, it wasn't for long.

I didn't know how soon I came to, but seeing the tribal chief looking down at me made me wake up pretty quickly.

"Was it you?"

I shook my head as soon as the question was asked, and as if it came naturally, I looked at the savage sitting next to me.

An act so quick and smooth that I could only admire my own self-poise.

In response, the chieftain moved his gaze to the barbarian sitting next to me, instead of questioning me further.

I'm sorry, but you're the one responsible. Why did you have to go and open your mouth?

"Was it you?"

"Yes?"

"I asked if it was you who just mumbled."

It was only now that I felt it, but the tribe chief's face wore an unusual expression. Just looking at him, the problem didn't seem as simple as somebody talking inadvertently…

"Oh, you mean Dungeon and Stone? Yes… Why?"

This guy didn't seem to have noticed the atmosphere yet.

"It was you…"

A brief ripple of sadness flashed through the eyes of the tribe chief.

Feeling a sense of doom for some unknown reason, I unconsciously moved a bit to the side.

Then the guy tilted his head and asked,

"Is this like an event? Oh, maybe because I noticed too soon –"

What happened then, I couldn't even follow with my own eyes.

Something flashed, followed by a blunt sound.

Sssk –

That's all there was to it.

That fleeting moment passed, and the head that fell with a dull sound rolled over and over on the ground.

A sight so brutal that it seemed unrealistic.

The eyes relayed the information they had just seen to the brain.

"…"

A man's neck was cut off in front of my eyes. White bones and severed muscles were visible through the gap on the neck. Something white splattered on my face, along with red blood and muddy flesh. What was this? Fat?

Well, I didn't really know.

But it wasn't as shocking as I'd have expected.

As if I was watching a movie or an anime, there was no feeling of nausea and no mental pressure, as if it was all a dream.

Pssssssssss!

As I watched the blood spurt out of the severed neck, only one question remained in my head.

Why the hell did the chief kill him?

"An evil spirit resided in the soul of Oreum, son of Kadua. Young warriors, erase from your memory all the words this evil spirit has just uttered!"

The moment I heard the chief's words, the information naturally compiled in my head.

Information 1, I am an evil spirit.

Information 2, if this is found out, I will die.

Information 3, this fate could have become mine.

When I came to that conclusion, chills rose in my spine, which was still intact even when my compatriot's head had been cut off.

"Vulcan! Hurry up and report this to the temple, and take the corpse!"

"What about the coming-of-age ceremony?"

"I will proceed!"

There was a lot of blood, but the ritual continued.

It seemed that this kind of thing was common here, and no one blinked an eye wherever I looked. This was also true of the young warriors sitting around.

But maybe it was because I'd played so many torturous games?

No one told me, but I could clearly see what I had to do now.

• Please finish your coming-of-age ceremony safely without anyone finding out that you are an evil spirit.

If it were a friendly game, a message like this would appear.

With the updated task in mind, I forcibly stopped myself from shaking. And taking my cue from the attitudes of the others, I composed my facial expression.

No one should feel any sense of incongruity while looking at me.

To them, if found out, I would be nothing but an ‘evil spirit' who had possessed the true owner of this body.

"Next!"

But what followed after the accident made my heart sink.

"Kennick’s fourth son, Serum, come out!"

I didn't know my name.

This was a serious matter, with life or death at stake.

If your name was called, and yet you stood still, you'd definitely look suspicious.

"Next!"

Of course, you could go ahead and say you'd heard it wrong.

Obviously, that was a much more likely explanation.

But if you were asked something more to make sure, that'd be a different story altogether. Just if. What if the chieftain asked a question because he was suspicious?

I won't be able to answer anything.

"Next!"

Did these fervid emotions stimulate the hormones in my brain?

Positive thoughts began to come to mind.

A weak thought, ‘If you are called at the end, it doesn't matter if you don't know your name, right?'

"Next!"

I felt sorry for myself.

Was I going to depend on luck?

When I'd never been lucky my whole life? One could tell just by looking at how I was brought to this place while playing the game.

For an unlucky bastard like me to get through this crisis, I needed a much more plausible plan.

"Next!"

That's why I kept looking around.

With my chin steadily facing the front, I looked at the expressions, movements, and habits of the others with my eyes.

As I was doing this, a way came to my mind.

"Next!"

Of course, this method was not 100% guaranteed.

However, my time was short, so I made the final decision.

That this was the most likely way for me to survive.

"Next!"

"Next!"

"Next!"

The calling continued.

I counted about two seconds to myself each time.

And when I had repeated it eight times –

"Come out, Bjorn, son of Yandel!"

Finally, the long-awaited moment has arrived.

Even after the two seconds had passed since the name was called, no one stirred their feet.

Recognizing this fact, I stepped forward. And proudly, with my shoulders squared, I walked towards the tribe chief.

Step.

It wasn't that I was unafraid.

Even at this moment, as I stepped forward, I wasn't sure that it was my name.

Step.

If my judgment was wrong, this insane tribe chief would call me out at once, saying it was suspicious.

And perhaps ask, who is your mother?

I would not be able to answer.

However.

Step.

I didn't hesitate.

Even as my heart pounded in my chest, I steadied my breath and continued to step forward.

For a simple reason.

Because I thought this was the most probable.

"Young warrior, choose your weapon!"

In the end, my choice was right.

There was no doubt in the eyes of the chieftain looking at me.

A gentle gaze, same as when dealing with other young warriors.

I held my breath, suppressing the strange excitement bubbling inside me.

I lived.

Less than ten minutes have passed since I opened my eyes.

But I have accepted the reality I am facing now as it is.

It may seem strange to some, but…

Denying reality is for idiots.

This is not a dream.

‘Bjorn Yandel.'

From now on, I must live by this name.

No, not just the name, I have to completely become this savage barbarian.

I don't know for how long.

Is it even possible to return home, and if it is, what do I need to do…?

Because I don't know anything yet.

Well, I wonder if it'd be possible to go back once the game's clear conditions are met.

It's still too early to determine this.

I honestly wish that wouldn't be the requirement.

No, I haven't even cleared the 2D version yet, how do I clear it in real life?

Maybe I'll have to live here for the rest of my life.

"…"

In that sense, weapon selection was important.

I thought that dragging things out might raise suspicion, but I still carefully examined each weapon one by one.

One-handed sword, two-handed greatsword, mace, iron club, spear, harpoon, two-handed axe, flail, great hammer, etc.

There were no bows or staffs at all.

These savage bastards didn't even care about jobs that had it easy[1] like healers, wizards, or archers.

Although, considering their racial characteristics, it was natural.

"Bjorn son of Yandel! Come on, choose your weapon!"

As the selection time grew longer, the tribe chief began to urge me.

I finally organized my thoughts.

Barbarians have no natural talent for magic, but have strong physical abilities.

For that reason, when raising a barbarian character, I always played with melee weapons and put them in the vanguard.

Out of curiosity, I'd also tried to raise a barbarcher, but it didn't work.

Their true value was always shown in close combat.

And among them…

‘This.'

After a lot of deliberation, I finally chose my weapon.

"Hmm."

The chieftain, who gave admiration and praise after every choice, showed a strange reaction for the first time.

The sentiment was fully understandable.

"Bjorn son of Yandel! This makes you a warrior!"

Because I'd chosen a ‘weapon' that no one else had picked.

At that time, in a dark room with the lights dimmed.

「Synchronization complete. 」

「Character information and logs have been recorded and sent to the manager. 」

The CPU fan that had been quiet started to spin, and the light from the monitor again illuminated the empty room.

However, the machine did not boot normally.

Beep beep, beep, beep –

Text entered in line with the beeping sounds on the DOS screen over a black background.

「You have successfully completed the coming-of-age ceremony.」

「You have installed new equipment.」

「Item Level has risen by +12…」

As if someone was typing in real time even at this moment, only those sounds reverberated quietly in the unoccupied room.

Endlessly, continuously.

「Bjorn Yandel」

Level: 1

Body: 25 / Mind: 35 / Ability: 1

Item Level: 24 (New +24)

Combat Index: 67 (New +6)

Editor's Notes:

[1] 날로 먹는 (lit. eating raw) means taking it easy, getting a free ride etc. Comes from the expression that eating things raw and uncooked requires no effort.

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