Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Sewers (5)

Thud.

The moment the barbarian collapses to the ground, raising dust…

Amelia Rainwales clenches her teeth and hunches over.

‘The price of carelessness.’

My ribs are broken.

My skin, splattered with blood, is not just stinging, but burning.

It seems like my internal organs are also badly damaged.

‘I don’t even remember the last time I was in a situation like this.’

But the pain I’m feeling for the first time in a long time is so vivid.

I prided myself on being used to pain…

Smirk.

A hollow laugh escapes my lips involuntarily.

Even though it’s the result of my own arrogance…

…it’s ridiculous to think that a 3-month-old barbarian caused this situation.

‘He’s a strange one.’

I’m not just talking about his abilities.

His split-second judgments, his boldness and decisiveness in putting them into action…

And above all, his will to live.

I even have this thought…

‘If we had met a bit later… the outcome might have been different.’

Of course, it’s realistically impossible.

I’m the one who grew up being called the most talented, and I’ve been in and out of the labyrinth for a whopping 20 years.

But…

‘The fact that I’m even having that thought is the problem. It means he’s that dangerous.’

Our first encounter was just a month ago.

It was a time when he would have only entered the labyrinth once or twice at most.

But how has this barbarian changed?

The barbarian who couldn't even touch my clothes back then has put me in this state.

Sizzle!

My flesh, which had its neck completely blown off, starts to heal without dying.

Amelia slowly walks towards it.

Thud-.

There are several abilities like [Source of Darkness] that have the effect of overcoming death.

But that doesn't mean they make you invincible.

Just look at this barbarian.

Thud-

With his head completely smashed, he's completely defenseless.

The fact that his body is rapidly recovering due to [Immortal]?

It takes an enormous amount of time to recover from this level of injury, and even that becomes impossible when Soul Power is depleted.

In other words,

If I want to kill him, I can do it anytime.

But she puts away her dagger without hesitation and takes out a potion.

No matter what anyone says...

'They're definitely not from the royal family, so there's no need to kill him.'

She's not a murderer.

______________________________

There were hints.

The voice that came from both front and back.

If I had been a little smarter and calmer, I might have been able to predict the variable of [Self-Replication].

Then Plans A and B would have been a bit different.

'Well, I guess the outcome would have been the same.'

I feel a strange sensation as if my fragmented mind is being reassembled, and I slowly open my eyes.

"What a monstrous regeneration ability."

The first thing I see is the psychopath bitch.

"To completely heal with just one potion bottle."

"Po, tion...?"

I cough and sit up.

Only then do I notice that my head area is quite wet.

It doesn't seem like it's all blood...

Could it be that this woman poured a potion on me?

"Why, the hell—"

"Why didn't I kill you?"

I nod.

Well, I'm glad I'm still alive...

Honestly, I was certain I had died the moment I lost consciousness.

The woman looks at me with an annoyed expression.

"You... haven't changed one bit from before."

"What...?"

"Back then too, why do you always attack me on sight? I never thought I would say this, but don't people usually try to resolve things through conversation first?"

She has a point.

It's all because of my habit of always assuming the worst-case scenario.

I answer in a calm voice,

"If you were planning to kill me, I thought that was the only way."

While there was still a slight opening.

Before the paralysis poison spread any further.

I judged that I had to force a confrontation.

The woman just sighs briefly.

"Why? I clearly let you go last time."

Her voice is still blunt, but somehow, I sense a hint of grievance.

But I'm the one who's truly aggrieved.

"Didn't you say yourself that you couldn't let us go after we learned about this place?"

It's the same thing.

Since the woman seemed receptive, I ask a bit more boldly,

"So, what are you going to do with me now?"

"I'm not going to kill you. So get your hand off me."

I stop my arm that was subtly moving towards the mace.

And I say firmly,

"It's a misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding?"

"I wasn't planning on ambushing you with this. I just—"

"You were just preparing in case I changed my mind?"

...Hmm, yeah, that's it.

The best defense is a good offense.

As I neither agree nor disagree, the woman stares down at me.

It's a look that says, 'what the hell is with this crazy bastard?'

"You really haven't changed one bit."

She says and spits on the ground.

For a moment, I think she might be the rough type, but looking closely, it's not spit, but blood.

It seems like my aggressive defense before passing out did some damage after all.

"...You didn't drink a potion?"

"My constitution doesn't allow it."

"I see."

It's a brief explanation that's lacking, but I don't say anything more.

There are some essences that actually penalize you when you drink potions.

Anyway, back to the main topic.

"Barbarian, eat this."

The woman takes out something that looks like a pill from her pocket.

It's blackish and looks like cat vomit.

"...What is this...?"

"It's medicine made by an alchemist from Noark. It completely erases your memory for 1 hour after taking it."

"It erases memories...? Then why didn't you use it when we met in the Land of the Dead?"

"It's not something you can easily obtain. In the first place, I wouldn't have had it if it weren't for someone giving it to me just in case."

So it's a valuable item.

But I have another question.

It's definitely not something I should be saying in my current situation, but...

"Wouldn't it be easier to just kill me, why go through such a hassle?"

There's a saying that nothing is more precious than a human life.

That saying only applies to the world I used to live in.

This is a world where there are countless things more valuable than a human life.

For example, even now, many people are dying on the surface because they can't pay their taxes.

In the midst of that...

'To go through the trouble of using a precious consumable to let us go...'

I say with certainty,

"There must be a reason why you have to do that."

"...Why do you think so?"

"If you kill the five of us, you'll get tens of millions of stones just from the equipment."

The woman remains silent for a while at my sharp observation.

I thought I hit the nail on the head.

But the words that come after the silence are unexpected.

"What the hell do you think of me?"

"That's..."

As I'm wondering if I can be honest, the woman cuts me off.

"You don't have to say it. I think I know."

It seems like she also has a guilty conscience.

But she doesn't want to make excuses, does she?

"Whatever, think whatever you want. It doesn't change anything."

The woman bends down and forces open my mouth, shoving the pill down my throat.

The pill melts away before I can even think of spitting it out.

Whoosh!

It feels like something is burning in my head.

It's a sensation completely different from pain.

"...Hey, this really just ends with memory loss, right?"

"If it didn't, would you have any other choice?"

Uh, she has a point...

I close my eyes, feeling speechless.

But then, the woman speaks as if she just remembered something.

"Ah, so what was the other one?"

Huh? The other one?

"The two ways to make someone angry."

Ah, that.

"That is..."

And I lose consciousness.

_______________________________

「The blessing of Lethe seeps into the character's soul.」

「This soul cannot be blessed. The blessing within the soul is removed.」

When I open my eyes, I'm in the sewer.

Our stripped equipment is scattered around, and it's the same for my companions.

Thud.

I use my hands as support and slowly get up, my body covered in filth. And as I'm gathering my equipment and putting it back on, my companions also regain consciousness one by one.

Everyone looks confused.

"Uh, this is the sewer...?"

"Wh, what happened? We were clearly chasing after that evil woman..."

"Video recording device! Let's check the video recording dev... Damn it, it's broken!"

My companions, as the psychopath bitch said, don't remember anything.

It seems like their last memory is following Hans E to his hideout...

'...But why am I fine?'

Even when I try to recall my memories, everything that happened before I lost consciousness comes back clearly.

Why?

As I'm thinking about the reason...

'Wait, then what happened to that bitch?'

I suddenly remember Elisa and come to my senses.

'...Don't tell me she took her alive?'

She's not around here.

Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I should have just killed her back then, regardless of the bounty—

"Everyone, look over there!!"

"Huh? Isn't that the woman?"

What?

I immediately turn my head and see a woman lying on the ground a short distance away.

Her blonde hair is covered in filth.

It's the back of her head that I want to smash.

It's definitely Elisa.

"She's, she's dead!"

The dwarf rushes over and checks her pulse, declaring her death.

This only adds to the confusion.

"This is, this is unbelievable. Why don't we have any memories, and why is this woman dead...?"

"Dw, Dwarkey, don't tell me that monster you mentioned appeared?!"

Various speculations run wild, along with bewildered voices.

Rotmiller, who was relatively calm, comes up with a plausible hypothesis.

"...I think it was all this woman's doing."

"What? This woman's doing?"

"We probably found this woman after chasing her. And we probably won."

Rotmiller presents Elisa's limbs as evidence for his claim. He says that unless it was my mace, it would be difficult to crush them so perfectly.

"Co, come to think of it, I can sense traces of my magic on this woman."

Dwarkey also finds traces of [Paralysis Poison] on the corpse, solidifying his suspicion.

Then there's only one question left for them.

"Then why don't we remember anything?"

Why did we lose our memories?

"If my prediction is correct, we were probably trying to capture this woman alive and take her back to the city. However... she must have pulled something when she regained consciousness."

It's a plausible story.

Even if I had lost my memory, I would have analyzed the situation in that way.

"Indeed... if it's the power of an evil god that little is known about, it's possible that something like this could happen."

"Hahaha! Still, seeing her dead like this means we must have handled it somehow!"

"...Bjorn, what do you think?"

"Well..."

I contemplate for a moment and then answer.

Although the conclusion they reached and accepted is quite different from the truth I remember...

"I think Rotmiller is right."

There's no need to say anything more.

If it becomes known that I didn't lose my memory, that psychopath bitch might come looking for me again.

"Let's get out of here and visit the temple first. Not only have we lost our memories, but there might be something wrong with our bodies."

Everyone hurriedly prepares to leave at Rotmiller's worried words.

So I also end my thoughts.

'Something hidden beneath the sewers...'

A secret that exists in this world that I don't know about.

As a veteran player, it would be a lie to say I'm not curious...

'But I shouldn't go anywhere near the sewers again.'

After all, life is more important than curiosity.

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