Chapter 297: Chapter 297: Evil Spirit (1) - Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 297: Evil Spirit (1)

After running for about thirty minutes, I came across a five-person team, made up of three humans, one dwarf, and one elf. Judging by their equipment, I figured they were fifth-floor adventurers or higher.

"You lost your way? Calm down and catch your breath here." When they saw me approaching their camp, they sat me down and gave me beef jerky instead of getting defensive. My first thought was that the jerky might be poisoned.

"Hmm, what to do? We don't have time to wander the entire third floor looking for your team."

Not one of them expressed any ill intent over the course of the conversation or asked for equipment in exchange for saving my life, even though that was pretty much the norm.

"Haha, you want to give us your weapon? It's fine. If you give us all your equipment, what will you do during this expedition?"

"It's okay. If it really bothers you, pay it forward by helping another person in a similar situation instead of being stingy."

These were people with character too solid to merely call them good people. That kind of made me even more suspicious, so I sat by the bonfire and pretended to doze off to give them an opening to attack me.

"He must have been very tired."

"Jess, what should we do? The thought of leaving this guy like this bothers me a little. It's the same as leaving him to die."

"Why don't we roam the area for just a few hours and see if his comrades are around?"

"And if we can't find them?"

"Hmm, then why don't we take him upstairs with us for this expedition? It may make things harder, but we can't leave him to die in a place like this."

There was no point in testing these people any longer. It seemed I would only cause them trouble. So I gave the signal we agreed on earlier to Amelia, who was nearby, to come pick me up.

"There's a lot of people coming to find us today. Who are you?"

"...Sorry to disturb you. I'm looking for my comrade."

"Comrade? Oh, could it be?"

When Amelia approached the campfire, I jumped up and ran to her. "Oh! Emily! I missed you! What took you so long?"

"S-Sorry... But this is a bit..."

"Emilyyy!" I hugged her tight to keep our act from being exposed, all the while taking care to watch my back. They seemed like good people, but I worried they might change their minds after seeing Amelia.

"I'm glad you've reunited with your comrade."

But there was no plot twist.

"Haha, stay close to your teammate from now on."

"You have a good comrade. It's not easy to find people who get lost in the labyrinth like this. You should treasure each other."

These people had ended up being nice from start to finish, and so it was time for their uninvited guests to leave.

"Come on, let's go. Everyone... is worried... about you..." Amelia led me away, saying something about how our 'team' promised to meet us elsewhere, and the people sent us off with warm smiles.

I... really came back without a hitch?

While on one hand I was stunned, on the other, I was extremely touched. Was this what you called healing? What kind of life had I been living this whole time? It turned out there were still so many wonderful people in the world.

"Unfortunately, your plan didn't work." While I was busy being deeply touched, Amelia looked at me, clearly wondering what my next move would be.

Jeez, you're making me embarrassed. It's not like I knew things would turn out like this.

"Are you going to continue?"

At Amelia's follow-up question, I started to seriously think my plan over.

Then five adventurers emerged from the darkness. "Hey there, did you get separated from your comrades? What are you two doing? If that's the case, come on over. We'll help you."

They were all smiling brightly, like people who had just found a golden nugget on the side of the road. I finished waxing lyrical about mankind then and there and approached them with a smile. "Oh, really? We were just in need of help!"

Yeah, the rule of thumb was that guys like these came to find you, even when you didn't go looking for them.

The second team we encountered was much more obvious than I thought they'd be. As soon as we approached, we were not-so-subtly surrounded.

"Oh, isn't that a sub-space ring? That's a valuable item compared to the rest of your low-grade equipment." As I reached my hand toward them to touch the sub-space ring, the group went into intimidation mode.

"So, where are your comrades?"

"I don't know."

"Hmm, is that so?"

It seemed that after obtaining that bit of additional information, they concluded we weren't much of a threat. Soon, one of them approached Amelia and placed his hand on her exposed thigh.

Stab.

Her dagger sank into the back of his hand before he could touch her.

"Aghhh! You bitch!"

"Kill her!"

Just like that, the battle began not even a full three minutes after meeting each other.

Whip!

Seeing as he retaliated without the slightest hint of hesitation as soon as he was stabbed, it seemed he was quite experienced in interpersonal combat. Of course, that wasn't a problem for us because we were the same.

"Behel–aaah!"

Giantization, Swing, et cetera—as soon as I started using my skills and rampaging in earnest, the match was quickly decided. The fact that they had conveniently placed themselves in a siege formation to prevent us from escaping worked in our favor.

Crunch!

That may have been an effective way to kill goblins after capturing them, but not trolls and ogres. Targeting the back row's bow and staff users from the get-go, we had them all flat on their backs before long.

"Did you trick us...? Fuck."

Crunch!

The moment I crushed the head of the guy who seemed to be the leader, a pleasant silence descended. Now it was time to pick up these poor, abandoned items. Stripping their equipment and opening their bags, there was evidence of looting everywhere. There wasn't much equipment inside since it was only the third day, but they had sleeping pills, poison, psychological scrolls, and more. The bag was full of consumables that could be used on people, not monsters. Several IDs appeared to have been stolen.

But was it because we'd raised our income in one fell swoop? "We just need to do this about ten more times."

Amelia no longer questioned my methods. She realized, too, that there was no more effective method than this. Killing a plunderer who recently looted other people got you several pieces of equipment as well as several IDs, meaning you got much greater results in terms of time versus effort.

"Unfortunately, your plan didn't work." While I was busy being deeply touched, Amelia looked at me, clearly wondering what my next move would be.

Jeez, you're making me embarrassed. It's not like I knew things would turn out like this.

"Are you going to continue?"

At Amelia's follow-up question, I started to seriously think my plan over.

Then five adventurers emerged from the darkness. "Hey there, did you get separated from your comrades? What are you two doing? If that's the case, come on over. We'll help you."

They were all smiling brightly, like people who had just found a golden nugget on the side of the road. I finished waxing lyrical about mankind then and there and approached them with a smile. "Oh, really? We were just in need of help!"

Yeah, the rule of thumb was that guys like these came to find you, even when you didn't go looking for them.

The second team we encountered was much more obvious than I thought they'd be. As soon as we approached, we were not-so-subtly surrounded.

"Oh, isn't that a sub-space ring? That's a valuable item compared to the rest of your low-grade equipment." As I reached my hand toward them to touch the sub-space ring, the group went into intimidation mode.

"So, where are your comrades?"

"I don't know."

"Hmm, is that so?"

It seemed that after obtaining that bit ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of additional information, they concluded we weren't much of a threat. Soon, one of them approached Amelia and placed his hand on her exposed thigh.

Stab.

Her dagger sank into the back of his hand before he could touch her.

"Aghhh! You bitch!"

"Kill her!"

Just like that, the battle began not even a full three minutes after meeting each other.

Whip!

Seeing as he retaliated without the slightest hint of hesitation as soon as he was stabbed, it seemed he was quite experienced in interpersonal combat. Of course, that wasn't a problem for us because we were the same.

"Behel–aaah!"

Giantization, Swing, et cetera—as soon as I started using my skills and rampaging in earnest, the match was quickly decided. The fact that they had conveniently placed themselves in a siege formation to prevent us from escaping worked in our favor.

Crunch!

That may have been an effective way to kill goblins after capturing them, but not trolls and ogres. Targeting the back row's bow and staff users from the get-go, we had them all flat on their backs before long.

"Did you trick us...? Fuck."

Crunch!

The moment I crushed the head of the guy who seemed to be the leader, a pleasant silence descended. Now it was time to pick up these poor, abandoned items. Stripping their equipment and opening their bags, there was evidence of looting everywhere. There wasn't much equipment inside since it was only the third day, but they had sleeping pills, poison, psychological scrolls, and more. The bag was full of consumables that could be used on people, not monsters. Several IDs appeared to have been stolen.

But was it because we'd raised our income in one fell swoop? "We just need to do this about ten more times."

Amelia no longer questioned my methods. She realized, too, that there was no more effective method than this. Killing a plunderer who recently looted other people got you several pieces of equipment as well as several IDs, meaning you got much greater results in terms of time versus effort.

"Then let's just wipe off the blood and keep going."

Anyway, after that, we continued to pull the same act and ran into several teams. The reactions were varied, but to sort them into broad categories...

"Not interested, keep moving." When it was just me, the percentage of people who refused to let me approach at all was near 90 percent.

"Since you're in a tough spot, we'll let you stay with us for a while." Those who listened to my story and asked for a reasonable amount of compensation in exchange for letting me rest with them accounted for 5 percent of the population.

"...How suspicious. Take out your ID." Those who mistook us for plunderers and whipped out maces of justice were 3 percent.

"No matter how precious an item is, it's not more precious than a life."

"Sorry. My policy is to prevent any potential issues later."

Those who tried to strip me of my equipment even if that meant I'd get killed by monsters and those who tried to take my life just because I saw their faces were about 1 percent each.

Our batting average is much lower than I expected.

We ran into maybe one team out of a hundred that was useful. So why had I run into so many of these bastards before today, the one day I actually wanted to run into them? People often said that even the most common fixtures in your life tended to disappear right when you needed them. I didn't know if that was true, but after wandering around for a long while with no luck, we were met with a new type of team on the eighth day.

"Oh, nice to see those famous new recruits here." It was a team of plunderers from Noark.

To speak in terms of outcome, there was no battle. It was not that we didn't have any intention to fight—it was more so that our opponent didn't give us a chance.

"Haha, it's nice to see you here, but I hope you stay in your lane." The plunderers did not even allow us to get close, and Amelia didn't necessarily show any hostility, either. Rather, they warned us. "We work under the castellan, so I wouldn't do anything reckless if I were you."

Jeez, I didn't even think of doing anything. But we needed to at least pretend to be on the same side, right? If we attacked first and any one of them returned to the city alive to testify, our plan would be ruined.

"Wait, can we talk?" the team from Noark suggested.

"Fine." Amelia agreed without hesitation. It didn't take long for me to figure out why she was acting like this. Since we needed to join forces with the castellan, this was an opportunity for us to make an appeal.

"I'm Beck."

"We're..."

"I'm aware. You're Emily, and you are Iron Mask, right?"

"Iron Mask?"

"Oh, you didn't know? That's the nickname people have given you."

I didn't know I had a nickname like that. Well, it did suit me, considering I constantly kept my face covered with a thick helmet while in Noark.

"But your face is more handsome than I thought."

Oh, right. I had been in the middle of fishing, so I wasn't wearing a helmet. That unsettled me, but I didn't bother putting one on. What difference would it make to show my face to a few of them? It wouldn't change anything either way.

"But was that your guys' strategy? I was very impressed. You made good use of the stereotypes about barbarians."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Then let's just wipe off the blood and keep going."

Anyway, after that, we continued to pull the same act and ran into several teams. The reactions were varied, but to sort them into broad categories...

"Not interested, keep moving." When it was just me, the percentage of people who refused to let me approach at all was near 90 percent.

"Since you're in a tough spot, we'll let you stay with us for a while." Those who listened to my story and asked for a reasonable amount of compensation in exchange for letting me rest with them accounted for 5 percent of the population.

"...How suspicious. Take out your ID." Those who mistook us for plunderers and whipped out maces of justice were 3 percent.

"No matter how precious an item is, it's not more precious than a life."

"Sorry. My policy is to prevent any potential issues later."

Those who tried to strip me of my equipment even if that meant I'd get killed by monsters and those who tried to take my life just because I saw their faces were about 1 percent each.

Our batting average is much lower than I expected.

We ran into maybe one team out of a hundred that was useful. So why had I run into so many of these bastards before today, the one day I actually wanted to run into them? People often said that even the most common fixtures in your life tended to disappear right when you needed them. I didn't know if that was true, but after wandering around for a long while with no luck, we were met with a new type of team on the eighth day.

"Oh, nice to see those famous new recruits here." It was a team of plunderers from Noark.

To speak in terms of outcome, there was no battle. It was not that we didn't have any intention to fight—it was more so that our opponent didn't give us a chance.

"Haha, it's nice to see you here, but I hope you stay in your lane." The plunderers did not even allow us to get close, and Amelia didn't necessarily show any hostility, either. Rather, they warned us. "We work under the castellan, so I wouldn't do anything reckless if I were you."

Jeez, I didn't even think of doing anything. But we needed to at least pretend to be on the same side, right? If we attacked first and any one of them returned to the city alive to testify, our plan would be ruined.

"Wait, can we talk?" the team from Noark suggested.

"Fine." Amelia agreed without hesitation. It didn't take long for me to figure out why she was acting like this. Since we needed to join forces with the castellan, this was an opportunity for us to make an appeal.

"I'm Beck."

"We're..."

"I'm aware. You're Emily, and you are Iron Mask, right?"

"Iron Mask?"

"Oh, you didn't know? That's the nickname people have given you."

I didn't know I had a nickname like that. Well, it did suit me, considering I constantly kept my face covered with a thick helmet while in Noark.

"But your face is more handsome than I thought."

Oh, right. I had been in the middle of fishing, so I wasn't wearing a helmet. That unsettled me, but I didn't bother putting one on. What difference would it make to show my face to a few of them? It wouldn't change anything either way.

"But was that your guys' strategy? I was very impressed. You made good use of the stereotypes about barbarians."

"...What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, it was just a compliment without any particular meaning behind it, so don't give me that look. We might end up as comrades, no?"

Amelia interjected at that. "Comrades?"

"Oh, right, I didn't tell you. I didn't mention it earlier because I'm sure you need some time to adjust to the city, but the castellan thinks highly of the two of you."

In other words, we seemed capable, but he was keeping his eyes on us because he didn't know what kind of people we were.

"The castellan likes bold people. Especially ones who are unbound by morals, like you."

That meant there would be no need for any more tests.

"They'll be in touch by the time you get back so make sure to carefully consider it in the meantime. It is a strange city, after all. You at least need a place to lay your head, right?"

"...I'll think about it."

"Haha, that's it then." The man then turned to me with a bright smile. "Oh, and you. It doesn't seem like you've been out in the human world for all that long, but it seems it's rubbed off on you, eh?"

"And you must have been out in the world for too long, seeing as all your hair has fallen out."

"...What?" It seemed like he was paying me a backhanded compliment, which was why those words just came out of me. But was that not his intention? "Ah! It was a compliment, a compliment! I apologize if you took it the wrong way." Instead of getting mad, the guy just apologized.

And so it was my turn. "Oh, mine was a compliment too. I apologize if you took it the wrong way."

"...I-I see?" The man laughed awkwardly and I followed suit. Even still, I kept looking at him. I had a strange feeling.

His name was Beck, right? Why do my hands keep itching when I look at him?

Fueled by a mysterious discomfort, I shifted my gaze and spotted the only adventurer in the group wearing a cloak. They were small in stature—like a child.

"Oh, I guess you guys don't know." Beck seemed to misinterpret my staring as a sign of curiosity because he whipped off the child's cloak. "It's a similar tactic to the one you used, in a way. We use this kid as bait. Most people lower their guards that way. If we send her in beforehand, it becomes a way to confirm how strong our opponents are in advance. She's surprisingly useful in battle too. Most people have a psychological resistance to killing kids like her."

Beck described the child like he was trying to sell me on a product, but his explanation didn't even reach my ears. I'd already heard all of that from Amelia, anyway.

Huh? Where have I seen her before?

When I looked at the expressionless child standing under the cloak, I had a strange feeling of déjà vu. But did he misunderstand my staring? "Hmm, looks like you're not curious. You just like what you see, then?"

Beck said some absolute bullshit. Normally I would have bashed his head in and cleared up the misunderstanding right then and there, but I decided not to argue and asked, "What is her name?"

"Name?" Beck tilted his head like that was a strange question. He seemed like he had no idea why her name might be important to me, but he answered anyway. "Jencia Nephrin."

So, it was you. No wonder I felt weird.

"W-We're real p-people, right? Wouldn't that be murder?"

I met this child in Glacier Cave and she was the first evil spirit I ever killed. Of course, the ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jencia I killed was a different person from this child. Evil spirits only ever took over the bodies of adult natives of this world, and no evidence suggested otherwise yet.

Wait, that means...

The moment I registered this, I realized one thing. As a child born in Noark, it was highly likely that Jencia was living underground even as an adult. In other words, it finally made sense why that woman—the woman in Jencia's body—had been so miserable.

"I want to go home. I can't die in a place like this. You have no idea... what I've had to do to survive in this fucking world. Yeah? Please..."

Human characters tended to have it easier when it came to survival. Their taxes were set much lower than the other races so they didn't have a problem getting by for at least a few years even without doing adventurer work. That was why I couldn't really sympathize with her claim back then. All I saw was a woman looting others for an easy life.

"M-Mom..."

But she had started from this hell. I'd always thought that barbarians had the worst start. It turned out there was a bottom below rock bottom.