Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 488
Chapter 488: Pilgrim (6)
Given the variety of skills present in the game, some naturally had the concept of foresight. The primary example was Regrettable Hands of a Clock, a rank-one essence skill that could be found on the ninth floor or higher. The effect of the skill was simple. When a teammate died, the text “Memories of regret go backward in time” appeared, and you went back in time to the turning point before the death took place.
Calling it a prediction skill didn’t quite do it justice, as the effects go beyond that, but even though the effects of the skill might seem overpowered, the disadvantages were also clear. To trigger the effect, the target character must be put in a Companioned state ahead of time. Plus, the skill had a months-long cooldown time back in the city. Not only that, it could only be used a maximum of three times and never on yourself.
It’s clearly not that skill.
Ainar and I weren’t in a Companioned state, and based on what she said, she had used her skill at least twice already. It couldn’t possibly be that skill.
Then the most plausible answer is… Yeah, it must be that.
It didn’t take long to figure out the next most likely candidate: Prophet of Misfortune. It was a rank 6 skill that was difficult to acquire, and when activated, it randomly showed you future information through the system log. An example would be this:
[A vision of misfortunate has been seen in the eyes of the prophet. In the not-too-distant future, Bjorn Yandel will lose his life to the White Captain, Dreadfear. Don’t fall into complacency just because he is not in sight, as he will never stop chasing after you.]
I classified this skill as an information-detection ability. I often used it to gather information during the mid-game since it was great for finding traps and learning the types of monsters when entering unknown territory.
But it must be a different feeling in real life.
Those few lines of text that showed up in the game would now be seen through your own two eyes.
Huff… Huff…
“…Ainar, did you see me die?”
Again, she didn’t answer me, but seeing her flinch at my question, I already knew the answer.
So that’s why she’s not stopping…
I couldn’t say a word. No matter what I said at this point, it wouldn’t change her mind. All I could do was watch.
“Left.”
I continued to give her directions as she carried me on her back.
Grrr.
My teeth clenched.
“Behell—aaaaaahhhhh!”
I stayed there helpless, limp on Ainar’s back as she barreled through the shoulders with her bare body.
Stab!
An arrow shot into her leg.
“Die!”
Her skin tore under the sharp points of arrows and spears, but all I could do was watch.
“C-catch her! Now’s the time…!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
“…Wh-what strength!”
Ainar finally came to a stop only after running desperately for a while longer. We still hadn’t reached the exit, far from it, but running anymore would be too much for her.
Instead, she put me down and got ready to protect me.
Thud.
After all this time, her injuries had mounted and she had at last begun to slow down. The soldiers who were pursuing us finally narrowed the distance, catching up to us. Ainar let out an exhale as she picked up her weapon.
“Don’t…worry.”
She charged like a bull toward the soldiers. Still, all I could do was sit with my back to the wall.
One, two, three, four, five, six…
After killing seven soldiers, an ax was lodged into her arm.
Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…
When she killed the eighteenth soldier, a spear stabbed her collarbone.
Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five…
When she skilled the forty-sixth soldier, an arrow penetrated her left eye.
Seventy-one, seventy-two, seventy-three.
As time passed by, the number of soldiers she killed piled up.
One hundred.
A moment of silence fell over the cavern. She had arrows sticking out from every part of her body. Blood poured out from her wounds. Yet she still stood there, an obstinate barrier that blocked the soldiers from getting any closer.
The silence didn’t last long.
The soldiers quickly ran forward as they swung their weapons at her. “She’s tired as well…! Don’t back down!”
One hundred thirty.
Ainar apologized to me. “I’m sorry… My body…”
Then, she collapsed on top of me, having lost all strength in her body.
Cough! Psht!
I started to hear sounds that shouldn’t be coming out of my teammate’s body.
I was in a nightmare. My head was fuzzy. My ears were ringing. I felt like vomiting.
Cough! Psht!
Those horrific noises coming from her body wouldn’t stop. I was trapped in that endless nightmare, helplessly watching her pass away.
Nudge.
Finally, my paralyzed body started to gain strength and I could move.
[Your health has reached 30%. Status abnormality Paralysis has been lifted.]
My hand whipped to the side, grabbing a hold of the first weapon I touched. I pushed aside Ainars limp body as I stood.
Fwoosh!
I swung my weapon. The soldiers, who had jumped away out of caution, were taken by surprise. I used the moment to hoist Ainar onto my back, then immediately ran away from them, just like how Ainar did for me.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
I ran through the cave, pushing aside the soldiers that stood in our path.
“S-stop them!”
They wielded their weapons to stop me. With every step I took, injuries both big and small accumulated on my body. However, I didn’t stop to block or avoid their attacks. I sacrificed my own body to protect Ainar’s as I brute-forced my way through them like a mindless tank, heedless of how long I ran.
[Your health has dropped to less than 15%.]
My restored health had once again dropped, but I couldn’t stop running now.
Huff… Huff…
In the brief moment of peace I had, I plowed forward with all my might while checking on Ainar’s condition. “Ainar! Are you alright?! Get a hold of yourself! You can’t fall asleep! You need to wake—”
“B-Bjorn…” A faint voice caught my attention. “You must live…”
“Y-you’re alive. You must be tired, but you can’t fall asleep! Just ten more minutes. No, eight. Just stay awake eight more minutes for me!” If she could just do that, then we’d be able to make it out of the cave. That being said, we had no way to guarantee that escaping was even guaranteed. However, given that the difficulty of escaping from this cave itself was so high, there was also a high chance that we would be able to recover once we did. “You have to…!”
You just need to trust in me and hang in there, just a little while longer.
But before I could tell her that, Ainar murmured, “…Let me go.”
What was she saying? I had probably misheard her since we were both in rough shape, so—
“Let me…go…”
I didn’t mishear her. I was furious, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything harsh to her. Not now. I decided to just ignore her. “You must have a problem with your head after losing so much blood.”
She was quiet.
“Just stay put. That’s all you need to do.”
I didn’t know if she had agreed to rest there quietly on my back or if she just didn’t have the strength to do anything else. Either way, she didn’t say another word.
…She’s not dead, right?
I swallowed, trying to push back my creeping anxiety, then kept on running even as my heart threatened to burst into pieces at any given moment. As the cave entrance gradually came into view, I began to smell the outside world. Light leaked in through the entryway, casting our surroundings into bright clarity as well. Soon enough, the long-awaited entrance was right in front of us.
“Ainar! Ainar! Wake up! We’re almost there! Answer me!”
“…B-be careful.”
What was she saying? At least I knew she was still alive. Now we just need to run outside.
However, when I approached the entrance to the cave, I stopped. Something was wrong. I reached out my hand, touching an invisible barrier that stood in our way.
What’s going on?
The entrance was completely blocked off.
“…You have got to be shitting me.”
If the goal wasn’t to escape outside, then what was it? It wasn’t like we could fight a boss monster with impossible stats and abilities.
“But then…what the hell were we supposed to do…?”
The feeling of hope that I clung to inside me crumbled away.
“B-Bjorn…”
Even so, I smiled. “A-Ainar? Don’t worry! I’ll break through this barrier and get us out of here in no time!”
It was the nature of barbarians to break through whatever stood in our way.
Slam! Slam! Slam!
So I raised my fist and sent them straight toward the barrier, as hard as I could.
“B-Bjorn…”
Unfortunately, the barrier wouldn’t budge. Thankfully, being a barbarian also meant that you didn’t know when to give up.
“S-stop…”
Fist. Foot. Head. I used everything I could, all the strength I possessed, trying to break through the barrier. I even lunged at it, putting all my weight behind the blow and smashing my shoulder into it.
Slam!
Did the barrier have some effect that made it impossible to break through using physical attacks?
Fine, then I’ll move to Plan B.
I changed my strategy and targeted the wall next to the barrier. No matter how sturdy an iron door was, you could make your way through by simply breaking through the stone wall around it. That had to be what I needed to do.
“Stop…”
Slam!
“Go… Before he comes…”
I couldn’t stand it any longer.
Slam!
I slammed my forehead as hard as I could against the wall, venting my anger. I didn’t feel the slightest bit better. In the end, I was still left there, drowning in frustration and despair.
“Over here…!”
Suddenly, the soldiers appeared behind us. Already? I didn’t imagine they would be able to catch up so soon. Rather than overthinking it, I immediately turned and stampeded toward them.
Whack!
Gripping my weapon, I slammed the man who stood in the front straight into the wall.
I then proceeded to slaughter them all.
“…D-devil!”
“Don’t stop attacking!”
“For the Empire…!”
One, two, three, four…
That’s five of them.
Six, seven, eight…
…How many are there?
I didn’t know. I had to count from the start again. One, two, three…
Whack, whack, whack!
Before I realized it, our surroundings were quiet. Not even the quietest of breaths could be heard. All that was left were countless dead bodies around me.
Belatedly remembering what I had been protecting in the first place, I snapped my head around. “…Ainar.” Thankfully, when I went over to her, she was still breathing.
The sound, however, was faint and ragged, as if it were stumbling to a stop.
“B-Bjorn…”
Somehow sensing my presence, she struggled to open her eyes.
I couldn’t speak.
Everything will be fine. Don’t worry. We’ll be able to go home soon.
I should have told her something like that.
“Bjorn…son of Yandel.”
All I could do was look down at her, unable to form a proper thought.
Ainar looked up at me and the corners of her mouth twitched. “My…precious…friend…”
It was as if a massive stake had been driven through my heart. How could she call me her precious friend?.
“You will…become…a great…warrior…”
The dam holding back everything I had been enduring began crashing down.
Between the painful truth or sweet lies, it was clear which one would opt for on their deathbed.
Precious friend…
Yet before I could even stop myself, my mouth opened on its own, and out tumbled a mix of a confession and apology. “I-I’m…I’m not…that…”
I was not the real Bjorn Yandel. I was just an evil spirit that took over his body, one of the very evil spirits that needed to have their skulls cracked open the moment you spotted them. That…that was who I truly was. As I gazed down at Ainar her eyes gradually unfocused, I mumbled those words.
At some point, I realized what had happened.
Ainar was no longer breathing. Her eyes were still open, looking toward me, but there was no denying the truth.
[The third pilgrim has died.]
Ainar had died…
[The surviving pilgrim’s stats have all increased by +400.]
My stats rose again. Finally, I knew what I had to do.
[Special Condition – Perfect Companionship has been met. All stats have increased by 3X.]
[Defeat the White Captain, Dreadfear.]
The goal behind this hidden piece had been revealed.