Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 502
Chapter 502: Age of Exploration (3)
After Butterfly’s turn, the members of the Round Table continued.
“The person who made the cheat version of Dungeon and Stone wasn’t Auril Gavis.”
Wolf’s information was similar to last time, with a clear goal of trying to make the players less hostile toward Auril Gavis.
“I wonder what you guys will think of this, pshehe. Noark was able to succeed in defeating the eighth floor’s Lord of the Floor this time.”
Clown was also able to easily pass his turn with information about Noark, where he was staying.
Then it was finally my turn.
“When you defeat the boss of Skull Island and reach the tenth floor, you can experience a special event.”
Everyone’s focus was glued to me, wondering what I was going to say, but I quickly passed my turn by saying a random piece of information I had that wasn’t all that important.
“…A special event. I’m quite excited to see what it is. Ah, of course before I can experience it, I guess the war will have to end first. Pshehe.”
It had been a while since I’d last shared a piece of information about the game.
However, the members found nothing strange about it. A piece of game information that was accepted among these players could be extremely valuable in its own right.
“Alright, guys, let’s all do a bit better this time around.” The members who had known me for a while now were quick to react. They tried to encourage each other to share more important information this time since they recognized that the previous turn had been boring for me.
“Then…I guess it’s my turn again.”
Again, we went around the room sharing information, starting with Queen. I listened while trying to memorize all the information. There were some shocking and beneficial pieces of information shared, but I wasn’t able to concentrate on them. The reason was simple.
Missha Karlstein is a traitor. Not only that, but she’s also a traitor from my point of view.
Those words echoed through my head. Before I knew it, the second round had ended, and now, we were almost near the end of the third round.
…What the hell did she mean by that? Missha is a traitor? I thought everything was already settled with her and things were finally looking up. Baekho Lee, is that bastard trying to do something? Was this what he meant by Plan B?
All kinds of possibilities filled my head, as I was unable to collect myself.
I need to hear the details.
Butterfly was the one who shared that information. However, contrary to my expectations, there was no mention of Missha in the second or third rounds. If I wanted to hear more, then I’d have to be the one to take action.
“Pshehe, why are you all so surprised? Is Rafdonia that afraid of Noark’s growth?”
How could I bring the topic up naturally? If I pressed for details on why she was a traitor, that would clearly raise suspicions about me. Rumors that “Lion equals Bjorn Yandel” were already rampant at the Round Table. I had to be careful about each and every move I—
Oh, it was already my turn. When I came to my senses, I realized that everyone was staring at me in complete silence.
…Let’s just wait one more round.
I decided that if there was still no mention of Missha in the next round, then I would take action first. For now, I threw out, “If you defeat the Heavenly Sky Lord of the Floor by yourself, you can choose the active effect.”
It was a difficult piece of information to ascertain but one that didn’t do you any good even if you knew it.
Shwaaaaa.
When a green light showed, there was a moment of silence around the Round Table. Of course, it didn’t last long.
“I-it’s possible…to defeat a Lord of the Floor alone…?”
“Well, if you played in 100X mode…then I guess it might be?”
“Pshehe. Do you really think Mr. Lion would have played the game on such a mode? Why do you think he shared it?”
Since it was information related to a Lord of the Floor, there were no objections.
Honestly, even if I shared a piece of complete bullshit with them, as long as a green light showed, they would all trust me and think it would lead to some bigger secret.
Then is it Queen’s turn again?
“I think I’ve heard everything worth hearing this month. I’ll stop here and take my leave then.” However, when I glanced to the side toward her, Queen suddenly announced she was leaving. Unfortunately, the main reason why she was leaving was because of me. “…After all, even Mr. Lion looks bored.”
It wasn’t that I was bored, it was just that I was having trouble concentrating since my thoughts were elsewhere. And the reason I was sharing information about the game was because I didn’t have to overthink what I shared.
“That’s a shame… I really thought you’d be happy to hear about Noark defeating the Lord of the Floor. Pshehe…” Clown was also disappointed since he didn’t receive any praise or attention from me despite doing his best to bring a worthwhile piece of information this month. “Well…I guess this level of information isn’t anything special to Mr. Lion.”
Clown seemed pretty depressed but promised to come back next month was an even more interesting piece of information.
Man, with an atmosphere like this, it’s not like I can ask them to go another round.
So with that, the Round Table came to an end for the month.
***
The day after I went to the community, and after I awoke in the afternoon following a good night’s sleep, Versyl Gowland dropped by the house to see me.
“What’s the matter?”
While I already knew why she came to some extent, I feigned ignorance. Versyl asked to speak to me in private, saying she had something urgent to tell me.
“I…I don’t know what this will sound like to you, but…I received some information that alleged Missha Karlstein is a traitor.”
I was right. The reason she ran over here to talk to me as soon as she woke up was because of this.
“A traitor?” I prompted.
“I don’t know for sure. No, I am sure, but…I don’t know the details.”
Versyl then asked me to reconsider having Missha join our clan, but I flatly refused.
“I can’t make such a decision without knowing the details.”
“I see… That makes sense…”
“However, I also don’t intend to simply ignore your concerns. I will do my best to look into it, but can you also try and find out the details as well?”
“Alright. I’ll look into it, then.”
“Thanks.”
Well, that settled that. At the next Round Table, she would put on the fox mask and work toward digging up more info. Since I wouldn’t have to ask myself, this would definitely lower the risk of my identity being exposed.
“I’ll head out first. Contact me whenever you need me.”
“Alright.”
Versyl left, and around evening time, a letter arrived at the house.
“Mister! You got a strange, little letter,” Erwen said, holding the mail she’d taken out of the mailbox. “I think you should look at it!”
On the surface of the envelope was a white tiger. The envelope had already been opened, and when I read the note inside, it was filled with characters and letters that didn’t exist in this world.
Here’s what you asked for, bro.
Why the hell did he send it in Korean? What if someone else had seen it? Or worse, recognized the characters? Even though I was fuming on the inside, I still read through the letter’s details on how to get outside the city walls.
…It’s more complicated than I thought.
That much information was impossible to memorize in one go, so I decided to fold it and store it away in my subspace instead.
It’s nice to have options. After all, you never know what’s going to happen. That’s why you always need to prepare for the worst-case scenario. That’s also the reason why…
“Emily, can you look into Missha?”
“What do you mean?”
Afterward, I explained to Amelia what happened at the Round Table and asked her to investigate it.
“I’ll try, but there’s a good chance she’ll eventually catch on. Even back when we caught her, it wasn’t easy.”
“That much? I thought you would be much better than her at this, given the essences you have.”
“If she really did approach us with some ulterior motive, then there’s a high chance she’s hiding an essence from us.”
That made me pause for a second. “Don’t get too close to her, then. Just keep an eye on her for the time being.”
“I’ll do that.”
I sighed. Even though she had a clear red line not to cross, now that Amelia was investigating Missha, we were sure to find out the truth.
With that settled, I spent the rest of the day resting, then returned to my busy schedule the following morning. I stopped by the holy land again to sell plots of land and visited the former chieftain to hear how the previous meetings among the heads of the races went. I also popped over to see Raven as well.
“Records Stone…? Do you mean the Fragment of Records Stone? The legacy of Gabrielius?”
“Both the Records Stone and its fragments. If you have a book or any other information related to them, please tell me. It might bring you some unwanted attention, though, so don’t look too much into it.”
“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. But Mr. Yandel, are your preparations for your next expedition going well…?”
“There’s been no problems yet, but you can never be sure until you head into the labyrinth.”
“That’s true. After all, nobody knows anything until the exploration starts. But about Versyl Gowland…how is she?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you think?! Wizards are more important than anyone else when it comes to expeditions like this! Last time when I saw her, it seemed that she didn’t know much about history…”
“Well, that’s alright. She’s good at fighting, and she’s trustworthy. So that’s more than enough to make up for it.”
“Is that so?”
Following my meeting with Raven, whenever I had the time, I gathered my team members for a meeting three times a week. On the surface, the purpose of the meeting was to work out the bad blood between Missha and the other members before our expedition.
“…I haven’t found anything in particular yet.”
I also received constant reports from Amelia about her investigation, but thus far, she hadn’t unearthed anything strange about Missha.
“…This is a more lavish expedition than I’ve ever done before.”
Sometime later, Melbeth sent us supplies for the upcoming exploration—a mix of combat and support scrolls, all sorts of potions, navigation-related numbered items, and more. The supplies were versatile and good for whatever environment we might come across—whether we ended up hiking a mountain, traveling over water, or traversing through fire. On top of that, they were also of the highest quality.
This must have cost a lot of money…
It also gave us a glimpse of just how high of expectations Melbeth had for us in finding information on the hidden area. Though they were a bit overzealous, I was confident that we could live up to those expectations. So with that, we continued to spend the days preparing for our expedition.
“Bjorn…”
“Not Bjorn, it’s ‘Chieftain.’ First elder.”
“Ah, because we’re in the holy land! I’ll keep that in mind.”
As the sun started to set, Ainar and I walked down a forest path. Eventually, we came across dozens of young warriors with bright and excited expressions on their faces. Seeing them, I couldn’t help but smile. I then yelled out, “Congratulations, young warriors! As of today, you will leave the holy land and be reborn as true warriors!”
Scanning the crowd told me what I needed to know.
“Behell—aaaaaaaaah!”
There were no newbies this time around.
***
Evolution occurred with each passing day, and when looking at the entire history of humanity on Earth, the representative example would be the Industrial Revolution. In just the past few hundred years since the Industrial Revolution, you could see just how much humanity had developed. So then, what about the barbarians?
When had the barbarians gone through the most extreme level of development and evolution?
As of today, I could confidently answer.
Now.
Proof of that could be seen here in this empty field. Even the tutorial’s script had drastically changed.
“Now, come out one by one and choose your weapon, as well as the armor that suits you.”
Numerous weapons and pieces of armor lined the shelves. That, however, was just the beginning.
“Come here. You shouldn’t put the gaiters on like that. Here, do it like this.”
“Thank you… It’s my first time putting them on.”
Not only did we provide them with a chestplate, but now, we also provided other pieces of equipment as well, including a bag full of various supplies that were essential for any expedition. Some of the items included a compass, water bottle, and potions.
Roughly a million stones per person…
The amount of resources given to our young warriors had more than tripled, but that was no problem. After all, if we needed money, we just had to sell some more land.
With this level of support, they’ll surely progress quickly and earn lots of money to spend on buying land.
We were still in its beginning stages, but at this rate, the self-sustaining cycle I’d been striving toward would soon be achieved.
“Ugh… It’s so tight…!”
The young warriors seemed uncomfortable wearing armor all over their bodies.
Nevertheless, they didn’t brag or try to act cocky, saying they didn’t need it. It was all because these young warriors had an idol they looked up to.
“Bear with it. You will get used to it in no time.”
“But still—”
“It’s not a choice! It’s only natural that a warrior wears armor! Just look at the chieftain! If you want to be a great warrior, you must wear armor!”
There were no longer any warriors in our tribe who refused to wear armor.
“…I’m going to save up and buy lithinum armor!”
Even the lithinum armor I’d been wearing all this time had turned into a symbol of a skilled and respected warrior.
“Now, go forth! To where your destiny awaits!”
After giving them their basic equipment I had Versyl, who was waiting outside the holy land, group them together with the Companionship Spell. After that, they all headed into the labyrinth.
“I hope everyone comes back safely.”
“Don’t worry, Ainar. I’m sure there aren’t nearly as many looters aiming for their hearts now that the magic tower labeled them a forbidden magic material.”
“That makes sense…”
Regardless, barbarians were the type to come back alive no matter what. With the support we gave them this time, everyone would definitely survive and come back alive.
I hope they grow up quickly so we can raise the price of land even higher.
After confirming that all our young warriors had entered the portal, I got ready myself. I had fulfilled my role as the chieftain.
“Mister…”
“It’s not ‘Mister.’”
“…What?”
“From now on, call me ‘Captain.’”
Now, it was time for us to begin our expedition.