Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 539
Chapter 539: Verdurous Giant Spear (1)
It was the third day after the end of the second rainy season. If I counted from the day we entered the labyrinth, it was already the seventy-fourth day.
We have about a billion mana stones we gathered from the island, along with the 600 million we gathered before that…
A total of 1.6 billion mana stones.
Of course, that money was gathered together by dozens of people, and after we distributed it all, my cut would be much lower. Thankfully, however, this problem was resolved with a discussion with the other clan members.
Now, there was only one thing left to do.
“Everyone can rest as much as they want! We won’t be doing anything for the rest of today!”
After having collected the mana stones across the whole of Giant Island, the group members and I all returned to the cave. Naturally, it was the very same cave that the Hektz Clan had been staying in and the one where we found the headstone.
Thinking about it now, we got really lucky.
We had completely mapped out Giant Island. There were quite a few other caves around the place, but this was the only one so deep that it led into the ground. It also had a special characteristic that meant monsters didn’t approach the entrance for some reason. It was honestly the safest place we could be in.
And the Hektz Clan had been able to find it during that hectic time.
Please let some of that luck come to me as well.
The pressure from the next actions I needed to take weighed on me so heavily that I was hoping a bit of that luck would come my way as well.
I wasn’t that lucky, though. Well, the real truth of it was…
My luck is ordinary.
It was only recently that I began thinking like that. Having gone through so much misfortune while I was young, I had thought multiple times that I was doomed from the moment of my birth, but thinking back on it, I wasn’t particularly unlucky. Even after experiencing all those hardships, I was still alive.
“It seems he’s going to start soon.”
“Bjorn! I don’t know what you’re doing, but good luck!”
I was quite lucky to have met such great people during my lifetime.
Erwen, my night companion turned friend after my first adventure.
Ainar, my fellow trustworthy barbarian warrior.
The allies I formed at the Bloody Citadel where a variant appeared, Raven and Hikurod.
Team Half-Wit’s Missha, Rotmiller, and Dwalkie.
In those early years when I truly had nothing, meeting them was something beyond a simple description like “lucky.”
Let’s not get my hopes up.
Ainar and Missha.
I turned away from my weak-willed inclination to hand off my responsibility to my lucky teammates.
I am a lucky person.
I repeated that in my heart again and again. What I needed right now wasn’t doubt, but unshakeable certainty.
I…
…was a lucky person.
It was when I repeated that in my heart once more.
“I…”
Something flashed in my mind.
My chin, which had been tense with nerves, relaxed ever so slightly, and the subtle shaking of my hand also disappeared.
It could be called a moment of enlightenment.
The half-filled cup. The ones who were looking at the cup weren’t the ones who could decide if that cup was happy or unhappy.
The only one who could decide that was myself and myself alone.
“…I am lucky.”
“Huh?”
“What’s he talking about? He hasn’t done anything yet.”
Haven’t done anything?
Everything in this world was for the taking if you just put your mind to it. Just as how the future written in the Records Stone was bound to come true, the moment I made up my mind was the moment the future was decided for me.
That was the truth of the world and an unchanging fact.
“Heh heh…”
However, since there was no way these foolish people could understand me, I could only laugh and save my breath.
“The wind today is cool.”
The energies of the universe beyond nature warmly embraced me.
“The sun is warm.”
Certainty and certainty alone filled my heart.
“We’re inside the cave. What is he talking about the wind for…?”
“Maybe he just wanted to say he felt it was cool?”
“But he then also said the sun is warm…”
“Mister… Are you sick at all?”
I ignored the ignorant questions of the mortals and picked up one of the mana stones laid out on the ground.
And then I slowly brought it closer to the necklace.
There wasn’t a single reason to hurry here.
Water is water, and the wind is wind.
It was that obvious to me.
Shine!
My future was guaranteed.
[The Great Alchemist Garphas’ Authority senses the power of creation.]
[Stonebread was created.]
Alright, let’s do this.
***
No. 7777, Garphas’ Necklace.
The effect of this necklace was simple. When someone touched the necklace with a mana stone, the mana stone was consumed and it would randomly produce bread, water, metal, and other such things.
Just like this.
[Stonebread was created.]
Every time a mana stone was used, the category noted in the gem of the necklace changed, and you could take out the item if you wanted it. Since there was no point taking out stonebreads, I continued to spin it.
But…why hasn’t it changed?
What was happening?
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was…]
Six stonebreads in a row?
Even though I was using rank 5 mana stones, not even rank 9 ones?
When using rank 5 mana stones, the probability of stonebread is around 4 percent.
This means the probability of hitting it six times in a row…
I coughed.
The moment I calculated that probability, my calm barbarian mode nearly broke, but I recovered myself with my trained mind.
The early rolls of gacha were just building up that probability, anyway.
“Bjorn! Are you alright?! Clear your throat!”
“…Move. I’m fine.”
…Doubt was the mind-killer, a deadly poison that ate away at one’s heart and made life harder to live.
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was created.]
That was why I surrendered my feeling heart and continued to mechanically put the mana stone into the necklace.
Not just six times, but nine times in a row?
No, it didn’t mean anything.
The result was already decided.
[Steel Ingot was created.]
Yeah, the probability was just that—probability.
The thing I was looking for was bound to come out. What I needed was faith in that fact.
“Oh! Bjorn’s expression changed…!”
“I’ve heard about it as well! When His Lordship takes that expression, it is a sign that he truly believes in what he’s about to do!”
No matter what happened, I maintained a calm heart and continued to input mana stones into the item.
The minutes passed.
I think it should come out pretty soon…
[Iron Longsword was created.]
Just then, the necklace that had been spitting out bread, metals, bricks, and other random nonsense finally produced some proper equipment.
I wasn’t particularly surprised.
There was a hidden rule within Garphas’ Necklace.
About 7,777 rank 9 mana stones, relatively speaking.
Translating that figure to money, it amounted to around 1 million and 550 thousand stones. After that many mana stones were used, and the necklace was guaranteed to spit out a random useable item.
[Lithinium Breastplate was created.]
This would repeat every 1 million and 550 thousand stones.
Alright, then that must mean I spent 3.1 million stones to get this Lithium Breastplate.
I guess it’s not too bad of a start for me.
Of course, that was just how I felt.
The results were useless to me since I wasn’t planning on stopping here…
“Huh? Bjorn! Why are you just putting more in?! It’s not just a stonebread! What a waste.”
Naturally, if I stopped here, I would need to start stacking from the bottom again.
I thought about just quickly giving Ainar an answer since she would probably keep bothering me otherwise, but thankfully, Amelia spoke to her in my stead from next to me.
“Fenelin, stay still. Don’t disturb him.”
“Oh, but I just… I was just curious why…”
“Zip it.”
“Ah, fine… I won’t interrupt him…”
Perhaps this demonstrated why a hierarchy was important. After getting beat up pretty heavily in that shack back then, Ainar was especially reluctant to oppose Amelia. Anyway, that wasn’t what was important.
[Redwood Longbow was created.]
A longbow made with rank 2 materials.
[Iron Shield was created.]
After that, a regular shield that was nothing close to the value of my own, and so on.
After rolling nine useless pieces of equipment like that, I was waiting for my tenth one.
More precisely, the moment I put around 15.55 million stones in cash, or something like 777,777 rank 9 stones, into the necklace, something new appeared.
[No. 9981, Castaway’s Ring of Vigor, was created.]
A numbered item appeared for the first time.
Of course, financially speaking, I hadn’t profited from it. It wasn’t like numbered items were all worth a handsome sum.
This one was around two million stones, right?
I had somehow gotten an item that cost even less than the Lithinium Breastplate.
There was no point stopping here.
[Cloud Candy was created.]
[Training Magic Staff was created.]
[High-Density Mana herb was created.]
[Wyvern Leather Armor was created.]
[Temporary Use Spell (Light Orb) scroll was…]
It was all medicines, equipment, materials, and the like.
I barely registered and skipped through most of them as I continued to pour mana stones into the necklace.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, I froze.
It was for an extremely simple reason.
[Mystium Ingot was created.]
What the? A grade six metal appeared here?
Considering how the scroll popped up just before, this would’ve been from the regular gacha probability…
“I-it’s Mystium!”
“I-Isn’t the price of one ingot of that in the hundreds of millions?”
If I just stopped here, I would be able to profit tens of millions off of it.
Damn it.
I needed to get all the trashy items out of the way now, so why was I getting so lucky in the early game?
I let out a sigh in my heart and cleared my doubt.
And then, I continued to put mana stones into the necklace.
“Ahhh!”
“Huh?!”
I could hear exclamations all around me.
Hey, don’t jinx me.
How could a small person know the thoughts of a giant?
And so, I continued to push forward on my own for quite a while.
Flash!
About 155 million stones in cash, or 7,777,777 rank 9 mana stones later, the necklace shone with a red light for the first time.
[Due to an excessive amount of mana, Garphas’ Authority was greatly damaged.]
To put it simply, after this round of gacha was over, I wouldn’t be able to spin any more gacha on it.
“Bjorn…is that okay? I think there’s a crack going through the necklace now…”
It wasn’t okay at all.
But I wasn’t planning on backing out from the very start anyway.
Let’s look at what I got.
I checked inside the red gem.
Probability-wise, there was a chance I could pull a single numbered item here. If something good came out now, I could take my losses and stop while—
[No. 535, Polar Region Shield, was created.]
The Polar Region Shield was a shield I used in-game a lot as a shield barbarian before I got the best shield in the slot.
Nah.
The shield wasn’t bad, but a triple-digit here?
Who’re you trying to scam?
I quickly passed on it.
Although it was the most valuable item among the ones that appeared, no one around me showed even a hint of regret.
They probably didn’t notice what it was.
There weren’t that many perverts who went around memorizing all the numbered items in the world.
Next.
I put in another mana stone and quickly checked the item.
Next.
I kept filtering through the items. As the number of mana stones I used continued to climb, the number of high-quality items that appeared increased as well, including a few interesting ones.
[No. 2998, Mark of the Guardians, was created.]
The earrings I was using.
[Staff Imbued with the World Tree’s Power was created.]
The staff created from the grade 6 material, the world tree, that Versyl wanted.
[Five Arc Ingots were created.]
I had even seen the grade 6 material Arc at the maximum number of them.
[Divine Elixir was created.]
A medicine that could be found at a set probability in the ninth floor’s rift.
[No. 7777, Garphas’ Necklace, was created.]
Now that, I didn’t know. Was it like a matryoshka or something? In any case, I had seen many more items and had skipped them all.
[Stonebread was created.]
I was nearing the finish line.
After having used so many mana stones, I didn’t know what my exact count was, but I could sense it.
Only ten more.
I would reach my goal after using about ten more mana stones.
[Stonebread was created.]
In cash, it totaled around 155 billion stones.
[Stonebread was created.]
About 77,777,777 rank 9 magic stones.
[Stonebread was created.]
Hmm…
[Stonebread was created.]
Huh?
[Stonebread was created.]
Wait…
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was created.]
[Stonebread was…]
I got nine stonebreads in a row at the very end. Of course, it didn’t matter if they were stonebreads or steel ingots or whatever…
Gulp.
My hands stopped for a second.
I could feel my palms drenched in sweat for some reason.
Revelation. The experience I was having right now felt like a revelation.
A revelation from the universe that was telling me what I would experience in the future.
…Nonsense.
I forced myself to shake my head and maintain my focus.
This was just by chance. There was no point trying to find any meaning in it.
This is honestly better, actually.
Looking at it from a different perspective, this could be seen optimistically.
Although I didn’t believe in many superstitions, when I played games sometimes, I used to strengthen a gear just to explode it just so I could go and strengthen my real gear.
Yeah, so…
I put in another mana stone with faith in my heart.
Flash!
The mana stone was pulverized and the necklace shone with bright light.
The light was blinding.
[You have reached the limit of absorbed mana stones.]
[Please be wary. From this point on, the necklace may be destroyed at any moment.]
Now began the true test of luck.
After absorbing 77,777,777 mana stones, Garphas’ Necklace changed into a fixed gacha.
I should say it now had a ceiling.
From this point on, I was guaranteed to pull one of the highest-ranked numbered items from No. 1 to No. 35.
So, how did the first attempt go?
Tsk.
Alright, so this wasn’t going to be easy.
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
Of course, the Rake of Naraka was an excellent item as well.
It was a claw-type weapon that gave you two in a set, and it had lots of effects built in as well. Amelia would be able to use them really well in battle.
But am I going to settle on No. 35 after spending 1.5 billion?
That didn’t add up for me.
One more time.
Since I had already reached the limit, putting another mana stone into the necklace would definitely—
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
Huh?
Why didn’t it change? I definitely used a mana stone…
…Am I dreaming right now?
Even with doubt beginning to weigh on my heart, my head calmly assessed the situation.
The Rake of Naraka had appeared again.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.
I felt blood rush to my head and my vision began to narrow. For some reason, my back felt cold as my lips dried up.
I slowly put in another mana stone.
[Please be wary. From this point on, the necklace may be destroyed at any moment.]
Although the warning was in front of me, I wasn’t particularly afraid of it. I knew that it wouldn’t blow up at least until after the third time.
…Let’s not worry.
This was all stacking up, you know?
My future was guaranteed to be full of rainbows—
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
“…One more time.”
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
“What the fuck, are you kidding me?”
I couldn’t help but swear at what I saw. Even though I tried to maintain a calm exterior, I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.
A whirlwind of thoughts swirled around inside my mind. Suspicion took root deep within me at everything I experienced today.
Especially those multiple stonebreads in a row.
Garphas’ Necklace.
There was even that item I saw when I was going through the rerolls.
Maybe that was the harbinger? A warning that today was a bad day and I should give up and come back later.
“…Yandel, are you alright?”
“Aha… Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Your face is pale…”
“…That’s not true. I am lucky.”
I lifted back up my heart as it began to sink into despair.
Four rakes in a row?
Even if that happened, this was just one more obstacle to overcome. The sweet fruits of victory were always hidden behind hardship.
I need to trust in myself.
I repeated the truth I had experienced before and put in one more mana stone with a movement of certainty.
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
It was still fine. It hadn’t blown up yet, right?
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
Hmm, seeing how it wasn’t exploding, this was just a trick of the universe to mess with me—
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
…Maybe it’s broken?
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
…This was getting dangerous.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump!
My heart beat rapidly.
[No. 35, Rake of Naraka, was created.]
In the end, I raised the white flag.
“…A-Ainar?”
Ainar Fenelin.
Someone who lived without thinking much but was fine because she was always lucky.
“Hmm? What is it?” she asked, tilting her head. She had stopped paying attention to what I was doing a while ago and was now chewing on some jerky not too far away.
“Hey…”
“Hm?”
“C-could you come here…and put in a mana stone?” I asked politely.
“Oh! Really? I did want to try once!”
Thankfully, Ainar took up my offer and quickly came over.
[No. 3, Wall of Aegis, was created.]
I learned a new truth that day.
“…Oh? It’s a shield. How good is it?”
She needed to be the one to do things like this in the future.