Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 615
Chapter 615: Homunculus (2)
I didn’t sleep a wink, running day and night for days on end, until I finally arrived at the temple.
The frighteningly quiet temple was no different from when I left it. Even the tents and facilities we had set up expecting to stay nearby for a while were still up. It was just that there was no one here.
Ba-dump.
Just what happened here? I couldn’t see any signs of battles either. There was a thick stew left sitting in the pot, as if they had been in the middle of cooking, and—
…It’s open?
Only then did I see it. The once-closed door of the temple was wide open. Was that related to what happened here?
I carefully approached the temple when suddenly, a familiar voice called out to me from behind.
“(Bjorn Yandel…!)”
“(…Hamsick?)”
I turned my head toward the direction of the voice to see Hamsick running up to me.
“(Why are you only here now?!)” it demanded. “(I was so scared! I thought I was going to die…!)”
I had never seen it so scared before. However, I didn’t have the time to calm it down and slowly ask it about what had happened. “(What happened here?)” I asked, jumping straight to the point.
“(I-I don’t know! The temple suddenly flashed with light, and everyone got up and walked inside as if they’d lost their minds!)”
“(They walked in willingly…?)” Were they perhaps enthralled or affected by some sort of mind control? It would explain why there weren’t any traces of battle around.
“(Yeah! I’ll say it again, but the look in their eyes, it went all weird. They walked like they were limping and were acting like I wasn’t there even when I was next to them!)”
“(I got it, so calm down first. So you’re saying were unaffected by it?)”
“(Yeah.)”
“(Did you not see anyone from the expedition group that crossed the river with me?)” I questioned, trying to keep my voice calm.
Hamsick took a moment to settle before it responded, “(Ah…! If you’re talking about them, they entered the temple a few days ago. They were transported here by some weird flying creature…)”
A flying creature, was it talking about that drone I saw before?
“(So did they look unconscious?)”
“(No,)” it denied. “(Their eyes were open. but just like the others, they looked like they were spaced out.)”
“(…The hell, what is it with with this range?)”
“(…Huh?)”
“(Ah, just talking to myself.)”
It was obvious that the origin of the mind control was this temple. However, I never could have expected that its effect could reach even beyond the river.
What’s more, even if I were to assume being inside a dimensional severance phenomenon protected me, why was Hamsick fine? Was it because it was categorized as a monster?
With no way of knowing, I focused on gaining information from Hamsick for now. “(So you don’t know what’s inside the temple because you didn’t go in?)”
“(Well…I was just waiting for you to come back! It wasn’t like I was scared or anything!)”
“(Yeah, sure.)”
Unfortunately for me, Hamsick was just a witness. It hadn’t actively gone to investigate what had happened, which meant that this was all the information I could gain from Hamsick.
“(Looks like I’ll learn the rest after I go in there.)”
I could only start running.
***
[You have entered the Seventh Records Archive.]
The interior of the temple was utterly plain. After entering the open stone door, I was met with stairs, which I followed down into a heptagonal hall. It was structured so that excluding one side with the stairs I walked down, the other six had stone doors attached to them.
“(They’re all closed except one,)” I muttered to myself.
“(…It feels really spooky here.)”
“(By the way, what’s that?)”
At the center of the hall was what looked like a table-or rather, something more like an altar. It was made out of something similar to stone, and seven rectangular divots were dug into it.
“(I can tell that things are supposed to be placed on it, but I don’t know what they are yet.)”
Hamsick ignored my mumbling and repeated, “(No, but it’s really spooky here.)”
“(Ah, maybe I’ll be able to gain them one at a time like a reward if I clear out the rooms?)”
“(You… Can you not hear me anymore…? Hey…?)”
Hamsick’s worried voice filtered through my musings. Normally, that would have been a moment for me to joke and act like I couldn’t hear it, but I didn’t do that since having my allies kidnapped was a pretty serious situation. “(I can hear you.)”
“(…Then why aren’t you answering me?)”
“(I have nothing to say.)”
“(Huh…?)”
“(So what if it’s spooky here? Do you want me to agree with you?)”
“(No, that’s not it…)”
“(That’s that, then. Be quiet for a moment. I need to think for a bit.)”
Thankfully, Hamsick understood what I meant and didn’t start babbling, and I was able to focus on thinking thanks to that.
It looks to be just the right size…
I immediately took out the golden book, the one I looted from Hamsick’s home on Library Island after clearing it, and that featured in a line from the village chief’s book of strange stories. As I carefully placed the golden book into one of the divots of the altar, it fit snugly—a perfect fit.
Was it just a coincidence?
I think not.
I recalled the passage written in the village chief’s notebook.
The golden book won’t be particularly helpful in helping you achieve your goals.
I had interpreted that advice as the golden book being unhelpful in escaping the floor because that was what my goal had always been. But then, why did a mechanism like this appear while trying to clear Rainbow Island, the place we had deemed necessary for our escape?
“(Nothing’s happening…?)” Hamsick wondered.
“(It’s to be expected. It’s obvious that the other slots need to be filled for something to appear.)”
“(Ah…)”
“(Whatever the case, stay back for a bit longer. I need to think more about this.)”
I obtained this golden book after clearing Library Island. Then where could I get the rest?
It might be too simple, but maybe I could get a book from each island after clearing them…
Library Island, Stone Door Island, Tree Island, Giant Island, Chief Island, Stone Island, and Rainbow Island… Coincidentally, there were exactly seven islands that existed on this floor.
Of course, this theory had some inconsistencies as well. Stone Door Island, for example, the one filled with Guardian stone statues that also opened into a rift. Although we cleared the island, I couldn’t find a reward room like Hamsick’s home or a golden book anywhere.
Well, I guess this can be brushed off as me not seeing the true ending for that island…
Then what about Stone Island and Chief Island? Giant Island at least had that mega-huge giant, but there were no such bosses that could be fought on the other two.
Since the village chief is already dead, he’s probably unrelated to clearing the island.
Despite churning it over in my mind, no answer came to me, and that only fueled the negative cycle feeding my impatience. Because of that, I left the question there.
After placing the golden book back into my sub-space storage, I approached the closed stone doors and looked over them a little.
How can I open the rest of the stone doors here?
I didn’t have any idea, but I got a feeling that it was too early for me to start thinking about it. There was already a wide-open stone door. A clue would probably appear if I continued down that one first. A method to save my allies who had been kidnapped into the temple was probably beyond that door as well.
“(Let’s go, Hamsick.)”
I didn’t waste any more time and approached the opened stone door. Something smooth was in the way beyond the stone door that made it impossible to see through it. Rather than a portal, this felt more like a fog wall.
When I carefully reached for the barrier, a soft sensation brushed my hand as I pushed through. It felt similar to putting my hand into a liquid, but it didn’t feel wet at all. It was a little unpleasant, but since I had no choice other than to enter it, I stopped hesitating and walked through it.
I took my first step into the unknown area and found an unfamiliar scene laid out before me.
A prison…?
I had arrived inside a prison. However, it wasn’t like the underground prison of the Adventurers’ Guild but rather closer to a modern-day prison. Well, maybe more futuristic?
Thop, thop, thop!
The paths that should’ve been patrolled by the wardens were instead filled with floating drones, and at the center of the hall was a huge sleeping wolf made up of mechanical parts. All types of monsters were being dragged along by the drones with blank expressions on their faces.
“…Can they not see me?”
It felt as if I had become invisible. The drones, monsters, and the mechanical wolf just went on doing their things while ignoring me.
“(Wh-what is this place?)” Hamsick stuttered.
“(How would I know?)”
I first turned around and checked the wall behind me. As if to tell me that I was free to leave whenever a smooth and sparkly curtain was stuck to the wall.
Shrk.
Alright, I could still reach through it. It meant that in the worst-case scenario, I could still leave this—
“(Bjorn Yandel…)”
Hamsick then called for me from where it sat on my shoulder. I thought it was going to spook out again so I was ready to ignore it. However, I heard something I couldn’t ignore.
“(This place… It feels familiar. Maybe… I came to this place before I lost my memories.)”
“(What…?)”
“(…Be quiet. I’m thinking.)”
What goes around comes around, I suppose?
“(Ah, got it.)”
Even as I shut my mouth to not distract Hamsick, I continued to survey my surroundings. It wasn’t as if anything would change just because I got impatient. Hamsick would probably tell me if it remembered something. Might as well continue to do something at least.
Step, step.
And so, as I properly began to walk around the place, I realized that I had been mistaken. The drones, the mechanical wolf, and the spaced-out monsters—I thought I had become an invisible barbarian to them because they didn’t care even after they spotted me.
So it looks like I’m not completely invisible.
When I approached one, the drone that had been flying stopped for a moment before checking me with its lens that worked as its eye before losing interest in me and continuing with what it had been doing.
Hah… Just fighting them is easier for me.
I wouldn’t need to go through these what-ifs if they all became hostile and charged me the moment I stepped forward.
…But maybe that thought was becoming too barbarian-like.
Whatever. Let’s follow one for now.
With the still-thinking Hamsick carried atop my shoulder, I stepped up behind a monster who was following a drone. But then, Hamsick suddenly tapped my shoulder and said, “(There, try going down there.)”
“(Now?)”
“(Quickly!)”
It was a baseless suggestion, but I decided to follow Hamsick’s advice and moved out of formation to go down a staircase to the side.
“(It’s here.)”
After we had gone down what looked like an emergency staircase, Hamsick stopped me.
“(There, check the wall.)”
It didn’t seem like it was joking, so rather than asking for a reason, I just acted out. But what was this?
My hand brushed the wall and caught on a small, hidden indent. I pulled out a dagger and stabbed into the indent, taking a tile off the wall.
“(It’s really here…)”
There was a mysterious card in the empty hole the tile had been covering. It wasn’t like a plastic card that was used in the modern day, but a hefty, metal card. “(…What is this?)”
“(…I don’t know either.)”
“(You told me, and you don’t know?)”
“(I can only remember parts of my memory. At some point…I hid that object here.)” Hamsick only spoke as if this card was very important but couldn’t remember what it was used for.
“(…Got it.)” After putting the card into my sub-space, I put the tile back the way it was and left the area. “(Where do I need to go now?)”
“(Further down… There will be something if you go further down. I am always going down this path in my memories.)”
I wondered if Hamsick really knew anything, but I didn’t ask and just went down the rest of the stairs.
Eventually, I had to admit, “(I can’t go down any further.)”
“(Then it’s here.)”
After reaching the end of the stairs, I carefully opened the door I arrived at and entered it. Thankfully, the door wasn’t locked, but the place beyond the door was completely different from the prison I had seen at the top of the stairs.
It was a dome that made me think of a soccer field. However, the first structure that I thought of when I looked at the area was that of a factory.
Zzzt.
A monster got on a conveyor belt and fidgeted before freezing.
Flash!
A machine above it flashed, and the monster disappeared without a trace. Yet for some reason, a mana stone was left in its place.
Zzzt.
The conveyor belt moved again and the mana stone at the end was moved into a box. And when the box was filled with mana stones…
Zzzt.
The box was moved down a conveyor belt somewhere else. However, I couldn’t see where the box was going.
“(Hey! There! Over there!)”
I turned to look at what Hamsick was pointing at and found myself struck senseless for a second.
Zzzt.
A familiar face was seen on top of the conveyor belt.
“…Raven?”
Raven was moving atop the conveyor belt with a blank expression on her face.
Flash!
And she was moving toward the machine that turned the monster into mana stones.