Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 652
Chapter 652: Event (1)
Thunderous cheers that I didn’t even hear during the victory ceremony bellowed out from all around me.
“Woooooo!”
…Just how many people were here?
No matter which direction I looked, I just saw people, people, and more people. I could see the barbarians flexing their shoulders and back muscles, probably in reaction to the crowd.
I didn’t realize this event would be this massive…
I did hear from the marquess that it would become a pretty big contest, but there was a difference between hearing about it from him and hearing, seeing, and feeling the atmosphere of the event.
This is massive.
Chaotic national politics and an uncertain future. Or maybe because it was an event that people could enjoy during such times.
The marquess had advertised it pretty openly, but I suspected the success of this event came about because all those factors compounded each other.
Well, the event itself was pretty interesting. I mean, the many aloof noble houses were saying they would compete with each other using construction skills, so it was only natural for it to draw the attention of the nation.
“So handsome! Bjorn Yandel…!”
“Kyaaaa!”
But I did feel a bit awkward because I didn’t expect it to be more like a festival.
Although, I didn’t plan on just standing still like a rigid log.
[You have cast Transcendence.]
[You have cast Giantization.]
I enlarged myself enough so that even those sitting at the far back of the spectator seats could see me, then I let out a roar.
“Behel—LAAAAA!”
The roar enveloped the shouts of the thousands of spectators and echoed out around the entire stage.
As expected, the response was also explosive.
“Wooooooo!”
“Kyaaaaa!”
“It’s the giant!”
The cheers bounced around like an echo.
[Your fame stat has increased by +1.]
[Your fame stat has increased by +1.]
[Your fame stat has increased by +1.]
[Your fame stat has increased by +1…]
Hmm, did that give me a bit more fame?
I couldn’t read the system log, so I couldn’t know, but honestly, it didn’t matter much if I gained more fame or not. Since I was the entertainment here, I didn’t mind doing a bit more fanservice.
Everyone was having a tough time these days. Joy like this was necessary.
“Alright, then with that, the craftsmen of the House of Baron Yandel have all entered the stage!”
Once I was standing at our designated spot with my craftsmen, the host continued with the festival. He gave a short introduction to the five houses competing, the goal of this contest, and how the contest would be carried out.
Please, give us something easy…
After a general explanation, we went straight to choosing lots. The five houses each picked one part of the test that would be carried out for the contest.
“The first lot will decide the floors needed for the building. The box is filled with balls with numbers on them. Which one will be selected…?!”
Unfortunately, Viscount Kiembrota ended up drawing the number four.
“Four floors! In today’s contest, the craftsmen will need to construct a four-story building. We’ve already gotten a very difficult task ahead of us!”
Considering that five was probably the highest number, we just got a four-star difficulty test.
“The second box will decide the main building material used for constructing the buildings.”
Broadly speaking, the options were separated into stone buildings and wooden buildings, but the details of each category varied from bricks, compound mud, logs, wooden planks, and so on.
“It’s reinforced stone!”
“Huh…?!”
And when the material was declared, lots of murmuring was heard from around us. This was because reinforced stone was the most difficult material to work with. First, it was very heavy and difficult to work with. Second, it was very difficult to shape it.
This is great for us.
If we got compound mud, which was like the cement of this world, it would’ve been even more tricky. Barbarians couldn’t do delicate work like that.
In any case, the lots continued to be drawn and all the conditions for the contest were revealed: a four-story building made of reinforced stone.
“The ball drawn from the third box…is eight!”
Each floor needed at least eight glass windows.
“Residential building! It’s a residential building!”
The purpose of the building wasn’t for business, but for living.
“The ball that Baron Yandel will now draw has the main artistic theme of the building written on it. This means that the balls have moods written on them such as lofty, gentle, imposing, and other such descriptors that will be judged… Ah! The ball was drawn!”
The theme of the building…
“Joy! It’s happiness!”
…Hah.
Somehow, I ended up drawing the theme that was the furthest from me.
***
We were given a total of three days to construct for the contest. Considering that we were building a four-story building, this was quite a tight schedule.
But we’ll need to at least be able to do this much to stay in the running.
Since everyone here was a pro, everyone here would be able to complete their buildings if given enough time. At that point, it would only be a contest on how good it looked.
The important thing here is to figure out how to build a decent building in the given time…
“Let’s dig the ground first! If we’re making a four-story building, no matter what it is, we’ll need to work on its foundation first anyway!”
As soon as the contest began, I got the warriors to dig the ground first before gathering the engineers to hold a small meeting.
“I think we can just adjust the floor plan we’ve prepared. What do you think?”
“Rather than that, I think we should just use the floor plan as an outline and build something else.”
“The theme is happiness! Even if we have to decrease the amount of rooms, wouldn’t it be better to increase the size of each room?”
We quickly jumped into discussing the contents of the contest. Eventually, as I quietly listened to them from the side, I realized that everyone seemed to have gotten hung up on the theme.
“Do you think just having wide rooms is enough for joy? We need to make it feel comfortable!”
“Nah, rather than something like that, wouldn’t it be better to create a great interior that anyone would be jealous of?”
“The children! Let’s decorate the children’s room and make them beautiful.”
Everyone felt joy in their own way.
Meaning, I felt that there was no point in discussing this so deeply.
It’s an art criterion in the first place, right?
From my perspective, the whole concept ended up falling into the category of interpretation.
I mean, there was that saying. The most important ability of a modern artist, was the ability of the artist to convince the audience.
“How about this layout?”
“…Pardon? Isn’t this obviously far from the idea of joy?”
The craftsmen tilted their heads in confusion when I suggested a new layout. However, after I gave them the artistic reasoning for choosing this layout, everyone was shocked. They seemed to accept it even while thinking that it was a bit nonsensical.
“Well…even if we can’t get the art point with this, this method will definitely raise our overall assessment.”
“The goal of this contest isn’t even to create the most visually pleasing building to begin with.”
“And from what I heard, it seems that the audience will cast their votes as well on the final day… Maybe we can get a high mark with that.”
In any case, when I stood my ground and insisted, the others followed my decision even when they felt a little doubtful, probably because I was the one most responsible for leading the contest.
“…Then we’ll choose this layout as the final build. Any objections?”
“Not at all. This is great.”
After finishing the floor plan around an hour into our discussion, the ground-digging process ended around the same time.
“Warriors, begin moving the materials!”
“We’ll begin working on the sewage installation!”
Since this is only for the contest, it’ll be done in no time since it’s simple!
After that, the dwarven craftsmen began constructing the underground sewer connection, and the barbarians tirelessly transported the materials. They were all passionate in their work, as if they were competing with each other.
“He’s lifting two of those big things at once…”
“That guy! He’s lifting three at once!”
“That one’s just running…?”
“Oh! Over there! Four! Someone’s lifting four… Ah! It’s all on the ground…”
Maybe it was because they got over-excited at the attention of the audience, but the echoes of things dropping and crashing continued without end as they pushed themselves beyond their limits.
Honestly, I’d expected as much. I didn’t plan on telling them off either. Soon, this would be a mistake of the past, anyway.
As the construction began, the audience numbers that had filled up the stage were quickly draining out.
“They said that the final building will be revealed three days from now on, right?”
“I’ll have to come back then.”
Even though this was a contest between nobles, it was still just a building competition in the end.
“Huh! The people are leaving!”
“Is it because we’re doing badly?”
“Five! I’ll try lifting five of them at once…! So don’t leave and keep watching!”
The warriors went even more overboard to try and keep the attention of the audience, but as the people began to lose interest, most of the audience just turned back without thinking twice about it.
“Ah, ah… e-everyone is gone…!”
“I-I am not worthy of being a warrior…!”
Hah, why were they doing this now?
Since their motivation was dropping straight off the cliff, I had no choice but to intervene. “It’s normal for them to leave around this point, so stop worrying! In the first place, construction during the second and third days is carried out in secret!”
“Oh, th-then they didn’t leave because they didn’t like us?”
“Exactly! So work hard! When we show off the fully completed building on the fourth day, the audience will be back and filling those seats! Do you want to disappoint them?”
“Nooooo!”
“Behel—LAAAA!”
Alright, then that should be enough to motivate them…
After that, I kept an eye on the other houses’ progress while immediately giving feedback to our building whenever something was required of me. But as I stood on standby nearby…
“I never expected I would see a barbarian construct a building in my life.”
“I wonder if that building’s just going to collapse on the final day after all this.”
I could hear the whispering of the members of other houses nearby. Their eyes were filled with prejudice and disdain for the barbarians.
“Four! I lifted four at once!”
Thankfully, our barbarians were too focused on the work to hear their mutterings.
“Tsk, construction isn’t done just with brute strength.”
“Haha, don’t say too much. They haven’t learned that yet. Aren’t they quite the pitiful people to begin with? They don’t have a way for their race to earn money, so now they’re out here doing this.”
The conversation grew worse and worse the more I listened to them. However, rather than get angry, I was instead baffled.
I don’t know why those meatless guys feel comfortable enough to say that here.
What if a young warrior heard them and threw a shovel at their faces?
What, were they hiding their strength or something? Considering the way they carried the materials, that probably wasn’t the case.
“Ahem!”
As I cleared my throat, the ones who were talking behind our back noticed me and were startled before they scurried off to their place. After that, just in case any more problems arose, I stopped other people from approaching us.
With that, time passed by quickly.
One day, two days, three days.
“It’s over. The judging will begin tomorrow, so no one is allowed to touch the buildings any further. If foul play is detected, then they will be immediately disqualified. That is what the marquess declared.”
At midnight on the third day, the construction ended, and the workers who had completed the tiring task collapsed.
Our warriors were no exception. They had worked for three days straight without even getting proper rest, and they had produced results that matched their sacrifice.
“But… Well, it’s a little late now, but I do wonder if this will really work.”
“Didn’t the baron command it? Just stop thinking about it now.”
Well, the dwarven craftsmen still looked a little worried.
But in any case.
Swoosh.
The cold night wind and a light drizzling sound of rain filled the dusty arena.
“Good work, everyone! Looks like we’ve done better than at least those guys!”
“I never expected a formless building like that to be created in a large contest like this…”
“Haha! Is that the best they had?”
I didn’t respond to any of the people from the other houses who were making fun of the building created via my warriors’ best efforts.
The calm before the storm.
It was time for the results to tell us if they were right, or if we were.