Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 660
Chapter 660: Outsider (4)
GM, Yurven Havellion.
A player who used, for me, the pretty cringe nickname of Elfnunalove. He was also an old user who had lived in this world for at least twenty years.
Versyl knew who he was as well.
“Yurven Havellion. That is the name of GM.”
She was the one who revealed it at the Round Table. I had a suspicion that she had her reasons for recommending him to me.
“…I know of the Magic Engineer. But is it realistically possible to call him right now? I heard that he doesn’t really go out to work.”
At Amelia’s sharp question, Versyl nodded to give her confidence. “You don’t have to worry about that. I know him.”
Well, there’s a chance it might not be possible, was the undertone to her statement, meant to lay some insurance. However, I could sense the confidence in Versyl’s voice.
How was she able to be so confident? The reason was simple.
Since there’s no way Versyl is friends with that shut-in GM, she’s probably trusting in the weakness she has over him.
However, I wondered if threatening to use his identity against him would be effective. From what I could tell, even the palace seemed to know who he was.
Were they using him because he was useful? Something like that?
Since the community is gone now, I do wonder what sort of situation he is in now.
To be honest, he had drawn my interest a while ago, but I was cautious against approaching him recklessly. There was no reason to, not really. The guy was stuck up in his tower every day and wouldn’t even attempt to meet me if I suddenly rocked up to his door, and I would only look suspicious for having tried to meet him out of the blue.
“Good enough. Try it for now.” If I could use Versyl as the bridge to meet him, then our meeting could come about naturally.
“Okay. Then I’ll try to talk to him as soon as we return.”
Although a part of me was worried, I knew Versyl. I decided to trust that she could threaten him properly without revealing her identity.
“This is something that needs to be kept secret from the others. Make sure he knows that too. And make him set aside some time if he says he’ll help us. I’ll have to meet him at least once before then.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
“Then let’s start heading back.”
Since there was nothing else we could do here, I decided to end it there for today and return to the city.
“I’ll head to the magic tower.”
Versyl split off, saying she would talk to the Magic Engineer.
“It’s done. The Magic Engineer said he’d see you.”
Around three days later, I got my appointment.
***
The meeting with the Magic Engineer was handled very carefully and secretively. It made me feel like I was an informant in the Cold War or something.
Taking a left turn here, I need to look for the third door of the red-roof building and then… There it is.
After wading through a sea of different alleyways, I arrived at a building and went down the stairs that traveled underneath it. At the end of the stairs, I activated a magic circle like when I entered the black market and entered an unknown area.
With a flash, I arrived at a decently spacious room decorated like a study. However, no matter where I looked in the room, I couldn’t see any exits, or any windows for that matter. It seemed to be a special area that could only be accessed through magic.
“You’re here. I’ve been waiting for you, Lord Baron.” The man sitting on the sofa stood and greeted me.
So that’s what he looks like.
I had met him once in the city, but since he was disguised as Hans I back then, this was my first time seeing his face.
The keywords that immediately came to my mind were young-looking, thin, and glasses. However, since I wasn’t here to judge him on his appearance, I just shelved his face in my mind and jumped into the conversation.
“Is there a reason we’re meeting so carefully like this?”
“I apologize for making the process cumbersome. However, I have recently had a lot of enemies around me, so please understand.”
Enemies…
Well, I did hear that Baekho had gone around looking for him at one point or another.
“Anyway, it’s good to see you, Yurven Havellion. I am Bjorn, son of Yandel.”
After giving him a firm handshake, I sat down on the sofa that seemed to be my seat—
Crunch.
Hah. Discriminating against barbarians from the get-go.
“It’s fine, so you don’t need to apologize—”
…Hmm? Why should I apologize?
“Buy stronger chairs next time. You’ll look prejudiced if you buy chairs like this.”
“Pardon…? Ah, sure…”
“Your discrimination begins from the moment you buy chairs that can’t be used by barbarians.”
“Haha… I will keep that in mind.”
I could tell that his impression of me was falling in real-time, but this was something I couldn’t help. I needed to be especially careful when I talked with him and completely hide that I was a modern person.
I needed to act even more like a barbarian. Even if it might seem excessive.
I pushed aside the sofa I had initially sat on and just sat on the ground with crossed legs. Surprisingly enough, our eye lines matched up pretty well there. In fact, it felt like I was still looking down on him.
“In any case, thanks for agreeing to this meeting. I never expected Versyl to have a connection to you. How did the two of you end up knowing each other?” I asked in an oblivious tone to avoid drawing his suspicion. I mean, he could think that I was the one who sent Versyl to threaten him.
“Haha… We’re both wizards of the magic tower. Everyone naturally befriends each other.”
“Oh, is that what happens?”
“Right, well… Could I hear what I am to investigate? Ms. Gowland didn’t tell me that much.”
“You’ll be investigating the magic circle in the underground citadel. Actually, I want you to figure out a method of activating it.”
“A magic circle…?”
“That’s right,” I confirmed. “It’s a magic circle from ancient times, so Versyl couldn’t figure it out on her own.”
GM put a hand on his chin and fell into deep thought for a moment. He then carefully asked me, “Are you…perhaps planning on leaving the walls?”
…Alright, so you know a thing or two as well.
Since I couldn’t hide it from him if I wanted his help, I just answered honestly. “That’s right. To be exact, I want to go out there and see what they’re doing.”
“…I see.”
“Do you already know of it? A way to activate that magic circle?”
“No, I don’t. It’s just that I was chanced upon hearing some time prior that a magic circle like that exists.”
“So you’re saying you can’t be sure of anything unless you go down there and check it yourself?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
The way he nodded and the tone of his voice was telling me GM felt no confidence in himself. I could even feel a bit of fear in him.
But why does it feel like he’s trying to bait me?
I got a strong hunch that he was just trying to avoid the situation by giving me the bare minimum responses possible.
Gently, I coaxed, “Don’t worry. Even if you can’t do it, I am not planning on blaming you.”
“Ah, okay… That does make me feel a bit more at ease.”
“You can just keep trying until you get it, right?”
“…Pardon?”
What do you mean, pardon? Did you think that if you go down into the underground, look at the magic circle once, and say you couldn’t do it, I would just let you go?
“It doesn’t matter how many months it takes. You’ll be able to do it at some point if you keep trying! And since I’m the one who asked you, it’d be rude of me to leave you alone, so I’ll be next to you the entire time!”
To put it simply, I would trap him in the box and keep constant surveillance on him so that he couldn’t run away.
“Since we’re talking about it anyway, how about we go there now?”
“…Sorry?”
“From what I heard, don’t you spend all your time stuck in your tower? You probably don’t have anything scheduled after this!”
“S-still, I’ll need to at least take some equipment…”
“Don’t worry! If you tell me what it is, I’ll ask Versyl to bring it to us.”
“I-I’ll bring them myself. If I don’t have them on me right now, it doesn’t matter if I’m there or not, and it’ll be difficult for her to find the right things just by telling her…!” GM started to speak faster as he started to realize he would be dragged away if he didn’t get his words out.
“Hmm… You’re not planning on disappearing after I let you go get your things, are you?”
“…Pardon?”
I let out a hearty laugh at his shock. “Hahaha! That’s a joke! Why would you disappear? I am not worried!”
“Ahaha… I-is that so?”
“That’s right! Even if you somehow get into a situation where you can’t leave, I can just come and get you myself!” I boomed, then going on to explain that I knew the layout of the magic tower pretty well from my previous visits.
GM paled, seeming to remember the last attack on the magic tower. “P-please do not worry. Just one hour will be enough.”
With that, he left. Exactly one hour later, he returned.
***
We didn’t encounter any problems heading to Noark with just the two of us.
I knew the path to take to head down to Noark perfectly, and the threat of the knights patrolling the sewers was solved by the magic tools this guy had. Secretly, I’d been worried about the patrol having their own detection magic tools, but the results were amazing.
…Being maxed out in gear is always good.
Maybe I should’ve expected it from the Magic Engineer? His tool seemed to be of higher power than whatever the knights had. Even when we passed right by them, they didn’t notice a thing.
“Did you say you made it yourself? What’s its name?” I asked.
“It doesn’t have a name… And I didn’t make it to sell it in the first place.”
“Why aren’t you selling it?”
“Creating this tool required a very rare material. The success rate of making it is very low as well. That was why this is the only one that was made.”
“Oh, really?” That only made me want it even more. Was there a way for me to take it from him?
GM seemed to have sensed my heart’s desire, as he quickly changed the subject. “But honestly, the world has changed a lot from what I remember it being. I never expected to see the knights walking around the sewers.”
“That’s why I’m saying you should go around outside more.”
“Haha… Maybe I should.”
Maybe it was because he was uncomfortable with the situation, or maybe he was stressed at just being outside in general. Either way, until we arrived at the square in Noark, GM never initiated the conversation, and he just deflected most things I said to him.
This is less fun than I thought.
Well, his personality aside, it didn’t matter if he just did the job I asked him to do.
“Alright, it’s this. Can you figure something out?”
“I will try.”
As soon as we arrived at the square, GM took out his equipment and looked pretty professional as he touched up and looked at a few things.
“Excuse me…”
I had been standing off to the side to merely observe him and not distract him when he suddenly approached me.
“It’s…all done.”
It took me a moment to process what he said. “It’s…done?”
“Yes. Here’s the formula to activate the magic circle. Even a fourth-rank wizard should be able to activate the magic circle using it,” GM said, handing me a parchment covered in writing.
Still, I found it difficult to believe him. Was this something that could be figured out so quickly?
I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and scanned him up and down, and he quickly rushed out as if to save himself, “It was easier than I expected. And ancient magic circles are my specialty as well.”
“Then why did you say you couldn’t be sure?”
“That…is a bad habit of mine. My apologies.”
Hmm, there was nothing I could say to that.
“Well… Since the work is done, could I go now? If possible, I would like to eat my dinner at home…”
To be honest, I still couldn’t believe him. Yet not even I could openly say that to him in this situation.
“What do you mean your work is done?” I demanded.
“Pardon?”
“You haven’t checked if it works or not. Go and activate it.”
As I gave a decent excuse, GM couldn’t find a way to refuse me as he nodded with a sigh.
“Yes… Understood. Then please wait a moment as I do my preparation.”
After putting away all the equipment he had taken out, he took around five minutes before calling me over, saying that he was done. Once I was next to him, he counted out loud from one, two, three.
A bright light enveloped us.
This is…
When I opened my eyes, a place I didn’t recognize yet that still felt familiar greeted me. It was a wide, circular tunnel, big enough for an Imugi to move through. One wall was littered with symbols that I didn’t recognize.
“That is the magic circle laid on this side,” GM explained. “From a glance, I can tell that its activation method is the same.”
“…A glance?”
“I… I misspoke. But the information shouldn’t be wrong, so you don’t have to worry about it. Ah, and if I am to give you one warning… You need to be careful not to destroy the magic circle. Unlike the magic circle in the square, since this is exposed to the elements…”
“What happens when it is damaged?”
“There is a permanent recovery magic on it, so it will repair itself if given the time… But it’ll take at least a year.”
“…I see.” Although it was better than never being able to return, a year was a pretty long time. “Can we use teleportation to go back into the city?”
“No. Although the coordinates say that we are under the city, given how the movement trajectory is not designated, there is a good chance that our current location is outside the protection magic circle.”
To put it simply, although we were under the city, we were considered to be outside the barrier that was covering the city.
I still couldn’t rid myself of the suspicion. It wasn’t that I was suspicious of if the information he was giving me was truthful or not, but still.
He’s really suspicious…
Magic Engineer Yurven Havellion. I understood that this guy was a talented wizard.
But even then, is it possible for him to answer everything like this at just a glance?
Even a layman like me felt something was off about this. It felt like it was something he had investigated beforehand and was now revealing the information to me as if it were new to him as well—
“Well, it seems I’ve done everything I need to… How about we return now?”
I took a moment to think over the request. Although it was true that he did everything he needed to, I found it a waste to just let him leave like this. I had only stayed put because I expected it to take at least a few weeks. And honestly speaking, I was thinking about working through some questions with him while he was investigating the magic circle.
“We’re already out here. Aren’t you curious? Let’s go out together!”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll take that as a yes!”
I couldn’t just let him go.