Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 668
Chapter 668: New World (3)
We were outside the city walls. However, someone’s presence had just been detected, and it wasn’t even a group of individuals.
“There’s just one person… And surprisingly, it seems they are sleeping.”
Ironically, the fact that it was just one person made the finding even more alarming. It would’ve made more sense if there were more of them. In this dangerous land where rank-three monsters could appear out of nowhere, just who was traveling all alone?
“We should…go check it out, right?”
“Yes. It’ll be best for us to be cognizant of all the potential threats around us.”
After Baekho and the archer quickly exchanged their thoughts, they quickly ran off.
“We’ll go first, so follow quickly!”
Baekho shot forward like a cannonball.
Did this guy have no fear? If it were me, I would’ve moved even more carefully and stealthily against this unknown entity.
That absolute confidence of his…
Maybe it could be said that this was Baekho’s biggest weakness.
“B-Baekho?!”
“Aures, let’s move as well. That man probably won’t be in danger…but we can’t be certain.”
The ones left behind quickly followed after Baekho.
“Wh-who are you? Why are you doing this? Ugh! L-let go!”
A short while later, the desperate cries of a man rang out. Specifically, from below the ground.
“…Looks like it’s below here,” came Baekho’s voice from below us. We looked down a large crack in the earth that seemed to have been formed from an earthquake. “Ah, are you all here? I’ll come up, so wait there! You guys can’t come here anyway, it’s too narrow!”
We waited a few moments until Baekho showed his face from below the cliff. Due to the angle, we couldn’t see from up top, but there seemed to be a hidden area down there.
“Urah!”
After jumping high into the air, Baekho let out an odd sound before landing next to us.
Raising his right hand as if having caught his prey, we could see what seemed to be an unfamiliar middle-aged man struggling in his grasp. He looked very dirty, as if he hadn’t showered in at least a few months.
“Wh-what?! Who are you…?! L-let go of—!”
After struggling even harder after seeing us, the middle-aged man suddenly stopped as his eyes went wide when he looked at a certain person.
“…Sir Aures? You’re the gatekeeper Aures, right? Sir Aureees!”
“Y-you are…!”
What the… Did he know this guy?
“…Who are you?”
“Hiek! It’s me, me! The captain of the third security force of Noark, Red Eye!”
“Red Eye? I don’t remember a nickname like that…?”
As Aures tilted his head, Baekho loosened his grip on the man’s neck and furrowed his brow.
“Huh, did you just try to act friendly with him without actually knowing him?”
“Th-that’s not it! You know me! Red Eye! Red Eye Dalan!” he rushed out, tacking on his real name.
Recognition sparked in the archer’s eyes. “Dalan? Isn’t Dalan the name of the old man who runs the Merun Pub? Ah… Are you the heir of that place?”
“Yes, yes! That’s right! That’s me!”
“Ah, now that I think about it, someone like that did exist! Bahaha! Good to see you!”
Only then did it seem like the two recognized each other.
Baekho seemed to lose interest in that, simply tossing the man onto the ground like he was luggage. However, that didn’t mean he lost interest completely.
“Did you say you are Dalan?”
“Y-yes…! That’s right!”
“Then tell me. What were you doing here alone?”
“That’s…”
“I’ll kill you if you lie, so keep that in mind.”
That oppressive behavior was one of the most frightening parts about Baekho. He ignored anything reasonable and always tried to pry the answers out using force, and he also had a knack for detecting lies on top of all that.
I thought I was going to lose it back then myself…
Memories of the past began to race through my mind as I looked at the man darting his eyes and curling in on himself, not knowing what to do.
Well, the past was just that: the past.
“I told you to tell me. What bullshit were you cooking up, hiding here like that?!” Baekho shouted at him again.
The old man squeezed his eyes shut. “I— I deserted the group!”
“Deserted…?”
“Well… I felt like the plans to invade Rafdonia were too absurd… It’s obvious that if people like me join the fight, we’d all die meaningless deaths!”
“Hoh… So when everyone else returned, you ran out here and hid?”
“It’s not just me! There were a ton more people who thought the same as I did at first.”
“Hmm? Then why are you the only one here?”
“Well… We got separated due to the monsters along the way…”
From what we heard from him, it seemed that there were over a hundred people who had remained and had roamed around the outside world. They believed that if they worked together, they would be able to live happily, even here. Yet, though they went about their days while believing in that ideal, those promises meant nothing in the face of powerful monsters.
I mean, it made sense. We were talking about the people who had abandoned the group for their own safety. There was no way they could work together properly when they fell into danger.
“So after we were separated, I looked for places I could hide in and moved carefully. And at some point, I ended up here…”
“Inside that rat cave in the chasm?”
“Yes…”
“How long were you living there?”
“Well… I don’t know the exact time, but I think it’s been about two months.”
“Wow, impressive. So where do you do your number one and number two?”
“Well… The truth is… I just crouch at the edge of the cliff—”
“Stop!” Jaina the healer shouted, scowling, “Don’t talk about disgusting things like that.”
Though he grumbled in response, Baekho smirked and didn’t continue further.
“So… Who are you, sir?”
Perhaps taking it as an opening, the guy before us bravely asked a question back at Baekho.
“Me? Why do you ask?”
“Well, it’s just… if you came from the city, I want to ask if you know… If the castellan’s plan worked or not…”
Hmm, was he regretting not following the group at the start?
If we told him that we came from the city, he would probably ask us to take him back with us. Not that Baekho would ever agree to such a request, of course.
“You don’t need to know that. Shush.”
And shush he did.
“Hah, so what should we do with this guy? It’s obvious he’ll die soon enough if we just leave him be…”
The old man’s expression changed to one of panic.
It was understandable, really. It was quite frightening the way Baekho talked about the lives of others like he was choosing what to eat for dinner—
“W-wait! I have an offer!”
“Huh?”
“Please take me back to the city when you return! If you do, I’ll give you some useful information!”
It was an offer he created out of desperation. However, Baekho didn’t look that impressed.
“Hmm, I’m not that curious…”
He genuinely sounded uninterested, but I could tell that he was acting. No, rather, he transitioned the conversation into a negotiation as naturally as he was breathing. It was his habit to immediately take the initiative in situations like this.
“Well, you can still tell me. I’ll think about how useful the information is after hearing it.”
Baekho said, not giving the old man any wiggle room. However, we got to hear something completely unexpected come out of the man’s mouth.
“The dimensional headstone…! I know where another dimensional headstone is…!”
Huh…?
***
The old man’s story was very short and simple.
After separating from the group, he wandered around the place looking for a safe area and just so happened to stumble across the headstone by chance while doing so. A different headstone that looked similar to the one in the Noarkan settlement.
“What the… It’s true?”
Since Baekho gave that reaction with the lie detector, we could be sure of the information’s authenticity.
“It’s hidden in a dangerous place that most people wouldn’t even think about going to. I-if you don’t take me, you’ll never be able to find it!”
I mean… Since the guy living in a hole at the bottom of a chasm was saying it, I couldn’t even imagine where the headstone was.
“So where is it?” Baekho was so intrigued by this new headstone that he couldn’t even keep up his nonchalant act anymore.
The old man seemed to have noticed it as well, as he quickly tried to reach a deal. “It’s not difficult for me to tell you… But…”
“Alright, you want me to make you a promise, right? I promise you. If you don’t make a fuss and follow around like we say, I’ll take you to the city.”
The old man tried to discern if Baekho was lying or not, but in the end, he just nodded in defeat. “I will trust you…”
“Alright, that’s done. So tell me, where is it?”
The middle-aged man approached the edge of the cliff that his hidey-hole was at. “It’s below here.”
“Below here?”
“Yes…”
I sighed. I did wonder why he was telling us so easily. He just wanted to quickly settle the deal because he knew that we would find it if we just took a look around the area.
“I’ll go down first so follow after me, okay?”
Once again, Baekho didn’t even think before jumping down the cliff, and we all used our own methods to follow after him.
Vwoong!
The wizard used float magic.
Tap, ta-ta-tap!
The archer ran down the cliff.
“Neigh!”
While the priest summoned something that could fly.
And I…
I’ll just have to tank it.
Due to how deep the chasm was, I felt a little tingle at the bottom of my foot when I landed but thanks to my Bone Strength and Physical Resistance stats, I was able to endure it.
Boom!
“Wow, Baron. You’re pretty cool.”
“What are you talking about? So, is this the dimensional headstone?”
“Yes. So I guess it does exist? I’ll have to ask Gramps later if we can even activate it or not.”
It was a deep chasm, around seventy yards deep. In this dark place that even light couldn’t reach, we discovered the dimensional headstone that the man had told us about.
“Oh, gramps! Here, here! Come take a look at it!”
“Havellion, go and check it too.”
After our wizards arrived, they investigated the dimensional headstone, and both of them came to the same conclusion.
“It’s completely similar in nature to the headstones we used before.”
“Just like then, if we put enough mana into it, there is a high likelihood that a portal will open.”
“Whoa, really? It’s amazing how we found this now even though we couldn’t find any when we went looking for them back then,” Baekho said, slapping the man’s shoulder in pride.
I mean, if you’re going to praise him, shouldn’t you slam his back with your palm…?
Well, everyone had their own style.
“Then try putting your mana into it. Let’s check if it works or not.”
“…And what will you do if it does work?”
“Just try it. I’ll think about it after seeing if it works or not. Why do you keep hesitating?”
The GM looked a little bitter at the response he got before approaching the dimensional headstone.
“I will begin.”
As he poured his mana into it with the Fallen Scholar, the same effect as before occurred. The condensed mana emitted light, and after it began to slowly take on shape, growing in size.
“The portal did open.”
“So, Mr. Baekho, what will you do now?”
“…Hmm, I’ll have to think about that now.”
“If possible, think about it quickly. The portal will only be maintained for five minutes.”
“Okay.”
With that, after actually thinking alone for a moment, Baekho spoke up.
“But I can’t help but be curious. Where does this lead? It feels like I’m actually adventuring for the first time in a while.”
“…Do not forget our mission. We are here to obtain the materials needed to fix the magic circle.”
“But who knows? We might be able to get there faster if we take this.”
No one responded.
“Well, if it doesn’t work, we can just take the portal back here. No?”
What was going on inside this guy’s head right now?
Although I couldn’t imagine how he came to that conclusion, I did agree on one thing.
I’m curious as well…
This was what true adventure felt like.
Baekho finished his contemplation right then. “Alright, I’m done thinking about it.”
“What will you do?”
“Let’s go through it at least once. It’ll be more trouble to come here to try later. Are you fine with it, Baron?”
Hmm… “If I say I’m not, are you not going to do it?”
“No, we’ll just go over ourselves. You can wait here if you want.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Yeah, this could be considered a hidden secret. I couldn’t just let Baekho have it for himself.
Things progressed quickly after I made that decision.
“Hey, go in first.”
“A-are you talking to me?”
“Why? Is there a reason you can’t?”
“There might be something dangerous on the other… Ah, I’ll go first.”
“Should’ve done that from the start.”
Baekho sent the middle-aged man through the portal first before everyone else entered through one by one.
For note, I was the last one this time as well…
Flash!
My vision was dyed white. Then, my sight slowly returned to me.
I took a look around us on habit.
It looked to be an underground cave. There were no monsters near us.
However…
“Mr. Baekho? Are we at the right place? I don’t see that dimensional headstone anywhere.”
As soon as we came over, the portal disappeared, and the dimensional headstone that would’ve let us open the portal again was nowhere to be seen.
One, two, three, four, five…
Also, we were missing a person.
“What? Where’s that bastard?”
The man who had shown us the headstone in the first place was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did he go?” Baekho mumbled to himself in confusion. “Wait, was there even enough time for him to run away? What the hell is up with that guy?”
Seeing that reaction from him, I gulped.
Ba-dump!
Why did it feel like I had fallen into a trap?
An unknown sense of uneasiness began to creep up on me.
I quickly spoke to Aures who seemed to have some connection to that man. “Aures.”
“Why do you call?”
“About that guy. The one named Dalan.”
“Yes?”
“If Dalan is his surname… What is his given name…?”
It may have been quite an unexpected question from Aures’s perspective. However, he took his time to seriously think over my question before answering me.
“Well… I don’t really remember.”
“…Is that so?”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a helpful answer.
Maybe it’s more comforting that he doesn’t know?
I had that thought and went to shelve it in my mind. But then, Aures said something that I couldn’t ignore.
“But…”
“But?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s a very common name.”
…Nah, no way, right?