Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 679
Chapter 679: Dream (6)
The day before my plan went into action, it was foiled from the jump when my reason to escape disappeared. After Auril Gavis left, my discharge process began without issue.
“It is my opinion that you can return to society in your current state.”
The doctor determined that I had fully recovered.
“Congratulations on your discharge, Mr. Lee.”
Team Leader Kang came over not to give me information from the police side of things, as he usually did, but to send me off with a quick farewell.
Hyeonbyeol and my mother for their part could have at least feigned surprise.
“I’m glad, Hansu. Really. I’m really glad.”
“L-let’s go home, Hansu…”
However, in the end, the two of them were simply happy that I was cured.
With that, my discharge was finalized in just one day.
After leaving the hospital that I had been stuck in for who knew how long, I headed back home with my mother.
“I came by before and cleaned up a bit, but it’s still dirty… If I’d known you would be discharged this quickly, I would’ve cleaned everything up beforehand…”
“You’re…not leaving?”
“I’ll live with you for the time being and help you… I-if you don’t want that, I don’t have to sleep here. I can just visit in the mornings and leave in the—”
I sighed. “it’s fine. It’s over two hours of travel between us… Just stay here.” I would still leave this world when the time came.
After determining it would be more annoying to kick her out, I began living with my mother. Still, her presence made quite a few things more convenient.
“Hansu, I made dinner…”
I had regular meals.
How long has it been since I ate like this?
And the meals were all to my taste.
“I want to go buy a few laptops.”
“I’ll give you my card to use.”
I could get money from her as well, though it didn’t feel right, so I never used it.
“No, I don’t need the card,” I assured. “I just wanted to ask if you could drive me to the store.”
In any case, after some spring cleaning, I immediately went to the electronics shop and bought a few laptops—specifically, five of the cheapest ones.
“Hansu… Is there a reason you need so many of them?”
“Yes. You can only actually play if you use five laptops at once.”
“I-is that so?”
My mother found it difficult to understand, but that was because she had never played the game. The core of Dungeon and Stone was getting lucky and grinding hard. I needed to retry so many times, so how long would it take if I only played it on one laptop?
If you use a macro to run four games on one computer… You can grow twenty characters at once.
It had been my modus operandi during my previous nine-year stint as well.
Bar a few exceptions, the game didn’t really need detailed inputs. If I built up my characters using the macro method, I could see if one of them got a specific essence or a piece of special equipment early on, then use that to determine if they had the chance to clear the game or not and focus more of my attention on that character.
Alright, it’s all set up.
I made a barbarian for all twenty games and began properly playing the game.
Clack, clack, clack.
Tick, tick, tick.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Since the first-floor area was hard to automate, my hands were pretty busy, but I used the ESC technique once in a while to control the tempo.
[Character has recruited a warrior as an ally.]
[Character has recruited an archer as an ally.]
[Character has recruited an archer as an ally.]
[Character has recruited a warrior as…]
After returning from the labyrinth, I would recruit allies from the Adventurer’s Guild, and that was when I could begin to relax. Not to say that I left things unmonitored, however.
“Yeah. Warriors and archers are the best for the lower floors.”
Maybe it was because it was my first time playing the game in a while. Still, even the lower floors, which were usually boring as all hell, were pretty fun.
Of course, that didn’t last long.
[Character has died after stepping on a trap.]
[GAME OVER]
Once I went to the third floor, the characters began to die. I was playing it pretty hardcore after all, with twenty characters and not caring about each individual death.
[Undefendable attack!]
[Character has died.]
I wasn’t disappointed or anything. There was simply no way to slowly and safely build up a character to clear the game in the first place.
Survival of the fittest.
No, that phrase wasn’t enough to describe this game.
Just as the saying “What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger” went, only the character who could luck out and survive situations where everyone else would have died could become stronger.
[Lethal blow!]
[Character has died.]
[Character has died from an ambush from a plunderer.]
[GAME OVER]
[Character has died from a Troll.]
[GAME OVER]
Faster than any other character.
***
[The Essence of Troll has seeped deep into the character’s soul.]
[Character has entered the fifth-floor Great Demon Realm.]
[New equipment has been equipped.]
[The total item level increased by +799…]
***
One week, two weeks, three weeks…
After I holed myself up in my home, time passed like the wind.
“Hansu! Food is ready!”
My mother cared for me even when I stayed in my room and played the game every day.
“Hansu, who’s this guy? It doesn’t look like a monster.”
“It’s a person. I’m thinking of growing this character by plundering others.”
“Wow. That’s cruel.”
Hyeonbyeol would also visit me frequently, claiming a spot on my bed. She would look at me playing the game and talk to me about it. She was like the class president who was asked by the teacher to help out a new student who hadn’t integrated with the class yet.
“I’m off, Hansu! I need to go to work tomorrow as well. I’ll be going now, ma’am!”
“Oh, okay! Have a safe trip home, Hyeonbyeol!”
In any case, those days continued, and I got used to living with my mother as well. At first, I found it uncomfortable to change my clothes in the same home, so I would lock my door and go into the bathroom to change, from my shirt and pants down to my underwear.
I’m going back anyway, so do I even need to?
But with time, I didn’t think much about it as it became a regular part of my daily routine.
However, even as I put all my time and energy into playing the game while even that discomfort faded, I couldn’t shake certain wayward thoughts.
Sometimes, I would get unnecessary reality checks.
“Unlike what you’re saying, it seems this place is to your liking.”
Other times, what Gramps said to me would pop into my head. The parts I told myself to get confused circled my head in more and more persistent loops.
Is this…really a dream? The Witch who told me to not return, was she just a hallucination my subconscious mind created?
Although I was getting tired of thinking about it, I couldn’t help but do so. That was why I decided to organize my thoughts since I had the time.
Hansu, no matter what you believe, this is truly reality. Though, perhaps one that is different from where you were before.
Based on what Auril Gavis told me, this was another parallel world.
“In this world, that ‘cheat mode’ you spoke of doesn’t exist.”
A world where the cheat mode was never created, so I was the only one who was dragged into Rafdonia.
“If you truly want to return to that place, there is no point trying to convince you.”
Auril Gavis also seemed to want me to return to Rafdonia.
“You must wish for it.”
And the way to return was to just desperately wish for it. I spent all my time just playing the game in my room for that very reason.
[You may never return.]
[Are you still willing to enter?]
Once I saw that message again, if I could press yes one more time, then it would prove my desire and will.
Maybe… This could just be another reality…
Although I stopped taking the medicine that was used to dull my mind, that became the reason I was getting more confused by the day.
Even clearer piece of evidence began to enter my worldview. For instance, if I believed this wasn’t inside a dream world…
Munch, munch.
This delicious home-cooked meal that I devoured with glee could also be explained.
Creak.
It also explained how I had marked over sixty X’s on the calendar as well. I had never once seen a dream from the Dreaming Waterfalls that lasted this long.
Also, there was a plausible reason.
“Don’t open the Gate of the Abyss.”
The Earth Witch had said that to me in the past. Maybe she wanted to send me, the one who could one day open the Gate of the Abyss, to another world.
This being a parallel world would also explain the inconsistencies that once made me sure this was all taking place inside a dream.
I wasn’t just talking about Hyeonbyeol and my mother’s goodwill. The happenings of the police station and the hospital also didn’t make sense. It wasn’t realistic, to put it simply. That was my hunch.
However…
Auril Gavis.
If Gramps had intervened, then it could be explained.
He was unique in that he could catch wizards by surprise in the same way that normal people would be surprised by wizards. Either he influenced some events in the background, or he could have just straight-up brainwashed people using his magic to turn the tides in my favor.
Like, for example, how the doctor suddenly determined I was mentally stable the day after his visit.
If I believe that I am inside a dream world, Gramps would only be happier.
Well, whatever. I was only collecting my thoughts because I had some time to kill. It wasn’t as if my goal had changed.
Even if great powers had intervened and I had been moved to a parallel reality, what did that have to do with me?
Nothing had changed. In fact, things had only become clearer.
My friends and my allies were all over on that side. I would live my life there. And at some point, maybe I would have a family over on that side as well.
I moved my mouse and pressed my hotkeys so I could return to where I was even a day earlier.
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
I died.
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
And died again.
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
I overcame the countless difficulties presented to me by Dungeon and Stone.
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
And I used the total sum of all my knowledge to climb the floors step by step.
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
I won’t claim to have completely kept my cool along the way.
“Aaaargh! Why are you healing that guy?!”
If the party I had raised randomly got wiped, I would scream in my empty room.
“Hah…”
Since I spent every waking moment playing the game, it was hard to keep routines as well. I would chug beers a can at a time.
“Hansu, maybe you should stop playing the game…”
“There are people inside the game!”
As one day turned into another, I could tell that my mother and Hyeonbyeol were growing exhausted.
“Shouldn’t we do something?”
“But you were the one who said it might help him wake up if nothing happens after clearing that game, Hyeonbyeol.”
“Yes, I did. But I get the sense that the more we let him do this, the worse his mental state is becoming… Maybe I should visit the hospital and get him some medicine…”
“I’m sorry, Hyeonbyeol… It’s all my fault…”
“Don’t say that, ma’am. I’ll help out as much as I can.”
I felt caught out when I heard their conversation from the living room when I left my room to go to the bathroom. But that didn’t change anything.
I just needed to do what I needed to do. As a barbarian should.
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
[Character has entered the seventh-floor Dark Continent.]
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
[Character has entered the eighth-floor Land of Dawn.]
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
[Character has entered the ninth-floor Tomb of Stars.]
[Character has died.]
[GAME OVER]
[Character has entered the tenth floor…]
[Gate of the Abyss.]
[Will you enter?]
“Finally!” I shouted in front of my monitor.
Hyeonbyeol furrowed her brow lightly from where she had been lying on my bed and reading a book, then walked up to me.
“Why are you shouting?”
“I made it! I finally made it!”
“…You beat the game?” When I gave a small nod to her question, Hyeonbyeol’s expression cracked in conflict. “I think this is the first time in a while I’ve seen you so excited.”
“Of course I am excited, how could I not be? I’ve wasted so many months in this room at this point!”
Hyeonbyeol went speechless at my reaction. Then a few moments later, she said, “You’re so cruel. Wasted?”
“…Huh?”
“Most people would think that the person who wasted their time is me,” Hyeonbyeol said. “I never, not once, thought that it was a waste.”
I watched as Hyeonbyeol, who always acted strong, stared at me with open vulnerability.
I had nothing I could say to her. She had helped me out selflessly for the past few months. To be honest, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t grown fond of her after all the conversations we shared during—
“Can you just not press it?”
I hesitated. “What?”
“That ‘YES’ button there. Can you…just not press it?”
“Hyeonbyeol…? What do you mean, not press it?”
Hyeonbyeol’s voice faltered a little at my calm demeanor. “I mean, Hansu… You believe that if you press that button, you’ll return to your original world.”
She never believed that I had entered the game. But I did think that when the time came, she might begin to consider the possibility.
The outcome of that hope was clearly different.
“Do you hate us that much?”
Hyeonbyeol was devastated at the choice itself.
“Was the time we spent together just hurtful and tiresome to you?”
That wasn’t the case at all. It was comforting. I enjoyed myself here. It felt like a life like this had, in a sense, become a long-held dream in and of itself. In fact…
It once was a dream of mine.
But my dream had already changed. The things I considered precious had changed, and now, I had something I wished for even more.
“You could just start again here—”
Even if this was difficult, I needed to make my intentions clear.
“I need to return.”
With that, a heavy silence filled the room.
“Hyeonbyeol, I’m sorry. When I go back, I promise. I swear it. I’ll help you a lot… Okay?” I said, letting out an awkward laugh. “To send you back to the real world, I need to go back in as well.”
Hyeonbyeol let out a sigh. “Ahh… What are you even saying? I don’t know. Just do what you want. I only told you to not press it because it pissed me off.”
She went to sulk over back on the bed with her book, and I sat back down in my chair and looked at the monitor.
Click.
A message appeared once more.
[You may never return.]
[Are you still willing to enter?]
The message I considered unnecessary when I was still a player appeared before me.
However, something was wrong. Unlike back then when I clicked on it without a second thought, my hand refused to move this time.
“What is it? Are you not going to press it? Because I might get angry? It’s too late for that.” Hyeonbyeol scowled at me, sounding pretty pissed off.
“What are you two talking about in there? Come and eat! The food is ready!”
The scent of a warm meal flowed into my room from the kitchen.
“Unlike what you’re saying, it seems this place is to your liking.”
I now had to accept the words Gramps said to me back then.
However, my fleeting hesitation didn’t last long. Even that young Hansu Lee, who wanted to hold everything in the world, had grown up.
[You may never return.]
[Are you still willing to enter?]
Click.
[YES]
It was time to wake up.