Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 610
Chapter 610: Mystical (3)
No one put up a fuss when I announced that we would be spending the rainy season here.
They had all probably expected it to varying degrees. It was now only a few days until the rainy season began, yet we had spent our time investigating this area instead of moving elsewhere. If we wanted to avoid the rainy season, we would have been long gone by now.
However, perhaps because the reactions of the others were so calm, the investigation captain seemed a little embarrassed. “It seems I have asked an unnecessary question. It was short-sighted of me to only focus on the recent investigations.”
“It’s not something to apologize for. Everyone here knows how much work you put into your investigations.”
With that, I continued with the meeting, gathering everyone’s opinions. Thankfully, none of the leaders outright opposed my decision.
It wasn’t that they were silenced because they were afraid to speak up against me. It was just that the leaders here didn’t consider the rainy season to be a big danger. We had already experienced it once.
From the village chief’s island over to Library Island. Although our journey had begun on the third day of the rainy season, we were able to endure the rainy season without a single casualty and arrive at our destination.
“Considering the resources we expended then, avoiding the rainy season will always be the right choice if the option is available to us. However, if the situation calls for it, it can’t be helped.”
“However, please be aware that after the rainy season is over, the wizards will be exhausted and weak for at least a few days, so please take that into consideration.”
“Yes. If we need to fight a new enemy after the rainy season ends, they will be out of commission and we’ll definitely feel their absence.”
This was our one point of discussion. Not worrying about getting wiped out or trying to find a way to endure the rainy season, but rather, a method to make it out of the rainy season relatively unscathed by trying to decrease the damage we took as much as possible.
We discussed this topic for quite a long time, and after many different ideas and plans were thrown about, we formulated our Plan A. However, we weren’t satisfied with Plan A and continued to wrack our brains for even longer.
Plan B, Plan C, Plan D…
We continued to create more plans and then more plans for those plans so we could respond to whatever we may face. This was the upside of our group practically being the army of the king. Since an accident couldn’t be allowed under any circumstance, it was natural for them to plan for all conceivable situations.
Hah, it would be nice if my clan could adopt this mentality as well…
“Alright, then with that, our meeting is over. Go and prepare like we discussed today.”
The meeting ended after taking a few hours, and I quickly sent them back to prepare.
Crunch!
A few days later, a monster fell from the sky and shattered into a million pieces after slamming into the barrier, signaling the start of the rainy season.
Looks like we’ll need to abandon Plan C.
With that, one of our plans was dismissed.
The main idea of Plan A was to create a barrier above the boat and use our resources to maintain it, and Plan C’s idea was the complete opposite. It was a plan created in the event we encountered an enemy we couldn’t deal with or fell into dire straits.
To put it simply, it was to run away.
Also, Plan C was connected to Plan D, which was to circle around the island and return to it right before the rainy season ended.
Well, now, Plan C and Plan D didn’t matter.
Boom!
With a loud rumble, the silver waters around our windless zone shot upward and connected with the sky.
“What is happening…?”
Even the members of the expedition group who had experienced all sorts of things in their lives, couldn’t help but be in awe at this overwhelming spectacle. However, a few people were able to stay focused and realized the severity of our situation.
“Isn’t this—”
“—very dangerous?”
The wide open seas that the three large-scale military vessels and one medium-sized ship were sailing on had been cut off. We were now stuck in a cylinder. Even the military ships that were famed for their sturdiness wouldn’t be strong enough to break through those currents back to the outside.
“Calm down and man your stations! Nothing’s changed yet! If everyone does what they’re supposed to do, we’ll be able to get through this without a problem!”
The deputy commander who came back to his senses gave out orders in my stead and calmed the rising chaos.
Nothing’s changed yet…
Although he said that to quickly rein in the situation, I knew what he was truly thinking. The focus wasn’t on “nothing” but on “yet.”
Nothing’s changed yet.
Our escape route had been blocked off, but it didn’t change the fact that we needed to survive the rainy season for the next seven days.
However, when I saw the water spout and gush into the air…
Is that the end of the event?
I didn’t think so.
Of course, that didn’t mean I was panicking or anything like that. Even during our meeting, and even with the start of the rainy season, Goblin’s intuition hadn’t activated.
“Behel—laaaaaah!” I rushed out from my commander seat and swung my hammer at the monsters that were crawling up toward the ship’s deck.
“Lord Barrrrrrron!” the deputy commander shouted as soon as he saw me join the battle, but I just ignored him. If something really happened, he would inform me, anyway. “Please come back here! If you are over there, who will give out the orders?!”
I mean, I could give out orders here as well.
Giving out orders while drawing blood and sweat in the middle of chaos-although I knew it wasn’t easy, it was something I had been doing all along until now.
“I can command from here too, so you just go and keep reporting our situation to me!”
The deputy commander seemed to realize that it would be impossible to stop me, as he calmed down a little and handled his duty as requested. Whenever someone was injured, the rate of our resource expenditure, the ranks and types of monsters that appeared, and so on. He continuously fed me the information of the battlefield, and fortunately, nothing extraordinary had happened yet.
With that, I was able to focus more on the battle.
Crunch!
As the days of the rainy season passed, the number of monsters that tried to climb onto the boat increased as well, since as their ranks increased, so too did the number of monsters who survived the fall.
“Shift change, Lord Baron!”
As the battle drew out, everyone, including me, fought in shifts to preserve our strength.
That rule didn’t hold for the wizards, of course. Although they were exempt from the battle, they had the important role of maintaining the barrier, so they needed to pour mana into it continuously for the entire day.
Most of the mana supplied to the magic circle could be substituted by using our mana stones, but it wasn’t as if mana stones were the only thing the circle needed to maintain itself.
One day, two days…
And so the third day arrived.
A total of two people had died. We had to fight fiercely from the very start, and losing a few people in battle couldn’t be helped.
However, injuries didn’t reduce our fighting force. If someone didn’t die outright in a single hit, our powerful healer squad would drag them back from the gates of hell.
This pace…seems pretty good.
Despite our worries after seeing the water spout into the air, our plan for this rainy season was progressing pretty smoothly. It was unfortunate to have those two deaths, but this was a profession where you could die to a Goblin if you got unlucky.
Though my heart was heavy, I swept the feeling away as an adventurer should and pressed onward.
But…is this really the end?
We had crested the hill of the rainy season and were now battling fewer and fewer monsters.
Perhaps that was why small vials of poisonous complacency invaded my heart.
Although I continued to be wary of any changes that could occur, my hopes that the rainy season would just end like this grew stronger and stronger.
Honestly, enduring the rainy season outside without any shelter is a pretty difficult condition to meet…
If I had been told to do this without any of the other expedition members and just with the Anabada Clan, I wouldn’t have even been able to attempt it. That was just how absurd of a condition it was.
No, even if we had all these people, without the powerful military ships with us, people would be dying left and right.
…I guess the difficulty is right, then?
However, as my feelings of hope grew, so too did my feelings of worry.
It was like when driving. More accidents were caused by those who were starting to feel confident in their driving rather than those who were completely inexperienced with it.
Three days, four days, five days…
However, even after we crossed the halfway point, no other special event appeared.
Not to say that it was easy for us, exactly.
“We have a death from Squad Two.”
One more person died on the sixth day. Considering how intense the season was at the beginning, the difficulty had decreased significantly, but the difficulty was always a subjective thing. The number of monsters had decreased, yes, but we weren’t able to relax because of it. Our stress and exhaustion were reaching their peak, as we had to fight day and night in shifts without proper rest.
“How many are out of commission?” I asked grimly.
“Three people.”
A few people couldn’t even stand after being healed by the priests because of how tired they were.
“Damn it.”
That might have been why our Squad 4, which hadn’t had a single death yet, ended up having an accident as well. One of the wizards, who was drained of color like a squid of ink, ended up collapsing, exhausted, and in the split second that a hole was created in the barrier…
Crunch!
The damage done to the ship due to the fallen monster was secondary.
“Collect their corpses.”
A member of the Armin Adventurer Group and two members of the Hektz Clan had died.
“Unsummon the boat. Everyone is to gather on the first military ship.”
In the end, we had to use Plan E as well. Although there was the downside of all the monsters concentrating in one place, we couldn’t help it in our situation.
One of the boats was damaged, and we were starting to run dry as well after using so many mana stones on the first and second days.
Trying to survive the seven days raw is actually going to kill me.
Maybe I had been looking down on the rainy season a little bit because no one died the last time we tried this. There was a stark difference between surviving from the third day onward and surviving from the first day.
However, there was one silver lining to it all.
The seventh day.
When the final day at last arrived and the timer was up, no other unforeseen events took place.
[00:00]
The rainy season was over.
However, unlike before, the members didn’t gather together to cheer or celebrate.
Everyone had done everything they could, and the deck was filled with the collapsed bodies of the exhausted and panting expedition members.
“It’s over…”
“It’s fine even if it’s not. I can’t move anymore…”
I wanted to give them words of praise or anything like that for surviving the rainy season, but I decided to postpone it and looked up toward the sky.
It’s about time it started.
Why was nothing happening?
Flash!
Just then, as if to bless us for enduring hardships, a bright light with the colors of the rainbow showered down and enveloped us.
***
Beep, beep, beeeep-Beep, beep, beeeep-Beep, beep, beeeep!
A robotic beeping sounded out nearby. I opened my eyes to see something flying in front of the deck of the boat.
Thop, thop, thop!
It was a drone, hovering in the air and observing me.
What the hell is that?
Even though I wasn’t fully awake, I held my hammer and stood.
Thop, thop, thop!
The drone seemed to sense my hostility from where it hovered directly in front of me, as it flew away and disappeared into the jungle.
“Just where are we…?”
“Is everyone alright?!”
“Battle formations…!”
Even while exhausted, all the members noticed that something was off and jumped to their feet.
Wait, we’re…in a jungle?
I dashed to the front of the ship and surveyed our surroundings.
We weren’t at the mouth of a river or anything like that. The military vessel we were on was simply dropped into the thick of a dense jungle.
“Mister! A building! I see a building in front of us!” Erwen had gotten up to the crow’s nest at some point and was shouting down to me. “You need to come see it!”
Given perhaps how large the boat was, when I climbed up the rope of the sails, I could see over the decently sized trees and into the open sky.
“There, over there!”
I looked in the direction Erwen was pointing to see a triangular building in the shape of a pyramid—a man-made structure that looked something like a temple. When I saw it, another region came to my mind.
One of the fields on the seventh floor, the Dark Continent. It was a field where the “machine” type monsters, which were rare inside the labyrinth, appeared in droves.
If I wasn’t misremembering…
Panthelion Ruins.
The place we found ourselves in was very similar to that field.
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