Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel - Chapter 738
Chapter 738: Reversed Fate (1)
I used my imagination a lot on a day-to-day basis.
They were usually imaginings of the worst-case scenarios, but that didn’t mean I only ever thought about the negatives.
I didn’t need to give an example because that was what I was doing right now.
“Ugh, agh…”
The man before me was writhing on the ground like he was having a stroke.
His story got me thinking.
If I ended up sympathizing with him after listening to his story, or if I needed to save him because of some other reason, what would I do?
Many different scenarios flashed through my mind.
Since his abilities were pretty useful, I would probably form a contract with him to use him like a slave or something in that vein. Maybe he would then fully reform and slowly earn our trust over time.
What the, isn’t this just Auyen?
I ended up being reminded of a navigator who used to be a plunderer, but anyway.
I imagined a scene where the mercy I showed him today would become the flaps of a butterfly’s wings that would turn into a storm and save me in a very important moment down the line.
However, those imaginings were useless in the end.
“I-it’s only natural! N-no one has asked for my r-real name until now!”
Unexpectedly, he had a bit of a “cute” side.
“Because he tried to rape me in the dungeon.”
And his fall from grace was set off by an incident that I could sympathize with on some level.
“To be honest, this is quite a tough world to live in. Ah! Of course, that doesn’t apply to someone as strong as you. Pshe!”
And even if the reason he became so broken was to maintain some semblance of sanity, so what?
“Eh, urgh… Ahh?”
In the end, he didn’t.
To those people who lost someone dear to them because of his roleplaying, he didn’t…
“Apologize.”
If he had just done that, maybe I would’ve at least second-guessed my decision.
“Well, I guess if I need to make one, it’d be to die a cool death?”
But since he was going to mouth off like this, I could kill him without any remorse.
“Just shut up and die like the trash you are. That will be your true apology,” I seethed, staring at his naked and destroyed body.
And so, I watched him slowly die.
“Ergh, ugh…”
His choking groans slowly grew quiet, and the blood that flowed out whenever he coughed began to dry up as well.
Obviously, it wasn’t because his body was healing. Quite the opposite, in fact.
With time, his body stopped writhing and his eyes went empty as he looked into the air.
However, it seemed he could see something.
“Ah…uh…”
He was still barely able to move his mouth and tried to say something.
I paid closer attention to see what he was saying, and I got the gist of it. His pronunciation was so muddled that it was difficult to be certain…
“Ma…ah…”
But amazingly, everyone’s ending was always the same.
“Ma…ma…”
Of course, that drew no sympathy from me.
Hans A, who tried to kill me, had his family as well.
If my heart couldn’t bear clenching at the sight of such things, I wouldn’t be able to live in this world.
I let out a breath, then slowly raised my head to look up into the sky.
“Graaaaah…”
The three corpse moons were also writhing.
If hell existed, it was probably up there.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently.
Rumble!
I looked back down and focused on the horizon to see the green world beginning to crumble far off in the distance.
The reason for it was very simple.
[The character who possesses the symbol has died.]
Yeah, I guess he did.
I was wondering why it got so quiet.
It was the same feeling I got when I killed Dragon Slayer—a level of calmness that even I found odd. There wasn’t any welling of emotion or a sense of accomplishment. But that didn’t mean I felt in any way empty either.
Then what was this feeling?
Rather than think about it, I drew a line in my mind.
The Corpse Collector, Abed Necrapeto.
Another name had been marked off on my list of names, but the list was still chock full.
Still a long way to go.
Well, it should figure itself out if I kept marking them off one by one.
***
[You are moved to Rafdonia.]
***
When I opened my eyes after returning from the Netherworld, the first thing I saw was fire.
Fwoosh!
Left, right, forward, back.
The flames were all around me, and the heated smoke burned my nose and enveloped my lungs whenever I breathed.
[You have activated Orb of Fire. All fire-type continuous damage from within 15 yards is decreased by 50%.]
Hah, much better.
My enemies…
With Orb of Fire now activated, I quickly took a look around but couldn’t sense any other people.
They’re gone.
Well, I guess that was to be expected since everything around me was on fire. It was better than being completely surrounded by them as soon as I came back.
The problem was that I had no idea where my allies were either.
What happened here?
I needed to quickly get a grasp of the situation. We had been fighting against the forces of Noark right up until I got sucked into the Netherworld.
I’ve only been there for two hours at most…
However, when I came back, the streets were all on fire, and I couldn’t see another soul.
But I was sure of one thing: This wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
If Noark had won, they would have formed a perimeter around me and waited for me to arrive. Probably while holding Astarota’s or Raven’s head as a trophy.
Thinking about it in reverse, there is a good chance that those two are still safe.
Right. Hah, first things first. Time to get out of here.
Fwoosh!
Although everything around me was on fire and the black smoke obstructed my vision, it wasn’t hard to confirm which way I needed to go. I wasn’t just any ordinary barbarian, but an elite barbarian who had been taught by Rotmiller how to be a Guide.
That way.
After confirming the direction, I used Giantization without a second thought and ran through the flames.
But how could this be?
One minute, two minutes, three minutes…
No matter how far I ran, I didn’t see any sign of me leaving the flames.
Just how far did the fire spread?
There was no telling, but that also meant there was only one thing I could do: run toward my home, District 7.
Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes…
However, as time passed, my superpowered body also began to reach its limits.
Fwoosh!
The burning flames were fine. I had the Orb of Fire, and due to my physical stats being so high, I was only getting small scorch marks on my skin.
No, the real problem was the smoke.
Damn it.
In a fire emergency, more people would die from suffocation rather than burning to death.
I couldn’t breathe properly. It felt like I was going to choke to death.
Well, thanks to my abnormal lung capacity, I was able to hold my breath for longer than most and was able to come all the way here.
Thud! Thud!
However, it was really difficult to run at top speed while also holding my breath.
My ears began to ring, signifying that I was reaching my limit. Even the heavy footsteps I took and the crackling of the fire couldn’t be heard over the ringing.
My vision blurred, and each moment of time felt longer and longer.
My head started to feel dizzy like I was having motion sickness.
Fuck… Is this how I die?
A healthy body meant a healthy mind, but that also meant a body pushed to its limits would make me have negative thoughts and resist my will as if to tell me that I could relax if I just gave up.
Shut the hell up.
I had survived until now.
Dying not because I got decapitated by a sword, or eaten by a monster, but simply because I ran out of oxygen?
Ring!
I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I died like that.
Slap!
I smacked my face to wake up my fading consciousness.
Thud! Thud!
Then, I pressed forward.
Boom! Boom!
I had no idea how much time had passed.
The flow of time became indistinguishable, and I couldn’t even tell if I was moving forward anymore or not.
Swoosh.
Then, my legs gave out and I fell forward.
Boom!
My body crashed into a hard surface on the way to the ground, instantly waking my mind up.
“The… The wall?”
It was the city wall.
I didn’t know how long it took me to get all the way here.
“The…wall…”
However, the contact with something beyond myself and the flames reinvigorated my body, much to my surprise.
I didn’t have time to look for where the gate was. Besides, barbarians as a race specialized not in finding the path but in making one.
I clutched at the cracks between the heated bricks and climbed the wall like a cockroach. And as soon as I arrived on top of the wall…
I’m alive.
My body lost all strength after confirming that I had survived.
Even atop the wall, it was difficult to breathe. However, a drop of water was like an oasis to someone wandering the desert.
“Haah… Haah… Haah…”
I coughed due to the smoky air, trying to breathe in as much clean air as possible. With time, my body recovered somewhat.
I nearly died there. Really.
After making my way to my feet on the wall, I took a surveying look around the area. Since the walls were built tall enough to look down at the entire city on a sunny day, I could take in the true scale of how much of the city was burning.
“This is nuts…”
From the incredible amount of smoke I could see, the entirety of District 8 was burning.
“The fire spread to District 7.”
And District 7 was in a similar boat. As far as I could tell from up on the wall, around a third of District 7 was engulfed in flames.
“Damn it.”
I was suddenly reminded of the money I invested into those buildings, but I quickly pushed aside that regret.
I could always earn more money. I needed to remember the important things in dangerous situations such as this. The thing I needed to concern myself with wasn’t “money” or “clean up”, but how to end this war without more loss.
Hah… Then what do I do now?
Now that I’d made it out of that unexpectedly deadly ordeal, the previous problems returned to trouble me.
Astarota and Raven had disappeared. My clan members were hiding in the barbarian holy land. Amelia and Auyen were last seen in District 4 and were being chased down.
I’m worried for Raven…
Still, I decided on the barbarian holy land as my first destination. Diving back into that sea of fire to look for her all by myself would accomplish nothing. It would be better for me to regroup with my clan members in the holy land and search together with them.
Since Astarota is with her, I shouldn’t need to worry too much…
Decision made, I didn’t have any time to waste.
I dashed across the top of the wall, figuring it would be better to just use the wall to move around rather than jump down into the burning city below me.
Boom! Boom!
However, as I was continuing my mindless trek along the wall toward the holy land, I suddenly raised my guard and stopped, anxious.
Someone had emerged from the black smoke that had been obstructing my vision.
“You’re here.”
Or rather, someone had been waiting for me.
A black wolf mask…
The design was exactly the same as the mask that Baekho Lee’s former ally Bryat had in his possession. Thanks to that, I was able to immediately figure out this guy’s affiliation.
Heerkmuta—the ancient organization created by those who followed the Last Great Sage, Diplan Groundel Gabrielius.
The wolf mask figure who seemed a part of this organization shrugged and stared at me.
“It’s been a while, Bjorn Yandel. Ah, maybe I should call you Sir Lion? Hahaha!”
I quietly let out a sigh.
Hah, I have so much on my mind already.
So who was this bastard?
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