Surviving the Game as a Barbarian Chapter 8

Night Friend (1)

Im walking through a cave.

This ti, there's no wobbling.

The character is wearing leather boots.

Total Item Level rises by 5.

The boots almost fit. Thanks to that, I learned one more thing. Uncle's feet were too big for his height. Anyway, they're pretty sturdy, so stepping on a trap won't hurt as badly as it did the last ti.

The character has equipped a two-handed hamr.

Total Item Level rises by 30.

This hamr is made of solid iron and is about 1m long. Uncle needed both hands, but I can swing it one-handed.

The character is wearing shoulder guards.

Total Item Level rises by 13.

Steel pauldrons. I tied the laces a little loose and they fit just right. If I take off my jacket and put on just the pauldrons, I look like so ancient gladiator.

The character is wearing a backpack.

Inventory expands.

Now I no longer need to store the blood-stained mana stones alongside the bread, and moving around is much less cumberso.

Chomp.

I take out so jerky and chew it.

I don't have much of it, but it tastes better than bread.

I cut the rest with a knife and store it away so as to not get my drool all over it.

On this second day, I have graduated from my primitive lifestyle.

When you're thirsty, just drink so water from the water bottle.

If you want to know the direction, just take out your compass, and if you want to know the ti, just take out your pocket watch.

There's even a bottle of potion to help you cope with any possible injury in an ergency.

Isn't it a little ironic?

That after killing a person, I beca able to live a little more like one.

Bjorn Yandel

Level: 1

Body: 25 / Mind: 37 (New 1) / Ability: 1

Item Level: 72 (New 48)

Combat Index: 81 (New 13)

Smash was a good technique to use with a shield, but a proper weapon boasted a different level of power.

Puff!

A goblin turned into motes of light and disappeared with just a single blow of my hamr.

Had I known this would happen, I would've just picked a weapon at the start. After all, wouldn't it have been fine if I just saved up money and bought the shield later?

Well, I didn't know at the ti that I could fight so well.

Was it because I transmigrated into the body of a barbarian?

When I fought, I felt like my body didn't belong to . It was easy to get used to it, but looking at this body that always exceeded expectations, I still couldn't help but exclaim my amazent now and then.

"I'm feeling drowsy."

Yawning, I picked up the two magic stones from the ground around and put them in my bag.

This was the change that occurred on the second day.

The goblins started coming in twos.

Perhaps tomorrow, it would increase to three, and the sa would continue until the labyrinth closed on the seventh day. Because that's how it was in the ga.

In that sense, it wasn't particularly bad yet.

My combat power increased sharply with the new weapon, and thanks to the various consumables, my life instead beca a little safer.

Things were going pretty smoothly.

Except for the fact that I keep closing my eyes.'

From yesterday until now, I kept constantly moving and fighting the goblins. But I'd only gotten around ten minutes' worth of sleep, and one ti I even fell asleep while standing up.

I really wanted to sleep.

I didn't even want any luxuries like a blanket or a pillow. I just wanted to squat down and take a nap, even if it was on the bare stone floor.

Really, if things carried on like this

"Oh, fuck!"

In my half-asleep state, I tripped over a stone.

Thankfully, things didn't go as unluckily as was my usual. I would've been in real trouble had it been a trap.

"Lets just get so sleep right here"

Coming to a decision, I imdiately leaned against the wall, with my shield and my hamr still in my hands.

Even though I didn't have any night friends by my side

Rather, this felt safer. If you're going to be ambushed anyway, goblins are better for that.

You're more likely to live if you get stabbed with the little carving knives[1] they carry around.

Unlike your head being pulped with a hamr while lying down.

Squelch

Motherfucker.

I woke up to the sound of footsteps that had already beco familiar.

Even when there had been no hide nor hair of them when I'd stood vigilant for no less than four hours. Now that I was sleeping alone, one showed up right away.

I could see why uncle told not to drop my guard.

Stubborn bastards.

I imdiately ran over and shoved the hamr into the goblin's head.

Puff!

"Ga, gruck!"

A total of two shits had been creeping up on , but the other guy imdiately bolted once he saw his friend being smashed.

Yes, go, go.

I don't even have the energy to follow you.

"Hey, you bastards"

When I checked the ti, less than ten minutes had passed.

In the end, I had no choice but to go back to the cave and keep hunting goblins.

Whenever I felt too tired and couldn't take it any longer, I leaned against the wall and got a few winks of sleep.

There were a few occasions while I dozed off that made almost faint with surprise, but it was only twice that I felt like I had one foot in the grave.

Once, when I felt a presence and opened my eyes, so bastard adventurer was quietly closing in on .

When our eyes t, he gave an indifferent smile, then stepped back and disappeared.

Even just thinking about it again, I got goosebumps.

In terms of surprise alone, the second occasion didn't lose either.

Especially since it was an ongoing process.

The character was attacked by a goblin while sleeping.

For the first ti, I woke up to actual pain, not a premonition of a presence.

A goblin appeared in front of . Once I killed it with one swing of my hamr, the other bastard hightailed it.

"G, ggh!!"

I imdiately identified the root cause behind the pain.

But, oh my God, there was a carving knife stuck between my collarbones.

Shit, my left arm wasn't moving well for so reason.

But after all, I was glad it ended with just pain.

Had I been a little shorter, or if that goblin could jump a little better, this knife would've been lodged in my neck.

Creak.

I clenched my teeth as I pulled the knife out.

Then, taking out the potion from my bag, I placed a few drops on the wound. By the ti I closed the stopper and put the bottle back in the bag, the blood was bubbling and the wound was regenerating quickly.

Chiiiiiiiik.

Was the bastard who made the potion a psychopath or sothing?

Sohow, it hurt more than the stabbing itself.

"Ouch, hehehehe"

After about five minutes, the pain went away.

Although the pain had woken up abruptly, after the rush faded, my eyelids felt heavier than ever.

So much that my vision blurred if I stopped concentrating even for a single mont.

It was ti to make the decision I'd been putting off.

Although my body was that of a barbarian and sensitive to killing intent, there was a limit to it. Didn't I just wake up after being stabbed with a carving knife?

I need to take a break.'

I checked the ti, and it had been about fourteen hours since I'd parted with uncle.

Perhaps the adventurers active on the first floor were also wandering around by now, again looking for night friends.

"Hey barbarian, are you looking for a night friend?"

This ti when I road the area, it was the adventurers who took the initiative to speak to first.

Also, very passionately.

"Hmm, you look pretty tired, dont you? Will you co?"

"You can always trust a barbarian. If you join, we'll have three people, so how about getting together?"

It was like being an in-demand whore.

Was it because this was the second day and everyone was looking the sa?

Bastards who sniffed at my sll were nowhere to be seen. Or maybe the sll hadn't been the problem in the first place?

Co to think of it, yesterday I'd been wobbling on my feet a bit, and drenched in about seven litres of blood.

"Oh? Thats unfortunate."

Nurous love calls flooded in, but I refused them all and kept walking through the passage.

Haa, was there no strong barbarian anywhere nearby?

In fact, my best choice would be to find a fellow countryman to make night friends with. The problem was that, until the second day, I wasn't able to sll even the faintest whiff of another barbarian.

"You are looking for your own people? Hmm, wouldnt it be difficult?"

"Difficult? Why is that?"

"Even a barbarian who just finished his coming-of-age ceremony would go upstairs within two or three months. I dont rightly know, but there must be less than a hundred on the first floor."

As I kept exploring, it looked like barbarians were a rarity on the first floor. Seriously, it'd be strange to ss around on the first floor if you have a body like this.

99% of the adventurers I t on the first floor were humans.

"Why dont you join us instead?"

"Im sorry, but I cant."

"I see. I pray that Rafdonia will be with you on your journey."

"Thank you."

This man looked pretty trustworthy, but I ended our chat and moved on.

Since I found out that how expensive of a barbarian's heart was, I couldn't help but suspect every one of the adventurers.

Click.

I took out the compass.

I'd been moving south ever since I got it, but I still wasn't out of the Goblin Zone.

I could feel just how big the first floor was.

Should I give up looking for my own people?'

My worries didn't last long.

I decided to stop looking for needles in a desert, and made a more realistic plan.

I'd look for a night friend even if they weren't of my own people.

But not humans.

I'd search for the demihumans who were less than 1% of the population.

A fairy who valued promises, or a dwarf with as arrogant a personality as a barbarian would be the best

It didn't matter much as long as it was a non-human race.

Unlike humans, these races had longer lifespans.

Given enough ti, they had the potential to climb all the way to the top, so they would be less likely to get blinded by short-term gains and hurt a fellow adventurer.

Having made that decision, I kept wandering around the cave for about an hour.

And

You encountered an injured fairy stranger.

I finally found one of the demihuman races that I'd been looking for.

The mont our eyes et, the air grows heavy with a strangely suffocating silence.

""

The pointy-eared fairy sitting with her back against the wall just stares at without saying a single word.

Were you also sleeping alone without a night friend?

Her catlike glowing amber eyes show embarrassnt, but also a keen vigilance.

Just looking at her makes want to pass by and disappear, but

Seuk.

As our silent confrontation stretches out, the fairy finally gets up from where she'd been sitting with a nervous face.

But her posture is unnatural.

Upon closer examination, there's a wound on her stomach.

"You're hurt."

It's not deep, but it's a long cut.

Not sothing that could be caused by the little carving knives carried by the goblins.

I quickly co to a conclusion.

"Was it a human?"

The fairy doesn't answer.

She's afraid.

Yeah, I can see where she's coming from. I'd be scared too if so random stranger much bigger than passed by while I was injured.

Isn't she even a woman, on top of that?

Her body is tiny too. Maybe around 160cm?

Anyway, this isn't a bad situation

"Please spare ."

Yes?

"Please, just once, uncle barbarian. I have a little sister in the city that I need to take care of."

I did wonder how this plot was going to develop.

The fairy kneels down to her knees without any regrets.

At so point, even moisture had ford in her eyes.

"I beg you."

What the hell, where did your spirit as a fairy go?

To be honest, I'd thought she would be the cool beauty type.

Because most of the fairies in the ga had that kind of tone and personality.

Hooo, if I'd known she'd be this kind of a character, I would've approached the situation completely differently.

Let's clear up the misunderstanding before things get worse.

"I have no intention of killing you."

Make eye contact and speak with a clear pronunciation.

The eyes are the windows to the soul, so given so ti to calm down, she'll know that I'm being sincere

" Must you do this, uncle barbarian?"

Yup, that's not gonna happen.[2]

I'm having an identity crisis right now.

Isn't this a highschool drama, with a savage delinquent bullying the girls in front of the school? With being the savage, obviously.

"Just once, please, let go just this once."

As my silence stretches, the fairy takes a step back. The fear in her eyes deepens as she opens up her front collar.

It's not funny.

What kind of life do these barbarian bastards lead? What's their usual image like, that she's doing this shit?

"Hooo"

I can't help but sigh.

What do I do?

Would this misunderstanding be cleared up if I showed her that I'm not that kind of trash, with actions rather than words?

That seems feasible.

"Start treatnt first. We can talk later."

I step back, take the herbs and bandages from my bag and throw them at her.

"This is a lychee leaf?"

I see, so this is a lychee leaf.

In the future, I can use it with peace of mind.

I was worried that it might be poisonous, so I couldn't use it even though I got injured earlier.

Editor's Notes:

[1] (lit. carving knife) usually ans engraving knife used in sculpture. However, it is also a term used in archelogy to an a prehistoric tool for carving flint.

[2] (lit. silver horn), ans sothing that'll never happen, bullshit.