Surviving game as a barbarian Episode 672

Star Grave 3

We first heard about the dimensional stone from the man outside the walls. After using it, we ended up in this mysterious land, which is strikingly similar to the Star Grave on the ninth floor.

At first, I wondered if this was still part of the labyrinth.

‘Seems that’s not the case.’

This place is outside the walls.

The monsters’ heightened intelligence and the fact that their bodies remained after death served as proof of this.

However, the problem was…

The only problem is…

It’s impossible for us to walk back to where we came from.

This place is practically an ‘island’.

No, it’s even worse than an island.

Even if it was technically somewhere on the continent, the gray boundary surrounding us left us with nowhere to go.

In other words, we were physically trapped, with no way out.

“…Baron? What do we do now?”

Baek-ho glanced at me and asked. “…Baron? What do we do now?”

This guy! I I swear!

Until now, he had been trying to take command, but the moment things turned out like this, he’s acting completely clueless.

“You’re the one who said that if we took a long walk around, we’d find a way out of here,” Baek-ho complained.

“I think I said there “might be” a way out.”

“Eh, isn’t that the same thing?”

How could someone be that irritating?

Answering him in the same way would just put me on his level, so I ignored him and got to the point.

“Still, we did gain something, didn’t we?”

“Yes, we figured out that we’re trapped here for good. Right?”

Ah, should I really smack him?

The thought did cross my mind, but I thought of Star Annihilation and forced myself to hold back.

“Yes…” I muttered, clenching my teeth. “That’s a great gain. And we’ve more or less finished this map.”

“You’ve only drawn the outer border; the inside is completely empty?”

“That’s why all we need to do now is check the blank spots on our map. If we keep searching, I’m sure we’ll find another Dimensional Stone that leads to our original location or somewhere else.”

I spoke in the confident leader tone I’d honed through countless experiences, but Baek-ho just looked at me with a disinterested expression.

“Isn’t that just baseless confidence? How would you know there’s a Dimensional Stone?”

Well…

‘Because [Dungeon & Stone] is that kind of game.’

Of course, this might be a somewhat careless thought.

We were outside the city walls—a place I’d never been to in the game—and the reality of this world was far different from the one I’d known there.

But…

“So, what do you suggest we do then?”

It wasn’t just empty bravado.

Even if we were trapped in what looked like a dead end, there had to be a way out somewhere in this world.

That is my ironclad rule.

“If you’re not even sure yourself, are you saying you just want to sit here and rest?”

“Eh, that’s not what I meant—”

“Then just follow along quietly. Even if all of you give up saying it’s impossible, I will definitely find a way.”

When I looked Yi Baek-ho straight in the eye and said that, he fell silent for a moment, then replied somewhat impressively.

“…..…Wow. That was smooth. Is this how you’ve charmed everyone all along?”

At his words, the archer next to him added a comment.

“That was… oddly reassuring. For a moment, I felt like I didn’t have a single worry.”

“Hahaha! I never thought the Baron was wrong in the first place! We have to do something! If we don’t do anything, we’ll starve to death.” Aures burst out laughing heartily and the tension eased.

That was exactly why an optimistic warrior like him was essential to any party. From experience, I knew just how big a difference that made.

“All right. Let’s move out again.”

…Let’s go.

***

From now on, there’s only one thing we must do.

We must explore all the unexplored parts of the map and search for a ‘Dimensional Stone’ or an escape route.

The problem was, to do that, we’d have to search every nook and cranny of this vast area.

So, our exploration method was very simple.

“Under trees, by cliffs, in caves, narrow cracks, ruins—anything that looks even slightly unusual, report it immediately. Got it?”

Rather than leaving everything to our scout Bright, we all stayed alert as we moved, scanning our surroundings.

And if we discover something…

“It looks like a shallow pond, but the water is remarkably deep. It’s a perfect place to hide something.”

“Good, let’s stop and check it out.”

We’d use detection magic first, and if that didn’t settle it, I’d go in myself to investigate.

Some complained if we really had to go this far, but I never compromised.

After all, the Dimensional Stone that Daelan claimed to have found was hidden in a cliff crevice.

Otherwise, it would’ve been hard to notice.

“Baron! Come look at this! Doesn’t this look suspicious?”

“Suspicious how…?”

“Right here! This flower petal’s broken!”

“…Forget it. Keep moving.”

Of course, I filtered out the nonsense to save time.

“What! You said to report everything, didn’t you?!”

A broken flower petal? What did he expect me to do about that?

“Lord Ruinzenes! Could you at least take a look, please?”

When I ignored him, Aures ran off to complain to the old ruin scholar.

Of course, the old man didn’t indulge him.

“Let’s move.”

“Lord Ruinzenes!!”

And so the search resumed.

Our pace was slow but steady, and the map gradually filled in.

‘Oldrock Plains is about 70% complete now…’

The structure of the area we’re currently in is simple.

At the center was the Primordial Land, the place we’d reached through the portal. To its west stretched the Ancient Stone Plains; to the north, the Lava Fields; to the east, the Dreaming Waterfalls; and to the south, Dragonskull Mountain.

However, excluding the Primordial Land, all the other areas have their fields cut off midway due to the grey boundary…

‘The biggest problem might be Dreaming Waterfalls…’

Both the Lava Fields and Dreaming Waterfalls were modeled after 9th-layer zones—dangerous but manageable.

Dreaming Waterfalls, though, was a different story.

Especially since we need to search meticulously for the Dimensional Stone, not just pass through—.

“Human! Traces of a human!”

…Huh?

“Someone! Human traces!”

…Huh?

“It’s true. Those are definitely human footprints.”

While scouting the Oldrock Plains, we suddenly found human tracks.

After spending days chasing random ‘suspicious’ things, this was something we couldn’t ignore.

“Bright, you’re in the lead. Track them. We’re moving at full speed.”

I quickly gave the order and we followed the traces at maximum speed.

Before long—

“…”

We saw a lone man standing motionless in the middle of the plain.

His clothes were filthy, as if he hadn’t washed in months.

Just from that, he looked a lot like Dailan—the man who’d lured us here.

But then—

Rustle.

When the man sensed us and slowly turned around, we instantly knew this wasn’t Dailan.

In fact, he wasn’t even human.

A black spider clung to his face.

“…What, it’s just a Bayon.”

A Level 3 humanoid monster, Bayon.

The original wielder of my [Transcendence] skill.

They usually appeared in The Land of Immortality, one of the 7th Floor’s dark continent fields, though they sometimes spawned on the Oldrock Plains on the 9th Floor too.

“Ha, and here I thought it’d be Dailan.”

“Another dead end, huh…”

My teammates looked disheartened, but honestly, I was thrilled.

So thrilled I had to keep a straight face.

‘Finally found one.’

When training a Shield Barbarian, Bayons were one of the most essential monsters to hunt.

Not just because they dropped [Transcendence], but because their byproduct—the Parasite Spider—almost never showed up on auction.

“Well, at least you’re lucky, Baron. That thing drops 8th-stage imprint materials, right?”

“…”

“Still, I’m jealous. You’ve got so much room left to grow stronger.”

Baek-ho cracked his knuckles and grinned, then—

Tap!

—rushed straight at the Bayon.

A sudden move that would’ve driven any seasoned leader insane.

“Wait—!”

“What? It’s just a Level 3 monster.”

Technically, he wasn’t wrong.

But Bayons were dangerous.

Their individual strength varied wildly, and their abilities were unpredictable.

The standard approach was always to scout them first—

Crunch!

…Or maybe it didn’t matter after all.

“Ah! That hit the spot!”

With a single gray-aura punch from Baekho, the Bayon’s heart was obliterated.

With that, I felt something fill within me—a sensation every explorer would recognize instantly.

「Bayon defeated. EXP +7」

When we defeated ‘Gigageros’ before, I was too distracted to be sure, but.

It seems we gain experience points here too.

“Let’s see… Let’s loot our Baron’s engraving material first… Huh?”

As Baek-ho reached to peel the spider off the Bayon’s face, he suddenly froze.

“Baek-ho? What’s wrong—ugh! What the hell is that?!”

Even Aures jumped in shock after taking a look.

I immediately knew something was wrong and rushed over to check the Bayon’s body.

“…Huh?”

What is this?

I stared down in disbelief at the face behind the spider, and the others were just as shocked.

“The color’s different, but… i-isn’t this him?”

The humanoid monster we’d just defeated had Dailan’s face.

Things were getting more confusing by the minute.

Dalan had lured us here, only to vanish afterward. Why had he turned into a monster?

At the GM’s cautious request, the ruin scholar finally spoke.

“…Might I hear your opinion?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I once read in an old book that Bayons were actually ancient explorers who died in the labyrinth.”

Coincidentally, I knew about that too. I’d spent every day digging into the game’s lore and setting, searching for any hidden pieces.

“Ah! So that’s why Bayons use essence, just like explorers!”

“That’s what they say, but it’s not a well-founded story. It’s closer to a folktale for popular entertainment, if anything.”

“…I see.”

Just what kind of situation have we found ourselves in?

Still, I snatched the monster’s byproduct from Baek-ho’s hands.

Curiosity was one thing, loot was another.

‘Just one more left now…’

Only one material remained for the 8th-stage imprint.

‘Well, given the characteristics of this outer region, I should be able to get it soon enough…’

Even so, finding a rare Bayon out here was pure luck.

“Oh! Looks like it really was Dailan! There’s an ID card on him!”

Just then, Aureus stood up excitedly.

In his hand was a palm-sized identification card.

“Let’s see… name says…”

Thump.

“‘Hans’…? Ah! Right! That’s it! His name was Hans!”

My heart began pounding furiously.

I made my decision instantly and shouted in urgency—

“Prepare to move!!”

We had to get out of here.

As fast as possible.

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