Surviving the Game as a Barbarian
Chapter 524: Giant Island (3)

On the 6th floor, there was a place called the Calm Belt.

There was almost no wind or current, so a magic-powered propulsion device was essential for navigation…

But this device wasn’t only used in the Calm Belt. It was also useful in other situations where extra speed was needed.

Like this.

Whirrrr—!!

As soon as we poured the collected magic stones into the propulsion device…

…the motor at the bottom of the ship roared to life.

And…

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

The ship surged forward, creating a powerful wake.

“Furl the sails!”

We furled the sails, and the ship’s speed increased even further. Sails were often more of a hindrance than a help when the propulsion device was active.

“Whoa!”

“Hold on tight, everyone!”

The deck shook violently as the ship accelerated.

Everyone grabbed onto the railings and masts, lowering their centers of gravity to avoid being thrown overboard.

And after a while…

“Mister, they’re gone!”

The giant heads that had been chasing us had finally disappeared from view. They must have realized they couldn’t catch us.

‘We lost them…’

I was relieved, but it was too early to celebrate.

“Clan Master, what about the propulsion device?”

“Keep it active. We might still be in their territory. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, sir.”

The monsters in this silver sea were different in each area.

We had encountered McGuffins on the way to the library island, and Tentakulans on the way to the human island.

Judging by that pattern, this area was probably the Hippermachant’s territory.

‘This floor is unpredictable.’

Some areas had 7th-grade monsters, while others had 4th-grade monsters.

And now… seven 2nd-grade monsters?

This was practically a sea of death.

‘And there was a 1st-grade monster floating around too…’

I wondered if I had come down to the first basement floor too early, but I quickly dismissed the thought.

My expeditions had always been reckless.

And the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

I had already obtained several valuable essences.

‘…Let’s prioritize escaping this floor. I can come back later after upgrading my equipment.’

“Auyen, where are we?”

“I’m not sure. We accelerated suddenly… but according to my calculations, we should be near our destination.”

Near our destination?

So we had covered a six-hour distance in just two hours?

I was impressed by the propulsion device’s performance, but I was also worried about its efficiency.

It was notorious for being a mana hog.

“How many magic stones did we use?”

“Over 90% of what you gave me.”

In other words, we had burned through a quarter of the magic stones we had collected in just two hours.

‘That’s about 20 million stones…’

It was a painful thought, but it was better than dying.

I could always collect more magic stones later.

“I need to recalculate our route… Can I have some quiet?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Auyen used his navigation tools and steered the ship.

And soon…

He found the island.

Mul Armin, who had been watching him, exclaimed,

“That man… Auyen Lokrob, was it?”

“What about him?”

“He’s incredibly skilled. I can’t believe he’s not more famous in the city.”

Mul praised Auyen’s navigation skills, and he seemed to be sincere.

“…What makes you say that?”

“Our exploration team doesn’t have a dedicated navigator. I handle the navigation myself. So I know how difficult it is to navigate in a place like this, without any sun or stars. And yet, he managed to maintain our speed and find our destination without any problems.”

“Is… that so…?”

“Yes. And the nautical chart you drew is incredibly detailed. I’d like to learn from him someday.”

I chuckled awkwardly at his sincere praise.

I didn't know what to say.

“Heroes attract talent, don’t they? The old saying is true.”

“Ahem…”

I had just picked him up because he seemed like a useful slave…

______________________

We finally reached our destination.

But instead of docking immediately, we circled the island, observing it from a distance. And then we docked on the southern coast, which was less steep than the northern cliffs.

“What do you think, Mul? Did we find the right place?”

“Yes. It matches their description.”

The island was about ten times larger than the human island.

The most striking feature was the giant trees that lined the coast.

“I noticed it from the ship, but…”

“They’re huge.”

“Whoa… my neck hurts!”

The trees were larger than any I had ever seen in the labyrinth. They were as tall as ten-story buildings.

“Excuse me…”

As we were exploring the area and preparing to disembark, someone approached me.

It was a mage from the Armin Exploration Team.

“Um… I was wondering…”

“What is it?”

“May I… collect some samples from the trees? I’ve never seen trees like this before…”

He looked at me nervously, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Mages…

I had been exploring with Bersil, a player, so this was a little unfamiliar.

“These trees might contain valuable materials. And that would be beneficial for you too, Baron…”

“They’re so big… it’ll take a while to collect samples.”

“…I just need a small piece.”

“Alright.”

I asked Ainar to help the mage collect the samples.

Unlike Bersil, these mages were the real deal. They might discover something useful during the exploration.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

The mage, overjoyed, bowed repeatedly after collecting a log-sized sample of bark and wood. He then returned to his fellow mages and excitedly showed them his findings.

“You actually got it!”

“I can’t wait to examine it tonight.”

“Hehe… don’t forget, we’re all co-authors on this research paper.”

Were they that excited about it?

Anyway, after taking care of the mages, we regrouped and entered the island.

We proceeded cautiously, not knowing what we might encounter.

And after a while…

“Yandel, something’s approaching.”

We had been exploring for about 30 minutes when we finally sensed a monster. We tensed up, getting ready for battle.

But…

“…?”

We were all dumbfounded when the monster appeared.

It was barely knee-high, even with [Gigantification] active.

Green skin, a gaping maw…

And a carving knife clutched in its tiny hand.

[Gurgle?!]

“…A goblin?”

I hadn’t expected to see a goblin here.

I felt a wave of disappointment, but I quickly collected myself and shouted,

“Don’t let your guard down! It might have a Transformation ability—”

「The goblin has cast [Trap Creation].」

“…Huh?”

The goblin casually created a trap and tossed it in front of us.

And then…

“…….”

[…….]

A tense silence followed.

“Is it…”

“Waiting for us to trigger it…?”

I steeled my resolve.

“Don’t underestimate them… Goblins aren’t that stupid. This one might be different—”

An arrow flew through the air and struck the goblin’s head.

And…

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

It disintegrated into particles of light.

“…….”

“……?”

…It was just a normal goblin?

What had I been so worried about?

As I was feeling a surge of self-loathing…

[Kruk!!]

[Grrrr! Kruk! Keureuk!!]

…the other goblins, who had witnessed their comrade’s death, started roaring and screeching.

And…

Whoosh!

…their bodies started expanding.

“…Huh?”

They were now up to my shins.

And their muscles seemed to have grown as well…

「The goblins have cast [Gigantification].」

…What the hell?

______________________

Defeating the goblins wasn’t difficult.

Even with [Gigantification], they were still just goblins.

The battle itself was a breeze.

But the shock it had delivered lingered.

“That… what we just saw…”

“Could it be…?”

Everyone looked at me, waiting for my assessment. I was the one with [Gigantification], so my judgment was the most accurate.

“…I can’t be sure yet.”

“R-Really?”

They all hesitated, except for Amelia.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re sure or not. They just want to hear your opinion. Did it look like [Gigantification] to you?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s strange. They can’t all be high-variants.”

The goblins we had just encountered were definitely unusual.

They weren't even a new species.

‘…But they used another monster’s skill…’

Was it just a coincidence?

Or were the other monsters also like this?

My question was soon answered.

「The troll has cast [Gigantification].」

「The werewolf has cast [Gigantification].」

「The Iron Golem has cast [Gigantification].」

「….」

All the monsters we encountered used [Gigantification] in addition to their normal abilities.

I didn’t understand how it worked.

But…

‘…The island.’

There must be something special about this island.

The monsters on the other islands weren't like this.

‘Is it some kind of field effect?’

That was the most likely explanation, but I couldn't be sure.

So I decided to ask Bersil for help.

“What about the essence?”

“Its wavelength and pattern match the existing Goblin essence.”

“So it’s the same as the goblin essence we found on the 1st floor?”

“Yes… at least, based on the numerical values. It’s unlikely that you’ll obtain [Gigantification] from this essence. We can test it out if you want…”

“No need. It’s not that important.”

We resumed our exploration.

We had two objectives.

First, to gather information about this new island.

And second, to find and rescue the trapped explorers.

The first objective was still vague, but thankfully, we found a clue for the second objective relatively quickly.

“Footprints. Human footprints.”

We had found someone’s shoe prints.

According to one of the Armin Exploration Team members, the shoes were made by a Lafdonian cobbler…

“He used to work for the Royal Investigation Department, so you can trust his judgment.”

“He has an impressive resume. Can he tell when these footprints were made?”

“About… five hours ago.”

So they were still alive.

I had been worried that they might have all died…

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