Surviving the Game as a Barbarian
Chapter 525: Giant Island (4)

Human footprints made about five hours ago. There was no need to wonder who they belonged to. There couldn’t be any other explorers on this island.

They had to be some of the survivors.

“Two people. Judging by the size of the footprints, they’re both men. And they’re moving very cautiously.”

“Cautiously? So it’ll be difficult to track them?”

“No, not really. They haven’t tried to erase their tracks. They’re just moving slowly and carefully, constantly scanning their surroundings. They were probably more wary of monsters than of us.”

Mikhail Lecta.

A middle-aged explorer and a former agent of the Royal Investigation Department.

It seemed like he was the Armin Exploration Team’s equivalent of Amelia…

“It’s better to leave the tracking to him. He’s probably better at it than I am.”

Amelia rarely admitted her inferiority, so the former Investigation Department agent must have been quite skilled.

“Lecta, was it?”

“Yes, Baron.”

“You’re in charge of tracking.”

“I’ll complete the mission without fail.”

I took the lead, and he guided me, following the footprints.

And after a while…

We stopped.

We had encountered something unexpected.

Or rather, we had found something.

“That’s…”

A body lying in the middle of the forest.

It wasn’t a human body.

It was a giant.

“It’s the giant we saw in the sea…”

It had been dead for a while. The body was decomposing, and a foul stench filled the air.

What had killed it?

“Judging by the wounds… it was killed by another monster.”

So it had probably been killed by one of the monsters that rained down during the rainy season?

I sighed unconsciously.

“Yandel, what’s wrong?”

“The body… it’s still here.”

If the body remained intact, it meant we couldn’t obtain its essence.

“Ah…”

I had been so excited about its passive skill and stats…

But it was all for nothing.

I felt a wave of disappointment, but some of my companions were ecstatic.

“…A giant! A giant’s corpse!”

“It’s not just any giant! It’s the Hippermachant!”

“What are you all waiting for?! We have to collect samples before it decomposes further!”

The mages from the Armin Exploration Team rushed towards the giant’s corpse, as if they had found a treasure.

“Wait! Be careful! We need to record its anatomy before dissecting it!”

“The stomach! What’s inside its stomach? Does it even have a stomach?”

They would probably be happy even in hell, as long as there were books to read.

“You have some passionate mages on your team.”

Mul Armin chuckled awkwardly at my comment.

“Well, they joined our exploration team, even though it’s dangerous and doesn’t pay well…”

That was true.

I was also interested in these things, so I watched the mages dissect the giant’s corpse.

“What about the hide?”

“…It’s surprisingly tough. And it doesn’t seem to have any magical properties.”

“So we can’t use it for equipment?”

“No… it’ll require further research…”

In other words, the hide was worthless.

“What about the bones?”

The mage’s face brightened.

“Ah! The bones are strong and light. And they’re huge! A skilled blacksmith might be able to use them to create armor…”

“Really? What grade would you say they are?”

“Um… well… they’re lighter than steel, so they’re definitely more valuable than ordinary steel…”

What?

I had been hoping for something better.

If it was just slightly better than steel, it would be more efficient to use steel. It was cheaper and easier to process.

“B-But there are advantages to using bones for equipment. They don’t rust…”

The mage continued to plead his case, but I wasn’t interested.

“Let me know if you find anything unusual.”

“Yes…!”

I lost interest in the corpse and focused on my surroundings. I killed about ten monsters while waiting for the mages to finish their work.

And then…

Thud.

I heard a sound and instinctively swung my hammer.

“Uwaah!”

I quickly stopped as I heard a scream.

“…Ugh… Huff… Huff…”

It was a human.

And a familiar face.

______________________

My hammer had stopped just above his head.

The man, startled, fell backwards and coughed.

Bersil was the first to recognize him.

“Myrtane?”

Ah, right, that was his name.

The leader of the five-man team whose warrior hadn’t been able to enter the hidden area. He had joined the Hex Clan after the incident on the human island.

“…Huff… Huff…”

“Calm down. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“G-Gowland…!”

Bersil patted his back, and he finally regained his composure and prostrated himself before us.

And the first thing he said was…

“P-Please help us! Berion… he’s badly injured…”

I hadn't noticed it before, but he was carrying a small figure wrapped in a sack on his back. We quickly opened the sack and laid the man on the ground.

And just as we were about to summon a priest…

“…It’s too late.”

Amelia checked his pulse, and the man’s face crumpled.

“N-No…! He… he was talking to me just now…!”

He pushed Amelia away and hugged his comrade’s body, checking his pulse again and again, as if refusing to accept reality.

“…….”

Amelia didn’t say anything about his rudeness, and neither did I.

Every explorer had experienced this.

Losing a comrade in the labyrinth.

It took time to accept it.

“…Are you alright now?”

“Y-Yes… Thank you… for saving me…”

“I’m sorry about your friend. Can you handle the… aftermath?”

“Yes… It’s my… duty… Can you… cast Distortion on him…?”

“Of course.”

He collected his friend’s belongings and then cast Distortion on the body, storing it in his subspace pocket.

He was lucky, in a way.

When Dwalki had died, we hadn’t had a mage.

We had to leave his body behind.

Well, that was then, and this was now.

“…Now that that’s taken care of, let’s talk.”

I had waited long enough.

“Are there any other survivors?”

“…They’re hiding in a shelter.”

The shelter wasn’t far from here.

“Is it safe?”

“…It has been, so far.”

“Then why did you two leave?”

“We thought we needed to explore the island to find a way out. So… Berion and I were chosen for the reconnaissance mission.”

So they were a scouting party.

If they had just stayed in the shelter…

‘…I shouldn’t say that.’

I didn't want to make him feel worse, so I just asked him to lead the way to the shelter.

The shelter wasn’t far, as he had said. It was hidden behind a rock, disguised with magic.

“It’s camouflaged as a wall.”

“I’ll send a signal.”

He knocked on the rock, and after a moment, the wall shimmered and disappeared. A man emerged from the opening.

“Myrtane! Why are you so late—? Baron Yandel?!”

He had been about to scold his teammate, but he froze as he saw me.

“It’s been a while, Wyte Hex.”

“By the gods…!”

“Can we come in?”

“O-Of course! Please, come in!”

We entered the cave, and it was much more spacious than it had looked from the outside.

“I-I’m so surprised… I never expected to see you here…”

“Really? That’s unexpected.”

“Unexpected…?”

“I thought you would ask about my teammates first.”

“Ah…! R-Right! There were only sixty of us… how…”

He seemed to have realized something, but he didn't sound sincere.

Was he the evil spirit who had posted the message?

Well, it didn’t matter. I didn’t need to find him.

“W-What happened?”

I briefly explained the situation.

Time was flowing normally in the city, the labyrinth had reopened, and more explorers had entered the hidden area.

“One of you posted a message on the community forums, asking for help. And it spread throughout the city. That’s how we found out about this island.”

“I… I see…”

“Do you have any idea who the evil spirit is?”

“I’m not sure… but… it might be one of the… deceased…”

“Like your friend who died today?”

“…….”

Wyte Hex closed his mouth, as if to protect his remaining comrades, and I stopped probing.

It was a bad habit.

I kept trying to trick people, even when there was no need to.

“Anyway, tell me what happened after we parted ways.”

I changed the subject.

Their story wasn’t that interesting.

They had explored the Archives, but they hadn't found anything, so they had returned to the sea…

“And then, as we were sailing, looking for new areas… it started raining monsters.”

Unlike us, who had spent the rainy season safely in the village, they had been caught in the middle of the sea.

Their ship had almost been destroyed, and they had barely managed to reach this island.

They had found this cave and hidden inside.

‘So that’s why there were so few of them. They must have lost most of their members during the rainy season.’

They were lucky to have found a shelter so quickly. If they had stayed outside any longer, they would have been wiped out.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“H-How about you, Baron? If time is flowing outside, we have to find a way out… Have you found anything?”

“Not yet. I’m still looking.”

Wyte bit his lip at my honest answer and then asked cautiously,

“…There is a way out, right?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it. And I’ll find it.”

Those words seemed to have comforted him.

“…We’ll help you, Baron. Even if it’s just a small contribution.”

He sounded determined, as if he had placed all his hope in me. I counted the number of explorers he had left.

“Thank you. We’ll need all the help we can get.”

I had just gained twelve unpaid laborers.

______________________

It wasn’t time for our usual camping break yet, but I decided to call it a day.

“Everyone, get some rest. We’ll be staying here tonight.”

Now that we had more members, we needed to reorganize and discuss our next course of action.

And I also wanted to gather some information.

“Wyte, have you learned anything about this island?”

Even though they had mostly stayed hidden in the cave, they had arrived here before us, so their information would be helpful.

We only knew that the monsters here used [Gigantification].

“Berion saw a giant monster from afar after the rainy season ended.”

A giant monster.

But it wasn’t the Hippermachant.

“It was at least 40 meters tall…”

The Hippermachant was less than half that size.

“And it was tearing apart a Valksus with its bare hands.”

The Hippermachant couldn't do that.

“Honestly, we thought it might have been an illusion… but I thought you should know.”

“I see. Thank you for the information.”

It was a secondhand account, so I couldn’t ask for more details. I decided to put it aside and listened to the rest of his report.

The map they had drawn.

The new species they had encountered.

It was all valuable information.

And then…

“And lastly… there’s something I want to show you.”

“Show me?”

“Please… follow me.”

Wyte led me to a small chamber at the back of the cave. There was a man-made structure there.

My jaw dropped as soon as I saw it.

“This is…”

It was a portal stone.