Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

A device that turns monsters into magic stones.

What happens if a human is put into that device?

I don't have data on that yet.

But...

Thud—!

The moment I saw Raven, I pushed off the ground and shot forward.

The fact that the kidnapped Raven was standing on that rail already proved something: that device doesn't turn only monsters into magic stones.

Zzzzzzing—

Luckily, pulling Raven off the moving rail wasn't too difficult.

There were no restraints to begin with.

All I had to do was grab Raven's waist from above, lift him, and set him down...

"Raven! Raven! Snap out of it!"

No matter how much I shook his shoulders, he just stared blankly into space, refusing to wake up.

Thud, thud.

I didn't stop at shaking— I slapped his cheek firmly, but it was the same—

"Ugh..."

What, is this working?

Seeing him groan like sleep-talking, I slapped him harder.

Smack, smack.

"Ugh..."

Thunk! Thunk!

"St... stop..."

Raven's condition seemed to improve as he muttered barely formed words.

Maybe the condition to break the charm requires a certain amount of damage.

With that in mind, I hit him harder.

"Raven! Raven! Get up!"

Thunk! Thunk!

"St- stop..."

Thunk! Thwack!

"St- stop... it...!"

"He's awake!"

My effort paid off as intelligence slowly returned to Raven's eyes.

"You okay? Can you move? Anything strange? Where are the others? Ah, want some water?"

"...Water."

"Here. I'll tilt it for you—drink slowly."

I brought the water pouch to his lips like a baby bottle, and Raven fully regained consciousness.

"Thank you for saving me."

"No need to thank me. It's what I should do."

"My jaw is sore, but my mind is clear now."

"There's a saying 'a beating is a medicine.'"

"A bit bitter medicine, though."

Okay, judging by the jokes, he seemed fully fine now...

"So what happened?"

"...It seems like some kind of mind control. Not long after you entered, we all lost consciousness."

"So you don't remember anything?"

"No. Not completely unconscious..."

Raven slowly began explaining, vaguely remembering things as if dreaming.

"It felt like being controlled by something else while heavily drunk."

When I touched the strange stone and fainted,

Raven and the others who lost consciousness just staggered and stood blankly with other members.

Then flying objects came from the sky,

They were carried across the river and dragged to the temple.

"After that, it felt like waiting for something. While gathered, one by one, people were dragged away somewhere. And this time, it was my turn..."

"One by one."

"...What?"

"Dragged away one by one...?"

My heart sank.

But Raven didn't seem to notice my serious expression.

"Phew... better to see it for yourself."

I headed toward where Raven's rail was going—

To the place with the device that turns monsters into magic stones.

Flash—!

Monsters transformed into fist-sized magic stones by the beam.

"Wh-what...?"

Raven's face went pale realizing that if I had been a moment later, I'd have passed that place.

Did he also realize the cause of my grim expression?

"Could it be that all those dragged away before were..."

Raven couldn't finish the sentence, afraid his words would summon misfortune.

It was time for me to steel my mind and confirm.

"Raven, how many were dragged away?"

"I don't know exactly, but definitely more than ten."

"Who were they...?"

Frowning, Raven strained his memory and named them one by one.

Then suddenly he stopped speaking.

Thump—!

My heart jolted strongly.

My subconscious, hardened by countless misfortunes, already guessed why Raven stopped talking.

"Tell me. Who were they?"

Raven's small lips parted, and the bad premonition was realized.

"Emily Raines..."

Damn it.

My heart raced.

Thump—!

Though the heart should evenly supply blood, it felt like all the blood gathered in my head.

"She was right before me..."

In other words, it was already too late.

Still, I forced myself calm and confirmed what I could.

"Where are the remaining people...?"

"I don't know well. I don't remember everything... It was a large rectangular space, though..."

The priority was rescuing the remaining members, but sadly Raven didn't know the way.

'So I have to search the whole building...'

The problem was the rails.

If the rails kept working, victims would keep appearing as I searched.

So...

Kraaaaash—!

I struck the rails with ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) my hammer.

Screech, screech—

The rails broke with sounds and stopped operating.

At the same time—

Beeeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!

An alarm blared as drones headed this way.

I thought maybe the drones would finally recognize me as an enemy and attack.

But oddly, they just passed by and stationed themselves in front of the broken rails.

"They seem to be trying to repair it?"

"..."

"What will you do?"

"For now, I'll leave it be."

I had a feeling destroying the drones would be a waste of time.

They'd probably come again to fix it.

'Better to find out exactly how long repairs take.'

"Raven, follow me for a bit."

"Uh, where to?"

"I need to find out what this place is."

I led Raven along the stopped rails.

Soon we found other rails working normally, carrying boxes full of magic stones somewhere.

"But... wouldn't it have been better to wait here? Wouldn't others have come?"

"...That's one way."

"Ah... you didn't think of that."

No matter how calm I tried to be, it wasn't easy.

Everyone has a breaking point.

"Anyway, look around carefully. There might be a way to rescue those who went ahead."

"Yes..."

Following the rails that carried the boxes, we came to a place with three unknown machines.

Hooks, like those in claw machines, hung from the ceiling, picking up magic stones and putting them into the machines.

Thud, roll.

A magic stone rolled into the machine's inlet.

Something on the ceiling glowed, and when the light faded, something had formed beyond a transparent glass plate at the center.

"......"

It was a monster.

It had features of goblins, orcs, and ghouls combined.

A grotesque monster I'd never seen in the labyrinth.

"What... what is that...?"

"If we follow it, maybe we'll find out."

The monster, created by the machine, boarded the rails that started moving again, and we cautiously followed.

Then I fully understood the factory's structure.

Flash—!

The monster rode the rails back into the machine and was turned back into magic stones.

Strangely, there were three stones, not one.

Flash—!

The three stones passed through the machines once more, and were reborn as goblin, orc, and ghoul...

'What kind of stupid nonsense is this?'

After all the procedures, the monsters came under drone control and were taken upstairs, locked in a prison.

"Could it be that... this repeats endlessly?"

"...Seems so."

More confusing than when I knew nothing about this place.

What is this place?

Why do they keep repeating this pointless cycle?

Still, I felt some relief.

"If that's the case... maybe everyone's still alive?"

"...Let's hope."

"Anyway, repairs seem almost done."

When we went back down, the badly damaged rails had been partially restored.

So I thought about breaking them again...

"How about listening to me? We don't even know where the others are trapped."

Following Raven's advice, I held off breaking the rails.

"I'll stay here and try to rescue people. You go search around. Isn't that more reasonable?"

It was indeed safer thinking ahead.

Even if I couldn't find the trapped spots, more comrades could be saved.

Though I still felt uneasy.

"It looks okay now, but something dangerous could happen while I'm gone."

"That's true, but..."

"I'll stay with you. After waking about ten more, it'll be fine even if I'm not here."

"Oh... that might be better."

After agreeing on that, we sat by the rails, waiting for comrades.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

Waiting without a clear end, we kept exchanging thoughts.

"You lost consciousness the moment you grabbed that stone, right?"

"Yes. But when I woke, the stone was gone and ten days had passed."

"No physical problems?"

"Not yet."

Raven's face grew serious hearing what happened to me, but he couldn't offer much advice.

"Do you know what that stone was?"

"No. I don't know. But..."

"But?"

Raven hesitated, then asked.

"Do you know what a homunculus is?"

"Of course. An eighth-tier monster, right?"

Mainly found in the Witch's Forest on floor three, but can appear anywhere unexpectedly.

I caught many of them.

But Raven shook his head at my answer.

"I meant the alchemical homunculus."

"I don't know that."

"In alchemy, a homunculus is an artificial life form—or more precisely, an artificially created 'human.'"

"True... the homunculus in the Witch's Forest was humanoid."

"In form, yes. But as it walked, its skin dripped, genetically closer to slime than humans."

"So what's your point?"

"Just... I started doubting the magic stones themselves. We saw monsters turn into magic stones, then stones become monsters again."

"But what about it?"

"I wondered if the legendary 'Philosopher's Stone' really exists, maybe magic stones share very similar properties..."

It sounded like a wizard's fantasy.

Or maybe not just fantasy?

'Magic stones...'

Just as I felt that ticklish sensation, a flutter like a feather inside my head...

"Uh...?"

Raven's eyes widened, staring in one direction.

I quickly looked that way.

A comrade was entering on the rails.

A loyal knight who joined the Islock expedition.

"Sir Meland Kaislan!"

Seeing him, I quickly approached and got off the rails.

And was about to slap his cheek...

"Wait!"

Raven stopped me and pulled out something from the pocket dimension.

That thing was called...

"Crown of Anguish?"

"Yes. I thought it might help him regain consciousness."

Hmm, that might work...

"But isn't there already a proven method?"

"Yes, but I still taste blood in my mouth."

"Ah..."

No wonder his cheeks were swollen compared to usual.

I nodded, signaling to proceed.

Raven carefully placed the crown on him.

After a while...

"Ugh..."

Kaislan regained consciousness.