Surviving the Game as a Barbarian

Chapter 810: Hidden Story (2)

Arta’ssecretbase.AndthemechanicalbeastArta,appearingthereasthefinalboss.

'hiscan’tbeacoincidence.'

Myinstincts,sharpenedbynearlytenyearsofplayingDungeon&Stone,toldmeasmuch.here’snowaythetwojusthappentoshareaname.

'Coulditbethatusing“FinalDay”onthisislandiswhatletsyoumeetthisthing?'

don’tknowyet.Whichmeanshavetofigureitout.

"Raven,usethebarrierspell."

"Suddenly?You’vebeentellingmenottobecauseofthemanadrain."

"histime,thinkit’sworthit—evenifitcostsus.needtotalk."

"otit."

Uponreceivingtheorder,Raveninstantlydeployedadome-shapedbarrieraroundus.ikeakindofumbrella?

Kwaaaaaang—!

Flash—!

Krrrumble—!

Atranslucentcurtainblockedthemeteorsandlightningcrashingdownfromthesky.kay,wehadthepeaceandquietweneeded—.

[h,interesting.Alanguagesystemthat’ssimilartothecommontongue,yetdifferent...Still,ifsomeoneherespeaksthecommontongue,thatmeansithasn’tbeenentirelylost?Well,itdoesn’treallymattereitherway.]

hat’swhenthemanwatchingusmutteredsomething.

"Activateneuralsync."

hat’swhenhiswordsstartedtosounddifferent.

"owthen,canyouunderstandme?"

"......!"

"uh?Canyoureallyunderstandhim,Marone...?"

"Yes?Yeah...don’tknowhow,butcanunderstandwhathe’ssaying.knowit’sadifferentlanguage,butsomehow,itjust...makessense."

nresponsetoMarone,themanaskedcautiously,"Um...isthisyourfirsttimeexperiencingneuralsync?"

"Uh,yes.’veneverheardofanythinglikethis."

"Phew...kindoffiguredasmuchfromyouroutfits,butitseemsalotoftechhasbeenlost.Don’tbealarmed.Allthat’shappeningisthat’msyncingthewavecircuitemittedbyyourbrainpatternstoletus'understand'eachother.t’snormaltofeeldisorientedatfirst."

heman,whointroducedhimselfasArta,saidthatmuchbeforeshiftinghisgazebeyondRaven’sbarrier.

Andthen—

"Yes...thisreallyistheFinalDay...sn’titexactlyhowyouimaginedit?!"

estaredwide-eyedatthestormofmeteorsandlightningoutside,hiseyesgleamingwithexcitement.Fromthewayhesuddenlypoppedoutofamysteriousportaltotheweirdthingshekeptsaying,everythingabouthimscreamedsuspicious,butoddlyenough,hedidn’tfeelthreatening.

Maybeitwasbecause—

"ehheh...Withresearchresultslikethese,don’tneedtoworryaboutnextyear’sbudget...!"

hewayhelooked,thewayhetalked,eventhewayhedressed...hiswholepresencewasmoregloomythanmenacing.

"ey,yousaidyournamewasArta,right?"

"Ah?Yes.Sorry,gotalittledistracted.Butmayask—whoareyouall?Andifit’snottoomuchtrouble,couldyouperhapsexplainwhat’sgoingon—"

"We’llbeaskingthequestions."

"Ah...!Yes!fcourse,ofcourse.Youmustbecuriousyourselves.’llansweranythingcan.Butifmay,couldmakeonerequestaswell?h,nothingmajor,sopleasedon’tbealarmed!"

"...Speak."

"fanswereverythingyouask,wouldyouletmeaskaquestiontoo?’mhonestlydyingtoknowwhat’sgoingonhere,haha..."

"Fine.promise."

"hengoahead.Askaway."

"Whoareyou?"

"Asmentionedearlier,mynameisArta.Currently—orperhapsshouldsayformerly—wasthechiefresearcherattheFirstMagi-echResearchnstituteofthempire.aha,nottobrag,butonlythevicedirectoranddirectoroutrankedme."

"Researchinstitute...?"

hemomenthesaidthat,somethingclickedinmyheadandfrowned.hemancaughttheshiftinmyexpression.

"h?Areyoufamiliarwithourinstitution?"

otexactly.justhadahunch.

"Wasittheonethatusedmonstersastestsubjectstomakelivingweapons?"

"uh?o,that’snotus.urinstituteisattheveryfrontierofmagi-techadvancement.urresearchmaybeusedtodevelopweapons,butwe’renotaweaponslab."

mph...ifyousayso.heoneweexploredonBasementevel1hadtheofficialnameofthePanthelionnstitute,notthismagi-techwhatever.

"Anyway,what’sabigshotlikeyoudoinghere?"

"Whatelsewouldaresearcherbedoing?Research,ofcourse."

"Cutthejokes.Wedon’thavetimeforthat."

"Ah...true.supposefromyourperspective,timewouldbeapressingconcern.Allowmetoexplainsimply,inawaylaypeoplecanunderstand...heresearchwewereconductinginvolvedobservingthespacetimecontinuumofthefuture."

"bservingspacetime...?"

"Yes.bservingthefuturetochangethepresent—that’sthecoreofourresearch."

"...otthepast?"

"aha!Youmustbereferringtotimetravel.Changingthepresentthroughthepastwasdeemedimpossiblelongago.hat’swhywefocusedonthefuture."

Sotheideaisthattheirresearchsucceededandthisguywasflungintothefuture?

'Man,thisfantasysettingreallythrowseverythingin,doesn’tit...'

t’sabsurd,butwhatever—atleastgotthegist.

"Bytheway,couldaskaquickquestion?’vebeendyingofcuriositysinceearlier."

"......"

"Whatyearisitrightnow?"

Ah.Sowe’rethefutureinthissetup.

***

RPstandsfor“RolePlayingame.”

iterally,agamewhereyouactoutarole.Broadlyspeaking,whatwasdoingnowwasn’tthatdifferent.Youfollowthestoryinlinewiththeconcept,theepisodeprogresses,andeventually,itends—withasweetrewardwaitingatthefinishline.hat’swhy...

'Rightnow’sthepartwhereyougatherthecluestomovethestoryforward.'

hat’swhatfigured.Sokepttalkingtohimforalongwhile,pullinginformationfromhim.Afterall,thiswasn’tagamewhereyoucouldjustmashthespacebarthroughdialogueandhaveeverythingautomaticallyshowupinthequestlog.

"heraofCataclysm...?ncredible...!You’resayingeventhecalendarsystemchanged?"

"heworldwasalreadydestroyedoncebyawitch,andnowonlyasinglecity-stateruledbytheafdoniaroyalfamilyremains...?rulyastonishing...!"

"h,youthinkalreadyknewthestateofthisplace?aha...hat’spartlytrue.Yousee,thecoordinatessetformyjumpwereaimedattheverylastpointintime—literally,theFinalDay!"

"Whywoulddothat,youask?sn’titobvious?wantedtoknowhowtheworldwouldend!"

"uh?Scared?otatall.fmyheartstopsor’mindanger,canreturntomyoriginaltimewheneverwant.Backhome,we’vegotthebestmagi-techengineersstandingby—theycanbringanyoneback,aslongasthey’renotdead."

"Whymagi-techengineersinsteadofpriests?Wait...areyousayingmagi-techknowledgehasbeenlostinthisworld?"

"Andthen...whatexactlyhappenedtotheworld?fwhatyou’resayingistrue,didn’tthewitchwhotriedtodestroyitalreadydie?"

hroughourconversation,Artalearnedaboutoursideofthings,andwe,inturn,learnedabouthis.Andifhadtosummarize...

"Sotheapocalypsereallydidhappen...havetolearnwhatcausedit—andhowtostopit.ravelersfromthefuture!Willyouhelpme?fyoulendmeyourstrength,’llreturntothepastandfindawaytopreventthistragedy!"

hat’smoreorlessthegistofthequest.Andofcourse,whatreallymattershereis—

"............Areward?Youwanttoknowwhatcanoffer?You...youdon’twanttostoptheendoftheworld?"

"’mafraidhavenothingtogiveyou..."

mm.Sotherewardmustcomesomeotherway.Maybehe’sthekeytoaccessingatreasureroomwecan’tenterwithouthim.Somethinglikethat.

"wasjoking.ftheworldends,whatgoodisareward?fthere’sevenachancetostopit,’lldowhatevercan."

"knewyouwerekidding!"

Sothatwrapsuptherewardtalk,framedasajoke.

"et’stalkwhilewemove."

"Yes,thatwouldbebest.don’thavemuchtimeleft,anyway."

"otmuchtime?"

"h,didn’tmentionthatyet.canonlystayinthistimeperiodforalimitedduration.Sohavetogatherasmuchinformationaspossiblebeforereturn."

"Andifyoudon’tmakeitbackintime?"

"Well,don’tthinkthat’llhappen...butifitdoes,thenguess’llmeettheFinalDayrightherewiththerestofyou."

"see."

letitslidelikeitwasjustidlecuriosity.couldn’texactlytellhimthetruth,could?hatifnothingusefulorrewardinghappenswhilehe’swithus,’mplanningtomakesurehecan’tgoback.

'Maybetherealquestonlystartsifheendsupstuckhere.'

twasthekindofhiddenelement’dneverencounteredinthegamebefore—meaninghadtoexhausteverypossibility.

"Raven!Dropthespell!"

Afterthat,Ravenreleasedthebarrierspell,andweresumedourfull-scalesweepoftheisland.Atthesametime—

"Um,Mr.Arta,wasit?"

Raven,whohadn’tbeenabletojointheconversationearlierbecauseshe’dbeenfocusingonthespell,startedtalkingtoArtaherself.

"Mr.Arta?"

"......."

"Doyou...notwanttotalktome?"

"Ah,no,it’snotthat...’mjustabitshyaroundnewpeople..."

"Youdidn’tseemthatwaywithMr.Yandel."

"......."

keptmyearsopenincasesomethingusefulcameoutoftheirexchange,butsofarall’dlearnedwasthatArtawashopelesswithwomen.Andthen—

"’mactuallyinterestedinmagi-techmyself.Wouldyoumindtalkingaboutitwithme?"

"h!You’rethisbeautiful,andyou’reinterestedinmagi-tech?!sthattrue?!"

"...uh?Uh,yes,am..."

"aha!Askmeanything.’lltellyoueverythingyouwanttoknow...!"

Apparently,Artaisweaktobeautifulwomenwholikemagi-tech.

'...kay,fromnowon,ifneedtosqueezeinfooutofhim,’lljusthaveRavenhandleit.'

listenedforabitlonger,butitturnedintostraight-upalien-soundingmagi-techbabble,soskippedit.Still,itwasagoodthingforRaventoexpandherknowledge,sodidn’tinterrupt—justfocusedonclearingtheisland.

Andthen—

「ver50%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」

「heancientbeast’spowerisweakening.」

「ver60%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」

「heancientbeast’spowerisweakening.」

「ver70%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated...」

Bythetimewe’dclearedabout70%oftheisland—

"Ahem...S-sorry,butreallyneedtofocusongatheringmoredatafromthistimeperiod."

"h..."

"D-don’tworry!’lldefinitelyfindawaytosaveyou,MissRaven...!!"

ookedlikeArtahadfinallysnappedoutofitandwasreturningtohismainobjective.

"Mr.Yandel,wasit?Youmentionedthatthesourceoftheapocalypseisabeast...sowhyhaven’tyougonetoitdirectly?"

Seriously?e’saskingthatnow?owweakisthisguytowomen,exactly?Unbelievable.

Still,gavehimananswer.

"Becausekillingthemonstersontheislandweakensthebeast."

"Ah...see."

"Findanythinginterestingwhilewelookedaround?"

"Um...notreallyyet."

Yeah,nokidding.e’dbeentoobusychattingwithRaven.

"h!Butthereisonething!"

"Whatisit?"

"Atthecenteroftheisland,wherethebeastthatcausedtheapocalypseissaidtoreside—there’sastrange,powerfulmanasignalcomingfromthatplace."

Amanasignal,huh... Coulditbesomehiddenareamissedinthegame?rjusttheboss’slocation?Well,eitherway—we’llfindoutsoonenough.

「ver90%ofmonstersintheareahavebeendefeated.」

「heancientbeast’spowerhasbeennullified.」

ookslikeit’stimeforthebossfight.