[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian":3,"chapter-surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-680":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Surviving the Game as a Barbarian",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1328057,1764,"Chapter 680: Dream (7)","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-680",680,"\u003Cp>A space shrouded entirely in darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Flash—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like dawn breaking over the horizon, light began to spread rapidly, coloring the whole world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whooooosh—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wind blew fiercely, as if it might suck you in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Brrrrring—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A ringing in my head accompanied by a headache, and new knowledge began to imprint itself on my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, is it really new knowledge?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Phew, I’m alive at last.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the psychiatrist in the dream told me to speak Rafdonia’s language, I was so ashamed I couldn’t say a word, only moving my lips.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, now that I’m back, it doesn’t matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I lowered my head and looked at my hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlike the small hands of Hansoo, these were rough, coarse, and thick-veined—barbarian hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clench.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I clenched and unclenched my fists several times to check my body condition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tap, tap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Familiar footsteps echoed in the distance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned toward the sound and, as expected—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tap, tap—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl I briefly saw when pulled into the dream world appeared like a ghost and approached me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alice Groundia.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I murmured her name, the earth witch stopped and looked at me intently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I clearly told you not to come back.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why on earth have you returned?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was an oddly sad emotion in her voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smirked and answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because this is where I belong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But perhaps that answer was not enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing my response, the girl looked up at me with a resentful expression and continued as if arguing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This was the world where your dream was realized.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But it was fake.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know it’s not fake, don’t you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, well...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, the more time I spent there, the more I sensed it wasn’t just a simple dream world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But, as I said before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t care. That’s not where I belong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once again I firmly stated my will, and the girl stayed silent for a while.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whooooosh—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The endless wind blowing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And as time passed, the world became more than half washed in white light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crackling—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the sound of something breaking, a boundary between darkness and light formed between the witch and me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think I made my intentions clear. Aren’t you going to send me back now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Breaking the short but long silence, I asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The earth witch clenched her fists like a child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You will suffer more pain and sadness there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, so that’s how it would be?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still want to go back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A childish question fitting the girl’s image, but I listened seriously and answered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. I’ll go back anyway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had no objections to the fact that it’s a dog’s world where I always have to watch my back and worry about my survival and my companions’.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ll lose something precious again. The pain you’ve felt so far won’t even compare—you will despair deeply.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just hearing that made it hard to breathe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So what?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isn’t that what life is?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s tough and painful, and you always want to run away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I, Hansoo, always ran away in reality, so I lived ignorant all my life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Running away is not the answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The life of a warrior taught me that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No matter how much it hurts, I will go forward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No matter what shitty things happen, I will struggle desperately to survive till the very end.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because I’m a barbarian.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I finished speaking, the girl stepped over the boundary into the darkness and took one step back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whooooosh—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The darkness shrank by the same amount I advanced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, this is kind of fun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took a bigger step forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl did not back away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She just stood still and spoke to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You have...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Chosen to live as Bjorn Yandel.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The witch watching me wore a strange, hollow smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In the end, you were no different from us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...Huh?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Us? What do you mean?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I stopped walking, confused, and asked, but she gave no answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You pretend not to run away, but you are running away all the same.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, so what does that mean—?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as I said that, taking a bigger step forward—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, we were right after all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl turned her back and walked into the darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tap, tap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The footsteps grew faint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And with them, the darkness faded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, wait!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to follow, but for °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° some reason, no matter how slow she walked, the distance between us did not close.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tap—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The faint footsteps disappeared completely as the whole world was covered in light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Baron... Yandel...!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man’s voice thundered through the space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The voice was distorted and cut out intermittently like noise, but suddenly became clear and distinct.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah! Baron Yandel!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hah...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ending was a little awkward, but—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey! Get up already, pleeease!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m awake, stop shaking me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Huh?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, I returned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To where I should be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was a little worried, actually.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where would I go if I cleared [Dungeon and Stone] again?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Would I inhabit a completely different barbarian body and start the coming-of-age ritual from scratch?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or would I wake up decades ago, or decades later?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What if my comrades and I had disappeared into history?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And only a few who survived into the future greeted me as old men?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, the answer turned out to be delusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop shaking me, I’m awake.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the deck of a ship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was soaking wet, sprawled out, and Ibaekho was grabbing my shoulder, shaking me hard...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Huh? Tongue... No, Baron? Oh! You’re awake! Are you okay?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ibaekho took a step back as if startled when I opened my eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I quickly and briefly confirmed the most important things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s the situation? Is it an emergency?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, no. The danger is over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, that’s a relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last thing I remembered was being chased by Dryzen and falling underwater, so I thought it was an urgent wake-up situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How long was I asleep?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not long.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly how long?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh... about 30 minutes?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thirty minutes...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I felt relieved but somehow empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d spent at least half a year there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about the others?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The mages are exhausted and meditating, and the rest, as you see, are fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Okay, so nothing unusual happened while I was asleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I took it easy and listened to the story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Tell me exactly what happened after I fell off the ship. Don’t leave anything out.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe thinking info sharing was important, Ibaekho started immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The moment I saw you fall, I jumped in.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He jumped into the water to save me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the way, awakened monsters beat him up badly, and he almost died...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I filtered out his unnecessary detailed heroics.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Using wit and improvisation, Ibaekho finally managed to rescue me from sinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luckily, the barbarian’s heavy skeleton and armor saved me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Otherwise, I’d have been swept away by the current and fallen over the waterfall, never to be saved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After that, we barely got back on the ship and escaped quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That easily...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t quite believe it from the story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the mages burned all their magic to activate the defensive runes on the ship, it was surprising they held out against first-class ‘special boss’ Dryzen until saving me...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then ‘just escaped well’ was all there was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To be honest, I don’t understand either. That’s really all it was. We just ran like hell and they left us alone? They barely touched us when holding out on the ship.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Ibaekho, there were many questions about Dryzen’s behavior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because that monster is normally not so docile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since he said so, I let it pass for now...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then why did you wake me up in such a hurry? There didn’t seem to be any particular danger.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ibaekho’s expression changed oddly when I asked next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t know? You’re asking? Ah, never mind.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What the hell are you trying to do?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I gave him a ‘are you kidding me?’ look, and Ibaekho cleared his throat repeatedly and answered as if nothing had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ahem! Of course I was urgent! Your heart stopped back then!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I really thought you died! I was so shocked!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only then did I notice Ibaekho’s appearance was terrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He really looked like he almost died in the water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soaked, with broken gear and unhealed wounds all over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Did he scream like that because my heart stopped?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I suddenly felt embarrassed for seriously considering shoving Ibaekho under the ship in the chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Still, he saved me for a reason. It wasn’t because he truly cared about me.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking about it, he only saved me with all his might for his own benefit and purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So don’t be too grateful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeah, that’s the cold logic fitting Rafdonia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ibaekho, I have a question.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, never mind. It’s nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? You want to see me go crazy?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Startled by the sudden ‘brother’ title, I noticed the others didn’t seem to care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, Ibaekho is the kind to say anything to anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? What? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I said it’s nothing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah!! That makes me go crazier!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Ibaekho get several times louder than usual, I considered telling him just to calm him down, but decided against it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Why didn’t you just leave me to die?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the real question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was the one who once planned to kill me and revive me with the Resurrection Stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, after I die, he could use the Resurrection Stone I carry to resurrect me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he could manipulate me at will while my memories were erased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘He probably didn’t know.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking about it, Ibaekho couldn’t be sure if I still had the Resurrection Stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Misha might have it, or I might have entrusted it to someone trustworthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’s smart, so he probably judged the highest chance was that I had it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘My pocket dimension can’t be opened before I die. It was a gamble for him.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I stopped asking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because if I mentioned it, he would learn I had the Resurrection Stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That could become a variable later...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I really feel like I’m back.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smiled at the thought, and Ibaekho looked like he remembered something and asked me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, right! Since I’m done asking what I wanted to ask, can I ask one more thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go ahead.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“While you were unconscious, you smiled occasionally...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What kind of dream did you have?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ibaekho’s question made me hesitate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What kind of dream did I have...?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I honestly told him what I experienced, he’d think I was crazy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like people in that world thought so.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether the earth witch or parallel world or whatever, they’d think it was a hallucination from sleeping due to field effects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘That’s funny when I think about it.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what’s funnier is that I don’t really know either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether what I experienced was a real dream or if I actually visited a real alternate world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether the witch I met was real or an illusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m still a bit confused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, since waking, my memories from there are fading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like only some memorable scenes remain when you wake from a dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why won’t you say? Did you have a sexy dream or something? Were you trapped in an orgy hallucination... or something like that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It wasn’t like that, so don’t talk nonsense.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then what was it? You can tell me at least this much, right? Between us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What are we between each other?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wanted to retort but figured it’d just drag on, so I summarized shortly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something you might experience once in a lifetime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It was just a stupid dream.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So no reason to feel sorry.\u003C\u002Fp>",1961,"2026-06-05T19:33:18.642Z",1,"novelbin.me","b06bfae7aebce601e19b27aa4b50c284e0b40f7a77c169b4adc398958f4ec067","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-681","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-679",807,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-cover.jpg"]