[{"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-724":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},1327951,1764,"Chapter 724: Limited Time (3)","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-724",724,"\u003Cp>What kind of scheme did the King of Apocalypse have to make killing the prime minister a condition?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Is it impossible to kill the prime minister with royal power alone?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, that couldn’t be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having played the rebellion route thousands of times in-game, I knew better than anyone how powerful the royal family’s might truly was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Then is it just that they want to subcontract it to me and save their own strength?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, better than the previous guess but still not very realistic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m not a reliable troubleshooter who has worked with the royal family multiple times, and from their perspective, there’s no reason to take such a troublesome step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘They even kept me tied down for a whole week while scheming this...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t make sense to do it just for fun. After all, the King of Apocalypse is someone who values ‘time’ more than anyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it’s better to sum it up this way:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are two reasons why the King of Apocalypse gave this order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Either there’s some circumstance preventing him from directly harming the prime minister.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I gain some “benefit” only if I kill the prime minister myself.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this is just my speculation, and I still have no clue about that ‘circumstance’ or ‘benefit’—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Suddenly you look deep in thought?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the King of Apocalypse spoke as if urging me to answer, and I snapped back to focus and spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was only one possible answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sure, I will. That bastard never sat right with me anyway.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, because of that incident...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, if that incident—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let me say beforehand, I had no involvement in that. The prime minister acted on his own.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded like he meant the Ice Rock expedition, and the royal family seemed to roughly know what we were thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then channel your grudge properly where it belongs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, the King of Apocalypse said so, but it didn’t ease my resentment toward the royal family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if the prime minister acted alone, wasn’t it the royal family who granted him such power?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I consider passive consent and neglect to be contribution too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...Still, if what he says is true, it does ease my mind a little.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though contributions differ in degree, some leniency might be warranted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not hatred strong enough to risk my life for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe it’s because hating the royal family doesn’t help me survive this world that I think like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, then let’s end the talk here—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as I was about to end the conversation and turn toward the life-support device, I urgently called out to the King of Apocalypse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was one last thing I wanted to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though I wasn’t sure he’d answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Down there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What is it that’s trapped down there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The King of Apocalypse looked at me silently for a moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...You’re suddenly being brief again now that business is over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uh...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t mean to, but shamelessly I fixed a gaze that begged for an answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a brief silence, the reply came.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really an answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How did you know something was trapped there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A question returned with a question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I thought for a moment and answered honestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard a plea to be freed from there. It was a young girl, maybe about ten years old.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, I reasonably deduced\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>that the ten-year-old girl might be the ‘Witch of the Land.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Is that so.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the answer?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The King of Apocalypse took a moment, looking deep in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it such a difficult question?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seems like it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even after all that, he didn’t give a direct answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Bjorn Yandel. You know nothing. How this world survives. And how much sacrifice we make for such a world.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The talk ends here. The rest we will discuss anew after this matter is settled.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hah, that’s all?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wanted to say something again out of emptiness, but I couldn’t bring myself to.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because I was about to take just one step forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...You said the talk ends here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The knight drew his sword and blocked my path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the King of Apocalypse said nothing about the knight’s actions, the conversation really seemed over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I just stared ahead like a dog chasing a chicken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The King of Apocalypse shamelessly stripped off his clothes right in front of me and stepped into the device completely naked as if accustomed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whirrr—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the machine started running, mysterious fluid bubbling around the King of Apocalypse, who slowly closed his eyes, ending the entire scene.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘He really looks like he’s sleeping...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The short yet interminable audience was over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Follow me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After watching the King of Apocalypse enter the device and fall asleep, I followed the overbearing knight back upstairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And in the surprisingly empty audience chamber, I heard unexpected words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The King of Apocalypse said beforehand: whatever you ask for from now on, do your best to grant and cooperate.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, so that’s it...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So it wasn’t like I was meant to take down the prime minister alone on a barren field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you want?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The knight’s demand had a predetermined answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to finish watching the video I was watching earlier.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Prepare yourself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, I resumed watching the video I had stopped earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, to save time...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can you watch it while fast-forwarding?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I can adjust the speed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The video started playing at eight times speed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it ended much sooner than I expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The video itself was short to begin with...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is there a part two...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So this is the end...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mad movie of the Anavada clan leading explorers left at the front ended after the scene of my comrades breaking through to the barbarian sanctuary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason was simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our enemy knows the royal family better than anyone.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What does that have to do with anything?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They prepared ways to avoid our ‘eyes,’ so they pulled this ridiculous stunt.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Later explanations said the video was filmed using some strategic weapon owned by the royal family, and at that time, the prime minister apparently used some trick to neutralize it...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The King of Apocalypse said even watching up to here would make you kneel.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, by the way, that prediction was spectacularly wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knelt without even watching that far.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘So, what now...?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wondered briefly, then asked the knight’s name, causing him to flinch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t think we need to introduce ourselves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, what?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I just asked because calling him ‘that knight’ felt too casual.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Heh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I can’t just let that slide as a barbarian warrior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey! Do you intend to disobey orders?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a martial arts master shouting “Gal!”, I shouted, and the knight’s eyes changed to look at me like I was crazy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A familiar gaze I no longer cared about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this time, I felt a little unfair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t you say the merciful and wise Majesty ordered you to do your best to grant and cooperate with whatever I demand?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After explaining kindly, the knight’s faint chuckle turned to a confused look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Wait, he did say that. So if I don’t comply, am I disobeying orders?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A malfunction caused by excessive loyalty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, the knight sighed and revealed his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Astarotta Berun.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, a surprisingly ordinary name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He seemed reluctant to introduce himself; maybe it was famous enough for me to know?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Then why that reaction earlier?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe he just didn’t want to introduce himself to some barbarian like me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Astarotta... sounds nice and pretty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tossed out the bait as a compliment just in case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was jackpot, as he immediately responded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My name is by no means girlish.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I never said it was girlish.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“......”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Astarotta fell silent, seemingly realizing too late he had admitted it himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Anyway, since fate brought us together, I look forward to working with you, Elizabeth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not Elizabeth, I’m Astarotta.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, sorry, my mistake.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He realized I was teasing him and stopped responding, silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, it meant nothing serious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Barbarians have the advantage of taking control even through such trivial weaknesses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Enough. So what now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He blatantly changed the subject, and I didn’t press further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, I’m no psychopath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I only torment someone for a reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeah, so...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not sure, but there’s something you have to do.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Say it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bring Raven here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Knowing his personality, his guts must be all the way down by now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ricardo Rühenpraga.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leader of the group called Orkulis, commonly dubbed ‘The Traitor.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The marquis had only heard about him through intelligence reports and stories, but recently saw him with his own eyes, a strange feeling indeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...The Traitor.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surely that terrifying nickname would disappear after this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether success or failure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because that title wouldn’t belong to him anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...No, wait.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If success, then he wouldn’t be called that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one would dare challenge national authority—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...I guess I’ve been thinking too much.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The marquis focused on the man standing before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was this the start of a grand plan, or was the man suddenly seeking him out?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard you requested a private meeting. Speak freely if you have something to say.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The marquis opened the conversation, and the man slowly spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Short and concise, like his usual taciturn personality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bjorn Yandel was spotted on the frontlines.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...I see. Thanks for the report. I’ll handle the rest.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The straightforward report left the marquis silent for a moment before nodding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man turned and left the room as if he had nothing more to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tap, tap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The marquis’s expression remained unchanged, but his twitching fingers betrayed his anxiety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Bjorn Yandel...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hoped he didn’t die when the prison collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But of course, that wasn’t the case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So that bastard again...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not surprising.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first just a nuisance, but maybe even then I suspected it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That someday this day might come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That this bastard might be the greatest obstacle to achieving my grand ambition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The marquis’s heart began beating wildly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But nothing changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moment he hoped wouldn’t come finally did.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Everything follows the natural order.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, he could only leave it to fate.\u003C\u002Fp>",1691,"2026-06-05T19:33:18.959Z",1,"novelbin.me","621036239c8ea9da5548ee16e34c34f9d1b58da5cac62ad0497b243d801222cb","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-725","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-723",807,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-cover.jpg"]