[{"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-731":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},1327958,1764,"Chapter 731: Traitor (5)","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-731",731,"\u003Cp>Ricardo Rühenpraha.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My conversation with that bastard unfortunately ended quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t expect to die gracefully.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After throwing that taunt one more time, he remained completely silent no matter what I said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wondered if maybe he had activated a “radio silence” move, but after thinking it over, that didn’t seem ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) right either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘It’s more likely he smashed the radio out of frustration.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeah, no matter how many times I thought about it, that was the more reasonable explanation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That trembling voice back then was real—something smoke or illusions couldn’t produce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, and there’s some evidence for this guess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of guy is he anyway?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, he was called a “sword master,” and now he’s the leader of the ultra-famous terrorist group called Orkulis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he’s that strong...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Guys like this always have the same kind of brain structure.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the exact opposite of soft outside but strong inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to statistics, big shots like this are resistant to this kind of nonsense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because they probably never meet crazy punks like me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, except for Ibaekho.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He may be a strong man of this era, but he’s Korean-born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I wonder if by now he’s trembling and rushing over?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, that’s just wishful thinking—I can’t be sure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, that doesn’t mean what I just did was meaningless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least I managed to get him to talk to me first, didn’t I?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just that alone helped Amelia breathe a little easier—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Crackle—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, static noise came from the radio, followed by a familiar voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prime Minister...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since it was said in code, I couldn’t understand. I signaled Vivian to translate quickly, and she started immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...It’s the Prime Minister. He’s telling each commander to leave the existing channels.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm, so this ends our radio eavesdropping?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn’t really disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the expected outcome from when I started drawing attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But what followed next over the radio was a bit puzzling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Brett Chie, Saela Sa.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Tiri Bi, Saela Sa.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Tiri Ei, Saela Sa.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are they all saying now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s just a simple procedure. They say the district names and then announce the communication is over...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Should we leave too...? It doesn’t seem like anything useful will come up... The number of people connected is dropping quickly too...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, stay put for now. Just in case.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vivian gave me a ‘just in case?’ look but obeyed without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How much time passed, I don’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s quiet now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, only two people remain connected.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So excluding us, there’s only one person left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Give it here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I took the radio back from Vivian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? What are you doing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I think he’s about to talk.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...You know who it is?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even without damage to the crystal ball, their comm system automatically disconnects when someone with authority dies to maintain security.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now, there’s one left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What does that mean?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘It’s obvious who.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after it dropped to two, a voice came through the radio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Tsk.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It started with a tongue click that made you think about a lot of things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Long time no see, Prime Minister. Or should I say the leader of the rebels now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I greeted first before he introduced himself, but surprisingly, he replied just as naturally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You’ve been quiet for a while, but causing this kind of trouble as soon as you show up is so like you.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded like we were old friends chatting casually just days ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Ah, maybe that’s not wrong.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before I was imprisoned, I had talked to the Prime Minister quite a bit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, back then he was the Prime Minister of Rafdonia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Since it’s an accident, you probably don’t have much to say.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Yeah, that’s true. Especially this time.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although we’re enemies, I couldn’t help but chuckle for some reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this wasn’t the time for trivial talk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You always look for the answer first.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t like wasting time.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You can’t get close to the answer that way. The answer is like a treasure hidden deep in the labyrinth, found only after wandering lost for a very long time.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, maybe it’s because he’s older than me?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It sounded meaningful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you saying? You’re a guy who’s never been in a labyrinth in your life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only experienced explorers can say that coolly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like Nara, for example.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Let me get straight to the point.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you trying to negotiate?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He neither confirmed nor denied my question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, like an impatient businessman, he immediately laid out conditions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I guarantee the unconditional safety of your comrades.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can I trust a guy who raised a knife to kill us?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[In fact, I ordered the entire army to prioritize capturing Bjorn Yandel’s comrades alive.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I gave Vivian a look asking if that was true, and she nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[For some reason, you always got caught. So I figured capturing your comrades alive might come in handy someday.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hmm...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s a bad sign the enemy overestimates me...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But at least now I know one thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>None of my comrades have been captured by the rebels yet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they had been, it would be threats, not negotiations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[So, what’s your answer?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis’s question came as Astarotta’s eyes glanced at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It didn’t seem like she wanted to interfere—just observing what I’d choose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Sigh...’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My answer was already decided.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Refuse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Why?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like before, the Marquis asked for the answer right away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I wasn’t going to waste time with small talk like him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d held it in for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until I could say this to his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I swore it in Ice Rock.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[...]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That I’d cut off the neck of the bastard who planned this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I may look like this, but I’m actually a bit petty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So far, I’ve never erased a name from my death list.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Yeah... I see.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a brief silence, the Marquis spoke in a somewhat bitter voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We ended up buttoning the first button wrong from the start.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not an excuse or self-justification, just resignation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I even sensed a little regret and some frustration in his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this was going to end in regret...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clench.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wished it hadn’t come to this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You know it was you who buttoned the first button.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I couldn’t help but speak a bit aggressively, but the Marquis didn’t react much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No, he even chuckled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Heh, nothing new. The more I try to untangle my life, the more tangled the thread becomes.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is he reflecting on his life now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, if you’re fighting the royal family, I guess that’s natural.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, more talk would just be idle chatter, so I asked one last thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What happened to Ragna Pepprok?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe the most personal question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Surprisingly, he answered honestly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[That kid’s still asleep, knowing nothing. In the safest place in this world. When he wakes up, some kind of resolution will be made.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The safest place in this world... wherever that is, it’s totally different from how I treat my son.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You know the reason, don’t you?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Well, yeah.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis’s son is a demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s probably why they took Ragna, who’d been holed up in the library, in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ah, I almost forgot to ask this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...Is the woman in the portrait hidden in your office Ragna’s birth mother?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Yes, she was a very kind woman.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why is this guy answering so well?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That thought crossed my mind, but sadly, that was the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Anyway, the situation’s clearer now.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When wasn’t it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Ha ha, it still means a lot to me. That hope... it’s what’s made me neither here nor there all this time.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You could dismiss it as an old man’s nonsense, but it sounded like something said just before awakening, so it wasn’t exactly comforting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[When this conversation ends, I’ll cancel the capture order and issue a kill order to the entire army.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Does this mean something real is finally starting?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[In that process, one of the comrades you cherish so much will probably die. No, they will definitely die. Because I will make it so.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If this is a threat, you’ve got the order wrong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Isn’t that obvious?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[It’s not a threat.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He spoke like he was stating a fact, not a threat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[I just wanted you to know. I wasn’t much different from you.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ironically, I felt overwhelmed for the first time talking with the Marquis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Do you know how hard it’s been for me, laughing in front of people like you?]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[You should feel it too. The pain I felt.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh, I didn’t expect him to have such a tough guy side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that last word, the radio went dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s gone...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the number of connected people on the network drop to one, I threw the now useless radio into the burning house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry too much. It’s just a curse from a traitor.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Astarotta comforted me as she watched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You made the right choice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The right choice...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yeah, it definitely was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If I had accepted the Marquis’s persuasion, maybe no one would have died during this war, but after it ended, a bigger backlash would have come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then will you tell me why the Marquis started the war now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No. His Majesty ordered you to hear it directly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ha... This really drives a person crazy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This isn’t some game where you have to discover everything through adventures one by one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...Ah, is that true?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now I can say for sure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dungeon & Stone is a damn shitty game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A lot of people have already gathered.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Muttering to myself, Astarotta looked around and muttered under her breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Basically saying it’s time to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I stopped thinking about the Prime Minister and briefly summarized the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The city is burning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rebels have orders to ‘keep out’ and maintain distance, while reinforcements are arriving and the troops are increasing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I still don’t know if Rühenpraha is coming to me or not.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Amelia is said to be in District 4, and clan members hiding in the sanctuary may or may not be safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To make matters worse, the Marquis just declared through some sudden awakening event that he would kill all my comrades...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[The evil spirits from another world ‘————’ realized the path they must take only after losing three comrades.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I don’t even know if that event I saw in the records is happening during this war or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that’s not all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[Arua Raven! That wizard who used to be your old comrade is a traitor!]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Vivian accused Raven of betrayal on the day the capital burned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...Why can’t I get this organized?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I tried to summarize it simply, but it just wouldn’t come together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My head feels like it’s going to explode.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There’s too much to think about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I even thought I’d rather go back to surviving day by day in the labyrinth without thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump—!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Extreme stress squeezes tight around my chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But because of that, I cleared my head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a barbarian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘...If I just keep going, somehow it’ll work out.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, didn’t the Marquis say earlier?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you wander lost for a very long time, eventually you’ll find the answer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So I decided to focus on surviving this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Behel—laaaaaaaah!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like back when all I had was my body alone.\u003C\u002Fp>",1887,"2026-06-05T19:33:18.959Z",1,"novelbin.me","cec952e3dbc509467ee7496354274cb6c6262d7ef616f679a0dcdbbf7be02034","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-732","surviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-chapter-730",807,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurviving-the-game-as-a-barbarian-cover.jpg"]