Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 539: Shinrokgochang (1)

Day 3 after the second rainy season ended.

By the dungeon entry count, this was day 74.

‘About 1 billion stones gathered from the island, and about 600 million stones saved so far...’

A total of 1.6 billion stones.

Of course, this money was gathered by dozens of people together, and after distribution, my share would be much smaller...

Fortunately, this issue was already agreed upon by all members.

So, only one thing remained.

“Everyone, relax! We won’t do anything today!”

After sweeping the Giant Island for magic stones, I led the team back to the cave.

By cave, I meant the one where the Hext Clan, who had been stranded, found the portal stele.

‘Thinking back, I realize how lucky we were.’

Mapping of Giant Island was almost finished.

There were caves, of course.

But only one cave was this deep inside the island, and for some reason, monsters did not approach it.

It was practically the safest place...

And we found it right in that urgent situation.

‘I wish some of that luck would rub off on me.’

Because what I’m about to do depends heavily on ‘luck,’ the psychological pressure was immense.

By all appearances, my luck was not good.

Or rather,

‘My luck is average.’

This is a recent realization.

Since childhood, after enduring all sorts of misfortunes, I thought my fate was cursed from birth.

But looking back, my luck wasn’t really bad.

After all, I survived all those ordeals.

More importantly...

“It seems to be starting.”

“Bjorn! I don’t know much, but hang in there!”

Meeting good people like these was itself unbelievable luck.

Elwen, my night companion on the first expedition.

Ainard, a trusted comrade and fellow warrior.

Raven and Hikurod, comrades from the Crimson Fortress where mutants appeared.

Team Banpun's Misha, Rotmiller, and even Dwalke.

When I had nothing at all,

Meeting them was nothing short of magical luck.

Therefore...

‘Don’t rely on luck.’

I abandoned the weak will to leave responsibility to lucky comrades like Ainard or Misha.

And...

‘I am a lucky person.’

I repeated this silently over and over.

What I needed now was not doubt but firm conviction.

‘I am.’

A lucky person.

At that moment of repetition,

“I am...”

A sudden insight struck my mind.

My tense jaw muscles relaxed, and the faint tremor in my hands disappeared.

It was a kind of enlightenment.

The half-full cup of water.

Whether the cup was happy or unhappy was not for others to decide.

Only oneself could decide.

“You’re lucky.”

“...Huh?”

“What did you say? We haven’t done anything yet...”

Done nothing?

Everything in this world depends on the mind.

Just like the prophecy carved on the monument is certain to come true.

That is, the moment I decide, the future is already set.

It’s the truth of the world, an unchangeable law.

“Hoho...”

But since fools wouldn’t understand, I just smiled and kept quiet.

“The wind is cool today.”

A feeling like the power of the universe warmly embracing me beyond nature.

“The sunlight is gentle.”

In my chest was only conviction, and nothing else.

“Why are you talking about the wind inside a cave...?”

“Maybe he just wanted to say it’s cool?”

“Well, saying the sunlight is gentle is a bit...”

“Sir... are you feeling unwell?”

Ignoring the ignorant questions of mortals, I picked up a magic stone scattered on the ground.

Then slowly brought it to the necklace.

No rush at all.

‘Water is water, wind is wind.’

For me, that was obvious.

Swaaah-!

The future was already decided.

[The power of the great alchemist Garphas detects the power of creation.]

[Creating stone bread.]

Let’s go.

No.7777 Necklace of Garphas.

The necklace’s effect is simple.

When a magic stone is brought close, it melts and disappears, randomly spitting out items like bread, water, metal, and so forth.

Like this.

[Creating stone bread.]

Each time a magic stone is put in, the displayed item inside the necklace’s jewel changes.

If you see something you want, you can take it out.

Naturally, there was no reason to take stone bread, so I kept spinning.

But...

‘Why doesn’t the item change?’

What is this?

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone brea...]

Six stone breads in a row from the start?

These aren’t even 9th-grade stones, only 5th grade and above?

‘The chance to get stone bread with 5th grade or higher stones is about 4%.’

And the chance to get six in a row is...

“...Cough!”

Calculating that almost broke my barbarian calm, but I controlled myself with practiced mind control.

After all, early gacha is just stacking.

“Bjorn! Are you okay? You’re coughing!”

“Step aside. I’m fine.”

...Doubt is poison.

It eats away the mind and makes life miserable, a very nasty poison.

So...

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone bread.]

I abandoned my humanity and mechanically stuffed magic stones into the necklace repeatedly.

Nine stone breads in a row?

What does it matter?

The result was already decided.

[Creating steel ingot.]

Yeah, probability is just probability.

What’s meant to come, will come.

What I needed was only faith.

“Oh! Bjorn’s expression changed...!”

“I’ve heard that if the Baron makes such a face, he’s seriously ready!”

Whatever comes out, I kept my composure and continued feeding stones.

Some time passed.

‘I think it’s about time...’

Just as that thought started to creep in...

[Creating iron longsword.]

Finally, a proper piece of equipment appeared in the necklace, which until then had spat out junk like bread, metal scraps, and bricks.

It wasn’t surprising.

There’s a hidden rule in Garphas’s necklace.

‘7,777 stones for 9th-grade stones.’

Converted to cash, about 1.55 million stones worth.

When that amount is inserted, it guarantees a “usable item” randomly.

And...

[Creating Laitinum chestplate.]

This repeats every time about 1.55 million stones are put in.

Wow, so putting in 3.1 million stones got me a Laitinum chestplate?

‘Not bad for a start.’

Though that’s just how I felt.

It meant nothing to me.

I had no intention of stopping here.

“Oh? Bjorn! Why’re you passing it by? It’s a waste not to get stone bread!”

If I stopped, I’d have to start stacking from the beginning again.

I almost answered because I felt they’d keep pestering me, but fortunately Amelia took care of it in time.

“Pnellin, stay put. Don’t disturb.”

“Ah, I just wanted to know why...”

“Hmph.”

“Okay... I won’t disturb...”

Is that why hierarchy is important?

Since the brutal beating in the cabin, Ainard especially seemed powerless against Amelia.

Anyway, that’s not important.

[Creating Redwood longbow.]

A longbow made from second-tier wood.

[Creating iron shield.]

A common shield with much lower value.

Then I pulled out nine usable pieces of equipment.

Just before the tenth turn...

Or rather...

At about 15.55 million stones worth,

Exactly 777,777 stones of 9th grade were stuffed into the necklace.

[Creating No.9981 Survivor’s Vitality Ring.]

The first Numbers item appeared.

Of course, it wasn’t more profitable than before.

Not all Numbers items are expensive.

‘That one was about 2 million stones?’

It was even less valuable than the Laitinum chestplate from earlier.

But that didn’t matter much.

[Creating Cloud Candy.]

[Creating Training Mana Staff.]

[Creating High-Density Mana Herb.]

[Creating Wyvern Leather Armor.]

[Creating Permanent Magic Enchantment (Light Orb) Scroll...]

Potions, equipment, enhancement materials, and so on.

I was skimming over these while dumping magic stones into the bottomless pit.

“...Hm?”

My body stiffened.

A very simple reason.

[Creating Mistium ingot.]

What the hell, a 6th-grade metal appears here?

Since a scroll just appeared, it seemed like a normal gacha probability.

“Mistium!”

“That ingot alone is worth hundreds of millions, isn’t it?”

Even if I stopped halfway here, I’d profit tens of millions stones.

But...

‘Damn it.’

I had to build my misfortune stack, why’s it so good early on?

I sighed inside but pushed doubt aside.

And kept inserting stones.

“...Ah!”

“...Huh!”

I heard lamentations nearby.

Gacha players shouldn’t be cursed.

‘How could a lowly one understand the heart of a giant?’

How many times did I repeat going alone like a lone horned beast?

Swaaah-!

At about 155 million stones inserted,

Exactly 7,777,777 stones of 9th grade stuffed into the necklace.

For the first time, a red glow burst from the necklace.

[Due to excessive mana condensation, Garphas’s power is severely damaged.]

Simply put, after this gacha is over, it will be impossible to spin again.

“Bjorn... are you okay? It looks like a crack appeared on the necklace...”

No way I was okay.

I never considered retreating.

And in that sense...

‘Let’s take a look.’

I checked inside the jewel where the red light faded.

Starting here, single Numbers items can be pulled.

If something good appeared, I was willing to quit then and there—

[Creating No.535 Polar Shield.]

Named as such in-game, it was the shield I used while raising the shield barbarian until I got the graduation shield.

‘Damn.’

The shield wasn’t bad, but triple Numbers?

‘Who am I supposed to give this to?’

I quickly passed and moved on.

Among all items so far, this had the highest value, but surprisingly no one around seemed disappointed.

They probably just didn’t recognize it.

There aren’t many maniacs who memorize all Numbers items.

‘Next.’

Put in stones again.

Then glanced over the item briefly.

‘Next.’

Repeatedly refreshing the item.

As the number of tries increased drastically, high-value items appeared repeatedly.

Among the impressive ones were:

[Creating No.2998 Mark of the Guardian Corps.]

The earring I’m wearing.

[Creating Staff imbued with the power of the World Tree.]

The staff made from the 6th-grade material that Versil coveted.

[Creating 5 Arc ingots.]

The maximum number of 6th-grade Arc ingots.

[Creating Holy Altar.]

A holy potion occasionally obtained from 9th-floor cracks.

[Creating No.7777 Necklace of Garphas.]

The necklace I have no idea what to do with.

Like a matryoshka doll?

Anyway, many other items appeared and I passed them all.

And as a result...

[Creating stone bread.]

Finally, I was near the goal.

I had no exact data because of the huge amount of magic stones used, but

I had a feeling.

‘About ten more.’

About ten more magic stones inserted and the goal would be reached.

[Creating stone bread.]

About 1.55 billion stones in cash.

[Creating stone bread.]

Exactly 77,777,777 stones of 9th grade.

[Creating stone bread.]

Hmm...

[Creating stone bread.]

Huh?

[Creating stone bread.]

Wait...

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone bread.]

[Creating stone brea...]

Nine stone breads in a row at the end?

Of course, whether it’s stone bread or steel ingots, it doesn’t matter...

Gulp.

My hands involuntarily stopped.

Cold sweat soaked my palms.

A revelation.

This phenomenon I was experiencing felt like a revelation.

A cosmic revelation about the future I’m going to face.

‘...No.’

But I shook my head and kept my mental balance.

A phenomenon is just a phenomenon. Assigning meaning is foolish.

Also...

‘This might be a good thing.’

In some ways, it seemed like a positive sign.

I don’t believe in superstition much, but sometimes when gaming I’d break useless equipment while upgrading and then upgrade the real gear successfully.

Yeah, so...

Swish.

I put faith in it and fed stones again.

Swaaah-!

The stones shattered finely, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» and the necklace shone brightly.

A dazzling brilliance.

[The absorbed magic stones have reached maximum capacity.]

[Warning. The necklace may be destroyed at any time from now.]

From now on, it’s truly a game of luck.

77,777,777 stones.

The Necklace of Garphas, having absorbed this amount, becomes a guaranteed gacha.

There’s kind of a ceiling?

From No.1 to No.35.

From now on, this necklace will surely produce the highest Numbers item with a number between these.

So, what about the first big attempt?

‘Hmph.’

Yeah, it doesn’t go easy.

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

Of course, Abyss Claw was a very good item.

A claw-type weapon given as a set, with diverse effects.

Amelia would probably make great use of it.

But...

‘Spent 1.5 billion and got number 35?’

No matter how you think about it, it’s not worth it.

So...

‘One more time.’

I put more stones into the already maxed-out necklace—

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

Huh?

Why didn’t it change?

The stones definitely went in...

‘...Seriously?’

Though my mind questioned it, my brain calmly accepted the fact.

Abyss Claw had come out again.

Thump thump thump thump—

Blood rushed to my head, my vision narrowed.

For some reason, a chill ran down my spine and my lips dried.

Swish.

I slowly grabbed one more magic stone.

[Warning. The necklace may be destroyed at any time from now.]

Although this warning existed, I wasn’t too scared yet.

I knew it would never break up to three times.

...Don’t worry.

It’s all stacks.

My future is a bright rainbow—

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

“One more time.”

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

“Damn, are you kidding me.”

Eventually, I couldn’t hold back and cursed.

Outwardly calm, but I couldn’t take it anymore.

My mind was flooded with all sorts of distracting thoughts.

Everything that happened today felt meaningful.

Including the consecutive stone breads.

‘Garphas’s Necklace.’

And that item from earlier when I re-rolled.

Maybe that was a revelation?

Since I’m screwed today, take this and try again later.

“...Yandel, are you okay?”

“Ah... yeah, I’m fine.”

“You look pale...”

“No way. I’m lucky.”

I raised my discouraged spirit again.

‘Four Abyss Claws in a row?’

That’s just another hurdle.

Sweet fruits are always hidden beyond trials.

‘Believe in me.’

Recalling my earlier enlightenment, I confidently grabbed a magic stone again.

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

Still okay.

It didn’t break, right?

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

Yeah, since it hasn’t broken, maybe it’s just the universe’s way of testing me—

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

...Is it broken?

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

...I think it’s dangerous now.

Thump thump thump thump—

My heart raced wildly.

[Creating No.35 Abyss Claw.]

Eventually, I raised the white flag.

“...Ah, Ainard?”

Ainard Pnellin.

If you look closely, she’s a warrior who always has good luck and things tend to go well.

“Hmm? What is it?”

Ainard, who had lost interest and was eating jerky far away, looked at me curiously.

I politely called her over.

“Um...”

“Yeah?”

“Would you... come here and try putting some magic stones in?”

“Oh! Really? I’ve actually wanted to try!”

Fortunately, Ainard happily accepted and ran over.

Then...

[Creating No.3 Aegis Barrier.]

That day, I gained a new realization.

“Oh? A shield, is it any good?”

“...”

From now on, let’s always make her do this.