Barbarian in a Failed Game

“Is someone talking behind my back…?”

Feeling an odd itch at the back of his head, Khan abruptly turned his head. The wind spirit, which had been doing who knows what behind him, was awkwardly turned away, whistling.

“Jeez. How long are you going to sulk just because I put you in the keyhole for a bit?”

In protest, the wind spirit thrust its fist towards Khan’s face. Of course, he didn’t feel any impact.

‘Yeah, who would badmouth me?’

Who would blame a virtuous modern man who took it upon himself to eradicate the mainland’s cancerous elements without being asked?

Khan didn’t like being praised to his face, but he prided himself on never doing anything to deserve criticism.

Granted, most of those who could be called his enemies were buried underground.

“By the way, talk about being elfish. How sly….”

The secret safe hidden beneath Serenil’s office was a special item that could only be opened with the power of a spirit.

Unlike the Dwarven safes that Paradise Bank commonly used, which required input of specific mana patterns to open, this safe was designed to only be opened by an Elf with a spirit.

‘That was lucky.’

He had coincidentally acquired the wind spirit’s brooch and gained the ability to see spirits through Karayan’s Eye. The fact that the first place he visited afterward was Paradise Bank was well-timed.

Even with the brooch, without Karayan’s Eye, he wouldn’t have thought to request the spirit’s help in this way.

“If only there was a way to further evolve it.”

The spirit, still futilely swinging its little fists, had a puzzled look on its face.

“You never know. Maybe you could become like that giant just now.”

The wind spirit shook its whole body to express its disapproval.

‘Thinking of it as a buff pet, it’s already pretty useful….’

If this tiny guy could develop some offensive capabilities, wouldn’t it be quite useful as a hidden trick? After all, as a spirit, it was invisible to most people.

As he headed towards the wide-open safe door, holding onto the vague belief that there must be at least one useful spirit-related item in the elves’ secret safe, it suddenly hit him.

“…….”

Was that the sound of metal? It was so faint that even Khan’s keen hearing could have mistaken it. In fact, he wasn’t sure if it was actually the sound of metal. It might have just been a minor noise.

But it was too suspicious to just ignore.

One reason for his heightened vigilance was the fact that the interior of the secret safe was uncharted territory, even for a seasoned “Midland Quest” player.

‘If those sly bastards were involved, it wouldn’t be surprising if they set up some weird traps.’

The safe’s owner was an elf, after all. They were known to indulge in all sorts of nefarious schemes to thwart intruders. Holding the Draupnir, which he’d taken out for treasure detection, firmly in hand, Khan turned the safe’s handle again.

“You damn elf. Die─!”

A small figure suddenly sprang out from inside the safe, lunging at Khan. Reflexively, he started to swing Draupnir but paused when he realized who it was. The attacker did the same.

“Why are you coming out of there?”

“I should be asking you that! Why are you opening the safe?”

The source of the metallic sound was none other than a dwarf. And not just any dwarf, but the one who had crafted Draupnir’s scabbard.

***

It took Leniyar less than a minute to subdue Cain. Given that Cain Leichtahp’s skill level was above average among the superhumans of the Empire, it was a hard-to-believe outcome.

It demonstrated just how powerful Leniyar, known as the Sword Demon, truly was. Of course, no one could deny that the unfavorable matchup played a significant role.

In battles between swordsmen, the outcome isn’t determined solely by skill but also by the compatibility of their swordsmanship styles, the types of weapons used, and even hidden techniques. However, in Leniyar and Cain’s case, the disparity in skill was the most decisive factor.

Both had trained in the Volatus style under the same master.

Naturally, while individual differences arise even when learning the same swordsmanship, the fundamental basis remains unchanged. Leniyar, with her overwhelming superiority in talent and skill, was the perfect upper-echelon counterpart to Cain.

Clang!

The battle between monsters who could unleash dozens of sword strikes in a single breath had come to an end. Though the time was short, nearly a hundred sword strikes were exchanged. And yet, Leniyar showed no signs of fatigue.

“Ha…! This is ridiculous.”

Weak.

Far weaker than the Cain Leichtahp Leniyar remembered.

“You… monster of a woman…!”

Thanks to Leniyar’s precise technique, cutting the muscles in his wrists and ankles, Cain looked relatively unscathed on the outside.

He might have considered himself fortunate that she didn’t take his life, but subduing someone without killing them is actually more difficult, especially for a sword master known for lethal skills.

“I thought you were at least average as a swordsman. Looks like you’re not even that anymore. Did you get so caught up in political games that you wanted to imitate a noble?”

Cain ground his teeth at Leniyar’s ridicule. Her eyes and tone, implying he’d regressed, felt deeply humiliating.

‘Are you saying I got weaker?’

His skills hadn’t regressed at all. In fact, he had become even stronger than before in his determination to catch up with Leniyar. He had confidence that, if he fought Leniyar now, he wouldn’t lose as despairingly as before.

But the result was?

A complete defeat that didn’t even qualify to be called a match. It wasn’t that he had weakened.

Quite the opposite.

‘They said she spent most of her time dazed with drugs… yet she got stronger?!’

The characteristic aggressive and ferocious movements of the Volatus style were nowhere to be found. Instead, her movements had become slow and smooth. Yet they were sharper than ever.

How this could be possible was beyond Cain’s comprehension, even after experiencing it firsthand.

“What’s that?”

At that moment, Khan emerged from the secret vault of Paradise Bank, having looted everything inside, and narrowed his eyes at Cain sprawled on the ground.

‘Cain Leichtahp?’

As a named character who occasionally appeared in the game, Khan had no trouble recognizing him.

However, the fact that Cain was sprawled on the ground of Paradise Bank alongside an elf was so unexpected that it prompted Khan’s question.

“…Barbarian?”

Cain was equally perplexed. He had heard why Leniyar had headed towards Northland on his way to Paradise Bank. But seeing the supposed target appear from within Paradise Bank’s inner sanctum was shocking.

Especially with a dwarf—a rarity on the continent—by his side.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking? Who’s the shorty?”

“Rude human. It’s not ‘shorty’, it’s William Leonora Alexandros III.”

At the dwarf’s sudden and lengthy introduction, Leniyar scrunched her face and threw a questioning glance at Khan. It was an unspoken demand for an explanation.

“I saved him from those elves. Just happened to know him, that’s all.”

“What exactly did you do to know a dwarf captured by the elves?”

“That’s what I’m planning to find out. But first….”

Khan trailed off as he glanced alternately at the unconscious elf with severed hands and Cain, then shifted his gaze to the crowd watching them over the fence.

“Let’s clean this up from here. By now, the other side should have resolved as well.”

“The other side?”

‘No wonder she’s called a blockhead.’

Khan felt a renewed admiration for Leniyar, who raised her eyebrows as if asking if there was more to it. So she really did turn Paradise Bank upside down purely out of revenge.

And it was impressive that she turned the deputy bank manager, Roun, and her senior martial brother into bloody messes in front of the crowd.

“Quite the blockhead indeed.”

“Are you saying I’m impressive or blockheaded…?”

“Impressive.”

Ignoring the puzzled look from Leniyar, who had polished her inner self instead of her outer, Khan moved towards Cain. Seeing the usually arrogant Leniyar being teased by a barbarian and not reacting violently, Cain was almost in cognitive dissonance.

“I had planned to deal with Sword Mountain later… but an unexpected big catch appeared.”

Just the invasion plans of different species and the dealings with the corrupt church leadership were enough to cause a feeding frenzy among the hungry wolves. That, in itself, would be enough to shake the power structure of the Empire.

But with the senior disciple of Sword Mountain added into the mix?

‘It’ll be worth watching.’

The chaos that will engulf the Empire won’t be something anyone can control. Those who survive will become stronger, while those who overreach beyond their abilities will be swallowed by the turmoil and become prey.

‘Just like in the game.’

However, the outcome will be vastly different. At that time, the Empire was on the path to downfall due to external invasions and internal conflicts, but now, all of that had yet to happen.

Khan’s plan was exceedingly clear. There was a giant ship called the Empire.

This ship was destined to set sail someday, only to be caught in the rapid currents of the main quest and eventually sink. What Khan was doing now was akin to setting the ship on fire before it set sail.

By doing so, the ship wouldn’t be able to set off for a while, but the Empire would be rebuilt more solidly, transforming into a new and better version.

‘And the real objective lies elsewhere.’

While some will work their hardest to put out the fire on the burning ship.

Just like the Chinese idiom “A glass of water to save the truck(杯水救車)”—trying to extinguish a fire on a massive ship with a handful of water, thereby making the fire worse—some will only exacerbate the situation.

Some may bungle through sheer incompetence, trying to fix things beyond their capabilities. However, there will also be those who deliberately intensify the fire under the guise of failure. Khan’s target was precisely the latter.

‘It’s hard to identify them through ordinary means, though….’

As someone who has observed this world’s end as a possessor, he has the ability to discern these truths. Thus, after rooting out all the traitors, the Empire would remain unshaken, even when faced with its predetermined trials.

‘With that, even without my direct intervention, the main quest should be manageable to some extent.’

After that, the remnants of disasters, which couldn’t even promise a 50% success rate with an optimally grown character, could be delegated to the Empire while Khan focused on finding clues for his return.

This was the beginning of an ambitious plan that none of the previous users had achieved: cruising through the main quest by utilizing the Empire.