There was good news and bad news.
As was always the case in life, every good thing came with a price.
The good news was that I was on the verge of reaching Farming Level 4 after harvesting potatoes.
And the bad news was...... The Red Moon would rise soon. That was the problem worrying me now.
The Red Moon.
One of the chief culprits that sent survival difficulty soaring vertically in the world of this damned game, <L.O.C>.
The setting itself was commonplace enough.
At set intervals, the moon turned red, and under its influence, monsters went berserk and came rushing in as waves.
'The problem is the demonic beasts.'
Even normally docile herbivores would go wild and try to bite people, and the demonic beasts were a problem too.
The demonic beasts that had been dangerous to begin with would cross the walls more than three times stronger.
“Whew......”
The reason I had not worried about the Red Moon so far was not simply complacency.
It was because I had no way to know the date.
But only after receiving the bone-piece calendar, the shaman's legacy, from Jakan had I finally been able to calculate the exact date.
And the result was.
'One week.'
The Red Moon would rise exactly seven days from today.
A chill ran down my spine.
According to the game's setting, the early barbarians were wiped out by the Great Famine.
They had starved to death and been destroyed, so they had not died because of the Red Moon.
But that did not guarantee I would not die when the Red Moon rose.
The protagonist was Jakan, the barbarian hero who survived alone, not an ordinary Tribe Member Number 23 like me.
'What do I do?'
I dragged a hand over my face.
Our tribe's combat power was still pathetic.
Most of them, including Chieftain Jakan, were greenhorn warriors in their late teens, and there were many children as well.
They had been suffering from hunger until recently, so they did not seem to be in particularly good health either.
- Jakan. The Red Moon rises in one week. What will you do?
I told Jakan, but he did not answer. He only stared at his greatsword.
It did not seem as though he had a solution either.
Letting out a small sigh, I called to the man silently pulling weeds beside me.
“Hey, Malko.”
He was ugly, but after tasting potatoes, he had become my loyal subordinate.
“Why call me? Busy.”
Malko came running, drenched in sweat.
His crude hand held the roots of the weeds he had pulled out.
“Are you strong?”
“Of course!”
He answered as he pounded his chest.
“Can you fight during the Red Moon?”
“Of course. I fight and die. That is warrior honor.”
“......”
Forget I asked.
His answer had not strayed beyond what I expected.
Barbarians did not fear dying in battle. No, they were proud of it.
But I wanted to live! Living and eating potatoes was much better than dying for honor.
When I looked around, the other barbarians were much the same.
They were all large, but a youthful air still remained on their faces.
'Should we hide?'
The thought suddenly crossed my mind.
If we sealed the entrance to the cave behind the village well.......
It was cowardly, but it was the surest way to survive.
At that moment.
A large shadow fell over me.
When I looked up, Chieftain Jakan was passing me by, his greatsword slung over his shoulder, giving me a brief downward glance.
'No way that bastard will hide.'
Monsters were attacking, and he would turn tail and hide? There was no way Jakan could endure that humiliation.
And if the chieftain would not hide, the tribe members would not either.
'Damn it.'
I clutched my head.
One week. I had to find a way to make it safely through the Red Moon in that short time.
.
.
.
Time passed mercilessly.
My mind was complicated, but my body moved mechanically.
- Plop, thud.
Dirt-covered potatoes poured out into the world with a cheerful sound.
The plump potatoes made me feel a little better.
When I dug up the potatoes from the last, tenth furrow, a transparent message window appeared in the air.
- DING!
[You have reached the E-Grade Potato harvest goal of 500. Next harvest goal: 2,000.]
[Crop Comprehension <Potato> increases. Current Comprehension: 20% -> 40%]
[Level Up! Your level has become 4. Lv.3 -> Lv.4]
[Level increase: Stat Points +1; class-skill proficiency increases.]
[The number of cultivable slots increases. 10 -> 13]
“Whew......”
I let out a long breath and wiped away sweat.
I had harvested around two hundred potatoes today.
For now, I only produced about two hundred every three-day harvest cycle.
It was not enough to feed forty people until they were full, but when we made soup by mixing them with the small animals the hunting party brought back, it was enough to keep us from starving.
'They've filled out quite a bit.'
The barbarians really had put on some weight.
But that satisfaction did not last long. What good was keeping them alive?
The Red Moon would rise in a week. Was I not simply fattening them up into plump prey by feeding them well?
That was when it happened.
“Shaman! Work hard. I like shaman!”
A young voice came from beneath my legs.
When I looked down, three or four little barbarian children were looking up at me.
Potato crumbs were smeared all around their mouths, and they stared at me admiringly with shining eyes.
'Hmm...... Cute.'
My heart felt soft, and my guard relaxed.
I reached out to pat their heads.
I wanted to offer them a warm word.
[Failure! You speak and act like a barbarian.]
“Of course! I am the great Lord Barbarian!”
Damn it.
What burst from my mouth was a self-loving shout overflowing with vanity.
Ah, seriously. This Barbarian Mind really could not read the mood.
But the children's reaction was explosive.
“Waaaaah! Great Barbarian Izak!”
“Izak! Izak!”
The children laughed merrily, saying my shout was cool, and clung to my legs.
Their small, dirt-covered hands gripped and shook my leather pants.
I made a show of frowning as though annoyed, but I could not hide the smile spreading across my lips.
Cute. Even if this was a rough and ignorant race, the children were truly cute.
No...... Had I grown fond of them from seeing them every day? Or was I really being barbarianized(?)?
At first, I had seen them as potential monsters who would cut off my head once they grew up, no matter how small they were. Now they felt rather like people...... No, like younger siblings.
'I want to save them.'
The thought suddenly came to me.
I wanted to keep these children from going hungry and from being caught and eaten by monsters.
To do that, I had to farm harder...... Raise my level, stockpile potatoes......
It was when I lifted my head after making that heartwarming resolution.
My problem was resolved in an unexpected place.
“We came to see the chieftain.”
Monsters stood at the village entrance.
***
Chieftain Jakan's tent.
The space that usually felt spacious now felt so cramped it might burst.
I sat uncomfortably on Chieftain Jakan's right, in the shaman's seat.
Across from me sat three strangers.
'......Are they monsters?'
I swallowed dryly.
Only after seeing them did I realize that the Northern Rock Tribe's barbarians were relatively mild.
The people seated before me were on another level.
Skin as red as lava, muscles as hard as stone.
With only a slight exaggeration, their seated height was about the same as our tribe's warriors standing up.
The huge man sitting in the middle, in particular, was so large I could not tell whether he was a person or an ogre.
He stood a head taller than Chieftain Jakan, the largest of our tribe, and his forearm was as thick as my waist.
'The Western Volcano Tribe......'
Suffocating silence filled the tent.
The red giant, chieftain of the Western Volcano Tribe, opened his mouth.
“We help.”
Jakan said nothing.
With his arms folded and his face expressionless, he stared at Burta, chieftain of the Western Volcano Tribe.
But I saw it.
The veins on Jakan's forearms were trembling slightly. He was suppressing his anger.
Burta ignored Jakan's silence and continued.
“Soon Red Moon. Northern Rock Tribe has no adults. Only children.”
It was a devastating fact.
The veins on Jakan's forearms bulged further.
“When Red Moon rises, you die. Volcano Tribe protects you under our banner.”
That was virtually a notice of absorption: in exchange for protecting us, the Northern Rock Tribe would become a subordinate tribe of the Western Volcano Tribe. But it was still much better than facing the Red Moon without a plan!
In this situation, if those muscle monsters were offering to protect us, we should say thank you.
The calculator in my head began to spin quickly.
'Say yes! Ask them to protect us. Ask them to protect us.'
But.
“We are not weak.”
What came out of Jakan's mouth was a refusal.
“The Northern Rock Tribe protects itself. We need no one's help.”
“......!”
I nearly fainted.
This stubborn idiot! This damn, stubborn idiot!
The other side was a group of men who looked half ogre.
How dependable were they?
Burta's brow twitched.
“Jakan. You are still a child. You need not be ashamed.”
“My sword will prove it.”
Jakan was firm.
As if there would be no more conversation, he placed his hand on the hilt of his greatsword.
A murderous aura swept through the tent.
Seeing Jakan's attitude, the Volcano Tribe sprang to their feet.
“Do not regret this, little one.”
Leaving those words behind, they exited the tent.
I could not even breathe properly until their footsteps had faded away.
Silence flowed through the tent again.
Jakan was staring at the greatsword in his hand.
His back looked exceptionally small.
A deep sigh escaped me.
I was angry, but I could understand his heart at the same time. I was an adult who had gone through that turbulent adolescent period too.
“Jakan.”
I called him, but he did not answer.
“Why did you refuse? The Red Moon is no joke.”
“......”
“Our tribe's strength makes it hard to withstand it. You know that too, don't you?”
At my questioning, Jakan slowly turned his head.
When I saw his tremendously sad face and shaking eyes, I was startled.
Although I had not spent long with him, it was the first time I had seen such an expression.
In place of the always proud and sturdy Chieftain Jakan stood a young boy whose burden was far too heavy.
“Izak. My father, your father, and all the adults went out and fought when the Red Moon rose. To protect us. And no one returned.”
His voice cracked.
“A warrior does not ask someone to protect him.”
“But......”
“I do not want to become a coward who hides with another tribe because I am afraid of death. I would be ashamed before my father.”
He clenched his fist hard.
He clenched it so tightly that his nails dug into his palm, drawing bright red blood.
He looked as though he could not forgive himself.
The guilt of having survived through the adults' sacrifice.
And the self-reproach that his weakness was putting the tribe in danger.
It was enough to wound a child who was still so young.
Was that why he saw asking for help as begging?
'Haah......'
I ran a hand through my hair as I looked at his complicated expression.
An honorable death. A warrior's pride.
It was the typical way barbarians in fantasy thought.
But...... But, you know.
'I'm not a barbarian! I'm Kang Jin-ho, a modern man!'
Dying in battle? They could have it. I wanted to peacefully dig potatoes in warmth with a full stomach until I died of old age!
As I had that selfish thought, why did I suddenly think of the children outside?
I could not hand the children who smiled at me and called me the great Barbarian over as monster food because of this young chieftain's pride.
I made my decision.
I had to preserve the pride of this stubborn, still-young chieftain while securing practical benefits as well.
“We are not asking! Our Northern Rock Tribe does not beg!”
When I abruptly spoke, Jakan looked at me with puzzled eyes.
“Stupid Jakan. The Western Volcano Tribe did not say they would help us for nothing.”
“......??”
“The Western Volcano Tribe is telling the Northern Rock Tribe to come under them. That is surrender.”
Jakan looked surprised.
It seemed he had not considered that far.
I rose from my seat and approached Jakan.
'All right, now I'll firmly plant the idea. I'll explain the strategy of subcontracting the Volcano Tribe and hiring them as mercenaries.'
At that moment.
[Warning! The barbarian's body resists logical thought.]
“Urgh......”
Suddenly, my head tingled, the world spun, and I involuntarily braced myself against a tent pole.
“I-Izak? Are you all right?”
The startled Jakan hurried over, but I raised a hand to stop him.
Clutching my temples and dripping cold sweat, I continued to speak firmly.
“The Northern Rock Tribe does not surrender. Instead, we make a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yes. The ancestral god taught me.”
Enduring the pain, I forced out the rest.
“Jakan. Until you become an adult and a true chieftain, our Northern Rock Tribe buys the Western Volcano Tribe.”
“......Buys them?”
His eyes widened.
Of course. It was a concept that did not exist in the barbarian dictionary.
To them, a person was either friend or enemy, not an existence you bought with money.
“Yes. We are not weak. We are rich.”
I took an E-Grade potato from inside my clothes and showed it to him.
Its smooth skin gleamed brilliantly in the torchlight.
“The Northern Rock Tribe has many potatoes. We give them potatoes and borrow their swords. The Western Volcano Tribe becomes the Northern Rock Tribe's mercenaries.”
The Western Volcano Tribe would eat a lot, given their large builds.
And these potatoes had a value more precious than gold in this barren land of death.
When I tapped Jakan on the shoulder, he stared at me with a blank expression.
Only now did he look like the teenager he was.
“You are not bowing, Chieftain. You buy the Western Volcano Tribe and rule them.”
Jakan stood there with his mouth hanging open.
In his mind, the formula of help equals humiliation shattered, and a new formula of hiring equals ruling began to take root.
Life began to return to his eyes.
“Buy. Rule......”
He muttered the words over and over.
I waited a moment for him to organize his thoughts. At last, confidence filled his face again.
“Izak. You are right. I will not bow. I will buy them and put them to work.”
“Exactly.”
I sighed inwardly. We would live now.
Damn...... Was saying one thing properly really this hard?
But it was encouraging for me too.
I had beaten this crazy Barbarian Mind and spoken properly!
“Chase after the Western Volcano Tribe now. Tell them this: On the night the Red Moon rises, if they fight for us, we will give them potatoes until their bellies burst.”
Jakan sprang to his feet.
Then he abruptly grabbed my wrist and pulled.
“Huh?”
“Come, Izak! I go buy Western Volcano Tribe!”
What? I was going too?
Those uncles scared me.
But Jakan was already excitedly holding my wrist as he headed outside.
As I was dragged along, I thought.
'Ah...... This fragile ocean-sunfish of a guy.'
Still, the sulking teenage chieftain Jakan was rather cute in his own way.
I was worried about how the Volcano uncles would react, though.