#077
His outfit was also unusual. He must have been wearing heating items, but somehow he had fully armed himself with a thick long padding coat, leaving only his eyes visible like a chubby snowman.
When our eyes met as I looked at him, Taro smiled awkwardly. Given his personality, he should have found it amusing to see me turned into a half-snowman, but right now he wasn’t like that at all. He had a pale expression as if looking at his own dark future.
“Yeah, I know. But we still have to get out. Just hang in there a little. If we endure just a bit more, we’ll reach the warm lodge with a fire right ahead.”
Though he was speaking as if to encourage me, it was clearly something he was saying to himself.
“……”
After a brief awkward silence, Taro put on a determined expression on his pale face and flung open the car door. Then, like someone taking on a bungee jump challenge, he heroically leaped out of the car.
His body instantly sank down with a thud, buried in snow up to his thighs.
I gaped in shock watching his struggling figure as he fought against the accumulated snow and blizzard, moving his steps with difficulty, when I suddenly remembered Seiz’s gift that I had momentarily forgotten. I had thought it was something to use when climbing snowy mountains, but that wasn’t it. Even in the brief moment from getting out of the car to reaching the lodge, one could be buried in snow without a trace in this weather. I needed it right now.
I hurriedly searched for and pulled out the gift. This tool, which looked like thick boot soles, was an item that when attached under shoes, would change shape according to the terrain and allow one to glide over snow or ice like skis or skates.
After making full preparations, I opened the car door again. Having been caught off guard once, I braced myself and didn’t get pushed back anymore, but my body swayed in the wind that whipped around so fiercely I couldn’t open my eyes. Ice crystals instantly hung from my eyelashes. My eyeballs felt like they would freeze, so I couldn’t open my eyes. Without the heating band, my whole body would have frozen instantly.
I tensely stepped onto the snow. Fortunately, I didn’t sink deep into the snow like Taro had.
‘What would I have done without this… Thank you so much, Seiz. I’ll definitely find the Lightmite you want and give it to you as a gift.’
As I closed the car door, I caught a glimpse of the car having long ski-like blades attached instead of wheels. I was slightly impressed.
‘It’s an all-purpose vehicle. I wonder if it can go underwater too.’
I started walking awkwardly toward the building that was dimly visible through the blizzard. My body tilted about 30 degrees to the side because of the wind. Despite the short distance, by the time I reached near the lodge entrance, my body had swelled to about twice its size, covered in snow, and I had been pushed slightly to the left by the wind.
I struggled back and barely managed to climb onto the deck under the roof. As I was shaking my head while brushing off the snow clinging to my body, I heard a light sigh from behind.
“It’s not like you’re a puppy…”
When I turned around, it was Carlisle. Already turned away showing only his back, he was now entering the lodge.
‘He went out first, so why is he here…’
My vision was blurry and I was half-dazed from the blizzard so I hadn’t noticed, but it seemed he had been standing at the lodge entrance watching. The smoke from his cigarette was leaving a subtle lingering scent.
‘Surely not out of worry… He probably just wanted to smoke the cigarette he couldn’t have while riding in the car.’
Let’s please not have expectations or delusions that he’s being affectionate. We did sleep together, but… it wasn’t an act born from affection either, and to put it simply… it was just an act combining instinct and mutual cooperation and… how should I put it, from my perspective, a kind of humanitarian aid when I said it hurt.
Anyway, his tone or attitude hasn’t really changed much, has it? At least we’ve moved from a one-sided assistance to a mutually helping relationship, so he’s probably showing some courtesy toward a business partner. If something really happened to me now, he’d suffer losses too.
While I was briefly lost in useless thoughts, I got hit by another blizzard that swept in from outside and staggered. This wasn’t the time for this. I could have been spacing out for a moment and ended up freezing to death here alone. There would be nothing more futile than the game ending because I froze to death before even starting combat, never mind the quest.
I hurriedly brushed myself off and entered the lodge.
“Ahh…”
As soon as I entered, I unconsciously let out a soft exclamation at the warmth enveloping my whole body. I instinctively felt like I might survive.
“Welcome, Raon. It’s been a while.”
The one who greeted me was a woman in her mid-twenties with short silver hair and pale blue eyes.
“Wow, Freya!”
I called her name happily. Freya, the owner of this lodge and guide of the snowy mountains, was someone I met quite often when playing the game. It wasn’t just about completing the regional conquest and being done – I had to buy passes when visiting the snowy mountains again later, and the local specialties from this region could only be bought through her.
Since entering this world, I had never made it here alive, so this was the first time seeing her in live action. Along with happiness, I felt curious too. I was somewhat excited and looked at Freya as if examining her, when I suddenly realized the strange atmosphere and came to my senses.
‘Oh no, this would be rude in reality…’
“Ah, sorry, Freya. I was so happy to see you that I unconsciously…”
“So that’s how you express being happy.”
A cynical laugh flowed as if finding it absurd. It was Carlisle’s voice. The warm indoor air seemed to turn cold instantly. I felt like everyone there was recalling my infamous reputation as a playboy. Especially Carlisle.
But honestly, I felt wronged. Freya wasn’t originally a romance target NPC, so she had never been involved with me in that way. It was purely an expression of happiness and curiosity.
Fortunately, Freya, the lodge owner, changed the topic indifferently with an unconcerned expression. It seemed like consideration, but she was basically an indifferent character about everything.
“Anyway, let’s proceed with the schedule quickly. You came later than expected, so if you’re departing today, we need to hurry.”
“Ah.”
It was because I woke up late. When I thought about it, it wasn’t entirely my fault alone, but being late was being late, so I mumbled an apology. But Freya didn’t listen and quickly continued speaking.
“First, let me brief you. You’re visiting the frozen mansion at the snowy mountain peak, right?”
The frozen mansion in the snowy mountains was the conquest dungeon of this area, where the boss mob was located. Also, separate from the boss mob conquest, there was a kind of seasonal event where you spend a night in that mansion said to be haunted during late autumn. It was an event where you survive a night in game time while avoiding various traps and playing mini-games like puzzles, quizzes, and finding objects, and if you survive, you get rewards. I had experienced it several times while playing the game.
Originally, the boss mob conquest and seasonal event proceeded separately, but judging by the atmosphere, it seemed like those two had been combined into one this time.
Naturally, the path to get there was neither smooth nor peaceful. While climbing the steep snowy mountain, you had to battle monsters trying to protect the boss mob, and once you entered the mansion, you had to pass through various traps and play mini-games to meet the boss mob.
Freya’s explanation was about being careful of these things. Prepare for blizzards, prepare for combat on the way to the mansion (there was also brief information about monster types), and prepare for traps once you enter the ice mansion.
“The traps change every time, so you don’t know what might pop out. Just be careful of everything. The roof, floor, walls, stairs. If you avoid all traps and solve puzzles or quizzes to reach where the boss mob is and conquer the boss mob, the mansion and surrounding area will be open for three hours after sunrise. Then during that time, you can freely collect resources.”
The environment getting worse, weather becoming extremely harsh, and monsters getting stronger was more or less expected. The problem was that I couldn’t predict how the boss mob location situation or mini-games had been realized, and the bigger problem was that I…
‘I disliked puzzles and quizzes and complicated thinking, so I proceeded through about half the mini-games in pass mode.’
I swallowed a sigh with gloomy feelings. I had looked up community boards later when I was curious about answers, so I could only hope the quizzes would be within my knowledge range.
“If the explanation is over, let’s depart. We need to enter the mansion before sunset.”
At Carlisle’s words, we all stood up. The reason we needed to enter the mansion before sunset wasn’t simply because night monsters were more dangerous, but because we had to enter by then and spend the night there for the event conditions to be met. That meant we also had to swiftly finish combat with monsters that would attack us from now until we reached the mansion, all before sunset.
But while Freya and all of us were preparing to depart, there was still one person who hadn’t stood up. It was Taro. While we were receiving Freya’s briefing, we had been served and were drinking warm tea, but even now when everyone had gotten up from their seats, he was still sitting there with his teacup clasped in both hands.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
