NOVEL NEXT Chapter 93
Tatata-taht!
Giant beast footprints were etched across the snow-covered snowfield, as two shining silver legs galloped energetically up the hill.
“Whoa! So fast! And I absolutely hate it!”
“Shut up, junior. How about calming down a bit?”
“No, look over there! Three beauties are stuck to us like that, doesn’t it bother you? It’s a party of three girls and two guys—does this combo even make sense?!”
“Reason only weighs the body down.”
Cherni’s grumbling and Deathly Death’s calm voice cut through the wind. I stole a glance to the side.
On the back of the giant wolf with silver fur, Silver Fang, were Cherni and Deathly Death. The silver wolf racing through the wind looked like a gleaming silver flash.
It matches the color of my hair.
I’d like to make it my permanent pet.
“Aha!”
I let out a rare laugh.
I too was riding on the back of Silver Fang, feeling the wind whip against my face, the cold air biting at my skin, but with the fire stone, it wasn’t too bad.
It was less about being cold and more about feeling good.
Screek.
“Hah!?”
I jolted as two pairs of hands clutched my waist and abdomen from behind, causing me to lower my stance and grip Silver Fang’s fur tightly.
I turned slightly, puffing out my cheeks, and glanced back.
“Sisters… I can’t fall off just by holding onto Silver Fang’s fur, you know?”
“I-I don’t know! I’m scared!”
“Heehee!”
Bae Merong was burying her face in my hair with her eyes tightly shut, clutching my waist. Chris, at the back, reached out her long arms and grabbed my belly, wearing a silly grin.
“Whoa….”
“Hyat!?”
I was startled by the warm breath I felt on my nape. It was Bae Merong’s breath.
“Hey, Bae Merong!”
“Ouch, ouch. Heehee!”
Chris angrily poked Bae Merong in the side.
“U-Um, sisters, let go! I’m gonna fall!”
Splash!
Ignoring the commotion from Bae Merong and Chris clinging to me behind, the two giant Silver Fangs faced the huge lake and jumped right in. They began swimming towards the artificial structure at the center of the lake with us on their backs. Thankfully, our party stayed dry on the back of the massive Silver Fang.
“The unfrozen lake.”
In fact, since the users first entered the ‘Par Snowfield Region,’ the structure resembling an Elite Dungeon has been very conspicuous.
The suspicious ‘unfrozen lake’ was clearly visible, along with the giant ice fortress beyond it in Astria.
Attempts by users to build ships and float over the lake had ended poorly, as they were all sunk by the massive fish monsters living in the lake. Even if they had reached the fort on the ice island in the center of the lake a bit sooner, they wouldn’t have been able to enter due to the magical circle blocking the entrance.
Life skill ‘Taming,’ obtainable through completing a hidden quest in the snowfield at level 45.
It has been recently revealed that by using this skill to tame a Silver Fang, one could approach the fortress in the center of the unfrozen lake.
And at last, the day when the magical circle blocking that entrance has arrived—today.
Our party swam across the lake with Silver Fang, heading towards the giant ice fortress.
[Entry Level: 45]
[Elite Dungeon (4-person party recommended)]
[Ice Castle of the Frozen Land]
“Take care, Silver Fang!”
I waved goodbye at the pair of Silver Fangs swimming back across the ‘unfrozen lake’ after dropping our party off in front of the ice fortress. Then, I surveyed the gathering users in front of the fortress.
“Oh, you made it! Uwahaha!”
“Hello, Hopkins.”
“We cooperate as a guild for raids, but in Elite Dungeons, we’re all competitors, right?”
“Hehe, Seob Seop Yi, you’re already here too.”
Chris greeted the members of the ‘Hong Baek’ guild.
In front of the ice fortress, the ‘Hopkins Party’ and ‘Seob Seop Yi Party’ had arrived early. The vanguard of the Hong Baek guild had all gathered in one spot.
There were quite a few vanguard party users as well.
I spotted the guildmaster of ‘GG Guild’, Woo Gyeol, and the guildmaster of ‘Plan B’, Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo. Woo Gyeol smiled and gave us a nod, while Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo turned away with a snort.
The GG Guild, affiliated with the Alparion Empire, and Plan B of the Betarion Empire had a contentious relationship, but they didn’t fight outside of PVP fields to incur penalties.
“Isn’t it funny? Despite being the coldest place in the ‘Par Snowfield Region,’ the lake doesn’t freeze.”
“Well, it’s a game, right? There might be some magical power or something like that in the setting?”
“Hmm, you might be right. Because it’s a game.”
Listening to Chris and Bae Merong’s conversation, I fell into thought for a moment.
Of course, it had been a cold area even in the past. But if this world is round like Earth, it shouldn’t be that far north.
It didn’t make sense that crossing one mountain from a plain would immediately lead to a region of perpetual frost.
If so, we could consider one reason as to why this place became permanently frozen.
“Could it be due to magical energy?”
The fact that this area was once again covered in bitter cold was proof that the Demon Race had begun to stir.
The magic of the ice-manipulating demons must have lowered the energy of this place even more.
Indeed, after defeating the demon cavalry commander who had attacked humans in the snowfield, the temperature had slowly begun to rise a bit.
Some areas were gradually regaining vegetation. Before it fully returned to life, I had left this world.
There were definitely elves living there, as I’ve heard.
Lost in my thoughts for a moment, I felt the gentle touch of Chris’s hand gripping mine and lifted my head.
Chris scratched her face nervously and asked, “Um, we’re doing that today, right?”
“Yes.”
I had wrapped up the broadcast test. Since it was just an account for video streaming, I wouldn’t directly communicate like a streamer, but I had set it so anyone could come in and watch.
Chris had a slightly stern expression.
“Don’t overdo it. Remember how shocked you were last time.”
“Yes.”
I lowered my head, fiddling with my fingers.
Of course, I didn’t plan to overdo it. Unless it’s that ridiculous thing waiting for me at the top of the tower, I was confident I wouldn’t get hurt in this world.
Still, if I’m to embody the protagonist, I need to show a cool appearance. I don’t want to run away just because things get a bit tough.
To do that…
Whirring, boom.
At that moment, the sound of the magical circle at the entrance of the ice fortress being deactivated filled the air, and a bridge was placed across the moat, welcoming the Heroes who had reached this place.
“Sister Chris, please go ahead.”
“Okay. Rain said he’d come in a bit later, right?”
I nodded.
Chris stepped closer to the dungeon’s front. Following her, the vanguard members began gathering one by one at the dungeon entrance.
“Alright, this time it’s our turn!”
“Isn’t it going to be either the No Name Party or Chris’s Party that wins anyway? We should just focus on streaming.”
The users chattered excitedly as they vanished one by one into the ice fortress, and finally, Chris and her party members turned back to me and disappeared into the instance dungeon.
Elite Dungeon, ‘Ice Castle of the Frozen Land.’
The first Elite Dungeon of the new expansion.
The攻略 had begun.
Clearing throat.
Bam bam.
I walked side to side and opened a browser to view the streaming screens of the vanguard users broadcasting their progress on the video streaming site.
“Definitely, the truly fast ones aren’t broadcasting.”
The parties of the ‘Hong Baek’ guild, leading the攻略 of the Elite Dungeon, hadn’t turned on their streams.
Chris party, Hopkins party, Seob Seop Yi party.
Considering the speed of their initial攻略, I heard all three parties were among the top ten. I felt a bit awed by the amazing people gathered in the Hong Baek guild.
Streaming during the initial attempts of a dungeon or raid is a bad idea.
Countless attempts and sharp wits are needed to discover named enemy gimmicks.
And was it serendipity? Anyway, many discoveries happen by chance.
A party that discovers a gimmick the fastest often gets overtaken by subsequent parties using that same knowledge.
While individual abilities of party members are certainly important, leaking攻略 always puts one at a disadvantage.
Of course, that’s not something that applies to me, who plays in a way others can’t replicate.
The reason I didn’t dive right in was also a self-imposed penalty for using my legendary weapon.
“This is the first Elite Dungeon of the new expansion, so it will definitely be much harder.”
There would surely be different gimmicks that didn’t exist before.
Perhaps there might be gimmicks that make invincibility skills useless? Like the berserk ability of the Ice Ogre King on the 9th floor of the Ice Tower.
Watching the process of others tackling the dungeon was also quite enjoyable.
“Oh ho.”
I quickly found the fastest-streaming party.
They quickly breezed through the minions and reached the first named enemy.
As soon as I turned that screen up large, a familiar laugh echoed.
– Kekekek!
The swordsman in the blue robe, the guild master of Plan B.
Isn’t that Kyuam Jo Hyun-Soo?
I clutched my belly and laughed in front of the ice fortress.