Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Adaptation (4)
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《Adaptation》 - (4)
01.
"..."
A blue magic circle spread out before me. From that beautiful hexagram, like a crystal of pure white snow, three sharp ice blades emerged.
According to the skill description, these ice blades could be fired up to a maximum of 100 at once, but there was no need to go that far just to take down a single wyvern.
Three seemed more than enough.
— Kieeeek!!
"..."
The wyvern looked at me preparing to launch the ice blades and let out a mocking roar. In that cry, it seemed filled with confidence that it could dodge whatever attack I threw at it, no matter what.
...Arrogant attitude for a mere monster.
Drip, drop.
And above the wyvern's head, thick clouds had gathered, forming a perfect shape. Then, from within them, gray sleet began to fall shyly.
— Kyaaak!!
It was snow falling in the absurd season of early summer, but the Dark Wyvern welcomed the sleet onto its body without a hint of suspicion, as if it couldn't care less about such bizarre weather.
But this was no ordinary snow. It was Selverion's Ashen Snowstorm, a truly worst-in-class passive that inflicted fixed damage on contact and reduced movement and attack speeds.
...It took less than a few seconds for the wyvern to regret its carelessness.
— Ki, kieeeek!!
As the sleet from the thunderclouds settled lightly on the wyvern's skin, it began screaming as if the world were ending.
— Kieeeek!!
Just one snowflake touching it, and the Dark Wyvern writhed in agony across its entire body. It seemed to have taken the fixed damage from the sleet.
The Dark Wyvern was a high-grade monster, but nothing compared to Selverion. Even passive damage would feel as lethal as a critical strike to it.
Then, the part of its back that had first been hit by the ashen sleet began to freeze over slowly.
"...Freezing effect."
It was the freezing effect that Ashen Snowstorm applied with a certain probability. Targets afflicted with freezing had parts of their body locked in ice, sealing movement for a short time.
On top of that, damage from Ashen Snowstorm automatically reduced attack and movement speeds by 20%, so if the freezing effect procced as well, it was practically immobilized from every action.
— Ki, kieeek….
Sure enough, the wyvern's wingbeats slowed gradually before coming to a complete halt. For an airborne monster, there was only one end when the wings stopped.
Plummet.
— Kieeeek!!
From high in the sky, it began crashing toward the sandy ground of the construction site. It screeched desperately, trying to spread its wings and fly again, but the freezing effect from Ashen Snowstorm allowed no such movement.
"Hm..."
Do you know perspective? The natural phenomenon where distant things look small and near things look large.
As the Dark Wyvern plummeted closer to me on the ground, its size naturally grew larger in my view—which meant it would be even easier to hit with the 'Ice Blades' I was preparing.
"...Good."
I gave a faint smile and finally launched the ice blades at the wyvern. Shaped like shards of sharp glaciers, they struck the rapidly falling wyvern dead-on.
— Kyaaaaak!!
Two hit its frozen wings, and the third grazed its head, shattering the horn protruding from it.
Holes punched instantly through both wings, and with its horn gone, the Dark Wyvern let out a horrific scream as it crashed into the construction site's sand with a thunderous boom.
— Kruk, krruk….
The wyvern writhed in pain, groaning. But the freezing effect hadn't ended yet, nor had my attack.
This time, the two ice golems summoned by the passive Blessing of Ice Spirits sprang into action.
— Graaaah!!
— Grroooar!!
They split to either side and each grabbed one of the wyvern's wings, sprawled on the ground. Then, like ripping off a dragonfly's wings, they tore off its massive wings with brute force.
— Ki, kyaaaaaaaak!!
As both wings were torn away, the Dark Wyvern screamed once more in agony. I slowly approached the convulsing creature. Its wriggling now resembled an earthworm more than a wyvern.
— Ki, kiruk….
The wyvern glanced up at me, its eyes now filled with nothing but terror. I tilted my head as I looked down at it.
"What should I use for the finishing blow..."
Truth be told, I could have one-shot it with the Ice Blades just now if I'd wanted, but that would mean using only one skill.
This prime high-grade punching bag I'd found deserved at least two skills to make it worthwhile.
"Hm, Falling Snowflakes is too wide-range..."
So I pondered carefully which skill to use to cap it off. I really wanted to try Falling Snowflakes, the ultimate never-before-seen by the public, but dropping an ice meteor with that skill might bring an ice age to the whole neighborhood, wyvern or not.
...That would be a disaster.
"This one it is."
In the end, after deliberation, I decided on Frost Wave, the skill symbolic of Selverion herself.
I extended my palm downward and prepared the skill.
A blue magic circle symbolizing the ice attribute formed beneath my palm, and a bone-chilling cold spread outward.
— Ki, kiririruk….
Seeing me prepare the skill, the Dark Wyvern trembled in fear. Unfortunately, I wasn't kind or empathetic enough to show mercy even to monsters.
...For the defeated, there was only death.
"...Good."
All preparations for the skill were complete.
I gazed at the wyvern and finally activated Selverion's famed signature skill.
"...Frost Wave."
...A massive blue aura laden with extreme cold spread out in a circular wave. Everywhere it passed froze solid, not sparing a single grain of sand, emanating a chill that even ordinary people couldn't withstand.
The lower parts of the apartment rebar were all encased in ice too, making the scene look like a mini ice age had arrived.
— ….
The wyvern was frozen from head to tail tip. The endless screams it had been emitting had vanished into the cold.
"..."
I clenched my fist as I looked at it, and a sensation like popping a water balloon reverberated through my fingertips. The frozen wyvern shattered into beautiful ice crystals.
"...Not bad."
I muttered as I gazed at the wyvern, which had vanished without a trace. It was my first time using the skill, but its power and performance covered for my inexperience.
Especially since Frost Wave was an AoE skill, it'd be frequently and usefully employed against groups of enemies in the future.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Monster defeated! A+ grade monster 'Dark Wyvern (LV:1480)' has been defeated! Reward: A+ grade magic stone ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Combat ended.] [All passives deactivated.] "..."
With the wyvern defeated and combat over, the passives deactivated automatically. The monster defeat screen informed me that an A+ magic stone had dropped as the reward.
— Grrruk….
— Grruk….
The thunderclouds dispersing the Ashen Snowstorm faded away, and the ice golems vanished back into their unfolding magic circles.
All that remained in this frozen construction site was the A+ grade magic stone and the brightly shining sunlight.
"!!"
And one of the hundreds of 'light rifts' floating near the neighborhood began closing, like zipping up an open zipper.
It seemed the intel that each rift held one boss-grade monster was accurate.
"Hm..."
There were so many rifts in the sky that it barely showed, but at least the method to close them was clear now—something positive.
Though closing all those countless rifts would require hundreds or thousands of battles just in Seoul alone.
...Clearly, greater chaos lay ahead.
— Jia! Over here! The wyvern crashed this way!
— Was someone fighting?! Hey!! Is anyone there?! Are you okay?! We're players too! We'll help!!
"……!!"
At that moment, voices of a man and woman came from outside the construction site.
Calling themselves players, they must have been nearby, spotted the Dark Wyvern's emergence, and rushed here in a panic.
'Players...'
In this poor neighborhood, besides me, there were others who'd undergone the transformation process from Season Off Fantasy players. An unexpected fact.
"...Time to go."
If we ran into each other and they tried talking, it'd be a headache.
At the early stage of the incident, with vigilance against monsters at its peak, meeting someone and chatting—or revealing my identity—in Selverion's form, one of the worst offenders, felt premature.
...Besides, by taking down the Dark Wyvern and closing one rift, I'd done enough for today. Two battles fought, body roughly adapted—no regrets.
Now I just wanted to head home, check the situation in other parts of the country, and look into any new info.
No desire to take unnecessary risks.
...At least not yet.
"Er..."
...Before leaving the scene, I scratched my chin looking at the completely frozen construction site. I'd assumed no players nearby and used Selverion's skills freely—a hasty judgment.
But Season Off Fantasy had plenty of 'ice mages' or 'meteorologists' with similar skills, so it wasn't definitive proof of Selverion.
No need to worry too much.
"...Let's go."
I adjusted the mask covering my face and quickly slipped out of the construction site.
02.
"Hey!! Are you okay?!"
"We'll help t—Huh...?"
Amid successive explosions and screams, Dongwook and Jia, convinced someone was battling the wyvern in the construction site, hurried inside.
But what met their eyes was nothing but pristine white snow and a vast sheet of ice.
"It's all frozen...?"
"What is this...?"
The entire massive reconstruction site had turned into a perfect ice rink. Even through the insulated armor of Dongwook and Jia, the intense cold seeped in everywhere.
"H-Hey!!"
"Anyone there?!"
No wyvern, no one who'd presumably fought it and frozen the place. No matter how loudly Dongwook and Jia shouted, not even an ant appeared.
Judging by the wyvern that had plummeted like an ice block moments ago and the site's state, someone had clearly defeated it and left immediately.
"...Incredible."
Jia muttered, surveying the surroundings. As she said, turning this vast site into near ice age conditions in such short time meant the wyvern-slayer was undoubtedly a top-tier expert.
"Maybe a guild group?"
"...No."
Dongwook shook his head firmly at Jia's question. He pointed to a single small footprint in the ice-and-snow-mixed ground.
"...One set of footprints. Solo. Took down that Dark Wyvern alone."
"Alone?! No way—that's ranker-level strength!"
"Seems so."
Dongwook nodded at the startled Jia. He'd never imagined a Sio-pan ranker in this poor slum, but maybe someone like them who'd come from the provinces to Seoul for cheap digs.
"Ice mage... No, more likely a meteorologist."
Dongwook muttered while investigating the area.
Just from the ice coverage, it screamed ice mage specializing in ice magic, but the thunderclouds over the wyvern's head earlier pointed more to the rare class 'meteorologist' that could summon rain, blizzards, etc.
Season Off Fantasy had the standard 20 classes plus 4 rare ones.
And among them, 'meteorologist' boasted the highest utility of all. One who could whip up blizzards could solo a Dark Wyvern without issue.
"Meteorologist? A rare class—jealous..."
"Yeah."
Jia envied whoever it was, a rare class harder to get than stars in the sky. Dongwook agreed with her lament while continuing to examine the unbelievable icy scene.
"Hm...?"
Then his eyes caught gray snowflakes piled on an unfrozen patch of sand. Beautiful flakes that felt oddly pretty in their muted hue.
"Snowflakes? Or ash...?"
Tilting his head at the ambiguous beauty—snow or ash?—Dongwook knelt casually and scooped some into his palm without a second thought.
...That was when it happened.
"……?!!"
The instant he grasped something between the snow and ash, indescribable agony exploded from his fingertips through his body.
A horrific pain he'd never felt before, impossible to tell if burning or freezing.
"Ku, kuaaaaaah!!"
The pain spreading from his fingers throughout his body sent Dongwook rolling across the ice. In-game pain reduction had dulled such sensations, but now in reality, every pang echoed vividly.
"Kuaaaaaah!! U, uuuuugh!!"
His body barely moved, as if paralyzed. Burning throbs everywhere, and in his vision appeared a red holographic screen that only showed in dire emergencies.
⚠️ CRITICAL WARNING ⚠️ [Danger! HP Critical Threshold Reached!]
Vital signs have entered the red zone!
○ Status: Frozen
○ Attack Speed -20%
○ Movement Speed -20%
※ Specific body parts immobilized while Frozen persists.
※Recommend recovery item 'Ancient Warmth'.
※Retreat to safe zone with ally support immediately.
"HP, cr-critical...?"
Just grabbing a snowflake had dropped his HP gauge to the red zone—an unbelievable alert. Dongwook's pupils shook violently.
'No way. From just grabbing a snowball...? Me, a Holy Shield Knight...?'
Kim Dongwook, a Holy Shield Knight tanker who'd poured all stats into defense and HP. He boasted massive HP; it rarely even hit orange zone. He'd taken multiple Cyclops hits earlier and stayed green.
But plummeting to red from grabbing that unidentified snow-ash pile? Unbelievable.
And that wasn't all.
Frozen on top of that, plus 20% reductions to movement and attack speeds—what the hell were those ashen snowflakes?
"Kyaa, kyaak!! D-Dongwook!!"
"Kuh... kuh..."
...The priest Jia rushed to him writhing on the ice. She knelt urgently beside him and prepared her healing skill.
"Oh god, red zone HP and Frozen?! H-Hold on...!!"
Aghast at Dongwook teetering on death's door, Jia activated her healing skill.
"...'Goddess's Blessing'."
Goddess's Blessing.
The highest-grade healing skill available to Jia at level 800, it cured all status ailments and restored half HP. Long cooldown, but potent effect.
"Ugh... haa... haa..."
The pain ebbed gradually. HP refilled to orange zone, Frozen lifted. But the speed reductions lingered.
"Fuck..."
Dongwook grimaced at the inexplicable phenomenon.
Ashen snowflakes that dealt severe damage on touch, applied Frozen, and debuffs he'd never heard or seen before.
New object added in the transformation event?
"...No, wait."
...In that moment, a memory flashed in Dongwook's mind.
"Gray snowflakes, Frozen effect, damage, speed debuff...?"
Ashen snow inflicting Frozen and damage—somewhere he'd heard of it.
He hadn't paid much attention, being far from level 1000 himself, but in various Sio-pan videos, he'd seen sleet with matching effects.
"Ashen Snowstorm...?"
Didn't these perfectly match the passive from the worst boss no one in Season Off Fantasy had cleared: Ashen Snowstorm?
"N-No way..."
The boss guarding the hellishly difficult stage open only in December: 'World's End'.
A princess of ice and snowflowers, beautiful yet coldly cruel within.
"Se-Selverion...?"
...Frost of Ruin, God of Ruin 'Selverion'.
"Ah..."
Suddenly, an inexplicable chill and dread swept over Dongwook's entire body.