Winter (1)
I'd always thought the Four Seasons Forest was just a metaphorical name for a place teeming with all sorts of environmental chaos—a demonic wonderland where diverse seasons lived and breathed. And that was true enough. Just look across the river, and you'd see all kinds of terrain unfolding. The volcanic zone in particular? Total nightmare, no two ways about it.
But it wasn't just the volcanoes that were hellish. This place was no different. It was snowing lol.
YasaengGrill
(photo of the snow-covered forest)
(photo of the ground blanketed in white snow)
(photo of tools buried in snow)
Woke up freezing my ass off this morning like what the hell, and turns out it snowed overnight? Yesterday it was pouring rain like monsoon season, now this? Headache lol. How the fuck do I deal with all this shitty white garbage?
└Cheonma How pretty. But how can the seasons change overnight like that?
└SwordTasteStar Seems like that's just how the Four Seasons Forest works. Totally detached from common sense.
└ChangguPrincess Just like Cheonma-nim said, it's pretty~ Looks like something out of a fairy tale~
└Cheonma Hm. What business do you have speaking sensibly for once?
└ChangguPrincess Feels like I'll get banned if I keep going, so no thanks lol
└Overnight like that? Insane.
└That's why they call it the Four Seasons Forest.
└How do you even prepare when seasons swap out of nowhere? Unlivable lololol
└Most folks cut it off at a day;; Grill would've died to a mad dog without the Gallery.
└StarlightPrincess Switching straight to winter like that is weird. No omens or anything?
└YasaengGrill (photo of Wonmo, fat and round as hell) This one's plumped up super fast.
└StarlightPrincess Oh my. So cute. The name Wonmo really suits her.
└Yo, grab that fatty and roll her. Wanna see if she rolls good.
└lololol But fr, doesn't she roll pretty well?
└Wonmo! Roll!
└StarlightPrincess You people are really awful.
└SunForever Damn. Snow's rare as hell in our lands, but that place probably gets it whenever.
└Does it even snow in Setan? Ain't it a desert?
└It does, like beans in a drought. But when it hits, it's disaster-level—rain or snow turns into catastrophe.
└Why? Sand just soaks it up, right?
└When that sand clumps and collapses, you're fucked;; Plus most Setan houses are mud-built, super weak to rain.
└PassingDwarf But ain't you cold? Those clothes look thin.
└YasaengGrill Yeah, freeeezing. Got any spare clothes?
└PassingDwarf Got some extras. Custom orders go to my buddy tho.
└YasaengGrill Hook me up first. If it doesn't fit, I'll throw in another adult mandrake.
└PassingDwarf OK, just wait. Might take a bit to find winter gear for your build.
The sudden winter was bad enough, but the real killer was the plummeting temperature. Wonmo and Ppareumbo seemed fine thanks to their fur, but not me. It was bone-chilling cold, like it was slicing right through my skin. Even draping myself in the hides I'd been using as carpets did jack shit.
I miss heating... If only I could crank up the heat. Shivering, I scanned around the cave entrance. Aside from the snow piled high, nothing jumped out. But that wasn't enough to relax. I needed to check the other spots.
Did winter hit the gorillas' place too? Probably, but who knows. That was a tropical rainforest. I'd never heard of winter invading a jungle. Well, it's the Four Seasons Forest—anything's possible.
I huddled by the campfire, barely thawing out while waiting for the dwarf's message. Bonus: scouring the Gallery for info to distract from the cold.
└YasaengGrill Too damn cold—can't the internal power method do something?
└Cheonma Circulating the heart method will raise your body temperature somewhat. But you must do it consistently.
└SwordTasteStar Just like Cheonma-nim said. Think of it like generating body heat.
└YasaengGrill Thanks. Doing it now.
└Olfather Truly... a forest that's mysterious beyond wondrous. Winter overnight? No autumn traces at all?
└YasaengGrill No clue;; Hit me outta nowhere.
└Olfather I see. Still, having winter means you're lucky, Grill-nim.
└YasaengGrill What do you mean?
└Olfather Winter amps up energy drain from the cold. Places with only winter have big beasts on average, but four-season spots? Smaller ones. Bugs especially.
└Ah, heard that. Places good for humans are good for animals too.
└Weed's the opposite? Bugs there are huge lololol
└Weed's where fairies really live. Terrifying fr.
└SusanghalJeongdorok Thanks to that, us beastkin are mostly big... but good harvests every year make me proud lol. Y'all can't grow corn?
└Fuck, even in Jungwon it just sucks. Why's our land all shit?
└Shit my ass lololol Y'all claim nature-friendly but won't develop. Elves develop at least lololol
└Elves used to have that nature-loving image, right?
└Yeah but after the elf queen took the throne, development exploded. Unlocked their potential.
└Elf queen's a total psycho— one speech and she owns the public, drags 'em her way lol
└Fr, know what elves want. Makes it scarier.
└Even the council agreed she's a mad bitch lololol Amid the rumors and useless chatter, Olfather's info stuck out. Animals in winter zones are smaller on average. Meaning my spot's full of "average small" critters.
No. Bullshit. "Average small" like this? Wonmo's mom alone was house-sized. The saber-tooth tiger was legit house-scale. If that's average small, what the hell's big? Couldn't picture it—pure despair.
Shouldn't have asked. But the real problem's... Food. Shaking, I headed outside. Too cold to check earlier: the fish. Praying they weren't fucked, I peered into the fish trap.
"Aigoo. Frozen solid."
The water in the trap, and the fish too—totally iced. Natural freezer. I sighed. Toss 'em?
YasaengGrill
(photo of fish frozen solid)
Froze rock-hard in that short time—toss 'em? Or just pluck out the inner cores?
└Cheonma No need to worry. With inner cores, they won't die from freezing.
└YasaengGrill For real?
└Cheonma Would it be called an inner core for nothing? Trust this lady.
└SwordTasteStar You expect us to just trust blindly? Need some scientific backing.
└YasaengGrill Got any?
└SwordTasteStar Nah, I'm a martial arts meathead haha
└YasaengGrill ;;
└Cheonma And I hear that martial arts of yours wasn't even impressive.
└SwordTasteStar The fuck?
└Cheonma What did you say?
└SwordTasteStar Judaek-nim. Partak's being a menace;;
└Don'tAbandonHero Swearing's wrong too! But Cheonma-nim, don't do that anymore!!
└Olfather As Cheonma-nim says, with inner cores, they're still alive. Not hibernating—perfectly fine.
└YasaengGrill Can explain scientifically?
└Olfather Yes. Fish with inner cores mostly produce arderotoxin which... (excerpted)... that's how.
└YasaengGrill Oh, got it.
└Yeah. Totally understood.
└Was gonna explain myself.
└Bullshit harvest lololol
└Academy dropouts lolol
Even so, food worries lingered. Couldn't forage directly. River's probably frozen solid in this cold—have to check. Smoked tiger meat's a buffer, but no clue how long winter lasts.
The animals visiting my cave yesterday—prepping for winter? Made sense. Shivering, I tossed logs on the fire. No winter clothes meant barely any activity. Layered up in ChangguPrincess's stuff and KingLeor's uniform—still freezing. Without 'em, I'd be a popsicle already.
Any magic items that warm you up? Posted on the Gallery. Gotta warm the cave first, then decide on outings.
Any magic items that heat a whole room?
YasaengGrill
(campfire photo)
Campfire ain't cutting it—anything to heat a whole room?
└Cheonma This lady's chambers are always warm. Will ask my aides.
└SwordTasteStar There are, but just for beds. Whole house? Fireplace.
└YasaengGrill Can't a crystal orb heat a room?
└PassingDwarf That'd mean ripping up the whole floor? But your floor's got mithril.
└ChangguPrincess Dwarf-nim's right~. Better to reinforce the house than crystals~
└YasaengGrill So what's best?
└PassingDwarf Just build a fireplace. Easier to punch the ceiling than the floor.
└YasaengGrill That's hard tho...
└PassingDwarf Or freeze your ass lol
└YasaengGrill Sigh.
└PassingDwarf I'll post a rough build guide. Bricks make it easy. Gotta punch somewhere tho.
I chuckled dryly. Sudden winter meant repairs were mandatory.
Ceiling's better at least. Couldn't rip up the mithril floor. Planned materials and got to work.
PassingDwarf Here's your winter clothes. No shoes fit you. Thanks anyway.
That'll do. PassingDwarf Posting the guide now—check it. Got the winter gear first. Temp stuff—fur and leather screaming warmth. Hat's huge, like a hunter's getup with a rifle.
"Whoa."
Finally bearable. Feet still numb tho. Thick socks it is. Gallery had some perfect ones. Winter outfit complete—now the fireplace.
Dwarf said he'd post soon—follow that.
Fireplace blueprint. Check it.
PassingDwarf
(photo of fireplace cross-section diagram)
(photo of fireplace)
This should do? Principle's simple—you'll build quick.
└YasaengGrill Thanks. But fueling it means blocking the entrance, right?
└PassingDwarf Yeah, obviously. No doors—thick cloth or hides. Better that way.
└YasaengGrill OK
Cross-section showed the structure. Dwarf explained too. Not hard, but chimney's the issue. Seal brick gaps so no smoke leaks. Oven and forge used mud for that.
Meaning: clang! clank!
"Agh! Gonna lose it for real!"
Digging frozen ground was hell. Yesterday rain, today snow—dirt was ice now. Hot water? Nah, solo operation. Pouring water on winter ground? Insane.
Pickaxe mining it is. What a grind. Collected all the mud, bought a ladder at auction. To scout the ceiling.
Last ladder for butchering was short folding type. This one's tall.
Roughly here... Poke-poking for a spot when—
Plop—a white fleck landed on my glove. No feel, but then—
Plop-plop—more followed. Looked up.
Clouds had rolled in, blotting the sun.
Whoa...
Snow dumping from the sky. What a shithole. As if reading my mind—
Whiiiiiish!!!
"GYAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Snow evolved to blizzard in 30 seconds flat.
What the hell did I do wrong?! Dying of injustice here.