Winter (2)
I’ve thought this before, many times, but God must really hate me. Otherwise, why send a blizzard right when I can’t repair my house?
‘But didn’t I hate him first?’
I’d spent my whole life resenting God because I didn’t want to hate people, but maybe that’s how the snowball started rolling. Lost in half-baked, dog-shit philosophy, I waited out the blizzard.
The situation outside the cave was a total disaster. The landscape was buried in snow. I’d never even seen a blizzard back on Earth, so dealing with one here felt absurd.
Save me, YasaengGrill
(photo of the blizzard raging outside the cave)
Now it’s a full-blown blizzard. Someone save me.
└Cheonma What a mess. How willful.
└SwordTasteStar The animals living there are amazing. How do they survive in that environment?
└YasaengGrill Seems like instinct. Wonmo’s gotten fat, so yeah.
└Cheonma Fine for Wonmo, but what about Ppareumbo? Any changes?
└YasaengGrill Nah. Still got that dumb look on its face.
└They’ve adapted, that’s how they survive lol
└Wonder what the gorillas are up to.
└Eating bananas?
└What if yellow dust hits in spring too? lololol
└Where’s the sand even come from?
└Across the river—it changes every time. Hits right when spring turns to desert season.
└That’s kinda plausible, gives me chills lololol
└Yellow dust on top of blizzard? Legendary lolol Blizzard’s bad enough, but spring dust storm? I’d lose my mind.
But the problem was, it wasn’t impossible—it was likely. This damn forest turns the impossible into reality, a place where miracles walk around. It already defies common sense with its seas and rivers; why would weather be any different?
‘And the blizzard’s stopped in the meantime.’
The blizzard had swept in like it meant to bury everything—and now it was gone. All that remained was piles of white garbage from the sky.
Good thing this wasn’t the army. Back there, trash from the sky never ended, no matter how much you cleaned.
‘Could come back anytime.’
Better hurry. I grabbed my pickaxe and climbed to the spot I’d marked on the ceiling beforehand.
Not punching straight through—that’d just waste effort. Clang! Clang! Crunch!
Just enough to make a hole. I poked my face through the small opening in the ceiling.
Ppareumbo stared up at me with its usual blank expression.
Now, using this hole as a base, I could stack bricks bit by bit. First, though, boil some water to melt the dirt...
‘Oh. Right.’
It hit me late. I opened the valve connected to the hose to check the water.
As expected, nothing came out. River’s probably frozen. Even if not, the hose might be iced up inside.
‘Gotta make water from snow.’
Thanks to the fresh blizzard, snow was piled thick enough to crunch underfoot. That made it possible.
I’d prep the base for the fireplace while the water boiled. The structure wasn’t complex, but first time meant caution.
‘Floor first, before stacking bricks.’
Repaired the floor so ash wouldn’t pile up but drain below. And for smooth outside air inflow.
Lots of features to nail, so I went in and out of the cave a ton. But temperature tied straight to survival. Worth the hassle if I didn’t freeze.
Folks from warm places wouldn’t get it, but winter’s brutal everywhere. Prep for all threats in good weather, or die from cold, starvation, whatever. Korea’s kimchi-making season was for that.
They say: ‘Every season lays the foundation to survive winter.’
Prepping for cold got me worrying about diseases too. Especially colds.
‘Why don’t humans have fur? ‘Cause it burns easy?’
I pondered why we’re so prone to colds without fur and decided to ask Olfather soon.
Anyway, dug the ground too. Now, stack the bricks.
Plan was mud between bricks like cement, so hot water first. Boiling outside to melt nearby ground too.
“Huh?”
“Kkiooong...”
Some weird animal by the bonfire. Thought it was a raccoon at first, but no—raccoon dog. A raccoon dog warming its paws by the fire.
Not inside the cave, so fine. But if it lingers, shoo it.
‘Or Ppareumbo’ll handle the lesson.’
As I thought that and lifted the hot water container, the raccoon dog glanced at me—then shoved its hand straight into the fire.
Literal hand-in-fire. I was shocked. That’d burn beyond blisters—full blaze.
But this is the Four Seasons Forest, where little things pack a vicious punch.
Whoosh!
Its hand caught fire, blazing away. The raccoon dog just looked at it.
“Yam.”
And stuck it in its mouth. Like eating fire.
I was too stunned to speak. Then it strutted off into the forest like nothing.
What the hell? Was the fire like a heater for it?
‘Yeah. Understanding’s a loss.’
My nose was numb from cold. I started stacking the fireplace as planned.
One row, mud layer. One row, mud layer. Checked tight per instructions—thoroughly.
Meant to smear mud by hand, but too cold—bought a tool. Auction house had cement trowels. Lifesaver.
‘Chimney’s left...’
Hardest part: chimney narrowing upward. Mud wouldn’t hold like before—needed another way.
‘Frame required.’
Mud, not cement, so frame key. Auctioned a metal barrel.
Stepped out to hammer—don’t wanna wake Wonmo.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Cut to plank shape first. Aura-infused sword did it.
Then hollowed leaving edges. Frame done.
Overall ㄷ-shape, thick and sturdy.
‘Size should fit.’
As long as smoke escapes fine. If it collapses... stack harder next time. Best I got.
Stacked up to the ceiling hole. Indoor work done—out again.
Items: sticky mud, bricks, pickaxe, hammer last.
Crunch! Rumble!
Widened hole with pickaxe, fine-tuned with hammer. Hole bigger than chimney due to imprecision—fine. Brought mud for that.
Subspace bag made carrying easy.
“Alright. Done!”
Chimney neat—makeshift fireplace complete. Kinda weird with chimney poking out the cave roof.
But not fully done. Test performance.
“Hoo.”
Breath thicker—colder? Cleared rock debris, added firewood.
Crackle! Crackle-crackle! Crackle!
Bonfire roared, cozy vibe. Heartwarming already, but not over.
Cold draft sneaking in entrance. Block that first.
‘Dwarf said insulate with thick cloth or hide.’
Tiger hide too small. Stack big cloths for now. Perfect timing—no blizzard.
Nail firm. For blizzards, weight bottom with stones.
‘Blocking entrance warms it up.’
Why chimney: seal entrance. Bonfire needed open for safety; fireplace doesn’t.
Cave grew cozy. Ppareumbo sidled up to warm itself.
“Nice, right?”
“...”
It nodded at my question. Made me grin for no reason.
Time to post to Gallery. Snapped fireplace pics, uploaded.
Took 2 hours just for this—lost track focusing.
Fireplace Complete
YasaengGrill
(photo of bonfire roaring in fireplace)
(photo of Ppareumbo staring at fire)
(photo of Wonmo sleeping by bonfire now)
Makeshift fireplace, 2 hours. Should coast through winter haha
└Cheonma Always thought so, but your handiwork’s impressive. A fireplace, even.
└SwordTasteStar I agree. Always been that skilled with crafts?
└YasaengGrill Folded origami paper like a pro back in the day.
└That counts as handiwork??
└It does. I know how but can’t lololol
└True, some got shit hands, some gold hands yeah
└PassingDwarf Not bad at all. Mud between bricks?
└YasaengGrill Yeah. Frame I hacked together.
└PassingDwarf Oh lol Saw smoke from chimney?
└YasaengGrill Didn’t check, but should be fine.
└PassingDwarf Check now unless you wanna be a corpse tomorrow.
└YasaengGrill Too annoying.
└PassingDwarf Die then lol
Annoying, but checked chimney smoke. Felt the insane indoor-outdoor temp gap.
Fireplace works great—inside’s toasty.
‘Need a break.’
Body heavy from focus. Lunch first, then rest. Smoked meat, of course. Fireplace cooks easy.
‘Inner core to Ppareumbo, Wonmo... nah?’
Wonmo hibernating? Dead asleep despite my work, curled tight.
Let it be—wakes if hungry.
Dug Gallery post-meal for digestion.
Chaeyu vs Beger: Kone’s Preemptive Gooooal!!!
‘Oh, game today?’
ChangguPrincess posted—match related. Too busy, missed it. She’ll be bummed. Comment now.
Chaeyu vs Beger: Kone’s Preemptive Gooooal!!!
ChangguPrincess
(video of goal at 5 min)
This is an attack line! This is Chaeyu! This is buildup!! Got it?! LeoR trash!!
└KingLeor lololol So pumped. Still won’t make playoffs.
└ChangguPrincess Yup~ Trophy-less this season too~
└KingLeor You got a cup in 10 years?
└ChangguPrincess We’ll take Devil Cup. Unlike some trophy-less lol
└KingLeor Still get wrecked next season lol Enjoy.
└ChangguPrincess (video of LeoR conceding at 6 min) Huh? What’s this? Stinky goal!
└KingLeor Fuck, conceded again? Bullshit.
└lolololololol
└lololololololol
└ChangguPrincess That punk’s vicious lololol
└Chaeyu fans always spicy lolol
└YasaengGrill Game today? Too busy, sorry. Chaeyu fighting!
└ChangguPrincess Yay! Saint appeared, we win today! Score prediction?
└YasaengGrill They attack hard but concede a lot. Weak D, so 4-2. Chaeyu 4 goals.
└ChangguPrincess 4 goals! Thanks!
└KingLeor Sir, what’s ours?
└YasaengGrill Don’t watch LeoR much, but you’ll lose. Last game comeback loss.
└KingLeor Why us bad when Chaeyu good...
└YasaengGrill That goal shows focus drop clear as day?
└ChangguPrincess Doubting the Saint?! Rude!
└KingLeor Sigh, fuck, stamina drop real—hard to argue.
ChangguPrincess and KingLeor always bickering during games. Opposites attract—rival fans, similar vibes.
Whiiiiiing!!!
While browsing Gallery, another blizzard? Tent puffed then deflated repeatedly. Razor winds extra.
Weather all over—stay in awhile. Rain sucks; blizzard worse.
‘Run some cultivation.’
1 hour Internal Power Method. 30 min sword training. Checked Gallery as game end neared.
Chaeyu vs Beger: Final 4-2! Chaeyu wins showing defensive woes, as Saint predicted!
LeoR vs Balrog: Final 0-2. Shocking loss from stamina drop.
Exactly as I predicted. My comment became holy pilgrimage site.
Kinda eerie, but chalked to coincidence.
‘More than that...’
I eyed Ppareumbo still fire-gazing. Wasn’t like this pre-fire. Why?
“Hey. Eyes’ll go bad. Back up.”
“...”
“Oi. Back up, I said.”
I get Mom prying me from the computer now.