Disaster (1)
I'm fucked. (Photo of the cave entrance completely blocked by snow)
Looks like I'm really fucked. That's the conclusion I reached after much deliberation. I'm fucked.
└Cheonma Is that all snow?
└YasaengGrill Yeah. It's hardened from the cold, so I'm digging it out with a pickaxe.
└Cheonma Can't you just slice through it with sword aura?
└YasaengGrill It does cut, but no idea how much is piled up—it just keeps coming down.
└SwordTasteStar Isn't that dangerous? You could run out of oxygen;;
└YasaengGrill The chimney I cleared yesterday is keeping us going. Ppareumbo stuffed it with firewood and melted all the snow inside.
└SwordTasteStar Ppareumbo's saved your life how many times now?
└Why does that sentence feel so poetic?
└Just three sentences perfectly showing how fucked he is lololol
└It's got profanity but doesn't even feel like swearing lololol
└But can snow pile up like that? Is it because it's the Four Seasons Forest?
└Nah, that's not it. Happens a lot in heavy snow areas. Piles up to door height all the time.
└Just look at northern Messiah Empire. People shovel snow every day lololol
└Northern native here—shoveling snow pisses me off more than monster hunts. It's literal trash falling from the sky.
└Olfather Even so, that's an abnormal amount of snow. Hard to believe it piled up like that overnight.
└YasaengGrill Waves of it keep pouring down from above.
└Olfather Advice: spend less time on the Gallery and more digging? Seems risky.
I am digging nonstop. Sure, it's pickaxe-level "mining" rather than just shoveling, but I'm working hard. No clue how much is up top, but every time I dig, it collapses back in with a whoosh. If Ppareumbo hadn't fed the chimney firewood overnight, it would've clogged too. If our only oxygen source got blocked... I don't even want to imagine it.
Ppareumbo's a huge help not just in fights, but everyday life too.
But with snow like this, can other animals even survive?
Not just animals—plants too? No way they can grow properly under this. And yet, all these trees tower high enough to form a proper "forest." They must have the vitality to endure it, or there's some other reason.
If the forest's winter is this bad, how fucked are the other environments?
This relatively "normal" climate zone is already a mess. Snowy mountains or deserts would be as bad or worse. The gorilla jungle's probably no different. Doesn't make sense if it's just my spot.
Blindly digging forever won't cut it.
Climb out the chimney? Thought crossed my mind, but nah—too narrow. Get stuck and it's game over. Better to finish the entrance snow pile.
Gotta break through before more snow falls.
Another dump and I might be trapped here forever. Chimney or not, can't relax. Hell, the whole cave's worrying me. Snow packs serious weight when it settles. Can this slightly renovated cave (thanks to chimney work) even hold it?
Can't just sit and wait to die.
Good thing I've got plenty of firewood.
I pulled down the tent blocking the entrance and lit a new bonfire. Snow's frozen solid—melt it first. That's the plan. Not just waiting, though—dig again once it softens.
Crack! Thunk!
Time passed, snow melted, easier to dig. Watched so it wouldn't flood and douse the fire. How long later? No more collapsing in. End's in sight.
"Hoo!"
Labor with pickaxe and shovel. Results showed: cleared the snow stuffing the entrance. But just the entrance—outside's still buried. Entrance was way taller than me, and snow towered higher.
Russians and Canadians live like this?
How do they do it? Genuinely curious. Staring at the cleared entrance space, army days hit me. Shoveling snow, sprinkling calcium chloride so it wouldn't freeze solid.
Do they even have "calcium chloride" here?
This world's alchemy, not chemistry. Alchemy leads to chemistry, but elixirs suggest top-tier progress. Making calcium chloride shouldn't be hard.
If not, salt works too.
Heard salt melts ice, even if it's bad for the environment.
Questions later—sprinkle salt first.
Salt's auction-house buyable. Pricey but essential for survival, steady supply. Sprinkled on the exposed ground, dug next section. No new snow, so added bonfires along the way.
Issue: maintaining the path, expanding my range.
Need an emergency exit, not just chimney.
Gotta borrow wisdom from cold-climate folks soon. No clue how long this winter lasts, but it ain't short.
Finally, around lunchtime, tidied near the shelter.
Not barren like a snowy mountain—something's gotta be under here...
Clearing snow off oven and furnace, pondering. Like I said, this snow kills all life. Should be barren. Won't stay like this. Maybe back to normal tomorrow? Haven't been here long, plus all the chaos—wild guesses. Sudden winter, could flip to summer. Massive melt sounds comforting.
But fantasy aside, reality bites.
Might snow again—stash everything cave-friendly.
Frozen fish barrels, bellows, tools, etc. Couldn't move portable oven/furnace—left 'em. They're sturdy, won't collapse easy. Worst case, rebuild. Self-consolation.
Winter lockdown prep done. Quick Gallery break—
Rumble rumble—
Ominous noise, faint ground shake. Dove into cave, grabbed sword and shield. Not hiding—preparing. Lesson from living here: gear up, don't wait for doom.
Swish—
Ppareumbo reached out as I headed out. Wanna come? But he's guarding hibernating Wonmo. Ignored the paw, stepped out.
RUMBLE RUMBLE!!
Noise and shakes intensified. Something fast incoming. Tense as hell. No clue what. Circulated mana, manifested aura just in case.
Focused on sound/vibes—realized source.
Cave... back?
Opposite entrance. Turned head sharp. Not forest—behind cave. Weird, but Four Seasons Forest. Nothing's too strange. Even if it's
BOOMCRASH!!
not a "beast," but a "disaster."
"Wha. F—?"
Avalanche roared from cave rear like a tsunami—time slowed. Glanced down: Ppareumbo staring from cave, pity in his eyes like Why didn't you listen, dummy? Paw wasn't "let's go"—it was "stay."
WHOOSH!!
"Gah! Urk! Ugh!"
Even strong beasts are powerless vs. nature. Me too. Jammed sword in ground—useless. Cheonma blade too sharp—sliced right through snowpack. Backfired.
Direction it was dragging me... toward the river?
Chaos, but remembered: avalanche headed river-ward. Across river: ever-shifting terrain. Dangerous. Could never return to shelter.
Not sword—shield...!
Flailing with Cheonma shield, not sword. Catch branch, anything. Mostly buried, desperate thrashing—but gotta try. Survival means anything.
Snag!
Caught quick—felt clothes hook on tree? Was ready to ditch sword, but perfect stop.
"Urghghghgh!!"
Snow hit full force anyway. Held on till avalanche ended.
"Pwah!"
Long ordeal over. Avalanches usually pile snow—oddly swept clean. No burial, breathing fine.
"Cough! Cough!"
Looked around: bare earth—avalanche cleared all snow. Where am I? Not across river, thank god.
Not across.
Snagged tree near river—frozen river visible. Far side: totally different—pure white snowy mountain. That avalanche fed it. Snow moved? Forest shoved it out? Indistinguishable.
Was the terrain even avalanche-prone?
Mountains nearby? Confusing. Or forest "alive," self-cleaning. Weather this shit, no cleanup = no plants left. Like that snowy mountain. Solid theory.
Forest this bad—what about everywhere else?
Growing dread. Hurried fixes, headed back to cave.
"...Ah."
Faced wrecked shelter yard. Barricades gone, portable furnace and oven swept away. Rebuild those fine—barricades hurt.
This why no civilization?
Sweeps everything regular—can't build.
*****
While Grills filmed his solo disaster flick.
Shwooooosh!!!
Four Seasons Forest grasslands hit disaster too. Wet/dry seasons here—rainy season pours. Too much?
Grasslands don't absorb it all.
"Eep! Eep!"
"Grooo! Groo!"
Nope. Full-on "flood" ravaged animals. Worst hit: homeless ones, especially young/weak—swept away.
"Hm."
Watching live: Ludwig. Still in heavy armor for defense.
"So that's why these animals have long legs."
"..."
Riding giraffe to evade. Giraffes known temperamental, but this one chill. Head knobs showed good judgment.
Would've been bad without this beast.
Ludwig looked up at giraffe's face. Flooded plains, yet giraffe stood calm. Just ducked under big tree for shelter—stubbornly upright.
Thud!
Thump! Thump!
Huge sounds, ground shakes. Turned: unbelievable sight.
Thump! Thud! Thump!
Turtle. Land turtle—not sea. Not normal shell—massive "mountain" on back. Size insane. Heavy rains, animals climbed aboard. Grills would've called it living "Noah's Ark."
"..."
Ludwig eyed plodding turtle, turned away.
People live here?
Grills getting curioser. (Yard totally wiped—key point.)
Need high-ground shelter. Got fine giraffe—should work.
Giraffe, not horse.