Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Snow Hell (2)
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3.
Adventure was, of course, something whose difficulty varied enormously depending on the surrounding environment.
“Beyond the Mystic Gate, we don’t know what kind of environment might be waiting.”
Even hunting the same monsters, whether it was a forest or a mountain made all the difference in the world when it came to adventure difficulty.
“We might have to fight slimes in a reed field, ribbon pigs across vast plains, or run into stumps in a wasteland.”
That was one of the reasons Mystic Gate adventures were so tough.
“So if we end up in a reed field or plains, count our blessings. It’s better than a snow-covered forest or a sand-only desert.”
But the absolute worst were a snow-covered world and a scorching desert.
No exceptions.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say there was no stage more hellish for adventurers than those two.
And that made perfect sense.
Leaving monster hunting aside, just surviving in those places was no easy feat.
Which meant they were environments where even staying alive was a struggle.
Whooo!
The second adventure stage they faced was one of those—a snow-covered world. That was why El Pam’s party hardened their expressions as they stood before it.
Snow-covered environments were that awful for adventurers.
“Ugh!”
For starters, the cold itself was a problem.
“Put on your outer layers first.”
Adventurers always prepared clothing for eventualities, but honestly, it was hard to expect much in terms of cold resistance.
They had to minimize bulk for food and all sorts of other gear, so they couldn’t lug around endlessly thick outfits.
Plus, bulky clothes got in the way during combat. They restricted intense movements.
“Ugh, it’s cold.”
Even with outer layers on, it didn’t ward off the chill.
Kyuu!
Mano, the snail pet nestled in El Pam’s bosom, retreated fully into its shell.
At least El Pam and the others had it better.
“What about Kiri?”
For Kiri, clad in armor, this had to be the worst possible situation.
“I’m fine.”
Kiri answered calmly to that concern, prompting Dibo to flash a wry smile.
“Fine, my ass. How about wearing my clothes at least? Huh? You’ll freeze to death.”
Dibo’s words carried a mix of worry and consideration.
“No need.”
But Kiri shot down the offer without hesitation.
“What?”
Dibo, who’d mustered the courage to offer as a fellow party member, was understandably dumbfounded.
“Kiri doesn’t need it. She has a Sun Stone.”
“Huh? A Sun Stone?”
“It’s a stone the Cygnus Knights possess. Someone with the power of the sun infuses it with mana, and it keeps the body’s heat going.”
“Something like that exists? Damn, I worried for nothing!”
Dibo finally understood.
“Wait, so you’re not feeling the cold at all right now?”
“Not just not feeling it—she must be nice and toasty.”
No sooner had El Pam finished explaining than Dibo reached out and touched Kiri’s armor.
“Wh-what!”
“It’s really warm! Wow! No danger of freezing, then! Hell, something this good? A Sun Stone? How much does it go for?”
“About ten million mesos.”
“Oh!”
Ralph, who’d been quietly observing, lit up at the Sun Stone’s price.
“You’re carrying something that expensive?”
The tension eased all around.
They still didn’t know what this place held, what threats might lurk, yet here they were relaxing?
But El Pam saw no need to warn the party.
It wasn’t necessary.
Keeeh!
El Pam wasn’t the only one issuing the warning.
“Evil Eye?”
“No, Cold Eye.”
Cold Eyes looked similar to Evil Eyes but had white skin instead of yellow.
Of course, skin color wasn’t the only difference.
Their strength was on another level.
“Everyone, watch out for their breath. Prolonged exposure to it will frostbite whatever part of you it hits.”
Unlike regular Evil Eyes, which just had superior physical abilities, these had special powers.
“And be careful of their blood. It’s extremely cold and sticky.”
The most headache-inducing trait was the property of a Cold Eye’s blood.
“Wait, fighting without getting exposed to blood? Is that even possible?”
For warriors, who had no choice but to get splattered in the heat of battle, it was a mind-numbing prospect.
But El Pam wasn’t worried.
“There’s nothing else different about them from Evil Eyes.”
He’d done it before.
“We’ve hunted Evil Eyes until we were sick of them.”
For a full week, they’d hunted Evil Eyes until they were sick of them.
For a party like El Pam’s, dealing with Cold Eyes wasn’t all that difficult.
Of course, this was exactly as El Pam had intended.
He knew.
‘First stage: Evil Eyes. Second stage: snow-covered mountain and Cold Eyes.’
What this place held.
‘This alone wouldn’t make it a White Gate.’
He’d experienced it firsthand.
‘The boss monster, Snow Yeti, is what turns this place into Snow Hell.’
He knew the monster they’d have to face to survive here.
‘A real monster.’
And that Snow Yeti was strong enough to visit hell upon any adventurers who crossed its path.
Yeti were monsters that only appeared in the Elnas Mountains and were incredibly powerful.
‘A variant Yeti.’
Snow Yeti were mutants born among them with special abilities.
Meaning even seasoned veteran adventurers rarely knew of their existence.
‘An immortal monster.’
Its vitality was absurd, making Evil Eyes look like a joke.
Limbs severed, body turned into a porcupine pincushion of arrows—it wouldn’t die, only roar even more ferociously.
Its size was exceptional too.
‘And it has camouflage. Absolute in the snow.’
Crucially, the Snow Yeti here shared the same trait as the Cold Eyes.
Spotting one with snow-white skin in this snowy field was no easy task.
And there was one final reason.
‘You have to kill it to make the exit appear.’
The condition for finding the exit was hunting the boss monster.
That was another factor determining the difficulty between Red- and Orange-grade Mystic Gates.
You could abandon the boss hunt and escape in Red grades, but Orange sometimes made that impossible.
‘It won’t be a problem.’
Of course, El Pam was confident he could take down the Snow Yeti.
He wouldn’t have entered this Mystic Gate otherwise.
That was why he wasn’t worried about hunting the Snow Yeti.
He had only one thing on his mind.
‘Viper Nir. Handle him, and we’re good.’
4.
Viper Nir.
Not a famous name.
If you grabbed ten thousand adventurers in the harbor city of Lith and asked if they knew Viper Nir, 9,999 would say no.
The remaining one would say something like, “How do you know that name?”—then kill you on the spot.
That one would be a follower of the Black Mage.
That was how thoroughly shrouded in secrecy the man’s existence was. There were two reasons for it.
One was that he was one of the cards the Kania Merchant Group leader Evoc cherished more than anything.
Keeeh!
“Cold Eye.”
The other was his strength.
He’d never once failed to kill a target he set out to eliminate.
No exaggeration.
Keeehhh!
Facing over thirty charging Cold Eyes right now, Viper Nir proved it.
“Such a pain.”
For one thing, he showed not the slightest tension despite confronting those terrifying monsters alone.
There was no reason to.
Keeeh!
“Poison Mist.”
The moment he cast Poison Mist, the 3rd Circle poison-attribute spell.
Keeik!
Cold Eyes exposed to the poison let out grotesque shrieks as they collapsed to the ground, bodies convulsing.
The others were the same.
Puha!
Any Cold Eye that so much as brushed Viper Nir’s Poison Mist began to paralyze.
It was an incomprehensible sight.
Poison Mist was indeed stronger than the 2nd Circle spell Poison Breath in various ways.
But its power was nowhere near enough to paralyze a Cold Eye in one shot.
Even if it could, that would only happen if a 5th Circle or higher mage adventurer used the skill.
Not something a 3rd Circle mage like Viper Nir could pull off.
There was only one way it was possible.
Unique-grade items always mocked adventurers’ common sense and standards.
‘Hydra’s Fang never disappoints.’
Viper Nir’s Hydra’s Fang did exactly that.
This Unique item doubled the power of all poison magic simply by being possessed—100 percent amplification, or two-fold.
It turned every one of Viper Nir’s poison spells lethal.
But that wasn’t the only thing making him deadly.
“Nir-nim, we’ll handle the cleanup.”
Subordinates surrounded him, ready to aid.
Men who would face death at his slightest word.
“Exit?”
“We haven’t found it yet. Looks like we need to hunt the boss monster for it to appear.”
“Perfect.”
That was why Nir didn’t put much stock in boss hunting.
“They won’t be leaving this place.”
The only thing that mattered was fulfilling the orders.
Naturally, he had no doubts about that either.
The targeted adventurers were all nobodies to begin with.
Truth be told, he’d already taken care of them.
The moment they reached the second stage, Viper Nir had bared his hidden fangs and eliminated every adventurer.
“So, the El Pam party?”
Only one remained: El Pam’s party.
Honestly, nothing to worry about.
For Viper Nir and his men—who’d already slain over thirty adventurers—to fret over a measly four-person party would be like a lion fretting over a rabbit.
“They haven’t shown up yet?”
The only annoyance was that no trace of El Pam’s party had appeared so far.
“Not yet.”
Of course, he wasn’t too concerned about that either.
“But if they do, we’ll pinpoint their location in no time.”
He’d taken measures.
“There’s already a betrayer in their midst.”
Foolproof measures.
Exactly as stated.
Before this Mystic Gate adventure, the Kania Merchant Group had made contact with El Pam’s party.
And bought off one of them.
“Money is one scary thing.”
Money—a massive sum of it.
That was why he was certain.
“More poisonous than any venom.”
In a sense, it was the deadliest poison for adventurers.
Once addicted, there was no escape.
Which meant the one poisoned by it had no choice but to play the traitor perfectly.
“Nir-nim.”
That certainty soon bore fruit.
“The betrayer left a mark. El Pam’s party has entered the second stage.”
Viper Nir didn’t hesitate upon seeing it.
“Time to hunt.”