[The Frozen Spire – Floor 13: The Whiteout] [Time: 04:00 PM]
Floors 6 through 12 were a blur of violence and snow.
We fought ice golems (I tripped them, Seraphina shattered them). We fought frost wyverns (I increased gravity to ground them, she turned them into popsicles). We were a machine. A perfectly oiled, lethal machine.
But Floor 13 was trying to kill us without monsters.
"Visibility is zero," Seraphina shouted.
She was right. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. The wind here wasn't just wind; it was a wall of solid force, carrying razor-sharp ice crystals that scoured our armor.
[System: Environmental Hazard Level: Critical. Ambient Temperature: -60°C. Wind Chill: -85°C. Your 'Night-Weave Suit' is filing a union complaint.]
"We need to find the exit!" I yelled back, leaning into the wind. I was using my gravity manipulation to anchor us to the ground, otherwise, we would have been blown off the side of the Spire hours ago.
"I can't track the mana flow!" Seraphina's voice was thin. She sounded exhausted. " The storm is scrambling my senses!"
I looked at her. Her skin was pale, even for the Ice Queen. Her lips were turning a dangerous shade of blue.
"You're freezing," I realized. "I thought you were immune to cold?"
"I am," she chattered, her teeth clicking together. "But... I've used too much mana. Mana Hypothermia. My internal core... is freezing over."
If an Ice Mage overuses their power, they don't burn out; they freeze from the inside out. If we didn't stop, she would turn into a statue.
"We need shelter," I decided.
I scanned the white void. Nothing. Just endless ice.
"System," I thought desperately. "Topographical scan. Is there a cave? A hole? Anything?"
[System: Scanning... One anomaly detected. 30 meters to your East. A crevice in the glacier wall.]
"This way!"
I grabbed Seraphina's arm. She stumbled, her legs stiff. I practically dragged her through the howling wind until I saw the dark crack in the ice wall.
I shoved her inside and squeezed in after her.
[The Ice Crevice – Temporary Shelter]
The wind noise dropped instantly, muffled by the thick walls of the glacier. It was a small pocket, barely big enough for two people to sit.
It was dark, and it was cold.
Seraphina slid down the wall, curling into a ball. She was shivering violently now.
"I... I can't feel my fingers," she whispered.
I checked my inventory. I was out of thermal crystals. The portable heater had broken on Floor 9.
"I have to generate heat," I muttered.
I looked at the floor. Stone and ice.
Physics. Heat is just kinetic energy. Molecular agitation.
I knelt in front of her.
"Seraphina, I need you to trust me."
She looked up, her eyes glassy. "What... are you... doing?"
"I'm going to make it hot."
[System: Phrasing.]
"Shut up."
I placed both hands on the rocky floor of the cave. I closed my eyes and focused on the atoms in the stone. They were vibrating slowly, sluggish from the cold.
I needed to speed them up.
[Active Skill: Friction Manipulation] [Target: Molecular Structure (Stone)] [Intensity: Maximum] [Mana Cost: High]
I pumped mana into the rock. Move, I commanded the atoms. Rub against each other. Create friction.
The stone beneath my hands began to hum. Then, it began to glow. A dull red, then a bright orange.
Heat radiated upward.
"Get close," I told her.
Seraphina leaned forward, holding her trembling hands over the glowing patch of rock. The warmth hit us like a physical wave. The air in the tiny cave began to thaw.
"It's... warm," she breathed, the color slowly returning to her cheeks.
I kept pumping mana into the rock, maintaining the reaction. It was exhausting, like running a marathon while doing calculus, but it was working.
We sat there for a long time, huddling over the glowing stone like cavemen discovering fire.
"You saved me again," Seraphina said softly. The shivering had stopped.
"You'd do the same for me," I said, focused on the rock.
"I would," she admitted. She looked at me, her blue eyes intense in the orange glow. "You know... everyone told me not to trust a Porter. They said you were all thieves or cowards."
She let out a bitter laugh.
"But the 'Heroes' in the White Tiger Guild? They would have left me to freeze to save their own skins. You... you're different, Ash."
She reached out and placed her hand over mine. Her skin was still cool, but human.
"When this is over," she said, "Join my team. Officially. Not as a Porter. As a partner. We could climb to the top. The real top."
My heart hammered against my ribs.
She was offering me everything. Status. Money. A way out of the shadows.
But the phone in my pocket felt heavy. The Chairman didn't let people quit. And if I didn't kill her... he would kill my mother.
"I... I'll think about it," I lied. My voice sounded hollow.
Seraphina smiled, closing her eyes. "Okay. Just think about it."
She leaned her head back against the wall, exhausted. Within minutes, her breathing evened out. She was asleep.
I sat there, keeping the rock warm, watching her sleep. She looked peaceful. Not like the terrifying Ice Queen. Just a girl who missed her mom.
BZZZT.
My phone vibrated.
I froze. There was no signal in a dungeon. It shouldn't be possible.
I pulled it out. The screen was glowing red.
[The Chairman: Detected proximity to Target Objective.] [The Chairman: You are hesitating, Ash. I am monitoring your biometrics. Your heart rate indicates conflict.] [The Chairman: Let me provide some motivation.]
A video file popped up.
I pressed play.
It was a live feed. My mother's hospital room.
She was sleeping. But there was a shadow in the corner of the room. A figure standing in the dark, holding a scalpel.
[The Chairman: The Heart of Winter, or her heart. You have until you exit the dungeon to decide.]
The video cut.
I stared at the black screen, my grip tightening until the phone frame cracked.
Rage. Pure, white-hot rage flooded my veins.
He wasn't just threatening me. He was in her room. right now.
I looked at Seraphina. If I killed her, I saved my mom. If I didn't, my mom died.
It was the Trolley Problem. But the trolley was me.
"System," I whispered, my voice trembling with fury. "Is there a third option?"
[System: There is always a third option. But it usually requires breaking the game. And the Chairman holds the admin keys.]
"Then I need to steal the keys," I said.
I looked at the glowing rock.
"I'm not killing her," I decided. "And I'm not letting my mom die."
I stood up, extinguishing the heat in the rock. The cold began to creep back in.
"Wake up, Seraphina," I said, shaking her shoulder. "The storm is passing."
She blinked awake, rubbing her eyes. "Already?"
"Yeah." I helped her up. My face was a mask of determination. "We have a dungeon to clear. And a Boss to kill."
And a Chairman to burn, I added silently.
I hefted my hammer.
"Let's go get your mother's cure."
[End of Chapter 19]