A certain snowfield in an unknown place.
In every direction, only snow stretched as far as the eye could see. The sky continuously poured more snow onto the ground, forming a never-ending white blanket.
A young man with black hair and black pupils trudged forward at a slow pace, clearly struggling to cross the snow. Sometimes he would stop, take a small detour to avoid something, then continue in the same direction. Occasionally, he used his skill to leap across vast stretches of snow instantly.
After walking for who knows how long, he spotted a dried-up tree covered in snow. Carefully inspecting the area, he finally sat beside the tree to recover his mana,a task he urgently needed.
The winds were harsh enough to freeze the lungs; one wrong breath could be fatal. A miserable death indeed.
This place is more dangerous than I thought. Sigh~
While restoring his mana, he reflected on what had happened since arriving here. He had successfully avoided the deadly trap when landing earlier, but spears had flown at his face without warning. If not for his Concentration skill, he would have been dead instantly. His improved reaction speed was the only reason he had survived.
Visiting Arte's Tower before coming here was the right choice; otherwise, I'd be buried under the snow by now.
The spears didn't stop, either. They seemed to anticipate where he would land next. And these weren't ordinary spears,they were coated in thick poison from tip to base, a pale green with a strange smell. Even a scratch would be fatal.
Eventually, Rio deduced the cause. Like every trap, these spears had a triggering mechanism. The snow on the ground was it. Step wrong, and the mechanism would fire continuously.
There was only one solution he could think of:
[Concentration!]
[Body Strengthening!]
After activating both, he simply ran like crazy until he reached a zone free of spear traps,a crude but temporary solution. With no wind mage to assist him, he had to rely entirely on himself.
The withered trees scattered across the snowfield acted as temporary safe zones, allowing him to rest. Twice this method worked.
But the third tree betrayed him. As he was about to sit beneath it, the tree exploded, blasting snow in a ten-meter radius. Rio was hurled into the air, spinning wildly. Below him, the poisoned spears appeared once again.
From that day on, Rio lost all trust in trees. Each one he encountered had to be inspected thoroughly. After all, no one enjoys skydiving without safety measures,except perhaps some superhumans.
He even used one of his precious healing potions to recover from the explosion's aftereffects. The real attack wasn't the blast itself, but the sharp ice shards raining down afterward. Rio ran again, dodging every flying shard.
It seemed he had been running non-stop since arriving, but one thing was clear: the traps would never end.
This entire place was filled with lethal hazards, and even monster hordes roamed these godforsaken snowfields.
Three hours after the tree incident, Rio carefully passed through a narrow valley. He knew valleys like this usually contained dangers, but climbing the surrounding mountain would have wasted time and mana. The mountain also had withered trees (never trust a tree), and who knew if it, too, was a trap? One wrong step and no potion could save him.
Crossing the valley remained uneventful,until the snow wolves appeared.
Those damn snow wolves…
Even remembering them made him furious. At first, he had thought only a few wolves were blocking his path. He killed them quickly and moved on, only to realize later that it was part of a migrating horde.
By disturbing them, he had effectively stabbed a hornet's nest. Two hundred wolves chased him for eight relentless hours. Despite killing around seventy, the pursuit continued until one tree,ironically a safe one,offered temporary refuge. The wolves actually avoided it, perhaps learning from previous experiences with exploding trees.
Sometimes a tree saved him, sometimes it nearly killed him. He had already used two healing potions dealing with explosions and traps.
Returning to the present, Rio couldn't help but glance warily at the tree beside him, wondering when it might betray him next.
If I didn't already know my father created this place, I'd think I was being deliberately targeted. Or maybe my own father is targeting me deliberately…
With those thoughts, Rio moved onward. It was already the second day since he had arrived. He needed to escape quickly; he wasn't confident he could survive more than five days here. The dim sunlight, blocked by dense clouds, provided no dry wood for fire, and the wolves left no prey behind. Nothing alive had crossed his path besides them.
This place is clearly designed for peak B-rankers.
Rio was supposed to enter here at B-rank, but fate had other plans. Now, survival depended entirely on his willpower,and he had no intention of dying here.
He checked the card that had brought him here. An arrow symbol on it pointed the direction he needed to go, functioning like a magical compass. Without it, he would have spent over a month navigating blindly, a disaster that would have surely led to suspension from the academy. Privileged students like Link might have avoided such penalties, but extras like Rio would have suffered.
Shaking his head, Rio set those thoughts aside.
Being an extra has its advantages and disadvantages, but I still prefer being an extra.