Chapter 125: Land of the Yeti 1
As the final sound of the countdown faded, Moira Lynch’s vision went black. When she could see again, she found herself in a massive cave.
The surroundings were pitch-black.
Moira Lynch scanned the area. After confirming she was alone, she didn’t rush to act.
After a few minutes, the game’s notification sound still hadn’t played.
Based on her previous experience, the game notification should have sounded long ago.
’Could it be that there’s no prompt for this round?’
Moira Lynch waited a while longer, but the game’s sound still didn’t play.
Reaching out, Moira Lynch felt her surroundings and determined she was in a circular space.
’Since there’s no prompt this round, I’ll just have to get out of here first.’
Moira Lynch touched the wall and easily scraped off some debris. It seemed the thing trapping her wasn’t very sturdy.
Even so, Moira Lynch didn’t rush to break out. Instead, she released her spiritual power to investigate her surroundings first.
Her spiritual power told her she was trapped in a sphere, and that there were dozens, even hundreds, of similar spheres all around.
The scene made Moira Lynch wonder, ’The other players couldn’t be trapped in these spheres just like me, could they?’
Just then, her spiritual power detected the sound of heavy footsteps in the distance.
Already clear on the cave’s layout, Moira Lynch controlled her sphere, weaving quickly through the others until she came to a stop in a hidden corner.
At the same time, the RUMBLE of a great stone being moved echoed through the cave. A bone-chilling wind immediately blew in from outside.
Even with the protective shell around her, Moira Lynch shivered from the cold. She quickly removed the Chimefin scale she had on her and activated her temperature-regulating clothes.
Once she had warmed up, Moira Lynch began to observe the situation outside.
Two burly creatures walked in from outside the cave.
Since she couldn’t use her eyes, Moira Lynch could only confirm they were massive. They had two ox-horn-like objects on their heads, but she couldn’t tell if they were ornaments or natural.
Moira Lynch’s hiding spot was clever—a recess in the wall. Her entire sphere was concealed by the shadows within it, impossible to spot unless someone came very close for a careful look.
But even so, Moira Lynch didn’t dare move a muscle inside her sphere. She held her breath, afraid of making the slightest sound.
The two giant creatures stopped in front of a pile of what were, to them, tiny spheres. They produced a basket from somewhere and began to pick and choose among them.
After a while, once they had filled a basket with the small spheres, the two massive creatures stopped their work, stood up, and left the cave.
The cave entrance was once again blocked by the great stone.
This time, Moira Lynch "saw" it clearly: one of the creatures had lifted a stone several times its own size with its bare hands and used it to block the entrance.
Moira Lynch didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until the two creatures were completely gone.
She took a shovel from her storage space and, in just a few strikes, shattered the sphere trapping her.
The moment she broke free, the familiar game notification sound chimed in Moira Lynch’s ears.
[Hello, dear player! Congratulations on completing the first phase of the mission. This instance will be divided into one main quest, several phased quests, and unscheduled side quests.
Only by completing the main quest can you clear the game. Completing side quests will grant additional rewards.
On the planet of Glacius lives the Yeti race. Due to their racial traits, the normally docile Yetis will become extremely frenzied at specific times, attacking any race within their territory other than their own.
Now issuing the second phase mission: Escape the cave.
Friendly reminder: The lowest temperature on Glacius can reach minus one hundred degrees Celsius. Please take measures to stay warm.]
As the system prompt ended, Moira Lynch scanned her surroundings, searching for a way out.
’If I’m not mistaken,’ she thought, ’those two creatures from before must be the Yetis.’
Moira Lynch first ran to the entrance. A short distance for a Yeti took her several minutes to cover.
She inspected it carefully and confirmed it was sealed tight with stone, without a single gap.
’The only way out is blocked. I’ll have to find another way to leave.’
The ground beneath her feet was permafrost, frozen rock-hard, so her idea of digging a tunnel to escape wouldn’t work.
Besides, even if she could dig through it, it would take far too much time.
Moira Lynch grew anxious and began to pace back and forth.
’If the Yetis were to return now, I might be able to use the Illusion Cloak’s Invisibility ability to slip out.’
But the Yetis had just been here; they probably wouldn’t return anytime soon. That plan was out.
Just as Moira Lynch was considering starting a fire to lure the Yetis back, she felt a cold draft on the back of her neck, making her shiver involuntarily.
Moira Lynch looked to the side. There was nothing there but a pile of rocks.
Though it was just a pile of rocks, it was as tall as she was.
’Still, a pile of rocks in a place like this is strange in itself.’
As Moira Lynch approached, she felt gusts of cold wind against her body.
Her immediate thought was that there might be an exit behind it.
Probably because it was near an exit, the pile of rocks was frozen solid.
Moira Lynch took out a flamethrower, pulling away the rocks as she thawed them.
As the pile of rocks at her feet grew, the wind blowing from the cracks became even colder. Even holding the flamethrower, Moira Lynch felt her fingers going numb.
Remembering the system’s friendly reminder, Moira Lynch paused. She took a white down jacket from her storage space and activated the warming function of her Illusion Cloak.
Once she was fully kitted out, she resumed her work.
About an hour later, Moira Lynch had finally cleared away the entire pile of rocks, revealing an opening as tall as she was.
A flash of joy lit up Moira Lynch’s eyes. She stepped forward and ducked into the opening.
Before leaving, to avoid leaving any trace of her passage, Moira Lynch gathered all the scattered rocks and used them to block the opening again.
The passage was dark, but that was no issue for Moira Lynch.
She looked around. The passage didn’t seem to be a natural formation; it looked like it had been dug out by some creature.