Chapter 39: Blades in the Snow

The blade pressed against Luke’s chest with startling speed.

“I want answers,” the boy demanded, eyes sharp and focused.

Luke didn’t flinch. Instead, he met the force with equal resolve, slapping the sword aside. “Then I want some too.”

The boy shifted back briefly, about to strike again—

But something moved behind him.

A blur of white.

A hand gripped him by the collar and hurled him across the room. He hit the wooden wall with a dull thud, groaning.

By the time he looked up, a kukri was pressed against his neck.

“A skeleton?! What the hell?!” The boy panicked, trying to raise his hand to fight back, but Luke grabbed his wrist mid-motion and pushed his own blade inches from the boy’s eye.

“If you touch her,” Luke said calmly, his voice like ice, “you’re going to lose an eye. I won’t kill you. But I won’t hesitate to blind you.”

The boy froze, breath caught in his throat.

Luke continued. “You know, I’m a little irritated myself. I dragged your frozen ass out of the snow, built that fire, gave you a blanket, even made sure you didn’t die of dehydration while unconscious. The least you could offer is a little damn courtesy.”

The boy glanced between Luke and the skeletal figure beside him.

Finally, with a sigh of resignation, he dismissed his weapon into his inventory and raised both hands.

“My name’s Allison.”

“Luke,” he replied, nodding toward the skeleton.

Allison is a girl’s name… but this guy’s a man. Maybe in his country it’s unisex.

At his signal, the skeletal warrior backed off. Luke never lowered his guard.

“You… you’re friends with that thing? It’s not going to kill me, right?”

“She’s not going to kill anyone,” Luke replied, picking up a chunk of meat that had fallen onto the floor. “Unless you give her a reason.”

“Sorry… about before,” Allison said, rubbing his arm awkwardly. “And… thanks. For helping with the Yetis, and… everything.”

“Forget it. We’re both tutorial participants. Watching each other’s backs is kind of the point.”

At that moment, a loud growl echoed through the cabin.

Allison’s face went red. “That was my stomach…”

Luke exhaled and gestured toward the fire, where a slab of meat roasted on a crude spit.

“Can I—?”

“Eat. And while you do, we’re going to talk.”

Apparently I’ve become a babysitter.

***

They sat by the fire, sharing the warmth and the meal. Allison was still wrapped in the makeshift wolf-pelt blanket, holding the steaming meat like it was the best thing he’d ever tasted.

He began explaining his side of things.

Unlike Luke, he’d already spent three full days in this frozen nightmare.

“So you’re just as lost as I am,” Luke muttered.

“Yeah. From what I understand, we were supposed to spawn close to the main group, probably near the city. But for some reason, you and I got dumped way out here in the wild.”

Luke considered his words for a moment.

“That’s not exactly what happened to me.”

Allison looked up, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I wasn’t teleported far from the others,” Luke said, voice low. “Actually… I spawned right next to them.”

“But—then why…?”

“There was a problem.”

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“What kind of problem?”

Luke’s gaze drifted toward the memory of the frozen lake.

“They were all dead,” he said quietly. “Other participants. At first, I thought the ice had always been solid—but no. Just like me, they must’ve landed on the lake, broke through the surface, and got dragged under by the current. They froze to death… trapped beneath the ice. If I didn’t have a way to make fire, I would’ve joined them.”

Allison fell silent, the weight of those words settling on him.

Then, like pieces falling into place, his expression changed.

“You’re saying…” he started.

“That others probably arrived in this world at different times, just like we did,” Luke continued. “But most of them didn’t stand a chance. The cold killed them before monsters even had to try. You survived longer because you found this cabin. But anyone stuck out there in the ice fields, without anything to fight the cold… they’re gone.”

Allison turned toward the frosty window. The wind outside had picked up again, and the world beyond the walls looked colder than ever.

“If you hadn’t found me,” he muttered, “I’d be dead too. Either from the Yetis… or just from the cold.”

Luke sighed, rubbing his fingers together near the fire.

It was worse than he thought. But maybe not hopeless.

“Still,” Luke said slowly, “some people must’ve made it to the wall. Or maybe a few were lucky enough to be teleported inside the city right from the start.”

Allison nodded, his expression suddenly shifting. “If I had gear like yours, I would’ve gone already.”