Surviving in this White World
A flash of light marks the arrival of a new otherworlder in the Forest of Everlasting Snow. A beautiful young girl appears with a smile as she observes the surrounding. Behind her is a huge world tree covered in snow and ice, but is impossible to tell how high it reaches or how wide it is. Few snow elves are walking as everything that would normally exist in a city is inside their world tree. From the treetops, there are a plethora of footholds that seem to be used purely for defending their forests from monsters and invading armies. There even seems to be an ice pond nearby and it actually has fish swimming under the ice surface. After taking in the entire view, our beloved snow elf then decides to check her status window
Name: CelsiusLevel1Exp to Next Lvl10RaceSnow ElfGenderFemaleFame1000Money10sTitlesEstelle’s LoverHp100/100Mp100/100Hp-Recovery1.0 hp/minMp-Recovery1.0 mp/minSatiety100/100Stat Points0/0Prmary StatsStrength10Intelligence (5)10Vitality10Wisdom (10)10Endurance10Mind (2)10Agility (3)10Dexterity10Secondary StatsAttack10Defense10M-Attack10M-Defense10Speed1.0 m/sAtt-Speed110%Cast Speed10 mp/sMagic AffinitiesExtra EffectsBlessing of the Stars – stats increased by 50% under the starlit skySkills
Estelle’s lover? Blessing of the stars? Hey goddess, you are cheating the system! Well, at least the blessing isn’t too game-breaking even if that’s a ridiculous buff. Only works during the night and there can’t be any clouds blocking the stars. I probably won’t be getting that buff until I leave this forest that is constantly snowing.
After mentally sighing over the actions of a particular goddess, Celsius goes inside the tree to explore the city. On the inside are countless buildings carved out of ice and snow. Magical devices are providing light along the streets and inside the buildings. Various types of elves occupy the streets and there are even a few fairies, dwarves, demi-humans, humans, and other races perusing the shops. Of course, the only ‘otherworlders’ in this city are snow elves for now until the others travel here.
In various locations there appears to be mechanical devices that act as elevators inside this tree. I was worried for a minute on whether or not it would be necessary to walk up a bunch of wooden stairs to reach the top of this tree. I’m sure the snow elf royalty who likely live on the top floor are eternally grateful for the convenience of transportation.
Upon asking a random snow elf for directions to a library, Celsius began her long walk to the other side of the city. Snow starts to fall during the trek which made many new players, including our snow elf, make puzzled faces regarding this absurdity. Now that she got a closer look, the ceiling is covered in clouds but that’s hardly noticeable with all the snow and ice everywhere.
Celsius: “This is truly a completely white world. Perhaps I should visit the other world trees as well.”
Once I arrived at the location where the library is located, I came upon an ice tower filled to the brim with books on all 10 floors. At the counter is a glasses-wearing young lady reading a book.
Librarian: “How may I be of service young lady?”
Celsius: “I would like to read books on mana, meditation, water, and ice magic.”
Librarian: “Wait over there while I gather the necessary reading material.”
Looking around, there are actually many people reading books despite some of them looking like warriors instead of mages. There are lots of information regarding dungeons, quests, and various secrets contained within books so it’s understandable for there to be more than just mages here. After taking my seat, I only had to wait 10 minutes before the librarian came back with a stack of books for me to read. She warned me not to damage them or steal them unless I wanted to be punished.
Ironically, it’s impossible to steal these books since they are enchanted to teleport back to their shelves if they are removed from the building. Afterwards, whoever attempted to steal the books would be automatically penalized and gain infamy. How do I know this? Some random guy decided to run off with a few books in the middle of the night but got hit with the penalty instead. He is now hated by the locals, pays more for goods bought from stores, and had to fork over 5s per book to pay for his fee which left him in debt, and now he is working for free at the library doing heavy labor. Idiotic criminals! If you are going to steal, at least steal something valuable!
Hmmm, that takes care of the first book. These books seem small but are filled with magical theories on multiple spells. Can’t believe I can’t learn the spells until I fully understand the theory behind them! Makes me wonder how difficult the more advanced magic books are since these books only cover the basics.
Strangely enough, I unlocked the knowledge stat from reading these books. It seems to be mostly a record of how many spells I successfully understand as well as how many books I read on other subjects. It allows me access to learn higher tier spells and gain favor from scholarly citizens such as librarians, historians, and other specialists in various fields of learning.
[Learned Mana Sphere]
[Mana Sphere, Mp Cost = 8, Damage = 80% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You condense mana into the shape of a sphere to knock back a target.]
[Unlocked Secondary Stat: Knowledge]
[Knowledge – Allows you to learn from more advanced books. The more you learn new information, the more this stat will increase. Grants access to a knowledge database to review all information that has been read.]
[Learned Mana Arrow]
[Mana Arrow, Mp Cost = 5, Damage = 50% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You condense mana into the shape of a arrow to pierce a target. Number of arrows will increase with level.]
[Learned Mana Shield]
[Mana Shield, Mp Cost = 10, Barrier Hp = 100% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You condense mana into the shape of a shield to block an attack. Barrier hp will increase with level.]
[Learned Body Enhancement]
[Body Enhancement, Mp Cost = 10, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You spread mana throughout your body to reinforce your muscles. Increases Strength, Vitality, and Agility by 10% for 1 min]
I mentally sigh as I look back to the stack of books. This is going to take a while to learn the rest of the spells inside these books. The meditation book, however, was really complicated and I almost gave up before I finally learned the meditation technique after 5 hours of studying. Water magic was mostly quicker except for that healing spell that took me a whole hour to grasp the logic behind it. This just leaves my specialty in ice magic which I was able to learn in 20 minutes flat!
[Learned Meditation]
[Meditation, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You gather mana from your surroundings to replace your lost mana. Increases mp recovery by an additional 1.0% mp/min.]
[Learned Aqua Shot]
[Aqua Shot, Mp Cost = 7, Damage = 70% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You fire a condensed ball of water towards a target.]
[Learned Healing Water]
[Healing Water, Mp Cost = 6, Heal = 60% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You utilize the power of water to heal small injuries.]
[Learned Water Arrow]
[Water Arrow, Mp Cost = 5, Damage = 55% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You fire an arrow of condensed water towards a target. Number of arrows increases with skill lvl.]
[Learned Aqua Ring]
[Aqua Ring, Mp Cost = 8, Barrier Hp = 80% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You surround yourself or an ally with a water bubble to protect against damage and is twice as effective against fire attacks. Barrier hp will increase with skill lvl.]
[Learned Ice Ball]
[Ice Ball, Mp Cost = 10, Damage = 110% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You fire a ball of ice towards a target.]
[Learned Ice Arrow]
[Ice Arrow, Mp Cost = 6, Damage = 50% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You fire an arrow of ice towards a target. Number of arrows increases with skill lvl.]
[Learned Ice Shield]
[Ice Shield, Mp Cost = 10, Barrier Hp = 110% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) – You conjure a shield of ice to block an attack. Only protects you from a single direction. Barrier hp will increase with skill lvl.]
[Learned Freeze]
[Freeze, Mp Cost = 10, Inflicts frozen status, Frozen Power = 100% M-Att, Tier 1, Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%) - You freeze an enemy within 10 meters of you for up to 1 min. Effect can be weakened by resistances, heat, or by sheer force. Effect increases in strength with skill lvl.
Overall, this took a little over 10h to learn 13 spells which isn’t too bad with a time ratio of 1:3 of real life time compared to game time. If I had more mana then I could probably learn some of the bigger spells, but this is my limit for now. After returning the books, I decide to finally see just how deadly these slimes are to a lvl 1. No game has ever made a slime powerful in the beginning area to supposedly prevent traumatizing the user-base. But just how badass can a slime possibly be to warrant caution? Oh how wrong I was!
Player 1: “Gaaah!!! Damn these slimes, I won’t rest until I have my revenge.”
Player 2: “Someone help! I don’t want to die!”
Player 3: “Why are these slimes so fucking strong at lvl 1?”
Summarizing this scene in as few words as possible, all I can say is “complete chaos.” People dying everywhere if they even dared to fight a slime 1 vs 1. Some slimes will even ambush groups thinking they are only dealing with 1 slime and wipe them out. If hunting a few measly slimes is this hard, then how am I going to lvl up in this world?
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Observing closely, it seems that slimes will only be provoked into attacking only if you get too close or you attempted attack one of them. So ambushes can be prevented with ranged attacks to lure lone slimes. These slimes also seem to hit hard and chain their attacks together in a way that no lvl 1 can handle with their current gear. Normally, their cores would be a weak spot but it’s impossible to hit a moving core unless you use magic on it as physical attacks will always be bounced off or deflected away from the core. Basically, if you get caught then you will die in seconds. Luckily, the death penalty in this game is just being sent back to your resurrection point and suffering a 50% stat penalty for 3 hours. Still harsh, but it’s better than being unable to log back in for an entire day.
Girl 1: “Umm, excuse me. Can you join our party to hunt slimes?” ‘Suddenly a timid girl approaches me to invite me for slime hunting. Judging by the group, I feel like they are skillfully using the girl as a mascot. Those geniuses…I mean those bastards! How dare they trick her into cooperating with their dastardly schemes!’
Celsius: “Sure.”
Guy 1: “Yo, the name’s Frostbane and I am the tank of this group. Or at least I would be if I could get past lvl 1 and get a shield. The shady guy over there is Shadow. Original right? Miss timid whom you already met is Lily and the hellcat lady is Snowflake.”
Snowflake: “Hey, who are you calling a hellcat?” *smack* ‘Wow, there was quite a bit of force in that slap.’
Frostbane: “You! Who else here is violent enough to be a hellcat?” ‘Now he is doomed.’
Snowflake: “Wait until I get my hands on you!” ‘Why doesn’t this world have virtual popcorn?’
Once Lily and Shadow were able to calm the two lovebirds down, we could finally start forming our tactics for hunting together. My role is to lure slimes and then freeze them for safe fighting. Frost will distract the slimes whenever they are not frozen and Shadow will strike from behind as a flanking maneuver. Lily is in charge of healing whenever someone gets hurt. Snow is to stay near the rear to protect us from ambushes while we cast our magic.
This formation actually worked very well on lone slimes as they needed a few seconds to break free from my freeze spell and our vanguard took full advantage of those precious seconds to deal as much damage as possible. Normally, slimes would be extremely resistant to physical damage but my freeze spell makes them lose chunks of hp every time a frozen piece of their body is broken off. However, issues soon came up when we had to deal with 3 slimes at the same time.
Frost: “Damn! Celsius, keep them frozen for as long as possible!”
Celsius: “I can’t! One of them is lvl 2.”
Snow: “Shit! Fucking rogueish slimes!”
How did this happen? As we were fighting a lone slime, one had snuck up on Shadow’s back and knocked him away. I immediately moved to freeze the new slime, however, a new one showed up and nearly killing Snow before we could even react. If that wasn’t bad enough, my freeze only lasts 2.5 seconds on the lvl 2 slime before it breaks out of it. Its hp is also double that of a lvl 1 slime so killing it before I run out of mana is probably impossible.
I refreeze the 1st slime and the lvl 2 slime which leaves me with 50 mp remaining. Frost and Shadow then finish up the 1st slime while Snow dealt a couple hits to the lvl 2 slime. I had my freeze charged up to freeze the 2nd slime while warning Snow to back off before the freeze breaks. Lily had already healed her back up to 80%, but this is survivable if she can block the next hit.
The lvl 2 slime then whipped Snow with its slime tentacle, but she was able to block half of the damage with her dagger. It had attempted to body slam into her but I was able to freeze it in mid-air. Snow’s counterattack then surprisingly dealt double damage since the slime technically impaled itself onto the dagger and she followed up with another hit which dropped the slime to 74%. I am now left with 30 mp.
After refreezing the 2nd slime, I immediately began preparing to refreeze the lvl 2 slime. Snow was nearing death so I was just in time. Another couple hits dropped the slime to 63% while the last lvl 1 slime had been killed off by our vanguard. With the last of my mp, I refroze the final slime as everyone begins a 3-sided pummeling. Unfortunately, it still had 4.5% hp remaining and I can no longer freeze it. Lily too is also out of mana which means we can no longer heal ourselves.
Frost: “Don’t give up! It only has 9 hp left.”
Snow: “I’m not stopping even if it kills me!”
Celsius: “Lily, let’s attack too.”
Lily: “Y-Yes.”
Shadow: “Less talking, more stabbing!”
The slime’s speed was faster so it got off the 1st hit on Frost and reduced his hp to critical levels. Shadow and Snow quickly stepped in to get a slash before the slime jumped out. It then got to Frost’s back and was about to finish him, but I was able to block it with my dagger while losing some hp. Lily, however, was able to get in another hit reducing the slime’s hp to 6 points. Shadow quickly got a backstab which instantly dropped the slimes hp to 4 points before getting knocked away with a slime machinegun.
That move, however, left the slime wide-open for another flanking maneuver from Snow and Frost which dropped its hp to 2 points. Almost there! Lily and I quickly took up positions to end things, but the slime went ballistic and fired off slime shots at both Lily and I to prevent our attacks. I realized this and instead threw my dagger towards the slime which dropped its hp to 1 point. It was then finished with a crushing blow from Snow before it could continue its rampage.
[You have leveled up]
Celsius: “We did it…” ‘I say as I collapse on the ground exhausted.’
Snow: “About time.” ‘She says while resting as well.’
Frost: “Could have finished faster if you had killed them faster.”
Snow: “What did you say?” ‘Snow raises her fist towards Frost, but probably doesn’t mean it since she is smiling.’
Frost: “Nothing, I’m just happy that we finally lvled up.” ‘He stated nonchalantly as he looks completely unfazed and is in fact happily smiling.’
Snow: “That’s what I thought.” ‘She says while grinning.’
Shadow: “If the lovebirds are done, can we return to the city and get some gear? I want a new dagger.”
The couple blushed simultaneously and looked away from each other. Still, they kept sneaking glances at each other. You know we can see you two? Right?
Anyways, after selling the loot we were able to afford some decent gear. I got myself a staff for 11s which increased my damage a little. Not a lot, but it’s good for now. With the changes, my new stats are much better compared to when I was lvl 1.
Name: CelsiusLevel2Exp to Next Lvl4RaceSnow ElfGenderFemaleFame1000Money1s 40cTitlesEstelle’s LoverHp150/150Mp200/200Hp-Recovery1.5 hp/minMp-Recovery4.0 mp/minSatiety100/100Stat Points5/5Prmary StatsStrength10Intelligence (5)15Vitality10Wisdom (10)20Endurance10Mind (2)12Agility (3)13Dexterity10Secondary StatsAttack10Defense10M-Attack15M-Defense12Speed1.3 m/sAtt-Speed113%Cast Speed20 mp/sKnowledge13Magic AffinitiesWater4Ice4Extra EffectsBlessing of the Stars – stats increased by 50% under the starlit skySkillsMana Sphere T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Mana Arrow T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Mana Shield T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Body Enhancement T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Meditation T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Aqua Shot T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Healing Water T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Water Arrow T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Aqua Ring T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Ice Ball T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Ice Arrow T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Ice Shield T1 – Beginner lvl 1 (00.00%)Freeze T1 – Beginner lvl 2 (20.00%)
And now we head back to the hunting grounds to massacre our greatest enemy. Slimes!