From the time Alan arrived at the Library till he finished fixing the broken radio, he spent one and a half hours, and soon enough, the moment he had been waiting for had arrived eventually.

Following that, he was hit with a notification.

[2 hours left to survive]

[Updating current players]

[Players still in the game - 49,205]

[Warning: The Snowstorm is over. The temperature has dropped]

After getting the notification, Alan could see from the window that the previous blizzard had started to clear up at this precise moment. Despite this, it did not signify that the temperature returned to its normal state as, in fact, the Cold status increased to another level.

"It's time. Nims, are you ready?" Alan asked, seeing the monk had just finished praying.

"Yes, I pray to god for the strength to pass this challenge."

"Don't worry, Nims, we could deal with this one."

The monk calmly shook his head, closed his eyes, and said, "That wasn't what I prayed for Alan, but don't worry, I did pray for your safety" a little smile came from the corner of his lips.

Alan did not really get it. What was it that Nim prayed for then?

He has heard some rumours about Nim in his past life but never really had a chance to directly fight next to him as Nims was fighting in India's Server. They have a nickname for him, a name that Alan couldn't get his mind on, a certain Indian name.

However, Alan has no need to ask further about the matter; any reason is alright with him as long as Nims can help him with his fights.

Now that the time had come, Alan walked toward the figure in the corner of the room. Alan removed the cloth that had been gagging him up since they entered the room. When the gag was yanked out, the man started to beg again.

"Man, please... It's freezing here. Please let Smiley go back to the other room," said the man who had been anxious for a while.

"Well, unfortunately, you are still needed here."

At this exact moment, the monk carried his [Sledgehammer], walked toward the window, and smashed it apart.

Praankkk!!

The window broke apart, and the room was quickly filled with cold wind that had just arrived from outside.

"What are you doing?! It's getting even colder! You two are crazy!" Smiley screamed in panic.

Nims continued smashing the enormous window into tiny pieces, immediately taking out the cold resistance of being inside a room and adding another level to their Cold status.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

In this situation, Alan and Nims were well prepared to endure the extreme cold, but not Smiley, as he only had his jumper covering his body, causing his Cold status to boost up to level 4.

As if it's still not enough, Alan dragged the man through the window into the street that was covered in snow.

"What are you doing, man?? Seriously, this is not cool!" Smiley's anxiousness level grew significantly after realizing Alan was taking out his knife and saying.

"Previously, I planned to do this to myself, but think of it as your punishment for killing a fellow player"

"Wait.. wait.. I really did not…"

Without waiting for Smiley to finish, Alan made a long, deep cut on the man's upper thigh.

[Slash: Inflicts 19 Damage]

"Arrrghhh"

Smiley screamed in pain as blood dripped profusely; it was, after all, the femoral arteries that Alan targeted. The pain and the shock quickly made the man resist and try to break free. This time, Alan swiftly pierced it, forcing Smiley to drop helplessly on the snow.

Spllaaatttt

[Stab: Fatality Inflict 28 Damage]

"No. No.. release me, Smiley will do anything,... pelase." The man begged for his life.

To his surprise, the next thing Alan did was take out his [Gauze Bandage] and dress his wound.

[Healing: 30 HP Recovered in 90 seconds]

"Thank you... thank you… I will do whatever you want, just…."

However, what came next surprised him. This time, Alan slashed his own upper thigh instead.

[Slash: Inflicts 14 Damage]

Blood dripped profusely as it made the snow redder.

"You..!! You are crazy!' Smiley said, his face turning pale.

However, before the man finished his words, Alan cut Smiley one more time.

[Slash: Inflicts 17 Damage]

"Arrrghhh!! What the fuck do you want?!!" The man screamed with anger.

Alan didn't budge a bit. Instead, he continued cutting and dressing Smiley's wound and then himself. The man was wailing in pain as his blood had made a pool turning the snow red.

Although the pain was real, the game actually gave a 50% pain limitation, which meant that the player only felt half of the actual pain. However, being cut and pierced continuously did some mental damage to a person.

"Please… please… I am sorry…." Smiley begged once more as if he had surrendered.

At this moment, Alan had already stabbed the man and himself a dozen times, using up all his 8 [Gauze Bandages] and 4 of his newly created [Medicated Bandage]. He has to alternate between himself and Simley because the bandage needs time to be used and time to recover the HP. By this time, a large pool of blood was created on the snowy ground in front of the Library. The place reeked of blood.

However, unfortunately, what he was waiting for still had not yet appeared.

Instead, Alan saw Laura come out of the room with hasty steps.

"Alan! what is going on?" asked the girl. Her face gave out an anxious expression.

Seeing the girl's arrival, Alan quickly replied with a raised tone, "You are not supposed to be here! Get back!"

The girl didn't take a step back. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Smiley, who was in agony.

On the other hand, Alan continued his knife work and stabbed the man's thigh one more time.

[Stab: Inflict 20 Damage]

"Alan, what are you doing!?" The girl was confused. Even though she hated the man for killing Sam, she didn't realize that Alan could do such a thing.

Alan took out another [Medicated Bandage] and dressed Smiley's wound again, which made the girl confused even more.

[Healing: 45 HP Recovered in 2 minutes]

This time, after he finished dressing the wound on Smiley's thigh, Alan's expression turned to joy as he had just received a surprising bonus.

[Congratulations! You just unlock a new uncommon skill - Medical Treatment]

[Medicinal Treatment (Basic)]

[Rarity: Uncommon]

[Better use of medicinal items, Increase recovery by 10%]

[Prerequisites: Intelligence E, Agility E]

This was one of the known game mechanics Alan had been hoping for. Nevertheless, he didn't realize that he could get it this soon. Before Alan could celebrate, a loud sound was heard from the distance.

HOWWLLLL

It was the howling of a beast, the wolves. Finally, what he had been waiting for had arrived.