Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Glacial Realm 15
Perry Yates spent the next few days inside her tent. Aside from time for eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom, she was constantly performing Ascension on her cards.
She was Ascending White Cards into one-star cards.
Afterward, she would sort these cards.
For the time being, Perry Yates divided these cards into three categories.
One type was item cards, another was Skill Cards, and the third was for cards Perry Yates planned to keep for herself rather than sell.
She planned to do a more detailed sorting of the cards after she had Ascended them all to one-star.
Aside from the cards she kept for herself, she didn’t intend to Ascend any of the others, whether item cards or Skill Cards, to two-star. She would Ascend them later according to her customers’ needs.
Of course, this did not include the Monster Book Cards.
After Ascending several Monster Book Cards in a row, Perry Yates was now fully aware that these Monster Books were nothing but trouble.
Compared to the game’s Sprites, the entities from the Monster Books were more like genies. But unlike the wish-granting genie from Aladdin’s Magic Lamp, these beings were clearly not benevolent—in fact, they were utterly malevolent.
Staring at the nearly twenty Monster Book Cards in her hand, Perry Yates was unsure whether to keep them or just throw them away.
She had Ascended five of them to one-star, which, including the one she’d Ascended previously, made for a total of six such cards.
After some serious consideration, Perry Yates concluded that the cards were too dangerous and decided to leave them behind in this world for good.
While Perry Yates was busy Ascending her cards, the snowstorm outside never let up. In fact, it seemed to be getting even worse.
It wasn’t until the thirteenth day of the game that the blizzard finally began to subside, though snowflakes still drifted down from the sky.
Perry Yates knew the first cold snap must have passed.
However, she had no intention of leaving the cave right away, instead choosing to wait one more day.
On the fourteenth day, the snowstorm stopped completely. Only then did she pack up her tent, change into a fresh set of gear, and leave the cave.
She didn’t disturb the camouflage at the entrance, choosing instead to use Instant Teleportation to exit.
In Perry Yates’s eyes, the cave was in an excellent location. She would probably be back in a few days, assuming nothing went wrong.
Based on her experience from the previous game, the world would evolve into its final form after day twenty. When that happened, it was best to stay hidden.
’I just wonder if the tent will be able to hold up against the frigid winds then.’
’Whatever. Why am I overthinking this? If the tent isn’t enough, I still have my Safe House.’
’Though, to use the Safe House, I’ll have to find or dig out a cave large enough to fit it.’
Having emerged from the cave, Perry Yates was just about to take out her Claudia Card and leave when she suddenly spotted something on the snow.
It looked like an animal.
Perry Yates picked the creature up. It was completely unresponsive, as if it were dead.
’But in this freezing weather, if it were really dead, it should have been frozen solid by now.’
’But its body is so soft... it must be alive.’
"This thing looks so much like a Ferret... Oh well, I’ll use the Identification Device on it just to be sure."
[Ferret (Cryo-Stasis): A Ferret native to the Cryosphere. Its appearance changes with the seasons. It spends its days struggling for survival, dreaming of finding a master to care for it.
Ferrets are clever and adept at acting cute, but do not be fooled by their appearance. They possess extremely high intelligence, excellent eyesight, and formidable weapons in their sharp teeth and claws.]
After reading the description, Perry Yates gave the Ferret in her hand a little shake.
To be honest, she found the Ferret’s snow-white fur very appealing.
Besides, Perry Yates had always been an animal lover.
It was just that dogs needed daily walks, which she found to be a hassle. A cat would have been fine, but she could never decide on a breed and had procrastinated on it until now.
’I remember... I think the System Space can hold living things.’
’The Space Backpack definitely can’t.’
With that thought, Perry Yates tried to store the Ferret in her hand into her Space Backpack.
In the next instant, the Ferret vanished from her hands.
When she checked her Space Backpack, she saw the Ferret curled up into a ball inside, looking rather cute.
After she released the Ferret from the Space Backpack, the previously motionless creature stirred and woke up.
It stared at Perry Yates with a pair of bright, darting eyes. There wasn’t a hint of fear in its gaze, only curiosity.
Remembering the information from the Identification Device, Perry Yates had an idea and pulled a piece of roasted meat from her Space Backpack.
The Ferret’s eyes lit up at the sight of the meat, and it reached out with its tiny paws to grab it.
Perry Yates didn’t pull away, letting the Ferret clutch the piece of meat and begin to devour it.
"Little one, how about you follow me from now on?"
The Ferret was completely absorbed in the delicious meat and didn’t even look up at the sound of Perry’s voice.
’It’s okay if you don’t answer. I’ll take that as a yes.’
Taking the Ferret with her, she rode away on Claudia.
This time, Perry Yates had two objectives: one was to find the Snow-Ox Clan, and the other was to capture some prey to take back with her.
After all, she needed the energy from such prey to perform Ascension on her cards.
Today was the fourteenth day of the game; tomorrow would be the fifteenth.
After the fifteenth day, players would be given a choice, and many would opt to quit the game. Those who chose to remain would certainly be the more capable players.
At the very least, they wouldn’t be completely helpless against the Snow-Ox Clan.
After finishing the roasted meat, the Ferret lay quietly in Perry Yates’s arms, not moving or causing any trouble. It was impeccably behaved.
"Why can’t I find anything?"
Perry Yates had been flying for a long time. She hadn’t found the Snow-Ox Clan, which was one thing, but she hadn’t found any suitable prey either.
Just then, a thought suddenly struck Perry Yates.
’Does prey even exist in this place?’
After all, even the Snow-Ox Clan survived solely on the clothes and food that players got from treasure boxes.
Perry Yates had seen so many Snow-Ox Clan settlements, and all of their food came from treasure boxes.
Just as she sighed, about to give up her search for prey and focus solely on finding the Snow-Ox Clan, she felt something rubbing against her clothes.
She looked down and saw the Little Ferret, nuzzling her with its pink nose.
Though it couldn’t speak, Perry Yates somehow understood it was trying to comfort her, and a warmth spread through her heart.
"Don’t worry, I’m fine."
As she said this, an idea suddenly occurred to Perry Yates.
’The Ferret is a native of this world... Could it lead the way for me?’
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