Claudia steps through the gate.
The moment her foot touches the ground on the other side, the wooden frame behind her dissolves into green light and vanishes. There is no way back.
She stands still for a few seconds, scanning her surroundings.
Tall trees rise on every side, their branches thick enough to block most of the sunlight. The air is cool and carries the scent of damp earth and moss. Somewhere in the distance, she can hear water flowing.
I've never been in a dungeon like this before.
When most people hear the word "dungeon," they usually imagine stone corridors. As you walk through them, a monster or two eventually appears and attacks you.
That's how dungeons are supposed to be.
But this is something else entirely. A dungeon shaped like a forest. If that's the case, then the door she just passed through must have been a Gate—a portal leading into a different dimension filled with monsters.
As fascinating as this is, she can't afford to lose focus on her task.
She looks down at her right wrist. The circuits on the bracelet are still glowing green.
Okay. I just have to survive for a day.
She could also try to steal bracelets from the other participants…
…Nah. I don't need to resort to that.
Even if she isn't willing to steal from others, the other participants will definitely try to take her bracelet. Right now, she's unarmed.
Claudia raises her right hand.
"Frostmourne."
Particles of white-blue light surround her as her clothes dissolve into motes of light, then reconstruct themselves. A white short-sleeved turtleneck forms first, followed by a navy-blue jacket. Black trousers appear next, and snow-white boots rise just below her knees.
Her hair turns pure white, and a crescent-shaped accessory forms above her left ear.
A white blade appears in her right hand. The edges are transparent like glass, and the hilt is marked with small snowflake patterns. A snowflake keychain hangs from the end.
By the time Claudia notices, her surroundings have become completely draped in frost. The very air seems to tremble from the sudden drop in temperature.
She reflects on the words Shiro told her before they were transported. A bit risky to say her name outloud like that though. Luckily everybody was already gone.
"Do your best, mistress Claudia."
She takes a deep breath.
I'll do what I can, as best as I can.
With that in mind, she grips her sword and runs deeper into the forest.
───
Clang.
Boom.
"Give up the bracelet and I might let you live. Might."
"That's my line."
The sounds of the other participants boom loudly as Claudia runs through the thick forest with haste.
It's only been a few hours, but people have already begun to steal from others. She doesn't want to fight, just survive.
She's made sure to avoid places concentrated with mana to avoid any monsters, avoided places with people since… well, people, and she's also surveying the entire dungeon as much as she can.
Just because she's in a death match doesn't mean she can't study this place.
After a while, she stops near a tall tree and climbs up. She breathes a sigh of relief and attempts to rest on the branches.
Claudia's ears twitch as a desperate voice cuts through the trees.
I wonder how Shiro is doing.
"Please help!"
Is he stealing from the other participants?
"Anybody, please help!"
No, I doubt it. He's powerful enough to defend himself. He doesn't need to steal.
"Please, I'll pay anybody who helps me! Aggghhh!"
Should I go look for him… no. Not an option. I said I would do what I can. I'll finish this on my own.
"PLEASE HELP!"
Will he shut up already?
A participant northeast of here has been screaming while she's been trying to think.
This is a test, for goodness' sake. He shouldn't have been expecting help from anybody.
She stands up and looks toward where the voice is coming from.
Fortunately, I'm not anybody.
With that, she jumps down and runs toward the source of the screams.
───
"PLEASE HELP!"
Why did this happen to me?
He slowly crawls backward, away from the monster. Its claws scrape across the ground as it walks toward him.
"Grrrrrr."
An hour after arriving here, and he had already made contact with an A-rank monster. And not just any A-rank—a Crimson Wolf, of all things.
While they're ranked A, their abilities are enough to push them to the level of S-rank. Not to mention, they're huge.
What kind of rotten luck do you need to run into one of these right away? The moment the wolf saw him, it chased him down.
No matter where he hid or how much he ran, the wolf always found him. His arm was already broken, his head was bleeding, and his sword was shattered.
That wolf was too persistent.
Its ruby-red fur begins to glow as it opens its mouth. Mana gathers inside, forming a red orb. The air starts to hum with a shrill sound.
The young man's body shakes with terror. Even though he's screamed for help and offered to pay, he knows nobody is coming.
This is the end… but it's not the end I wanted.
Just as the wolf looks ready to fire, the man suddenly feels cold. The air around him has become so chilly he can see his own breath.
Tiny white-blue particles float in the air like snow, and the trees and branches begin to take on an icy look.
This sudden change in the surroundings distracts the wolf just long enough for him to take advantage of it.
Summoning all his courage, he quickly gets up and runs. Unfortunately, the distraction is only minor. As he runs through the icy surroundings, he can feel a sudden heat following him. He looks back and sees a beam of red light only a few feet from his body.
Crap—
Then a sudden force pulls him up, and the red beam misses him. The beam continues on and disintegrates everything in its path—trees, bushes, rocks. Nothing is left standing.
The man looks down in shock.
What just happened?
He felt something pull him up. Did he unlock some special power that allowed him to jump this high?
Am I actually special?
"Sorry, sir. I couldn't help but hear your cries for help."
Huh?
He looks up and finds himself being held by a girl with white hair and azure eyes. She's standing on a platform of ice and holding a sword in her right hand.
Another ice platform appears right next to her, and the girl sets the man down on it.
"Let me handle this."
A thick veil of mist surrounds her body, and the girl drops down from the ice platform.
As she descends, the mist grows thicker and thicker, but it doesn't spread to the surroundings. It only stays within the range of her body.
By the time she's near the ground, her body has been completely shrouded in mist. The girl from before is now just mist.
Upon landing, the mist rushes forward toward the Crimson Wolf at a frightening speed, leaving trails of ice on the ground.
The Crimson Wolf rushes toward the mist and attempts to slash through it.
The mist simply disperses around it and gathers behind the wolf. Then the mist rushes through the wolf's hind legs like lightning.
A blue line runs across its legs. The wolf's hind legs slide clean off.
It roars in pain and falls to the ground. Then mana gathers at its hind legs. Within a few seconds, the wolf regenerates them.
The moment it gets back up, the mist cuts through it again, this time its tail, but the wolf quickly regenerates that as well.
The mist keeps slashing at the wolf's body, but it keeps regenerating. When the wolf slashes through the mist, it simply gathers itself in a different place.
The longer this drags on, the faster it takes the wolf to regenerate it's wounds.
Finally, instead of hacking away, the mist begins to surround the wolf like a tornado, only getting thicker and thicker. With each passing second, it becomes harder to see the wolf.
The wolf's claws glow faintly red as it slashes through the mist with very little success.
Eventually, the dome of mist becomes so thick that the wolf can't be seen anymore. Only the sound of its howling passes through.
A red beam shoots out from the mist. Then another, and another. They keep shooting randomly without actually hitting anything. Then they stop. No growls, no beams, no slashes. Just the sound of the spiraling mist.
A piece of the mist separates from the rest, and the girl forms from it.
Her sword seems to be gone. She sticks out her right hand and snaps her fingers.
The dome of mist clears, and what's left is an ice sculpture of the wolf.
The girl casually walks to the sculpture and lightly taps it. The sculpture tilts sideways and falls, shattering into countless pieces.
The young man can't believe what he just saw.
As an adventurer, he's considered a B-rank who's very close to A-rank, and he didn't stand a chance against the wolf. Now this random girl managed to beat it within two minutes.
It's either this girl is a high A-rank or a low S-rank.
"You can come down now, sir."
Tiny thinner platforms form below the platform the young man is sitting on. They extend all the way to the freezing ground.
The young man climbs down.
She probably heard me when I said I'd pay.
He reaches toward his pocket to grab a dozen or so gold coins. It should be enough to satisfy her.
But when he looks up, the girl is gone. The only thing that remains are the particles of white-blue light. The particles begin to hover around the young man.
He can feel the throbbing pain in his head die down, and the cuts along with the broken hand begin to heal.
Not only did she not ask for anything, she even healed his injuries.
He looks down at his wrist.
Even his bracelet is still there.
Whoever that girl was, the young man owes her his life. He turns toward the broken pieces of the wolf sculpture and bows.
"…Thank you," he mutters, still a bit dazed. "Next time I hear someone screaming in a dungeon, I hope they're half as lucky as I was."