"First step done… now… what should I do about the system?" Ryan summoned the system, which immediately appeared as a holographic window in front of him, or rather, a hundred windows, each displaying a different error. Many of them were accompanied by skulls and bones on a black background.
Ryan shivered intensely at the sight of so many symbols of death, but soon took a deep breath and sat down on the bed where he had awakened just moments ago. Bringing a hand to his chin, he tried to understand the many errors with his analytical mind.
"Well… it looks like it's trying to send me back to my Gateway, the client's Gateway, or simply the origin. But right now, I'm behind the server's Gateway, which is closed. If it doesn't open, I have no way out. And therefore, the operation can't be aborted… the system is trying to do something impossible and hasn't even realized it… stupid system."
Immediately, Ryan lowered his head with a thoughtful expression and formulated a new set of commands to solve the problem, which he promptly relayed to the system. "System, forcibly stop all your activities and request the opening of the Server Gateway. Then prepare a new transfer toward the origin."
[ Forcibly Interrupting All Processes… ]
[ Successful! ]
[ Requesting Opening Of The Server Gateway… ]
[ Successful! ]
"Yes!" Ryan celebrated excitedly and then sighed in relief. "Phew! It was just a scare. I'm not really stuck here hahaha. Just imagine if I actually had to stay here, like a slave…"
[ Initiating Transfer… ]
[ Time Until Completion: 5 Days ]
"But… what?!" Ryan shouted, staring at the window. "What's the problem this time?"
[ Warning! Remain In A Safe Location Until The Transfer Is Complete. Damage To The Player May Result In Data "Loss" Or "Corruption". In More Extreme Cases, Complete "Destruction" Of The Data. ]
Ryan stared at the window for a few moments in absolute silence. "That data… that's me… isn't it? So… destruction of my data? My existence? Me? Are you serious?!"
Quickly, he looked through the thousands of messages and demanded explanations from the system, extremely irritated, while trying in every way to find a new course of action, his mind practically steaming from thinking so hard. But after a few moments of cursing and struggling, Ryan threw himself onto the bed in frustration, covering his face with his hands. He then let out a deep sigh.
The Gateway would only open in five days, and until then, suffering any damage would be extremely risky. But worst of all, Ryan couldn't do anything about it…
He had no authority over the server, and it dictated the rules here.
Taking another deep breath, he stood up and briefly looked around. The slaves were still unconscious, the flame still burned, and outside the storm continued to roar intensely.
"Things seem quiet for now… but I highly doubt these slaves are all tied up here by chance. A captor should appear soon, and right after that, he'll attack me… I need to get out of here as fast as possible if I don't want to risk 'corrupting' my data."
Ryan walked over to the axe and, with a fierce motion, pulled it out of the wood and threw it over his shoulder. Then he grabbed a few blankets nearby and wrapped them around himself. Without thinking twice, he headed for the exit before briefly glancing back.
"It was nice meeting you, companions, but such is life's crossroads. It's time for us to go our separate ways. Please don't stop me, I need to go." He then opened the door and walked out without looking back. "Farwell…" The howling, freezing wind rushed past Ryan, threatening to knock him down and invading the cabin for a brief moment before he sealed the entrance.
Ryan's expression froze, no longer in the mood for jokes. The system notified him once again, but Ryan ignored it, believing it to be just another random error.
Ryan took a deep breath and clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stay on his feet. The snow wrapped around him, making his body tremble from the cold almost instantly, while his vision blurred due to the storm. His mind begged him to turn back at the slightest contact with the snow. Even so, he kept moving forward, one step after another. His mental endurance was being tested from the very beginning.
"There's a road around here…" Ryan briefly looked down at the ground and began to follow the path, soon arriving at a small crossroads. His eyes lifted to read the two wooden signs pointing in opposite directions. His mind worked as fast as possible to decide where to go, but something kept hammering in his head.
"There are only two paths…" Ryan looked to the right, at the first road. "One of these paths is where the captors will come from." Then he moved to the left, clicking his tongue. "The other is where they'll chase me from…" Ryan cursed under his breath, kicking the sign in front of him to vent his frustration.
It would be impossible to escape for long.
Suddenly, however, his face twisted in shock. His leg, which should have broken the sign, hadn't even moved it. Instead, it was his foot that hurt, making him curse again.
"What the hell is happening?" Ryan muttered, noticing that the world was quickly growing darker. "Wait… no… it's not the world that's getting darker…" His breathing became more and more labored as he began to hunch over, seeking support from the sign.
"I… I'm weaker…" Ryan gritted his teeth. "It's cold… so cold… warmth… I need warmth!" He immediately used the handle of the axe as a cane to support himself and began retracing his steps back to the cabin. "Quick!"
"Damn It…" Ryan complained, realizing the path seemed to distort and stretch longer, while his body felt closer and closer to the ground… everything was so difficult, breathing was difficult, walking was difficult.
The only thing that was easy… was giving up, falling, and never getting back up.
Dying was easy.
Warm air left Ryan's lungs, forming a cloud of vapor in front of him. His body got closer and closer to the ground. Even so, he gritted his teeth, trying to reach the doorknob, his vision losing color as his hand trembled uncontrollably.
The warmth of red blood trickled beneath his lips as he turned the knob and collapsed against the door, pushing it open. The pain from the fall mixed with the heat of the injuries from the impact.
The system notified Ryan once again as his vision quickly cleared and he gasped for air desperately. His chest rose and fell in panic. It took some time for him to calm down, but when he did, the first thing he saw was a system message.
[ Debuff: Glacial Freezing; Neutralized. ]
[ Warning! Your Cold Aptitude Is Too Low. Avoid Glacial Zones; Or At Least Use Appropriate Equipment That Increases Your Aptitude Plus Coats. ]
"I don't have cold aptitude?!" Ryan looked outside once more, the snowstorm roaring with devastating power. "And I need proper equipment?" He looked around the cabin, filled with slaves dressed in rags, they didn't even have chains, just ropes.
"You know what, I don't know what I need. But you, system, really need something, know what that is? Go screw your—" He cursed so loudly that the cabin shook.