Chapter 133

Winter (1)

I had assumed the name Four Seasons Forest was purely metaphorical.

A demonic realm overflowing with every imaginable environmental feature, where a variety of seasons seemed to live and breathe.

That interpretation wasn’t exactly wrong. Even across the river, numerous different terrains stretched out before me.

Of those, I had thought the volcanic region was truly beyond salvation.

But the volcanic region wasn’t the only hopeless place.

This place was just as hopeless.

Title: It snowed, haha

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the snow-covered forest)

(Photo of the ground blanketed in white snow)

(Photo of the tools covered in snow)

It was fucking freezing this morning, and I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out it snowed overnight?

Yesterday, it was pouring like the middle of the rainy season, and now this happens out of nowhere. What a headache, haha.

How the fuck am I supposed to clear away all this shitty white garbage?

└ Heavenly Demon: How beautiful. But how could the season change overnight?

└ Sword Master: It must be because this is the Four Seasons Forest. As expected, that place is completely divorced from common sense.

└ Cheonggu Princess: Just as the Heavenly Demon said, it’s pretty. It looks like somewhere from a fairy tale.

└ Heavenly Demon: Hmm. How unusual for you to say something sensible.

└ Cheonggu Princess: I feel like I’ll get banned if I keep going, so I’m not doing it anymore, haha.

└ Can something like that really happen overnight? That’s fucking incredible.

└ That’s why it’s called the Four Seasons Forest.

└ How are you supposed to prepare when the seasons change without warning? Humans seriously can’t live there, kekeke.

└ Most people die within a day anyway. Grylls would’ve been killed by Mad Dog if he hadn’t had the Gallery.

└ Starlight Princess: It’s strange that the season suddenly changed to winter. Weren’t there any warning signs?

└ Wild Grylls: (Photo of Wonmo after growing so fat that he became round) This guy did gain weight extremely quickly.

└ Starlight Princess: Oh my. He’s absolutely adorable. The name Wonmo suits him perfectly.

└ Hey, pick him up and roll him. I want to know whether he really rolls.

└ Kekekekeke. What if he actually rolls really well?

└ Wonmo! Roll out!

└ Starlight Princess: You people are truly awful.

└ PraiseTheSun: Wow. It almost never snows in our country, but it must snow over there whenever it gets the chance.

└ Does it even snow in Setan? Isn’t it a desert?

└ It does, but only once in a blue moon. The problem is that any rain or snow over there is practically a natural disaster, so we’re screwed whenever it happens.

└ Why? Doesn’t the sand absorb all the water anyway?

└ If the packed sand collapses, we’re fucked. Besides, most houses in Setan are built from mud, so they’re extremely vulnerable to rain.

└ Passing Dwarf: Aren’t you cold? I heard those clothes are pretty thin.

└ Wild Grylls: Yeah. I’m fuuuuucking freezing. Can you give me a set of clothes?

└ Passing Dwarf: I’ll give you whatever I have left over. But I’ll have to ask my friend if you want something custom-made.

└ Wild Grylls: Ask him for now. If that isn’t enough, tell him I’ll give him another fully grown mandrake.

└ Passing Dwarf: Okay, wait a bit. It might take some time to find winter clothes that fit you.

The sudden arrival of winter was already a problem, but the most serious issue was the sharp drop in temperature.

Perhaps because of their fur, Wonmo and Fast Sloth seemed capable of enduring it.

I wasn’t.

The cold felt as though it were slicing into my flesh. Even wrapping myself in the hide I had been using as a carpet did little to help.

’I miss central heating.’

How wonderful would it be if I could simply turn on the heat?

Shivering violently, I looked around the area near the cave.

"..."

Fortunately, nothing particularly noteworthy stood out except the thick blanket of snow.

But that alone wasn’t enough to put me at ease. I still had to investigate the other areas.

’I wonder if winter came to the gorillas’ territory too.’

It was likely, but I couldn’t be certain.

That area was a tropical rainforest.

I had never heard of winter coming to a tropical rainforest.

Then again, this was the Four Seasons Forest, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.

I barely managed to warm myself beside the campfire as I waited for a message from the dwarf.

To distract myself from the cold, I also searched the Gallery for information.

└ Wild Grylls: It’s freezing. Can’t I do something with my internal energy cultivation method?

└ Heavenly Demon: Circulating your cultivation method should raise your body temperature somewhat. However, you will have to maintain it continuously.

└ Sword Master: The Heavenly Demon is right. Think of it as roughly similar to generating heat.

└ Wild Grylls: Thank you. I’ll start immediately.

└ All-Father: Truly... That forest has gone beyond fascinating and entered the realm of the mystical. To think it transitioned into winter overnight. Were there no traces of autumn?

└ Wild Grylls: I’m not sure. It came so suddenly that I didn’t notice anything.

└ All-Father: I see. Still, the existence of winter means you are fortunate, Grylls.

└ Wild Grylls: What do you mean by that?

└ All-Father: Winter is a period during which energy consumption increases drastically because of the cold. Creatures that inhabit regions where only winter exists are usually large, but those living in places with all four seasons tend to be smaller on average. This is especially true of insects.

└ Ah, I’ve heard of that. Places that are comfortable for humans are also comfortable for animals.

└ Isn’t Wyd like that? The insects there are fucking enormous, kekekeke.

└ Wyd is a country where fairies genuinely exist. It’s a terrifying place.

└ Suspiciously: That’s also why most of us beastfolk are so large... Still, it warms my heart whenever we have a bountiful harvest, kek. You people can’t grow corn, can you?

└ Fuck, I’m from the Central Plains, and all I can do is sigh. Why is all our land such garbage?

└ Garbage, my ass, kekeke. You’re the ones refusing to develop it because you claim to live in harmony with nature. Even the elves develop their land these days.

└ Didn’t elves have a nature-friendly image in the past?

└ Yeah, but once the Elven Queen took the throne, she started developing the country like crazy. That’s when their potential exploded.

└ The Elven Queen is genuinely insane. She can seize control of public opinion with a single speech and steer everyone in the direction she wants, kekeke.

└ Yeah. She knows exactly what the elves want. That makes her even scarier.

└ Even the Council of Elders united because they thought, "That bitch is seriously fucking crazy," kekekeke.

Amid all the useless chatter about rumors and current affairs, the All-Father’s information particularly caught my attention.

Animals in regions that experienced winter tended to be smaller on average.

In other words, the region where I lived was inhabited by animals that were "comparatively" small.

’What the fuck? This is what a place with comparatively small animals looks like?’

Wonmo’s mother alone had been as enormous as a house.

The saber-toothed tiger had genuinely been about the size of a house.

If those counted as comparatively small, how enormous were the creatures elsewhere?

I couldn’t even imagine it.

A sense of futility washed over me. I wished I hadn’t asked.

’But there’s an even more serious problem...’

Food.

Still shivering, I headed outside.

There was something I hadn’t managed to check because of the extreme cold—the fish.

Worried that something might have happened to them, I looked inside the iron container.

"Oh, great. I’m screwed."

Not only had the water in the container frozen solid, but so had the fish.

Natural frozen storage.

I could only sigh.

Title: Do I have to throw this away?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the fish frozen solid)

They froze completely in that short amount of time. Do I have to throw them away, or should I just extract their inner cores?

└ Heavenly Demon: There is no need to worry. If they possess inner cores, they will not freeze to death.

└ Wild Grylls: Is that even possible?

└ Heavenly Demon: They are called inner cores for a reason. You may trust me.

└ Sword Master: Do you really expect him to believe you when you blindly demand his trust? You should offer a more scientific explanation.

└ Wild Grylls: Can you provide one?

└ Sword Master: No. I’m a muscle-brained idiot who only ever studied martial arts, haha.

└ Wild Grylls: ;;

└ Heavenly Demon: As I recall, even your martial arts were rather unimpressive.

└ Sword Master: You fucking bi—

└ Heavenly Demon: What did you just say?

└ Sword Master: Head Moderator, the assistant moderator is abusing her authority. ;;

└ DontThrowAwayTheHero: Swearing was wrong too! But Heavenly Demon, please don’t do that again!

└ All-Father: As the Heavenly Demon said, if they possess inner cores, they should still be alive. They are likely not even hibernating, but simply continuing to live normally.

└ Wild Grylls: Can you explain that scientifically?

└ All-Father: Yes. Most fish that possess inner cores contain a substance called ardorotoxin, which... (omitted) ...and that is how it works.

└ Wild Grylls: Oh. I see.

└ Hmm. I understand perfectly.

└ I was actually just about to explain it myself.

└ The harvest of bullshit is plentiful this year, kekeke.

└ Says the bastards who couldn’t even get into the Academy, kekeke.

Without winter clothing, outdoor activity was almost impossible.

I was wearing both the uniform Cheonggu Princess had given me and the one I had received from King Leor, yet I was still cold.

If I hadn’t possessed even these, wouldn’t I have frozen to death already?

’Isn’t there some magical item that can warm up the inside of a room?’

The thought suddenly occurred to me, so I made another post in the Gallery.

I needed to warm the cave first before deciding whether I could venture outside.

Even then, food remained a concern.

For the moment, I couldn’t obtain any myself.

I would have to visit it to know for certain, but in weather this cold, the river had probably frozen solid too.

I still had smoked tiger meat, but I had no idea how long winter would last.

’Did those animals come to my cave yesterday because they were preparing for winter?’

It wasn’t entirely implausible.

Shivering, I added more wood to the campfire.

Title: Is there a magic item that can warm an entire room?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the campfire)

It’s still too cold with just a campfire. Isn’t there some kind of item that can warm an entire room?

└ Heavenly Demon: My bedchamber is always warm. I shall ask one of my aides and return.

└ Sword Master: Such items exist, but they usually only warm the sleeping area. We use fireplaces to heat entire houses.

└ Wild Grylls: Would it be difficult to heat the whole room with something like a crystal orb?

└ Passing Dwarf: You’d probably have to tear out the entire floor to do that. But there’s mithril beneath the floor of your cave, isn’t there?

└ Cheonggu Princess: The dwarf is right. If you’re going to use a crystal orb, it would be more efficient to renovate the house instead.

└ Wild Grylls: Then what would be the best option?

└ Passing Dwarf: You’d be better off building a fireplace. It’s easier to punch through the ceiling than the floor.

└ Wild Grylls: But that sounds hard...

└ Passing Dwarf: Then freeze to death, kek.

└ Wild Grylls: Sigh.

└ Passing Dwarf: I’ll upload some basic construction instructions. Follow those. It’s easy as long as you have bricks.

So I would have to punch a hole somewhere after all.

I let out a hollow laugh.

With winter attacking without warning, renovations had become essential.

’The ceiling is still the better option.’

If only because of the mithril, I couldn’t tear out the entire floor.

I thought about the materials I would need and began preparing.

[Wild Grylls: Well, it’s better than nothing.]

[Passing Dwarf: I’ll send you this and upload the post immediately, so keep an eye out.]

Before that, I received winter clothes from the dwarf.

They were only meant to serve as a temporary measure.

The clothes were made from fur and leather that looked warm at a glance.

The hat in particular was so large that "voluminous" seemed like the only appropriate word.

It resembled the kind of winter clothing a rifle-carrying hunter might wear.

"Whew."

Once I put everything on, the cold became somewhat bearable.

There was nothing I could do about my freezing feet, though.

I would just have to wear a pair of thick socks. As luck would have it, the Gallery had a suitable pair available.

Now that I had winter clothing, the only remaining task was to install a fireplace in the cave.

The dwarf had said he would upload the post immediately, so I just needed to follow his instructions.

[Passing Dwarf: Here are the winter clothes. I couldn’t give you shoes because I didn’t have any in your size.]

Title: Here are the fireplace plans. Take a look.

Passing Dwarf

(Photo of a fireplace cross-section diagram)

(Photo of a fireplace)

This should be enough, right? The principle itself is simple, so you should be able to build it quickly.

└ Wild Grylls: Thanks. But if I light a fire in it, I’ll need to seal the cave entrance too, right?

└ Passing Dwarf: Yeah, obviously. Don’t bother trying to install a door. Just cover the entrance with thick cloth or leather. That’ll work better.

└ Wild Grylls: Okay.

The cross-section allowed me to understand the structure, aided by the dwarf’s explanation.

The construction itself wasn’t difficult.

The chimney was the problem.

I would have to seal the gaps between the bricks so that smoke couldn’t leak out.

I had used mud to seal the gaps in the bricks when constructing both the oven and the furnace.

And what did that mean?

Clang! Clang!

"Argh! This is driving me insane!"

It meant I had to suffer through the backbreaking task of digging into ground that had frozen solid.

Rain had fallen yesterday, followed by snow today, so the ground was practically ice rather than soil.

For a moment, I considered pouring hot water over it.

I quickly abandoned the idea.

I would only be creating more work for myself. Pouring water onto the ground in winter was sheer madness.

’I’ll have to dig it up with a pickaxe.’

In the end, I had no choice but to "mine" the soil with a pickaxe.

Why the hell was I being put through this?

After gathering all the soil I needed, I purchased a ladder from the auction house.

I needed it to climb above the cave’s ceiling and look for a suitable location.

The ladder I had previously bought for butchering was a folding ladder, so it wasn’t long enough.

The ladder I purchased this time was tall enough to reach high places.

’Somewhere around here...’

I was examining different parts of the ceiling in search of a suitable spot when a tiny white object gently landed on the back of my hand.

I couldn’t feel it because I was wearing gloves, but that didn’t matter.

Tap— Tap—

It wasn’t just one.

More white objects drifted down one after another.

I raised my head toward the sky.

Dark clouds had gathered without my noticing, completely obscuring the sun.

"Wow..."

Garbage was falling from the sky.

What a truly godforsaken place.

Perhaps the weather had read my mind.

Whoooooosh—!!!

"Aaaaaaargh!!!"

In the span of thirty seconds, the snow evolved into a full-blown blizzard.

’What the fuck did I do to deserve this?!’

It was so unfair I could die.

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