How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game - Chapter 690: Frozen Trials 4
Chapter 690: Frozen Trials 4
“Is this the right path?”
Snow muttered under her breath, her voice barely louder than the wind.
The scattered snow around her shifted at her will, drifting forward like it knew where to go.
It gathered and thinned ahead, guiding her toward something solid in the distance.
A tower.
Tall. White. Firm against the endless frost.
It rose from the snow like it had always been there, wrapped in thick layers of ice and powder.
For a moment, she was reminded of the magic towers back in the imperial capital — the proud white spires that pierced the sky.
Even the foreign countries she had visited had nothing quite like this.
But this tower felt… different.
Colder.
Watching.
“Did I finish the first test?” she wondered quietly.
She glanced back at the trail she had left behind.
The wasteland stretched endlessly, silent and empty.
No pressure. No voice. No resistance.
Her answer — her authority — had been accepted.
That meant this had to be the second trial.
She let out a slow breath, feeling her mana stir beneath her skin. It tingled, alert.
“Disperse…”
At her command, the snow around her spread outward in all directions.
The frost clinging to the tower trembled and slowly peeled away, as if acknowledging her presence.
The heavy layers of ice slid off.
And beneath it—
A white staircase revealed itself.
Step by step, she climbed.
Each footstep echoed softly in the frozen silence.
At the top stood a massive white door.
Seamless.
Almost too perfect.
As she approached, the surface of the door began to glow with a bluish-white light.
The same kind of light that had swallowed her during the first trial.
The door opened on its own.
Beyond it was blinding.
The light was intense.
But Snow didn’t hesitate.
She stepped forward.
For a moment she closed her eyes, feeling that same mana-soaked sensation press against her senses.
It wasn’t painful.
Just overwhelming.
Like standing inside a spell.
Then—
Silence.
She opened her eyes.
This time, she wasn’t in the endless frozen wasteland.
No howling wind. No empty horizon.
Instead—
“A hall?”
She stood inside a massive grand hall.
Wide. Open. Towering.
Everything was made of ice — but not rough, natural ice like before.
This was polished.
Refined.
Bluish-white crystal that reflected light like glass.
Pillars stretched upward, carved from frozen frost.
The ceiling arched high above, shimmering faintly as if stars were trapped inside it.
It felt familiar.
Not because she had been here before.
But because it felt like something that belonged to her.
…
Frost Queen.
Even with all the knowledge Riley had from the game, there wasn’t much about her.
She wasn’t one of the major world bosses.
She didn’t have pages of lore, hidden side quests, or secret records buried in item descriptions.
If anything, she barely existed outside Snow’s storyline.
She was one of those scenario bosses.
The kind that appears only when a specific character reaches a specific point.
The kind made to push that character forward.
To break them.
Or to give them a sudden, unnatural rise in power for the sake of the plot.
No real background.
No detailed history.
No proper explanation.
Just a title.
Frost Queen.
Riley knew what type of entity she was.
He knew her abilities.
Her elemental control was absolute within her domain.
Ice constructs.
Authority over snow.
Regeneration through ambient frost.
He knew her weaknesses too — heat-based divinity, mana disruption at the core, emotional instability triggering pattern shifts.
But that was in the game.
This wasn’t a game anymore.
Mechanics didn’t always translate cleanly into reality.
Personalities weren’t just scripted dialogue.
And bosses weren’t just health bars waiting to drop.
’She reminds me of the White Queen…’
The thought crossed his mind as he walked behind Anica, the Frost Dragon.
The dragon’s massive body moved with quiet authority through the frozen corridor, her tail brushing lightly against the ice floor.
Each step echoed faintly as she led him toward the throne room.
The White Queen.
A hidden Epilogue boss.
Tragic and Misunderstood.
’Since the game is basically the accumulated memories of my past selves condensed into one… does that mean in most realities she had always been like this?’
Most players never even uncovered her full story.
The game barely showed it.
You had to piece things together from scattered hints — broken dialogue, environmental clues, a single hidden cutscene.
She wasn’t evil.
Just… cornered.
The Frost Queen felt similar.
Not in power. Not in design.
But in presence.
There was something incomplete about her existence.
Like she wasn’t meant to simply be defeated.
Like her role wasn’t to stand as an obstacle.
Riley narrowed his eyes slightly as the massive frozen doors at the end of the hall came into view.
After all…
She was one of the few scenario bosses who willingly gave up her life.
Not because she was beaten.
Not because she was forced.
But for the sake of something else.
“Hmm… you’re awfully quiet, human. I had a feeling you’d be the type to ask more questions…”
Anica’s deep voice echoed through the frozen corridor as she tilted her massive head slightly to glance back at him.
For reference, she had been walking beside him earlier in her polymorphed human form — calm, composed, almost elegant.
But for some reason, halfway through the walk, she had shifted back into her original body.
Now her true form filled the hallway.
Gigantic wings folded against her back.
Frost-blue scales that shimmered like carved crystal.
Each step of her claws against the ice floor left faint cracks that healed a second later.
She didn’t shrink the space.
She owned it.
Riley stayed silent for a moment.
Technically, he did have questions.
A lot of them.
But they weren’t the kind he needed answered to survive.
They were personal curiosities.
Lore.
Motives.
Things that wouldn’t change what he had to do next.
“I prefer direct answers,” he said calmly.
Anica let out a low, amused hum.
“Hoho… quite direct for a young human. Were you always aware that dragons tend to enjoy mysteries and riddles?”
“…”
Riley didn’t respond.
The dragon’s icy breath misted through the air as she chuckled softly.
“Well, you don’t have to answer. Not all dragons are alike.”
She paused, her tail swaying lazily behind her.
“But since our Queen seems to fancy a curiosity about you, I was hoping you’d show a bit more… interest.”
Her large eye glanced back at him again.
“But I suppose it isn’t my place to pry.”
They walked a few more steps in silence before she continued.
“Then instead of personal matters, how about something simpler? I’m sure you’re at least curious about how these halls were made…”
The massive pillars around them were carved from flawless ice.
The walls shimmered faintly, like frozen waves caught mid-motion.
No seams. No joints.
Just perfect structure.
“I’m not interested,” Riley replied flatly.
Anica clicked her tongue.
“Tsk. What a bummer.”
Riley narrowed his eyes slightly.
He wasn’t sure why this Frost Dragon was so talkative.
Then again…
Most dragons weren’t exactly normal in the head.
Frost Dragon Anica.
Much like the Frost Queen, there wasn’t much written about her in the game.
She was listed as a mid-boss in Snow’s scenario.
Extremely hard to kill.
High resistance.
Brutal area control.
Players complained about her frost storms and constant pressure in phase two.
But that was it.
No detailed backstory.
Just a powerful dragon guarding the path forward.
She was probably one of the last true dragons left in the world.
And even now, walking ahead of him, her presence alone was overwhelming.
Thick mana poured off her white scales like cold mist.
It wasn’t aggressive.
It wasn’t even directed.
It just existed.
The air felt heavier around her.
Most humans — even those who had reached mastery in their realms — would struggle just standing this close.
Their instincts would scream at them to kneel or run.
But compared to his fiancée…
Riley’s gaze stayed calm.
Most dragons now naturally paled in comparison.
Still.
Is it natural for dragons of this level to unconsciously release their Dragon Fear?
[Skill: Dragon Fear (Unique)]
A racial aura skill unique to dragons.
It allowed them to suppress those beneath them in rank.
Not through brute force — but through instinct.
A pressure that crawled under your skin and told you that you were prey.
Or…
Is she just nervous around me?
Riley observed her quietly.
Despite acting like a normal, proper guide — chatty, even playful — there was a clear layer of caution in her movements.
The mana leaking from her body wasn’t wild.
It was tense.
Controlled.
He wondered if his violent approach last time still lingered in her memory.
Soon they arrived before a massive white double door.
It was taller than Anica’s dragon form. Smooth. Carved from flawless ice that reflected faint blue light.
Without a word, Anica’s body began to glow.
In a brief shimmer of frost and mana, her massive dragon form shrank and shifted.
She returned to her human shape.
Tall. Elegant. Long white hair falling down her back. Pale skin almost glowing against the frozen hall.
Though her curved horns still remained.
And her thin white tail swayed lightly behind her.
“Since we’re entering the Queen’s hall…”
she said calmly, adjusting her posture.
“You don’t mind acting a bit more formal, right?”
“Formal?”
“Don’t worry. It doesn’t differ much from human customs~”
As she said that, her tail slowly slid forward.
And wrapped around his waist.
Riley looked down at it.
“What are you doing?”
“Just a certain sense of formality~” she replied lightly.
Her tone was casual, but her tail’s grip was firm.
Not restraining.
Just… holding.
Riley didn’t understand why that counted as formal.
Dragon customs weren’t exactly something he studied.
Still, he didn’t argue.
Afterall Liyana was also the clingy type.
And.
He just wanted to get this over with.
Creak—
The massive doors slowly began to open.
Cold air poured out from inside, sharper than before.
“Now then, shall we—”
Anica’s words stopped mid-sentence.
Her tail instantly loosened and pulled away from his waist.
“Hm?”
Riley turned to look at her.
For the first time since they started walking—
The Frost Dragon looked genuinely afraid?
