Versatile: Alternate World

Chapter 412 Expedition To The Frozen Region: Hell Beneath The Ice (I)

I was expecting to get buried under the avalanches but due to the cave-in that happened right before the snow can even land on my head, I managed to avoid death once more. Now, my only problem is how to land properly. I can't summon Leona to help me since the area that I was falling in is too tight for Leona alone and even if I did summon her, she won't be able to help me here, more like she will be stuck somewhere instead, leaving me falling to the deep hole.

Without wings or anything that would soften my landing, I am currently on a sitting duck here.

"Master! We can help!" Lina and the others offered.

"Thanks but no need. I can do this myself."

After that, I pulled out my Versatile Weapon and changed it from hook and chain. Grabbing the hook, I tried to use the hook to reduce the speed of my fall by putting the hook into the ice wall. Because the walls are not that jagged, the hook is just passing through the ice wall and I keep falling. But I am no longer falling as fast as before and I am indeed having a slower descent. But I am also struggling on keeping the hook into the walls. Without it being attached to a wall, I am going to have another increased speed in my descent again.

I gritted my teeth and increase the force of my grip. It all comes down to this and it will also depend on how deep this is.

...

Around 5 minutes later, I finally reached the bottom floor. The Hook on my hand is already too hot due to the friction, luckily, the heat of the hook is not that hot enough to melt the ice wall before me and increase my descent, allowing me to land safely. However, I underestimated the stress my hands get after that. It still felt a bit bad and my hand still feel sore due to that.

The next thing I did was sit down on the cold ground.  The snow that fell with me arrived much faster after I used the hook technique, allowing me to avoid being buried in it. I needed my rest so I didn't even care whether there are monsters around or not, I just needed to have a good rest and have my hands recover for a bit.

And as I put my butt on the hard cold floor, the notification of discovering a new place appeared before me.

[You have discovered the Frozen Hell Underground. You are the first one to discover this place.]

Frozen Hell Underground? That is an ominous name for a place. And here I thought it was just an accidental area where I slipped through the usual boundary of the game, turns out, a place actually existed underneath.

Since I was separated from everyone, I decided to open up my inventory and pull out a teleport scroll. I set my destination and tore the scroll into two. However...

[Due to Special Circumstances, Teleport Scrolls and skills that will allow you to transfer from one place to another are going to be canceled. For used Teleport Scrolls, they will be reverted back to their normal scroll form that hasn't been used.]

Once that announcement appeared, the scroll that I just tore into two returned back to a whole piece scroll once more. It shouldn't have been possible since an item will only be used up and disappear if it wasn't able to fulfill its effects after it gets canceled. I never heard or seen something like this happening before.

I inwardly cursed. If I can't use it, that means this place is something that I have to explore and find the exit. Climbing is close to impossible, especially with how slippery the walls are and the lack of jagged edges for me to grab a hold of, it is also not viable. And I was locked back to the choice of finding the exit of this hellhole.

To avoid everyone from worrying, I decided to chat with anyone from our group about my situation and to say that I am okay. However, another problem appeared.

[Chat and call function is currently unavailable until you have escaped from this place. Please exit from this place before the normal functions will return.]

Seeing the text on my screen panel, I inwardly cursed seeing it. I felt sweaty and checked the log-out button. Don't tell me I am also forced to stay inside this game too? With all the functions I have seen being all stuck and can't be used, I feared the log-out button too will be also the same thing.

[Are you sure you want to log out?]

Yes/No

I clicked yes and I returned to reality. I sighed in relief after seeing that I can log out from the game and not be locked out from it. that would have been a big problem if that happened instead. Since I am out already, I sent a message to Janus and the others using my Holophone that I am stuck somewhere and I have to find the exit for myself at the moment.

After sending it to them, I am relieved for that, and that will also allow me to stop the two queens from worrying about me and finding me under the snow. With that done, I log back into the game. The sooner we are done with this Frozen hell or whatever that place is, the better.

[Welcome Back! Bladeheart]

I spawned from where I stood back when I log back out. I was hoping I would be spawning back into the city but it was just not something that will not happen especially since I was stuck in here.

"Dammit, Lucia, Tina, Lina, please lend me a hand in here."

The three girls went out of the summons area and they started to shiver from the cold.

"I underestimated the coldness of this place..." Lucia gritted her teeth from the cold.

"It is definitely not a good place to stay put..." Tina hugged herself to warm up. As for Lina, it seems she didn't have much problem. Lucia looked at her with a puzzled look on her face.

"Are you not cold at all, Lina-chan?"

"Since my Battle Maid armor is made from exceptional fabric and meticulous garment, it was able to resist cold and heat, all the same, allowing me to serve anytime, anywhere, whether we are in a scorching hot desert or a chilling and mind-numbing place like this. Therefore, there is no need for me to feel cold at all."

"Damn it... that is kinda cheating..." Tina grumbled.

"Now, now. I have winter gear available for you all to resist the cold. Wear it to elevate the coldness you guys are feeling right now. You too, Lina. Despite having your Battle Maid dress, don't keep relying on it, with this place being so cold, it is better to have multiple covers from the cold. Who knows if it gets colder around here compared to the temperature above."

? "I understand." Lina then wears the coat and gloves I have given. The other two also did the same thing.

"Whew, that's a lot better. It is still cold but not to the point I will shiver just by standing still," Lucia sighed in relief.

"So, what is the first course of action here, Master? Whatever the plan is, we are ready to do it."

"Since this was an uncharted place, we will have to explore the place but our first priority is to find a way up here and return back to where we were before."

"That would take us a long time, Master. Considering how far you have fallen through this place and how long before you touched solid ground, it will take us a bit longer before we can even find a good way out of this place," Lina reasoned out.

"That is why we have to explore. Who knows, we might discover a secret that will allow us to escape here immediately. Also, if this place was inaccessible and can only be accessed by falling into the caved-in like earlier,  then how come there is a road that seems to lead to somewhere around here? Isn't that going to be just impossible?" I quickly pointed out the road ahead of us that seems to lead us somewhere though we have no idea.

"You might be right, Master. Then let's stop talking and we should begin our exploration."

We begin our exploration of the Frozen Hell Underground. No one knows how long we will be able to get out of this place nor do we know what lurks in the darkness. It might seem hopeless but I can tell that we will be able to get out of here as soon as we can. There is only one way for us to do it and that is to explore.

Of course, I have no idea that a ruckus has already occurred back to the team that managed to escape the avalanche successfully.