Chapter Four: The Snowy Desert

[Ding, you have entered the Snowfield Desert]

Stepping into the violet portal, after a brief moment of dizziness, Yi Shen found the world before his eyes had utterly transformed.

The sky was a strange, fluorescent green.

The ground was almost entirely sand and dust.

The only things that seemed out of place were the various buildings and makeshift mobile devices scattered nearby.

These structures and vehicles had all been transported from Earth. After decades of development, humanity had gained a certain degree of control over these relatively close alternate worlds. At the very least, outposts had been established around the portals. In fact, even deep within these otherworldly realms, artificial fortresses occasionally appeared.

But setting aside these man-made constructs, this world was undoubtedly novel and vast.

Even standing still, one could feel the chill in the air.

According to the information tablet, it snowed here at least half the time. This snow seeped into the sand, into the corpses of monsters, and into the very depths of the land.

...

"East Zone Three squad looking for a ranged DPS, level 15 or above!"

"Blood Reaper Guild recruiting, no level limit! As long as you dare to join! Even under level 10!"

"Buying Snowglow Grass for a high price!"

"Desert guide service by beautiful women! 5,000 credits or 50 contribution points per day! Anything you can imagine, I can do!"

...

The first stop after teleporting in was a large human outpost.

This outpost had numerous entrances and exits. Along the streets and corridors, flyers, advertisements, and hawking vendors were everywhere—there were even women gathered together offering desert guide services.

Yi Shen glanced at this business a few times. The guide service was well-known among high schoolers. Most of these women claimed they could do anything, so plenty of students wanted to test if they could really solve all sorts of math problems, or if they could defeat wild monsters out in the field.

In the past, his parents always brought him straight through, bypassing these little details. This time, however, Yi Shen finally saw these women up close. Even with the chill in the air, their scant clothing and black cotton tights still exuded an air of sensuality.

Yet, it was a pity—they were all older and none could be called beautiful, so Yi Shen eventually gave up on wasting his money.

Regaining his focus, Yi Shen found a vehicle shop, rented a basic land cruiser, and left the outpost that marked the boundary of human civilization in this foreign world. The cruiser was equipped with a map and some alert systems; aside from the rather hefty deposit, there were no real downsides.

Most people were reluctant to rent these cruisers, but Yi Shen had enough pocket money, so he decided to rent one to save time.

Heading north, with the help of the cruiser, it took only about twenty minutes before other explorers became a rare sight.

The worlds beyond the dimensional gates were vast. Explorers from the Jingmen Safe Zone were spread out among various gates, and those within each gate were scattered across different regions—so encountering another explorer was a rare occurrence without maintaining communication.

"It's huge," Yi Shen muttered, following the map to a basin.

The monsters nearby were mostly a special kind of snow hare, levels ranging from one to four, with relatively low attack power.

The basin was blanketed in white, layered over yellow sand. After getting out of the cruiser, Yi Shen spotted a plump snow hare foraging in the distance.

"So white," he thought, struggling to find better words. These two simple phrases were all he could muster.

Despite their similar names, these snow hares were a completely different species from rabbits on Earth.

Yi Shen glanced around, and, seeing no one else nearby, began gathering power for a Fireball Spell.

The moment the intention arose, magic began to gather in his hand, forming a burning fireball!

Whoosh!

The fireball shot out, but—perhaps from inexperience—it landed at least a dozen meters away from the snow hare.

Startled, the hare tried to flee, and Yi Shen gave chase.

"Is there really no cost?" he wondered, glancing at his data panel as he ran. He had 200 points of mana, and each fireball should have cost about 15 mana; however, his mana bar hadn't budged at all!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Yi Shen cast a haste spell on himself and hurled four or five more fireballs. His mana remained full!

Though those fireballs scattered somewhat, two still struck the snow hare.

Splat!

“-28...”

“-31...”

Two white damage numbers flashed above the hare, instantly turning its snowy fur black and drawing forth a deep red, almost unnatural blood.

Its movements slowed, and Yi Shen quickly closed the distance.

Smack!

Up close, his aim improved—a fireball struck the hare’s head directly.

“-48!”

A larger number appeared, and the snow hare collapsed, completely lifeless. A faint metallic scent tinged the air, though the snowfield quickly covered most of it.

Glowing lights appeared on the snow hare’s body. When Yi Shen touched the glow, the system’s voice echoed in his mind:

[Ding, you have slain a Fat Snow Hare, gained +1 experience point.]

[Ding, you have slain a Fat Snow Hare, gained +1 contribution point.]

[Ding, you have slain a Fat Snow Hare, obtained Snow Hare Claw (F).]

The glow faded quickly, and Yi Shen’s stats began to change. His inventory now also contained a special Snow Hare Claw.

Each person’s system panel came with a twelve-slot inventory—capable of holding equipment, weapons, and materials. Everyone assumed this was a system-provided, extra-dimensional space.

Aside from these dropped items, the snow hare’s corpse had also become [Fat Snow Hare’s Corpse (F)].

Yi Shen dragged the hare’s body into the cruiser’s trunk—these could all be sold at the outpost, making them spoils of battle outside the system’s rewards.

With the snow hare slain, Yi Shen again felt the chill in the air. The overwhelming victory left his blood surging with excitement.

He was two souls merged into one.

So now, he felt as if he had truly entered a game world. The only regret was that, while skills no longer had cooldowns, gathering energy still required some casting time. The casting time could be shortened with practice, so he needed more training.

...

Having taken care of the first snow hare, Yi Shen pressed on and soon came across another warren—this time, three snow hares.

Hares in groups would not flee.

Instead, when attacked, they all charged straight at Yi Shen!