Ch.96EP 4 Jormungandr

Following Hwang-gu, I ran for quite a while until I discovered a large castle.

The castle made of transparent ice was covered in pure white snow.

“Is this the place?”

“It’s a large ice castle.”

“Sniff sniff!”

Hwang-gu nodded at my words and approached the castle gate.

In front of the gate, footprints made of white snow remained.

It seems the second-generation users had entered this castle.

Even though we were close, I couldn’t sense anyone’s presence. Just in case, I shouted loudly.

“Hey!!!”

“Woof woof!”

Hwang-gu also barked loudly as if helping me. It was loud enough that anyone inside the castle would surely hear it.

But there was no answer.

At this point, I had no choice but to go in.

I held Aurel’s hand and climbed onto Hwang-gu’s back.

“Let’s go.”

“Sniff sniff…”

The cold ice castle emanated a chill as frigid as its appearance.

I looked around the wide hall with my mouth hanging open.

The clean, transparent ice reflected everything beyond it.

To my surprise, even the interior was made of transparent ice.

“Further inside…”

I pulled Hwang-gu’s leash and headed deeper into the castle.

The large castle consisted of three floors, but aside from everything being made of ice, there wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy.

At that moment, Hwang-gu suddenly raised her head and dashed up the frozen stairs.

With each step she took, I could hear popping sounds—the sound of her warm paw pads sticking to and coming off the cold ice floor.

After running for a while, Aurel suddenly stood up and pointed ahead.

“Charlotte! Over there!”

“I see it too.”

“Huff huff!”

Where Hwang-gu had run to, eight users lay collapsed.

Their faces were blue, and frost had settled all over their bodies.

Judging by the lack of breathing sounds, they were likely dead, but I hurriedly jumped off Hwang-gu’s back.

If their hearts were still beating, I thought I might try CPR.

However, the moment I touched the blue, frozen body of a second-generation user, it shattered like candy.

Crack-!

“Gasp…”

“Wow…”

The sight of a frozen human body breaking apart was quite gruesome.

The red blood and muscles beneath the skin, and even the white bones were exposed, revealing the marrow inside the white bones.

This was definitely death.

What could have frozen them to death?

The answer could be found in the corpse of a second-generation user.

Slightly separated from the other bodies, the vampire’s corpse was wearing a small ice crown.

Other than the crown, there was nothing suspicious about it.

I immediately activated my Mystic Eye to check the crown’s information.

[item-helmet-0999]

Level Requirement: –

All Stats +40

Defense +70

Sun Resistance +100%

Physical Resistance +20%

Magic Resistance +20%

Maximum HP -10%

Freezing Resistance -30%

When equipped, [skill-0999] skill is activated

[skill-0999]

All attacks gain freezing property

All targets within 20M have Freezing Resistance -20%

5% chance to freeze target when attacking

As I expected, this crown was an equipment item.

And one with incredible options at that.

The item name and the name of the skill activated when equipped weren’t specified.

This was a familiar situation. It seems the god had pulled out dummy data again.

I sighed and focused on the freezing resistance reduction option attached to this item.

It seemed someone had worn this crown, and with their freezing resistance lowered, they froze to death.

It was truly an absurd and meaningless end.

Of course, I couldn’t yet determine exactly how they met their end.

There might be monsters hiding nearby, invisible to the eye.

Just in case, I put the small ice crown in my pocket.

Since I wasn’t wearing it directly, the item’s effects weren’t activated.

“Could all this have been prepared for you, Charlotte?”

“For me…?”

While rummaging around to find something more, Aurel made an unexpected comment.

She looked around with a bright smile, as if she really believed it.

“Yes. The ice crown and this magnificent Ice Citadel. It must be a gift from the god.”

“You think so?”

“Yes! What are you called in Seoul now?”

“V-Vampire Queen…”

“Exactly! A queen should have a castle and crown befitting her status. You already have enough subjects, right?”

Listening to Aurel, her words somehow seemed right.

I nodded while stroking my chin.

Indeed, I was now called the Vampire Queen.

Though for a queen, my life had been quite modest.

“So why don’t we move here?”

“Move? Abandon Seoul?”

“Yes!”

I shook my head at Aurel’s suggestion.

I had no desire to leave Seoul with all its infrastructure just to live in this castle.

Above all, this place was cold and hard.

Even the bed was made of ice, so if I were to cuddle with Aurel and Hwang-gu on it, our skin would freeze.

After rolling around, we might end up as Aurel-flavored sherbet or Hwang-gu-flavored sherbet.

“Is there really a need for that? Seoul has everything we need.”

“Then let’s move this castle to Seoul!”

“Move the castle? Do you think that’s possible?”

“We don’t need to move the castle, just the large mirror outside, right?”

“Do you think that’s possible…?”

I showed a skeptical reaction to Aurel’s opinion.

But Aurel didn’t back down.

“A queen needs a castle!”

Aurel, who had emerged from the mirror, immediately released her little sparrows to summon vampires and werewolves from Seoul.

Until then, I didn’t have high expectations.

Aurel rode on Hwang-gu, directing numerous vampires and werewolves.

They scattered in all directions and clung to the large mirror, seemingly intending to lift it and move it to Seoul.

“Everyone got a hold?”

-Yesss!!!

“Lift!”

-Lift!!!

At Aurel’s command, the second-generation users let out a mighty shout.

Then the large mirror began to move.

I watched the scene in a daze.

To think they could forcibly lift a door leading to another region.

It was an unbelievable sight.

“We’ve got it!!!”

Aurel jumped around with Hwang-gu, rejoicing.

Then she began to lead the way to Seoul.

“Let’s go!”

Following Aurel’s command, the second-generation users began to move.

In sync with their movements, the huge 10-meter mirror started moving.

Aurel and Hwang-gu ran ahead, clearing obstacles.

Large buildings and numerous abandoned cars flew around at the hands of the two girls.

Aurel continued to send her little sparrows to summon new second-generation users.

They were escort users to protect those exposed and vulnerable during the move.

After a full day of this grand migration, the 10-meter giant mirror was placed in the center of Seoul.

All users cheered at the sight, and when I wore the ice crown, the atmosphere became solemn, like a coronation ceremony.

Once the mirror was installed, Aurel busily ran around, moving many items into the Ice Citadel.

Our usual bed, blankets, and even Hwang-gu’s food bowl.

Hwang-gu preferred the cold world inside the mirror to the summer outside.

But it wasn’t without gain. Besides the newly acquired nameless crown, learning that we could move doors to special regions was a significant achievement.

I immediately had second-generation users move the large door leading to the Underground Ruins to Seoul.

***

I was walking Hwang-gu as usual when a girl came running frantically from a distance and stopped in front of me.

It was Aurel.

“Charlotte!!!”

“What…?”

“A, a new boss has appeared?”

“Boss? Could it be the fourth episode boss?”

“Yes! A huge snake! The king snake! Jörmungandr has appeared!”

Aurel’s words were true.

The fourth episode boss, Jörmungandr, had revealed itself in this world.

Like other bosses, it suddenly appeared in a location—Daejeon.

The place where I first opened my eyes.

Coincidentally, the final episode boss of Blood Carnival appeared there.

Of course, the story of Blood Carnival wasn’t complete. The story bosses updated in the game ended with Jörmungandr.

“Hmm…”

I swallowed a groan as I looked at the huge snake.

While it was enormous like in the game, it wasn’t large enough to encircle the world.

I was worried it might appear in an incredibly massive form due to reality adjustment, but thankfully it didn’t.

“It’s so huge…!”

Aurel murmured in a small voice as she watched the writhing snake.

As she said, Jörmungandr was very large. Its length was impossible to estimate, but it probably had enough length to cover all of Seoul and more.

It was so thick that the old building next to it looked small in comparison.

If compared to Manticore, it would make the latter look like a lion cub.

“Are you going to fight it?”

I shook my head at Aurel’s question.

Not now. When we slowly increase our population and have over ten thousand people who can fight.

Only then might we be able to challenge it.

It was clear that even I wouldn’t be able to withstand such a huge creature.

“Not now.”

Fortunately, Jörmungandr’s movement range was limited to Daejeon.

Unless specifically provoked, it wouldn’t advance toward Seoul.

I returned to Seoul and sternly warned the second-generation users.

Never to disturb the huge snake.

My orders are absolute to second-generation users.

The users who heard my story nodded with stern faces.

It seemed like peace would continue for about a year.

But misfortune came unexpectedly.

A massive earthquake struck while I was walking Hwang-gu as usual.

The tall buildings of Seoul collapsed due to the earthquake, causing significant damage.