The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

Unahar’s eyes widened in surprise. His hands, which had been rubbing his face, fell onto his knees.

“Don’t isolate yourself. Keep someone by your side who can stop you, even by force, when you turn into a wolf. I’ve been looking for a strong but solitary companion like you.”

Unahar stared at me, not just looking but with an expression of being overwhelmed, as if facing an immense ocean.

I instinctively turned around to see if there was something behind me. Of course, there was only a wall.

Maybe I overdid it, conscious of the audience.

“I’m asking you to join my group. Let’s survive together.”

I observed Unahar, feeling confident that my proposal had been accepted.

The man, vulnerable due to the misfortune brought by his unique ability, readily agreed to my offer, deciding to rely on our group.

I would use him for my survival while helping him as much as I could, and we would be mutually beneficial.

Thus, on the verge of the eighth day of the first round, I gained a third companion.

* * *

“I didn’t expect you to try to escape…”

He remembered how stronger men had roughly bound him and forced him to kneel before a woman.

Long fingers traced the contours of Unahar’s face. His eyelashes quivered and touched the fingertips.

Even if he wanted to turn his face away or resist, several arms were restraining him.

An offering to the queen.

Recalling his own state, he swallowed bitterly.

“You don’t think I’m toying with you, do you?”

Yes, it’s all my fault. I brought this upon myself.

With dark intentions, I seduced her first.

As if my life belonged to her, I triggered her desires with sweet lips and then disappeared according to my plan.

But the stolen item had no effect, and he was caught again.

“I’ll make an exception and claim you as mine forcibly because you’ve sinned.”

Perhaps the item he stole didn’t really matter.

The woman’s dark eyes seemed to suggest that she didn’t care about the item itself but relished the situation where she had a reason to strip away his freedom.

Just as shackles were about to be fastened around his ankles, he spoke with lips so bitten they bled.

“Just kill me.”

At that moment, light burst forth from him.

Shemarin stepped back, pushing her men behind her to protect them.

Unahar desperately wished to transform into a wolf, a state ideal for escape. Unfortunately, the madness inherent in his unique ability obliterated his consciousness.

Grass and trees were trampled under his paws, and human blood stained his teeth.

In his blood-red, crazed vision, he saw a woman with black hair sitting under a tree.

…When he came to, he found himself rescued.

The woman who saved him said,

“You’re going to fight to survive anyway, right? Choose me. Survive with me.”

And now, after she had gone to fetch her two companions, leaving him alone for a moment, he rested his face against a blanket.

The moment he acquired his unique ability, his declaration was announced to the world:

[“Someone who will shake me to my core, please appear.”]

The blanket smelled sweet and comforting. It seemed to carry Rudel’s scent, suggesting it had been hers.

Unahar buried his nose in the blanket and closed his eyes.

* * *

[The 8th day of the 1st round has begun.]

[The rules for the 8th day are now revealed.]

[From now on, monsters will appear in the field. Survive against the powerful monsters.]

[Additionally, starting from the 8th day, hunting points will be tallied based on the number of monsters killed. A special reward will be given to the first monster slayer.]

Why is it so cold?

As soon as I opened my eyes on the morning of the 8th day, that was the first sensation I felt. My body shivered.

Up until yesterday, the climate had been tropical, making us sweat profusely.

Gio, who had met Lilith and barely managed to dress properly, was once again sneaking around with his chest exposed and sleeves torn off.

The air outside my sleeping bag was too cold, but it wasn’t unbearably so.

My face was cold, yet my body was sweating. Why?

I soon realized it was because of the heavy limbs pressing down on me.

In the cold cave where the temperature had plummeted, Gio was sleeping soundly, using me as a body pillow.

His muscular arms and legs had encased my sleeping bag. The parts of me in contact with Gio were hot and sticky with sweat.

‘Why me instead of Lilith?’

If he had done this to Lilith, I would have killed him.

But even doing this to me would result in his death!

I kicked Gio.

However, with his average stats of B+, a kick from someone with C stats was nothing more than a tickle. He scratched his belly and mumbled as he rolled over.

Damn, this is frustrating.

Gio, with his animal-like instincts, had somehow managed to sleep through the night without a sleeping bag, surviving the extreme cold.

He must have rolled around looking for warmth and ended up next to me.

‘What about the others?’

Lilith, who was to my left, was curled up tightly inside her sleeping bag.

I checked her hand and found it still warm, though she was shivering continuously. At least she wasn’t in any critical condition.

I conjured a flame in my palm and made it grow. The cave walls flickered with a red glow.

Then, I quickly pulled out a book from my inventory and set it alight near Lilith and Gio.

The fire continued to burn even when it was no longer directly connected to me.

Gio seemed fine, and the fire should help Lilith regain her body temperature soon.

Feeling relieved, I then remembered Unahar. My face tightened as I recalled that he had chosen to sleep some distance away from us, near the entrance of the cave, probably because he still felt awkward around us.

‘He’s probably frozen stiff by now!’

hnjb34I rushed towards the entrance of the cave. The ground grew colder with each step, to the point where the chill seeped through my shoes.

I hadn’t expected the field to turn out like this.

The weather had been erratic, switching between sweltering heat and manageable conditions, making me think, ‘Oh, so this is what they meant by unpredictable weather in the manual.’

But to wake up to an ice age overnight?

I should have anticipated this.

Knowing this was a survival game, I should have expected more than just occasional lightning.

If I had woken up 30 minutes later, I might have lost a valuable companion!

I paused momentarily at the sight of the fierce snowstorm and the white landscape outside the cave, then quickly looked down.

The temperature had dropped so much that frost had formed on the outside of Unahar’s sleeping bag and even on his exposed face.

‘He’s literally a statue, an ice statue. A young man turned into ice by the Snow Queen’s curse.’

I needed to warm him up quickly.

But bringing the fire too close might cause his frozen skin to necrotize.

As the team leader, I had to act swiftly.

Using my ability to not harm myself with my own fire, I hugged the flames to raise my body temperature.

Then, I extinguished the fire and burrowed into Unahar’s sleeping bag, pressing my heated body against his and vigorously massaging his cold hands and feet.

As I flailed around inside the cramped sleeping bag, Unahar flinched, taking hits to his chest and chin. At least he wasn’t dead—thank goodness.

I stopped massaging his hands and sighed in relief.

Realizing what was happening, Unahar’s eyes widened as he discovered me in his embrace.

With a stiff voice, he asked, “What’s going on?”

His heartbeat was fast and erratic, probably from the shock of nearly freezing to death.

“What do you mean, what’s going on? You almost froze to death. Don’t you realize that?”

Unahar blushed, realizing his misunderstanding.

I quickly scrambled out of the sleeping bag.

For someone who was nearly frozen, his skin color had returned quickly, if not overly, becoming a healthy reddish hue.

I brought Unahar deeper into the cave.

Lilith, who had woken up and was rubbing her eyes by the fire, and Gio, who was watching her, waited for us.

“I didn’t expect it to turn winter all of a sudden. That’s my oversight. Let’s put on as many layers as we can.”

Checking my inventory, I found that all our spare clothes had been swapped for turtlenecks and knee-length padded jackets.

The game admins clearly planned this weather change.

As we shared out the warm clothes, I pondered the sudden weather shift. There had to be a reason within the game’s setting.

“They mentioned monsters appearing from the 8th day. This weather must be connected. The monsters might be adapted to cold, maybe even using the snow as camouflage, making their skin white.”

I didn’t know the exact abilities or strengths of the monsters. The game’s homepage hadn’t revealed that information.

But hiding in the cave, avoiding unknown dangers, wasn’t an option. The rewards for the “first monster slayer” were too tempting.

I recalled the special reward I received for being the first to unlock a unique ability: an upgrade to one of my basic stats by one grade.

This reward would likely be of a similar caliber.

Viewers wouldn’t want to watch me cower in the cave while others took on the monsters.

No matter what vicious creatures were outside, I had to venture out.

“And if possible, I aim to secure the first kill to get the reward.”

I looked resolutely at my three companions as I spoke.