Vrischil stood tall with crossed arms, staring at the expanse of snow stretching before them. The freezing cold of the ice plains was nothing compared to the questions lingering in her mind.
"Alphonse," Vrischil called out without preamble. "You said one hundred and twenty-seven players have already died. Not even twenty-four hours have passed since the server shut down. What is the cause of their deaths?"
Alphonse let out a long sigh. He wiped the frost from his monocle.
"From the sequence of images I obtained in the Akashic Terminal, the majority of their deaths were caused by something ridiculous, yet highly lethal: geography."
"You mean their landing locations?" Vrischil asked.
"Exactly," Alphonse nodded. "Imagine a low-level player with a merchant or crafter class suddenly dropping into the middle of a monster lair, the middle of a storm-ridden open ocean, or plunging directly into an active volcanic crater."
"Without the system interface and protective items, death comes for them before they even comprehend what is happening," Alphonse explained.
Arcus nodded in agreement in a know-it-all manner. "Makes sense. If a low-level player without area-of-effect skills dropped into my swamp earlier, they would surely be dead, chewed up by hundreds of Swamp Lizards."
"Or if a player dropped here without long-distance spatial mobility skills like you, Alphonse," Vrischil added, her eyes sweeping over the frozen sea in the distance.
"They would die slowly of hypothermia or starve to death in the middle of these ice plains. Without an inventory, they carry no supplies."
"Then where did you drop, Alphonse?" Arcus asked curiously. "Did you land in a dragon's lair and fight a death match before joining us?"
"No. I landed in a relatively safe forest. The only threats I encountered there were a pack of Level 15 Dire Wolves," Alphonse answered with a humble tone, deliberately shattering Arcus's expectations.
"And more interestingly, I encountered the natives of this world. A tracking squad."
Arcus immediately took a step forward, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "Natives?! What do they look like? Are they knights in glowing magical armor? Is their strength comparable to ours?!"
"I do not know for certain," Alphonse answered calmly. "I observed them from the air in the form of an illusion. I have not interacted with them or seen them fight."
Alphonse touched his chin, analyzing. "However, judging from their equipment... they seem weak. The civilization in this world appears to be akin to a medieval era."
"They wore leather armor and wielded cold steel weapons—steel swords and spears. There were no indications of advanced technology like firearms or artificial magical relic weapons."
He turned toward the sea. "It seems there is a human city not far from the forest where I was. I have not investigated it in detail."
"Wait," Vrischil interrupted, her facial expression tightening. "You said the majority died due to terrible landing locations. What is the other cause of death?"
Alphonse's golden eyes dimmed. "PvP."
Silence fell for a moment. Arcus furrowed his brow. "Killing each other?"
"A small fraction died from killing their fellow players," Alphonse continued. "Just like in the game. Some players met and immediately fought or simply tested their strength."
"The problem is, they did not realize that death here is real. There is no respawn at the nearest temple."
"And the remaining small fraction..." Alphonse looked at Vrischil, "were killed by the natives of this world."
Vrischil sneered in disgust, her gaze sharp. "Are they fools? The entire game interface is clearly gone, yet they still kill each other like children in a training arena. And are the natives here aggressive enough to dare kill a player?"
"We are anomalies falling from the sky, Vrischil," Alphonse argued logically. "The natives must feel threatened. And as for the players, they are still intoxicated by their divine power. Truly an ironic end."
Arcus rubbed his chin. "What a pathetic death. If they had known they would transmigrate to another world with their avatars... I bet those millions of players would have grinded and leveled up insanely, and perhaps willingly sold their houses in the real world for high-tier items."
Alphonse looked at Arcus with a playful gaze. "Then, what about you, Arcus? If you met an unknown player in this world, would you immediately fight them?"
Arcus puffed out his chest proudly. "Depends! Men or women first! If it's a woman—especially a beautiful one begging for protection—of course I will protect her from this cruel world!"
Vrischil cast her a murderous glare. "And if it is a man?"
"If it's a man..." Arcus shrugged, "he must bow and worship me as the Main Character, of course. If he refuses, I will erase his existence with my star arrows!"
Vrischil snorted roughly. Meanwhile, Alphonse chuckled softly, quite entertained by Arcus's unchanging ego.
However, the laughter did not last long as Vrischil posed a far weightier question. "Alphonse. Did any Level 100 players die in this initial wave?"
Alphonse fell silent for a moment, rewinding the various recordings of death he had seen in the Akashic space.
"From the depictions of death I saw... the majority were mid-to-low tier players. Level 100 players, with all their bodily resistances and passive skills, should be able to survive most of those lethal situations."
"Then..." Vrischil narrowed her eyes, "are there any actual threats capable of killing a Level 100 player in this world?"
"I do not know," Alphonse answered honestly. "I plan to ask the Akashic Terminal that question later... once my mana reserves have fully recovered."
Arcus was surprised. "Wait. What did you do to drain your entire mana?"
Alphonse looked slightly awkward. He scratched his neck. "Well... I pushed myself a bit. Posing four consecutive questions to the Akashic Record regarding the identity of the world, the number of players, your coordinates, and the number still alive. As a result... my mana capacity hit zero and I had a minor nosebleed."
Vrischil's face instantly darkened. She pointed at Alphonse with an angry tone.
"Do not be reckless, Alphonse! You are a mage! A mage without mana is the easiest target on a battlefield. You lack the physical strength to survive close-quarters attacks!"
"He can indeed be incredibly stupid sometimes for a genius," Arcus mocked, smirking.
Alphonse could only laugh awkwardly.
"The main issue right now is regeneration," Alphonse interrupted seriously. "The natural mana concentration in this world is far lower than in the game. I cannot recover mana quickly merely through ordinary meditation."
"Just use mana stones or monster cores for recovery," Arcus suggested casually.
"Are your ears plugged with snow, Arcus?" Vrischil cut in coldly. "We are bankrupt. Our treasury vault vanished along with the inventory."
"Oh, right," Arcus chuckled innocently. "Then we simply ask your omniscient god for the location of the nearest mana stone mine, and we claim it for ourselves. Easy, right?"
Vrischil stared at him. "It is rare for that tiny brain of yours to produce a good idea."
Arcus frowned. "Are you praising me or picking a fight with me, huh?!"
"Enough," Alphonse intervened before they started drawing weapons on each other. He held out his hands. "Take out whatever is left in your pockets. How many mana stones or cores do you have on you?"
Arcus patted his leather belt pouch and pulled out three red healing potion bottles. "I have no stones. Only this."
Vrischil snorted softly. She reached into her waist pouch, then pulled out three healing potion bottles and three pure blue mana crystals the size of thumbs. She placed those crystals alongside one pitch-black monster core leftover from the Frost Giant Bear earlier in front of Alphonse.
"This is all that is left," Vrischil stated flatly.
Alphonse looked at the row of items. Without hesitation, he only took the three mana crystals and the single bear monster core, then pushed the potion bottles back toward Vrischil and Arcus.
"Thank you," Alphonse said, then he pulled out ten Dire Wolf monster cores from his own pouch. "In that case, wait for me to absorb these. Do not wander far."
Alphonse sat cross-legged on the ice. He grasped one wolf monster core in his right hand.
[Tier A - Mana Drain]
The reddish glow of the monster core faded rapidly, siphoned into the pores of his hand, before the stone finally crumbled into grey dust.
One by one, he absorbed the energy from the eleven monster cores.
His brow furrowed tightly. His jaw clenched tight, enduring the searing heat flowing into his veins. Although the temperature around him was below freezing, beads of cold sweat began to dampen his temples and neck, indicating how agonizing the erratic energy he was subduing truly was.
However, when he shifted to absorbing the pure blue mana crystals, a drastic change occurred. The moment that stable and clear energy began to flow through his fingertips, the wrinkles on Alphonse's forehead instantly vanished. The muscles in his face relaxed. His eyes opened slightly, radiating a calm satisfaction. He exhaled a long, steady breath, as if he had just drunk cool mountain water after swallowing hot coals.
The pure crystals sustained a steady flow of energy for a full ten minutes before finally crumbling into grey dust in his hand.
Half an hour passed in the silence of the ice plains.
When Alphonse opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Arcus chewing on steaming white meat. The fragrant aroma of grilled fish filled the air around them.
"Yo, Alphonse! You slept very soundly!" Arcus greeted, waving half of a whole fish in his hand cheerfully.
Vrischil stepped closer, offering a grilled fish to Alphonse.
"Thank you, Vrischil," Alphonse said sincerely, taking the fish.
"Hey! That is the fish I caught from the ocean!" Arcus protested.
Alphonse rolled his eyes. "Alright. Thank you, Mr. Main Character."
Arcus nodded in satisfaction. "That's better."
Alphonse took a bite of the fish. The texture of the meat was tender, dense, and juicy. His eyes sparkled slightly. "This is very delicious. Vrischil, did you cook this?"
"Hmph!" Arcus snorted through his nose, his mouth still full of meat.
"The Elf merely blasted it with his fire magic. No seasoning, no grilling techniques whatsoever. This fish is delicious because of its superior monster meat quality, not because of his cooking skills."
Vrischil cast Arcus a glare as cold as ice, but she did not argue because it was indeed the truth.
Alphonse smiled, teasing Arcus. "Then, how did you catch a fish in the middle of an ocean whose surface is covered by thick ice?"
Arcus puffed out his chest, pointing to his pair of eyes proudly.
"Do you underestimate my eyes which have been freed from their seal? I could see the movement of fish shadows miles below that ice layer. I simply took aim with my star arrow, pierced the ice, and... boom! Dinner is served!"
Vrischil, who was still chewing her food gracefully, spoke without turning her head. "For the time being, make sure those perverted eyes of yours stay away from me, Arcus. Or I will gouge them out myself."
Arcus glared. "Heh! Who would want to peek at a woman like you anyway?!"
Vrischil stopped chewing. her eyes narrowed sharply. her right hand moved slowly to touch the hilt of her weapon at his waist.
"Enough. Stop fighting while eating," Alphonse intervened quickly, saving Arcus's life before the sword was drawn.
Alphonse finished his fish quickly. He wiped his hands and stood up, looking at his two comrades with a serious expression.
"My mana has fully recovered. I will use the Akashic Terminal now."
Arcus patted his chest confidently. "Rest easy! Focus on your god-like thoughts. I will protect your human body here."
Vrischil merely nodded slowly, drawing her sword and standing in a ready stance.
Alphonse closed his eyes.
[Tier EX - Akashic Terminal]
Golden light exploded from his eyes. Alphonse's consciousness was instantly pulled across dimensions, returning to the boundless space of light filled with billions of universal records.
Before the spinning Cosmic Mandala structure, Alphonse looked up, his voice echoing.
"Show me," Alphonse commanded. "Find every form of threat in this world of Orion... capable of killing a player with a Level 100 Combat Job."