Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104 Grinding and Trading Vests

Chapter 104 Grinding and Trading Vests

+20 Free Coins

For the past few mornings, she’d put in solid hours mining coal at the site. In the afternoons, using her skis to cover ground quickly, she’d comb the snow–covered plains around the mine, scouring the area inch by inch. Her persistence paid off–she stumbled upon a freshly spawned Silver Chest and three Bronze unes.

Aside from a decent bow, the haul included a bunch of essential crafting materials and two blueprints for basic furnishings.

“Hey Neeko, pause it. Time to get to work.”

Riley smoothly drew a fine steel–tipped arrow from her quiver.

Neeko immediately hit pause on the tablet, brushed the popcorn dust off her fingers, and grabbed her own bow from beside her.

“Whoosh-”

The bowstring thrummed.

Powered by her formidable Strength attribute, the arrow tore through the gusting snow like a streak of lightning.

“Thud!”

Down below, one of the Enhanced Ghouls that had just shambled within reach of the wall had its head explode like a rotten pumpkin. The sheer force of the impact sent its body hurtling six feet back, embedding it firmly into the deep snowdrift.

“Killed Enhanced Ghoul. +4 XP.”

“Only four points…” Riley muttered, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

She’d been grinding out monster kills every night for the past several days and had managed to gain two more levels. Now at Level 9, the experience points from ordinary creatures like these were starting to dwindle. (2)

Γ

Her experience bar read “Lv.9 (50/500)“. She still needed a solid 450 points to reach the Level 10 threshold and unlock her class advancement.

“Grrr-!”

The death of their pack–mate did nothing to deter the monsters. If anything, it sent the remaining ghouls into a more frenzied rage. They lunged at the base of the stone wall, their guttural roars muffled by the wind, and began slamming their crude, rusted chains against it with heavy, jarring clangs.

If this had been her old wooden palisade, a few hits like that would’ve been a real problem.

But this was a proper stone wall, its surface reinforced with durability runes. Attacks like these only managed to chip off a few flakes of frost–coated stone.

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12:37 pm P p W

Chapter 104 Grinding and Trading Vests

“Zap Crack!”

Before Riley could notk her next arrow, Neeko had already drawn and released her own.

A silvery flash cut through the gloom, striking the ghoul right next to the first one squarely in the chest.

“Nice shot,” Riley called out approvingly, not breaking her own rhythm as she sent another arrow flying.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

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No messy close–quarters fighting, no worrying about getting scratched and infected. This was the real appeal of tower defense.

In under five minutes, the entire wave of a dozen or so ghouls was wiped out.

“Alright, back to the movie.”

Riley stowed her bow and picked up her mug of milk again.

Neeko happily hit play and scooped up another handful of popcorn.

For two whole days, Riley settled into a routine that was monotonous but stable.

Her days followed a pattern: mine coal during the daylight hours, then take her skis out to patrol the frozen wastes around the mining area, searching for any newly spawned supply caches. At night, she’d take her post on the watchtower and pick off wandering monsters. When the cold and fatigue set in, she’d head inside for a long, steaming soak in the tub.

It was boring, sure, but it was a comfortable kind of boring. She’d already grown accustomed to this level of daily activity.

During one of her breaks, Riley pulled up the Server Channel.

“Current server survivors: 923/10,000”

The number had finally dipped below a thousand.

She remembered the start of this whole nightmare–ten thousand people dumped into this server. Now, over ninety percent of them were gone.

Over the last few days, the blizzard outside had noticeably intensified. The temperature had plummeted to around negative forty degrees Fahrenheit. Anyone who hadn’t managed to upgrade their shelter to at least Level 2, or whe hadn’t stockpiled enough fuel, simply didn’t stand a chance of lasting through these long, brutal nights.

“The system is clearing the board,” Riley murmured to herself.

She gazed out the frost–rimmed window at the relentless, howling snow.

With the impending server merge, the system clearly didn’t want too many… well, dead weight survivors making

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12:37 pm P P

Chapter 104 Grinding and Trading Vests

+20 Free Coins

to the next phase. It was using this extreme weather to filter out only the genuinely capable, the real survivors.

“I can’t just keep coasting like this,” she realized.

She ran her finger slowly around the rim of her ceramic mug.

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