Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 185

Chapter 185 The Bond

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Riley leaned against the rough interior wall, nursing a recovery potion. She watched the survivors who had just been pulled back from the brink, her brow furrowing slightly.

To be honest, neither she nor Pineapple Beer could fully empathize with the atmosphere.

What did dying in a dungeon mean?

It meant the screen went black, your bag burst open, and you were force–teleported back to your safehouse.

Sure, you lost your progress and gear, but it wasn’t a permanent “end.”

Riley understood the frustration of a failed run, but this level of grief seemed… excessive.

In the corner.

TartKing was working tirelessly, waving her staff to cycle Lesser Heal through the group.

“Alright, everyone is out of the danger zone. But your Max HP is going to be capped for a while.”

TartKing wiped sweat from her forehead and pulled some warm muffins from her bag. “Eat something sweet. It restores Morale and helps with the panic.”

BigMountain took a muffin and took a mechanical, soulless bite.

Riley cleared her throat, breaking the heavy silence.

“Let’s do introductions.”

She gestured to BigMountain. “This is Big Mountain from the Dawnlight Guild. We’ve worked together before. He’s reliable.”

She pulled out the parchment map. “This magic map we’re using? I bought it from him.”

PineappleBeer offered a lazy nod in BigMountain’s direction.

“Nice to meet you,” BigMountain rasped, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. “Thanks for the save.”

“We were in the neighborhood,” Riley said, waving it off.

“It’s been a few days. Why aren’t you with your guild?”

BigMountain took a deep breath, the blue light highlighting the stubble on his weary face.

“After we split up… we actually had a decent run.

“We had Sealing Orbs. I wanted to catch some worker–type mobs for the base.

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Chapter 185 The Bond

The three of us were pretty far from the main group, so we weren’t in a rush to regroup.

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“Then, near a berry patch, we ran into them.” BigMountain pointed to ToxicReaper and the girl in the

corner.

ToxicReaper pushed up his glasses but didn’t speak.

“It was a crazy coincidence,” BigMountain said with a hollow laugh.

“ToxicReaper and Snowy… they were university classmates back on Earth.”

Riley’s eyebrows shot up.

In a world where billions were dropped at random, the odds of meeting someone you actually knew were lower than winning the lottery.

“Snowy recognized him instantly. Called him by his old school nickname, BigMountain continued. “He seemed like a good kid, and Snowy trusted him. So I invited them to join us.

His gaze softened slightly.

“Our group grew steadily; we took in any solo survivors we met as long as they weren’t ill–intentioned, and before we knew it, there were over a dozen of us.

“During the day, we split the work–some lured monsters, some managed traps, and others gathered resources–and while we weren’t strong like you, the numbers made things easy.

“At night, we’d find a sheltered slope and sit around the campfire in a circle, sharing the food everyone had scavenged and just chatting.”

“About what?” Riley asked.

“About Earth. About the old life.”

BigMountain stared at the flickering light of the crystals, his eyes shimmering. “About which diner had the best late–night burgers, about the rent we still owed, about the girl we never had the guts to ask out…

“ToxicReaper and Snowy talked the most. They joked about college, about the bald dean…

“We even talked about building a massive shelter one day. Bringing all the humans together to start over.

“Back then, we felt like… meeting an old friend and talking about the past made everything feel okay.It made it feel like we were still human.”

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