Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 38

Chapter 38 Dungeon Teleport

“Dungeon Type: Adventure Exploration

“Objective: Survive.

+35 Free Coins.

“Friendly Tip: All sorts of valuable chests, blueprints, and materials can spawn inside. The deeper you go, the better the loot gets. Don’t hold back–explore.

“Warning: Players can attack each other in here. Watch your back around everyone.

“Note: Your health against dungeon creatures is displayed as a fixed number based on your constitution

stat.

“Warning: The dungeon lasts 24 hours. After that, all survivors will be teleported back to their camps.

“Warning: Dying here isn’t permanent, but you’ll be kicked out early, lose a huge chunk of health–leaving you weakened–have all your energy drained, and lose 30% of the items from your inventory at random. So don’t get careless just because it’s a dungeon.

“Teleporting in 10 seconds. Get ready.

“10… 9… 8…”

Riley’s eyes went wide. She snatched up her axes.

A dungeon? Player versus player allowed? And a death penalty?

Before she could even warn Neeko, a blinding white light flashed beneath her feet.

“Hope you survivors… have fun!”

With that last, almost taunting, send–off from the system, Riley vanished into the light.

The glare of the teleport faded slowly, replaced by a wave of damp, musty air that smelled of rot and old earth.

Riley’s grip tightened on her Storm Splitter Dual Axes. The instant her boots touched ground, she dropped into a guarded stance.

It was dark–the kind of dark that felt heavy. Only patches of faintly glowing moss along the walls cast a sickly green light, just enough to outline the space around her.

She stood in a corridor built from rough blue stone bricks, stained and worn with age. Here and there, rusted iron rings hung from the walls, some trailing broken chains. The whole place had the feel of a long- forgotten tomb.

“Neeko?

Riley’s voice was low, but it carried in the hollo

of the hall.

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Chapter 38 Dungeon Teleport

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No answer came.

She glanced behind her. Nothing.

“She didn’t make the trip…”

Riley pressed her lips together. The system had said “survivors” could enter, and Neeko was native to this world–probably not on the invite list.

But then she remembered the reinforced stone walls she’d just finished upgrading back at camp, and how Neeko could shift into a grizzly or a jaguar. That eased her mind a little. As long as Neeko didn’t wander out like a rookie, she’d be okay.

Riley pulled up her interface first. A new health bar glowed softly–dungeon rules, most likely.

Health was tied to constitution: 10 points per stat. With 70 health, Riley figured she was pretty average.

She adjusted her bracers, and her gaze sharpened.

She was here now. No way she was leaving empty–handed.

Moving quietly, she started down the corridor.

“Click.”

The flagstone underfoot shifted slightly with a soft sound.

Then, from a shadowy alcove up ahead, came a dry, grinding noise–like bone scraping against stone.

“Creak… creak…”

Two pinpricks of pale blue light flickered to life in the dark.

A skeletal figure lurched into the dim glow, clutching a rust–eaten iron sword. Nothing clung to its bones but scraps of decayed cloth. It moved stiffly, jerkily, but its hollow eye sockets fixed right on Riley–on the living warmth she carried.

“Monster: Crypt Skeleton (Lv.3)

“Description: Bottom–tier dungeon trash. Fragile, but feels no pain.”

“Just one?”

Riley raised an eyebrow.

The skeleton let out a raspy hiss, lifted its blade, and shambled toward her.

Its speed was… well, it wasn’t winning any races. More like a bad replay in slow motion.

“Too slow.”

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Chapter 38 Dungeon Teleport

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Riley held her ground. She waited until the sword was inches from her face, then sidestepped smoothly.

As the skeleton stumbled past, she brought her right axe up in a short, practiced arc.

Clang!

A sharp metallic ring echoed as the rusted sword went spinning from bony fingers.

In the same motion, her left axe followed–fueled by the attack speed boost from Dual–Wielder’s Frenzy.

It blurred through the air and connected cleanly with the skeleton’s exposed neck vertebrae.

“Crack!”

Her Strength stat–20 points‘ worth–spoke clearly in that moment.

There was no resistance. The skull popped clean off and thudded to the floor, rolling several feet before coming to a stop.

The headless skeleton jerked once, then collapsed into a loose pile of bones with a clatter.

A second later, both the remains and the dropped sword faded away into nothing.

“Crypt skeleton defeated. EXP +2

“Current EXP: Level 3-18/100

“Loot dropped: Intact skull x1”

Riley walked over and picked up the skull. It was cool and smooth to the touch.

“What

am I

supposed to do with this? Take it back and spook Neeko?”

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