Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 39

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Riley curled her lip in disgust before shoving the useless drop into her inventory.

Even though the loot was garbage, how easily she’d handled that first fight boosted her confidence. Thinking about it, she was probably way stronger than most other survivors. Looked like the first floor of this dungeon wasn’t going to give her much trouble.

She pressed on.

After walking another fifty yards or so, she rounded a corner and the passage opened into a small stone chamber. In the center sat a chest covered in dust. It was a dull, rust–brown color and didn’t seem to be locked.

“A bronze chest?!”

Riley’s eyes lit up instantly.

Even though it was only a second–tier chest, this was the first wild loot container she’d come across since the whole nightmare began.

Until now, all her supplies had come from system rewards or trades. Finding something through actual exploration–that was a completely different kind of thrill.

Riley rubbed her palms together, her heart thumping hard against her ribs.

She walked over quickly, circled the chest once to check for traps, took a steadying breath, and gripped the lid with both hands.

Come on, luck. Don’t fail me now.

She offered up the silent plea, then heaved the lid open.

“Creeeak-”

The heavy scrape of metal echoed in the quiet room as the chest swung open.

A few items lay inside, untouched and waiting.

“Obtained: Low–Grade Bandage ×5

“Obtained: Toast Bread *2

“Obtained: Steel <3

“Obtained: Blueprint–Insulated Wool Hat <1”

Not amazing, but definitely better than nothing.

When Riley spotted that last blueprint, her hand stilled for a second.

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Chapter 39 First Chest

“Blueprint–Insulated Wool Hat

“Crafting Requirements: Hide 2, Cloth 1

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“Description: Looks a little dorky, but it’ll keep your ears from freezing off. Cold Resistance while equipped: +5.”

“Well, alright then…”

Riley let out a long, slow breath.

It wasn’t game–changing, but in this frozen hellscape, cold–resistance gear was always in demand. And since it was a standard blueprint, she could crank these out in her Workshop whenever she wanted.

“Looks like even with that ‘Unlucky Fool‘ title, dungeon rewards aren’t getting nerfed.”

She tucked the blueprint away happily. Once she made a few of these, she could trade them on the exchange for something more useful.

After stashing her loot, Riley didn’t hurry out of the chamber.

She found a relatively clean spot in the corner, sat back against the wall, took a swig from her water bottle, and pulled up the “Server Channel“.

The channel was flooded with complaints and cries for help.

“Someone explain why these skeletons are so tanky?! Took me like twenty hits to bring one down!”

“Anyone in Sector A? Got three mobs on me–need backup! Looking to group up with someone who can carry!”

“Don’t trust the coordinates people are posting! This guy asked for help, then tried to jump me for my gear when I showed up!”

“Same here! Almost got shanked by someone named WildBlade. Watch your backs–PVP is definitely enabled in here.”

“Forming a group at the Sector B intersection! DPS only, no dead weight!”

Riley’s expression turned cold as she scanned the messages.

Just as she’d figured–other survivors were a bigger threat than the monsters.

Inside a closed dungeon like this, with no laws or consequences to hold anyone back, and with resources on the line, human greed was going to run wild.

It was pretty clear the system had designed these rules to encourage–maybe even force–survivors to

turn on each other.

Riley wasn’t the type to kill for loot, but she wasn’t naïve either.

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Chapter 39 First Chest

“Teaming up is out

f the question.

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She shook her head.

She was strong enough to handle the first floor on her own. Bringing along some random stranger would mean splitting loot and watching her back constantly. Totally not worth it.

Besides…

She glanced at the system timer.

“Time Remaining: 23h 15m”

This was still just the beginning.

The system had promised “the deeper you go, the better the rewards“.

If the first floor could drop a blueprint, what would the second floor have? Maybe even uncommon–grade schematics. She was still seriously under–geared.

Riley pushed herself up and brushed the dust off her pants.

“Next stop–the second–floor entrance.”

Gripping her axes firmly, she stepped out of the stone chamber with resolve and melted back into the shadows of the hallway.

Along the

way,

she ran into several more packs of skeletons and even a slightly bulkier Skeleton Warrior.

But between her aggressive dual–axe attacks and well–aimed spear throws, every monster ended up as a pile of bones and a bump of experience.

Riley even leveled up again.

“Level Progress: LV4-25/100

“Strength: 21 (Beyond human limits. You’re basically walking around in titan form now.)

“Agility: 10 (Professional–athlete tier.)

“Constitution: 8 (Solid, resilient physique.)”

Even though the EXP was starting to slow down, the feeling of plowing through everything in her path was deeply satisfying.

After about ten more minutes of walking….

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