Survival Queen of the Frozen Wastes novel Chapter 5

Riley stared at the dead chainsaw in her hands and shook her head. Without power, it was just an expensive paperweight.

If she wanted more wood, she'd have to do it the old-fashioned way—pick up the axe or the manual handsaw from the toolbox and go to war with frozen timber.

But eight more trees were eight more trees. Her stockpile was looking healthy.

"First things first. Get these back."

She sucked it up, stowed the chainsaw in her inventory, and started hauling.

Her body screamed even louder than yesterday. Every muscle felt like it had been replaced with concrete. She dragged each log back one at a time, moving like a zombie.

Drag. Rest two minutes. Drag again.

The wind howled in her ears. Riley lost track of time, lost track of everything except the mechanical rhythm of work.

By the time the sun was high—not that you could really see it through the clouds—she dragged the last log into the campfire's radius. It dissolved into light, absorbed by the system. Riley all but collapsed into the snow.

"Acquired: Wood x40"

She lay there for a moment, chest heaving, staring at the number in her inventory. A tired smile crept across her face.

She had enough.

Combined with the coal and steel from yesterday's trades, she had everything she needed for the upgrade.

Riley forced herself upright and walked to the campfire.

On the floating translucent panel, the "Upgrade" button glowed that tempting gold.

"Upgrade Primitive Shelter to Lv.2?

"Cost: Wood x50, Stone x20, Coal x10, Scrap Steel x5

"Remaining after upgrade: Wood x16, Stone x3, Coal x0, Steel x0"

"Upgrade."

Riley took a breath and pressed it.

"Hmmmm—!"

A blinding white light erupted from the heart of the campfire, swallowing everything. Riley squeezed her eyes shut.

No explosion. No thunder. Just a sound like Legos snapping together.

A few seconds later, the light faded.

Riley opened her eyes. And stopped breathing.

The campfire wasn't just a campfire anymore.

The rough stone ring had transformed into something neat and intentional—a proper firepit with a stone border for insulation, a place to set things, even a simple steel grate attached to the side.

But that wasn't the big news. The heat that used to push back the cold within a six-foot radius now stretched a full fifteen feet.

Inside that circle, snow was actively melting, revealing dark frozen soil underneath. In one corner, she spotted a patch of moss stubbornly poking through.

Riley spun around.

Behind the big wooden crate, a small log cabin stood waiting.

It wasn't much—maybe forty feet square, built from rough-hewn logs. Nothing fancy. But it was solid. Four walls and a roof, blocking wind and snow completely.

Riley walked over and pushed open the heavy wooden door.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify