I had never once done a naked start.
That was an undeniable fact.
On top of that, while I hadn’t played the original game all that much, if there was at least something around me, it would be hard, but I could somehow make progress.
On the first day, I had to cut down nearby trees, put up rough walls even if the space was cramped, make a bed, and fill my stomach with whatever wild berries I could find.
On the second day, I had to make a crude table and a simple chair, set up a horseshoe pin, and start farming.
On the third day, I had to gather stones, turn them into blocks, and do the work of replacing all the wooden walls with stone walls.
It wasn’t an established strategy, but anyone who had played the game would probably agree that, well... progressing that way wasn’t a problem.
Of course, stone walls weren’t essential, but you never knew when a fire might break out, so the sooner the better. It didn’t matter if you delayed it, either.
It didn’t matter, but...
“There’s nothing. Just, nothing at all.”
[...I don’t really know, so I’m asking, but is this game usually like this?]
“You call that a question right now?”
[I’m asking because I really don’t know...?]
“Then why would someone who doesn’t know send me to a place like this?!”
[I didn’t know it would be this bad. Sorry~]
“You call that something to say right now?!”
[I apologized, didn’t I?]
“You think apologizing makes it all okay... Haaah...”
[So what do we do now?]
The being who called herself a god was asking me, inside my head, what she should do.
Before anything else, there were limits to arrogance. The way she shamelessly acted like she had apologized, so what more could I want, only made me even angrier.
I wanted to snap at her, but the raging cold made me wrap my arms around my body.
Not that hugging myself would make this cold go away, but what else could I do?
I hadn’t played the game for a long time, but I had played it plenty, and these three things had always been there.
Ancient ruins.
Anima tree.
Geothermal steam.
What would help me most in this situation was the ancient ruins.
If I opened an ancient ruin, whether insects came out or robots came out,
whether I opened a cryptosleep casket and friendly people came out or hostile people came out, something would come out, at least.
Of course, even after dealing with all those incidents, I’d still be at a loss because there would be nothing left to build a future with. But in a situation like this, where there really was nothing, what could I even do?
All I could see around me was snow, snow, snow, snow.
And falling snowflakes. What the hell was I supposed to do?!”
Co... cold, ha...”
[Um, what was it, for now, maybe you should try doing some—]
“Can you shut your damn mouth? Whose fault do you think this is...!”
[Ha, you still haven’t come to your senses, swearing at me like that. I was about to give you a bit of useful information, but I guess you don’t need it? Fine, then handle it yourse—]
“Wait, wait. Lady Goddess.”
[Only a goddess at times like this, huh?]
Anyone listening might think this goddess and I had some vague relationship, but it hadn’t even been an hour since we first met face-to-face.
To put it bluntly, even if she apologized and compensated me sufficiently for dropping me in this shitty place with nothing just because I swore at her, it still wouldn’t be enough. And what?
Only a goddess at times like this?
Was I supposed to revere the fucking bitch who did nothing and threw me into hell?
Just because she was a god?!
...
I had to endure it.
If I blurted out exactly what was in my heart right now, I had no idea what would happen.
“I-I’m just, t-too c... cold. Hehe... I sincerely a-apologize, so...”
[...]
“Information, hachoo. Something useful, please help me... Please, I’m really too cold...”
[You should’ve acted like that from the start. First of all, I did prepare several abilities for you, but this is... ...well, I don’t know if they’ll help...]
Whatever abilities they were, having them was obviously much better than not having them.
My survival was on the line right now, so as long as I used my head somehow...
[Temperature check, status check, planting crops without seeds, being able to build structures somehow as long as you have the blueprints, and... regr—]
“What about something that helps right now? Food, or clothes, or something that can keep me warm?”
[... ...]
“You said they were abilities.”
[...]
“You said it was information that could help. Really, Lady Goddess. I’m so cold. I’m naked while it’s snowing, hehe... I’m sincerely reflecting on what I did.”
[...]
“I apologized for daring to swear at you, Lady Goddess. You’re a god, aren’t you? If you dropped me in a place like this, then at least something, you’re a god, so it’s not like you dropped, dropped me here without any plan at all, right? I, I really!!!”
[Wait a second, I... I really didn’t expect anything like this, I’ll be back soon, really soon.]With that flustered tone as the last trace of her, Lady Goddess’s voice could no longer be heard.
I had a mouth.
And,
“Please save me!!!!!!”
I had to scream.
Hoping someone would hear me, hoping someone would save me, hoping someone would—
“Please save me!! Help, help me!!!”
I didn’t know where this was.
I didn’t know what direction I was going, but I ran like mad, begging for salvation, begging to be saved, begging for help, begging for clothes.
All I could do was beg, but I ran like crazy, hoping desperately that someone would help me.
If I ran, my body warmed up.
If I stopped, my sweat cooled and made me even colder.
I ran because I hated the cold, got colder, ran, cold, I heard a voice.
My voice. Only my voice.
I didn’t want to believe I was the only one on this snowy plain, so I raised my voice even more.
No, my voice was cracking, it was going hoarse. Like this, no one would hear me.
Let’s rest. Just a little... just a little, then I’ll run again and shout again.
I’m sleepy. If you fall asleep somewhere cold, you die, but
I’m so tired and exhausted.
Just a little. One minute. I’ll rest for exactly one minute.
Lady Goddess said she’d be right back, so she’ll help me.
...
...
It’s so cold.
... ...
Lying down is a little comfortable, but it feels like my sweat isn’t just cooling, it’s freezing solid.
If I stay like this, what if I really freeze to death? I’m so tired, and my throat hurts.... ...Just a little. Let’s rest just a tiny bit more.
No. I should get up now.
I have to scream.
“Get up, get up and, uh... Eh? Why, why can’t I get up? I have to get up. Eh?”
No matter how exhausted a person was, if they tried to get up, they could get up.
Even if I couldn’t stand, I at least wanted to sit up, but it felt exactly like my body was stuck to the ground.
Why is my cheek so hot???
Feeling that something had gone terribly wrong, I put strength into my body and tried to get up, but the extreme pain made me go limp again.
“Ah, it hurts!! What, eh? Uh??”
Not just my cheek. The entire left side of me touching the ground was hot.
There was no way it should be hot. If anything, it should be cold. In this weather, there was no way it could be hot, so this couldn’t be happening.
I struggled to get myself off the ground, but all I felt was pain.
Wait. I was definitely lying on snow, so why was the ground this hard?
...
When I brushed away the snow with my free right hand, I saw a clear, transparent floor of ice.
“No. No. Nonononononono!!!!”
Cold weather and cold ice.
I had forgotten what happened when skin beaded with sweat touched it.
No, if I’d known this was an ice floor, I never would’ve lain down, but regretting it now wouldn’t change anything!!!!
“Please save me!!!!”
“Seriously, this can’t happen, anyone, please help me!!!!”
For me to get free from where I was stuck, someone would have to use water and gently peel me off, but all I could see here was snow and ice.
What that meant was that alone, I could never, ever get out.
“Lady Goddess, when are you coming? You said you’d be back soon!! No, I wasn’t speaking casually to you, please, where are you? Help me, this is really dangerous, I’m cold, no, don’t go!!”
“Save me!”
“Anyone, fuck, I’m going to die. If you don’t have a plan, shouldn’t a god at least take responsibility?”
“No, I’m sorry for swearing. I really can’t think straight. It’s hot. It feels like my skin is burning. I got frostbite, hehe, no, I’ll never resent you, so fucking save me. Am I asking for so much right now?! I want to live. All I’m saying is I want to live.”
“What the hell did I do wrong, you fucking bitch!!!!!”
I screamed with all my strength.
But there was no way a person would be in a place like this. No, someone would definitely come. They would help me. Helping the pitiful was a virtue, wasn’t it? Saving people was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Cold, hot? Hot? It hurts?? I, no, my insides hurt so much, MomMomMomMommMommmyyyythe sun is disappearingthe moon can’t come up
“Sahve mee!”
“Sahve me”
“Hehp me!!!”
it’s getting darkitcan’tgetdarkrightnow not so miserably like this
“Sahve mhee!!”
“Phease!”
“Don wanna die, I, ah! Aaaaaah!!!”
I didn’t do anything wrong.
I didn’t even want a chance, I just wanted to die, so why do I have to die in such a painful and miserable way like this? No, I’ll never die, I don’t want to die. If you were going to kill me like this, you should’ve just killed me cleanly from the start. WhydoIhavetodieflailingandthrashinglikeaflycaughtinaVenusflytrapwhilemyfleshistearingoffandburningitdoesn’thuritcan’tfeelanythingbutIcan’tmoveIhavetomovetoliveIwanttoliveIhavetoliveIdon’twanttodie likethis
“Sahve, sahve me, why, eh...”
“...”
“Mom...”
“...”
“..”
“.”
...
“ ”
The night that seemed as if it would last forever passed, and the sun rose.
In the pure white snowfield where no living creature existed, there was one unusual thing.
In an ordinary snowfield, it would have looked like snow had simply piled on a rock, but this was a place so cold that one would have to go far, far away to see an ocean that was still liquid.
On the snowfield of sea ice where the ocean had frozen over, snow had piled up to an excessive degree, and inside it, there existed a single corpse. But even in the future, no one would ever know.
Because there was no way a person would come to a place like this.