Black Eyes, White Snow

〖Dungeon Exploration: 29:58 Minutes Left〗

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Sure enough, I was back at the cave again.

This time though, I didn't come empty-handed, since I managed to grab my Iron Dagger before being dragged in here.

Well, I shouldn't waste my valuable exploration time just sitting around.

I decided to go in the complete opposite direction than I went the first time here, mainly due to the bad memories.

After walking for a few minutes I stumbled upon a large stone staircase that descended into the depths.

Naturally, I followed the staircase down for a few minutes until I reached the bottom.

Currently, I was around 200 meters lower than my starting point.

Here, the cave's temperature drastically dropped and the surroundings became completely different.

I was surrounded by shiny, reflective ice walls that perfectly mirrored everything in front of them, creating a strange illusion for any observers.

But I was not distracted by the illusion, since I found something far more interesting..

My own reflection.

Since waking up in my personal world for the first time, I didn't know what my face looked like, I just couldn't remember.

I walked closer to one of the icy walls to get a better view and was utterly shocked.

Staring back at me was a delicate face with clear, snow-white skin framed by short, vibrant purple hair.

The most captivating feature of the face was undoubtedly the deep violet eyes with chalky white pupils.

I stared at the amethyst-like eyes for a solid minute, mesmerized by their hypnotic allure.

I also noticed something strange about my ears, they were pointy and long.

Something was telling me that they shouldn't look like that.

Actually, something was telling me that my whole face looked abnormal in some way, but I decided to ignore these thoughts.

After I was done examining my face, I glanced downwards.

A skinny frame, with ethereal porcelain-like skin and no signs of muscles.

Since I was already familiar with my body, it wasn't that much of a surprise.

The only thing I was surprised by was my resistance to the cold.

I still didn't have any clothes on and I could tell that the temperatures here were far below sub-zero.

After I was done exploring my reflection, I decided to keep going forward.

After a little bit of walking, I heard a familiar noise.

Ding!

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〖Dungeon Exploration: II Floor Checkpoint〗

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Huh? Checkpoint?

Cool..

Quickly putting the System's notification aside, I kept walking deeper into the icy depths of the second floor.

After a few seconds, I saw a strange figure in the distance.

Hmm?

A massive four-legged creature with white fur was slowly making its way towards me.

Is that a polar bear?

For some reason, I didn't feel any sense of danger when looking at the beast, but still for caution I went into a combat stance and raised my dagger.

The bear slowly limped towards me, showing no signs of stopping.

Its black eyes met with mine, which I could sense a mix of weariness and curiosity from.

As it draws closer to me, I can see something sticking out of its body.

Are these arrows?

I curiously examine the arrow marks etched upon its muscular furry body.

And upon even closer inspection, I could also see blood coming out of it.

The reason I wasn't able to notice the blood earlier was due to it being colored white instead of the usual red.

Currently, the bear was around 5 meters away from me when it suddenly stopped.

I instinctually went closer to it and raised my free hand on top of its head, giving it a few pats.

I don't know why I did it, but for some reason I felt that there was some sort of connection between the two of us.

The polar bear reminded me of Blob.

As I was busy patting the white beast, I heard a noise behind it.

''It couldn't have gone far! Keep searching!''

It was a female voice coming from a few hundred meters in front of me, the same place where the bear had come from.

Quickly realizing the situation, I came up with a plan.

I gave the bear one last head pat and then started walking towards the noise.

I made a shallow cut on my left hand's veins, just enough for blood to come out.

I then smeared the blood all over my face and body.

I also positioned my dagger in such a way that was hidden from any onlookers in front of me.

I then kept slowly limping forward, with a painful expression on my face.

After a few seconds, I could finally see the people who were chasing the bear.

There were three in total, 1 female and 2 males.

They were all wearing some sort of leather armor and were carrying bows, I also saw daggers on each of their belts.

The female, who I assumed was the leader, seemed to be in her early 20s, with blonde hair and a pretty face.

The two males were almost identical looking, they had muscular bodies and black hair.

I assumed that they were twins..

After a few seconds of me seeing them, they also noticed me.

''I see it, Ben shoot it, and make sure you kill it this time. Bren help the injured boy.''

The female said to the two males, who both answered her with a nod.

Seeing that they weren't even phased at my appearance, made me assume that they were very used to these kind of situations.

Are they soldiers of some sort?

Well whatever, that doesn't really matter anyway..

I saw one of the twins approaching me as the two others ran past me at full speed with their bows out aiming at the injured bear.

I already expected for something like this to happen, I knew the moment I saw the bear that it wasn't gonna live for much longer, so I decided to use it as bait.

But even knowing that the bear would've died anyway, something was making me feel bad about using it as bait.

''Where are you injured?''

The man in front of me asked in a calm voice while glancing at my left hand.

'...'

''Hmm?''

After not getting an answer back the man looked up and was met with a sharp dagger digging into his skull.

That's one down..

I then, quickly, but quietly made my way behind the two who were just about to shoot their arrows to finish off the bear.

''Shoot now!''

The female shouted and released her arrow, perfectly hitting the bear in its left eye, killing it instantly.

But instead of happiness, she frowned and opened her mouth.

''Why didn't you shoot, dumbass?!''

She turned her head, ready to give the man next to her a piece of her mind, but instead of a familiar face, she was met with a headless corpse falling on top of her.

''E-Eek!''

She screamed and tried to dodge the body, but to no avail.

The muscular body fell on top of her, as she toppled onto the ground.

She frantically looked up and saw a foot quickly coming towards her head.

Splash!

'...'

I pulled away my foot and emotionlessly looked at the massacre I had just caused.

Hmmm?

I didn't expect my foot to completely crush her skull..

Well, whatever..

For some reason, I didn't feel anything at all when killing these humans, but when Blob and the polar bear had died, I felt an indescribable amount of pain and sadness.

Almost like I was closer to beasts than humans?

I quickly looked at the three bodies and then approached the female's.

I stripped the leather armor off her and also stole her bow and quiver.

The reason I chose her clothing was because the size difference between me and the twins was just too big.

After putting on the bloody armor, I put the dagger into a sheath on my belt and held the wooden bow in my right hand.

Ding!

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〖Dungeon Exploration: 1:00 Minute Left〗

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Phew! Finally, this time it definitely felt longer than 30 minutes..

Just before I was about to be sent back to my personal world, I walked over to the bear's body and gave it a big hug.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't do it out of sympathy or whatever, I just want to test if its body will return to my personal space like the head had done previously.

After waiting for a few seconds, my vision went black.

…

I opened my eyes and sure enough, the large body of the polar bear was right in front of me.

And..

Ding!

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〖Exploration: Level 1 ➤ Level 2〗

〖Reward: World Points x25, Basic Sneakers〗

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〖Hunting: Level 1 ➤ Level 2〗

〖Reward: World Points x25, Great Iron Dagger〗

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〖Stealth: Level 0 ➤ Level 1〗

〖Reward: World Points x5, Smoke Bombs x3〗

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〖Swordsmanship: Level 0 ➤ Level 1〗

〖Reward: World Points x5, Basic Swordsmanship Technique〗

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〖You have completed your 2nd Dungeon Exploration!〗

〖Reward: World Points x50, Dungeon Portal〗

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That's a lot of juicy rewards!