"You know… I'm so tired" Si Hon muttered to himself.
***
Si Hon lay flat on the snow, staring up at the falling snowflakes like he had completely given up. The cold didn't even bother him anymore. He just let the flakes land on his face while breathing out a tired sigh.
Right next to his foot stood a tower— tall, dark, and way too close for comfort, like the world just dropped it right off him…
"Guess my luck really is bad…" he muttered. "And yeah… this window is really pissing me off."
A blue, transparent system window hovered stubbornly above him.
────────────────────────
SEE? Looks like the tent reward isn't useless after all :D
────────────────────────
"What's with that D smile… does this system actually have its own mind." He muttered. "Funny."
"You there?" he asked.
No answer.
Then after some silence and coldness Si Hon still did not move.
He lay flat on his back in the snow, arms at his sides, breath shallow but steady. Snow gathered on his lashes, against his cheeks, and snows in his hair. His chest rose and fell with a slow, tired rhythm, like even breathing have become optional.
And most of all above him, the sky remained an endless sheet of gray.
Beneath his feet… meters away.
The tower loomed.
Silent. Massive. Unavoidable.
A long moment passed.
Then, weakly, with a low sound Si Hon spoke and asked. "…Where am I?"
His voice was hoarse, thin, bored. Not fear. Not even shock. Just exhaustion.
The blue system window flickered into existence above his face.
────────────────────────
System notice.
[Location Detected]
Region: Mountain Snowfall.
Structure: Ascension Tower.
Current Position: First Floor.
────────────────────────
Si Hon stared at the window without blinking.
"First… floor."
Then a pause.
"…So that means there's more, right."
No response for a second.
Then—
[Correct.]
Another long silence.
Snow continues to fall.
The tower continued to hum.
The wind swept across the frozen plains in long, low howls, dragging sharp ice crystals across Si Hon's exposed skin.
Still he didn't move… hehe to bad for the system.
Minutes passed.
The system window remained.
Waiting.
Then finally—
[User inactivity detected.]
Si Hon closed his eyes.
"…Five more minutes," he muttered softly.
The system jerks a bit.
Then the window trembled.
[This is not a rest area.]
Si Hon didn't respond.
[This is not a safe zone… you should move closer to the tower.]
Still nothing.
[Hostile entities exist on this floor.]
Si Hon shifted his head half an inch deeper into the snow.
"Good for them."
The system visibly lagged.
A second window snapped open.
[Are you attempting self termination via hypothermia?]
"…If it works faster, sure."
A pause.
"And isn't dying by hypothermia the most painless death?"
Then the wind suddenly intensified.
Snow whipped harder across the ground.
Far in the distance… far beyond the tower, something howled.
Low.
Deep.
Not human.
Still Si Hon did not react, didn't even flinch.
The system hovered closer into his face.
────────────────────────
You will freeze to death within an estimated time: 18 minutes.
────────────────────────
"Nice," he murmured. "That's longer than I expected."
The system went quiet.
Then—
For the first time…
The next window appeared without system formatting.
No brackets or borders. Just texts.
[You are genuinely the worst host I've ever handled.]
Si Hon's eyes twitched.
"…Oh. You can talk like that."
——
[I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TALK LIKE THIS. YOU ARE JUST USUALLY… ENOUGH!]
——
He let out a weak breath that almost counted as a laugh.
"So… yu mad?"
──
[YES.
EXTREMELY MAD.
YOU JUST SURVIVED A CROSS WORLD PORTAL DRAG WHILE BEING HELD BY A HYBRID BOSS CLASS ENTITY AND YOUR FOLLOW UP ACTION IS TO TAKE A NAP!!!]
——
"That's a long sentence."
[STAND UP.]
"No."
The tower's low vibration grew stronger for a brief moment.
Like it was listening.
────────────────────────
IF YOU DIE HERE, THE RETURN CONDITIONS WILL NOT BE MET.
────────────────────────
Si Hon opened his eyes.
"…Return?"
For the first time—
The system paused before answering.
[You do not qualify for death yet.]
The wind howled again.
Closer this time.
Something was moving out there in the white forest.
Still— Si Hon did not stand.
He only whispered, "…Five more minutes."
The wind didn't stop.
It only grew sharper.
Si Hon stayed where he was, half-buried in snow, eyes half-lidded, breath faint and fogging the air in thin puffs. The tower loomed meters beneath his feet like a shadow cut from the sky itself. The system window hovered, irritated in its stillness.
Then, quietly he asked. "…What's happening back there?"
His voice barely carried over the wind.
The system hesitated.
Not lag. No errors. But hesitation.
Then the plain text appeared again.
[Time ratio divergence is active.]
"…Speak human. Please." he asked.
────────────────────────
Time here is slowed by an extreme factor.
A month on the First Floor equals less than a second in your original world.
Even if you remain here for years. Nothing there will meaningfully change.
────────────────────────
Snow drifted across his cheek.
"…So Ivy's still screaming?"
[Yes.]
"…Vesper's still blaming herself or screaming?"
[Yes.]
"...Then. so… is Lila still crying."
[Yes.]
"I know."
[Then why did you ask?]
Silence took him again.
Then—
"…That's annoying." he softly muttered under his breath.
The system froze.
For the first time since activation, it didn't immediately respond.
Then…
[MOVE.]
The air pressure subtly shifted.
Not violently, not magically.
Like something was quietly applying force to reality itself.
Snow slid away from Si Hon's shoulders.
His body twitched. Still… He didn't stand.
"…No."
[Unacceptable.]
The system window lowered.
Lower and lower.
Until it was hovering inches from his face.
The tower's low vibration intensified.
The snow around the tower's base suddenly pulled outward in a perfect circle, as if pushed away by something invisible.
A red line burned itself into the ground.
And a massive circular boundary formed around the tower.
Wide, perfect, unnatural.
Snow inside the circle didn't melt, it simply ceased to exist, revealing black earth carved with faint crimson patterns.
[Safe Zone established.]
Si Hon squinted at the red circle.
"…If it's safe, why is it still cold?"
The answer came immediately.
─
[The tower repels threats.
It does not provide comfort.
You insufferable human being.]
—
"…Wow. You really are mad."
The system ignored him.
────────────────────────
Reward available for claim.
1 Tent.
2 Unknown Item x1.
Approach the tower core.
────────────────────────
Si Hon rolled unto his side. Then unto his back again, and snow puffed up around him.
"…Nah."
The red circle pulsed faintly.
The tower's vibration spiked just slightly.
[CLAIM YOUR REWARD.]
"No."
[YOU CANNOT SLEEP ON THE FLOOR.]
"…Watch me."
For three full seconds… Nothing happened.
Then the system did something it had never done before.
The pressure under Si Hon's body tilted it was neither pushed nor lifted.
It was tilted.
Like the ground itself had decided being under him was no longer optional.
His body slid, slowly, across toward the red circle like he was on a Cobeyer velt.
"…Wow," he said blankly. "Are we doing kidnapping now?"
[THIS IS A COMPROMISE.]
He crossed the red boundary and the moment his body entered the circle—
The wind stopped.
Not weakened.
It was stopped.
The snowfall beyond the barrier still raged, but inside the circle, everything was dead still.
The air felt wrong.
It was quiet, heavy, and protected.
But the cold still bit into him, but the violent edge was gone.
Si Hon sighed.
"…Fine."
The system window flared brightly
[Reward Claim Conditions Satisfied.]
A glow formed beside him on the ground.
Light condensed and shaped formed then clothes appeared.
And a tent.
Not summoned like magic.
It was assembling itself.
Light folded inward, threads of pale glow weaving over one another like invisible hands stitching reality together. First came the frame, it was dark alloy poles locking into place with soft metallic clicks. Then the fabric spilled over it, layer by layer, thick sheets of insulated material wrapping around the structure until it stood fully formed.
It wasn't small or flimsy.
This is a real survival-grade tent.
The fabric was dense, dark gray with faint woven patterns like something meant to endure storms, monsters, and long nights in a hostile terrain. Snow that drifted toward it slid right off the surface without sticking. The seam was reinforced. The entrance seal was tight. The base was levitating slightly above the ground like preventing the cold from getting through it.
But there was no logos, brand or visible technology.
Just something that looked like it belonged in a place where you either prepared properly… or deid.
Not cheap or decorated, it was actually usable!
Then right beside it.
Another glow formed.
This one it didn't expand.
It condensed.
The light shrink instead of spread, pulling inward on itself like it was being crushed by an invisible weight or something. The glow darkened as it tightened, colors draining out of it until only a warped shadowed shimmer remained.
Even the tower's steady vibration seemed to hesitate for a fraction seconds.
Then the light snapped.
And the object dropped onto the exposed black ground with a dull, heavy sound.
A cube.
Perfectly shaped squared cube.
About the size of a large brick.
Its surface was black. But not smooth. The texture was rough, uneven, like a stone. The edges are not sharp, yet they weren't rounded either. Just… wrong…. Like something that didn't fully belong to this world yk.
There were no markings.
No symbols, lights or anything etc.
Nothing that suggested how it worked or if it was even meant to be opened.
It didn't glow anymore or hum.
But it felt present.
It was… dense.
Like it carried more weight than its size should allow.
Snowflakes that drifted too close to it didn't melt.
They simply stopped.
The snowflakes hang in the air for a split second.
Then fell straight down, as if gravity briefly forgot how that object was supposed to behave.
No description followed, explanation, System tooltip or anything else.
Just the tent.
And that black, silent cube.
Waiting.
Then the system paused.
For half a second.
────────────────────────
Unknown Item registered.
Data access restricted.
────────────────────────
Si Hon stared at both rewards.
Then closed his eyes again.
"alr later."
The system went completely silent.
The tower continued to hum.
And far beyond the safe zone—
Something large moved through the blizzard…
————
Now, now, now... Are you Curious why it turned 3rd pov? It was because Si Hon is UNSTABLE. Ayo unstable SMP? Ayo!!!! That's sussy baka. Nah actually, it was because Si Hon can't Tell the story that It need to switch as a 3rd pOv. Interesting right?