"Where the hell did this snowstorm suddenly come?!" A group of players shouted, but their shouts were muffled by the howling of the wind.
After they finished putting on their winter clothes, it felt like the sky ripped open, and snow started falling like a deluge.
The snowflakes pelted down relentlessly, blanketing the entire landscape in a thick layer of white.
It made it difficult for them to see in front of them, and they felt the coldness seep into their bones—they didn't expect the game to even mimic the sensation of freezing so vividly.
One of the people in this group even lived in a remote town that was mostly covered in snow most of the year, but even she was surprised by the harsh conditions.
She had never experienced something like this.
Swoosh—at that moment, a young man with his head covered by beanie saw something moving within the forest. It was like a blur of a shadow that quickly disappeared into the snowstorm.
"Hey, I think I saw something!"
The other two members of the group turned to look in the direction where his finger pointed, but they saw nothing except the whiteness of the forest, which almost seemed blinding.
"There is no one there!" The young woman shouted. She had to shout till her voice turned hoarse; otherwise, it wouldn't be possible to hear her through the wind.
"Maybe I saw wrong..." The young man whispered with a low voice that was muffled by the wind.
As the group of three continued dragging through the snow, they heard a deep howling sound coming from somewhere nearby. It was loud and malicious, as if it were coming from some ancient beast.
"Hey, what was th—" As the young man shouted, a blur of shadow jumped from deep within the forest and sank its sharp teeth on the player's neck before dragging him into the forest.
"Hmm?" The young woman turned around and squinted her eyes, but she couldn't see one of the members of their group.
Her eyes widened in a shock, and she hurriedly tried to tap the shoulder of the person in front of her, but she was just touching empty air.
As she turned back to the front, she didn't see him anywhere, as if he had simply vanished into the snowstorm!
"Where are you!" She shouted and looked around with a frightened expression. "This is not funny!"
Hooooooooowl!
The hair at the back of her neck rose, and she turned to the hill in the distance, thinking that the howling came from there. However, she didn't see anything there.
At that moment, a soft growl sounded behind her, and her body froze in fear. With a trembling hand, she removed her backpack from her back, slowly opened it, and pulled out her mace with sharp pikes and a sturdy handle.
She then turned around and smashed the mace clumsily on the ground, but she only managed to land a blow on the soft snow below.
At that moment, she heard growling coming from everywhere around her.
As she spun around slowly, looking around the forest, she saw dozens of glowing red eyes staring at her like she was just another tasty treat.
Her face paled, and she screamed. "Interface!"
After the interface appeared in front of her, she smashed the 'Log Off' button, but nothing worked.
During the tutorial, it wasn't possible to log off, except if one got zeroed.
At that moment, the snow behind her started to rise, as if suddenly a snow statue rose from the ground.
The young woman looked ahead of her and saw a shadow looming over her. She dropped her mace to the ground, and with trembling eyes, she turned around.
"Aaaaah!"
Spurt!
...
In another part of the forest, Donald and his friends dragged their feet through the snow while covering their faces with makeshift masks.
"We'll need to get to shelter!" A tall, lanky man shouted. His name was Niko, and he joined the tutorial because Donald asked as they were already good friends at the school.
Luckily, they managed to get permission from the school, as they knew that this tutorial would last from a few weeks to a month.
Most schools gave such permissions, as they knew that Mortal Online wasn't just any game—it had changed the world a lot ever since the release of Reality Market, allowing players to transfer their in-game currency to real-life.
Also, the King of Mortal Online, Konrad Moriarty, had riches that could rival a small country. He was born in a very small town, and because he became the revered king, the town became one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world.
The house, school, and even the playground where Konrad played were all transformed into popular tourist destinations.
If any of the schools were lucky enough for one of their students to become a new King, or even Grand Lord, their status would rise as well.
Donald heard his friend's shouting, and he would've wished nothing more than to find a shelter, but they had been walking towards the mountain for nearly an hour, but it still didn't feel like they were anywhere close.
'W-we should've stayed in the cottage!'
Luke, another friend of Donald's from the school, looked around the forest. He was a short, brown-haired young man with a baseball bat in hand.
At that moment, he stopped and looked straight at the glowing eyes that were staring at him with deadly intensity. His breathing almost stopped, and he completely forgot to speak.
"Luke?"
"Luke!" Donald came to him, nearly shouting into his ear. "What are you doing?!"
Luke pointed forward, and as Donald and the rest turned to look, they all drew their weapons and pointed them at the creature with the red eyes.
"What the fuck is that?!" Donald asked loudly. He managed to get pretty lucky in the 'lottery' and received a broadsword, and was pointing that straight at the creature.
The creature within the forest stepped closer, and soon they saw its snow-covered fur and sharp claws that dug deep into the snowy ground below. It was as big as an adult lion and had a menacing glare in its eyes.
"I-is this the boss, perhaps?" One of the players that were recruited by Donald back in the cottage asked.
"I don't think so!" Niko shouted while standing unarmed. He was one of the unlucky ones to not get a weapon.
"We'll still have to kill it!" Donald shouted. "T-this might get us good points!"
They all nodded and prepared for the incoming deathmatch with the strange creature. They had been treating this as just an ordinary game so far, but now, when they were facing such a scary beast, they started to feel the gravity of the situation.
The snow-furred creature lowered its body, its tail wiggling behind it.
"It's preparing to pounce!" Donald shouted. "When it pounces, spread around, and attack it from all angles!"
He had played some strategy mobile games during his free time, thus he immediately managed to cook up a plan.
At that moment, the snow kicked up into the air as the snow-furred creature pounced and attacked the nearest person.
The long-nosed man, with a small knife in hand, didn't expect such a quick attack, and he was caught off guard.
The creature's sharp claws shredded through his chest, and then it sank its sharp fangs into the man's neck.
As the others saw one of them dying horribly in front of them, they didn't back off and instead launched their attacks.
Luke smashed his baseball bat into the skull of the snow creature.
The snow creature staggered to the side and turned to look at Luke with its crimson eyes, its mouth stained with blood.
It let out a blood-curdling scream as it pounced forward again.
"Haaa!" At that moment, Donald came running in with the sword raised high above his head and hacked it down at the snow creature.
The sword sliced slightly through the creature's snow fur and spilled a little bit of blood. The creature howled loudly in pain and stumbled backward, giving Donald the opportunity to strike again.
"Haaaa!"