The Runaway Master Sora's Scenic Day: I Became a Legend Just by Not Fighting - The End of the Starfall and the Mysterious Ruins

The morning in Frosthaven was bitterly, bone-chillingly cold. Sora crawled out of the inn bed and shivered violently. Outside the window lay a world of pure silver, and her breath misted white. It felt like a long time had passed since she'd set out for the northernmost edge, the Starfall's End. "I-It's so cold..." With numb fingers, she checked her cold-weather gear. Though, all Sora had was a thin beginner's cloak. When she'd left Central Riviera, she'd completely forgotten about equipment. (*At this rate, I'm going to freeze...*) The back of Sora's eyelids grew hot with threatening tears. She held them back with sheer willpower and left the inn. The town of Frosthaven looked like it was made entirely of snow and ice. Every player walking the streets was wrapped in thick fur coats. Each time she saw them, Sora's shoulders hunched a little more. "Maybe I really should have prepared properly after all..." Glancing around nervously, Sora stopped in front of a shop. The sign read "Blizzard Gear." A store specializing in cold-weather equipment. She pushed the door open, and a bell jangled. The interior was more spacious than she'd expected, lined with rows of coats, boots, and gloves. The fireplace crackled softly, and sensation faintly returned to her stiffened fingertips. "Welcome!" The NPC shopkeeper greeted her with a smile. A stout, bearded old man. "U-Um... I'm looking for a cold-weather coat..." "Of course! How about this one, then?" The shopkeeper presented a thick coat with fluffy fur trim. It looked warm at a single glance. Sora timidly took it and slipped her arms through the sleeves. —So puffy. Her reflection in the mirror looked just like a snowman. But it was warm. Incredibly warm. "Miss." The shopkeeper spoke, his brows lowered in concern. "Y-Yes?" "That... is inside out." Sora blinked rapidly. She looked at the mirror again. —He was right. All the seams were on the outside. The fur was tucked inward, too. "I-It's on purpose!" Heat rushed from the tips of her ears down to her neck. Her vision threatened to blur, and Sora blinked over and over to hold it back. "The breathability is... um, I thought it might be nice..." "Miss, if breathability is your priority, I cannot recommend this one..." The shopkeeper, looking increasingly bewildered, offered a different coat. It was even thicker than the last, with wolf fur lavishly used around the collar. "I recommend this Frost Wolf Coat. It is a top-quality item capable of maintaining body heat even in the frigid wastes of the Freezeel Wilds." Sora gently stroked the fur at the collar with her fingertips. The sensation of it sinking softly, full of air, conveyed the weight of its price directly. "H-How much is this...?" "The price is twelve thousand Lux!" "T-Twelve thousand...!?" The strength drained from her knees, and she barely stopped herself from crumpling to the floor on the spot. Three-digit numbers spun wildly in her head. But, comparing the shopkeeper's expectant eyes with the blizzard outside—Sora let out a single, thin breath. "...I'll buy it." Her voice was hoarse. And so, Sora's wallet became completely empty. When she stepped outside, a freezing wind blasted against her. But the Frost Wolf Coat was astonishingly warm. Inside the enveloping fur, her fingertips, stiff just moments ago, gradually loosened and relaxed. "I have no Lux left at all... I might not even have enough for the inn on the way back..." Trudging along with her head down, Sora started down the road toward the Freezeel Wilds. Once she passed through the town gate, the scenery transformed completely. An endless white land stretched in every direction. The sky was a dull gray, and the wind whipped up clouds of snow. There wasn't a single tree—only ice and snow spreading out forever. With every step she took, the snow let out a soft crunch. That sound alone grated strangely on her ears. —This is, admittedly, terrifying. But Sora's feet didn't stop. In her pocket was the map she'd looked over again and again the night before. Its corners were worn, its creases soft and frayed. The Starfall's End. A scenic view no one had ever seen was supposed to lie ahead. (*I'm scared... but I want to see it.*) Sora clutched the collar of her coat tightly and pressed on into the wilds. How long had she walked after that? The temperature kept dropping. Her nostrils felt like they might freeze shut, and the back of her throat ached with every breath. The blizzard had reduced her visibility to almost nothing. That was when it happened. —*Fwoosh!* Something like an electric current shot down Sora's spine. Before she could think, her body leaned to the right. A white mass shot past right beside her. A massive icicle stabbed into the ground where she'd been standing just a moment before. A deafening *CRASH!* rang out, and shards of ice grazed her cheek. "Hyaaaaa!?" The moment the scream tore from her throat, a sound like shattering glass came from beneath her feet—*crack*. At the edge of her vision, the ground split open, black and gaping. "No way, no way...!?" Sora frantically leaped backward. The ground collapsed, and a deep crevasse yawned open. She couldn't see the bottom. Only the sound of ice breaking echoed on and on. This was the continuous trap zone: the Frost Corridor. Icicles from the sky. Crevasses from the ground. And raging gusts of wind from the sides. —But. Sora's body moved on its own. Evasion Skill: 1,247. Movement Speed: 1,083. An icicle came falling down. Sora spun and dodged it. The ground split open. She was already jumping before it did. A gust blew. Reading the wind's direction, she evaded by a hair's breadth. "I-I want to go home already! But I want to see the scenic view! I'm scared! But I want to go!" Her contradictory cries vanished into the blizzard. Overwhelmed by sheer terror, Sora's movements grew more and more excessive. With nothing ahead of her, she suddenly jumped and did a somersault in the air. While sliding across the ground, she somehow performed a backflip. No one was watching, but if they had been, it would have looked like nothing but a surreal comedy sketch. She herself was dead serious. Her vision was blurred with tears. "Why!? Why is this happening to me!?" Giant walls of ice closed in from the left and right. If she got caught between them, it was over. —At that moment. Time seemed to slow down. Only the sound of her own heart—*thump, thump*—echoed unnaturally loud. The walls were closing. At the edge of her vision, the pale blue surface of the ice loomed closer. Sora held her breath—and twisted her body. She slipped through a gap barely thirty centimeters wide, twisting her shoulders and hips. *BOOM!* Behind her, the ice slammed together and shattered into pieces. "Hahh... hahh...!" She was out of breath. Her heart was pounding furiously. But her feet wouldn't stop. —And then, before she knew it. The traps were gone. Everything around her was quiet, with only the wind blowing. Sora collapsed on the spot. "I-I'm never coming here again..." Still wearing her cold-weather coat, she sprawled out spread-eagle on the snow. Powder snow still fluttered down sparsely from the sky. Gazing up at it absently, Sora just kept exhaling white breaths—*hah, hah*. Her expensive Frost Wolf Coat was covered in snow, but she didn't have the energy to care anymore. After lying limp like that for a while, Sora slowly sat up and raised her head. —That was when it happened. The powder snow that had been brushing her cheek vanished, one flake, then another. The wind died down. The clouds parted, and the sky appeared. "...Huh?" Her mouth naturally fell half-open. There, stretching out before her, was a starry sky unlike anything she had ever seen. Stars were falling. They were truly falling. Countless particles of light spilled from the night sky, drifting softly, gently around Sora. Against the deep indigo backdrop, the light streamed slowly downward. It was as if the Milky Way itself had descended to the earth. "...Beautiful." Something warm trailed down her cheek. The air that had been so bitterly cold just moments ago was now nothing more than a soft breeze carrying the starlight. The cold, the fear—they had all gone somewhere far away. With trembling hands, Sora took screenshot after screenshot. One, then another. As if gathering the starlight itself, she pressed the shutter in a trance. —But. "...Huh?" Zooming in on the photo she'd just taken, Sora tilted her head. Beyond the starry sky, something was captured in the image. Stone. A weathered, crumbling stone structure was visible at the edge of the photo. "Was this here...?" She lifted her head and stared intently ahead. —There it was. Illuminated by the starlight, as if emerging from the darkness, an ancient ruin stood there. It was clearly out of place. This game's graphics were all smooth and polished, refined down to every corner. But those ruins were different. Moss-covered, cracked, they exuded the weight of thousands of years. The chipped corners of the stone floated dimly in the starlight. (*Why is something like this...*) Her toes felt glued to the ground, refusing to move. And yet, the ruins seemed to be calling out to her, and Sora forced her trembling legs to take a step forward. As she approached the ruins— Text flickered at the edge of her vision. But it wasn't the familiar system text. It was jagged, ancient characters she had never seen before. "Wh-What is this..." That was the moment. —*Thump.* Deep in her chest, a heat bloomed. A hot mass pulsed at the very center of her heart. It was the same as that time. The mysterious sensation that had surged through her when she defeated the monster in Zero Cage. The unidentified power of the ??? attribute. "...This isn't... part of the game...?" Her own voice sounded strangely distant. Sora reached out a trembling hand and touched the large stone tablet at the center of the ruins. Her fingertips traced the cold stone surface. —A soft *ping* sounded. Sora's status screen opened on its own. *New Skill Acquired: 'Star Whisperer'* Skill Description: Decipher the memories of the stars. "Another weird skill..." Sora murmured with a troubled look. That was when it happened. *RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE...!* A vibration that resonated from the soles of her feet up into the pit of her stomach. On the surface of the stone tablet, tiny grains of sand began to dance. "Wh-Wh-What!?" The next instant, a colossal pillar of light shot up from the center of the ruins into the sky. *BOOOOOOM!!!* The light pierced straight through the night sky, reaching the heavens. As if responding to the light, the stars all at once intensified their brilliance. It was immediately after this that anomalies occurred across the entire continent of Filament. Central Riviera. The Guild House of the Wings of Dawn. Luna sat in her favorite chair, gazing at multiple data windows. Her long silver hair spilled over the backrest. Her large violet eyes were half-closed as usual, making her look sleepy. "...Huh?" Luna blinked slowly. The real-time map displaying monster habitat distribution. In every single area, the monsters' movements had stopped completely. As if time itself had frozen. "...They're not moving?" Processing multiple data streams simultaneously, Luna began analyzing the cause of the anomaly. An immense volume of logs streamed through her mind like particles of light. —And then she realized it. The monsters in every area, without a single exception, were all facing the exact same direction. The direction was north. The Starfall's End. "...Big Sis Sora did something...!" Expressionless, Luna lost her balance and tumbled off her chair. Her small body hit the floor with a *thud*. But she immediately scrambled back up and began spinning around on the spot. It was a habit of hers when she

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Episode 7

Name: The Runaway Master Sora's Scenic Day: I Became a Legend Just by Not Fighting
Author: Novelia

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