Trapped behind a wall of false grass and golden light, two hundred sixteen players discover too late that "Abyss Eternal" is no ordinary VRMMO. The logout button is sealed. The only way home is through ten floors of an unknown world called Verdeen Continent—and someone with terrifying authority has made sure there's no shortcut.
Aoi Hiro, a composed strategy team leader with a game designer's mind, refuses to drown in the panic consuming everyone around him. While others scream and weep, he cal
Trapped in the Virtual Abyss - Rion Goes on a Rampage! Night of the Ice Field
Three days had passed since they moved to Karmvassa, the lakeside town drifting in the mist of the Silent Lake — Floor Two, the Azure Mist Lake (Azra Mysti).
Unlike Fangworks, the weapon shops here were built of wood, their shelves lined with lightweight blades meant for underwater combat. From the window of the inn called Nebelricht, the stilted settlement on the lake floated faintly in the white haze. Nothing like the grasslands of Floor One. The air, the sounds — everything was different.
"Let's go over today's plan."
After finishing breakfast, Hiro spread a small map across the table. It was auto-generated by Kai's Chronicler class ability, with gathering points marked in neat, meticulous handwriting.
"Hayase and I are heading to the northern Frozen Fortress to share intel with another party from the Union. It's a relay point on this floor — a place where other player groups have set up base. We'll gather what we can on Floor Two's strategy."
"What about me and Rion?"
"You two head to the southeast gathering point. It's where you can harvest a type of herb — a material that helps restore Monriki. The path is a straight shot. Nothing difficult."
Hiro began carefully explaining the route to Rion. Exit Karmvassa's east gate, follow the river south. When it forks, go right. A large boulder marks the spot — the gathering point is just a short way down from there.
"Got it? Don't wander off. If a blizzard hits, come straight back."
"Got it!"
Her amber eyes sparkled. Whether she actually understood or not was impossible to tell. Hiro opened his mouth to say something, then swallowed it — she'll be fine. It's a straight path.
"Leave it to me! My map-recording function is running at full capacity. GPS precision is perfect!"
"I'm counting on you."
Hayase folded the map and shot Rion a glance.
"Don't run off in some random direction."
"I won't run off!"
The four left the inn. The sound of their footsteps on the cobblestones dissolved into the mist. They parted at the east and north gates — Hiro and Hayase heading north, Rion and Kai heading east.
So far, everything was going according to plan.
Not long after passing through the east gate, Rion said, "Oh."
"Kai! Kai! Look at that!!"
On a rock along the river, faintly glowing ice flowers were blooming. Winter crystals spread out like real petals.
"Wow, it's so pretty!!"
"Ah, wait—"
Rion was already running. Off the river path toward the rocky area, quick as anything. Kai sighed and followed.
(Well, it's a straight path. We'll just head back in a minute.)
"Look at this! When I touched it, it went crunch!!"
"Yeah, it's beautiful. Come on, let's go—"
"Ah, ah, there's more over there!"
She ran again.
Five minutes later, faint static began running across Kai's map-recording display.
[[Chronicler Support Function: Map accuracy declining — positional error due to poor visibility]]
"...What?"
When he looked up, everything around them was white.
A blizzard. Where it had come from, he had no idea — the sky that had been misty just moments ago had turned into a raging storm. Visibility was less than five meters. Even the sound of the river was swallowed by the wind.
"Rion! Which way did we come from?"
"Um... this way... I think?"
"This way which way?"
"Everything's just... white..."
Yeah, Kai thought. Everything's white. Perfectly white.
[[Chronicler Support Function: Whiteout — GPS signal lost. Map recording suspended]]
"You've gotta be kidding me..."
His mutter was torn away by the blizzard.
Rion said, "It's g-getting cold." Her pale purple curls whipped in the wind. On her forehead, a faint light-pattern was beginning to surface — the preparatory phase of Monriki-style casting.
"It's okay! If I use a thermal Monriki technique—"
"Wait, using Monriki in a blizzard is risky—"
He was too late.
Rion's fingertips traced through the air. But the blizzard's fierce wind warped the pattern violently. Her panic made it worse. The half-drawn thermal pattern collapsed completely.
BOOOOOM!!!!
The ice on the ground exploded into meltwater and instantly refroze.
Around the two of them, ice pillars about three meters tall shot up in a circle — pop, pop, pop — and hardened in place.
Silence returned. The wind howled faintly from outside.
They were completely enclosed by walls of ice.
"...It's warm."
She was right — the makeshift ice cave blocked the blizzard. The temperature had risen slightly.
"Maybe this is actually fine!"
"It is NOT fine!!"
Kai's shout echoed off the ice walls.
He checked his Origin Sigil — the wristband-type item used to call up menu screens and communications. He tried the comm function. Static. No connection. The blizzard was disrupting the signal.
"I want to stream this... but I can't..."
Kai dropped to one knee. Just looking at the scene, it was a tragedy.
"Kai, don't mind."
"Don't mind? What did I even do? I didn't do anything."
"Sorry... I blew up again..."
Rion shrank into herself. Seeing that, Kai stood back up.
"...Well, it's warm at least. Let's figure out how to get out of here."
He tried pounding the ice wall with his bare fists. Solid. All he got was sore knuckles. When Rion said, "Should I use Monriki again?" Kai shut that down with everything he had.
"Absolutely not. There's a law that says when you use Monriki, the situation gets worse."
"Is that a real law?"
"It is. We proved it today."
They kept trying to escape, but it was futile. The ice was thick, and a Chronicler had no combat skills. No communication signal either.
Eventually, the two of them sat down on the ice floor. The blizzard raged on. Night fell.
Meanwhile, Hiro and Hayase returned to the inn close to evening, having finished their intel exchange at the northern Frozen Fortress.
When they opened the door to Nebelricht, no one was at the front desk. The innkeeper emerged from the back. "Welcome back."
"Where are Rion and the others?"
"...Um, the two of them haven't returned yet."
Hiro's expression froze.
(Knowing Rion...)
He pressed a hand to his forehead. Hayase crossed his arms beside him.
"Analysis. The gathering point is southeast. Standard round trip is about one hour. It's been over four hours since they left. There was a blizzard — given Rion's personality, there's a high probability she got distracted by something along the way. Considering wind direction and terrain, they may have been pushed toward the southwestern valley."
"...That's not analysis anymore. That's a Rion-specific behavioral profile."
"Shut up. It's accurate, so I can't help it. Let's go."
The two checked their gear and left the town.
The blizzard was settling, but the snow on the ground was deep. Hayase read the terrain as he moved. Hiro followed behind.
About fifteen minutes in — Hayase stopped.
"There."
At the edge of the valley stood an unnatural ice structure. Nearly a perfect circle, with ice pillars arranged at even intervals. Not a natural formation.
"Rion's handiwork."
"Confirmed."
They approached. Voices came from inside — Kai grumbling about something, and Rion's "But I—!"
"They're alive."
Hiro put his hand on an ice pillar. Hayase stood beside him, examining what looked like it could be an entrance.
From inside, Rion's voice:
"...Someone's out there!! Help!!"
And at that exact moment—
BOOOOOM!!!!
It was Rion's second misfire.
This time, it was directed outward.
The thermal shockwave blasted the ice pillars apart and sent Hiro and Hayase — who had been standing directly in the path — flying together.
The two of them landed spread-eagle in the snowfield. For a while, nobody said anything.
In the distance, Kai's roaring laughter echoed.
"THIS IS AMAZING!!!! God-tier development!!!! I want to record this!!!!"
Hiro lay in the snow, staring up at the sky. Stars were out.
"...We came to rescue them, you know."
Beside him, Hayase slowly sat up. Brushing off the snow, he said quietly:
"Next time, I'm declining to stand in front."
Rion came running from beyond the scattered ice pillars. She grabbed Hiro's arm and pulled him up, tugged at Hayase's sleeve, and repeated sorry-sorry-sorry. All in one breath, no punctuation.
"Why can't you control it!! It's because you haven't trained enough—"
"I know."
Hayase's words cut off.
Rion's voice was small, but clear. Her face looked like she was about to cry, but she looked straight at him.
"I'm the most frustrated out of anyone."
Hayase closed his mouth. He started to say something, then swallowed it. His gray eyes wavered, just slightly.
Hiro stepped between them.
"We'll all reflect on what happened today. But — everyone's safe. That's enough."
The ice pillar debris happened to serve as a convenient windbreak. The four decided to spend the night there.
Kai used an emergency firestone he'd been carrying to build a small campfire. It was barely enough against Floor Two's cold, but better than nothing. The four huddled together.
The sound of flickering flames and the wind outside. That was all there was to hear that night.
"Kai."
Kai, who had been staring blankly into the fire, looked up.
"Thank you. If I'd been alone, I definitely would've panicked. I'm glad you were there."
Kai started to open his mouth. The usual quip was right there — "Don't mind!" or "With me around, you've got a hundred allies" — but the words stopped.
Rion wasn't saying anything dramatic. She was just being honest. That was all.
In a space with zero viewers. On a night on the ice field with no stream and no recording. Someone had looked at him — just him, standing there — and said, "I'm glad you were there."
"...I was scared too. Honestly."
His voice was lower than usual.
"Even if I can't record it — if you're going to say stuff like that, then... I guess it was worth it."
Rion blinked for a moment, then—
"Right?! We combined our powers!"
She beamed. No reading between the lines. Her face showed no awareness at all of the weight behind Kai's words.
Kai let out a small laugh.
"...You're really something, you know that?"
"Wait, is that a compliment?"
"It's a compliment."
Beside them, Hiro quietly watched Kai's profile.
(I see. So that's how it is.)
A man who'd said he couldn't feel settled unless someone was watching him as a streamer — on a night with zero recordings, he wore the face of someone who'd been needed. Maybe that was enough, Hiro thought.
Hayase added a twig to the fire and turned his head.
"...So you two were getting along."
"It was a total disaster."
"I can see that."
Laughter for four spread through the small space enclosed by ice debris.
The next morning, back in Karmvassa, Hiro gathered everyone at the inn's table.
"Rion's misfire control is now an official strategy objective."
Rion murmured, "Because of me..." Hiro shook his head.
"No. Rion's magic is this party's greatest trump card. That's exactly why we need to refine it. If something like yesterday happens during Floor Two's underwater combat — it becomes a direct-hit risk to allies. If we can control it, everything changes."
Hayase crossed his arms.
"We should consult Lizette at Hekikoukan — the Monriki research institute in Rendvale. There are theoretical causes behind Monriki misfires. I'll look into whether there's a similar facility in this town."
Rion stared at the table for a moment. Then she raised her head.
"I'll do it properly."
"Rion's growth record — this is getting saved for sure."
"You can record, but delete all the weird scenes, okay!"
"Which ones are the weird scenes?"
"All of yesterday!"
"Ehh, yesterday's was the best part."
"DELETE IT!!!"
Hiro stood up, smiling a little. It was noisy. But that was fine.
Problems remained. Rion's misfires weren't something that could be solved right away. Whether they could fix it in time for the Floor Two boss — the Vortex Princess Ilmira — was anyone's guess.
But everyone was facing th
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