Believe Me

Kate returned to the cave and told the other two everything she had discovered about the goblins.

Mel Carlo had not gone to sleep yet, but he did not feel much about goblins in another world. In games, these things had been easy beginner monsters to kill; the only annoying thing was their attack frequency.

Once surrounded by these small monsters, one's health bar would quickly be emptied, so one absolutely could not let goblins block the way.

What were goblins in another world like? Just like in games—those with wooden clubs, knives, bows, armor, shamans, and Great Shamans. In games, goblins also had ranks. Trolls were a mutated breed of goblin, less intelligent but much larger.

"You two get some rest. I'll keep watch tonight," Kate volunteered.

There was no better arrangement. If Freli stood watch, they would likely be dismembered by goblins in their sleep.

He fell into a deep sleep.

In his dream, Mel Carlo seemed to return to his childhood. His childhood had been unhappy enough to take a lifetime to heal from. His mother's wooden stick lashed against him, while his father was either in prison or on his way there.

Material poverty filled him with fear. He stood in the cold wind, shivering.

"Hit me! Just beat me to death already!"

The words repressed within him could not erupt, nor could they. He knew full well how weak he was. He could only curl up as tightly as he could, using his back to bear even more scars.

He often wondered whether he was truly their son. Why did she beat him as though she were whipping an animal? Why did his father never spare him another glance?

He could only keep moving forward, gritting his teeth and pressing on, walking and walking until he reached somewhere with light. Sunlight would drive away the cold clinging to his body.

The dream slowly faded into a vast expanse of white. When he gradually opened his eyes, it was already the next day. The snow had not stopped. It fell oppressively, but the light outside was real.

Light still fell upon the ground through the clouds and snow, but the blizzard was too fierce to see into the distance. The cave entrance had been reinforced with the carriage, and thick snow had piled up outside.

"Bad luck, but not entirely. With snow this deep, at least the goblins won't be moving," Kate said, looking at the snow outside the cave. After only one night, it was already difficult for people to move through it.

"With snow piled this high, goblins won't leave their nests easily." Freli stretched. He had not slept well last night, constantly worrying that goblins would attack.

"You prepare breakfast. I'll rest for a while first, Mr. Freli." Kate spread out her sleeping bag, preparing to get some rest. She had traveled all night without resting.

Then she had gone to chop down trees. Being able to hold out for one night was already her limit.

Of course, they could not simply sleep on the ground. Even inside a cave, the stones and dirt were still freezing cold. If they lay down directly on them, they would definitely not be able to bear it.

Mel Carlo looked outside through a gap at the cave entrance. The road was no longer visible. This snowstorm was truly heavy; everything had changed after just one night.

Judging from the map, this was not even particularly far north. Farther north lay the Northern Snow Plains, a place marked on the map that covered an enormous area, though it was probably extremely dangerous as well.

Compared to summer heat, winter was actually the season least suitable for human survival. Crops could not grow during this season, and there was little humans could produce. This world did not have such a strong industrial foundation; winters were simply hard to endure.

For breakfast, they ate some flour boiled into paste. Though salt had been added, it could only fill their stomachs. Bread boiled with flour—who had invented such a thing? They ought to be dragged off and hanged.

Over the next week, the blizzard only grew heavier. Mel Carlo did not practice [Stealing] again; he needed to preserve his mana and mental strength.

[Mighty Slash] practiced 100 times per day. [Back Hop] practiced 50 times per day.

A week later, the snow still had not stopped, but their food was nearly gone. Freli had begun rationing it.

Mel was not worried about this at all. His attention remained focused on training.

[Mighty Slash] proficiency increased from 100 to 800.

[Back Hop] proficiency increased from 3451 to 3801.

Effort points: increased from 33941 to 34991.

He had a great many effort points stored up. If he used them all for draws, he could probably obtain plenty of supplies. He had not even used up the supplies in the System space yet:

50 bags of chips, 50 bottles of cola, 40 packs of instant noodles, 50 bottles of mineral water.

"We can't keep going like this. We're almost out of food." Kate took the initiative to raise the issue. Once people went hungry, they could easily fight over food. "I'll go out and try hunting!"

The blizzard outside had never stopped, and the road below the cave had been completely buried. That meant they would have to wade through the snow to move forward.

The risk would be enormous, and encountering wild beasts under such conditions could easily result in death.

Visibility was extremely low in this weather. Even if the wind and snow occasionally eased, as long as the sky did not clear, it could still snow again at any time.

"You'd better not go." Mel Carlo stopped Kate.

"But we don't have much food left. If we don't go, what else can we do? And hunting isn't that easy."

"Trust me. Just wait patiently." Mel Carlo did not reveal his secret, merely speaking in an exceptionally certain tone.

That was all he could say. If Kate still insisted on going out, then no matter what happened to her along the way, he would not feel the slightest pity.

Either choose to trust me, or bear the risk yourself.

"Fine. You don't look like you're joking. But I'm really curious—can you conjure food out of thin air or something?"

Looking at the sky outside, they could no longer tell whether it was morning or evening, because it was always so dark.

Mel Carlo naturally did not want his secret exposed so quickly, but sometimes he had no choice. If both Kate and Freli collapsed, he might not be able to reach Oak City alone.

Let's wait and see. If the food ran out, then he would have no choice but to reveal the secret he had been hiding.

One morning passed, and the sky finally seemed to clear. The clouds that had been gathering dispersed, sunlight began to shine upon the earth, and the snow slowly melted.

The group did not hurry to set off immediately. They needed to wait until more of the ice and snow had melted. At the very least, they had to wait until the road was clear before leaving.

Kate looked at Mel in surprise. "You knew the snow would stop?"

Mel did not know, but he still nodded. At least he would not need to reveal his secret.

Claire, beside him, cast him an admiring look.

"Wait. Once the snow on the road has all melted, we can set off."

"That might take until tomorrow." Mel Carlo gave the road a rough glance. After all, no one came here to clear the snow; they could only wait for it to melt naturally.

If the temperature kept rising, it would naturally melt. But if it dropped again in the middle of the night, another heavy snowfall was very possible.

But what else could they do? People found it difficult to fight nature, so they waited.