The snow was falling down from the sky, making the visibility very poor.
Ichiro was sitting on the couch in his temporary living room and saw the snowstorm.
He can't leave today, but tomorrow he will.
He will enter Frozen Island, and he hopes that he will reach a new level on his swordsmanship.
[Host, do you want a Quest?]
Ichiro looked surprised, ''You are asking me if I want a Quest? That's first.''
[Well, you might be distracted]
''Show me the Quest first]
*Ding* *Ding*
[New Quest Appeared!]
[Hunter Or Hunted]
[Kill at least 50 Mutated Beasts]
[Rewards: 5000 XP - 100 Stat Points - 25000 Coins]
[Penalty: -1 Level - 100 Stat Points Removed from Random Stat]
[Time Limit: 2 Weeks - Will start once Host entered the Frozen Island]
[Killed: 0/50]
[Random Rewards: ??? - Depends how many Host kills!]
Ichiro looked at the Quest Interface and nodded, ''Sure, I will accept this.''
[Good luck, Host]
After those words, the System became quiet once again.
Ichiro lied down on the couch and took his familiar violet-colored Book of Etiquette.
When he was reading it, his silver eyes glowed even brighter than before, and the portion of white hair has increased...
...
Next Morning.
The snowstorm has calmed down, and the Fortress returned to its ordinary busy schedule.
Ichiro groggily woke up and noticed him sleeping on the couch while the Book of Etiquette was lying on his stomach.
He put it on the inventory and stood up from the couch.
He quickly did his morning tasks.
After that, he wore his heavy winter clothing and exited the house.
He had nothing on his hands, not even his bag because he put it on inventory.
Ichiro walked straight towards the gate which leads to Frozen Island.
While he was walking there, he noticed pair of men and women crying while looking at corpse in front of them.
The corpse was a young male, and he had a sizeable hole in his stomach.
Soon, the soldiers took away the corpse.
It is usual sight here.
There has never been a day when no one has died.
Always someone got arrogant or foolish and died.
Some died accidentally.
But, most of them died because of the Mutated Beasts.
Ichiro entered the gate, and two pairs of guards opened the gates.
They saluted and wished Ichiro good luck.
Ichiro exited the gates, and the first thing he saw was a snow forest not far from him.
The 10-meter area around the fortress walls has nothing, but then after 10 meters, the only thing remaining is forests, snowy mountains, and Mutated Beasts!
Ichiro entered the forest and started walking deeper until he was certain that he was far enough from the Fortress.
He took his pair of Killing Swords from the Inventory.
It's time to go hunting.
...
After Ichiro left the Fortress.
The Commander of the Fortress received the news.
He was sitting in his office solemnly. He had ocean blue hair and eyes, with well-defined jawline and sharp cheekbones. He was wearing his military uniform with 6 stars on the shoulder pads.
He is Martial General Peter Leamson.
The office was full of people.
There were 10 stoic-looking middle-aged men.
And one... A sweet-looking young woman.
She was the one at the registration desk.
''Alright,'' Peter said and stood up.
He had a solemn look on his face, ''We cannot let him die. He has a lot of titles under his name, but the most important is his identity as the son-in-law of the Nightside family!''
Everyone nodded, while the sweet-looking young woman's face was sad.
She didn't know that the handsome young man she had seen yesterday was taken!
That hurt her because it might have been her first love.
This young woman's identity is special as well.
Her name is Penelope, and she is Peter's daughter!
''Keep an eye on him with drones, and if he is in danger... I will go safe him.'' Peter said and sat down on his chair.
Everyone nodded and left the room.
Peter sighed and rubbed his forehead.
He feels like a headache is coming.
He might even start losing hair because of all this stress.
He has a lot of responsibility as the Commander of this Fortress, and now son-in-law of Nightside family is here.
If he died here... There are many who will blame him.
...
Ichiro has already been walking for 30 minutes, but no Mutated Beasts in sign.
He didn't lose his concentration— it only amplified.
He knows that the area close to the Fortress is the safe zone, but he is approaching the danger zone.
*Howl*
Ichiro perked up his ears and heard a wolf howling...
The sky was bright blue, which means it's very unusual for wolves to howl this early.
*Creak*
Dozens of birds left the trees around Ichiro and started flying towards the sky.
Ichiro didn't flinch, but he felt like something was amiss.
He grabbed his swords tighter and kept walking in the snowy forest.
His every step made a footprint on the snow and crunching noise.
Soon, he found another pair of footsteps on the snow.
Ichiro crouched and knew that the footsteps were from a human.
He turned his head towards the direction of the footsteps and saw terrifying sight...
''What the hell!'' Ichiro exclaimed and stood up.
He saw... A man hanging from the tree, while his head was missing...
The reason why he knew that it was male was because the body was naked...
Ichiro looked around the snowy forest warily.
'It must be done by Fury Beast... Savage Beasts aren't that intelligent.'
*Crack*
Ichiro widened his eyes and jumped towards the left.
Instantly his previous spot was filled with sharp-looking spikes!
Ichiro turned his head towards the trees and saw a red-eyed figure gazing at him.
The figure had black fur all around his body and sharp spikes as his nails.
His nails grew back instantly, and he threw another 10 nails towards Ichiro!
Ichiro put his two swords in front of him and started deflecting the nails.
[Steel Edge - Sword Fatality!]
He deflected all the nails successfully, and finally, the red-eyed figure took Ichiro seriously.
He landed on the ground, and again nails grew back.
''What the hell is he?'' Ichiro has never seen a monster like this previously.
And he has a feeling...
That this is only the beginning.
