Chapter 6: Snow School

A specially modified armored off-road vehicle roared across the wasteland, crushing several hound-like ant elites into pulp before breaking through the encirclement of numerous shadow-devouring bugs and speeding away.

This was the wilderness area of the isolated island. The heavy shroud of darkness limited visibility; not only was it infested with shadow-devouring bug nests, but the environment was far harsher than before. If Ember were to venture into the wilderness alone, he would likely stumble into a singularity that had not yet formed a small-scale plane, suffering a gruesome death by spatial shredding.

Therefore, until the wilderness environment stabilized, the three major organizations had specifically arranged escort convoys to help players execute wilderness missions.

"Singularities cannot be cleared, only controlled. They are the Chaos Apostles' most troublesome means, continuously absorbing the darkness energy to repeatedly generate special spaces that disrupt the original operational mode. For medium and large-scale anomalous items, this is no different from an incurable disease."

The driver from the Foundation introduced this to Ember enthusiastically. "However, these singularities can be considered a good thing for us. Every special space can continuously generate a large amount of resources. Although somewhat dangerous, it is much better than plunging blindly into the wilderness to farm bugs day and night. Therefore, I always feel that the omnipotent three major organizations don't lack the ability to clear singularities; rather, they want to utilize these special spaces to alleviate resource pressure."

"Additionally, thanks to these singularities drawing away a massive amount of darkness, the reconstruction period for the central urban district would otherwise have been extended by at least three times. To mention nothing else, the blue skies and white clouds you see are sky-screen effects with extremely tedious installation procedures. The three major organizations are unwilling to let newcomers live in a lightless environment, claiming it would increase the likelihood of depression and affect growth rates."

"Ha! How very interesting. They weren't even this attentive toward reality benders back then."

Vroom!

The engine roared, and the vehicle's speed skyrocketed, sending countless shadow-devouring bugs to their doom beneath the tires along the way. Listening to the driver's introductions and complaints, Ember soon arrived at the original site of the school.

"Off you go. I'll be waiting right here. I wish you a swift victory."

"May your words bring me luck."

The already collapsed school, further ravaged by storms, was now reduced to mere broken walls and ruins. Following the quest guidance, holding the special item required to activate the dungeon, Ember walked deep into the ruins under the driver's gaze. As he stepped within the approximate threshold of the old teaching building's main entrance, his figure suddenly vanished.

Confirming that Ember had indeed entered the special space, the driver propped his legs up on the steering wheel, crossed his arms, closed his eyes for a light nap, and muttered to himself:

"The Spark Project? Sounds truly grand! We ordinary folks will just sit back and watch how you lot struggle!"

...

[Notice: You have entered the dungeon "Snowy School (Difficulty: Hard)". In this dungeon, you will roleplay as an ordinary student trapped in the school according to the spatial storyline, working with three classmates to find a way out.]

[Dungeon Details: Omitted]

[Revival Mechanism: None.]

[Remaining Attempts Today: 3/3.]

[Beginning: A sudden, heavy snowstorm seals off the campus, and for reasons unknown, you wake up inside a classroom...]

...

"Ah... So sleepy. Why did I fall asleep?"

Before Ember even opened his eyes, he heard a girl complaining nearby. Slowly lifting his head, he found himself in a spacious classroom. His gaze swept across three game characters—one male and two females—and their information automatically surfaced in his mind:

Anna, Cary, Nina.

"Her name is Anna too?"

Ember's gaze fixed upon the girl sitting by the window. Sensing his look, she turned her head, prompting Ember to calmly withdraw his gaze and continue observing his surroundings. He immediately noticed heavy snow falling outside the window. Although the sky was still reasonably bright, the densely packed snowflakes were astonishingly numerous, reducing visibility to less than twenty meters.

"Whoa, out of nowhere, why is it suddenly snowing? Didn't the weather forecast say today would be nice?" Nina leaned against the window, deeply puzzled.

Cary, looking at the empty classroom, was somewhat confused. "Where is everyone else? Isn't it class time right now? Could I have missed P.E. class? Hey, Ember, use your phone to check the schedule!"

[Notice: Cary's words let you know that you possess a mobile phone.]

"Oh... right!"

Ember hadn't expected the plot progression to take this form. He quickly searched his entire body, found his phone in his trouser pocket, and unlocked it with his fingerprint to check the time. It was 10:00 AM on a Monday, a non-holiday. Logically, everyone should be having math class right now, yet all the others were missing, and not a single sound of studying echoed from the hallway. It was terrifyingly quiet.

"Strange, the calls won't go through, and the internet isn't working. Did the heavy snow knock down the island's communication base station?" Nina fumbled with her phone, looking annoyed.

Right at that moment, Cary suddenly shouted, "Quick, look at the blackboard!"

Everyone immediately followed the sound, discovering eight blood-red characters inscribed on the blackboard:

"Blood of Nameless Maple, Awaiting Its Rekindling!"

Upon seeing this, Ember immediately glanced at the girl named Anna. Sure enough, he noticed her body stiffen, one side of her face turning vacant, before she quickly reined in her emotions and regained her composure.

[Notice: Your keen observation makes you realize the extraordinary nature of "Anna".]

"Could the plot progression of the Snowy School dungeon center around Anna?" A thought dawned on Ember, just as he heard Cary cry out in panic.

"That legend... it actually appeared... It's real..."

Nina was evidently aware of why Cary had suddenly lost his composure, yet this girl displayed a resilience surpassing that of the boys. "So what if it's real? Didn't some people successfully escape? I've heard from others that as long as you get a snow umbrella before the snow reaches your knees, you can leave safely."

Subsequently, Nina looked downstairs and saw that despite the heavy snowfall, there was still some time before it reached knee-deep, which immediately settled her nerves somewhat. "I remember a few sets of rain gear are kept in the first-floor utility room. Let's go check it out!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Burning with anxiety, Cary took the lead and sprinted out of the classroom. Feeling somewhat clueless, Ember had no choice but to follow behind, taking the opportunity to ask Nina what this legendary tale was all about.

Nina cast a rather strange look at Ember. "You don't even know such a famous legend of Maple Island? Oh right, I recall you only transferred here about half a year ago, so it's possible you wouldn't know."

After saying that, Nina recounted the eerie legend that seemed to exist in every school. The content wasn't overly complex: former students and teachers had claimed to enter a special space where the campus was snowed in, and all means of communication with the outside world were severed. Most of them forgot the specific escape process, with only a few vaguely remembering that they had survived by holding a black snow umbrella and wading through sub-knee-deep snow to make their escape.

According to them, the snowflakes here were terrifying entities that shouldn't be touched casually. Despite escaping with their lives, these survivors developed an extreme phobia of "snow." One day, a survivor encountered a snowstorm while hiking and, unable to find shelter, went mad, repeatedly muttering the eight characters that had appeared on the blackboard.

At first, everyone scoffed at their accounts, considering them mere bids for attention. However, in the class rosters archived in the school's records room, the faces on a few students' or teachers' photographs would occasionally vanish. While people could still faintly recall their names, their minds could no longer conjure up what those individuals were supposed to look like.

Thus, the legend of the Snowy School spread. Most students had heard of it to some extent, but since there was no concrete evidence proving the school's existence, the panic wasn't particularly severe.

[Notice: Nina's introduction has made you aware of the hidden dangers lurking in the snow outside.]

"I see!"

Understanding dawned on Ember, and he became increasingly convinced that even if the Snowy School space had nothing to do with Anna, it was deeply connected to the Maple Blood family. He glanced back at Anna, who was silently trailing behind them, wondering with mild curiosity whether this was the true appearance of the Shadow Queen.

The main teaching building had four floors and was semi-enclosed. One side of the hallway featured classrooms, while the other was fitted with glass to minimize the possibility of students falling from heights. The classroom where the four of them were located was at the far end of the second floor. Eager to escape, Cary had already sprinted down the hallway and rushed down the staircase at the other end, vanishing from sight. Ember and the others followed closely behind. Along the way, he casually observed a few classrooms they passed by, finding, unsurprisingly, no anomalies.

However, midway down the hallway, a window had been left open, and snowflakes were blowing inside. Daring not to lower his guard, Ember first stepped forward to close the window and shut out the wind and snow, then hopped across the snowflake-scattered corridor floor before releasing his Inspect Eye to search for clues, only to receive a prompt stating that the inspection was ineffective.

Leaving empty-handed, Ember did not linger. After the three of them departed, the scattered snowflakes on the ground quietly melted, leaving behind not puddle water, but scorched, blackened marks reminiscent of fire damage...