MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

Jack stared at the system messages­.

[Ding! Tower of Trial Detected: Slaughter!] 

[Do you wish to participate? Y/N?] 

"Woo!" (Another challenge!) 

The little wolf's tail was already swatting from side to side in excitement. It was even playing with the floating magic circles, swiping its paw through them. 

The Casino Boss suddenly jumped forward. 

"Sir, you should stay far away from this!! I've heard legends about these Towers. In there, lives are cheap, and death is almost assured!" He warned. 

"Woo!" (So what!!) 

"No, no, he's right. These trials are very punishing." Jack actually agreed…only to add. "So we'll have to be very careful. Let's get this started!" 

"Woo!" (Onward!) 

"Wait, you're still going?! Are you crazy, or are you—?" The Casino Boss stopped shouting as the two disappeared into a red circle.

.

.

.

The two felt like their bodies had turned to smoke. 

For an instant, it was as if they were floating, but then came the fall. They heavily crashed on a white floor. 

This place seemed to be a huge castle, but it was so enormous that the walls and the ceiling were out of rendering distance. White floor, red glowing air, nothing else. 

Actually, no… 

— Blob! Blob! — 

A creature appeared, hopping toward them. 

Moon Moon was already ready to blow the thing up, but Jack gestured for his companion to stand down. As the monster came closer, it revealed itself to be…a white slime?! 

Most games had slimes right at the beginning, but not this one… 

The peculiar thing was that the small creature had a wooden sign stuck in its jiggly body. On it was written "Dimensional Employment Jelly!" 

"Woo?!" (Ally? Enemy? Food?!) 

"This thing should be the help AI. It would normally recommend a world to explore based on our level and status." 

The creature finally reached them, bounced around for a while, and finally stopped frozen. The thing looked utterly confused as it stared at Jack. #Disabled Auto Functions

Jack chuckled, touching the squishy little thing. 

[Welcome to the Dimensional Battlefield!] 

[Please Select a Level & Difficulty!] 

- Skyland 

- Iceland Fun 

- Hellish Scape 

- [Normal / Hard / Hellish!] 

"Woo!" (?!?) 

The little wolf cried out as it saw a floating transparent thing appear! Wait, were those the things its master usually tapped in the air?! Amazing! It could seeeee!!! 

— Happy Wolf Noises! — 

"Woo!" (Hellish! Hellish!) 

[Are you sure you wish to select—] 

"Hell no! Launch Iceland Normal." Jack interrupted, a colorful blue light engulfing them both. It was party time… 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

As soon as they spawned, they were assaulted by an unbelievably cold. There was a snowy plain, ice, but most importantly lots of wind. 

— Shiver! — 

"Woo!" (Whoaa!!) 

The little wolf disregarded the frost completely, jumping in the nearby snow. This white powder was so amazing! What was that?! A second later, it got stuck, its ass sticking out. 

[* Warning! Ice Climate In Effect!] 

[Your pet is suffering frostbite!] 

[Losing HP progressively!] 

That sure was fast… 

This was the very reason they were here. Trials tended to go overboard with elemental effects, and anyone unprepared would die before even seeing the first monster. 

Even if he had an affinity for wind and fire, it was preferable to have the opposite element. For instance, here… 

"Be careful, will you." Jack formed a ring of fire around Moon Moon, slowly melting the snow along with getting rid of the debuff. 

The little wolf nodded, glaring suspiciously at the remaining snow. 

Thus they departed.

Jack acted as a living heater from time to time, slowly expending his mana. 

"Woo?!" (Are we lost?) 

"Definitely." Jack chuckled. 

Even he had no way to know their current whereabouts. 

After all, this kind of challenge got easier and easier later on in the game. 

1) The crafters would be higher level, and buying portable temporary shelters would eventually be possible. 

2) There were ways to "level up" one's bonus in this specific trial. 

After every clear, they would receive merits to spend at the friendly Employment Jelly. It could boost their resistance, let them start with a map, and more. 

Obviously, the first clear would be the hardest…. 

— Rustle! Rustle! — 

"Stop!" 

"Woo?!" 

The two froze…. 

— Rustle! Rustle! — 

A distance away, the snow was heaving up and down as if it was breathing. This could only mean one thing: enemies! 

Then it appeared… 

< Little Snow Ball Lv 30!❄️> 

"We have to kill this thing fast, else we're doomed."

"Woo?" (It doesn't look strong…) 

"Believe me. Those things are not just strong but terrifying!" Jack readied his fire as the little wolf darted toward the creature. 

As it sensed the wolf, it rolled toward it at full speed. As it traveled, the surrounding snow stuck to it, slowly making it bigger and bigger. 

It could evolve….and fast! 

It already wasn't the same enemy as it reached the poor wolf. 

< Medium Snow Ball Lv 30!❄️> 

"Woo?!" (Why is it so big?!) 

Then again, so what if it had grown?! It would only be a bigger target! The little wolf summoned plenty of fiery chickens directly on it! 

The magic collided with the enemy!

Direct hit! 

"Woo!" (Take that! Who's the best wolf!) 

But, it seemed the rejoicing was a little premature. 

As the snowball shrieked in agony and melted, a couple more showed up! 

< Little Snow Ball Lv 30!❄️> 

< Little Snow Ball Lv 30!❄️> 

< Little Snow Ball Lv 30!❄️> 

- …. 

Jack glanced at them all, taking in the battlefield's view. 

"Do you know what this means?" 

"Woo!" (We run!!!) 

They had been together long enough that the little wolf could sense that they would get wrecked if they fought. 

"Nope. More accurately, I do want to run, but we can't. Look at this…." Jack pointed toward the snow. 

Snow: 

- Bad for humans 

- Good for snowballs 

It was something painfully obvious, but it made a world of difference in such a place. If they tried fleeing, the creatures would catch up and crush them. 

The two shared a look: this called for a last stand. 

"C'mon, you big white things! Ever heard the expression: balls on fire? I'll teach you, hahaha!" 

— Little Wolf Cackles! — 

That's when they went all in. 

They spammed their spells as if their mana was infinite. 

The inferno raged on so powerfully that, for a brief instant, the world of ice disappeared. The biting cold turned to a pleasant autumn breeze, the snow creatures perishing. 

They felt like the masters of the world, having defeated the harsh environment….but then the cold came back. 

They fell to the ground, utterly drained. The snow slowly came back, covering their tired bodies, and burying them alive. 

With every second, another of their organ froze forever. 

Then came death… 

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

━━━ YOU DIED! ━━━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

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.

.

Timber City

Plenty of NPCs were loudly discussing. 

"What are those Towers?!" 

"What about the people that entered?" 

"No idea, but I hope this thing increases property value!" 

Suddenly a bunch of blue lights appeared: the challengers were back! 

But as the bystanders saw their state, they couldn't help but scream. What kind of horror had they been through?! 

Their state was horrendous! 

- Cut to tiny pieces 

- Frozen into ice cubes 

- Turned into melted goo 

- Turned to literal charcoal 

- Crushed beyond recognition 

- … 

Some players had just arrived here from Sprigfield only to die. In addition,  the system had sent a few foolhardy NPCs to showcase the danger. 

Everyone who had gone inside had died, no exception. 

"Oh god! What a massacre!" 

"Has anyone seen my husband?! He went inside!" 

"Ma'am, could your husband be that pile of goo?" Unending sobs echoed, the entire plaza turning incredibly gloomy. 

— Crack! — 

A cracking sound suddenly resonated, the spectators fearfully falling back a few steps. 

"I'm back, bitches! Missed me?" Jack shouted as some ran as far as their legs could carry them. C'mon, it was only a joke… 

"A-a survivor?!" They stared at him in disbelief. 

Right now, his body was mostly fine after his respawn, but… 

[Lost XP!] 

[Curse of Everfrost!] 

He couldn't feel his left shoulder as it was completely frozen, leaving him two options: 

1. Seek a very high-level priest  ($$$)

2. Wait for this temporary curse to be over 

It just happened that option 1 was damn near impossible at this stage of the game. In this case, patience would definitely be a virtue. 

He turned toward the Ice Cube next to him, carefully melting it. 

"Woo?!" (What happened?!) 

The little wolf seemed confused at first, soon remembering how they had been defeated. Ah, it was that damn snow! At this moment, it updated its list of lifelong enemies:

1. Evil meat thieves 

2. Sneaky snow 

3. Dragons 

Jack gave a thumb up to his companion. The wolf was oozing with fighting spirit, obviously angry at their loss. 

"Shall we get revenge?" 

"Woo!!" 

The flabbergasted bystanders watched the two madmen reenter the land of death. Were they trying to commit suicide?! 

The two crazies instantly became the #1 Timber City topic. In fact, people were still talking about it when the two reappeared. 

They were frozen again, and it was even worse! The man's arm had been turned to ice, and the wolf wasn't any better. 

"How horrible! At least now they won't dare to—"

They had already entered the Tower again. 

…But this was only the beginning. Over and over, they came out frozen, their symptoms becoming worse and worse. 

"T-they're insane!" 

"Totally!" 

Eventually, they turned numb to it. 

At one point, Jack lost the use of his arms. 

A few players even scoffed at him from outside. After all, one could neither use weapons nor magic in such a state. 

.

.

.

Yet….Inside the Iceland Trial, an inferno burned! 

"Tcht— It's way harder to control now, but it's still feasible…." He grumbled as he casually accomplished a "miracle". 

But, if anyone were to ask him, the true miracle was what they had just found. In the distance, there was a small igloo. 

"Jackpot!"