MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

Jack and Moon Moon had died so many times that they had lost count. 

Even the weakest enemies were enough to exhaust them to death. Then the elements would finish them. 

Most would actually skip this kind of content, only to clear it once they were stronger. He had seen many level 40+ players fail the level 30 area in his previous life. 

This realm was merciless and filled with ambushes, but there was finally a glimmer of hope in front of them. 

A small igloo! 

This was their last hope! 

"Finally! We did it!" Tears of joy came out only to freeze up. 

As soon as they came near, the Igloo exploded! — BOOM! — An avalanche was sent their way, a wave of snow about to bury them alive once more! 

"Woo!" (What is this?!) 

They ran and ran some more, but couldn't escape! Moon Moon's world was shattering. How could something be so fast without any legs?! 

They found themselves in a white sea, frost and suffocation trying to end their lives. 

That's when their survival instinct and their experiences came into play. The two used fire abilities as they wiggled their way to the surface, barely coming out. 

But they were each welcomed by an ice spear aimed at their throat. 

A furry and scaly humanoid creature stood before them, ready to impale them at any moment. 

"Woo!" (Not again…)

The little wolf resolved itself to yet another death, but then its master started speaking a strange language. 

The words were concise, slow, simple, and very deep. It reminded one of the grumblings of a beast more than any sound a human would ever produce. 

The ice spears stilled, slowly retreating. 

The creature replied, surprise evident in its voice. Then it walked away, wordlessly as Jack hurried to follow. The beast then started playing in the snow. 

"Woo?!" 

"Hehe, he's rebuilding. Let's help." Jack explained. 

He couldn't feel his limbs, and yet he crouched, gathering snow and forming cubes. He forgot the frost and pain, only focusing on his task. 

"No need to help. Rest." The creature spoke up, seeing Jack's state. 

But, the latter simply kept working. Even if it was utterly pointless, the little wolf by the side joined in. At this moment, the two showed awe-inspiring willpower! 

The three kept working, the mysterious being completing 99.99% of the work, but that did not matter. 

[Congratulations! Created an Igloo!] 

[Acquired basic Igloo making skills (Temporary!)] 

There it was! This was the only reason Jack had endured the earlier suffering instead of patiently waiting. They soon entered this new dwelling, with a campfire in the middle. 

Warm! It was so warm! 

This was bliss! The defrosting process in real life would have been accompanied by unending agony, but in-game it simply felt heavenly. 

In a matter of minutes, they were back to normal…given that they were still frozen from the curse. Still, it was an unbelievable improvement. 

That's when their host began to remove its skin, revealing the blue flesh underneath and the white crystal-like hair. 

"You, how do you speak Nordic?" 

"A friend." 

Jack insisted on the "friend", the man giving him an appreciative glance. This went beyond the simple friendship and carried the meaning of a brother in arms. 

There was no way that an outsider would ever be taught this meaning. This meant that the weak-looking pink-fleshed human was one of theirs. 

As for the details…Did it really matter? 

"Actually, I'd like you to teach me a few things." Jack candidly asked. 

"Teach? What things?" 

"Igloo, hunting, resisting, the usual." 

The Nord's gaze turned piercing. Someone who was such a close "friend" of their race should definitely have been taught such basic stuff. 

"Time travel." 

"Oh, alright." 

"….." (?!?) 

The little wolf was used to its master being mysterious, but had this new guy really accepted such a reason?! Wow! Its master was so Epic! 

"Rest well. We begin at dawn." 

Jack simply rolled to the side, knowing that the training to come would be extremely harsh even for him. It was especially mad to try it while Cursed with Everfrost. Oh well…. 

"Log Out!"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"Bam! Bam! Bam Bam!" 

Soft murmurs echoed in the room. 

Jack awoke to the view of his sister…training? 

She was punching the air as if battling an invisible opponent, and she even did the sound effects. She was frowning intently, but rather than intimidating, she looked hella cute! 

It didn't help that she wore short shorts with a silly-looking cartoon rabbit. 

A chuckle escaped him, and she instantly turned red. 

"H-how long have you been watching?!" 

"Bam! Bam! Bam Bam!"

He imitated her as she twitched in embarrassment. More importantly, why was his impression so good?! 

"So, what were you doing?"

"T-that, I need to learn how to fight! I've realized that melee combat is currently my number one weakness. That's why I've been training." 

Seeing that her brother was listening, she talked about the problems she had encountered. For instance, she was having trouble with PVP.

"Assassins are the worst!" She complained. 

"I 100% agree!" 

Somehow she had managed to get a summoner class which allowed her to clear PVE content relatively easily, but it turned her into the main target for the sneaky bastards. 

Even then, she was way too hard on herself. After all, summoners were classes that could take a while to shine, depending on the initial summon. 

Tutorial? —> Probably a trash summon, right?

"So what can you invoke?" 

"Rats…Ah, but really cute ones!" 

Rats, was it? She was pretty much playing in hard mode at the moment. Even a few of them would probably only reach the level of a fox at best. 

She should change the rats for something stronger ASAP.

  "You know— " 

"It's super funny how they scare my party members, hehe! " She chucked, her eyes coming alive. 

Then again, so what if the rats weren't strong? So what if her party members were cowards? As long as she was having fun, that was all that mattered. 

Jack swallowed the unneeded advice he was about to give. 

"Right, what were you saying?" She asked. 

"Oh, nothing, just that—" 

— Ding! New Message! — 

Bubblegum: I'll coincidentally visit your Town soon. Want to meet for a coffee? If you have time, of course! 

"W-what's this?!!" 

"Oh, a friend." 

There was a moment of silence. Who was he trying to fool?! She was playing in New Leaf+ Village! She had long heard of the pink-haired assassin that followed her brother. 

Friend? Friend?! If this was just a friend, then Lilly herself was an acquaintance at best! 

"What are you waiting for? Reply!" She urged.

At this moment, Jack couldn't help but think about the what-ifs. 

What if she wanted more than a coffee? Did he even have time for her? Would he just be leading her on? 

It was one thing in Infinite, but another IRL. After all, to most, it was only a game.  He really was the strange one. 

"What are you afraid of?" Lilly softly asked. 

"To hurt her…." He sighed before adding. 

"You see, there's this big Boss I want to hunt in Infinite one day. This will take me a lot of time and commitment. Plus, I don't want to abandon my actual family and…." 

"Pfft— That's it?" 

"That's a lot…." 

Lilly chuckled as she snatched the phone away, slowly typing. "He'll be there, but he's also a hopeless gaming addict. I'm Lilly, by the way! How—"  Lilly fled, his phone hostage. 

Did this mean that he had a date? Or was it just a coffee?