Level 61 is a snowfield, a vast white plain stretching endlessly into the distance.
I actually wanted to play around a bit, but… well, that could wait.
On the way, a pack of wolves caught our scent. Their bodies were tougher than usual, basic and intermediate magic didn't work at all, and even cutting them with a sword took effort.
So we switched to advanced magic to deal with them.
Level 62 is a frozen lake.
The entrance was located right in the middle of the lake, and thankfully someone had built a bridge long ago.
Level 63 greeted us with falling snow.
The flakes piled onto our heads, so I pulled up my hood. Lina did the same.
Soon after, we encountered a snow leopard.
It moved incredibly fast—long-range attacks were pointless—
and it swung its thick tail in absurd, elaborate ways while attacking.
I defended and countered with my sword.
(You're a snow leopard, not a show leopard! Why so many fancy moves?!)
I couldn't help complaining internally as it kept up its acrobatics.
Its tail was both soft and firm, able to attack and defend, far too flexible for me to cut.
(If I can't cut it… then I'll just stab it to death!)
I only needed to kill it—nobody said how.
I stepped back, sheathed my sword, then I used 2 years' worth of power to cast the enhancement magic: "Defense", waiting for the leopard to strike.
As expected, it attacked again—another spinning tail strike from the side.
I stood still and let it hit my waist, then immediately grabbed its tail.
(My turn to spin.)
Gripping its tail tightly, I spun in a full 360°, then a few more rotations.
Once I had built up momentum, I lifted it overhead.
Now that there was centrifugal force helping me, I didn't need to keep spinning—otherwise I'd get dizzy.
"Lina, make a dense field of ice spike."
"...Ah—Mm. Ice spike"
Lina stared blankly at the snow leopard dangling from my hands, answering a beat too late before summoning countless ice spikes.
The moment I saw they were ready, I smashed the snow leopard straight into them—still holding its tail.
The ice spikes snapped one after another, and although the leopard only received shallow wounds, it suddenly stopped moving.
Lina and I peeked over.
Its eyes had rolled back white, foam bubbled from its mouth, and it had fainted.
I gave it an extra stab just in case before canceling the "Defense".
"Karen, you got hit in the waist earlier. Are you hurt?"
Lina looked at my side with concern.
Even with double-strengthened defense, I had underestimated the force of the blow.
It did hurt a bit—but please, allow me this moment of bravado.
If I can't even endure this, how could I protect Lina?
"No, I'm fi— Aaaaagh!!"
The moment I said "no," Lina poked my waist.
Sharp pain shot through me and I screamed.
That was the side effect of "Defense"—fine until touched, then explosive pain.
Seeing my reaction, Lina grew angry and kept poking me.
Fortunately, 2 year strength wasn't enough to cause lasting pain.
"Why said not hurt, you felt it hurts, so you are hurt."
I really had underestimated that tail.
The leftover force exceeded my defense, causing the damage.
I should just be honest—if I didn't, Lina would keep poking.
"I'm not injured… just a little sore…"
"If it hurts, you have to say so. Sit down. I'll heal you."
"Okay."
After I finished eating, we moved on.
We encountered a few more snow leopards, but none were as flashy—or annoying—as the first.
Level 64 had snow piled up to our waists, making walking difficult.
Lina walked beside me and melted the snow ahead with warm wind magic.
The snow refroze behind us quickly—giving us only a few seconds to pass.
Level 65 was a blizzard.
Facing the fierce wind, Lina countered with heated gusts so we could move comfortably and avoid freezing.
Level 66 opened to a night sky filled with auroras.
Rainbow-colored streams danced irregularly, mesmerizing me.
Lina was frozen in awe as well, a smile slowly forming on her face.
There were no animals here—just the entrance in the distance.
I recalled other peaceful levels: 22, 33, 44, and 55—no threats, just relaxation.
As I kept thinking about it, I suddenly noticed a pattern: they were all repeating numbers. Even Level 11 had sheep, but they were gentle. Maybe Level 77 and Level 88 will be the same.
"Lina, let's go."
We'd watched the aurora too long; time wasn't on our side.
"Mm."
Level 67 was a glacier-covered land, with even the mountains blanketed in ice.
Nearby, a group of penguins waddled along.
Lina lit up with excitement.
"Karen, what animal is that? Its walking is so cute!"
She immediately mimicked their waddling—left-right-left-right—
adorable beyond reason.
"Those are penguins. Their legs are short, so that's how they walk."
"I see. And that tiny penguin being held between the big one's feet—why?"
"That's a penguin chick. It still needs care. Once it grows bigger, it'll go find its friends."
"Hehe… just like us."
Just like us—cared for as babies, then learning to walk, talk, and make friends.
Watching the parent penguin reminded me of caring for my little sister previous life.
"Lina, want to try how they move with their babies?"
"Yes!"
When she nodded, I stood behind her, slipped my hands under her arms, lifted her, and placed her feet over mine. Then I waddled forward like a penguin.
"Wait— I'm not a baby! Karen, you're bullying me!"
Realizing what was going on, Lina squirmed until I set her down.
She turned away with a pout.
I hurried to apologize.
"Hahaha, sorry, sorry!"
She huffed.
"I don't want to be your baby!"
"And I don't want you to be my child."
I think the same way. Even though our real ages are almost like father and daughter, right now Lina and I are the same age. I only see myself as a friend who happens to have a lot of knowledge and experience.
"Why?"
She looked startled, hopeful even, but I didn't want to give a real answer.
So I dodged.
"Do you want?"
"NO!"
"Alright, let's go."
She ignored me until the next level…
It hurt. I almost cried.
Level 68 was a sea of floating ice.
The two entrances were on fixed ice sheets, but getting there required jumping across drifting floes.
We jumped onto the first floe, then another.
But the moment I glanced at the next one, the floe under us cracked, splitting us apart.
Lina's drifted too fast—I couldn't catch her hand in time.
"Lina!"
I wanted to instantly strengthen my speed, grab her, and rush to the entrance.
But she shouted at me to stop.
"Don't worry! I'll jump back!"
She leapt from floe to floe at extreme speed, quickly returning to my side.
I didn't have long to panic—Lina always calmed down fast.
"Did you cancel your enhancement magic?"
With that speed, Lina must've used a many year power.
If she cancel the "Speed", she'd collapse.
"Not yet."
Good.
Better to have her go to the entrance first.
"Go ahead and wait there. I'll be quick."
"Okay."
She rushed to the entrance and sat to heal herself.
Afterward, she calmly took out cake and ate while waiting for me.
Level 69 was a snowy forest with leaves still on the trees.
We saw the moose running for its life. Why the moose run?
Because a huge white tiger chased it.
Finally, the moose couldn't escape and fell to the tiger's bite.
Once it killed the moose, its target shifted to us.
It wasn't hunger—it was territory.
The tiger sprinted toward us, fast as lightning.
"Lina, trap it with water cage."
"Why?"
"I'll explain later. Rock Wall"
A stone wall rose as the tiger slammed into it with a loud bang.
I didn't waste the chance—summoning more walls to box it in.
Unlike leopards, tigers weren't agile enough to leap out.
"Lina."
"Mm. Water Prison"
The huge water sphere enveloped the tiger and the walls together.
I canceled the walls, leaving it thrashing inside the water.
"Let's walk while it drowns."
"Mm"
As we walked, I explained.
"This is a Siberian tiger—the largest tiger species. But this one's white. They're extremely rare. Some people never see one in their whole lives."
"I see. A rare color."
Then I realized…
If this level regularly produced white tigers, I had just embarrassed myself.
Eventually it drowned, still full of energy to the end.
I stored the body and entered the next level.
Level 70 was a mountain where loud noises triggered avalanches.
We stood halfway up, with the entrance at the base.
Since we were on a snow mountain, sliding down sounded fun—except we had no skis.
So I just pulled out a random board.
"Lina, let's use this to slide down."
"Mm, seems fun."
Just as I set the board down for Lina to sit—
"HEY—YOU TWO—!"
A loud shout.
Avalanche trigger.
I looked up—snow loosened at the peak, cascading like a tsunami.
"Lina! Are you seated?!"
"Yes!"
No time to waste—
I shoved the board hard, jumping onto it behind her.
We sped down, but not fast enough.
The avalanche was at our heels.
I had to shout right next to Lina's ear to be heard.
"Lina! Use wind magic accelerate!"
"Uwah—! Mm!"
Startled but quick to react, Lina cast wind magic.
I held her waist tightly so she wouldn't fly off.
We finally outran the avalanche, but the mountain slope was steep—
we overshot the entrance by a long distance.
The avalanche stopped near the entrance.
We had to walk back far.
Who was the idiot who shouted?
Who had zero common sense?!
(If I catch him, I'm burying him in snow!)
I wanted to wait right there for him to come down and beat him senseless.
Adventurers danced with death—no one would question it.
Lina was still lying against my chest, not getting up.
"Lina, are you okay?"
She sat up.
"I'm fine. I want to freeze the guy who yelled."
"And then bury him."
We looked at each other and burst out laughing.
""Pff—hahaha!""
"Karen, I was joking."
"I wasn't."
Her sudden betrayal made me calm down and speak honestly.
"Karen, don't be mad. Maybe he shouted by accident. And waiting for him would take a lot of time. Let's ignore him."
She soothed me gently.
If we waited, it would waste time.
I could wait…
But Lina didn't want to—
and I couldn't force her.
Fine. I'd remember him.
"…Okay."