Versatile: Alternate World

When the last bell is inserted into the small hole, it brightly glows which causes me to instinctively swam away from the walls. And thankfully, that decision was the right thing because a few moments later after inserting it, the two bells from both walls exploded and the walls that did not show any signs of being destroyed by my Versatile Weapon's attacks and Atlas's charged attack has been reduced to pieces as it exploded along with the bells.

The water shook and like a wave, I was carried away by it and it felt like it was a whirlpool sucking my body into the spiraling water. I don't even know if Guts were also carried away but I know he is tough enough to survive on his own.

Having the walls broken to pieces, the water that got contained in between the walls also escaped and rush out. I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

CRASH!!

The huge splash of water crashed to the ground and along with it is me.

BLAG!

"KH!"

My body got slammed too hard by the water to the ground. There was no warning so I could only brace myself and managed to lessen the damage done by the impact. Still, it was painful enough for my HP to have a reduced value after that.

I slowly opened my eyes since the only thing that I am currently feeling in my body right now is the cold snow and the ticklish grass that is caressing my skin. The wetness of my clothes and armor is still there but I don't feel the water submerging my body now.

There, I saw myself lying on the snow, and around me are the wall pieces that were reduced to pieces by the explosion. Beside me is a shiny thing that looks like it came from a cyberpunk era. Picking it up made a bit of a small glow before a panel popped up before me.

....

[Snowman's Left Heart Core]

Type: Key Item

Info: One of the cores that were previously concealed by the Snowman of Abomination to hide it from the enemies that seek to break it. Disguising it like a bell, it became a good decoration on its body. Can be used to power up a certain door by plugging in this item and the [Snowman's Right Heart Core].

Note: This heart is clearly not made out of wood, right?

....

Power up a certain door? That is oddly specific for just a core. But I didn't know that those two bells would be the main cores. It was oddly hidden so I didn't notice it immediately. I stood up properly and shook my body for a bit to at least get some droplets off my wet clothes Before changing armors and clothes in my body using the extra armor and clothes I have as a spare. It wasn't as good as the first armor in terms of stopping the cold from seeping through your body but it is better than letting your whole body soaked wet in water.

I looked around and saw Guts wringing his clothes out of water.

"Ugh...I am so wet now, and I didn't even get to finish up that monster down. What a coward, using the melting mechanic to get away immediately."

Even in the distance, I can hear guts mumbling and complaining about his failed attempt at defeating the snowman fully. I didn't bother to tell him anything about the snowman's mechanic of melting when dying. As much as I might try to explain that to him, he might not understand.

First, I have to look around the surroundings. If the bell that I have inserted on the walls revealed its real form after exploding, that only means the core is just around here somewhere and was among the debris of the wall's remains.

"Oh, gotcha!"

The same luster of the first core allowed me to find the second core faster.

...

[Snowman's Right Heart Core]

Type: Key Item

Info: One of the cores that were previously concealed by the Snowman of Abomination to hide it from the enemies that seek to break it. Disguising it like a bell, it became a good decoration on its body. Can be used to power up a certain door by plugging in this item and the [Snowman's Left Heart Core].

Note: This heart is clearly not made out of wood, right?

...

Yup, this is the one. Even the note is the same as the other one which means I got the right thing. I quickly put it inside my inventory for safekeeping. Whatever the door it was, it can wait, and if ever we found that specific door, then these cores will serve its main purpose. It's too bad that I didn't properly kill the snowman at all. It was a big snowman so it would have yielded quite a lot of experience once killed but perhaps it was a system design that made the mechanic of the snowman melt and would not be possible to kill it in any kind of way.

Guts is still wringing out his clothes as he approached me. He is still in a foul mood but perhaps he is slowly recovering from that foul mood of his.

"Let's go Bladeheart, lets's look for that exit you are looking for and also some monsters worthy to kill. That snowman just now did not even manage to help scratch the itch. We need to find the one that can satisfy that."

I can only sigh as I followed along with him. Even if he was just an NPC, this kind of obsession with strong monsters to kill is just quite abnormal. Not only that but it seemed like he is really into the monster slaughter or maybe he is just looking for a strong enemy to satisfy his intention of finding a monster that he can kill.

This made me quite dislike Guts as a companion in a journey. He doesn't care much about his companions and disregards everything as long as the enemy is in front of him. It would have been fine if he was just a natural battle junkie and he doesn't have this kind of obsession most of the time.

"Atlas, would you be fine to go out again to help?"

"I'm sorry Master, I have to dry up my armor after being submerged underwater. Perhaps a bit later but for now, I guess I will have to decline and will stay back here for now."

"I see. Then, would anyone like to change roles with Atlas?"

To my surprise, no one wanted to go out.

"What's wrong guys? Is there some kind of problem?"

"No, Master, there is no problem. It's just, that we are uncomfortable with that guy beside you being around. Atlas and Lina would be fine but for us, we don't really feel any good vibes coming from him since the very beginning. I would rather stay here rather than him challenging me to a deathmatch all of a sudden," Tina explained.

"Yes, Master. Please understand. As much as we want to help you, with that guy around, we would rather stay on standby at the moment," Gobu added.

Not gonna lie, I found myself agreeing with their reasons. This guy would like to fight most of the time and with everyone else in my companions, it isn't an exaggeration that he might actually do that, especially to Gobu and Tina. There is also a slight chance on Lucia but since even Atlas is not challenged to a battle by Guts, perhaps she has lower chances. But that would be too much. I would like to leave this matter simple and listen to them.

"Oh? Where is that guy with the armor that was with you earlier? I thought you were with him? I saw him with you fighting alongside me against the snowman. Did he die?"

"No. He just decided to rest for a bit."

"Well, that's too bad. I would love to challenge him to a battle once but I guess that can wait. I would love to fight back against his greatsword, that would have been a great thrill to me."

Damn, oh well. It looks like Guts still plans to talk to him and issue a challenge against him once he gets a chance. Yep, it's a bad idea to let my followers out in the meantime. With Guts here, it was a clear wreck to see and I would rather avoid that especially since Guts has the tendency to be a brutal executioner against his enemies.

With the snowman incident done, the next step is towards the road up. I can see that we are almost at the very top and to my very nearest destination. Not only that but I think I have closed more portals than necessary. Once this is done, I would be logging out and checking out the situation of the world and see whether the portals that are causing the "ice age" back on Earth have been forcefully closed. That... if my theory is proven to be correct that the portals in the game is indeed connected to real life.