Upon returning to the second floor, Lan Qingyou felt a sudden chill.
Thinking she might have walked into the wrong room, she looked around in a daze before immediately retreating back to the first floor.
But to her surprise, in the short time it took to go down the stairs, the first floor had also grown chilly.
“What's going on?”
Lan Qingyou was confused.
The second month's mana turbulence was about to arrive; this was no time for things to go wrong.
Otherwise, who knew if she’d even be able to sleep tonight.
Deciding to forgo sleep for now, she went to the storage room and rummaged through her previous acquisitions, pulling out some thick clothes to drape over herself. Then, she sat at her magic desk to wait for the arrival of the mana turbulence at midnight.
“It's coming, it's coming.”
“Even though it's the second time and I know what to expect, why am I feeling a bit panicky?”
“Panicky my ass.”
“Does anyone else feel like the temperature is dropping?”
“It is a bit cold.”
“It's nighttime; isn't it normal for it to be cold? Haven't you guys been outside at night?”
“I feel like this temperature drop isn't right.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Holy crap, it's starting to snow outside!”
“What!?”
Lan Qingyou was just as stunned as everyone else when she saw that message.
Snow?
The daytime temperature hadn't been particularly hot or cold, but it was at least a pleasant twenty-something degrees. How could it possibly start snowing at night in this temperature?
Filled with doubt, Lan Qingyou looked out the window.
But because it was pitch black outside, the glass window acted like a mirror under the glow of the magic lantern.
Left with no choice, Lan Qingyou floated over and pushed the window open.
By the light of the magic lantern, she saw snowflakes fluttering and dancing through the sky, accompanied by a freezing wind that gusted through the window.
It really was snowing!
“Ugh...”
Seeing the snow for the first time, Lan Qingyou didn't feel excitement or joy. She simply couldn't help but shiver violently before slamming the window shut.
Although she had never seen real snow before, that didn't stop her from understanding the concept of 'cold.'
“These clothes probably won't cut it.”
Hugging her arms, Lan Qingyou went back to the storage room to rummage around again. After all, she was currently only wearing long sleeves.
Fortunately, she had collected a lot of items before, such as Northeast floral cotton jackets and army greatcoats.
By piecing things together, she managed to scrounge up two sets of winter clothes.
She even found several cotton quilts.
To be honest, she didn't even remember when she had acquired these things.
“I probably bought them during one of those shopping sprees,” Lan Qingyou muttered to herself.
She picked up the fluffy quilts and flew to the second floor. After laying them out, she naturally climbed into bed.
But even with these quilts, the temperature outside continued to plummet, making her feel like something was still missing.
“I should have chosen the fireplace earlier.”
Lying in bed under the soft, fluffy quilts, Lan Qingyou thought about the fireplace she had seen when she was upgrading the shelter.
She had considered it when the world consciousness mentioned the world's volatile climate.
But she hadn't expected this so-called 'volatile climate' to change quite like this.
It went from a pleasant twenty-something degrees at noon to what felt like single digits or even sub-zero temperatures now.
The change was too drastic—drastic enough to make her, someone who thought she had already adapted to this other world, start questioning her life choices.
In fact, she wasn't the only one.
Everyone else in the Forgotten Land was currently questioning their lives as well.
“It's too cold.”
“It's so cold I can't sleep.”
“You actually dare to sleep? Aren't you afraid you'll never wake up?”
“What else can I do? My brain is practically freezing shut.”
“I estimate the temperature has already dropped below zero.”
“What the hell is going on? Why did the temperature drop so suddenly?”
“Maybe it's the mana turbulence's fault.”
“Does that mean it'll be over in a week?”
“Who knows? Anyway, everyone should prepare more wood. God knows how long this will last.”
“Haha, I, Golden Miner, have coal. Anyone interested can contact me anytime.”
“I want some! I want some!”
“Give me a hundred pounds first so I can survive this damn mana turbulence.”
Upon hearing that someone had coal, a group of people immediately swarmed him. This allowed Golden Miner to make a tidy profit.
He was so happy he could barely suppress the grin on his face.
However, someone soon threw a bucket of cold water on the idea.
“Do you guys even have fireplaces in your houses? Without a fireplace, are you burning charcoal because you think you aren't dying fast enough?”
“Uh...”
With that reminder, everyone realized that coal wasn't actually that great.
It was even worse than wood.
While burning wood was smoky, it at least didn't produce as many toxic gases.
As a result, some of the people who had been fighting over the coal immediately changed their minds and sought out Golden Miner in the regional channel.
“Hey, Golden Miner, can I get a refund?”
“Is there a problem with the quality of my goods?”
“Of course not, I just don't want it anymore.”
“Keep dreaming. There's nothing wrong with the goods, so why would I give a refund? This is a small business—no returns or exchanges.”
Golden Miner didn't back down, shutting the person down with a single sentence.
Those who had originally wanted a refund didn't know how to respond after seeing that.
It wasn't because they were thin-skinned or didn't know how to be unreasonable.
It was because they knew the world had changed.
In the past, being unreasonable might have gotten you some benefits, but in this other world, it might get you a blade.
After all, everyone's profile picture was displayed right there, and it updated in real-time.
Even if you wanted to disguise yourself to get away with something, you couldn't.
It was better to avoid trouble.
Those who had only bought a few pounds of coal thought this way.
But those who had bought hundreds of pounds right off the bat were naturally unwilling to let it go.
And so, a very pointed 'great debate' passionately unfolded within the regional channel.
It grew so intense that those discussing the weather no longer had any space to voice their thoughts.
Lan Qingyou, of course, knew nothing of this. Even if she did, she wouldn't have cared.
She was currently lying in her warm bed, pondering some questions she had regarding potions.
Despite having successfully crafted two types of magic potions, her questions regarding alchemy and herbology had only increased.
The dead of night was the perfect time for such contemplation.
Lost in thought, Lan Qingyou eventually drifted off to sleep, but it wasn't long before she was woken up by the cold.
“This is unnatural.”
Indeed, the cold in this other world felt unnaturally intense.
Her eyes were dry and bleary as she turned to look out the glass door. By the moonlight, she saw that the black sludge originally spread across the terrace had already been buried under a blanket of white.
Rate on N.U.
