Chapter 18:Above the frozen Han River

Sia and I stepped out of the mansion’s front door.

As soon as we crossed the threshold, a cold, snowy wind whipped at our faces.

The ground was frozen solid like an ice rink, and we had to move our feet carefully.

It was cold, but compared to the horrors we’d experienced so far, this was bearable.

“Phew… Finally, I can breathe a little.” Sia said, putting her hand to her mouth and blowing warm breath into it.

“Yeah. I even feel a little glad for this cold.” I replied, looking around.

“But I don’t think this is the end. Something strange always happens in this space.” Sia said, looking around cautiously.

“That’s true. Even when it seems peaceful, something always pops out.” I nodded in agreement with Sia’s words.

As we were talking, something small was visible in the distance. A small form moving on the white snow. It was a cat.

“Oh, a cat.” Sia pointed in that direction with her finger.

I also looked where she was pointing. “Chii… it’s not Chii. That’s too bad.”

“Why would Chii be here? It’s a different one.” Sia looked at the cat with interest.

But rather than relaxing, I started to feel a little wary. Suddenly, the incident with the [Butter Dog Lover] I had experienced last time came to mind.

Even if it looks like an ordinary animal, you can never let your guard down in this space.

“We’d better move cautiously before approaching.” I continued, letting out a small sigh.

Sia burst into laughter at my reaction, as if it were absurd. “Are you that scared of just one cat?”

“You shouldn’t judge by appearances. You saw it last time.

Things like the puzzle, or the Pomeranian. The most ordinary-looking things are the scariest.”

“I know. I just wanted to tease you.”

“Geez.”

I shook my head and slowly started walking towards the cat.

But something was strange.

No matter how close I tried to get, the distance between me and the cat didn’t seem to want to shrink.

It wasn’t like the cat was moving backward, either. It was strange.

“It’s strange. No matter how much I walk, it’s the same. Could it be that my sense of distance has dulled?”

“…Well, I don’t think so.”

I had walked for a long time, but the distance to the cat still hadn’t changed. Gradually, this situation began to feel ominous rather than simply strange.

“There seems to be something.”

I whispered softly and stopped walking. I looked down at the frozen ground.

My footprints were faintly visible on the smooth, frozen surface.

“Ice… and the frozen ground.”

I muttered softly and tilted my head. At that moment, the figure of the cat slowly moving on the snow became clearer.

A cat. And a frozen floor.

‘Huh? Why does this combination feel familiar…?’

I was lost in thought for a moment. And suddenly, a familiar scene flashed through my mind.

“A cat on a frozen river…”

I muttered softly, and then shouted at the sudden memory.

“Ah! A cat walks on the frozen Han River! That’s it!”

Sia was startled by my shout and looked at me.

She seemed to have remembered something too, and tapped her forehead with her hand, muttering softly.

“Han River… right, that news…”

We looked at the cat again at the same time.

The sight of the cat slowly walking on the snow was strangely familiar, and at the same time, it gave off a very ominous feeling.

“Is this simply imitating that news? If so, what on earth is the escape method?”

Sia asked cautiously.

I thought for a long time and then opened my mouth.

“Wouldn’t it be related to the cat? Like walking on ice, or something like that. But it’s already walking…”

Sia crossed her arms, looked at me, and tilted her head.

“It would be better to approach it in a slightly different way, don’t you think?”

“Hmm…?”

She nodded her head at my words, she seemed to be lost in her thought.

Then suddenly, Sia’s face lit up and she said, “Ah! Maybe we have to do a cat pose?”

I looked at her with a surprised face.

“Huh, a cat pose?”

Sia nodded with a confident expression.

“Yeah. Cats walk on all fours. If the theme of this space is that news, then walking like a cat might be a hint.”

I let out a chuckle at her words, too absurd, and replied, “Does that make sense?”

“We’ll try it first, and if it doesn’t work, we can think of another way. Whatever.”

“Then who’s doing it?”

“You.”

“…Why?”

“Because you’re shorter. The cat pose is also a yoga pose, so it’s hard for tall people to do it.”

“I feel like I’m being a bit scratched.”

“You should have drunk a lot of milk.”

“…!”

I was about to refute that, but I realized again that my body was now that of a woman, not a man, and I shut my mouth.

“Do it quickly.

You baby.”

“…… Okay. I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly knelt on the floor.

I lowered my waist diagonally and straightened my head and hips.

Then I stretched my hands forward.

Naturally, my hands and elbows touched the ground.

When I raised my head slightly, it became a somewhat embarrassing pose.

“Cat pose, right? Is this it?”

“Perfect! Now, try moving.”

“…Did it take you thirty seconds to answer that?”

Anyway, I got down on all fours and slowly crawled towards the cat.

It felt somewhat awkward to move with my hands and knees on the ice, but I could feel the distance to the cat gradually shrinking.

It worked.

Feeling good, I started to speed up and move quickly towards it.

Then, Sia, from behind, muttered in a small, stuttering voice.

“Uh, um…”

I turned my head to look at Sia. She was blushing and didn’t know what to do.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

“N-no! It’s just… well, it’s a little funny. A person imitating a cat.”

“Hey, is that all?”

“Ahem. Ugh.”

Sia turned her head, embarrassed.

I made an absurd expression and moved forward towards the cat again.

“Why is she suddenly like that…”

Even while muttering, I steadily moved towards the cat.

As I got closer, the cat slowly turned its head and looked at me.

At that moment, it stopped in front of me and took a posture as if waiting for me to approach.

“Okay, I’m almost there.”

I reached out to grab the cat.

And finally, when I gently grabbed the cat’s back, the surrounding space suddenly shook.

“What?!”

Sia shouted in surprise.

At the same time, a faint, large door in the middle of the ice floe, which I hadn’t even known existed, began to slowly open.

A faint light was seeping out from beyond the door.

I looked at the cat.

The cat gently slipped out of my hand and disappeared, quietly walking through the open door.

“The door opened. This cat must have been the key.”

I turned around and said to Sia.

She was still blushing slightly, but nodded.

“So… the method I thought of was right. It’s really a strange space.”

I chuckled and said, “Isn’t it stranger that it’s not strange? Anyway, let’s go now. Fortunately, this one was a little easy.”

“Yeah, thanks to you, I saw something good.”

“Something good?”

“…A cat.”

“Ah, that’s it.”

Sia and I exchanged light banter and started to walk carefully towards the open door.

Day 1 in Frozen Kingdom.

I had another strange experience today.

When I opened the front door of the mansion and came out, the cold wind and the frozen ground greeted us.

There was a cat on the frozen ground.

It wasn’t Chii, but that cat seemed to play an important role.

So I tried to approach it, but strangely, no matter how much I walked, the distance wouldn’t narrow.

We racked our brains for a long time, and Sia came up with a brilliant idea to do a ‘cat pose’.

Seeing me crawling on the ice on all fours, Sia blushed and turned red.

I don’t know why, but it didn’t matter to me.

Eventually, the distance to the cat narrowed, and I succeeded in grabbing its back.

Then the door in the middle of the ice floe opened.

Okay.

So far, so good.

If this trend continues, I’ll be able to clear it quickly.

Cheer up, me.

Hwaiting!

Monster File: [Over the Frozen Han River]

Form: It seems to be a place-type monster.

Here, something in the form of a small, ordinary cat is roaming around.

It’s a cat with white fur, walking slowly on the ice.

At first, it looks normal, but as you get closer, a strange phenomenon of ‘maintaining distance’ occurs.

Literally, it’s a phenomenon where you can’t get close.

Characteristics: The distance to the cat cannot be narrowed by normal methods.

The distance will only decrease if you approach in a ‘cat pose’.

I don’t know why, though.

The door opens when you make contact with the cat.

Danger: The approach method is unusual, so you may panic at first.

We didn’t, but you could fall due to careless behavior on the ice, or be exposed to greater danger.

Also, if you delay time, you can’t rule out the possibility that the cat will disappear.

Weakness: It’s easy if you know the solution.

You can solve the problem by approaching in a cat pose.

The cat is not aggressive, and it seems to do no harm if approached in the proper way.