The impact was brutal.

Tyler rolled down a snow-covered slope, smashing against rocks hidden beneath the ice before finally ending up buried headfirst in a pile of freezing snow.

"AGH—!"

It took him several seconds to react.

The wind roared around him like a furious beast, hurling snow against his face so hard he could barely keep his eyes open.

"What the hell?!"

He clumsily pushed himself up, spitting out snow while trying to understand where he was.

Everything was white.

Gigantic mountains.

Dark trees covered in ice.

And dozens of corpses.

Tyler froze as he stared at the enormous creatures scattered across the area.

Some looked like deformed bears with four massive arms and gigantic claws. Others resembled insects the size of cars, with sharp legs and black shells covered in frozen blood.

There were mangled bodies everywhere.

’...What the fuck is this place?’

Then he remembered. The goddess, the other world, and the "second life."

Tyler slowly raised his gaze toward the snowy sky.

"GO TO HELL, YOU SHITTY GODDESS!"

The echo of his scream vanished into the wind.

"YOU DROPPED ME IN THE MIDDLE OF A FROZEN MOUNTAIN!"

He breathed heavily while the snow battered his face.

"COULDN’T YOU AT LEAST LEAVE ME AT AN INN?!"

He wrapped his arms around himself, trembling.

And then he noticed it. His small red hands. They didn’t look like his.

Tyler’s eyes widened.

"What...?"

He quickly touched his face.

His skin felt different. Rougher.

His fingers were thinner.

And when he spoke again, his voice sounded different.

Higher-pitched.

"This can’t be happening..."

He looked down at his naked body and felt another chill run through him.

"AND WHY THE HELL AM I NAKED?!"

The freezing wind pierced every part of his body.

Tyler began desperately walking among the corpses, trying to find anything useful.

’Cold... cold... cold...’

Even breathing hurt.

’I miss my expensive coats...’

He had never appreciated clothes this much in his entire life.

’Who the hell leaves someone naked in the middle of a snowstorm?’

He was definitely going to hate that goddess for the rest of his existence.

Then he spotted something sticking out from the snow.

He quickly approached it.

It was a half-buried leather bag.

Tyler awkwardly opened it.

Inside were several tools. Metal arrowheads, fire-starting stones, knives of different sizes, and ropes.

Tyler grabbed one of the knives with trembling hands.

"Well... at least I won’t die completely useless."

The wind blew even harder.

Tyler slowly turned toward one of the nearby corpses.

It was one of those giant four-armed bears.

Its dark, thick fur was partially covered in snow.

Tyler swallowed hard.

’...No.’

He looked back at the knife.

Then at the corpse.

’There’s no way I actually have to do this.’

The freezing wind struck his naked body directly.

Tyler started shivering violently.

"...I’m doing this."

He slowly approached the corpse with the expression of a man suffering beyond reason.

He vaguely remembered his adoptive father trying to take him hunting once.

He had never wanted to go.

But he remembered a few things.

"It’s not that hard to skin an animal, Tyler."

His father’s voice echoed in his memory. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Tyler grimaced.

"Yeah, sure. Easy."

He knelt beside the dead monster and pressed the knife against the fur.

The smell hit him immediately.

"UGH..."

He covered his mouth.

"HOW CAN IT SMELL THIS BAD?!"

He tried cutting through the hide.

The resistance of the thick skin was horrible.

"This is disgusting!"

The knife pierced through part of the flesh, and something hot and slimy spilled out from inside.

Tyler gagged instantly.

"BLEGH—!"

He nearly threw up onto the snow.

"I’d pay literally anything to have someone else do this shitty job for me..."

He kept cutting while shivering violently.

"Damn goddess..."

Another cut.

"This stopped being funny a long time ago..."

More dark blood spilled from the corpse.

Tyler gagged again.

"I swear you’re going to pay me back for this..."

Then he heard something.

CRUNCH.

The sound of snow being crushed.

Behind him.

Tyler slowly froze in place.

A deep growl echoed through the storm.

"...No."

He slowly turned around and saw something enormous rising from the snow.

Another bear. But this one was much bigger.

The creature roared so loudly Tyler felt his chest vibrate.

"Ah."

The monster leapt straight toward him.

"AHHHH!"

Tyler covered his head and instinctively shut his eyes.

Then...

FWISH.

FWISH.

FWISH.

Something sliced through the air at an absurd speed.

There was a violent impact.

And then silence.

It took Tyler several seconds to open his eyes, since he had been expecting to die again.

"...Huh?"

The giant bear was motionless.

Pinned against a massive tree.

Three enormous metal projectiles had completely pierced through its body.

They looked like arrows, but far too large and heavy.

Dark blood slowly dripped onto the snow.

Tyler blinked several times.

"...I’m alive."

Then he heard voices among the trees.

A woman’s voice spoke first.

"How strange."

Another answered.

"A small demon wandering through the north."

Tyler slowly raised his head.

Through the storm, he could see figures approaching.

Women.

Tall.

Covered in thick white cloaks.

The third voice sounded more relaxed.

"Demons are supposed to live in the southern lands."

Tyler slowly backed away across the snow.

’Demon...?’

One of the women finally stepped out from between the trees.

She was unbelievably beautiful.

Blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and an enormous metal bow in her hands.

Two more similar women appeared behind her.

All of them carried gigantic bows on their backs.

Tyler watched them nervously.

The first woman slightly tilted her head while looking him up and down.

"...He’s small."

Another let out a small laugh.

"And pretty ugly."

"Hey!"

The third woman stepped a little closer.

Tyler noticed her eyes soften as she looked at him.

"I think he’s cute."

The other two stared at her in surprise.

"Cute?"

"Yeah."

The woman smiled faintly while Tyler remained sitting naked in the snow, holding the knife with the expression of someone suffering absolute psychological trauma.

"We should take him home."