Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 84

“Wow…!”

*Whoooosh!*

Ji Yeonwoo’s snowboarding skills were actually quite impressive.

He zigzagged down the slope, carving turns—first one way, then the other. If he spotted a small bump, he’d use it to launch himself just slightly, spinning halfway in the air before landing smoothly and regaining his balance. That was the mark of someone who really knew how to ride.

—

*– The Watcher compliments you on your snowboarding skills!*

*– They say they’re excited too since they’re sharing your vision!*

“Hahah! Really? I’m doing well? It’s been a while.”

Yeonwoo was naturally good at snowboarding. Because he had once wanted to do it so badly, he’d even considered becoming an instructor.

The muscle memory from back then couldn’t be ignored.

It was almost eerie how well he remembered it, like riding a bike.

“I think I’m a really fast learner. Three days of training, and I’m this good—that’s amazing, right?”

—

*– The Watcher starts to speak but then closes their mouth.*

*– They say they didn’t hear properly and ask you to repeat yourself.*

“Huh? I said I trained for three days!”

Yeonwoo had taken snowboarding very seriously.

Because it looked fun, he went all out—figuring that if he was paying for lessons, he might as well squeeze every last drop of value out of them.

Snowboarding was an expensive hobby, and as the breadwinner of his family, Yeonwoo didn’t have much money.

So, to enjoy a costly hobby without breaking the bank, he thought about becoming an instructor himself—and it turned out he had a knack for it. Even as a kid, his sense of direction had been top-notch.

Yeonwoo would never forget his first snowboarding lesson.

—

*– “Alright, now that you’ve learned how to fall, let’s move on to side slipping!… Once you master that, we’ll teach you the ‘falling leaf’ pendulum technique—wait, why is that person already doing it?… I mean, yes, that’s correct, but… Wow, you’re good? No, no! That’s right. That’s exactly it… Uh, since the rest of the class needs to catch up, could you practice the falling leaf for now? …Huh. Weren’t you the worst at this earlier…?”*

*– “Next, let me briefly demonstrate the half-turn we’ll learn later—yes, that’s a half-turn, but why is that person doing it? No, that’s not a half-turn, that’s a beginner turn… What is that? Why are they even here? Why are they carving S-turns from the very first lesson…?”*

*– “Ghk, ghk, ghk… Excuse me, sir. That’s not a novice turn—that’s carving. A clumsy one, but yes, carving… Ghk, ghk… This is insane…! You’ve got some nerve, I’ll give you that…! If you’re going to do this, just go pro already!”*

“Hehe. I got so much praise back then—it’s still vivid in my mind. I think I used up a lifetime’s worth of compliments in those three days!”

—

*– The Watcher sighs, saying that while they don’t know about the rest, ‘having nerve’ doesn’t sound like praise.*

*– They reiterate that you could stand to be a little more cautious.*

Regardless, the fact that he could ride this well after just three days of training spoke to his innate talent.

—

*– They ask if being a snowboard instructor was fun.*

Yeonwoo smiled bitterly at that.

“The season ended… I was going to continue later, but then, well.”

He Awakened.

A freshly minted F-rank Hunter had no time for something as trivial as snowboarding.

Awakening was the true beginning of his hardships.

“Hehe… But it’s nice to remember those times!”

—

*– The Watcher says that if that’s true, it’s impressive—if you’d kept training, you could’ve become an instructor by the next season.*

“Well, it all helps. I mean, because I trained so hard back then, I can do this now, right?”

Of course, a Jawsbar and a snowboard were only similar in shape—weight distribution, balance, everything else was different. But Yeonwoo adjusted his center of gravity on the fly, and the weight actually added stability. The speed was much faster, which was even better.

This was fun!

The wind biting into his face was so cold it almost burned, but Yeonwoo kept descending smoothly.

—

*– The Watcher shyly asks if you could teach them later, assuming we ever get out of here.*

“Huh? Of course! Have you tried it before?”

—

*– They say they tried briefly but gave up because everything except stopping was too hard.*

“Huh? You mastered the hardest part and then quit…?”

Yeonwoo tilted his head.

The Watcher didn’t seem to realize they had talent.

“Oh! But we promised to drink together, right? Then we can meet at a ski resort in winter—snowboard by day, drinks by night! Clink! Hehe.”

—

*– The Watcher grins at that.*

*– They say they’d prefer cheongju (clear rice wine) and mention they have a really good bottle saved up.*

“Then let’s have that! You’ll keep it untouched until then, right? If we drink it all in one go and pass out, we’ll wake up refreshed the next day, yeah?”

The Watcher fell silent for a moment at that.

—

*– They concede that if we’re going to a ski resort and drinking, a day trip probably isn’t feasible.*

“Huh?”

Was that really such a hard pill to swallow?

“Well, of course! The whole point is to have fun during the day, enjoy some drinks at night, wake up the next morning for hangover soup, and then hit the slopes again—that’s the charm of it!”

—

*– The Watcher agrees and asks if they should book a larger room instead of a small one.*

“Obviously! If staying overnight is tough, bring your family along! You have kids, right? I love kids!”

The Watcher dodged the question.

—

*– They nervously point out that we might have gone too far.*

At that, Yeonwoo’s excited grin froze. He couldn’t answer.

“Did we… go way too far? Haha…!”

He’d been having so much fun that he hadn’t realized how far he’d gone.

And still, there was nothing.

Just an endless, slightly inclined slope.

If there was nothing up to this point, did that mean this place truly had nothing?

—

*– The Watcher urgently says we should stop and turn back now.*

“Haha….”

—

*– They ask why you’re just laughing and tell you to stop.*

“Ahahaha….”

Yeonwoo stayed silent for a while longer.

As the biting wind sliced through him, a single drop of sweat trickled down his forehead.

“…I don’t know how to stop.”

—

*– The Watcher opens their mouth but can’t speak.*

*– They finally manage to scold you, saying this isn’t the time for jokes.*

“It’s not a joke….”

He wished it were.

But Yeonwoo genuinely didn’t know how to stop.

Sure, he had talent.

His sense of balance was excellent, which was why he’d nailed the S-turn (a beginner technique) almost immediately.

But every time he tried a half-turn, he failed.

Even his S-turns only worked because attempting a half-turn felt too unstable, so he’d end up completing the full turn instead.

In short, Yeonwoo had no idea how to brake.

He’d either ride until the slope flattened out or tumble to a stop. When he’d told the Watcher they had talent for knowing how to stop, he’d meant every word.

“Um… The only option now is to slow down as much as possible and then bail at the right moment. It’s not like I’ll die, right?”

—

*– The Watcher opens their mouth but freezes.*

“…?”

Then, a frantic notification came through.

—

*– The Watcher screams that there’s a cliff ahead.*

“WHAT!?”

Because they were sharing Yeonwoo’s first-person view, they’d noticed too late.

Less than 100 meters ahead was a sheer drop!

—

*– They yell at you to stop immediately and stop joking around.*

“I’m not joking…! Should I just fall to stop?”

But unlike his casual rides back then, his current speed was insane.

This was like an 8-ton truck with no brakes—Yeonwoo had no real options.

—

*– The Watcher screams.*

“KYAAAAAAH!”

—

*– The Watcher screams again!*

*Whoooosh!*

Yeonwoo’s Jawsbar-turned-snowboard hurtled straight off the cliff.

Gravity took over, tracing a parabolic arc through the air.

He looked down. The white snow made it hard to gauge, but the drop was deep. Even with the elastic body he’d gained from the Colossal Rift Seabream, he couldn’t just shrug off a fall like this.

—

*– The Watcher shrieks, asking what we’re going to do, what we’re going to DO!*

“Ugh…! I’m dead, I’m deaaaaad!”

Even as he screamed, Yeonwoo braced for impact.

Just as he clenched his teeth and tensed his body, the Watcher’s panicked notification rang out.

—

*– They yell, asking if you’ve forgotten—use Elasticity Control!*

“…Oh!”

He had forgotten.

Immediately, Yeonwoo spread his arms wide and activated one of the Battle Tanghulu’s functions.

*Elasticity Control (A)*

*Whoooosh!*

The Battle Tanghulu’s elasticity was like spandex—normally, it clung tightly to his body.

But when adjusted, it changed completely. The suit stretched like taffy, reshaping itself until it had transformed into something akin to a parachute, large enough to safely slow Yeonwoo’s descent.

His falling speed gradually decreased.

But it wasn’t enough.

Because something heavy was still attached to his legs.

—

*– The Watcher yells to ditch the Jawsbar!*

“Uuugh! Right, the Jawsbar!”

Though it was strapped to his legs, getting rid of it was easy.

Otaku_Senpai

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