I Became a God in the Refrigerator chapter 4

4. Planet in Ruins

“Growl. Grrr.”

The creature was snarling, eyeing the tent cautiously, breathing heavily.

A peculiarly protruding snout on its green skin. Short stature that wouldn’t even reach an adult male’s waist.

And to top it off, a vile countenance.

Above the creature’s head, a symbol floated.

[Red Alert: Goblin]

“What, what is this! A g-goblin? Cough, cough!”

Taken aback by the unexpected situation, Han coughed involuntarily.

The spiciness of the instant noodles he was eating pierced his nose mercilessly, tears clouding his vision.

But there was no time to wipe them away.

Right now, inside the tent, Irina was facing an even more urgent situation.

Goblin.

The creature roamed around as if guarding the tent, shuffling around constantly.

A scrap metal dagger was clenched in the goblin’s hand.

Small in stature, unimpressive in appearance.

The only thing of note was the dagger.

Yet, that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.

Han was well aware of the threat the creature posed.

Goblins were exceedingly agile and reckless.

Above all, they possessed a cruel nature.

They saw humans as nothing more than walking meat.

Indeed, incidents of goblin attacks made the news consistently every year.

The tent, the only object of color in this vast white snowy field, was a strange sight.

Hence, the creature stayed at a certain distance, only on guard, but such vigilance didn’t seem like it would last long.

Baring its teeth and growling fiercely, the creature displayed a sharp hostility that would make it unsurprising if it lunged at any moment.

“Oh, no.”

Instinctively swiping his hand, urgent messages appeared in front of him.

[Danger!]

[Hurry, warn her of the imminent danger approaching and prepare for an attack!]

Without needing to warn about the goblin’s presence, Han quickly zoomed in on the situation inside the tent.

“….”

But there was no need for Han to alert about the goblin’s presence.

Irina, as if on guard, had subtly retreated to the edge of the tent.

She had already noticed the goblin’s presence.

Through a small window, she cautiously observed the goblin lurking near the tent.

It was dangerous.

Certainly, the outcome wouldn’t be favorable if things continued this way.

It was that moment.

“Keiak!”

It seemed the goblin couldn’t bear the rising tension any longer and finally let out a scream.

With a fierce momentum, the creature rushed towards the tent, swinging the dagger it held.

As the tent fabric tore apart, Ilyna, who had been hiding inside, leaped out.

Naturally, the goblin’s gaze fell upon her, and it charged.

“Danger!”

But unlike the startled reaction of a typical person, Ilyna was incredibly agile.

She evaded the goblin’s attack as if she had anticipated it, moving back with remarkable smoothness, unlike a regular human.

However, that was as far as she could go.

Ilyna couldn’t easily approach the goblin, who was armed, unlike her empty-handed self.

That one difference played a crucial role.

It was the moment.

[Upon fulfilling the condition of the first special event ‘Threat’, a new item ‘Steel Sword’ will be available in the store!]

“Hurry and equip your follower with a weapon!”

…A weapon?!

There was no time for hesitation.

Han promptly clicked on the sword that appeared before his eyes.

Mid-click, a message about consuming points popped up, but he paid it no mind.

Swish!

In an instant, a sword materialized in Ilyna’s hand amidst a burst of light.

“…!”

Truly a bizarre and unprecedented phenomenon.

But Ilyna’s brief bewilderment was short-lived.

Looking up at the sky, she briefly smiled, as if she had been waiting for this moment alone, and immediately sprang into action.

Swiftly passing by the goblin, she swiftly slashed its throat.

“Grrk, grrk.”

Over the snowy white ground.

The goblin, its throat deeply cut, gazed at Ilyna one last time before collapsing.

It was Ilyna’s victory.

“Hah, hah.”

Breathing heavily, Ilyna’s posture as she sat down allowed Han to finally exhale a sigh of relief.

He, too, had been tense.

The weapon clenched in her hand had proven its formidable power, thankfully.

***

As Ilyna took a brief break to recover from exhaustion, Han also found a moment of respite.

He could now take a closer look at the surrounding scenery.

“By the way….”

Goooo-

Intense snowfall swept through the dark ruins that met his eyes.

“I can’t see anything around here. No matter where I go, it’s all frozen ruins.”

The place he was in now was a city center.

It had undoubtedly been a hub of civilization, but…

It was also an ancient ruin where everything had long since crumbled.

Buildings, every last one of them, either exposed their grim iron skeletons or lay in ruins, clearly showing the passage of time at a glance.

Was it decades? Maybe even centuries.

There was nothing left maintaining its original form.

The events that had transpired here were shrouded in mystery.

In fact, the only presence Han had encountered thus far was Irina.

Could it be that not a single common person, let alone an elf, lived here?

But at that moment.

Once again, a message flashed before Han’s eyes.

[“The planet ‘Frey,’ to which you have descended as a god, is a world that perished centuries ago due to excessive energy expansion, massive dungeon breaks.”]

[“Over 99% of the original inhabitants of this planet have already perished, and the remaining survivors are steadily decreasing over time.”]

[“Therefore, this planet is closer to a declining primitive era than a cradle of civilization.”]

… Over 99% have already perished?

Feeling perplexed by this fact, Han asked the system.

“What happened here?”

[“This matter is classified as highly confidential and cannot be accessed. However, traces and artifacts related to the incident are buried throughout the planet Frey, allowing for some speculation.”]

[“One thing I can mention is that there was a war against monsters here long ago.”]

…Classified information, inaccessible.

It was a completely incomprehensible statement.

Perhaps there was something crucial hidden that he shouldn’t know.

It seemed that the system couldn’t answer everything he asked.

Nevertheless.

If what the system conveyed was true, then this place had already met its end long ago.

A world close to a primitive era destroyed by dungeon breaks…

To Han, the remnants left in their world didn’t seem to lag far behind in terms of civilization compared to Earth.

Even though they revealed grim iron skeletons, their buildings were all grand and majestic.

Despite signs of aging visible through broken glass windows, it was evident that books and similar items were also visible.

It meant that they, too, possessed knowledge and civilization in their own way.

Then, what could have been the reason for the collapse of this seemingly advanced civilization in this world?

“Perhaps this world was invaded by unimaginably colossal monsters.”

Ridiculously, that notion didn’t feel too far-fetched to him.

After all, even on Earth where Han lived, dungeons and monsters existed, posing a threat at any moment.

Monsters like the goblins he had just encountered appeared daily, and incidents due to them were incessant.

Sometimes, even formidable monsters that hunters found challenging would emerge.

Perhaps this world…

He might not have known that he couldn’t withstand such fervor and might have crumbled.

While he continued his thoughts, Irina was busily folding the torn, miserable pieces of the collapsed tent.

Soon, his gaze turned back to her.

What was she trying to do?

Soon, Irina carefully laid down the folded tent in front of her and opened her mouth with a gloomy expression.

“…I’m sorry.”

What is she saying?

Perhaps because of the distance, her voice became faint and hard to hear.

To listen closely, he subtly expanded his point of view.

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Only then could Han understand what she was trying to say.

“God. I’m truly sorry for ruining the grace you graciously bestowed.”

Ah. Could it be because the tent was torn?

She had a despondent expression.

‘To be so disheartened over such a thing…’

Han felt sorry for her.

A tent was nothing remarkable in the world he lived in.

It was a common item that anyone could buy with a little money.

But he could understand.

From Irina’s perspective, this might even be considered a blessing from God.

After all, Han hadn’t found anything intact in this vicinity.

Even the cloth she was wearing had faded colors to the point where the original colors couldn’t be discerned.

It was such an old cloth with several torn traces here and there.

It must have meant that she rarely had the chance to possess proper items.

For her, a tent with a smooth color must have been an extremely rare item, something she had never seen in her life.

Han summoned his large hand.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

He gently stroked Irina’s head.

“Oops.”

At first, Irina seemed momentarily startled, but that expression quickly disappeared.

She soon relaxed into his touch, letting out a faint smile.

“You don’t seem angry.”

Of course not.

Why would he be angry?

Just because a single tent was torn?

No, there was no reason for that at all.

Instead, at that moment, Han felt compassion for her.

Perhaps because of the hardships she had endured, he could feel gratitude and regret for such a trivial matter.

***

The fierce snowfall showed no signs of abating.

As time passed, the storm grew even fiercer.

At this point, the visibility was so poor that it was almost impossible to see anything clearly.

“What a tremendous snowstorm.”

Even if one were merely observing from above, the intensity was palpable. How would it feel to experience all of this firsthand on the ground?

The cold she had to endure was undoubtedly beyond the ordinary.

Step by step, she pressed on, struggling to move forward.

Despite being bundled up tightly, she wrapped her arms around herself as if feeling the chill.

Yet, amidst all this, there was something she had to do.

Irina pushed through the snow, scanning her surroundings continuously.