Chapter 177: Snow Mountain: [22W Nutrient Solution Bonus Chapter]

Chapter 177: Snow Mountain: "22W Nutrient Solution Bonus Update"

After the front desk explained things, Everly finally understood the whole story.

Turns out, the rooms were fine and actually vacant, but they weren't unbooked—rather, the people who booked them probably wouldn't be able to make it, because the ones who reserved them were the three climbers Everly had seen in the news.

"For this climbing expedition, they started preparing months in advance. They even came to the mountain to scout the area beforehand and stayed at our hotel. According to the original plan, after crossing the mountain, they'd come around from the eastern base to the hotel and stay for a while to experience the skiing at Burns Ski Resort. So before setting out, they booked rooms from December 22nd to the 31st..."

But then, unexpectedly, the three had an accident mid-climb and lost contact with the outside world. Three days had already passed. Even if they were rescued alive, they probably wouldn't come back to the hotel.

The Christmas-to-New Year holiday period was normally the most profitable time for the hotel. Seeing that there was still no word from them, the owner couldn't afford to keep the rooms empty. So when Everly called, the front desk, per the owner's orders, changed their story and said rooms were available.

"If we book the rooms and those three suddenly show up, who gets them?" Everly asked.

"Don't worry, they'd be yours."

Everly then turned to the other three for their input.

"No problem, let's go with that place. Don't worry, I'm here too." Rebecca gave an OK gesture, meaning if those three unlucky bastards died in the mountains and came back as vengeful spirits, she'd handle them.

"I'm fine with it." Misha chimed in.

Old John gave a slight nod, clearly on board too.

Everly nodded and gave the person on the line her credit card number, name, and security code, booking three rooms with a card guarantee for December 24th to 26th.

She'd checked the forecast—both days would be sunny up on the mountain, perfect for outdoor stuff. If two days weren't enough, they could just extend their stay.

With rooms booked, the next step was getting all the gear they'd need for skiing.

For just one ski trip, there was no need to buy boards, suits, boots, or helmets—they could just rent them on site. But they did need to bring warm stuff like fleece hats, face masks, scarves, and thermal base layers to avoid getting sick.

Besides that, since they'd be staying overnight, they should also bring a change of clothes, toiletries, snacks, door wedges, infrared lights for hidden cameras, meds, self-defense stuff, and so on.

On top of that, Everly spent a whole afternoon driving around buying all sorts of weird stuff, packing an extra suitcase.

When asked, she didn't explain, just mysteriously said they were necessities.

Fine, whatever—they'd bring it all. It was a road trip anyway, and the trunk was big enough.

So early the next morning, the four bundled up, grabbed their stuff, and piled into Everly's Grand Cherokee, heading for Burns Ski Resort.

It had snowed all night, and by morning the road to the mountain was, unsurprisingly, covered in a thick layer of snow. The snowy road slowed them down a lot, and they drove carefully the whole way. By the time they reached the base of the mountain, it was almost ten in the morning.

Burns Ski Resort sat on a wide, gentle slope on the south side of Mount Nathan Joa, and the hotel they'd booked was east of the resort. With a lot of luggage, they decided to hit the hotel first to drop stuff off and rest a bit.

So when they got to the resort, they didn't pull into the lot but turned right at the fork, heading east along a winding mountain road.

The road sloped upward, with a hillside on one side and a nearly vertical cliff on the other—pretty intimidating. Luckily, the road wasn't too narrow. Driving slow and hugging the inner side, they went less than two kilometers before a retro two-story wooden building came into view.

This was the mountain hotel they'd booked online: "Yomorr Mountain Resort."

Like the road, the hotel was built into the slope. Where the steep cliff reached the hotel, the slope leveled out into a small platform about half a football field in size.

The hotel sat on the inner part of the platform, with the outer part serving as a parking lot.

As she drove in, Everly noticed the platform also dropped off into a sheer, bottomless cliff, so she parked carefully, picking a spot on the inner side.

By then, including hers, there were already five cars parked there.

After parking, the four grabbed their bags and filed into the hotel. As soon as they pushed open the door, a wave of warm air hit them.

The fireplace in the lobby was blazing. On the sofa in front of it, a young guy in glasses and a vest over a dress shirt looked up from his book and glanced at them.

"Are you the ones with reservations? Hi, please check in over here."

Behind the counter on the left, a young girl with a face full of freckles waved enthusiastically at them.

Everly walked over to check in with the front desk. After confirming everything, the girl came out from behind the counter and led them to three adjacent rooms at the end of the second-floor hall.

"Here are your room keys, two per room. Keep them safe. If you need anything, call the front desk on the house line. Also, we don't provide free meals—if you want any, call ahead and you'll cover the cost..."

After briskly running through the check-in spiel, the clerk handed them their keys, pocketed a tip, and left.

All the rooms in this hotel were double rooms. Everly and Misha took Room 212, Rebecca took 211 across the hall, and Old John took 210 next to Everly.

Horror Movie Survival Rule #10: In unfamiliar places, always check high-risk spots like under the bed, in closets, behind mirrors, etc.

After swiping the key card, as usual, Misha unpacked while Everly inspected the room.

She didn't skip any of the high-risk areas—lifting the carpet for hidden doors, knocking on walls for false panels, checking mirror edges for hidden spaces... After all that, nothing unusual.

But they couldn't relax just yet!

After all, this was a hotel, and Everly had seen plenty of hotel horror movies, many with hidden camera plots.

Horror Movie Survival Rule #19: In unfamiliar places, always check for hidden cameras.

That's exactly why Everly had brought infrared lights—three of them, so all three rooms could be checked.

Camera lenses reflect infrared light, creating bright spots that look totally different from reflections off mirrors or other stuff—super obvious. Using that trick, you can easily spot hidden cameras.

Thanks to her good shape, Everly hopped around the room with the infrared light, turning off lights and drawing curtains, sweeping every possible spot. The results showed this was a legit hotel—no cameras anywhere in the room.

After reaching that conclusion, Everly breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, no problems. They'd come all this way to the ski resort; if the room had issues, they'd have to leave, and with all nearby hotels booked solid, finding a place would've been a pain.

"So, feeling better now?" Misha had already unpacked and was sitting nearby, chin in hand, watching Everly bustle around.

Everly nodded.

Because of all that, by the time they finally settled in, it was already lunchtime.

They hadn't reserved ahead, so the hotel's lunch didn't have portions for them. But that little issue was nothing compared to the excitement of the upcoming skiing.

They holed up in the room, made some instant noodles with hot water, and ate. Once full and warm again, they grabbed a few things and walked to the ski resort.

The afternoon of skiing was a blast.

There's a saying: "Master one thing, and you've mastered them all." Probably thanks to all the training she'd done in the past, Everly had top-notch balance and coordination. Even though it was her first time skiing, after one fall she quickly figured out how to use her core to control every part of her body, smoothly pulling off turns, jumps, and other moves.

It wasn't just her—Old John and Misha, both regular exercisers, also quickly got the hang of it, moving past beginner status and flying down the slopes with their poles, skiing with abandon.

Of the four, only Rebecca was slower, shuffling along like an old granny, never quite making it off the beginner hill to the harder trails.

Even so, judging by the goofy smile that never left her face, Rebecca was clearly having just as much fun.

The resort had a chairlift—ski to the bottom, ride back up, no need to hike. Super convenient.

The four of them repeated the cycle of sliding down, riding back up, and sliding down again, endlessly entertained.

Winter days grow dark early, and by around 4 p.m., lights gradually flickered on around the ski resort. The snow under the lights had a unique charm, and the four of them wanted to stay a bit longer. But just then, the familiar sense of dread and panic enveloped Everly.

This reaction was far more intense than any before. Fear felt like it had turned into something solid, stabbing sharply into Everly's back, sending chills through her body and causing her teeth to chatter uncontrollably.

"No... we need to leave right now! If we stay here, something bad will happen!" She pushed down her fear and grabbed Misha by the wrist.

Having worked with Everly for so long, Misha understood her with just one sentence: "I'll find Rebecca, you go find Uncle John."

"Okay."

They split up and quickly found their companions in the crowd of skiers.

Old John and Rebecca also knew about Everly's special premonitions. Hearing the tremor in her voice as she told everyone to retreat, their faces immediately turned serious.

"Let's go now—forget about returning the rentals."

The four slid to the exit, yanked off their skis and poles, tossing them aside carelessly, and without even bothering to take off their ski suits, raced up the mountain road toward the inn.

At this point, everyone's guess about the "danger" Everly mentioned was still limited to the ski resort itself, thinking that staying there might lead to some kind of bad incident.

However, when the four stepped onto the mountain path heading uphill, the unease in Everly's chest still hadn't gone away.

The road was damp, with a layer of wet ice where cars had passed, making a "crunch crunch" sound beneath their boots. As they walked, Everly thought she vaguely heard another sound mixed in with the crunching—or maybe it was her imagination.

"Creak... creak creak..."

She frowned and asked the others, "Do you all hear..."

Just then, the faint creaking stopped.

In its place, a deeper, more massive rumbling came from the mountain peak above.

Drawn by the sound, the four looked up in unison.

In their wide eyes, an ever-expanding wall of moving snow was reflected—

An avalanche!!!