Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 258

White Bird Lake had never experienced an avalanche—at least, not since it had been named White Bird Lake and designated as an ecological zone.
Although the mountain had snow cover year-round, its broad and relatively flat terrain meant the conditions for an avalanche simply did not exist. As for the two steep peaks to the northwest, White Bird Peaks, their extreme slopes prevented significant snow accumulation, making an avalanche unlikely.
Experts had even calculated that even if White Bird Peaks somehow accumulated enough snow to trigger an avalanche under specific conditions, the distance was too great for it to impact the ski resort area.
After all, avalanches had a defined range. The ski resort and nearby hotels were in a designated safety zone and were not supposed to be affected by an avalanche.
But on this particular morning, guests at the hotel and two nearby lodges witnessed something that should have been impossible.
Even though the avalanche originated from such a distant location, the sheer force and scale of the snow crashing down made it feel suffocatingly close.
In the seven or eight seconds it took for Yu Xi to call the hotel front desk and warn them about the massive avalanche from White Bird Peaks, the deafening, thunderous rumbling had already reached the area.
The hotel had fourteen floors. Their room was on the twelfth floor, located on the far west side and facing south—not directly in the avalanche’s path, but still in a position to experience its immense impact.
The avalanche moved at an astonishing speed. The lower section surged forward like rolling ocean waves, while the upper section billowed into a fine, destructive snow cloud.
One moment, it was still far away, barely visible over the horizon. The next moment, it had closed the distance, rising as high as a massive tsunami wave—easily reaching the height of a dozen floors.
At this point, it was already too late to flee upstairs. Even if they somehow managed to reach the highest point of the hotel, miscalculating the avalanche’s impact zone could be fatal. The powdery snow cloud was twenty times denser than air—if it swept them off their feet and onto the exposed rooftop, they would have nowhere to escape. That would be even more dangerous.
“Everyone, get to my room!” Ya Tong shouted.
Her room was on the lower southeastern side—positioned as far away from the northwest-facing impact zone as possible. Once inside, they could block the door with the TV stand and barricade the south-facing window with the tatami bed to create a relatively safer space.
Thanks to their storage abilities, they hadn’t left many items out in their rooms—only some daily necessities and scattered food supplies. But at this moment, there was no time to collect even those.
As the other three worked on securing the door and windows, Yu Xi quickly pulled out a sunscreen spray, applying it to everyone.
Each bottle of sunscreen spray could only be used eight times. Since waking up in the world of the Endless Train, she had only brought two bottles with her and had been reluctant to use them unless absolutely necessary.
The sunscreen spray formed an aerobic protective layer around the body, providing resistance to extreme temperatures, radiation, high pressure, and even vacuum environments. In other words, even if the building were buried under the avalanche and completely sealed off, as long as they weren’t physically crushed or impaled, they would be safe.
Outside, the roaring noise grew louder. It was far more deafening than anything Yu Xi had ever heard in recorded footage—like a monstrous beast unleashing an earth-shaking roar, like an army of thousands charging forward.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t just snow coming down on them…
As the avalanche’s roar echoed through the hotel, the emergency avalanche alarms blared throughout the building, overlapping with the panicked screams and frantic movements of the other guests.
Since this was a mountainous, snow-prone region, the hotel had been equipped with a proper warning system. But no one had ever expected it would actually need to be used.
“Get upstairs! Use the stairwell! The higher, the better! If the building collapses, anyone stuck below is as good as dead!”
If buried under a collapsed building, survival chances were nearly nonexistent. Suffocation, trauma, and hypothermia would all be fatal risks.
“Leave everything behind! Just put on your clothes and go! Hurry!”
Someone glanced out of the south-facing stairwell window—and immediately turned pale with terror.
“My god! How is it this high?!”
“Run! That’s a powder snow cloud! The building’s going to collapse! RUN!”
“I… I can’t run anymore…”
“Don’t push—!”
“Help me…!”
Some people, driven by sheer survival instinct, unleashed speed and strength far beyond their usual capabilities, dragging or carrying their loved ones as they desperately rushed upstairs. Their only thought was that even if they were buried, they had to be buried in the upper floors—this way, they might still have a chance to survive once the avalanche passed.
Others, just hearing the deafening roar from outside, collapsed in fear, their legs giving out as they trembled uncontrollably, screaming hoarsely for help yet unable to move at all.
The avalanche, originating from a distance of seven or eight kilometers, took less than two minutes to arrive.
The impact was like hundreds of speeding cars crashing into the building simultaneously—more terrifying than a tsunami, more destructive than an earthquake. The ground shook violently, and everything around them became as fragile as biscuits, shattering upon impact.
Yu Zhenzhen activated a protective shield, securing the room the four of them were in. However, in just a few minutes, the shield—which could have lasted through half a station’s duration—was completely depleted.
The protective arc of the shield faded, but it had successfully held up against the initial, most violent impact of the avalanche.
As the room began to collapse, Yu Xi, Lin Wu, and Ya Tong each lifted a corner of a mattress, creating a small space to shield Yu Zhenzhen in the center.
Lin Wu activated his own protective shield, but this time, following Yu Xi’s advice, he restricted its size to the small area they had propped up with the mattress.
The effect of the sunscreen spray was comparable to an astronaut’s suit, providing oxygen and resistance to extreme temperatures. As long as they weren’t crushed by falling debris or pierced by sharp objects, they would be fine. Fortunately, avalanches moved as quickly as they arrived.
In just five or six minutes, the deafening roar and howling winds outside finally subsided.
The hotel building, though severely damaged, had not been completely destroyed. However, all the doors and windows had been shattered, most walls had cracked, and a massive amount of snow and debris had poured into the structure through the broken openings. The northwest-facing side of the hotel, which had taken the full force of the avalanche, had completely collapsed in one corner.
Relying on their protective shield and strength far surpassing that of ordinary people, the four of them spent just over ten minutes carving a path out of the ruined building. Along the way, they managed to rescue several survivors who were still alive.
Most of the people they found were injured, but they were lucky to have survived.
Above them was a thick layer of snow. To prevent further collapse, they dug at an upward angle, only to find that the surrounding snow was mixed with a significant amount of rock fragments.
These were not pieces of the hotel’s structure but actual rocks—likely carried down from White Bird Peak along with the avalanche. It was no wonder that when Yu Xi had first heard the avalanche, she had felt that the sound contained something more than just snow.
Another five or six minutes later, the group finally emerged from beneath the snow.
The blizzard, which had raged for days and nights, had stopped at some point. The sky was now clear, revealing a bright and clean expanse above.
Standing atop the snow, they didn’t feel the cold—only an overwhelming brightness. They quickly pulled out sunglasses and put them on.
The world around them was covered in pure white. The hotel building they had been in was one of the few structures still partially visible, with its upper floors protruding above the surface. But every other building in the hotel zone—the surrounding lodges, the ski resort—had been entirely buried under the ice and snow.
The entire mountaintop had been elevated by what looked like several additional stories of snow. As they stood on the frozen landscape, it was impossible to tell where southeast, northwest, or the path down the mountain even was.
When Lin Wu, who had the best sense of direction among them, finally managed to orient himself, he made a startling discovery—the hotel they had stayed in had likely been pushed about ten meters southeast by the avalanche. This realization made it clear—any tourists who had remained in the lower floors during the avalanche had almost no chance of survival.
Beside them, the survivors they had rescued clutched their down jackets tightly around themselves, sobbing into the snow.
They knew very well that the chances of their family and friends, buried beneath this massive ice field, making it out alive were close to none.
Yu Xi and the others had not purchased phones at this station since they hadn’t needed them before. Now, without a way to call for help, they had no immediate means of contacting anyone for rescue.
Fortunately, one of the tourists had managed to hold onto their phone. After rummaging through their bag and searching for a signal multiple times, they finally got through to the rescue services.
“Will someone actually come to rescue them?” Yu Zhenzhen asked. She knew deep down that these devastated, grieving tourists might just be NPCs in this station—once the station reset, they would likely reappear as if nothing had happened.
But everything around them felt too real. The disaster, the blood, the sorrow… it was impossible to see them as mere game characters.
Lin Wu replied, “They should. This place isn’t an isolated island, and while an avalanche is a terrifying disaster, it’s not a complete catastrophe. There will be rescue operations. But…”
But in disasters like this, the main reason for mass casualties was the delay in rescue efforts and the difficulty of locating survivors afterward.
The snow covering the area all looked the same. Those standing on the surface had no way of knowing which layer to break through to find someone alive beneath.
Even though they were certain there were still many survivors trapped inside the hotel, they weren’t professionally trained, nor did they have specialized equipment. Digging through one or two layers might be feasible, but going deeper would risk destabilizing the collapsed structure, potentially killing survivors who were still alive.
An hour later, two rescue helicopters arrived and began emergency operations.
During that hour, more and more people managed to break through the ice and snow from below.
Most of them were travelers—people with superior physical abilities, various skill sets, and access to unique tools. Some still had a conscience and, like Yu Xi’s group, had taken the time to rescue others they encountered while escaping.
But others saw the station’s residents as nothing more than background figures. They didn’t just ignore them—they even violently pushed people away when they reached out for help.
Yu Xi and her team pulled out their multi-functional shovels and started digging downward from where they had emerged. They managed to excavate another floor and successfully rescued a few more survivors.
However, they didn’t dare dig any deeper, fearing that further excavation could cause the remaining structure to collapse.
Some other travelers saw what they were doing. A few sighed, got back up, and began digging in their own escape spots, trying to save whoever they could.
Others scoffed in disdain, dusted themselves off, and immediately set out in search of a way down the mountain.
The avalanche had only affected the upper part of White Bird Lake Park. After swallowing the ski resort, the cascading snow had stopped halfway down the slopes, meaning only the mountaintop had suffered the full brunt of the disaster.
Meanwhile, down by the lake, in the various villas, many tourists had come outside after hearing the commotion from above.
When they realized that a massive avalanche had struck the mountain, their faces changed. Some seemed relieved that they hadn’t been assigned accommodations up there, while others showed genuine concern for those trapped above. Many began calling emergency services to the situation.
As for the travelers who had scoffed and walked away, they quickly distanced themselves from the disaster zone.
Meanwhile, those who stayed behind to help continued digging for another fifteen minutes—until suddenly, a message notification appeared on their phones.
Yu Xi and the others received the same notification.
Congratulations: Snowfield Treasure Hunt mode has been activated!
Hint: Actively search for and excavate treasures while overcoming challenges. Completing challenges will grant treasure rewards.
Yu Xi: …??