Walfred touched the Hunter Community access screen that appeared before his eyes. A brief flicker of static washed over his vision, and everything went dark.

[System: Hunter Community]

[Accessing the New America Republic channel.]

"...New America Republic channel?"

So each country had its own channel?

It made sense. Cramming every hunter in the world into one space would be a nightmare. Walfred nodded quietly to himself. Then, just like that:

[Please enter a nickname.]

"A nickname for the community, huh..."

Using his real name felt a little risky.

If his identity got exposed, it could cause real problems in the outside world. After a moment’s thought, he typed in a fitting name.

[Nickname ’FrozenMan’ has been set.]

[Welcome, FrozenMan.]

The instant his nickname was confirmed,

the darkness around him burst into light, and his field of vision opened wide. What greeted his eyes next made them go round.

He couldn’t help it.

Every inch of the space surrounding him was filled with countless categories and posts. On top of that, comments were flooding in by the second.

"So this is..."

A virtual space where hunters shared information.

The Hunter Community.

Walfred’s eyes gleamed with wonder as he browsed the boards that made up the community.

[Info/Strategy Board]

[Local/News Board]

[Q&A Board]

[General Board]

[Wanted Board]

Boards of every kind.

Walfred burst out laughing.

"It’s just like an internet forum."

The whole thing looked like it had been lifted straight from an online community site from before the Ice Age.

Even with the world frozen over and civilization crippled, this place was still buzzing with life. Curiosity piqued, Walfred went through the boards one by one.

’Let’s start with the Info/Strategy Board.’

He reached out and tapped the board, and its posts immediately unfolded before him.

[Info/Strategy Board]

[BEST] Cold Resistance by Monster Rank

[BEST] Characteristics of Golems by Attribute

[BEST] Sharing Elite Monster Spawn Zones

Pinned at the very top were the best posts, the ones with the most views and upvotes. Beyond those, the board was packed with all kinds of information essential for survival and growth.

Walfred skimmed through the best posts, then moved on to the next board.

[Local/News Board]

▷Current location: New Jersey, Newark

▷Auto-connecting to the Newark board.

The local board wasn’t anything special.

Mostly posts about trading supplies.

But one post caught his eye. It had been uploaded just an hour ago.

[Title]: Crown Heights Gate Liberation Alert

[Author]: ChestnutBread

"Crown Heights? Gate liberation?"

The moment he read that title,

Walfred thought of Lauren, who was probably fast asleep in a corner of the container. She had been a refugee from the Crown Heights Arena Shelter.

’I heard they were hit by a monster attack...’

It wasn’t just a regular attack; it was a gate liberation?

That changed everything.

His expression hardened as he tapped the post.

-----

[D-rank Gate: Frozen Tree Forest, Opened]

[Location]: Crown Heights, Heritage Apartments

[Monsters Spotted]: Snow Wolf and others

[Gate Boss]: Frozen Weaver (D-rank, Elite)

(※ The above information is based on eyewitness accounts.)

▶Damage Report: Crown Heights Arena Shelter (Collapsed)

▷Hunters in the Crown Heights, Bayway, Elizabeth, and Newark areas are advised to exercise extreme caution.

-----

"...What?"

Walfred’s eyes went wide.

The gate’s master and ruler. Its identity was a name all too familiar to him.

"The thing I killed was the gate boss?"

No wonder it had been so damn tough.

There was a reason Chaz, a C-rank hunter, couldn’t take it down even with all his men. On top of that, the thing had a ridiculous 30% cold resistance stat. Honestly, the fact that Walfred had landed the finishing blow and killed it was nothing short of pure luck.

’Getting that skill book out of it was a win, but...’

From now on, even if he had a clear shot at a finishing blow, he’d need to think twice before charging in.

A chill ran down his spine. He reread the post carefully from top to bottom. Then he realized something.

’Oh! So when those Snow Wolves attacked us back then, that was because of the gate liberation too.’

A long-standing question finally answered.

Walfred scrolled all the way down the post. Below it, a mountain of comments had piled up, presumably written by other hunters.

[Wait, there was a gate there?]

[First I’m hearing about it.]

[Oh! Now that you mention it, I think I heard something about that recently. Apparently it was buried under the snow and nobody could find it.]

[Seriously? They missed the deadline to clear it because they couldn’t find the entrance?]

[That’s insane. How do you even prepare for something like that?]

[You can’t. It was just bad luck.]

The reactions were largely the same.

Responses saying they hadn’t even known a gate existed there, and speculation that it had been buried under snow and ice, catching everyone off guard.

Either way, it was clearly a disaster.

’I’d better watch my step for a while.’

When a gate liberation occurs, the surrounding area swarms with monsters for some time. Walfred felt the tension locking up his body as he backed out of the post.

His next stop was the Q&A Board.

This one was mostly filled with questions about specific monster weaknesses or terrain intel. But that wasn’t the kind of information Walfred was after.

’Let’s find out what’s going on in Key West.’

Half a year ago, his niece Jenna had gone there on a school trip.

He had to find out whether she was safe, and if so, where she was. With a look of steely resolve, Walfred tapped the [Write Post] button.

But then,

an unexpected message popped up.

[Writing a post requires coins.]

[Coin cost]: 1

[Current coins]: 3,000

[Would you like to write a post?]

"Coins? Oh!"

Come to think of it, he’d received some coins along with the skill book after defeating the Frozen Weaver, hadn’t he?

He’d been wondering what they were for, and now he knew: community activity. Having figured out what coins were used for, Walfred immediately tapped the post button.

A new notification appeared.

[Would you like to add reply coins?]

[TIP: Adding reply coins to your post increases response rate and visibility.]

A kind of reward for hunters who took the time to answer questions. Looking at other posts, he noticed most of them had added 10 reply coins.

’In that case...’

Walfred’s eyes burned with intensity.

And then.

[Reply coins added.]

[Coins]: +300

He made a bold decision.

Thirty times the average.

That was how desperately he needed information about Jenna right now. After taking several deep breaths, he began writing his post.

[Title]: Looking for someone.

[Author]: FrozenMan

[Reward]: 300 coins

His question boiled down to two things.

First, the situation in Key West after the Antarctica gate liberation. And second, whether Jenna was alive and where she might be.

[Your post has been submitted.]