Walfred gazed up at the chapel ceiling and murmured in a low voice.

"I have a niece."

"Huh? A niece?"

"She’s around your age. The day she left on a school trip to Key West was the day the Antarctica gate liberated."

"Oh..."

"That’s why I couldn’t leave you behind. If I had, something told me I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night."

Lauren’s eyes widened slightly at that.

As if she’d finally understood why Walfred had helped her. After a moment, she clenched her fist and said with a brave smile.

"Don’t worry too much! I’m sure your niece is doing just fine."

Baseless faith. A flimsy comfort.

But hearing those words somehow lifted his spirits a little. No matter how groundless it was, it seemed he’d needed to hear something hopeful.

Walfred cracked a smile.

"Yeah. Thanks for saying that, at least."

After wrapping up the conversation.

The two left the church and set out on the road. Of course, they packed the empty cans into their backpacks, since leaving them behind could create a trail for their pursuers.

Crunch, crunch!

With the sound of footsteps in the snow.

Walfred headed past the intersection toward Vailsburg. Aside from the area across the bridge near the Passaic River, thankfully no monsters were in sight.

’And...’

He noticed a positive development.

The further they moved toward New York, the more the number and scale of the monsters swarming the Passaic River decreased significantly.

’If this trend keeps up, we should be able to cross the Passaic River around Tech Row Station.’

He’d reroute toward Silicon Alley Station from around there. As they walked on and on, a building suddenly caught his eye.

A massive building made entirely of glass.

’Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall.’

The government building he’d seen every day on his commute.

Come to think of it, he recalled hearing there was a survivor shelter there, too.

’Not as big as the Newark Galleria, but they said it has over a hundred people.’

In truth, that building wasn’t well-suited to serve as a shelter. The entire exterior was glass, making it extremely vulnerable to the cold.

The reason people had gathered there anyway was probably because it had a gate where they could escape the cold.

As he was sifting through his memories.

"Huh?"

Lauren, following fifteen feet behind Walfred, suddenly stopped. She pointed ahead with wide eyes and murmured.

"What’s that? There’s something like fog..."

"You mean the snow fog?"

"No, this is different. Look over there."

At Lauren’s words, Walfred shifted his gaze straight ahead from Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall. And he quickly understood what she meant.

"That’s..."

The weather phenomenon he’d seen earlier from the rooftop, the one spreading toward Silicon Alley that he’d assumed was snow fog. But up close, it wasn’t snow fog at all.

Snow fog was a natural phenomenon caused by intense blizzards, characterized by extremely low visibility.

’But this is completely different.’

It wasn’t fog in the first place.

It was an opaque, membrane-like barrier, as if painted with white paint. Walfred frowned at the alien sight.

"...What the hell is that?"

Walfred looked around.

The unidentified white barrier stretched across the entire Vailsburg area, extending far beyond the Passaic River and past Lower Manhattan Tech Station.

Every route he’d planned had that mysterious barrier in the way. Lauren cautiously spoke up while reading his expression.

"What are you going to do?"

"Good question..."

In truth, there were only two options.

Push through the unidentified barrier and keep going, or take a long detour to reach Silicon Alley.

If Hector’s pursuit had been right on their heels, he would have gone in without hesitation. But with relatively more breathing room now, he found himself wavering.

’How should I put it?’

He had a feeling that charging in blindly would be a bad idea. Guided by the strange unease whispering from his instincts, Walfred decided to gather more information first.

’Let me log into the Community and ask around.’

He happened to have a few coins left.

If he posted on the Q&A Board or the Local/News Board, replies would come in quickly.

’But first...’

He needed to find a place to stay.

The sky was getting dark.

Walfred looked around for a place to spend the night. But just as he was struggling to find a decent spot nearby.

"Hey, you two."

A stranger’s voice came out of nowhere.

He hadn’t sensed their presence at all, so Walfred spun around with a startled look. There, beyond the snowfield, he spotted a man and a woman watching them.

’Who are they...?’

Thick parkas and goggles.

Large backpacks on their backs. They definitely weren’t part of the hunters traveling with Hector.

Their gear looked completely different.

Then the man spoke again.

"It’s dangerous, so step back."

"...Dangerous?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"That thing up ahead that looks like snow fog."

The man jerked his chin toward the white barrier.

Then, as if giving a warning, he said.

"Go in there, and you’ll die."

"What...?"

Die? What was he talking about?

Did he know something about it?

Just as countless questions raced through his mind.

"By the way..."

The man’s gaze shifted to Lauren.

Did his stare make her shrink?

Lauren flinched and ducked behind Walfred. The man watched her with a studying look, then asked with a puzzled expression.

"Haven’t seen your faces before. Where are you from?"

Starting with that question.

The eyes of both the man and the woman beside him turned sharp in an instant. Noticing the shift, Walfred instinctively understood.

Depending on his answer, their attitude could change entirely. After a brief moment of thought, Walfred replied in a low voice.

"Crown Heights Arena shelter."

It wasn’t a lie.

Lauren had actually belonged to that shelter.

Walfred was the problem, but he decided to pass himself off as a member of the Crown Heights Arena shelter too.

The moment Walfred finished his answer.

Both the man and woman’s eyes went wide.

"What? Crown Heights?"

"If it’s Crown Heights, then the gate liberation must have..."

"That’s right."

"...I see. So you’re refugees."

The man nodded in understanding.

"If just two of you made it through a field of monsters to get here, that means you’re both hunters, right?"

"Yeah."

Walfred answered immediately, without hiding it.

There was no point trying to conceal it, and the man and woman in front of him both looked like hunters themselves.

After confirming the man’s question, Walfred took advantage of the brief silence to quickly change the subject.

"Now I’d like you to answer my question."

"A question? What?"

"What you said earlier. What did you mean?"

The words about dying if you go in there.

When Walfred asked what that meant, the man answered without hesitation.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Not a single person who’s gone beyond that thing has ever come back alive."

"What? How is that..."

"More importantly, if outsiders go wandering in, it causes problems for us too. The more people go inside, the wider the boundary spreads."

No one who entered had come back.

And every person who went in caused the barrier’s boundary to expand.

Walfred mentally summarized the man’s response, but it only raised more questions. Just as he was furrowing his brow, feeling like he was sinking deeper into a maze.

"Chief, we should head back soon."

The woman said in a near-whisper.

Her gaze was fixed on the sky, which had already turned half dark.

"The sun’s going to set at this rate."

"Mm, you’re right. We should."

The man nodded.

He tossed the words casually in Walfred’s direction.

"If you want an explanation about that thing, come to our shelter. I’ll tell you about it."

"Your shelter?"

"Yeah. It’s right there."

Where the man pointed.

It was the massive glass building on the other side of the Passaic River. Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall.