A translucent blue window appeared in front of his eyes.

Walfred stared blankly into the air, dumbfounded.

It was hard to believe. But even after rubbing his eyes, the text didn’t disappear.

[Awakening Complete]

The moment the weight of those words finally hit him, his heart started pounding like crazy.

I awakened as a hunter?

Why now, all of a sudden? There hadn’t been any trigger.

As he stood there with a dazed expression, something suddenly flashed through Walfred’s mind.

"Wait! Don’t tell me it’s because I drank that...?"

The empty glass bottle rolling on the ground.

He recalled the mysterious liquid he’d just drunk, the one that hadn’t frozen even in temperatures below negative 76 degrees Fahrenheit, and right as he realized that was the cause of his awakening...

"...! Hugh!"

Walfred sucked in a sharp breath.

The burning heat that had been scorching his body just moments ago suddenly drained away like an ebbing tide.

In its place, a brutal chill seeped all the way into his bones. Coming back to his senses, Walfred scrambled to grab the clothes he’d thrown off and put them back on.

"Ugh, ugh...! It’s freezing!"

Only after layering on every piece of clothing and zipping his parka all the way up did the shivering finally stop.

Blowing on his frozen hands, Walfred swallowed hard as he stared at the text floating in the air again.

’I wasn’t hallucinating from the cold.’

It wasn’t a dream or a vision either.

Then there was only one thing left to confirm.

Walfred parted his trembling lips and muttered the word every hunter kept on the tip of their tongue.

"...Status."

Ding!

-----

[Name]: Walfred

[Level]: 1

[Attribute]: Frost

[Mana]: 100

[Rank]: F

[Experience]: 00.00%

-----

The status window popped up as if it had been waiting.

Only after seeing it did it finally sink in.

That he’d awakened as a hunter.

"Ha, haha..."

A goofy laugh spread across Walfred’s lips.

Dopamine surged through him along with it.

Because the thought hit him that from now on, he wouldn’t have to grovel before other hunters anymore.

But the joy was short-lived.

"...Huh?"

Walfred’s eyes suddenly widened as he scanned the status screen more carefully. He’d just noticed the attribute displayed beneath his level.

"Hold on, Frost?"

The attribute granted to the awakened him was Frost.

Staring blankly at it, Walfred couldn’t hide the dumbfounded look on his face as he shouted.

"Are you kidding me? Of all the things to awaken with...!"

Fire, water, wind, earth, and so on.

Every hunter is granted one unique attribute the moment they awaken. The skills they acquire as their level rises are also determined by this attribute.

So a hunter’s value is decided by which attribute they’re given.

’Frost attribute.’

It used to be a highly prized attribute.

Skills that froze enemies and locked down their movements allowed for stable combat. It also specialized in defense, making it a welcome attribute for party hunting.

’But...’

The world froze over, and the situation changed.

After the Antarctica gate was unleashed, every monster, both inside and outside the gates, developed cold resistance and Frost resistance.

Especially starting from A-rank monsters, some even had complete immunity to Frost. As a result, the current evaluation of the Frost attribute could be summed up in one phrase.

’Trash attribute.’

Walfred’s brow furrowed.

Sure, it beat being unawakened, but in hunter society, Frost users were treated so poorly that people called them half-wits who couldn’t even pull their own weight.

Right then.

A new notification appeared.

[Basic skills have been unlocked.]

▷ Passive: Cold Resistance

▷ Passive: Cold Emission

The basic attribute-specific skills given to every hunter upon awakening. Snapping out of his thoughts, Walfred immediately checked the skills.

-----

[Passive: Cold Resistance (Lv.1)]

[Grants resistance to cold, slowing effects, and freezing.]

▷ Cold-related resistance: +10%

[Special Ability]

▶ Unlock condition: Skill Level 5

-----

"...This isn’t bad."

No, it was actually a really good skill.

In a brutal environment where the average outdoor temperature reached negative 76 degrees Fahrenheit, having resistance to cold meant his survival odds had gone up.

But the next one was the problem.

-----

[Passive: Cold Emission (Lv.1)]

[Periodically emits cold air to the surrounding area.]

▷ Emission interval: 60 seconds

▷ Cold range: 8-foot radius

[Special Ability]

▶ Unlock condition: Skill Level 5

-----

"Ha..."

Emitting cold air to the surroundings every minute.

And on top of that, since it was a passive skill, he couldn’t even turn it off. In a situation where keeping body temperature up was already a struggle, this skill was nothing but a nuisance.

Walfred let out a hollow laugh.

"I’ll get kicked out the second I step into a shelter."

Still, there was hope.

Every hunter is given a ’unique skill’ along with the two basic skills.

Even with the same attribute, how a hunter is treated can vary wildly depending on what their unique skill is.

"Please, please let it be something useful...!"

Walfred clasped his hands together and prayed.

Ideally, he wanted a combat skill. As his desperate prayers continued...

Ding!

With a cheerful chime...

The identity of his unique skill was revealed.

[A unique skill has been unlocked.]

▶ Frost Feast

"...Frost what?"

It was a name he’d never heard before.

After standing there blankly for a moment, Walfred gathered himself and pulled up the unique skill’s information.

-----

[Unique: Frost Feast (Lv.1)]

[Gain experience by consuming ice or snow.]

[Special Ability]

▶ Unlock condition: Skill Level 3

▶ Unlock condition: Skill Level 5

▶ Unlock condition: Skill Level 7

-----

"This, this is...!?"

Walfred’s eyes went wide.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head. He read the skill description one more time, but he hadn’t misread it.

"Holy crap."

A curse slipped out before he could stop it.

Experience points could only be earned by hunting monsters or completing gate clears.

Other hunters had to risk their lives in combat to earn experience, but he could get it just by shoveling down snow and ice?

’If this is for real...’

It was a total jackpot.

Every hunter’s physical abilities improve as their level rises, and their skill power increases too.

And right now, the world was buried under snow and ice. In other words, this environment was basically an all-you-can-eat buffet for leveling up.

’Let’s test it out.’

Calming his pounding heart, Walfred scooped up a handful of snow piled on the ground. Then, without hesitation, he shoved it into his mouth.

If this had been before he awakened, the snow would have frozen solid in his mouth and given him an instant brain freeze, but now it wasn’t anywhere near that bad.

It was probably thanks to his Cold Resistance.

Gulp!

The moment he swallowed the snow completely...

A familiar notification appeared.

[Experience gained.]

[Experience: +30.00%]

"Whoa..."

Walfred’s jaw dropped.

Just one handful of snow.

He’d eaten it and gotten a 30 percent experience boost. He’d heard that a Level 1 hunter only earned 10% experience from killing a single F-rank monster.

It was insanely efficient.

’Then...’

There was no reason to hesitate any longer.

His eyes lit up as Walfred started shoveling snow into his mouth like a madman.

A short while later...

[Experience gained.]

[Level up!]

He hit Level 2 in no time.

With it, all the cold and exhaustion that had built up in his body washed away in an instant. Beyond that, he could even feel new strength settling into his muscles.

He’d heard about it before.

How a hunter’s entire condition gets restored to peak whenever they level up.

"So that’s it. This is what they meant..."

Once he realized what was happening to him, Walfred started gobbling up snow with a frenzied energy, like a man possessed.

He packed snow into balls with both hands and crammed them into his mouth, then eventually buried his face in the ground and ate like a dog.

[Experience gained.]

[Experience gained.]

[Level up!]

A stomachache? He wasn’t even worried about that.

A hunter’s body was way tougher than a normal person’s, plus Walfred had Cold Resistance.

He crunched down on chunks of ice along with the snow. There was no real flavor to any of it, but knowing every bite was experience made it taste sweeter than honey.

How much time had passed?

[Level up.]

[You’ve reached Level 5!]

[A new skill is being unlocked.]

A message announcing he’d reached Level 5.

Only then did Walfred stop scarfing down snow and turn his attention to the system message.

’Oh, right.’

Something he’d forgotten popped into his head.

Hunters acquire a new skill at every five-level milestone until they hit Level 20.

Back before the world froze, an interview with D-rank and lower hunters had clearly stated as much.

Plus, the skill unlocked at this point was supposedly randomly assigned based on the attribute.

’I wonder what I’ll get?’

Walfred waited with anticipation in his eyes for the new skill’s information to reveal itself.

A short while later.

The new skill’s identity came into view.

─────

[Passive: Frost Domain (Lv.1)]

[When the average temperature of the user’s surroundings is below freezing, all of the user’s physical abilities and the effects of all acquired skills are dramatically enhanced.]

▷ Activation condition: Ambient temperature at or below 32°F

▷ Active duration: Constant while condition is met

▶ Enhanced physical abilities: +200%

▶ Skill effect boost: +100%

(Note: [Frost Domain] itself is excluded.)

─────

"Holy cow..."

Walfred’s eyes went wide as saucers.

The boost to his physical abilities and skill effects was incredible on its own, but what was even more amazing was how easy the activation condition was.

As far as he knew, aside from inside shelters and gates, almost every region was below freezing.

Right here was no exception.

[Skill activation conditions met.]

[Frost Domain: Activated]

[All physical abilities enhanced.]

[All skill effects boosted.]

The moment the passive skill activated...

Walfred felt strength surge through his entire body. It was the kind of feeling where he thought he could shatter the ice wall with a single punch right now.

’Should I give it a try?’

Worst case, his hand would just hurt a little.

Even if he got injured, he could just eat more snow and level up. With his mind made up, Walfred took a deep breath and glared at the ice wall.

Then he threw his fist forward.

Boom! Crack!

The satisfying sound of ice shattering.

Walfred’s fist didn’t just break the wall, it punched right through and lodged itself inside. He blinked his wide eyes in stunned silence.

’With this much strength...!’

He could probably punch his way up the wall and climb out of the hole. Now seeing a way to escape this place, Walfred’s face lit up.

The effects of his newly acquired passive skill, Frost Domain, didn’t stop there.

[Passive: ’Cold Resistance’ effect increased]

[Cold Resistance: 10% → 20%]

[Passive: ’Cold Emission’ effect increased]

[Activation interval: 1 minute → 30 seconds]

[Cold range: 8 ft → 16 ft]

The effects of his existing Cold Resistance and Cold Emission had also gone up across the board.

Maybe that’s why?

The cold felt noticeably less harsh than before.

Enough that he could probably take off one layer of his parka.

’Wait a second.’

Come to think of it, if his basic skills got a boost, wouldn’t his unique skill get one too?

The thought had barely crossed his mind...

When his prediction was confirmed.

[Unique: ’Frost Feast’ effect increased]

[Experience gain +100%]

This meant he could now level up way faster than before. After silently marveling at it, Walfred shut his mouth and looked up at the hole above.

’Thanks to the physical enhancement from Frost Domain, I can leave anytime now, but...’

He had a feeling he shouldn’t head out yet.

Because there was a chance Snow Wolves were still roaming around outside.

Even though he’d awakened as a hunter, taking on one was one thing, but he had no confidence in handling more than a dozen Snow Wolves at once.

So Walfred made up his mind.

’I’ll stay here a bit longer.’

Aside from the lack of food, the inside of the hole was actually a decent place to survive.

It blocked the blizzard, and there was plenty of snow and ice, which were experience points themselves.

’I’ll level up as much as possible.’

At least until he was sure he could take on a pack of Snow Wolves. With his resolve set, Walfred didn’t hesitate to start chowing down on snow again.

He kept at it until the sun went down.