The next morning.

Walfred and Lauren had finished preparing to leave the shelter. As they exited the gate and headed for the first floor, Bauer handed over a backpack.

"Take this."

"What is it...?"

"Dried fish. You might not be able to find food along the way."

A welcome gesture.

Walfred grinned and replied.

"Thanks. I’ll gladly take it."

"Sure. Oh! Hold on a second."

Just as they were about to leave.

Bauer suddenly raised his voice. As if he’d just remembered something he’d forgotten.

"What’s your community nickname?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Once you hit Level 30, the community unlocks a friend request feature and one-on-one messaging. I need your nickname to add you as a friend."

"...There’s a feature like that?"

A brand-new piece of information.

Walfred looked intrigued.

"My nickname is FrozenMan."

"Got it. I’ll remember that. For the record, mine is StoneFist. Don’t forget to add me later."

StoneFist.

A fitting nickname for Bauer.

Walfred nodded.

"Well, I’m off."

"Yeah. Take care."

Bauer and Rosa waved them off. With a farewell that carried a promise to meet again, Walfred and Lauren left Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall Shelter.

---

After leaving Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall.

Walfred took the detour he’d planned in advance.

He turned from I-95 onto Tech Row Boulevard, glancing back over his shoulder repeatedly as he walked.

’What is it? Am I imagining things?’

Walfred narrowed his eyes.

The White Dome seemed to have grown slightly larger since they’d left the shelter that morning.

He’d heard that the dome gradually expanded over time, but the scale of the dome as it looked to him now was far from "gradual."

’I need to put more distance between us.’

Originally, he’d planned to travel to Tech Row 4, then follow the hill road to South Brooklyn Boulevard. That route would have been an easier walk.

But something felt off, so he decided to cut over to South Brooklyn Boulevard earlier than planned.

"We’re changing routes."

"Huh? Where to?"

"Let’s go over that mountain and cross to South Brooklyn Boulevard. The terrain’s rough, but I think it’s the better call."

Lauren followed without complaint.

The two changed direction and began climbing the small mountain that led toward South Brooklyn.

They expected the climb up the frozen, untouched mountain to be somewhat difficult, but it turned out to be surprisingly manageable.

[Skill activation conditions met]

[Snow Walker remains active.]

It was thanks to Snow Walker, the skill he’d acquired after exterminating the E-rank Elite Monster, Blood Wing.

This skill, which dramatically increased movement speed on snow or ice, let him climb the mountain as easily and quickly as if he were running on flat ground.

Enough to catch Lauren completely off guard.

"Wow, you’re really fast."

"I picked up a new skill."

Walfred replied with a grin.

A little while after that.

The two reached the summit, took a short rest, and descended the other side. By the time they arrived at South Brooklyn Boulevard, their final detour route, it was already late afternoon.

"Looks like the sun’s about to set, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah. Want to call it a day?"

"Yes! I’m all for it."

Lauren said, as if she’d been waiting for someone to suggest it.

The climb up and down the frozen mountain earlier had taken a considerable toll on their stamina.

Still, they’d covered a decent distance.

Counting the walk from Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall plus the mountain crossing, they’d traveled well over three miles.

If the White Dome hadn’t been there, they would have already reached the Silicon Alley shelter and then some.

’But by tomorrow afternoon...’

They should be able to reach the Silicon Alley shelter.

Of course, that was contingent on not being attacked by monsters like today. Just then, Lauren looked around and tilted her head.

"Where should we rest?"

"Hmm, over there looks good."

Walfred pointed to Tech Row High School, perched on top of a steep hill. School buildings generally didn’t have much underground space.

Without underground areas, it was hard to escape the cold, so unless a cleared gate was available, school buildings were unsuitable as shelters.

In other words, there was a good chance it was empty.

And Walfred’s hunch was spot on.

Creeeeak!

When they pushed open the frozen front gate, a schoolyard blanketed in untouched snow greeted them.

The inside of the building was much the same.

There wasn’t a trace of human presence anywhere. As they explored the school’s interior, Walfred and Lauren made their way to a second-year classroom on the third floor.

"Let’s stay here for the night."

"Sounds good."

A classroom at the far end of the hallway.

Having settled on their temporary base, the two pushed the desks and chairs to the back of the room. They laid out mats they’d grabbed from a nearby storage room on the floor.

"I’ll get dinner ready. I learned some recipes using dried fish back at the shelter."

"Go for it. I’m looking forward to it."

Walfred grinned.

While Lauren focused on cooking, he stared at the White Dome visible through the window.

Then his brow furrowed.

’...I’m not imagining it.’

It had definitely grown since that morning.

By at least 300 feet, maybe more. Did that mean someone had gone inside?

If so, even here on South Brooklyn Boulevard, roughly a mile and a quarter from Tech Row Station, they couldn’t let their guard down. That was when Lauren happened to glance out the window and spoke.

"Come to think of it, it’s weird that it hasn’t snowed at all today. Yesterday too. I think this is the first time it’s gone an entire day without snowing."

Now that she mentioned it, she was right.

Ever since the Antarctica gate opened and the ice age began, clear skies had been rare.

Even on the occasional clear day, it lasted half a day at most. Gray clouds perpetually hung overhead, and blizzards dumped snow at every opportunity.

But right now, things were different.

’Has it been since yesterday morning?’

At least thirty hours.

Not a blizzard, not even a flurry.

This was a first since the Antarctica gate opened, and the mystery nagged at him. After a moment of thought, Walfred came up with an idea.

’I’ll ask on the community.’

Maybe a high-ranking or experienced hunter would know what was causing this.

Walfred logged into the community right away.

The first thing he checked was the post he’d put up not long ago, looking for the water attribute S-rank hunter, Elma.

’Elma’s nickname is Aqua.’

Drawing on old memories, Walfred carefully scanned the comments at the bottom of the post. But the nickname Aqua was nowhere to be found.

He’d just have to wait a bit longer, then.

With a sigh, Walfred turned to the real reason he’d logged into the Hunter Community.

[Title]: It hasn’t snowed yesterday or today. Does anyone know why?

He set the reply reward at 50 coins.

Before long, comments began rolling in in real time.

[??? What kind of nonsense is this?]

[It’s snowing like crazy on the Upper East Side.]

[I’m in Yonkers and this damn blizzard’s so bad I can’t see a thing. Are you on the other side of the planet or something??]

[Lucky. I wanna go there too.]

[Drop the address right now.]

Most of the responses either didn’t believe him or treated it as garbage.

Still, he learned something useful from the exchange.

Namely, that other areas were still getting their usual snowfall.

’So it’s a localized phenomenon...’

Should he try posting in the local board?

Just as he was mulling it over.

One comment caught his eye.

[GoldKumquat]: Yo, are you in the Silicon Alley District by any chance?

[GoldKumquat]: I’m at the Tech Row 3 shelter right now and it hasn’t snowed at all since yesterday.

A comment from a hunter in the same area.