Walfred’s face lit up with joy. Just then, Jonah suddenly brought up another question.

"By the way, if your niece’s whereabouts are confirmed, how are you planning to get all the way to Key West?"

"I’m thinking of crossing the sea."

Ever since the Antarctica gate was released.

He’d heard that the abnormal climate had frozen the sea solid. Thick enough that not just people, but even tanks or buses, could cross it.

Hearing Walfred’s answer, Jonah stroked his chin as if thinking it over for a moment, then spoke.

"Hmm, in theory it’s a perfectly viable method. As long as you solve a few problems."

"Problems...?"

"For one, the distance is just too great. Even setting out from the Outer Banks, it’s over fifty miles in a straight line."

To travel from here to Key West?

You’d have to walk about 250 miles by land just to reach the Outer Banks. After that, you’d have to walk more than fifty miles across the frozen sea before you finally reached Key West.

"And according to what I’ve heard from the Japan channel, the ice sea isn’t flat."

"The Japan channel?"

"Yes. From level 80, you can access the communities on other countries’ channels too."

After sharing this new fact with Walfred.

Jonah steered the conversation, which had drifted off course, back to where it had been.

"In any case, the sea right now is a state where ice sheets pushed by the currents have piled up and thrust upward, forming massive ice ranges and canyons. The actual travel distance would be well over sixty miles."

The worst possible terrain for traveling on foot.

And the problems didn’t end there.

"In extreme weather of seventy-six below zero, crossing a vast open expanse without a single shelter to escape the blizzards, that would be tough even for a hunter."

It wasn’t just tough, it was practically impossible.

Hunters had far superior physical abilities compared to the non-Awakened, but that only meant they felt the cold a little less than an ordinary person.

If you fell asleep on a frozen, endless sea with nowhere to escape the blizzard, you’d very likely freeze to death.

Walfred, on the other hand, was a different case.

"I have a frost attribute."

"Yes, I already know that. Frost-attribute hunters have resistance to the cold. But..."

Jonah shook his head.

"At your current level, Walfred, it would be hard to cross the sea. The cold isn’t the only thing you have to watch out for on a frozen sea."

"You mean to say, surely not monsters...?"

"That’s right. There have been sightings of monsters respawning even on the ice sea. And quite a few of them are said to be B-rank or higher."

Walfred’s face twisted.

It was the worst-case scenario.

He was confident he could handle the cold out on the sea well enough, but dealing with B-rank or higher monsters was a matter of hunter level and raw combat power.

If he wanted to satisfy all of these conditions?

’...I’d have to be at least a B-rank hunter.’

The requirement for B-rank was reaching level 80.

Walfred quietly bit his lip.

To Walfred, who was currently only level 25, it looked like a long road ahead. But he possessed a special ability that no one else had.

’Frost Feast.’

A skill that earned experience by eating snow and ice.

What’s more, his skill level had recently risen to level 2, and the amount of experience gained had increased dramatically along with it.

Walfred burned with motivation.

And he made up his mind. He would raise his level by any means necessary and head for Key West. Having finished his thoughts, Walfred bowed his head politely toward Jonah.

"Thank you for telling me all of this."

It was information he never would have known if not for him.

He’d received plenty of other kindnesses too, so Walfred offered his thanks with genuine sincerity.

"Was my information of some help?"

"Yes, it was a great help."

"Ha ha, that’s a relief. So then, what are you planning to do until you leave for Key West?"

"That’s..."

Walfred hesitated for a moment.

He didn’t really have anywhere to go.

The Lower Manhattan Tech District Hall Shelter, where Bauer had invited him to join, had already been swallowed by the White Dome, and it was too far now to head for the Newark Interchange where Bauer was.

That was when Jonah readily spoke up.

"If you really have nowhere to go, how about moving with us?"

"...!"

"If the White Dome expands further, we plan to pass through the Financial District and head to Williamsburg. We have a few hunter acquaintances over there too."

A survivor group with a solid system in place.

And on top of that, plans prepared for the event of a future White Dome expansion. Moving together with the survivors of the Silicon Alley Shelter was a very sweet offer.

But there was one part that concerned him.

"Would it really be all right for me to come along?"

The fact that he was a frost-attribute hunter who periodically emitted cold air. When Walfred voiced his concern about this, Jonah responded as if it were no problem at all.

"Yes, it’s fine. A skilled hunter is helpful regardless of attribute."

Jonah smiled and waved his hand dismissively.

"Besides, we already have one frost-attribute hunter on our side."

"...What?"

"That person has a skill called Cold Emission too, but living together hasn’t caused any particular problems."

Walfred wore a surprised expression.

To think there was already a precedent. In that case, there was no reason to hesitate any further. Walfred rose from his seat and bowed his head once more.

"Thank you. I’ll be in your care."

"Ha ha, I look forward to having you."

Jonah let out a hearty laugh.

And so Walfred officially joined the Silicon Alley Shelter. Just then, the hunters who had gone earlier to look for Lauren’s sister returned.

"Um, Chief. Unfortunately..."

"There doesn’t seem to be anyone named Erica."

The hunters spoke with grim faces.

She wasn’t on the roster, and among the actual members there was no survivor by the name of Erica.

"Th-that can’t be..."

The moment the hunters finished their report.

Lauren sank to the floor as if her legs had given out. After all she’d gone through to get here, it felt like every bit of her effort had been for nothing.

"You’re lying... she’s supposed to be here... ugh!"

Tears spilled from Lauren’s eyes, drop after drop.

At the pitiful sight, Jonah clamped his mouth shut, and the hunters lowered their gazes too.

Walfred, his heart aching as well, wrapped an arm around Lauren’s shoulders. And just as he was about to offer some words of comfort.

"U-um, excuse me?"

All of a sudden, an unfamiliar voice was heard.

A woman in her early twenties wearing a shabby parka. She poked her head out from the bottom of the stairs and called out to the hunters.

"Is the Erica you were looking for just now, by any chance, someone who worked on the research team at Hartwell Pharmaceutical?"

"...!"

The Hartwell Pharmaceutical research team.

At that single phrase from the woman’s mouth, Lauren’s head shot up.

"Yes! That’s right! That’s my sister’s company!"

"Ah, so you’re Erica’s younger sister..."

"Do you know my sister?"

"We were at the same company. Different teams, though."

The moment she said she was from the same company as her sister, Lauren’s eyes lit up with hope.

She got to her feet, grabbed the woman’s hand, and asked with a desperate expression.

"Th-then where is my sister...?"

"As I recall, she left on an emergency business trip the morning the Antarctica gate burst open."

"A business trip?"

"Yes. They said there was a problem at the Philadelphia research lab, and the whole research team rushed down there."

"Philadelphia..."

Lauren murmured blankly.

Not New York, but Philadelphia. With every means of transportation gone now, it was a painfully far distance.

But having learned her sister’s exact whereabouts, the look in her eyes was no longer one of despair.

"Thank you. Really, thank you so much..."

Lauren bowed her head again and again to the woman who had told her where her sister was. Along with the single-minded resolve to one day go to Philadelphia and meet her sister, no matter what.

And just as the situation was settling down.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

The sound of someone sprinting down the stairs rang out.

The sound came not from the direction of the platform, but from the exit leading up to street level. A moment later, a hunter in winter gear appeared from that direction.

"Ch-chief! We’ve got a big problem!"

He came tumbling down the stairs, his face drained of all color. At the sight of him, Jonah spoke in a calm tone.

"What is it? First, calm down and..." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Monsters!"

"Monsters?"

"A massive number of monsters are pouring out from inside the White Dome!"

"...What?"

Monsters were pouring out from inside the White Dome? Monsters usually avoided the very presence of the White Dome and wouldn’t go anywhere near it.

Walfred cocked his head.

Just then, the hunter who had delivered the report shouted urgently, as if there was no time for this.

"And some of them are heading this way! If we don’t stop them, they’ll come crashing down on us right here!"

"...!?"

The instant those words left his mouth.

Everyone’s eyes went wide.