Monsters were pouring out of the White Dome.

And at the news that some of them were heading this way, the hunters’ faces hardened.

But only for a moment.

Quickly grasping the situation, Jonah began issuing orders without hesitation, like a seasoned veteran.

"All of you, go down to the lower level right now, gather the people, and move out to the Financial District."

"Understood!"

"Um, then what about you, Chief...?"

"I’ll assess the situation up top and follow after. Now hurry, move!"

Jonah quickly zipped up his winter gear.

Once he’d finished preparing to head up to the surface.

"Walfred."

He turned to Walfred with a serious face.

"I’m sorry to ask this of you on your very first day, but right now we desperately need help. Could you come up to the surface with us?"

"Of course."

Walfred readily agreed.

The fight was unavoidable anyway. And if he was going to fight regardless, it would be best to clearly show what he could do and secure his standing.

Just as he was quietly steeling himself.

A faintly trembling voice reached him.

"M-mister..."

It was Lauren.

She gripped the hem of Walfred’s clothes and looked up at him with an anxious expression. Belatedly noticing Lauren’s presence, Walfred turned to Jonah.

"Chief, I’m sorry, but this kid..."

"Ah, I heard about Lauren from Bauer. She’s still level 1, right?"

"That’s right."

"Hmm, then combat would be too much for her."

Jonah turned to look at Lauren.

"Lauren, you join the evacuation line heading to the Financial District. That’ll be much safer."

"Thank you."

With that, Lauren’s safety was secured.

But even after being told to join the evacuation line, Lauren wouldn’t budge. Instead, she gazed up at Walfred with hesitant, trembling eyes.

It was probably fear at being separated from him for the first time. Having figured that out, Walfred chuckled and patted Lauren’s shoulder.

"Nothing’s going to happen, so go on, quick."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. See you later."

Maybe his casual tone reassured her?

Only then did Lauren nod and run off to the lower level. Walfred watched her go before turning to follow Jonah.

---

A little while later.

Walfred and the hunters came out through Exit 3 of Prospect Park Station. Soon the hunters standing guard up top greeted Jonah.

"Ah, Chief!"

"You’re finally here."

The hunters quickly gathered around.

Jonah acknowledged everyone’s greetings with a nod and got straight to the point.

"How’s the situation?"

"...Not good. Over several hundred monsters came out of the White Dome, and some of them are heading toward where we are."

"And the monsters’ location?"

"We confirmed they entered Prospect Park just a moment ago, so they’ll arrive in about ten minutes."

Ten minutes. That was a short window for everyone underground to evacuate. With that in mind, Jonah called out to the burly hunter standing in front.

"Miles."

"Yes, Chief."

"How long do you think it’ll take to bring down every exit of Prospect Park Station?"

"...Factoring in my skill’s cooldown, I’ll need at least twenty minutes."

Prospect Park Station had a total of eight exits.

When Miles answered, having quickly finished his calculations, Jonah nodded right away.

"Understood. Please begin at once."

"Yes!"

At that, Miles dashed across the road to Exit 2. He placed his hand against the wall and held still, and then something astonishing happened.

Crrrk! Rrrumble-crash!

The concrete wall collapsed as if melting, completely sealing off the exit. From the looks of it, he seemed to be an ability user with an attribute similar to Bauer’s.

"While Miles brings down all the exits, we’ll hold this position."

Meanwhile, Jonah looked around at the hunters gathered nearby and spoke with a grim face.

"And when there’s only one exit left, we’ll all go down underground together, bring down the last exit, and then we’ll head for the Financial District too."

It was a sound plan.

If every exit leading to the station was sealed, the monsters would have no way of storming the underground.

And so the hunters split into two groups and built defensive lines. Just as the lines were forming at Exit 3 and Exit 4, respectively.

A particular group caught Walfred’s eye.

"We’ll take Exit 3."

A foursome of men and women who looked to be around his age.

One among them stood out in particular, the only woman in the group.

That was because familiar-looking ice needles were floating around her.

’So that’s it. That person is...’

The frost-attribute hunter Jonah had mentioned.

But something seemed a little off.

The ice needles hovering around her looked tiny and pathetic compared to the [Ice Needle]s Walfred normally made.

They were a bit smaller than actual sewing needles.

’Is it because her level is low?’

Walfred cocked his head.

Just then, a voice called out to him from not far off.

It was Jonah.

"Walfred. Could I ask you to defend Exit 3?"

"Yes, of course."

He’d been planning to do just that.

From the looks of it, Jonah seemed to be taking on the defense of Exit 4. If anything, it was better to fight away from the fire-attribute Awakened.

Nodding readily, Walfred approached the foursome. Seeing him, they wore puzzled expressions and spoke up.

"Huh? You’re...?"

"I don’t recognize your face. Who are you?"

"I just joined the group, a D-rank hunter, Walfred. My attribute is frost."

The moment Walfred finished introducing himself.

The four of them widened their eyes.

"What? Frost attribute?"

"Oh, perfect timing. I was worried Mina would have a rough time on her own, so this is a relief."

An unexpected reaction followed.

He’d expected them to think a frost attribute was useless, but to think they’d welcome him this warmly.

Then the man who looked oldest in the group, in his early forties, came up to Walfred and held out his hand.

"Illusion-attribute C-rank hunter, Kyle."

"Illusion attribute means...?"

"Just what it sounds like. My specialty is creating all kinds of illusions and duplicates to throw enemies into confusion."

Kyle answered with a grin.

It was an attribute Walfred had never heard of, so he wore a curious expression. Meanwhile, the rest of the members introduced themselves in turn.

"C-rank hunter, Jensen."

"I’m Jamie. Nice to meet you."

"I’m Mina."

Wind, telekinesis, and frost attributes, respectively.

Of them, only Kyle and Jensen were C-rank hunters, while the other two were D-rank. Once the introductions were over, Kyle immediately laid out the plan.

"The strategy is simple. While I draw their attention with illusion skills, the frost duo applies debuffs and Jensen and Jamie finish them off."

He looked at Walfred and spoke.

"So you just hang back with Mina and slow the monsters down."

"Slow them down?"

"You know, a skill that makes enemies move slower. Every frost hunter has one, right?"

"...?"

Walfred just blinked blankly.

That every frost hunter had a slowing skill was news to him.

Watching Walfred’s reaction, they spoke up with hopeful faces.

"Don’t tell me you don’t have one?"

"I don’t."

"Come on, don’t joke around..."

"I’m telling you, I don’t."

Walfred replied with a serious face.

Only then realizing he wasn’t joking, the members all fell silent at once. After a moment, Mina, who shared his attribute, spoke in a tone of disbelief.

"Wait, you’re a frost D-rank and you don’t have a single slowing skill? How bad is your skill luck?"

"Tell me about it."

"Tsk, of all things..."

The way the members looked at Walfred changed entirely.

A gaze like they were looking at useless dead weight. Kyle scratched his head and asked again.

"Ugh, then what skills do you have?"

"My attack skills are about Ice Needle and Frozen Weapon, and for defense..."

"No, don’t you have any debuff skills? Frost or slowing types, I mean."

"I don’t."

Walfred answered without hesitation.

Because he really didn’t.

"Haah, so this one’s a DPS position too..."

To think he had nothing but attack and defense skills.

His expression said the plan had fallen apart, since he’d wanted to use Walfred as support. Letting out a deep sigh, Kyle waved his hand back and forth.

"Can’t be helped. Then just fight as best you can and read the situation. Just don’t get in the way."

An expression utterly drained of expectation.