Everything around Leon plunged into darkness. Then — streaks of light.

They passed through the void like shooting stars. Then... They disintegrated into countless fragments. Those fragments continued to splinter and dissolve.

Leon’s body felt weightless. He felt like he was floating. His head grew heavy. His thoughts were distorted.

And then... Light returned.

He could see again. His sight was blurry at first. Everything around him was white. His sight grew clearer.

He was standing in the middle of a snow land. A cold breeze swept by.

Leon shivered in cold. He crossed his arms tight.

Noah... and the three hunters were there as well. Each of them stood frozen. They were also looking around like fools to understand the situation.

Before Leon could process anything further, the familiar panel shimmered into existence before his eyes.

Notifications began flooding in.

[Spiritual Energy Detected. Host can cultivate and absorb the spiritual energy from nature.]

[Host is exposed to extreme cold. Cold Resistance has increased slightly.]

[Cold Resistance: 1.94%]

"Spiritual energy? Cold resistance...?" Leon muttered, utterly flabbergasted. He was already struggling to understand where he was, and now this...

"Cold resistance — I can sort of understand that." He spoke in a low voice. "It is related to my bloodline. But what the hell is this spiritual energy?"

More notifications came one after another. Before he could read anymore...

"Hey. What are you whispering?"

The sudden voice broke Leon’s focus.

He turned his head. It was the male hunter again. He was looking at him, confused.

"Nothing. I am just trying to figure out what kind of place this is." Leon replied calmly.

"Maybe... this is a hidden dungeon." The male hunter said in a tense voice.

"Hidden dungeon?"

"Yes. This is my first time. But... I know about them."

The man looked around once more.

"Hunters are transported to entirely different places sometimes while dungeon raids. You can call them hidden realm or dimensions. Most of them who were trapped like this never came back."

He paused for a moment. His expression turned grim.

"But few got lucky. Somehow they managed to return. And we learned about these places from them."

Leon’s expression became dark.

"So that means we’re trapped here?"

The male hunter gave a slow, heavy nod.

"I told you before... but no one believed me."

Noah’s voice suddenly cut in — soft, shaky, yet filled with a strange certainty. "My father was trapped in a place like this. It’s even possible... that he’s in this very same realm."

Noah didn’t seem panicked like others. He looked calm. Almost prepared.

"Noah, are you a stupid?"

The female hunter in combat gear said. She was rubbing her palms against each other.

"The guild master is just worried about you. You should know better. How can you expect him to let you walk into a dangerous place like this?"

Noah didn’t reply.

"Are all of you forgetting the real problem here?"

The second female hunter spoke up in a sharp voice.

"We’re trapped inside a hidden dungeon. We have no idea how to get out of here alive."

She exhaled, her breath turning into visible mist in the freezing air.

"But, more importantly... we need to figure out how to survive this cold first. Or we are going to freeze to death."

"Yeah... Wish we had some winter clothes with us."

The male hunter said, rubbing his arms.

"Alex, why don’t you hand over that fur-lined tunic to me?" Meridith said while shivering. "You can activate your ability. With your metal body, the cold shouldn’t affect you much."

"Yeah, sure." The male hunter, Alex, stepped a little distance away and began taking off his tunic. He had agreed to give it, but he clearly wasn’t going to strip right in front of the two women.

But just as he was halfway through removing it...

"GRAAAAH!"

A deep, guttural growl echoed across the frozen land.

All heads snapped toward the source. From the distant snow-covered forest, something began to emerge.

The creature rose on its hind legs, towering far above any normal beast. Its massive body was covered in dense, snow-white fur, but cracks of glowing blue light pulsed beneath its skin, like frozen energy coursing through its veins.

Jagged, ice-like crystals protruded from its chest, shoulders, and spine, shimmering faintly with an eerie glow. Long, bone-colored spikes jutted out along its back and arms, giving it a brutal, armored appearance.

Its claws were enormous — curved, pitch-black, and sharp enough to rip through flesh and steel alike.

Each step it took sank deep into the snow with a heavy crunch. A freezing mist escaped from its mouth as it exhaled, the surrounding air turning even colder. Its icy blue eyes locked onto them.

"That’s a Tyrant Ice Bear...!" Alex stopped what he was doing. "D-Class."

For a moment, no one spoke. Then the beast let out another deafening roar...

"GRAAAAAHHH!!"

The ground trembled. And the temperature seemed to drop even further.

And then...

The creature lunged forward.

"Everyone... positions!" Meridith shouted sharply.

Alex reacted first. He dashed ahead and planted himself in front of the group, bracing like a human shield.

Meridith pulled Noah back with her, retreating to the rear.

The other female hunter immediately broke to the right flank.

"You’re a summoning-type mage, right?" Meridith called out to Leon. "Take the left!"

She didn’t wait for his answer.

Leon opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. There was no time.

He pivoted and sprinted to the left flank.

At the front, Alex squared his stance, eyes locked onto the charging beast. From everything Leon had gathered, Alex was their tank — the one meant to take the hit.

"Here it comes," Alex muttered with a faint chuckle. He focused, activating his magic. But the next moment, his expression froze for some reason. "Wait... my magic isn’t..."

He didn’t get to finish.

The beast’s claw tore through the air.

Slash!

Blood sprayed across the snow. Alex’s body was sent flying, crashing violently into the ground as three deep, crimson gashes ripped across his chest.