In the distant northern lands, the entire world had been draped in a heavy, pure-white cloak.
As far as the eye could see there wasn’t a single trace of color — only a white so absolute it could only be called pure, stretching from beneath his feet all the way to the horizon, fusing seamlessly with the leaden gray sky, until you couldn’t tell where the ice ended and the sky began.
This was the northeastern reaches of Ursus, where the biting cold wind reigned as the eternal sovereign of these lands.
But even native-born Ursus folk, raised on this very soil, wouldn’t willingly step outside during this season.
And yet, atop this wind-savaged frozen tundra, a bloated figure dragging a battered sled was trudging through the snow.
“Can’t this damn frickin’ weather give it a rest for even a second?”
A somewhat green, youthful voice came drifting out from beneath the heap of frost-crusted clothing, brimming with resentment toward this northern environment — and yet, step by determined step, the figure still pressed forward.
Behind him, at regular intervals, markers made of cloth strips and tree branches had been left along the trail.
A month spent on this snowfield had taught him a great deal, especially the part about always leaving markers whenever he went out.
Oh, right — and don’t go out when the wind is strong.
That was another lesson learned in blood and tears.
“Two whole months!
Do you have any idea what these two months have been like for me?!”
Saito, male, 19 years old, a purebred specimen of the university-student variety, with solid academic conduct, no bad habits, and typically to be found either in his rented room or at school.
As if following a trend, it had all begun with a classic-model Dayun Hundred-Ton King truck.
But unlike the other stories, Saito hadn’t rescued some bratty kid from the middle of the road, nor had he been walking around glued to his phone.
He hadn’t even left the house.
God only knows how the thing managed to appear on the 18th floor and yeet him — apartment and all — into oblivion.
But thinking back to the Yellow-Furs recruitment meme image one of his groupchat buddies had sent in the chat right before the transmigration, the instant Saito woke up, he had the distinct feeling he’d been set up.
The howling wind in his ears and the endless snowfield stretching out before him — for the first few days, Saito had genuinely believed he’d dropped down into Fenris.
Right up until, inside the mine pit where he’d awakened, he discovered abandoned equipment marked with the words ‘Ursus Empire.’
“Tsk tsk.
Disgraceful Yellow-Furs — they can even kidnap a whole-ass person all the way out here.”
The Ursus Empire — if his memory wasn’t off — was supposed to be a nation from a certain famous gacha mobile game.
Beyond that, his entire knowledge of Arknights amounted to nothing more than the assorted meme images he’d seen scattered across the internet.
“In the novels it’s not supposed to be like this.
Forgot the beginning, forgot the middle, forgot the end — anyway, it’s definitely not supposed to be like this…”
Saito’s running commentary didn’t pause for a moment, as though he didn’t care in the slightest whether it’d burn through his stamina faster.
Perhaps it was thanks to the tiny perk he’d received post-transmigration — but the bigger reason was…
This icy plain had absolutely nothing on it.
No food, no fellow humans — even living, moving creatures of any kind could be counted on one hand.
The entire world felt as though he were the only person left in it, and the harsh environment combined with the crushing loneliness had nearly driven him insane.
As for just how insane?
Roughly speaking, if some little blue bird were to come chat with him while he slept at night, Saito would probably be over the moon.
If it hadn’t been for that abandoned mine letting him know there might still be other living people somewhere in this world, Saito would’ve cracked long ago.
Though even now, his mental state was decidedly on the worrying side.
Of course, in these two months Saito hadn’t only been chatting with imaginary friends.
He’d combed the abandoned mine where he’d awakened from top to bottom, and although it had been rough going, he’d at least managed to secure the most basic guarantees for his survival.
And today marked Saito’s fourth excursion outside — after all, he had no intention of staying holed up in that abandoned mine forever.
“Just about noon, huh.”
He tilted his head up to glance at the sky.
Today’s weather was, in fact, pretty decent — at least a sliver of light was able to seep through the thick layer of clouds overhead, letting him roughly gauge the time.
“At my walking pace, I should be able to push the exploration a bit further out.”
Saito’s palm brushed against his waist, and once it touched against certain solid objects there, a bit more confidence settled into his chest.
“Gogogo, off we go!”
Up ahead lay a long downhill slope — and that sled behind him, the one cobbled together from a heap of scraps, was exactly what was needed for moments like this.
“Wuhu~~~”
…
“lucky~”
Looking at the structure not far in the distance, an unusual gleam burst forth in Saito’s eyes.
He stood there in the snow with both hands planted on his hips and threw his head back, laughing toward the heavens.
“Kukukukuku-fufufufu-hahahahahahaha!”
“Finally — I’ve gone and found it!”
Saito danced and flailed in place for a moment, his excitement utterly spilling over.
This was only the second time he’d come across traces of civilization, besides that one mine — how could he not be ecstatic?
So without delay, he dragged his makeshift sled and bolted in that direction.
“Wait — another mine?”
Looking at the familiar factory buildings and tall smokestack in front of him, the excitement in Saito’s eyes faded by quite a bit.
The structures and factory housing before him were buried under a thick layer of ice and snow, and that prominent smokestack didn’t show the slightest sign of activity.
“Ahh…
looks like it’s another abandoned mine, huh.”
That was what reason told him.
But Saito still clung to a sliver of hope — this mine in front of him was considerably larger than the one where he’d woken up, so maybe only this portion had been abandoned.
Maybe there were even other people, just like him, eking out a desperate survival somewhere inside this mine.
Maybe…
“Forget it.
I’ll just treat it like cracking open a new map for a loot run.”
Saito let out a sigh.
Even though his mental state might have a few screws loose, his intellect was still perfectly intact — not everyone could survive on a diet of dirt the way he did.
He’d just pick up some random junk and head back.
The mine was huge — who knew what good stuff might still be lying around in there?
“Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm~”
Humming some unidentifiable little tune, Saito tied his sled up at the mine’s entrance, slung two sacks over his shoulders, and bounced happily into the depths of the mine.
“Tsss — what the heck happened to this mine before?”
As he ventured deeper inside, Saito abruptly realized that the reason this mine had been abandoned didn’t seem nearly that simple.
The buildings had collapsed in crooked, slanting heaps across the ground.
Solid steel had been twisted up by some kind of terrifying force.
Everywhere his eyes turned, there were nothing but traces of chaos.
“Brutal.”
Following the trails on the ground, Saito used a stick to brush aside the snow piled up in front of him — and a frozen corpse with a horrifying expression appeared right before him.
This frozen corpse was neatly dressed, looking like he might have been some sort of overseer at this mine.
His face was plastered with terror, as though he’d seen something horrifying just before death.
“Something feels seriously off here.”
Saito instinctively lowered his voice a bit.
He wasn’t any kind of professional, and couldn’t possibly determine the man’s time of death — but if whatever had killed these people was still around, he’d be in genuine danger.
Immediately after that, he made the choice any adult of sound intellect would have made.
Bolt!
Saito turned around and started heading back the way he’d come.
But before he could even take a few steps, a searing pain shot up from the sole of his right foot, surging straight to the crown of his head.
“Tsss——”
The pain made him suck in a sharp breath.
He plopped down on his backside and lifted his right foot to take a look — that pair of boots, the ones he’d yanked off some kind-hearted big bro’s feet, now had a huge hole torn straight through them.
But strangely enough, there wasn’t a single wound to be found on the sole of his right foot, and whatever had just stabbed clean through it had vanished without a trace.
And before he could even fully come back to his senses, Saito again noticed that his right hand seemed to be touching something.
Skin tender and delicate, knuckles sharply defined — and most importantly of all, warm to the touch…
Saito followed the sensation with his gaze — and saw a slender, delicate hand currently being gripped tightly in his own.
“Gulp.”
He swallowed reflexively.