In the middle of an endless snowfield, where a blizzard raged, the city of 'Frost' stood tall like the last lighthouse left behind.

The massive steam tower rising at the center of the city soared high, as if piercing the gray sky, surrounded by buildings made of brass and steel, packed densely together.

The chairman, his hair graying like snow, stood leaning against the railing of a tall building, looking down at the city.

The cold-weather gear he wore over his worn-out suit barely managed to shield him from the biting chill.

The chairman let out a deep sigh.

His breath turned into a white mist in the cold air and vanished.

“I just can’t see the answer.”

Fatigue and despair mixed in his voice.

It felt as though he were walking in endless darkness, weighed down by a sense of helplessness.

Frost had survived this far purely because of luck.

The chairman knew this better than anyone.

If someone were to make a movie about the history of Frost, or even the chairman’s own life story, it would seem overly contrived and unrealistic.

But that was the reality.

The global chaos caused by the Object phenomenon, followed by a sudden drop in temperatures in the polar regions.

The land the chairman lived on had become covered in endless snowfields, turning it into a death zone where humans could no longer survive.

“The Moon of the Snowfield” had wiped out all of humanity in the polar regions.

Yet miraculously, the place where the chairman’s group of survivors had settled was one of the few safe zones unaffected by "The Moon of the Snowfield."

That was the first stroke of luck.

When their fuel reserves were about to run out, they stumbled upon an abandoned oil drilling facility.

They made camp there and laid the foundations for the city.

That was the second stroke of luck.

What was even more surprising was that, by chance, many of the technicians in the chairman's group had the relevant expertise.

Without their knowledge and skills, Frost would never have become what it was today.

That was the third stroke of luck.

As they began to feel the limitations of oil alone, they stumbled upon an Object known as "Blue Coal."

This special fuel source breathed new life into Frost.

That was the fourth stroke of luck.

When an unknown Object phenomenon began damaging the internal combustion engines, the chairman again stumbled upon an Object known as the "Mechanical Heart."

Using this Object, they constructed a massive steam tower in the city and breathed life back into the city’s machines.

That was the fifth stroke of luck.

The chairman bitterly smiled as he reflected on all of this.

Frost had survived until now through a series of coincidences and luck.

But now, that luck had run out.

Looking up at the sky, the chairman saw black smoke staining the sky a dark gray.

The sky over Frost was always a deep ash gray.

But today, that ash gray felt even heavier.

The chairman let out another deep sigh as he gazed out the window at the desolate landscape.

“It’s all my lack of ability.”

His voice was laced with deep self-mockery and resignation.

What was once considered luck that saved Frost was now slowly eroding the city.

Ironically, the very foundation of the city’s creation was now hastening its downfall.

This place, which had once avoided “The Moon of the Snowfield,” was now effectively isolated from the world.

Because of “The Moon of the Snowfield,” communication was impossible.

The oil technicians, once considered the saviors of the city, were now the city’s lawmakers, wielding power.

They had blocked the chairman's sight and ears, cutting off communication with the outside world.

Pursuing only their own interests, they wasted the city’s resources and pushed through unnecessary policies.

The chairman’s authority had long been reduced to a mere formality.

The discovery of Blue Coal, once considered a blessing, had now become a curse.

The city's residents were trapped in a never-ending cycle of labor, forced into the mines just to survive.

The Mechanical Heart, the lifeblood of the city, was also a shackle.

Relying on this Object, Frost could no longer dream of improvement or expansion.

The city had stagnated, and stagnation was synonymous with decay.

The chairman turned his head and gazed at the reports lying on his desk with heavy eyes.

The temperature around the city was dropping day by day.

While the production of fuel was sufficient, the consumption rate was increasing faster.

At this rate, it was clear that an energy shortage crisis would soon strike.

And the greatest threat was approaching.

According to the latest report from the observation team, a massive blizzard of unprecedented scale was heading toward Frost.

If this storm hit the city, Frost would once again face a trial.

A terrifying trial was coming.

But even as he tried to prepare, the lawmakers, whom he should have been leading, seemed completely oblivious to this existential crisis.

More production, more exploitation, more luxury, more power.

These were the only things on their minds.

In fact, after “The Moon of the Snowfield” disappeared, it was discovered that they had been burning Blue Coal—essentially the life force of the city’s residents—in illegal trade.

Ironically, the chairman only then realized that “The Moon of the Snowfield” had disappeared.

“It was really absurd…”

The landscape of the city, visible beyond the railing, still appeared grand.

The smoke billowing from the massive steam tower, the buildings full of light, the people bustling around.

But to the chairman’s eyes, all of it seemed like a prison.

In his hands, the chairman held a note he had secretly requested an investigation into from the lawmakers.

<Large-scale relocation plan, impossible.>

<The stockpiled Blue Coal can only relocate about 10% of the city's population.>

The chairman squeezed his eyes shut.

His lips moved faintly.

As if in prayer, he whispered.

“Please… just one more time… let us have some luck left…”

But there seemed to be no place for his prayer to reach.

The sky over Frost remained ash gray, and the wind from afar howled ominously like the prelude to a massive storm.

At dawn, as the ash-gray sky began to lighten, the outskirts of Frost were still shrouded in frozen silence.

Through the abandoned facilities, the furthest from the giant steam tower, faint beams of light began to filter through.

In this desolate landscape, a bit of vitality slowly began to stir.

People, awakened by the dawn light, began to appear one by one from behind the old buildings.

Their breath rose in the cold air like white mist.

Shivering from the cold, their hands worked with skill.

Another day of survival began.

“Come on, start the fire. It's colder today than yesterday.”

A middle-aged man shouted at the people gathered around an old barrel.

When the blue ore was dumped into the barrel, warmth began to spread outward.

Attracted by the heat, more people gathered.

“I brought some beans and vegetables.”

A young woman appeared, carrying a large bag.

Her face looked tired, but her eyes were warm.

“Thank you. Without you, we’d all starve.”

A large pot was placed over the fire, and beans, vegetables, and chunks of ice were added one by one.

The sound of the beans and ice pieces hitting the bottom of the pot echoed across the empty lot.

“The fact that we have someone working in the greenhouse is the only blessing…”

An old man muttered with a sigh.

Everyone nodded as if they understood his words.

Getting food in Frost was becoming harder and harder every day.

As the soup began to boil, a gentle fragrance filled the air.

At that moment, a man looked around nervously.

“Hasn’t the kid come out yet? Someone go check.”

This small community was made up of a few orphans and the adults who took care of them.

They had gathered with the intention of providing the minimum food for children who were too young to mine Blue Coal on their own.

Suddenly, a scream echoed from the corner of the facility.

“We have a problem! The kid collapsed!”

People rushed to gather.

Someone brought a blanket, while others filled bowls with warm food.

As they carefully moved the collapsed boy, voices filled with concern were exchanged.

“We need to feed him properly, or he won’t make it…”

“They say the greenhouse situation is bad too. They need more Blue Coal just to maintain the temperature.”

As the pale-faced boy was fed some soup, his color slowly began to return.

Then, a man glanced around and asked.

“By the way, I haven't seen that red-haired kid. Has anyone seen him?”

The man looked around with a worried expression.

His voice carried an unmistakable anxiety.

It was no wonder; last night had been unusually cold.

“I’ll go look for him.”

The man said to the others, then set out to find the coral-haired girl.

He carefully climbed up a collapsed building and arrived in front of the abandoned steam engine room.

The moment he grabbed the rusty door handle, he felt something strange.

The metal, which should have been cold, was lukewarm.

When he opened the door, his eyes widened in surprise.

Warmth immediately enveloped him.

A long-forgotten warmth spread through his entire body.

“What is this…?”

In Frost, such warmth was almost unheard of.

The city was always cold and desolate.

But this place, this abandoned engine room, felt like a different world.

Inside the engine room, the man saw an astonishing sight.

The coral-haired girl was sitting in the center, but she wasn’t alone.

In front of her was an unidentified Object.

It looked like a living flame or perhaps a fairy.

A happy smile, one the man had never seen before, adorned the girl’s face.

She looked like she had met an old friend after a long wait.

The red Object smiled, enjoying the girl’s touch.

The man stood speechless for a moment.

He couldn’t tell if this scene was real or just a hallucination created by the bitter cold of Frost.

“Sir?”

At that moment, the girl turned her head and looked at the man.

“Sir, look! This is my new friend. We won’t be cold anymore!”

The girl smiled brightly, holding the red Object in her palm.

In the deepest part of the Mini Reaper Garden, the Golden Reaper’s conference hall.

I sat on a marshmallow, watching the meeting unfold.

“Aangdae!”

After the vote ended and his proposal was discarded, a Golden Reaper lay sprawled on the floor with a sad expression.

I poked at the Golden Reaper’s belly, enjoying the soft, squishy feeling.

Heh heh.

I continued watching the meeting as it went on.

The proposal the Golden Reaper had made was to create a giant pudding the size of a building.

Many other Golden Reapers had found it interesting, but it was eventually discarded due to opposition from the other Mini Reapers.

After the number of Black Reapers participating in the meetings increased, it seemed like more practical proposals began to emerge.

They had even established signage for Mini Reapers and created laws regarding attachment humans and attachment Reapers.

Looking at this, I had a feeling that the name of the conference might change soon.

Maybe to something like “The Mini Reaper Conference?”

“Aangdae! My cookie!”

“Aangdae!!”

Once I had fully heard the Golden Reaper’s grievances, I got up from my seat and headed to Sehee Research Institute.

The Sehee Research Institute staff were watching the TV in the courtyard with unusually serious expressions.

“?”

When I turned my gaze, the TV was broadcasting breaking news with a special report.

[Good evening, this is Object News.]

[A powerful blizzard originating from the Arctic is moving southward toward the Korean Peninsula.]

The TV showed the approaching blizzard, looking like the side of a white anglerfish, slowly moving toward the camera.

[This weather anomaly is not just a natural phenomenon, but is believed to be an Object phenomenon.]

[As a result, the Korea Object Council has requested cooperation from the James Institute and the American Object Association.]

[Some research institutions have reported that the intensity of this cold wave is almost equivalent to an Object known as 'The Ice Throne of Dobong District.']

[We will provide more details on the countermeasures and further information in the next segment.]

[We ask for your special attention, viewers.]

The news revealed that harmful Objects were once again appearing, threatening Sehee Research Institute and Yerin.

I felt a wave of unease, glaring at the TV screen with a fierce expression.