When her consciousness returned, the bone-chilling cold caused a sharp pain in her head.

Lin Chu had never felt her head so muddled before.

So muddled, in fact, that she could barely think.

She only wanted to collapse in the icy snow, close her eyes, and sleep soundly.

It was the system’s notification that snapped her back to awareness.

[Ding——Host has been placed in an extreme cold world.]

[Main Mission: Please find a functional door and set up your shelter within 60 minutes.

Mission Reward: Random Treasure Box *1

Mission Failure: You will not be able to set up a shelter in this world again.

Mission Countdown: 00:12:36]

Her head was still aching sharply.

She glanced at the mission countdown, and her mind nearly froze up again.

Only 12 minutes left?

Where had the previous 48 minutes gone?

She asked the system in her mind but received no response, not even a “No comment.”

She looked up and saw the vast expanse of snow.

Not far ahead, several buildings stood—neither new nor old apartment buildings.

Snowflakes were swirling through the sky.

She didn’t know how long it had been snowing, but her black down jacket had already been completely covered by snow.

Lin Chu wasn’t sure if it was the sharp pain in her head, but she found it difficult to understand what she was seeing.

Near the apartment buildings, many people were standing.

They were spreading their arms wide, looking up, as if welcoming the snow falling from the sky.

Lin Chu looked around but didn’t see any other mission participants like herself.

The people with their faces turned up to the snow didn’t appear to be mission participants either.

Had she been placed here alone this time?

The dull pain in her head made it hard to think.

But with less than 12 minutes left to set up her shelter, she had no choice but to hurry and find a place to do so.

She pushed herself off the ground and stood up, brushing the snow off her clothes.

Her movements weren’t large, but they still caught the attention of several of the snow-facing people.

The nearest person, a curly-haired woman, looked at her, and her eyes suddenly lit up.

When her eyes lit up, it wasn’t just a figurative description.

Lin Chu truly saw the woman’s eyes flicker with light in that moment.

But the pain in her head didn’t allow her to think too much about it.

“Oh, my dear niece, you’re here!”

The woman called out warmly, stretching out her hand to pull Lin Chu toward her.

Lin Chu sidestepped, dodging the woman’s first attempt to grab her.

However, when the woman tried to grab her wrist again, Lin Chu realized that her body had become sluggish.

Her body felt heavy, as though her enhanced physical abilities had suddenly stopped working.

Not only was she unable to dodge the woman’s pull, but she couldn’t even break free.

This was strange.

A thought flashed through her mind, but the pain quickly drowned it out.

But she didn’t forget to clarify:

“I’m not your niece. You’ve got the wrong person.”

Hearing this, the woman didn’t let go of her hand. Instead, she tightened her grip.

“I’m your aunt. I’ve watched you grow up. How could I be wrong?”

“Oh, my poor niece, how have you become so thin? You must have suffered a lot on the way, huh?”

“Hurry, come home with me, I’ll get you something to eat.”

Go home?

Lin Chu held back the pain in her head and glanced at the mission countdown in her mind.

10 minutes.

She stopped wasting time explaining and struggling. Instead, she followed the woman’s pull toward the apartment buildings.

Halfway there, the woman suddenly spoke to a man who was still facing the snow.

“Old Yang, I’m taking my niece home first. You stay here until you’ve been in the snow for half an hour. Don’t come back until then.”

On the outer wall of the building, there was a special thermometer.

Lin Chu noticed the temperature reading on it: -50°C.

That was the lower limit of the thermometer’s range.

The cold wind stung her face, and Lin Chu knew that -50°C wasn’t the actual temperature—it was just the thermometer’s lower limit.

After entering the building, the temperature warmed up slightly.

Lin Chu looked back at the people still facing the snow, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Aren’t they cold?

Maybe it was the pain in her head that made it hard for her to understand the situation, and she blurted out her question.

“They’re not cold?”

The woman, who was now fiddling with her keys, suddenly turned to look at her with a bright smile, showing no sign of the uncertainty or exhaustion she’d seen in survivors from other apocalyptic worlds.

“On days this cold, it’s nothing if they’re out in the snow for a while,” she said.

“You’re still new to this, aren’t you? Didn’t you know? After getting a fever from being in the snow, you won’t feel the cold anymore. This snowstorm, they’ve been waiting for it for days!”

“Some people didn’t survive the days when there was no snow. They’ve already frozen to death in their homes.”

“Look at me, I was lucky. The last time it snowed, I got a fever from it, and now I’m not afraid of the cold anymore.”

Lin Chu realized that the woman wasn’t even wearing a down jacket—just a plain white cotton coat.

This thought made her head throb again.

The woman seemed to sense it, and with a knowing smile, she looked at Lin Chu.

“You must’ve been in the snow for a while too. Hurry up and go home to rest.”

“When you wake up, you won’t be afraid of the cold anymore.”