After a while, we returned to our old route and moved forward. The night grew darker as we stepped deeper into the forest. Gradually, the surroundings quieted down and the air around became heavier. Soon we found ourselves shrouded in thick fog.

Hikari wrapped her hands around her arms, attempting to protect herself from the chilly wind. 

why doesn't just use her light element for warmth? Should I tell her? Or maybe I should just offer her my long jacket?

"Everyone, stay close to each other. It'll be warmer that way, and no one will get lost in the fog." Boss blurted out before I could approach Hikari. "Hold on a bit more. We're almost there."

Well... I guess that also works.

I strode past Annette-san and caught up to Hikari. She glanced at me, as I got closer. 

"Hey. It suddenly got a bit chilly, eh?" I asked. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." She replied, straightening up quickly. "Anyway, why do you think it suddenly got so cold? It shouldn't be winter around this part yet."

"Hmm…Maybe we are close to the void gate and on the other side, it's winter?"

"Oh! That might actually be true. I didn't know you were so perceptive, Ryoki-kun."

"Are you making fun of me?" I frowned.

"No, I'm serious." 

I honestly couldn't tell if she was serious or not. So I tried to catch her impression. 

Noticing my stare, she asked, "What is it? Is there something on my face?"

"Ya, a pimple, on your nose."

"Right. My in-game character has a pimple on the nose." She scoffed at me but touched her nose anyway, which nearly made me chuckle. 

Watching me trying to hold back my laugh, she glowered at me, "Ryoki-kun, don't make me punch you."

"Sorry, I'm sorry." I held up my arms, surrendering immediately.

"We have reached the place." Lynx suddenly turned back at us from the front. He added, "The void gate should be somewhere around here."

"Eh, we don't know the exact location? How are we supposed to find the gate in this thick fog?" Pinkpika asked Lynx.

Boss replied instead, "We don't have any choice." 

Getting detailed information about unannounced in-game contents was very unlikely. The best the information brokers could manage was a dot on the map where the entrance should be.

He continued, "Everyone, listen carefully. Look for any kind of abnormalities inside the ten-meter radius. But no matter what never lose sight of the others."

The search continued for quite a while. We literally didn't leave any stone unturned, yet failed to find the void gate. 

Succumbing to frustration, I finally asked, "Hey Lynx, how sure are we about this info?"

"The guy is a cheeky bastard but he wouldn't dare lie to me. And you know, I can't give you the name," He answered.

"Geez, alright then, let's continue." 

About 10 minutes later, Hikari suddenly called us, "Guys, Come over here." 

As we gathered around her, she took her stance to shoot with her longbow and said, "Keep your eyes on the arrow." 

The light-infused arrow traveled through the heavy fog and suddenly vanished in mid-air. 

"The arrow must have gone to the other side," She said. "So I think this is it."

"Sweet! No more tree climbing, finally!" Shinji exclaimed. "How did you find it though?"

"Well, earlier Ryoki-kun and I were talking." Hikari glanced at me for a second before explaining, "He said that it got so cold because we might be close to the void gate and the cold weather spread here from the other side. So I was shooting wherever I thought the fog was thicker than usual and found it eventually."

"Good job, you two!" 

Boss praised both of us, even though I contributed very little. That back then was nothing more than a random guess. A nervous smile unwittingly appeared on my face. 

He then added, "Guys, my gut says we are gonna be stuck in the void for a long time. So everyone, log out and stuff yourselves with food before that. You have 30 minutes."

"By the way, Pika." Just when I was about to call Riri to log me out, Shinji called out to Pinkpika. "If you didn't know already, we can't log out from the inside once we enter the voids and dungeons."

"I at least know that, Arataki Senpai." Pika rolled her eyes. "I'm not a newbie. I'm over 200 levels already."

"Well, you didn't know how to mute system messages." I tagged in. Annoying cute little cats was kind of my thing. "Remember the time when you started complaining about the pop-up system messages in mid-battle and died? Haha~"

"Not you too, Senpai." Pika's eyes teared up, with her ears and tail drooping down.

Cute...

Somehow controlling the overwhelming urge to pet her, I logged out.