Victor was willing to listen to what the system had to say. He was still rather stressed out, but as always, that wouldn't get him anywhere.

Speaking of which, he was desperate to escape the cold, so the both of them crossed the river, turned left, and followed the pathway towards where they suspected the town to be. Back in their home world, it was a twenty minute walk from there to the 'Arse-crack of the Mountain' and they were hoping it was the same case here. The pathway certainly insisted on the matter, as it was manmade.

"We need better gear," Victor said, "Clothes, maybe a couple of damn Parkas too."

The System Operator chirped along as they walked. It even 'disintegrated' his new fishing pole as soon as he left the close vicinity of the river, silently giving them an example of what the System was capable of.

[Much to your luck, the fish you're going to have to catch are local. You don't have to travel the world to find them.]

[The three prolific fish you have to catch are the following…]

[1. Ribbon-tail Catfish]

[As you can see on the screen above you, the Ribbon-tail Catfish is a giant beauty. Its red-dotted back, and overall white scales helps it avoid its natural predators from a young age, through the aid of camouflage and trickery. With speed to aid its early life, the catfish uses its red tail to confuse predators, messing with their sense of direction, and dashing within the cold waters. Past its adolescence, it outgrows its natural predators, and it just keeps growing, taking refuge in deeper depths to accommodate its size, bottom-feeding, like most catfish do.]

[Location = Silver Lake]

"Lake?" he parroted, "Our town didn't have a lake."

"We're not in our town anymore," Gerald said, "You're younger than I am, pay attention."

The cold was getting to him, so Victor's attention span did in fact dwindle. His shoulders felt heavy too, aching, as if the light dusting of snow was trying to push him towards, and below the ground. It was hard for him to care about a catfish right now.

Gerald kept his eyes on the dirt path, his hand clenching the strap of his rifle, just in case they ran into trouble. The cold was piercing into his old bones quite violently, regardless of the fact that he had an old white shirt, and brown vest on, having more clothes on in comparison to Victor. With that said, he didn't want their current condition to be topped by an attack from a wild animal.

Anyway, the operator behind the system didn't care about their squabbles, and spoke over them, revealing the two other fish.

[2. Fanged Rainbow Trout]

[This species isn't exactly rare, but it's well respected in this world, because it is in fact very common. It has kept many civilizations fed, as it can survive in nearly every body of water, including creeks, which in this weather, aren't nearly friendly towards fish. The real fight is in getting them out of the water, as they can use their fangs to snap your line.]

[Location = Any lake, river, or creek]

"No kidding?" He blurted, "I was about to fish for them in a puddle.]

The operator ignored him again, and continued with her list.

[3. Water Boa]

[This may be your most challenging fish on the list. Well, it's not a fish, but it spends the entirety of its life underwater, as it would suffocate otherwise. The Water Boa is prolific for forming creeks, sweeping the floor of the creek, mere inches below the thickness of the ice, creating wider, deeper water flows for themselves, and other fish to use, hence aiding their own food supply. They grow up to be gigantic, so I wish you luck getting one out of the water.]

[Location: Asmodim's Creek]

"Alright," he said, "Can you get these screens out of my face now? It's making it hard for me to see what's in front of me. I slipped four times already."

[Affirmative.]

The transparent screens closed a second later, disappearing like the interesting eye sores there were. The system was more cooperative once she finished talking about her list.

[I wish you good luck, Victor.]

Victor and Gerald were five minutes into their walk towards civilization, and they paid as much attention as they could spare.

The rules of the game were set. Despite his current condition, Victor grew more aware of the rules after every passing minute, and planned to play accordingly as soon as he got some heat in him. He wanted to get back home, his real home, and not whatever temporary location they'd choose in this ice-riddled Hell.

Other than the sharp cold piercing his skin, another issue gnawed in his mind. He hated the fact that he stranded Gerald as well.

Pensioners, especially the type who still chose to work after decades of holding down a job, were treasured in his hometown. They were respected, and deep down, he did respect Gerald, despite the fact that his stress-induced responses said otherwise.

Earlier on, Gerald simply wanted to make sure that Victor was safe, and he got stranded along with him as a result, lost somewhere within the infinite Multiverse. The burden on Victor's conscience could shatter a mountain, so again, he was willing to play by the rules that the System laid out for him. He had to get Gerald back home, and as for what Victor did after that point, was for fate, and his general mood to decide.

Anyway, ten minutes into their walk, they made it past the forest-like tail of the mountain, following the snow-covered pathway that was densely surrounded by trees. They tied their arms in front of their chests, trying to keep as much heat in their bodies as they could.

"Damn…" he breathed in and out, nearly rapidly, out of necessity.

The alternative, it being deep breaths, were followed by a sharp pain in his lung that he could not handle. Breathing was a luxury out here from the looks of it.

He asked, "How cold is it, system lady? Can you measure temperature?"

[-20°C / -4°F]

[I recommend you find shelter before frostbite settles in your exposed skin. There are certain stages that you can't come back from, even if you heat yourself up later on. Deep Frostbite is permanent, or, it will be permanent up until you cut your fingers off.]

"My God…" he cried out.

Victor then virtually detached his arms from his torso, as they were nearly frozen in place. He was shivering profusely as his body desperately tried to generate some heat, only for his cold sweat to do the opposite.

He looked at his hands, they were as plump as ever. Red like radish from the cold, and yet his fingertips were white, which scared him beyond bounds!

"Does this mean I have to cut off all my fingers?" He looked at Gerald.

"I'm not sure," Gerald said.

[You're close to crossing the first initial stages of frostbite, in other words, you can still save your fingers if you find shelter within the next five minutes.]

[Even temperatures of -5°C / 23°F will help you significantly.]

"Let's pick up the pace," Gerald said after he heard the system, "Can you run? We have to run."

"Yeah…" he shuddered.

The two of them then started running across the snow-covered dirt pathway, and did not care about the risks of slipping, and falling. His sneakers, and Gerald's loafers were not built for them to run across the frozen snow, but they had no other choice!

The gravitational pull itself was trying to push them to the ground, towards an eternal slumber, so they had to push themselves through these hazardous temperatures. One was very motivated to run when death itself, or at the very least, mandatory mutilation was less than five minutes away!

They ran until they saw a man-made, brick wall.

"What happened?" the Herdsman, named Gerald, asked. "Why is it winter all of a sudden? What happened to your old rod?"

Victor acknowledged the other's question, but as the situation had it, he wasn't in the headspace to answer. He was still trying to process what just happened himself!

Gerald noticed that the boy was distressed. Though he could understand why Victor was freaking out, frozen in place, poetic considering their surroundings, he was still confused.

With that said, he started looking around. Through the dusting of snow, he spotted the mountain across the river.

At first the rocky exterior of the mountain looked normal, but as he focused on it more, he noticed that the mountain looked different. Smaller, as if it had shrunk by a third compared to the size he was used to, and had seen for decades!

Even the path of the river in front of him was different. The river was frozen solid, yes, but other than that, the eastward, left turn of the river's path was not as rigid as to what he was used to. The turn was softer, smoother.