The Ice Age Came And I Just Got Married - Chapter 77
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 77
From the beginning, my brother had never let me win at anything (which made sense, since we weren’t lovers—and even if we had been, I wouldn’t have wanted him to throw matches), and he disliked Logan, finding him arrogant.
But there was nothing to be done about my brother’s disapproval. No matter how things had unfolded, I had no intention of backing out of my marriage to Logan.
Logan had tried so hard to keep me alive that I owed it to him to stand by his side and keep him from darkness. At least, that was how I judged my own obligations.
“Wait. Our junior here. We have something more pressing to deal with right now, so wouldn’t it be better to discuss that later?”
At Marcus’s intervention, Graham also stared quietly at Logan for a moment before exhaling a long sigh.
“Fine. Let me introduce our team members first.”
Only then did Graham introduce the survivors from Tonis.
Including Graham, there were seven of them altogether.
Their leader was, as expected, a man named Tony.
“I was wondering when he’d finally introduce us.”
Tony had short hair and sun-darkened skin. He was a very attractive man with a masculine air about him.
Sensing my gaze, Logan subtly blocked him from my view.
Somehow, that sense of ease felt unnecessary.
“These people came here to wage a power struggle. I didn’t. My purpose is to meet the Lowell Corporation representative. Tony and I simply have similar goals, so I’ve joined forces with them temporarily.”
Graham didn’t explain why he wanted to meet Frank, the Lowell Corporation representative.
Apparently, even Tony’s group didn’t know the reason.
‘If they came along without even knowing the reason, maybe Tony’s group is actually more careless than I thought.’
They had been hiding in the basement of the Administration Building when suddenly, around evening, crowds of people had flooded in, trapping them inside.
And right before we appeared, all that commotion had vanished without a trace.
We decided to search the Administration Building thoroughly.
Marcus, Graham, and I all dispersed to examine the interior of the building separately.
It was then that Logan came to me and spoke quietly.
“Eve, in my previous times, I never once saw you meet your family members or encounter them. So I always assumed your family had all died.”
He was speaking of my past lives. The fact that I hadn’t seen them in all nine cycles was somewhat surprising.
“I don’t know if your handling of the Winterstone brought about this change, or if everything was meant to be different this time from the start.”
“That’s a good sign, isn’t it? This time, you won’t die. It’ll be fine.”
My bold declaration made Logan’s expression darken for a moment. He forced a smile, fighting to compose himself.
“Right. Don’t die. I don’t need a world without you either.”
Logan spoke of destruction with an eerie calm.
“If it ends the same way this time, I don’t think I can bear it.”
……
“I don’t want to leave anyone behind in a world without you.”
I was terrified. If I let my guard down even slightly, he would destroy everything.
“That won’t happen, so let’s start by making a plan to find Wayne and Forkner first?”
I gently took his arm, then released it.
“And find the Winterstone too.”
After all, the reason I’d accepted the Lowell Corporation representative’s invitation in the first place was because of the Winterstone.
“What are you two talking about?”
Just then, Graham appeared from somewhere and joined the conversation. I was startled.
Logan remained perfectly still. When he stayed silent, cracks appeared in Graham’s smiling face.
“Nothing. We were just talking about the missing people.”
I seized the opportunity to change the subject.
“Brother, talk to me for a moment. I have so many questions I want to ask about our family.”
Graham, showing no sign of agitation, smiled gently and redirected the conversation.
“Shouldn’t we find clues about the Lowell Amusement Park first?”
Then he turned and moved forward.
I stood in confusion, watching Graham’s retreating figure.
Logan, who had been quietly listening to our exchange, tapped my shoulder and then moved to examine the interior.
Right, right……!
We could talk about the details later.
I couldn’t just stand there either. I had to move.
The Administration Building was a single-story structure, but its scale was as vast as a mid-sized shopping complex.
It appeared to have been used by the amusement park staff who managed the facilities. Past the lobby and deeper inside, a long corridor came into view.
The corridor ran through the center of the building, with offices, storage rooms, tool rooms, and break rooms lined up on either side.
Wall lamps with glass shades were scattered along the walls on both sides of the corridor, with only half or fewer lit up—likely due to limited power supply.
An amusement park guide map and a duty roster were still posted on the wall.
[Carousel Inspection]
[Ferris Wheel Lubrication Work]
[Fountain System Maintenance]
I studied the amusement park map intently.
The park sprawled out in a fan shape centered on the Hotel, with facilities densely marked in each district.
The first thing visible after passing through the main gate was the Carousel Plaza, as expected.
Beyond that lay the Ferris Wheel, the Fountain Plaza, and the Outdoor Performance Stage, while to the west stretched the Artificial Lake where visitors could boat, connected by a promenade.
To the east sat a small Zoo and a Greenhouse Garden, and deep within, a Maintenance Area marked off-limits to all but staff was clearly designated.
‘Nothing seems particularly unusual.’
But there were far too many places for people to hide. How on earth would I cover this entire sprawling park?
I was studying the map carefully when I lowered my gaze to the bottom edge. Several black-and-white photographs were affixed there.
[Carousel Plaza]
[Ferris Wheel]
[Fountain Plaza]
Small photographs capturing the park’s full view from before the Ice Age.
‘Wait……?’
I bent lower to examine the carousel photograph more closely.
In the photograph, the carousel was hung with white horse sculptures adorned in ornate decorations.
But the backs of those white horses were empty.
Not a single person sat upon them, nor any monkey sculpture either.
‘Right. The carousel horses aren’t supposed to have sculptures on them.’
Otherwise children wouldn’t be able to ride the horses.
But just before entering the Hotel, I distinctly saw sculptures sitting atop the carousel horses.
Were they people who had frozen when the Ice Age struck while riding the carousel?
No. No, that couldn’t be.
It was impossible.
The sculptures I’d seen weren’t sculptures that merely looked human. They resembled monkeys far more closely.
I yanked open the Administration Building door and rushed outside in alarm.
“Eve!”
Logan and Graham, who had been examining the interior of the Administration Building behind me, started in surprise and hurried after me.
“Eve! What’s wrong?”
I couldn’t answer their questions.
On the carousel…….
There had been no sculptures.
The horses’ backs sat empty, their surfaces covered only with snow.
In that moment.
Hummmmm—
Huuumm—
A resonant vibration emanated from somewhere. The tremor was so violent that the entire space seemed to reverberate, and my skin prickled.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
Marcus and the other Tonis survivors came rushing out.
I had no idea where the sound came from either.
Just then, the positions of the Winterstones I’d been sensing throughout the park suddenly shifted dramatically.
?!
But something felt different about it this time.
As if they’d moved long ago, and I was only now receiving the notification.
Missing people, Winterstones whose positions had suddenly changed, and disappeared monkey sculptures.
So that name was…….
Something flickered through my mind.
I spun around at once and hurried back into the corridor. There I tore down the amusement park guide map that hung on the wall.
And spread it across the lobby floor.
I didn’t need to find the connection between the carousel and the monkeys. Following the Winterstone’s aura would lead me to the answer.
Certainly, all the Winterstones scattered throughout the park had gathered in a single location.
Straight up past the carousel lay the Circus Tent visible at the back. Not an actual circus—
The Parade Waiting Room.
Where clowns would be found.
“They might be preparing for a parade.”
“What?”
“Junior, what are you saying?”
Everyone stared at me in confusion.
And there was only one person who understood what I meant.
“I see.”
Logan, of course.
“Capuchin Monkey.”
I nodded at his words.
In the novel, the formal name had been the Clown Monkey.
Even that refined Aiden had called it an “accursed creature” in the story—say no more.
It was an intelligent Ice Monster that delighted in toying with humans.
Yes.
The Extreme Cold War was a deranged world where people died simply from breathing in sixty-below-zero cold, all while having to contend with Ice Monsters!
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————