On June 29, Year Two of the Doomsday Wasteland Calendar, only one day remained until the "Three Cold Springs."
The dawn failed to arrive as scheduled. Instead, a heavy and gloomy atmosphere descended.
Although the disaster had yet to fully arrive, the sky was so dark that it looked as though the end of the world was imminent.
Lead-gray clouds hung over the horizon like heavy stone slabs, pressing down tightly.
The already-sparse sunlight was mercilessly swallowed by the clouds, leaving barely a trace behind.
As cold and warm air currents constantly collided, the wasteland's air seemed to solidify, creating such an oppressive atmosphere that it was hard to breathe.
Of course, this sense of oppression came not only from the abnormal weather, but also from the survivors' fear and unease toward the disaster that was about to arrive.
Although countless "experts" had already spoken publicly on the World Channel, openly taking a stand and claiming that this temperature drop would not be fatal to wheat—that at worst, it would reduce the harvest by around thirty percent, and that with good protection, it might not have any particularly noticeable impact—
The survivors already knew the truth. Hardly any of them were willing to believe it.
Who could say whether the experts, who had already been so unreliable on Earth, would continue the old tradition in the wasteland of saying only pleasant things to comfort people? After all, the Autumn Harvest was still a full three months away. Assuming their nonsense really was meant to comfort people, if the harvest were drastically reduced, who would take responsibility for the loss? Thus, although the experts tried to face the disaster optimistically, the fear and unease in the survivors' hearts were difficult to dispel.
As a result, the moment most people climbed out