Return of the Frozen Player

The compressed magic slowly unfolded as Seo Jun-Ho took off the ring on his middle finger.

“For your information, what’s on my forehead isn’t a horn…” muttered Seo Jun-Ho.

Shwaaa!

Dozens of blades made out of darkness manifested and orbited him, causing even the space itself to tremble.

“It’s a lump, you asshole,” said Seo Jun-Ho. The lump on his forehead had come from Reiji, and it would serve as the restraint that would keep his arrogance in check.

Slice!

The blades vanished and reappeared in the proverbial blink of an eye. The demons collapsed to the floor into hundreds of tiny pieces of flesh, and the room quickly grew humid as their blood inundated the parlor.

“Hiccup!” The lord hiccuped and collapsed at the grotesque sight. “Please spare my life. I’ll give you anything you want.”

“...Wow.” Seo Jun-Ho was surprised to see such a quick surrender.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled helplessly and nodded. “Well, what did I expect from the denizens of The Underworld? Anyway, it finally feels like I’m truly in the Underworld.”

The survival of the fittest was the law of the Underworld, and the denizens of the Underworld had to constantly prove that they were fit enough to survive here. They would only stop proving themselves when they no longer had any challengers.

“A cunning bastard like you will definitely survive in this world.”

The quick-witted ones who could readily abandon their pride to kneel in front of the strong would live longer lives by acting like parasites.

The lord smiled awkwardly at Seo Jun-Ho’s acrimonious criticism.

“Y-you’re right. Haha.”

“Come to think of it, lord. I still haven’t even heard your name yet.”

“Ah, my apologies. I still haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is—”

Slash!

A trail of darkness was left suspended in the air as the lord’s head flew into the air.

Seo Jun-Ho stood up with an indifferent look and walked over to the lord’s head. The lord’s face still depicted awkwardness, and it seemed that he still had no idea that he had already perished.

“I don’t really care.”

‘I can just read his memory anyway.’

However, Seo Jun-Ho hesitated briefly.

- Partner.

“I know. You don’t have to worry.”

‘I thought I’d shaken it all off, but it seems I was wrong.’

Seo Jun-Ho took a deep breath. He had briefly recalled his experience of seeing the Archduke through Mellis’ memories.

“Confession of the Dead.” Multiple memory projections appeared before Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes. He scanned the memory projections and nodded. “I knew it.”

Seo Jun-Ho nodded. He could only extract a few fragmented memories from the lord’s corpse. The same was true when he had made Mellis confess. Seo Jun-Ho thought that it was just an isolated case, but now, things had finally become clear.

‘It’s because I consumed all of his demonic energy.’

It was the only difference when he killed Mellis and the lord.

- That’s too bad.

“I know.”

Seo Jun-Ho cast Watchguard of Darkness and absorbed the demonic energy in the air.

“Hm, it seems that I really have to think things through from now on,” Seo Jun-Ho smacked his lips. The amount of demonic energy he had just absorbed in the air was ridiculously low.

‘I didn’t expect much from the subordinates because they’re barely Low demons, but… the lord… he was still the lord of an entire city.’

However, the demonic energy that Seo Jun-Ho had absorbed from the lord was only a few drops of water compared to his demonic energy, which resembled a lake.

Fortunately, Seo Jun-Ho was aware of the reason behind the insufficiency.

“So I need to choose between reading their memories or absorbing their demonic energy.”

- I think it’s for the best for you to give up on absorbing the demonic energy. You’ll benefit more by reading their memories for the time being.

“I think so, too.”

The lord’s memories had told Seo Jun-Ho that the former’s position in the Underworld was too low. He was just a Low demon on the cusp of becoming a Common demon, and he was a mere city lord of a remote city at the tip of the continent right next to the Sea of Death.

‘I need to find a stronger demon.’

Seo Jun-Ho put the ring back on his middle finger and walked away. The lord’s fragmented memories had told him where he could meet High demons.

‘What an absurd dilemma…’

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes swept across the city. The demons looked virtually no different from humans, which made Seo Jun-Ho feel conflicted if it was truly fine for him to kill all of them just because they were demons.

“Ah. Are you done with your business?” said the gatekeeper at the entrance of the mansion. He was very polite, perhaps because he thought Seo Jun-Ho was a special guest who had come to bring Mellis’ last will.

Seo Jun-Ho glanced at the gatekeeper and said, “Let me ask you one thing.”

“Please go ahead.”

“Why are those young demons training so hard?”

Seo Jun-Ho used to run around the playground covered in dirt at their age, but the young demons here were already training hard with their weapon of choice.

The gatekeeper’s eyes widened as he asked, “Isn’t that only natural? We’re in the Underworld.”

“...”

“I mean, I’m sure they all have their own dreams, but at that age, it’s easy to deduce what they’re thinking,” said the gatekeeper. He lifted his hand and folded his fingers one by one as he spoke. “Some want to go to the capital to become a noble, some want to serve the lord, while the ambitious ones dream of killing the lord to replace him.”

“...That makes sense.”

Seo Jun-Ho was already aware of such facts because the lord’s memories told him a lot about the culture of the Underworld. However, he felt that he still had to hear someone else’s words to confirm if what he had seen through the lord’s memories was truly correct.

“Then, what does the lord do? Does he just watch those kids until they grow up?”

“No way. The lord is keeping tabs on those kids to see which of them are the ambitious ones. On the day he finds evidence, the ambitious ones will get decapitated, and their heads will be hung up at the city square.”

The demons killed their kind with no mercy as soon as they discovered that the other party was a potential rival. Seo Jun-Ho was indeed in the Underworld—a world where the strong preyed on the weak and where violence was logical.

“...Let me ask you one last thing.”

Seo Jun-Ho turned to look at the gatekeeper.

“Are there any demons who want to coexist with humans?”

“Ah, you mean the Moderates.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes glistened with slight expectation.

‘There really are demons who want to coexist with humans?’

“Well, those idiots were killed when the Four Counts unified the Underworld.”

Seo Jun-Ho fell silent, and he felt only one thing upon hearing the gatekeeper’s words.

“...Thank you,” he said. He was truly thankful for the gatekeeper, as the latter had given him a reason and the justification to kill every demon in sight.

“I knew it. The only good demons are dead demons.”

“Pardon me?” The gatekeeper stared blankly at Seo Jun-Ho as a crimson line inexplicably appeared on his forehead. Moments later, he split into two pieces and collapsed to the floor.

The gatekeeper had perished without being able to scream.

“Perhaps I’ll look like the Devil in your eyes…” he muttered. However, Seo Jun-Ho was more than willing to become the Devil to protect those precious to him.

On that day, the small city of Verman vanished from the map, and its population of 257 demons inexplicably disappeared along with it.

***

“...?” Count Gorgon abruptly looked up. Count Gorgon was the Count of the South, and his status meant that his subordinates were sensitive to his actions. The meeting was paused when they noticed Gorgon staring somewhere.

“My lord, was there something wrong with the report?”

“Am I the only one who felt it?”

The subordinates blinked blankly at Gorgon’s question.

Gorgon shook his head. “Never mind, it must have been nothing.”

He briefly felt the energy of a Star Destruction Stage creature, but his subordinates were powerful demons in their own right. It didn’t make sense that he was the only one who felt such a powerful demonic energy.

After all, there were only three others with such a powerful energy in the Underworld.

‘I must have been mistaken; it was so faint as well.’

Gorgon raised his hand.

“I’m a bit tired today, so go straight to the point.”

“Yes, my lord. Count Horizon of the West has expanded the borders of his territory.”

“...Tsk.” Gorgon clicked his tongue. Gorgon was a powerful demon, so he had been the one expanding the borders of his territory, but he was currently recuperating from his injuries.

‘If only I did not overdo it back then.’

Gorgon recalled Player Seo Jun-Ho, who made him feel an unknown sense of trepidation. He had suffered a massive backlash by going against the System to forcefully abduct the player to the 9th Floor.

‘Did they finally notice? It actually took him a long time to realize what happened to me.’

There were barely any exchanges between the four Counts, but the Counts had to have gotten suspicious about Gorgon’s silence over the past six months. Count Horizon of the West had finally decided to test the waters.

“How should we respond?”

“...What do you think it is that they want?”

“It seems that they are targeting the Karshut Mine. It is the second biggest producer of demonic stones in our land, after all.”

Gorgon frowned. ‘I can’t let them take Karshut away.’

The balance of power would collapse if Karshut Mine was taken away from his hands. He had to do something. If he were to offer no resistance, the other Counts would take it as a sign of weakness.

Gorgon let out a sigh and said, “Haran, Fricks. I will assign you thirty High demons and an army. Protect the mine.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“We won’t let them take a single step onto the mine.”

Gorgon swept his gaze across his subordinates before saying, “See yourself out, everyone. I have a few things to think about.”

When the demons left the room, Gorgon slowly closed his eyes.

‘This is bad…’

His problem wasn’t just his enemies. He was also concerned about his subordinates. If he showed even the smallest hint of weakness, his subordinates would mobilize to kill him.

“This is difficult. Too difficult.” Gorgon sighed lightly. ‘If only I had at least one reliable demon.’

The fact that they could not trust anyone was nothing short of a curse that demons had to carry for the rest of their lives.

***

“The Karshut Mine…” Seo Jun-Ho murmured.

A corpse was by his feet, and he was the village chief of a village called Velmarion.

“This is interesting. What do you think?”

- I’m conflicted.

Seo Jun-Ho was surprised. “What do you mean? Explain.”

- I’m saying that there is no need for you to go out of your way to go where two Counts are fighting a war of attrition. It’s too dangerous.

“So why are you conflicted?”

- Well, it’s because if you go there and do your best; you’ll be able to move more easily later down the road.

Keen Intuition was right. Demonis stone mines were that valuable in the Underworld.

“The Karshut mine is the second largest deposit of demonic stones in the South.”

- There are definitely powerful demons there, and they must be at least High demons. I think we might even meet noble demons there.

“High risk, high return.” Seo Jun-Ho briefly calculated before making a decision. “Let’s go there.”

-Are you sure? If things go wrong, two Counts may appear at the same time to fight you. Reiji said that you’re still not strong enough to fight two Star Destruction Stage creatures at the same time, Partner.

“I know, but I don’t think that things will go that far.”

‘I’ve already decided to become the Devil to these demons, so I have to make sure that I will truly become the Devil in their eyes.’

“Intuition, what do you think is the demons’ biggest weakness?”

- Hm, their pride?

“Their pride is indeed one of their weaknesses, but that is not their biggest weakness.”

- What is it, then?

Fwoosh!

Seo Jun-Ho promptly absorbed all the demonic energy in the air and turned around to leave the ruined village.

“It’s the fact that they would never trust another demon.”

Seo Jun-Ho had discovered that weakness by himself while traveling the Underworld.

It had been exactly twenty days since Seo Jun-Ho entered the Underworld.