Return of the Frozen Player-Novel

“Didn’t I tell you? Our Hae-Won is very talented,” Gong Ju-Ha said. Just as she said, a healer in the Big 6 was on a different level. Gasman had seemed like he would never recover, but now, he sprung up from his seat.

“Haha, were you all worried about me? You’re making me blush.”

“I’m glad you’re okay. But you shouldn’t push yourself anymore…”

“...I’m sorry for being a burden.” If it weren’t for Jang Hae-Won’s help, he wouldn’t even be able to walk by himself. His pale face also showed that he wouldn’t fully recover anytime soon.

“It’s a good thing you only need to clear one ride.”

“I sure am lucky. Thank you.”

After Cheetey was defeated, there weren’t any more dangerous enemies on the safari. The other animals were too busy running away from the wildfire that Gong Ju-Ha had created.

“Wow! We’re here!”

“I’m still hurting a little, but we made it out safely!”

“What a relief, Princess!

Once they stepped out of the safari, the party started to celebrate.

“You made it.” The Vice Master, Jang Kyung-Hoon, had been waiting by the entrance. He approached them. “Captain Gong, you’ve accomplished something great,” he said.

‘Real Horror Safari!’ had been one of the rides with the highest difficulty. She took it on to fulfill her duty to the Guild.

“How are things going here?” she asked.

“...Well.” Jang Kyung-Hoon’s bitter smile answered her question.

“How many people have died?” Gong Ju-Ha asked nervously.

Jang Kyung-Hoon sighed. “Four.”

“F-Four?!”

They hadn’t been some random Guild members. They had been Rankers from the best Guild in the world. Once they cleared the Dungeon, their deaths were sure to become a hot topic.

“There aren’t many attractions left… But there’s one more of the highest difficulty,” he said.

“How about the Guild Master?”

“...He hasn’t come out of the third ride yet.”

‘He’s already on his third ride?’

Seo Jun-Ho’s jaw dropped. Of course, ‘Real Horror Safari!’ had been Forever Land’s biggest attraction. The fact that they cleared it within two hours was already impressive. But within that time, Shin Sung-Hyun had already cleared two and was working on his third.

‘I want to see him fight if I get the chance…’

As he swallowed his regret, Jang Kyung-Hoon left them with a warning. “And be careful. The Guild Master said the original mascots are dangerous.”

“Oh, we know. We ran into one. They were easier to defeat than I thought, though.”

“...You met one? And you defeated them easily?” Jang Kyung-Hoon looked shocked.

‘The Guild Master said that even Ju-Ha would struggle in a fight against them… Perhaps each one has a different level of strength compared to the others?’

He checked the pamphlet. “The Guild Master defeated Rabbity and Mousey. How about you?”

“Cheetey.”

“So that means only the tiger and bear are left.” Jang Kyung-Hoon frowned as he stared at the pamphlet. “My hypothesis was correct. It seems that the original mascots only appear in the attractions of the highest difficulty.”

“That's what I thought. We got lucky and defeated them easily, but they were really strong,” Gong Ju-Ha said, nodding as she remembered. “If I hadn’t been able to land a surprise attack, we would’ve been in big trouble. Right, Mr. Jun-Ho?”

“Yes, it’s a relief that you were able to end them like that.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.

“I see. A surprise attack…” Jang Kyung-Hoon moved on. “So that must mean that the Guild Master is fighting one of the two remaining mascots,” he concluded.

“Where’s the last attraction with the highest difficulty?”

“Over there.” He turned and pointed to a tent. “It’s called <Traveling Troupe of the Sky>. You can’t really tell what it will be like from the name.”

“And how many people can enter?”

“Two.”

“...” Gong Ju-Ha considered this. “Where’s In-Ho?”

“He’s working on one of the rides with other team members right now.”

“So there’s no one here to clear it?” she asked.

“I was planning to wait for the Guild Master, but if he takes too long…” Jang Kyung-Hoon looked determined. “You and I will go in.”

“Understood.”

Traveling Troupe of the Sky. Its name didn’t give much insight into what kind of attraction it would be.

The Frost Queen made a tempting offer. “Contractor, shall I look inside the tent?”

At the sound of her voice, Seo Jun-Ho immediately ran to the restroom and checked that no one was around. Afterward, he turned to her.

“You?”

“Yes, me...”

Whenever she offered to help, she had been very useful. She even assisted him during the poker game at Haus’s casino.

“Can you do that?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“It is not difficult… Though, I suppose there could be monsters who can see Spirits…” She shrugged. “But would I truly die? I suppose I could be recalled, but that would be it…”

“Then help me...”

She smirked when she saw how fast he answered. “Contractor. You see, in life…”

“Nothing comes for free.”

“That’s right. You are very wise.”

Was it really necessary to go in circles like this just to get some sweets?

“So what do you want to eat this time?”

“While looking around this place, I saw something called a churro. However, there were no employees and it was not for sale.”

“I’ll buy you one next time,” he said.

Now that she had received a definitive answer, the Frost Queen scuttled out of the bathroom with her short legs.

“I shall be back, so wait here.”

“Come back as fast as you can.”

The restroom smelled bad.

***

She came back around twenty minutes later.

“What took you so long? I thought something went wrong and I was…” He trailed off when he saw the cotton candy in both of her hands.

“D-Do not misunderstand. This is a different flavor from last time,” she said.

“...”

When he narrowed his eyes at her, she cleared her throat and spoke, “Anyway, I looked around the tent quite thoroughly, so listen close.”

“Sigh, okay. What was inside?”

“A stage,” she said, using her cotton candy to demonstrate. “The audience seats were here, and there was a stage this big. Behind it was a dressing room, and a big bear was sitting there.”

“...A bear.” Seo Jun-Ho’s expression changed. Forever Land’s main mascot…

‘That must be the original mascot, Beary.’

“What did they look like?”

“I merely got a quick glance, but…” Her face turned serious. “They were strong. Stronger than the girl who uses fire.”

The Frost Queen had a lot of experience. As the Queen of Niflheim, she had gone through countless battles. Her judgment would be accurate.

“What if she had Jang Kyung-Hoon, the man from earlier with her?” he asked.

“I don’t know, he seems weaker than that fox.”

“I noticed that too...”

Of course, the Vice Master of Goblin was an accomplished Player. However, he couldn’t compare to Gong Ju-Ha.

‘They call him the Wise Man of Goblin.’

In other words, he was something like an advisor.

“What if I went with her?”

“Hmm, if you two worked together, well… I do not know.” Though the Frost Queen knew his power better than anyone else, she still couldn’t give a definitive answer.

“So we can’t let the two of them go in together,” Seo Jun-Ho concluded.

“But Contractor, do you think that man will simply let you go in as you please?”

Jang Kyung-Hoon looked like a stiff man of principle. Not only that, but he also held great pride for Goblin.

“He probably wouldn’t want to burden me even more as an outsider,” he said.

“I was thinking the same thing. What will you do, then?” she asked.

“What do you think? I’ll make sure that he has no choice but to send me in.” Having made up his mind, Seo Jun-Ho stepped out of the bathroom.

***

“He’s taking too long...” Jang Kyung-Hoon kept nervously checking his watch. It was merely a habit, considering that no one could tell the time inside a Dungeon.

All he could tell was that the sun was starting to fall.

‘This isn’t a normal Dungeon. We don’t know what will happen when the night falls.’

He wanted to clear all the attractions before the night fell, but Shin Sung-Hyun was still inside his third attraction, the Haunted House.

Jang Kyung-Hoon swallowed and made his decision. “We have no other choice, Captain Gong.”

“Alright.”

He looked at her wordlessly. She was shorter and younger than most of the Guild members, but he was once again leaving her with a vital mission. His chest tightened at the thought, but there was nothing they could do. All the other Guild members were occupied with other attractions, and they were the only strong Players at present.

“I think we have to go inside on our own,” he said.

“Somehow, I knew this would happen. Let’s go.”

They started walking toward the line for the Traveling Troupe of the Sky.

Jang Kyung-Hoon nagged her like a mom. “You have to pay attention. This ride is at the highest difficulty.”

“I’m the person that cleared the safari. So don’t worry… Huh?” Gong Ju-Ha’s reply turned into a question. She hadn’t expected anyone to be there, but someone was waiting for them. “Mr. Jun-Ho? Didn’t you go to the bathroom?”

“I came back. We have some time, so I was gonna go to another attraction. I think this is the last one.”

Jang Kyung-Hoon instantly grew pale at his cool answer. “Look here, Seo Jun-Ho! This attraction is at the highest difficulty, and it contains an original mascot!”

“Mmhm… I see.” Seo Jun-Ho looked surprised. Then, he held up his fists. “I’ll try even harder if that’s the case.”

“Sigh, that’s not the problem here.” Jang Kyung-Hoon shook his head, adamant. “This is our Guild’s campaign. I cannot let an outsider take on such a huge burden. Step aside right now.”

He looked like he would drag Seo Jun-Ho away, but Gong Ju-Ha interrupted. “No.”

“What? Why…”

“No cutting. Kicking out someone already in the line counts as cutting,” she said.

“...!” Jang Kyung-Hoon turned to Seo Jun-Ho as he suddenly remembered the rules he had forgotten. Had Seo Jun-Ho calculated this and gotten in line earlier?

“Oh… right. That was a rule, right? I completely forgot about that,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“...” He was a good actor, but it didn’t matter anymore.

‘...We’re screwed.’

Jang Kyung-Hoon rubbed his face with his hands. As befitting of the Wise Man of Goblin, the gears in his head quickly started to turn.

‘Even though he’s very talented, he hasn’t even reached level 100 yet.’

At level 83, it was much too early for him to have reached his full potential.

And if he went into this attraction?

‘There are too many things that could go wrong. And in the worst-case scenario…’

Harmful rumors might spread. After all, people were saying that he was the first Player with this much potential since Kim Woo-Joong and Shin Sung-Hyun

‘People love to stir up drama. They might spread rumors that the Guild Master had Seo Jun-Ho killed because he was scared of his potential.’

No matter what, Jang Kyung-Hoon had to stop that. All the glory that Goblin had earned over the years could scatter like dust.

‘I-I can still fix this.’

Thankfully, the attraction allowed for two people, which meant that someone could go in with Seo Jun-Ho.

‘I have to go in.’

That way, even if Seo Jun-Ho died, they would be able to avoid the worst outcome. If the Vice Master died with him, they would receive sympathy, not outrage.

“Oh, I’ll go with you then!” a pleasant voice exclaimed.

“...?”

A short Player ran over to Seo Jun-Ho. It was none other than Gong Ju-Ha.

Jang Kyung-Hoon stared at her hopelessly. “Captain Gong, what are you doing?”

“Huh? I’m going into the attraction. Why?”

Did she really have to ask?

‘Right, I forgot. Ju-Ha was going to challenge this attraction. I forgot something so obvious.’

Jang Kyung-Hoon let out a choked laugh, having completely lost it.

Gong Ju-Ha held out her fist toward Seo Jun-Ho. “Yo, it seems like we’re teaming up again.”

“So it seems…”

“Just trust me. I’ll carry you all the way through.”

“Alright, I’ll do that,” Seo Jun-Ho said, bumping her fist with his.