Return of the Frozen Player

When Rahmadat had just blown up and killed the demon George in the Octagon, chaos was already spreading throughout the Arcade Center upstairs.

"The Guild bastards pulled out their weapons! As expected, we were the only honest ones!"

"I knew this would happen! They’re cold-blooded punks who are only after money and profits."

"We have to do this because you guys pulled your weapons out first!”

"You're all being fooled, idiots!"

There was constant swearing everywhere, and the trigger was the murder committed by the fake Kim Woo-Joong. The Players were already suspicious of everything, so there was only one way for them to have a proper conversation.

"…Damn it."

They felt like they were losing all strength. They moved so desperately to prevent this situation, but it ended up like this anyway. The Guild masters didn't seem like they felt that much different, either.

"Cold-blooded punks who are only after money and profits…"

"Hmph, I thought we did a lot for the welfare of Players."

"We did a lot. I'm a little embarrassed to say this in front of the 5 Heroes, but we created the current law and order among Players."

"But in the end, people can only see what they want to see."

"Honestly, I feel betrayed."

Everyone was very disappointed. The Guild Masters started thinking about how to resolve the situation when Skaya suddenly spoke, "Wait, there’s something strange with all this.”

Skaya acted like a spectator to see a wider picture.

"What do you mean strange?"

"The one who imitated the Sword Saint a while ago. They’re probably a demon, right?”

"Probably."

Skaya was questioning why a demon would do such a low-quality performance.

"Why did they do that?"

"…What are you talking about?”

It was certainly to stir up confusion.

"You read the Player Slaughterer’s memory and told us that demons are strong."

Seo Jun-Ho saw the power of Lesser, Common, and High demons. Of course, he shared the information with his comrades.

“You said that the Nine Heavens and us will find it hard to fight Common demons, right?”

"It’s true back then."

"In that case, was there really a need for them to do something like that earlier? I mean, if they’re as strong as you said."

"Hmm…"

It certainly sounded strange for sure.

The demons had gone out of their way to trap them, so wasn’t it easier and faster for them to just kill them directly? If they sent a few High demons, the Players would definitely get wiped out.

'But they didn't do that. I wonder why?'

Specter and Skaya's eyes met in mid-air. There was usually only one reason why someone would deliberately choose a difficult, twisted path rather than take the easy one.

"It's not that they don’t want to…"

"Yeah, they can't."

Seo Jun-Ho suddenly recalled Reiji’s words.

“Sorry, but Administrators don't get involved in the Players’ business. No, I should say that we can't…”

“That's the rule.”

Reiji clearly said that the Administrators couldn’t get involved in the Players’ business.

"It's just my prediction, but I think the demons are in the same situation as the Administrators."

"Well, didn’t a demon take on Kim Woo-Joong’s image earlier and killed three people?"

"Oh, you're right.”

Before they were about to dive into the mystery once more, Son Chae-Won suddenly spoke, "I was confused, but I finally remember. I was familiar with one of the people the fake Kim Woo-Joong killed earlier."

Son Chae-Won hastily opened her Vita and found an article from a few years ago. It contained pictures and information about some Players who died at the fiends’ hands.

"Oliver Finn, a Player killed by a fiend in Frontier. I was considering recruiting him to the guild.”

"Look at that. The two people who died earlier were also victims of this case,” added Milphage.

"In that case, the people who were killed earlier were already dead,” Shin Sung-Hyun said.

The demons only made it seem like those people were killed here, but they were actually already dead before they were killed here. This was the conclusion they reached, and it was actually very close to the truth.

Gilberto finally spoke as well, "Since it seems that no one else wants to speak, it’s about time I lay down the final piece of the puzzle."

"The final piece?"

At the bewildered gazes of the others, Gilberto nodded. "There are demons hidden among the Players right now. There are quite a few of them as well, not just one or two demons."

"…What?"

"Wait, how do you know that?”

"When the fake Sword Saint made his move, there were quite a few people who immediately kicked up a fuss as if they had been waiting for the former to make a move."

They alienated the 5 Heroes and the Guilds without giving other Players time to think, and they even severed the only opportunity for the Players to talk to each other by pulling out their weapons first.

"Who are they?”

"I already marked them," said Gilberto as he quickly shared the mana signatures of those he had marked with the others. The others gathered magic in their eyes and saw that some Players were highlighted in green.

"Don't be like this; we have to take the initiative! Are you guys going to stay still until they start killing us like this?”

"I'd rather swing my sword than die without doing anything!"

"Actually, I heard those Guild Masters talking about how they're going to abandon us."

"You don't have to kill all of them; you can go back home if you kill just three people.”

The vile creatures were constantly whispering seductive words into the Players' ears.

"How vile… or should I say it's clever?"

"How do we tell the Players about this, though?"

It turned out that the entire situation was orchestrated by the demons. Unfortunately for the Guild Masters and the 5 Heroes, they were at the point where it wouldn’t be easy for them to convince the others to have a conversation.

"Then, we just have to orchestrate a situation where they will have to talk to us.”

After saying that, Specter strode forward. When he walked past the Guild members, he saw many Players holding weapons.

"S-Specter-nim...”

"It's Specter-nim!"

The eyes of the Players who saw Specter shook subtly. For them, Specter had always been the model of good, justice, and righteousness.

Step, step.

While Specter was slowly walking toward them, someone from the opposing side also walked out.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer."

It was Jade, a solo Player who was also known as Otma’s Red Spear. He became stronger and well-renowned in the city of Otma in Frontier, and he was an old man famous for his righteousness.

"Please… don't make us attack you! This old man is asking—” Jade's eyebrows wriggled. It was because Specter ignored what he was saying and continued walking toward them. "I warned you not to come!"

Jade could see that words wouldn’t work, so he immediately mustered his magic. The magic he mustered was strong enough to surprise the Players around him. However, when he blinked, Specter was already holding his spear.

‘What speed...!’

Jade gnashed his teeth. The spear that he was holding with both hands didn't want to budge no matter how hard he tried to move it. He lost. Was he going to die like this? In the blink of an eye, many thoughts flashed through his mind.

However, his eyes suddenly widened.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"Stab me here, and I will die. I'm human, after all."

The masked Specter said as he put the tip of the spear exactly in front of his heart. He was neither furious nor excited, and he sounded tired, which proved how many hardships he had to overcome to get to where he was right now.

"If you really think that the 5 Heroes, the Big 5, and the Nine Heavens are capable of betraying you…” Specter’s indifferent gaze swept across the crowd. "Then kill me."

Better dead than dishonored—Jade's eyes trembled at Specter’s firm attitude. In addition, he could see it more than anyone else.

'He’s not covered in magic…’

This meant that if he really thrust his spear, Specter would die. Why? Why was Specter going out of his way just to do this for them? No matter how hard he thought, there was only one reason.

‘Because he’s confident. He’s just that righteous.’

Jade bit his lips and asked, "Really… Are you really not going to abandon us?"

“…”

Specter didn’t answer. He simply stared at Jade.

However, Specter’s eyes seemed to be scolding him by saying, ‘If you're a Player, you can judge that much for yourself.’

"Haha." Jade chuckled dryly. Did this mean that Specter wasn’t going to let an old man be childish? Specter’s imposing figure looked so dazzling that Jade felt like he was going to go blind if he continued staring at Specter at this rate.

"I can't…” Ashamed, Jade’s red spear fell to the floor with a loud noise that reverberated throughout the open space, which had long been enveloped in silence. After a moment of silence, some people burst into anger.

"…What are you doing?!”

"You should have stabbed him in the heart there!"

"Idiotic old man! What a waste of an opportunity that you’ll never get again!”

The ones kicking up a fuss were those highlighted in green.

‘Nice one, Jun-Ho.’

Upon noticing that the Guilds and the Players seemed like they could finally talk to each other, Skaya sent an image flying into the air. Naturally, everyone's eyes turned to the picture.

"Uh… Wait a minute.”

"I thought the Sword Saint killed that guy earlier?"

"But it’s an article from four years ago? What’s going on?”

At the same time, Rahmadat and Kim Woo-Joong came up from the basement.

"S-sword Saint!"

"Didn't you kill three people and return to Earth?"

"Huh? Return to Earth? What are you talking about? This guy was with me in the basement," said Rahmadat, blinking.

At this point, even the dumbest Players finally realized what was going on.

"Somebody took on the form of the Sword Saint and tried to make us fight each other."

"Fuck! No wonder. Fortunately, I didn’t swing my sword. Otherwise, I would have ruined my life right there and then."

"Yeah. The Big 5 have some rotted parts, but I don’t think they will do something as outrageous as outright murdering innocent Players."

“I thought something was wrong the moment the 5 Heroes walked up to us."

"Wait, if everyone is innocent, who are our enemies?"

"It’s the demons,” said Specter.

His cold eyes swept across the people highlighted in green.

"The demons who messed with you all are among us."

"Oh, fuck, that’s creepy!"

"Hey, you! Are you a demon? I definitely heard you swearing at the Big 5.”

"What a terrible thing to say! I just got drunk in the atmosphere, and that’s why I swore!"

"…Doesn’t that make you even worse of a bastard?"

When they saw this scene, the people highlighted in green revealed twisted looks. They finally realized that the Players wouldn’t fight each other even if they continued to incite them for a hundred days.

"Whew... Imbecile humans."

The people highlighted in green suddenly scattered like smoke to merge into one individual. The individual was a snake-eyed horned man wearing a white suit. He stared at Specter in disapproval.

"You're lucky. There could have been a pretty good fight."

"Lucky?"

"If it weren’t luck, what was it, then? If that stupid old man just stabbed you in the heart, it would have been all over."

"Ku." Specter chuckled. He only did it because he was confident of his chances.

"It’s a confidence born from the faith and trust that I have built up in people's minds over the years. In other words, it’s not something that will collapse so easily, even with your insidious tricks."

“…”

The snake-eyed man wanted to refute, but he had nothing else to say because he actually failed. He divided himself into thousands of people and incited the crowd until his throat started hurting, but they still didn't pick up their weapons until the end.

"That's enough. You did enough."

All of a sudden, beams of light appeared next to the snake-eyed man, and three more men in white suits appeared. Specter’s eyes trembled when he saw one of them.

'One guy... has two horns.'

According to Butcher’s memory, two horns meant the demon was a High demon. A High demon was a powerful being he couldn’t guarantee victory against.

The two-horned man turned to the snake-eyed man and casually spoke, "Voros, George is dead."

"What—no, who killed him?"

"Rahmadat beat him to death in the Octagon."

“That idiot…!”

A Common demon couldn’t beat a single human being? Voros sighed. He was ashamed because he was also a Common demon like George.

"What should we do now, Mellis-nim?" asked Voros after recovering his wits.

"Well...” Their plan of tearing the Players apart and dividing them into two camps to eventually ignite a war had failed. Unfortunately, they couldn’t kill the Players themselves, so they only had one option.

"…We’re going back."

"Ha, we failed spectacularly.”

"Hurry up and climb up the floors. That way, I can kill you lot without hesitation.”

"Anyway, we still achieved one of our primary goals."

A rift opened in the air, and the four demons were about to leave.

"Who said you could leave?"

However, Specter’s voice forced them to stop.