Return of the Frozen Player

Specter laughed awkwardly. “Look at this bastard, acting like he’s dying when he’s just falling asleep. He almost fooled me.”

Right before Rahmadat went asleep, he looked at them with such deeply thankful eyes, so Specter got even more confused.

“Miss Si-Eun, how is he?” he asked.

“His skill is very outstanding, and I’m done fixing him up, so he’ll be all right. However…” Cha Si-Eun sounded unsure when she spoke, “Seeing how he’s still in pain, I think he should recover for an extended period of time.”

“...”

This idiot… Specter was sure that Rahmadat would get worried about losing his muscles again.

Specter watched as Rahmadat innocently snored away.

“Mr. Chun-Hak, Mr. Sung-Hyun, Woo-Joong.”

All he did was say their names, but all of them nodded in unison.

“Yeah. If I were in your shoes, I would be absolutely seething.”

“It does not bother me either.”

“You should do what you want, Jun-Ho.”

They spoke as if they already knew what he was going to say.

‘We’re Players, too. So even if we don’t want him to do this, we understand.’

‘No one can understand what it is like unless they have also experienced losing a comrade.’

‘So I’m the only one in the Nine Heavens whom he speaks casually toward...’

Specter nodded to them to express his gratitude before turning to his friends.

“Skaya. Gilbe. Mio.”

“If you tell us to stay out of it, I’ll beat your ass up.”

“And I don’t want to see two of my friends collapse today.”

“When Rahmadat wakes up, I should cook for him so he would recover faster.”

Specter wasn’t the only one who was furious at Rahmadat’s collapse. Even though they bickered often, he liked his friends a lot.

‘I bet he’ll feel super embarrassed if he finds out.’

Specter realized once more how reassuring it felt to have friends who would get angry for your sake.

“How could I do that?” he said.

“Right? Well then, rest up, Jun-Ho,” Skaya said.

“We will kill those two dregs,” Gilberto assured.

Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. “Hey, I meant that we should fight together…”

“Priorities. We must decide what is more important,” Mio said.[1]

The three of them looked at Mellis. They sensed an ominous energy and dirty malice coming from him. Even though Mellis wasn’t actively releasing his demonic energy, he still emitted the air of a powerful being to the extent that it made them shrink back.

“I hate to admit it, but I think he might be a little too much to handle,” Skaya said.

“Conserve as much strength as you can. The only one who can go head-to-head with him is Jun-Ho,” Gilberto warned.

Conserve strength…

Specter looked at Mellis for a moment and slowly nodded. “Thanks for believing in me. But… Are you guys okay with that?”

Rahmadat had defeated two Common demons on his own, so they could misunderstand Common demons as weaklings. Unfortunately, Common demons were strong. It was to the point that it was doubtful if Rahmadat would have won if it hadn’t been for the insanely powerful technique called Tandav.

However, their answers came quickly.

“If you’re so curious, why don’t you watch?” Skaya replied.

“An image is worth a thousand words,” Mio said.

Even though they spoke so lightly of it, Specter trusted them a lot.

***

“Voros, that idiot. He insisted on cleaning everything up on his own, but he ended up dying.”

“Hm. Is that man especially powerful? He killed George, too.”

“It’s possible. It was only for a moment…But even I couldn’t see his movements.”

“...” Mellis thought about something for a moment before giving an order. “Something feels off. Shika, Ista.”

“Yes, Mellis-nim.”

“Go there together. End it as fast as possible.”

The two of them looked perplexed.

“B-But Mellis-nim…”

“I think sending two Common demons to take care of a mere human is a little…”

“A little what? George and Voros died because they remained stubborn like you two.” Mellis scanned both of them and said, “Confidence begets haughtiness, and haughtiness begets arrogance. I am not patient enough to deal with the arrogance of demons of your caliber.”

“...My apologies. We were ignorant.”

“We will finish it as soon as possible.”

They seemed to have realized something as they left, but they didn’t bother saying anything else that was unnecessary.

“They failed, but…”

“It seems like Mellis-nim is starting to grow tired, so we should hurry up and kill them.”

When their conversation ended, the demon called Shika started to grow immensely. She became as huge as a 4-story building. However, she looked like a fat robotic monster rather than a thin robotic monster.

“Hehehe. You will die by my hand…!” The fat monster swung her giant hand toward the three Players, and the three Players responded by moving in different directions.

“Come on! It’s me again?” Skaya laughed mischievously at the hand chasing after her before casting a spell. “Do you really think that you can catch this pretty unnie when your hand is that slow?

【Wind Pose】

【Boiling Blood】

Shraaaa!

A sharp gale shredded Shika’s arm, and the blood pouring from her wound started boiling, which brought her even more pain.

“Gahh!”

Shika screamed and quickly drew back her hand.

Skaya squinted.

‘What’s with that? She’s a whole Common demon, but she’s reacting like an amateur.’

Shika had made the worst decision by withdrawing her hand because it created an opening Skaya could exploit.

Skaya was confused, but she immediately seized the opportunity. Without hesitation, she cast her next spells.

【Gravity】

【Chain Bind】

The gravity made Shika several times heavier while the chains bound her.

“Gilbe!” Skaya shouted.

An explosion answered her call.

Boooom!

The exploding bullet pierced Shika’s eye. “Gaaah! You’re all dead…!”

“Please die in our stead.”[2]

Mio dashed in like a speedy squirrel and cut Shika’s head off in the blink of an eye.

Slice!

Her thick head rolled onto the ground.

Shin Sung-Hyun frowned as he watched. “Wait, a Common demon died so easily?”

“Hm. Yeah, they were definitely faster. Their techniques are better as well, but something feels off.” Wei Chun-Hak tilted his head. The demon’s decision-making and reactions were incredibly similar to a novice Player’s.

“Kekekeke.”

Sure enough, two hands emerged from the bleeding stump and ripped her body in half. The Shika that came out from it was completely unscathed. The only difference was that she seemed ever so slightly smaller than the Shika from earlier.

Shika grinned at the three of them. “Surprise! I’m sorry if I disappointed you. Unfortunately, you’ll have to kill me 71 more—”

Slice!

Mio’s blade cut her down once more. This time, she cut Shika up into tiny pieces so that she couldn’t come out of anywhere.

“Hehehe. It’s useless.”

This time, the giant emerged from the blood of the corpse on the floor. Now, she had become visibly smaller than before.

“I get stronger every time I die. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to keep killing me like this without a plan.”

“...” Skaya’s eyes furrowed. Maybe the name ‘Shika’ was derived from ‘matryoshka’.

‘This is more annoying and tedious than I expected.’

Rather than killing her, they should observe Shika in the meantime. However, just as the thought crossed her mind, Shika’s body was torn in half, and a fellow demon appeared behind her.

“Anyway, it’s always annoying how we have to activate this fucking conditional ability every time,” he grumbled.

The energy around the new demon became stronger.

“I am Ista, the demon of betrayal. Every time I kill an ally, I grow stronger temporarily.”

“Hehehe. He kills, I die. If we repeat this over and over, we will become infinitely more powerful.”

The compatibility of their abilities was insane.

The three exchanged glances.

‘We have to get rid of Ista first.’

‘Let’s ignore Shika for now.’

Shika giggled when she saw them looking at each other. “You guys are planning to ignore me and go after Ista instead, right?”

“Obviously,” Ista said. Even as he spoke, he beheaded Shika once more.

“Shit, stop him from killing her!” Skaya shouted.

“Stop me? Me? Pfft! A bug like you?” Ista cackled and snatched the bullet that came flying at him in mid-air. “That’s impressive. Your attack makes no sound and leaves no trace? It’s slow, though, so that offsets its advantages.”

He rolled the bullet in his fingers and looked at Gilberto. “Let me return your toy to you.”

He flicked it away, and it grazed Gilberto’s left shoulder. Gilberto's brows furrowed, and he unwittingly turned to look at the injury.

“It must hurt a lot. Seeing as how you’re looking at your wound and not your enemy.”

“...!”

Ista’s voice came from right in front of him.

“Die, you insect.”

“No, thanks,” Gilberto said coolly. He took out his revolver and shot Ista in the face.

Bang! Ba-bang!

While he fired the bullets, the magic circle etched in the floor started glowing.

【Bolt Trap】

【Emergency Escape】

Gilberto’s world spun, and he was suddenly next to Skaya.

“I saved you once, so buy me a grimoire later, m’kay?”

“...I would have been more grateful if you hadn’t said that.”

When they looked up, they saw that Ista was brushing himself off as if the electricity that electrocuted him was nothing.

“This is so annoying. Should I just gain a bit more power and take them out at once?”

“No. I will not allow you to grow stronger,” Mio said.

“Why would I need permission from a mere insect?” Ista growled and moved to attack her.

However, she ignored him. Mio stared silently at Shika, and her lips moved ever so slightly. “I will go assassinate her.”[3]

Suddenly, something that Ista couldn’t identify pulled him backward.

“Urk?!”

He scrambled up and looked at where Mio and Shika had been standing. In its place was a giant sphere made of darkness.

“Contractor, that resembles Curtain of Darkness, which you enjoy using,” said the Frost Queen.

“But of course.” Specter nodded slowly as he looked at the huge mass of darkness. “Curtain of Darkness is just a lesser copycat version of that.”

***

“...”

The Common demon Shika quietly looked around.

She was in a forest. A dusky forest lit by moonlight.

“A forest? Is this some kind of trap made with illusory or hallucinatory magic?”

In that case, this place would be destroyed if she just hit it strong enough. However, no matter what method she used, it didn’t seem like there was any way to escape

“It is no use. You are merely wasting your energy,” Mio said.

“...So it is. This is a powerful trap.” Shika looked around in awe. “Wow. This is such a fine technique. It’s truly a shame that it belongs to a mere bug.”

Despite being caught in such a powerful trap, Shika admired Mio’s ability to create a world of her own. This wasn’t someone could do just by practicing or working hard.

‘Usually, those who can make a high-level trap like this would always make sure that the trap would be more advantageous to them.’

However, it didn’t matter. She still had 68 lives left. All she had to do was find this place’s weakness, and she would win. ‘Now, what’s the secret behind this place?’

Shf. Shf.

Just then, strange noises came from the thick trees deep in the forest.

Shika smirked. “I knew it. Are those your reinforcements?”

“No. They are the oni[4] that inhabits this area. They will not help anyone.”

Shf. Shf. Shf.

Those red eyes behind the leaves were watching the two of them.

‘What’s that…?’ Shika frowned when she noticed something. The objects hanging from their necklace weren't gems.

“Why do they have jars hanging from their necks?”

“You do not need to know,” Mio said coldly. She unsheathed her sword. “This forest only has one rule. The winner of the fight will be able to leave.”

“Hehe. Are you sure you can handle me? I have…”

“I said, the ‘winner’ of the fight will be able to leave the forest.”[5]

“...”

Shika’s eyes narrowed. “Has my hearing gone bad? It sounds like you’re saying that it doesn’t matter if I have so many lives left.”

“Your hearing is perfectly fine.”

Even if she had dozens of lives left, everything would be decided in just one fight.

Shika gulped. ‘It seems like I got caught in quite the troublesome trap.’

A one-on-one battle. A single chance—one winner.

Mio pointed her sword at Shika.

“Evil spirit. Your assassination begins now.”

1. It has already been mentioned that Mio always speaks very formally, but another characteristic feature of her speaking style is the occasional use of singular words/phrases in their hanja form. It could be a way of emphasizing the formality and terseness of her speech, but it could also be the author trying to imitate the use of kanji because she’s Japanese. ☜

2. Mio mixes both informal and formal here. ☜

3. She phrases it like a greeting people use when they leave the house to go to school or work. ☜

4. a type of demonic creature in Japanese folklore ☜

5. Again, she mixes informal and formal speech. ☜