Return of the Frozen Player

"She has departed,” Haran spoke and asked carefully, "Was it really okay that we let her go just like that?"

"You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

Whoo.

Gorgon exhaled. It was unknown whether he was sighing in relief or regret.

"It’s great that she left us alone.”

"Is she really that strong?"

"We wouldn't prevail even if the four Counts, including me, attacked her at once."

!” Haran gulped. The four Counts were demons that could even destroy an entire planet.

"Are transcendents really that strong?”

"They are…" Gorgon's gaze deepened. "And Reiji's reputation is well-known even among transcendents."

She was a disaster that they could never afford to provoke. However, Gorgon was caught off guard by Reiji’s arrival on the 9th Floor.

‘Is that human really worth that much?’

Seo Jun-Ho was nothing but an annoying pest for Gorgon. No, more accurately, Seo Jun-Ho would become annoying for Gorgon if the former managed to become strong enough.

‘That's why I tried to get rid of him as soon as possible, even if I had to push the envelope.’

Gorgon became curious. Just who exactly was Seo Jun-Ho, and why was he being protected by the Administrators?

"I don't know.”

Gorgon still had no idea, but whether he liked it or not—as long as his time and Seo Jun-Ho’s time were flowing at the same rate, he would discover the answer to his question one day.

***

Crunch!

A sound reminiscent of a cracker being split into two could be heard, and a message popped up in front of Seo Jun-Ho.

[Crush Resistance has increased to mid-level.]

"Oh, it went up. It’s mid-level now."

"It just went up to mid-level? It took us a thousand times for it to reach mid-level, so I guess we have to crush your bones about ten thousand times more if we want to reach high-level. I didn’t expect it to be this annoying,” Reiji remarked.

"Mid-level is good enough. If it weren’t for you, I would have had a hard time leveling it up,” replied Seo Jun-Ho.

Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t dreaming of reaching the highest-level resistance, but he thought it would be possible for him to reach the high-level by the end of his stay here.

"Hmm. No. This is too slow compared to what I have in mind.” Reiji frowned in dissatisfaction. She stared right at Seo Jun-Ho.

‘Is she looking at my status window again?’ thought Seo Jun-Ho. Whenever Reiji stared at him with a thousand-yard stare, it was usually because she was looking at his status window.

"Aren’t you being too tactless by looking at someone else’s status window like that?”

"Don’t like it? Why not you become an Administrator yourself?"

"Ugh. Are you not going to sleep, Reiji-nim?”

"I'm going to sleep—after this,” replied Reiji with shining eyes while looking at Seo Jun-Ho’s status window. "Great. I should've done this earlier. Hey, bring that one out."

"By one, are you talking about Frost, perhaps?”

"No. I’m talking about that guy who cleaned my Store.”

Oh, she was talking about Seo Jun-Sik.

Seo Jun-Ho was about to summon Seo Jun-Sik, but he paused and asked, "May I know why you want me to summon Jun-Sik?"

"You’ll absorb the experiences, feelings, and memories of your clone once you recall him, and you share thoughts as well. There's no reason to let him just play around."

"Oh! I see!" Seo Jun-Ho's face brightened up as he said, "I can see it now. While I'm sleeping, you can crush Jun-Sik’s bones instead of mine."

Theoretically, it meant that his resistances and his skill proficiency with Cloning (S) would increase around the clock.

However, Reiji glared at him and said, "What are you talking about? That’s so inefficient."

"What? Then, why do you want me to summon Jun-Sik?”

"The rate of improvement will double if both of you get beaten up at the same time."

For some reason, Seo Jun-Ho felt that something was off. Soon, he discovered the reason behind the incongruity and asked, "Um, didn't you say that you were going to sleep soon?”

"Oh, that’s right. I’m going to sleep soon."

Why did she emphasize and said the word I’m rather than we?

"Then, let's call it a day and tomorrow

"Pfft, what are you talking about? You’re hilarious." Reiji chuckled as if what she had heard was incredibly funny. Then, she turned serious all of a sudden and stared at Seo Jun-Ho grimly. "You’re going to sleep? Can you really afford to sleep at your level?"

He could sleep. Seo Jun-Ho was confident that he would fall asleep the moment his head made contact with a pillow. However, Reiji’s words made Seo Jun-Ho feel depressed as he scratched his cheek awkwardly and asked, "You’re very strict and hardcore. Anyway, how often will I get to sleep?”

"Where do you think we are?"

"We’re in the Hole of Repentance."

"That’s right. You’re supposed to reflect and repent here. You’re not supposed to have fun here."

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t the one who had decorated the entire place. Most importantly, he wasn’t the one who was supposed to repent and reflect here.

Yes, he was currently her butler, but Reiji was the one who was supposed to repent and reflect here rather than him.

"What about the person who is supposed to reflect and repent here? Are they allowed to sleep?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

"They aren’t allowed to sleep here. Of course, you don’t have anything to worry about because you won’t die even if you have to stay awake for a year," replied Reiji.

"Huh? What do you mean, Reiji-nim?”

He had to stay awake for a year? Was this a hardcore version of the Cave of Trials?

Reiji shrugged at the astonished Seo Jun-Ho. "What’s up with that look? You’re not going to die, anyway. You have a skill that won’t allow you to collapse and break, so it’s going to be fine.”

"I believe you, Reiji-nim. However, I think staying awake for an entire year would seriously affect my mind Seo Jun-Ho trailed off upon noticing something strange. "Wait. If the one who is supposed to reflect and repent here isn’t allowed to sleep, then what did you mean when you said that you’ll be going to sleep soon?"

"Oh, that? Well, If you're a transcendent like me, you can easily bypass the restrictions of the Hole of Repentance," Reiji said casually.

She was going to use her power as a transcendent to sleep? Seo Jun-Ho started staring at Reiji as if she were a spoiled brat as he asked, "Do really you have to go that far just to sleep?"

"For some reason, I get stressed and irritable whenever I’m sleep deprived."

‘It’s not just you Seo Jun-Ho inwardly lampooned with puffed cheeks.

"Have you already forgotten what you said yesterday? I thought you said you would do anything?”

"I did

"So what now? Can you do it?”

If he had to answer that question with a yes or no, he would answer yes.

He should be able to stay awake for an entire year without sleeping because Hero’s Mind was there to protect him from going crazy. As long as there weren’t any external factors, he should be fine.

"Are we going to hit each other while you’re asleep?"

"Nope, I’m not that cruel,” replied Reiji. She tapped the ground lightly with her index finger, and a humanoid figure manifested. The figure made out of magic looked exactly like Reiji.

"This is a dummy, and I gave it enough magic, so it shouldn’t disperse while I’m asleep."

"Is it strong?"

"Stronger than you." Reiji stood up and yawned. "I’m going to sleep now, so good luck with the beatings.”

"All right.”

When Reiji finally disappeared, Seo Jun-Ho summoned Seo Jun-Sik.

Grab!

Upon being summoned, Seo Jun-Sik immediately grabbed Seo Jun-Ho by the collar and exclaimed, "Are you crazy?! You actually summoned me to get beaten up with you?!"

Seo Jun-Ho’s brows were furrowed as he replied, “She said that I should summon you, so I did.”

"No, that’s—Original, don’t you have even a tinge of conscience? Perhaps a sense of duty to protect your clone?"

"Nope.”

What, could he eat that?

Seo Jun-Ho sighed and crushed Seo Jun-Sik’s hand.

Craack!

"Argh! That fucking hurts, goddamned it!"

"You’re already here, so let's just enjoy the beating."

"How am I supposed to enjoy this, you madman?!”

Seo Jun-Ho truly felt a bit sorry for the crying Seo Jun-Sik, but Reiji was right. This was the fastest and most efficient method to increase his resistances and skill proficiency at the same time.

‘How come I didn’t think of this method earlier?’ thought Seo Jun-Ho while staring at Seo Jun-Sik.

Once he got back to Earth, he would tell Seo Jun-Sik to increase his skill proficiencies.

Burrr!

"It's a little cold here. Are there any heaters here?"

Seo Jun-Sik started trembling. However, it was unknown if he was trembling at the idea of getting beaten up alongside Seo Jun-Ho or if he was trembling because of the cold surroundings.

***

"Hump!" Reiji was stretching in the training hall. She turned to look at the exhausted Seo Jun-Ho and asked, "Hey, where’s breakfast?"

?” Seo Jun-Ho raised his limp arm and said, "My bones never managed to stay unbroken for more than three seconds since last night.”

"Hmm. Take a short break to make breakfast, then,” Reiji said chicly. She then retrieved a book and proceed to lie down on a sofa in the training hall.

Upon arriving at the kitchen, Seo Jun-Sik started whispering, "Should we get back at her by pouring vinegar on her food?"

"No.”

He had thought of that before, but doing that would make his remaining days here incredibly painful to endure. He prepared a light breakfast of a Caesar salad and a ham and egg sandwich.

"Not bad,” Reiji remarked. She was once again convinced that she had made the right decision to bring a butler here. While eating her breakfast, Reiji made a decision and said, “Let’s set seven in the morning, high noon, and five in the afternoon as meal times from now on.”

"Do I have to prepare meals at those times?"

"That's right. And from now on, you can wake me up at five in the morning. I'll guide you until breakfast."

"What do I have to do for the rest of the day?" asked Seo Jun-Ho. He was convinced that he wouldn’t just eat and get beaten up until his time here was up.

Reiji shrugged and replied, "That's all for the time being. We have to make sure your Cell Regeneration has enough resistances, and they’re at a certain level. After that, we can finally start training."

Seo Jun-Sik sighed deeply. It seemed that the only time they had without the beatings was whenever they were in the middle of cooking meals.

"Tell me what resistances you have,” said Reiji.

"Cold Resistance[1], Fire Resistance, Crush Resistance, Bruise Resistance, Laceration Resistance, Addiction Resistance, Magic Resistance, Penetrating Wound Resistance, Blunt Force Resistance, Poison Resistance

There was one more thing.

Seo Jun-Sik helped and added, "He also has the lowest-level Death Resistance."

"Oh, you got a pretty rare resistance. I guess you got it from the 4th Floor.”

The two gulped as Seo Jun-Ho asked nervously, "By any chance... The Hole of Repentance can’t resurrect someone if someone were to die here, right?”

"Unfortunately, yes."

It wasn’t unfortunate at all. The two breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you have more resistances than I thought. It would be time-consuming to raise your resistances one by one,” Reiji remarked.

"W-what do you mean?”

He was anxious. It had only been a day, but Seo Jun-Ho had already confirmed that Reiji was crazier than he could have ever imagined. She was crazy and hardcore to the extent that Seo Jun-Ho’s heart would sink whenever she said even a single word.

"Let's tie what we can tie up together. Let's see...” Reiji leisurely read through his status window while lying on the sofa as if she were looking at the catalog of a department store.

"Crush, Bruise, Blunt Force, and Laceration. Let's improve these four at the same time from now on."

Sweat flowed down Seo Jun-Ho and Seo Jun-Sik's faces like rain. The representative of the two, Seo Jun-Ho, spoke, “So you’re going to crush my bones, beat me up, and lacerate me at the same time?”

"It’ll be a lot more efficient to do them at the same time.”

"But it will hurt a lot more…" Seo Jun-Sik couldn’t help but speak.

Reiji smiled brightly at Seo Jun-Sik and said, "I’m pleasantly surprised that you managed to raise your Hero's Mind to EX. This way, I won’t feel any guilt at all because you’ll be fine, anyway.”

"Can you feel a bit guilty?" asked Seo Jun-Sik.

"Do you really think that I’m doing all this for myself? All this is for your sake.”

Seo Jun-Sik pouted and retorted. "What a load of bullshit. You're just trying to retire early

"Oh, now that I think of it, it’s inefficient to let two people cook at the same time. From now on, Seo Jun-Ho will be the only one who’s going to prepare the meals.”

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Seo Jun-Sik directly kneeled.

Seo Jun-Ho made a sidelong glance at the kneeling Seo Jun-Sik. He revealed a thoughtful look before asking, "I’m convinced that you’re in a hurry, but is there a reason why you’re in a hurry?"

"It’s all because this opportunity will never come again," Reiji said. She crossed her legs and added, "Let me ask you while we’re at it. I’m sure you know that all this wasn’t supposed to happen, right?”

"Yes."

"This is clearly a violation of the rules right now. Administrators… aren’t kind school teachers, you know."

A teacher would keep an eye on the students and lead them to the right path. However, an Administrator was supposed to just watch. It didn’t matter whether the people they were watching were going down the wrong path or not—an Administrator had no reason nor the authority to lead people down a path.

"In short, I violated the rules, and I take it’ll only take them a week at the longest.”

Reiji was talking about the time it would take for it to be known that she had brought Seo Jun-Ho to the Hole of Repentance. Even if her superiors discovered what she had done by then, it would already be too late.

In addition, there was no way for them to turn back time.

"With that being said, think of this as a priceless opportunity to learn. I'm going to teach you everything, so there will be no regrets,” said Reiji.

Seo Jun-Ho's gaze deepened. The teachings of a transcendent herself. This meant that he was currently in a class that one couldn’t possibly find anywhere else in the entire universe.

However, Seo Jun-Ho was still curious about one thing.

"What’s the reason behind the exclusive special treatment? I’m sure there are many other talented Players out there aside from me."

"You must find the answer on your own," replied Reiji.

Reiji didn’t just tell him to look for the answer—she told him that he must find the answer. Seo Jun-Ho’s intuition was telling him that he would find the answer on his own sooner or later.

1. previously named Cold Tolerance ☜