Return of the Frozen Player

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes. Sometimes, it was better to feel the world through one’s other senses aside from the eyes, and right now, it would be better for him to feel the world with his eyes closed.

‘Black Moon Heart Method.’

Fwoosh!

Seo Jun-Ho’s Black Moon Heart Method placed all the magic in the surroundings under his control. The Black Moon Heart Method engulfed every single particle of magic in the air and scattered like a spiderweb.

“Argh!” A terrible headache struck Seo Jun-Ho as an enormous amount of information flowed into his head. It was no exaggeration to say that all the information on the battlefield was inside Seo Jun-Ho’s head at this moment.

‘The number of surviving Overminds are… about 5,296 Overminds.’

Five thousand Overminds perished before they could even wield their weapons, but the number of surviving Overminds was still too many compared to the number of Players.

‘The Players’ morale is high, but that won’t last long.’

The enemies weren’t dumb.

The surviving Overminds would become a huge headache once they grouped up.

‘And the Players know that as well...’

It was the reason why the Players were fighting with all their might. They had to eliminate as many enemies as they could before the surviving Overminds recovered and grouped up.

‘Then my job here is to…’

Swoosh!

The map which had spread out inside Seo Jun-Ho’s head reflected the sky. The supermassive airship was slowly crashing on the eastern side of the snowfield.

‘I must stop their commander from grouping up with them.’

The difference between having a commander on the battlefield and not having one wasn’t just a simple matter of difference in number. In fact, Seo Jun-Ho had commanded the panicking Players into an organized group just now.

‘Geon-Woo’s wide range is necessary to this battlefield. The same is true of Shin Sung-Hyun and Miss Ju-Ha.’

Right now, Seo Jun-Ho could only bring a few people with him, and he immediately contacted them.

“Why are you calling me? I’m busy!”

“Hehe, why do you think he called us? He probably wants to do something fun with us.”

“I don’t know whether it’s going to be fun or not, but there’s something I need you guys to do with me,” said Seo Jun-Ho. He turned to look at Skaya and said, “Skaya, can we get inside that airship?”

“Hm, I don’t think so. It’s too high for Flight Magic, and we’ll be too exposed in mid-air.”

“Can you teleport us there, then?”

“No, the annoying bastard is definitely in that airship. He’s the only one who can constantly distort the space in that airship.”

“Annoying bastard? Are you talking about that prince?” Rahmadat asked with a grin before adding, “If so, then that’s great news. I still haven’t repaid him.”

“But what can we do? I just told you that there’s no realistic way to get up to that height,” said Skaya with a sour look.

“What do you think? Can you do it?” Seo Jun-Ho asked once again.

“Huh? I already told you that it’s not.”

“I’m talking to Rahmadat.”

“Me?” Rahmadat blinked his massive eyes a couple of times, but he soon started laughing. “Kehahaha! I can see what you’re trying to do here, and it’s definitely going to be fun! I knew it, you’re the best! All right. I can do it!”

“...?” Skaya stared alternatingly between Seo Jun-Ho and Rahmadat before shaking her head. “I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but count me out on this one. You guys are probably planning on doing something dumb and reckless again.”

“Hey, nerd. You must walk through life with a burning heart and soul.”

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?”

“We don’t have time, so don’t even start arguing.” Seo Jun-Ho hurriedly intervened to stop Rahmadat and Skaya from arguing with each other as always. “Anyway, I want you to get ready, Rahmadat.”

“Got it. You get ready as well.”

‘One, two. One, two...’

Rahmadat got ready by stretching.

“Inventory.”

Seo Jun-Ho pulled out a thick rope from his Inventory and wrapped it around his waist.

He handed the other end of the rope to Skaya. “Here, take this.”

“?” Skaya instinctively accepted the rope, and she asked as if she were unaware of what they were trying to do here. “What is this for? You want to play tug-of-war or something?”

“Wrap it around your waist. You better tie it tightly and make sure that it won’t come loose.”

“...What? Wait! No… this isn’t what I’m thinking, right?” Skaya turned pallid upon guessing Seo Jun-Ho and Rahmadat’s plan. “No way! I’m not doing this! I refuse! I already feel dizzy just thinking about it”

“Tsk. Skaya Killiland,” said Seo Jun-Ho in a solemn voice. He looked like a parent scolding his child as he said, “I told you that we don’t have time for any argument.”

“Ugh…” Skaya frowned and looked down at the rope in her hand. The Players out there were fighting with their lives on the line, so a well-respected Hero like her shouldn’t refuse to participate just because she would feel dizzy.

“Sigh… fine. I’ll do it. I’ll join.” Skaya deeply regretted following Seo Jun-Ho for fun.

“Skaya Killiland, you idiot,” Skaya muttered under her breath.

“What are you talking about? You’re a genius, not an idiot.”

“...I can’t deny that,” said Skaya.

“All right! Now hand over the rope.” Rahmadat was finally done with his stretching, and he smiled as he reached out with his hand.

Skaya carefully handed over the rope to Rahmadat.

“Make sure to jump as gently as you can, okay?” she requested.

“Hehe.”

“Hey, don’t laugh! Tell me that you’ll do it gently!”

“Hehehe.”

“You…!” Skaya was infuriated.

Rahmadat laughed like a madman as he wrapped the rope tightly around his right arm.

He looked up for a moment before muttering, “The distance is… far.”

“God, no… Are you out of your mind?! Calculate it properly, you dumbass!”

“My experience and instincts will take care of the calculations.”

“Experience and instincts, my ass! Hey, let me do it! Let me do the calculations for you! Please!”

“I don’t need it.”

‘I just have to jump as high as I can while looking super cool.’

Rahmadat grinned.

Soon, an overwhelming aura burst out of him.

“Emancipation.”

Rahmadat’s magic circuit opened, and the cells in his body divided at once as they became thousands of times more active than usual. His cells seemed to be getting ready to die because they were dividing faster than usual as well.

“Kehehe.” Rahmadat cackled upon sensing the overwhelming energy that pervaded him.

Moments later, he became light itself.

Boom!

The sound barrier was shattered with a loud noise.

‘Keuk…!’

Seo Jun-Ho’s expression distorted as the extreme wind resistance crashed into him.

‘Is this Rahmadat’s world?’

The people, the objects, and the scenery peeled into a line and disappeared behind him. Everything happened so fast that Seo Jun-Ho reckoned that the entire experience was only 0.3 seconds long.

However, it was long enough for Seo Jun-Ho to experience the true speed of Tandav, Shiva’s dance

Rahmadat sounded delighted as he muttered, “Wow, it actually worked...”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho, Skaya, and Rahmadat found themselves on the airship’s deck.

“How was it, Jun-Ho?” asked Rahmadat.

“It was the worst.”

The terrible headache was one thing, but the rope brought pain to his waist and back.

“Skaya, how was it?”

“Don’t talk to me right now—Bleck!” Skaya had always lacked stamina, and she looked unprecedentedly pallid as she glared at Rahmadat. “You… I asked you to jump gently…”

“I was afraid that we won’t make it to the airship, so I simply jumped as high as I could. Wait, shouldn’t you be complimenting me?” replied Rahmadat.

“I’ll definitely kill you after this…”

“Enough. Stop arguing, you two,” Seo Jun-Ho said as he removed the rope from his waist.

He could feel Overminds approaching them.

“You guys can feel it, too, right? There are three strong Overminds here.”

“Hm. Am I mistaken? They feel familiar for some reason.”

“You’re not mistaken. I feel the same.” It seemed that the two people next to Prince Digor right now were the two generals who had pursued them that day.

Rahmadat grinned. “All right, I’ve decided. I’ll pay off all the debts I owe them today.”

“Lower your voice—bleck!”

Seo Jun-Ho only had two allies, and there were a few hundred Overminds converging on their location, but he remained surprisingly calm.

***

Meanwhile, the battle on the ground was looking dire for the Players.

“Ju-Ha-nim! The left front line has collapsed!”

“Stop them by any means! We must hold out until the Players have evacuated into the castle!” Gong Ju-Ha cried out.

The front line in the snowfield was pushed all the way to the walls before anyone could understand what was going on. It seemed that the Overminds managed to overwhelm the lines that the Players had established, forcing the latter to move back.

Crackle!

Huge pillars of fire rose up in the snowfield.

Gong Ju-Ha wiped the sweat off of her forehead and looked around momentarily.

“Sigh, I’m getting sick of this. There are too many of them!” The pressure was also overwhelming, and it was all because each Overmind here was either stronger than the Players or as strong as them.

‘Of course, the enemies won’t just stand back and do nothing after coming back to their senses.’

Gong Ju-Ha figured that the enemies would go on a rampage like madmen for revenge, and the Players didn’t have that many options to choose from.

“It’s either flight or fight.”

“...We must hold out,” Ha In-Ho answered as he looked around.

Too many Players had been injured for them to retreat.

“Sigh. Where did Specter-nim go?”

“Rahmadat-nim dragged—no, took Specter-nim and Miss Skaya up to the sky earlier.”

“Really?”

Shin Sung-Hyun looked down at the base of the wall and said, “He probably made the decision to prevent their commanders from joining the battle. He had made an impressive decision.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s decision allowed the Players to retreat to the Ice Castle without much damage. The Players would have been engulfed by the enemies if the enemy’s commanders were here.

“Will they be fine on their own? They don’t even know how many enemies are in that airship…”

“That’s funny, Team Leader Gong,” said Shin Sung-Hyun with a smirk. “Who do you think Specter-nim is? Will he really make that decision without making the proper calculations?’

“...”

‘I highly doubt that he calculated things…’ Gong Ju-Ha swallowed her words with difficulty before replying, “What do you think, Master? Can we hold out?”

“Hm.” Shin Sung-Hyun calculated in his head before nodding. “Yes.”

“Hehe, that was a confident answer.”

“I’m confident, and it’s all thanks to you and Kim Woo-Joong.” Shin Sung-Hyun could still remember the training he had done with Gong Ju-Ha and Kim Woo-Joong in an effort to clear the 6th Floor.

The enlightenment he had received raised his prowess to another level.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t remember saying thank you to them.’

He couldn’t have been more annoyed by them back then, but in the end, he became grateful to them.

Shin Sung-Hyun stared at Gong Ju-Ha and said, “...Thanks, Team Leader Gong.”

“Huh? Am I getting a salary cut?”

“...”

‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

Shin Sung-Hyun clicked his tongue.

‘And Kim Woo-Joong…yes. I’ll say thank you to him once he’s back.’

Shin Sung-Hyun smiled faintly, but his expression suddenly turned stiff.

“You look like you’re doing well.”

“...!”

A familiar voice echoed next to him, and the voice sent a shiver down his spine.

‘Why am I hearing his voice on this battlefield…?’

Shin Sung-Hyun’s eyelid trembled as he slowly turned his head.

“This will take some time if I don’t help them out…”

Shin Sung-Hyun’s eyes reflected the white-haired man’s side profile. The white-haired man was looking down at the base of the wall with an indifferent expression. He looked as if he didn’t care about Shin Sung-Hyun’s existence at all.

“Heavenly… Demon…?” muttered Shin Sung-Hyun. He barely managed to squeeze such words out of his throat.

The Heavenly Demon slowly turned to him.

“Come to think of it, I remember him saying…”

‘...that we should put an end to this long war.’

The Heavenly Demon recalled hearing those words from Kim Woo-Joong at the baseball stadium.

The Heavenly Demon nodded as he recalled the memories of that fateful day.

“Tonight, let's put an end to this long war.”

“Master! Nooooo!”

Slash!

The walls were abruptly stained with blood.