Return of the Frozen Player

The rusty smell of blood quickly spread throughout the battlefield as silence descended upon the castle walls.

“...Wow.”

The Heavenly Demon broke the silence with a surprised look.

“You dodged it?” he said.

“Master!”

Ha In-Ho and Gong Ju-Ha hastily stepped in front of Shin Sung-Hyun.

Gong Ju-Ha went beyond pallid upon checking Shin Sung-Hyun’s condition.

‘He managed to avoid instant death, but the wound is too severe.’

Blood was still pouring out of the long cut on Shin Sung-Hyun’s chest. If he hadn’t twisted the space in front of him in time, then he would have been split into two by the attack.

“Huff, huff… Team Leader Gong.”

Shin Sung-Hyun’s expression was ugly as cold sweat broke out all over him. His vision started to blur. He bled too much in a short period of time, and there were two Gong Ju-Ha in his eyes.

“Yes, yes! Master…”

“The fact that… the Heavenly Demon…is here means that Isaac Dvor and Valencia Citrin are nearby—Keugh!”

“Just please keep your mouth closed! You’re bleeding!”

“This is my command… as the Guild Master of Goblin….” Shin Sung-Hyun’s eyes suddenly became as vigorous as a burning candle just before it was extinguished. “Do not let the fiends go… no matter what!”

“Master…!” Gong Ju-Ha bit her lips and nodded, looking aggrieved.

However, Shin Sung-Hyun’s wounds suddenly healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“...!”

Gong Ju-Ha and Shin Sung-Hyun looked at each other with wide eyes.

“You avoided instant death, so I should be able to keep you alive somehow. Just don’t die on us,” said the Schumern Saintess, Cha Si-Eun.

“Okay, stop crying,” said Shin Sung-Hyun.

“Hmm, kehem.” Gong Ju-Ha wiped the tears off of her eyes with an awkward expression and looked down at Shin Sung-Hyun. “I guess I got worried about you for no reason. Get up if you’ve come to your senses.”

“...Okay.”

Shin Sung-Hyun stood up by himself and glared murderously at the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon was looking at them with a look of amusement.

“What an amalgamation of killing intent… it feels like home.” The Heavenly Demon was by himself on the wall, but he was laughing, even though he only had enemies as far as his eye could see.

“Well, I can just bring them with me.”

He manifested a tiny amount of demonic energy, but the air itself trembled when it manifested.

“Bleck!”

“Ah! Bleck!”

The nearby Players vomited upon being struck by the Heavenly Demon’s demonic energy. It couldn’t be helped because the Heavenly Demon’s demonic energy seemed like it was the most nauseating energy in the world.

“Heavenly Demooon!” a loud and fierce voice echoed.

The Heavenly Demon’s demonic energy was shattered.

Boom!

The part of the wall where the Heavenly Demon was standing had collapsed.

“...”

The Heavenly Demon leisurely floated in the air, and he looked down at his hands.

He didn’t expect that he would be forced to use his hands against an opponent who was neither Seo Jun-Ho nor Kim Woo-Joong.

He looked up and asked, “I’ve never seen you before… who are you?”

However, the other party only glared at him with eyes filled with anger, joy, and an unknown sense of longing.

‘I’ve seen angry gazes, but… it’s my first time seeing someone looking at me with a sense of longing?’

The Heavenly Demon grew more and more curious about the other party.

“...I missed you.”

The other party’s gaze was so sharp that if gazes could kill, then the Heavenly Demon would have already been torn apart by at least a dozen times by now.

“And I mean it. I really missed you like crazy.”

“You’re coming on a bit too strong. Do you know me?”

“Of course I do. I know you very well.”

Crackle!

Sparks emerged from the gray-haired man.

The Heavenly Demon grinned at the sight.

“I see. Are you perhaps Baek Geon-Woo, the Thunder God’s disciple?”

“...”

The gray-haired man’s face stiffened.

Boom!

A lightning bolt passed by the Heavenly Demon and struck the ground.

‘He’s better than I thought...’

The Heavenly Demon surrounded himself with his demonic energy before nodding and saying, “I guess I’m correct, looking at your reaction.”

“Do not mention my master’s name with that filthy mouth of yours.”

The Heavenly Demon finally remembered why the man was so hostile toward him. He brought up his memories regarding the Thunder God before saying, “He was a decent martial artist, but he met a miserable end.”

“Shut up!” Baek Geon-Woo roared.

Crackle! Boom!

Lightning was a natural disaster, and it was determined to tear the Heavenly Demon apart.

“You’re fast.” The Heavenly Demon smiled. “However, you’re only as good as your master.”

***

“Rahmadat!”

“Yeah, I know!” Rahmadat shouted and turned around. As soon as he turned around, a sword pierced his torso.

“Since you knew, you should have dodged.”

“Hm, I didn’t feel like dodging.”

Bang!

Rahmadat headbutted the sword-wielding opponent, and the latter crumpled to the floor.

Seo Jun-Ho shrugged at the sight.

“...Do as you please.”

“Thanks!”

It had already been four hours since the battle on the deck started, and the battle was about to end. The hundreds of Overminds couldn’t handle the three of them.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho’s gaze wordlessly turned to one place.

New challengers had emerged to greet them.

“Hmm.”

“Grrr…”

Rahmadat grinned before throwing away the Overmind that he was beating up to a pulp.

“At last, the owners have come out. I’m fed up beating their dogs.”

“I wouldn’t call them the owners. Aren’t they just managers at most?”

The Imperial Generals—Bocello and Bamon—were finally here.

“What a shame. I should have killed you by any means back then.”

“Whatever, you won’t be so lucky today.”

The Imperial Generals seemed confident.

However, Seo Jun-Ho ignored them and lowered his voice to ask, “Skaya, Rahmadat. The two of you can handle them, right?”

“I don’t really care, but…” Skaya trailed off. “Are you going to fight that prince by yourself? Will you be fine?”

“I can’t let him run away.”

Skaya and Rahmadat would definitely have an easier time dealing with the generals if Seo Jun-Ho were to stay with them. However, there was no way Prince Digor would help his generals unless he lost his mind.

‘He’ll definitely run away.’

Unfortunately, they had no way to stop the prince from running away.

‘His ability is really tricky to deal with.’

The Players would be at a huge advantage if Seo Jun-Ho allowed the prince to do as he pleased. After all, Prince Digor was capable of disabling their Vitas and distorting space.

‘I have to get rid of him here, considering the upcoming laboratory and power plant operations.’

Having read Seo Jun-Ho’s mind, Skaya and Rahmadat nodded.

“If you really must… okay. I’ll carry him somehow.”

“Bullshit. I can deal with those two by myself.”

“Hah, that’s funny.”

‘I can trust those two.’

Seo Jun-Ho turned around to leave the deck, but Bamon raised his eyebrows.

“Hey, I did not give you the permission to leave.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho glanced at him wordlessly before ignoring him and walking away.

“I guess you don’t have any manners, so here’s your manners!” Bamon hurled a spear at Seo Jun-Ho.

Zing!

However, the spear froze in mid-air.

Skaya crossed her arms and lightly clicked her tongue.

“Don’t be so desperate to cling onto someone who wants to leave. We’ll play with you.”

“...What an arrogant woman.”

“Why are you even answering her?” Bocello muttered and drew out his weapon. “We just have to beat these two to death, and we can pursue him afterward.”

“Wow, what a coincidence,” said Rahmadat.

Crack, Crack!

Rahmadat cracked his neck and approached them with a smile.

“You guys have the same plan as us.”

***

Digor was sitting in his chair in front of the monitors when Seo Jun-Ho walked into the cockpit.

“...Seriously. I’m so sick of this,” Digor muttered in a slightly tired voice before turning around in his chair.

He stared at Seo Jun-Ho and asked, “Do you have any idea how much we’ve suffered because of trivial humans like you?”

“Of course, I have an idea,” Seo Jun-Ho chuckled, but he was dumbfounded as well.

‘Do you have any idea how hard we had to work just to give you that much damage?’

“You killed ten thousand of our subjects, and you also destroyed the one and only supermassive airship of the empire. We have indeed suffered a great loss.”

“Why? Were you fond of this airship?” Seo Jun-Ho mocked to get on Digor’s nerves.

However, Digor only smirked at him.

“Ah, all right. It seems like you still have the time to crack a joke despite your situation.”

“I can also crack a joke whenever I want in the future, and…” Seo Jun-Ho trailed off upon seeing scenes that he couldn’t quite grasp when he inadvertently looked at the monitors.

“And what? You should finish what you were saying,” Digo said sarcastically.

However, Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes were fixated on the screen.

“How?”

The walls should have been clear because it was created by the Frost Queen’s ice, but it was currently dyed with the crimson blood of the Players.

“But how…?”

The walls that had been built for the Players to walk on were full of their corpses.

“Haha. I guess you have no idea what’s going on out there because of my interference. You must have been unable to feel their energy, no?” Digor shrugged.

Based on the scenes being depicted by the monitors, the battle on the ground had already ended.

“I have already achieved my goal, as you can see...” Digor finally got up from his seat and smirked. “In other words, there’s no reason for me to stay here and fight you.”

Digor created a rift in space and disappeared into it before Seo Jun-Ho could react.

***

Seo Jun-Ho jumped off the airship.

‘There’s no way this is real. He must have lied to confuse me.’

Seo Jun-Ho was convinced that the scenes he had seen on the monitor were forged because there was no way that the Players in the ice castle would die so soon, considering that they were competent veterans and were the cream of the crop.

“...”

However, those with high expectations were bound to feel greater disappointment when those expectations weren’t met. Seo Jun-Ho’s expression dried up like a desert upon landing on the crimson castle walls.

“...”

He looked around and saw Gong Ju-Ha, Shin Sung-Hyun, and Cha Si-Eun.

“Team Leader Gong, Shin Sung-Hyun… Miss Si Eun…?”

They perished with their eyes wide open while staring at the sunrise.

Seo Jun-Ho forced down the urge to vomit.

“Huh? It’s a human.”

“There’s still a human left?”

Banggggg!

The Overminds who rushed at Seo Jun-Ho were torn into thousands of pieces by the furious darkness that blossomed from him.

Seo Jun-Ho picked up his face.

‘No. This can’t be real.’

His Imperturbable Mind shattered when he was faced with the unacceptable reality in front of him.

Seo Jun-Ho desperately wished for his Hero’s Mind(EX) to activate.

‘Please tell me that I’m in an illusion. Tell me that all of this is a lie.’

However, there wasn’t any system prompt related to Hero’s Mind.

“Frost Queen! Geon-Woo! Son Chae-Won!”

Seo Jun-Ho frantically ran and searched the castle for a survivor hoping that he would see at least one survivor.

‘This familiar energy belongs to…!’

Bang!

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes trembled.

He ran toward the familiar energy and opened the door to his personal training ground.

“Oh, you’re here?” The Heavenly Demon greeted Seo Jun-Ho with a grin.

Baek Geon-Woo lay dead at his feet with his limbs severed.

He had met an end similar to his master.

“It was an interesting experience. I felt like I was killing the same man twice because he had the exact same habits as his master,” The Heavenly Demon said. He looked as excited as a child who was telling his parents about what he had done in school.

“Hey, look here as well.”

The Heavenly Demon pointed at where Kim Woo-Joong and Son Chae-Won’s corpses were located. A sword was sticking out of Son Chae-Won’s stomach, and Kim Woo-Joong was kneeling in front of her. He had completely lost his mind.

“I ordered him to kill that woman, and he completely lost his mind afterward. If I had known that making him kill that woman would ruin him, then I would have killed that woman myself.”

“HEAVENLY DEMOOON!” Seo Jun-Ho roared as tears fell from his eyes.

“...You’re finally crying.” The Heavenly Demon smiled. Moments later, he erupted into raucous laughter. “Hahaha! At last! I finally made you cry!”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho remained silent. A deep sense of lethargy and despondency engulfed him as his gaze helplessly turned to the ground.

‘If everything was eventually going to end up like this, then what was I even fighting for? Was it to protect—’’Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes tightly, interrupting his train of thought.

Everything was over, and in the end, he couldn’t protect anything. The mere thought of trying to protect everything precious to him sounded absurd to him now.

“Pffft! Hahahaha!” Seo Jun-Ho also laughed along with the Heavenly Demon because the situation was indeed absurd. He laughed for a long time until someone spoke to him.

“Jun… Ho…”

It was Kim Woo-Joong.

Seo Jun-Ho could see blood-stained tears beneath Kim Woo-Joong’s eyes.

Then, Kim Woo-Joong begged. “Kill…me.”

Kim Woo-Joong had committed a terrible crime. He became a fiend and killed many Players. In the end, he even ended up killing the woman who was the most precious to him in this world with his own hands.

Kim Woo-Joong desperately wanted to die, but the prohibition didn’t allow him to hurt himself.

“Please, kill me. Please…”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho wordlessly took the sword that Kim Woo-Joong had extended over to him while shedding tears of blood.

When Seo Jun-Ho raised his head and looked into Kim Woo-Joong’s eyes, he finally realized that Kim Woo-Joong had truly broken down. The virtuous Sword Saint nor the heartless Sword Demon was no longer there.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t understand how things had come to this point.

‘If I had known that the Heavenly Demon would be here… if I had been more careful…’

Great regret overwhelmed Seo Jun-Ho. The weight of the lives that had perished tonight was too much for Seo Jun-Ho to bear on his shoulders.

‘Wait. Regret?’

- When you are at the lowest, the most painful point in your life, and when you regret something so much that you want to die, use this.

The World Tree’s words inadvertently appeared in his mind.

Seo Jun-Ho retrieved a small wooden box from his Inventory.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho stared wordlessly at the box. He was afraid of opening it because he had already learned the hard way that the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment.

“Please… give me death.” Kim Woo-Joong begged.

Seo Jun-Ho bit his lips.

Nothing would change if he didn’t move forward despite the adversity.

Click.

The wooden box opened, and Seo Jun-Ho saw a crumpled paper and a note inside.

-I’m sorry.

The very first sentence on the note was the World Tree’s apology.

- My power as an Administrator drops drastically outside of the 4th Floor, so the full capacity won’t be exercised.

- However, many things will change depending on how you use it.

- I wish you all the best for your future.

Seo Jun-Ho’s trembling hand reached for the crumpled paper, and he opened it slowly only to find that it was empty.

“This is…”

However, Seo Jun-Ho instantly recognized the paper just by touching it alone.

‘How could I not know…?’

“Item Data.”

[Jun-Ho’s Diary, Final Page]

Grade: Legendary

Description: The final page of Jun-Ho’s diary.

It was a page of the diary he carried around for seventeen years.

Crumple!

Seo Jun-Ho held the paper tightly in his hand.

‘The World Tree said that I won’t be able to utilize all of its ability.’

However, Seo Jun-Ho was prepared to pay any price as long as he could change this terrible reality.

“Kim Woo-Joong.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s dead eyes lit up with the light of hope.

“Do not give up.”

“...?”

Seo Jun-Ho put his hand on Kim Woo-Joong’s shoulder and promised in a firm voice.

“I will protect everything.”

Kim Woo-Joong was still shedding tears of blood, but he was now smiling.

‘Ah…’

- Do not give up. I will protect everyone.

Kim Woo-Joong could still vividly remember seeing Seo Jun-Ho on the television, and the current Seo Jun-Ho had changed so much compared to when Kim Woo-Joong was still a child who could only admire his Hero on the television.

Splat!

Seo Jun-Ho stabbed himself in the heart.