Return of the Frozen Player

A few men and women were gathered at the round table of a conference room, and they were looking at the hologram window in front of them.

- I will protect everything.

When Seo Jun-Ho stabbed himself in the heart, the hologram window turned black.

“...”

The group remained silent, seemingly lost in thought.

The man in a gray suit broke the ice. “This must be the twist of fate you’ve mentioned, World Tree.”

- Yes, but the twist is much greater in magnitude than I expected.

The World Tree answered; she seemed to be at a loss as well.

“Let me ask…” Reiji had been shaking her legs beneath the table. She turned to look at the World Tree and asked, “What exactly do you mean by the full capacity won’t be exercised?”

- I wanted to give him a perfect return as a gift.

The World Tree’s sigh shook the air gently.

- After all, I have seen how much he struggled during his regressions.

The World Tree had put a lot of thought into her arrangement upon taking a glimpse of the future.

- I tried to include the ability to protect his mind and humanity, the ability to choose the time of return by himself, and finally, the ability to preserve his memories.

However, she failed.

- The 7th Floor isn’t in my jurisdiction, so I couldn’t do it.

- Wait.

Deus Ex Machina chimed in.

- It sounds like you had to remove one of the abilities you wanted to include.

- You’re right.

The World Tree had thought long and hard about which one of those three abilities would be the most helpful to Seo Jun-Ho.

“Oh no…”Reiji slumped in her chair, and her forehead struck the table when she sprang up and said, “You excluded the ability to protect his mind and humanity.”

- His Hero’s Mind was EX, so I decided to exclude it.

“You’ve made a reasonable judgment, but…”

Seo Jun-Ho ended up using The World Tree’s arrangement on the 7th Floor rather than on the 6th Floor. The players were unaware, but the dimension of the 7th Floor was suffering from a twisted time axis for some reason.

And it resulted in the World Tree making a critical error in her arrangement.

- I did not expect that the error in the dimension would affect the diary.

- Sigh. This is bad.

Deus put up Seo Jun-Ho’s information in the air.

- Stubbornness, Self-sacrifice, Poetic Justice, and Life of Hardships.

Seo Jun-Ho’s characteristics happened to be the worst characteristics one could have in a situation like this.

The Administrators groaned.

“What a disaster…” Gray quickly summarized everything. “He’ll take advantage of this opportunity because he is stubborn, and he has a strong sense of self-sacrifice as well.”

- Most importantly, the World Tree’s save point was erased.

The Administrators couldn’t be sure, but Seo Jun-Ho would probably travel a lot further back in time than what the Administrators were expecting.

They all felt sorry for Seo Jun-Ho.

“He’s a fool who will do his best to make a better future for everyone without realizing that he is incapable of changing anything with his own hands alone.”

A man couldn’t go against his fate, and it would remain true no matter how many times he repeated the scenario.

“Fate is like a water bottle with holes in it.”

The issue would appear to have been resolved if one were to block the holes, but the water inside the bottle would eventually find its way out given enough time. Attempting to change one’s fate would always cause a massive backlash.

“He’ll only be able to change a single fate at most…”

“How many times does he have to regress for him to realize that…?”

Seo Jun-Ho would eventually notice that something was wrong, but he would definitely have no choice but to continue living until he reached the point where he would receive the World Tree’s arrangement once again.

- I see. I finally understand why the Life of Hardships is there...

Seo Jun-Ho’s characteristics meant that he was fated to go down the road of agony, and not even the Administrators knew when his agony would end or if it would even end.

“I guess there’s nothing we can do for him right now.”

The Administrators could only pray for him.

‘May he realize the limits of humanity as soon as possible, and may his stubbornness shatter sooner rather than later. May he remain human throughout his journey…’

“Please…”

The Administrators desperately prayed—they prayed that Seo Jun-Ho would not go down the worst path the Administrators had in mind.

***

[ERROR: 404 NOT FOUND.]

[Jun-Ho’s diary save point could not be found.]

[The save point has been deleted.]

[Please set the year, date, and time of return.]

[Your memory will be preserved.]

[Your mind will not be protected.]

Seo Jun-Ho stared at the system windows.

‘What…? I can choose the year, date, and time?’

The unbelievable system messages made Seo Jun-Ho feel complicated. Seo Jun-Ho had been planning on turning back time by a few days at best to ensure that everyone would survive the Heavenly Demon’s ambush.

However, he changed his mind upon seeing the system windows.

‘...I can change everything.’

Seo Jun-Ho could revive the people he considered precious to him—his parents, friends, and those whom he failed to protect—he could even revive his master.

When the possibility crossed his mind, Seo Jun-Ho made a decision.

In the end, he decided to return ten years before the Gates appeared.

“...January 1st, 2009 at 00:00.”

‘I can change everything.’

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes flashed in determination.

He promised himself to bring out the best results based on his future knowledge and experience.

And it took many years before the determination in his eyes faded…

***

“What should we do?”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho remained silent at Seo Jun-Sik’s question. They were currently within the Imperial Palace Grounds of the Babella Empire on the 7th Floor. They were here to rescue Rahmadat

‘What did I do here again?’

It had been a very long time since then, so Seo Jun-Ho found it difficult to recall what happened back then.

“Oh.”

‘I remember it now.’

He had asked Seo Jun-Sik to pretend like he was Seo Jun-Ho in order to lure Digor away from the Imperial Palace.

“However, I won’t be able to rescue Woo-Joong in time if I were to do that.”

Seo Jun-Ho nodded and said, “Let’s change the roles this time. I’ll lure Prince Digor and you run away with Rahmadat. You don’t need to push yourself too hard because you just need to hold out until Geon-Woo arrives.”

Seo Jun-Sik nodded and said indifferently, “Got it.”

‘Has he always been like that?’ Seo Jun-Ho contemplated for a while, but he soon shook his head. ‘Probably not. Jun-Sik’s personality must have changed a lot as well since he’s my clone, and we share thoughts and feelings.’

Seo Jun-Ho could still recall Seo Jun-Sik having a livelier personality back then.

“Well, good luck.”

“You, too,” said Seo Jun-Sik. He paused and went on. “I’m rooting for you. For real.”

“...I know.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled and carried a sack made out of darkness on his shoulder.

“I’ll get going, then.”

Boom!

When the underground prison finally emerged from the ground, Seo Jun-Ho ran away without looking back even once.

‘And there should be fifty knights chasing after me, excluding Prince Digor.’

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t remember exactly how many knights had been chasing after Seo Jun-Sik, but he figured that it shouldn’t be too different.

‘I had been repeating everything in the same order and in exactly the same way.’

Seo Jun-Ho had repeated the past exactly as he remembered, and it included his relationships, conversations, actions, and every single facial expression. However, he still couldn’t be certain if what he had been doing would be effective.

After all, he was merely imitating his past; he could never be the same as his past.

‘Oh.’ Seo Jun-Ho suddenly came to a halt upon realizing something. ‘Jun-Sik got surrounded here...’

Seo Jun-Ho looked back and saw Prince Digor and the knights diligently chasing after him.

Seo Jun-Ho fell into deep thought at the sight.

‘I’m already out of the capital.’

If he wanted to save Kim Woo-Joong in time, then he had to shake Prince Digor off.

“What is it? Giving up already?” Digor asked as he glared at Seo Jun-Ho.

The fifty Overminds descended and surrounded Seo Jun-Ho in the blink of an eye.

“...Let’s make a deal,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

He wanted to avoid changing the future so early.

“I want you to leave me alone, and in exchange, you will live,” he added.

“Pffft! Hahahahaha!” Prince Digor boisterously laughed. “You’re right. Of course, no one will die if we were to leave you alone, but you’re the only one who’s going to die if we attack you. You sure know how to bluff despite becoming a cornered rat, huh? Funny.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t really expecting much from Prince Digor, so he wasn’t disappointed at all. ‘I just don’t feel like killing if they’ll accept the compromise.’

Seo Jun-Ho stared indifferently at Prince Digor as he said coldly, “I’ll ask you one last time. Are you really not going to leave me alone?”

Prince Digor’s eyes trembled slightly upon meeting Seo Jun-Ho’s gaze.

‘...What is this feeling?’

Prince Digor grew perplexed at the fear that gripped his heart. He could still remember that Seo Jun-Ho was one of the Players who had run away from him with their tails tucked between their legs just a few days ago.

‘So why am I feeling this way?’ Prince Digor bit his lips. ‘I must be mistaken.’

Prince Digor was convinced that he was mistaken because he had a conversation with His Majesty the Emperor before leaving the Imperial Palace.

‘His Majesty’s pressure must still be lingering on me. I think that’s why I’m still afraid.’

“What are you doing? Kill him.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The fifty Imperial Knights drew their weapons at Prince Digor’s orders.

Shwing!

The sound was loud and uniform, even though fifty people had drawn their weapons out at the same time. Seo Jun-Ho swept his gaze across the Imperial Knights, and he instantly saw through just how hard they had been working their entire lives.

“So you guys have been living a difficult life as well…”

Seo Jun-Ho felt sorry for the knights. Sympathy was one of the feelings Seo Jun-Ho often felt throughout his journey. They were his enemies—yes, but they had also been living diligent lives.

Unfortunately, Seo Jun-Ho was about to snuff their lives out with a wave of his sleeves.

“I know this is unfair, but…” Seo Jun-Ho swore to never forget the fact they had lived diligently. “I will remember the diligent life you’ve lived…”

‘I will embrace your memories and move forward.’

Boom!

Prince Digor froze, and he stared at the shocking sight with quivering eyes.

“...What?”

Dozens of black balls rained down on the knights and killed them instantly. Soon, the blood from the fifty Imperial Knights formed a pool beneath Prince Digor and Seo Jun-Ho’s feet.

“You…! How…?” The harrowing sight finally convinced Prince Digor that the pressure he had felt earlier had truly come from Seo Jun-Ho. “...What the hell are you?”

“Who knows?” Seo Jun-Ho sounded uncertain. He truly had no idea what he was at this point. “Once I find the answer to that question, I’ll let you know once we meet in Hell.”

“N-no!”

Prince Digor felt a sense of crisis, so he hurriedly cast his power to distort. It was a power that allowed him to distort space itself, and it should be enough to disrupt Seo Jun-Ho’s aim.

‘I have to run…’

His Majesty the Emperor was the only one who could handle the monster named Seo Jun-Ho.

Terrified, Prince Digor turned around and ran away.

“...”

At the sight. Seo Jun-Ho sighed lightly.

It seemed that he had one more piece of information to remember.

“Prince Digor of the Babella Empire—he’s a man who values his life a lot.”

Fwoosh!

The massive wave of darkness that flowed out of Seo Jun-Ho enveloped the entire world in the proverbial blink of an eye. Digor’s power to distort was useless because Seo Jun-Ho’s darkness had also engulfed space itself.

“...”

Once he was done, Seo Jun-Ho turned to look at the Imperial Palace.

‘He can probably feel me as well.’

***

“...”

Kineos Mullibach, the Overmind Emperor, sprang up from his seat. It was a rare sight because he would usually spend most of his days sitting on his throne unless he had to visit the Chronos Laboratory.

“I’m confused,” He had to stand up, but it wasn’t because he had to visit the Chronos Laboratory. He simply had no choice but to stand up. “What is going on?”

Kineos Mullibach’s shock didn’t come as a surprise because he had just discovered the presence of another Star Destruction Stage creature in his land.