Return of the Frozen Player

"Whew…" Gilberto was nervous. How could he not be nervous when 784 failures had surrounded him?

"Are you ready?" asked the village chief.

Gilberto shook his head awkwardly.

"From now on, we will engrave the fruit of our research on your body and soul."

"Can you be gentle…?"

"We can, but we can’t," the village chief said flatly.

"That's contradictory. Why?"

"It transcends human senses."

It seemed that it surpassed even the so-called sixth sense.

“If we want to be gentle, then it will take you hundreds of years to be enlightened to it. I think even an unprecedented genius will need a hundred years at the least if they were to learn this the gentle way,” added the village chief.

“I guess I just have to learn it the hard way…”

The failures chose the method of engraving. They would engrave their research on Gilberto’s body and soul.

"Be steadfast and focused." The village chief warned sternly, "Feel it and accept it. Lose focus even for a moment, and everything will fall apart.”

The village chief tried his best not to frighten Gilberto, but the latter could tell that he would die if the engraving failed. Gilberto glanced at Arthur, and he saw that the young man looked terrified but was hiding it beneath the facade of calmness.

"Arthur."

"Yes..."

"I'll be back," Gilberto said and chuckled without realizing it.

Arthur was furious. "What’s funny? Did you think of Mother again?"

"No, I was thinking of you." This wasn’t the first time that Gilberto had to tell his son that he would be back. "I’m not sure if you still remember, but I once told you that I’ll be back while you were staring at me with those huge, clear eyes of yours.”

Gilberto could still vividly remember that he said those words before leaving for the Frost Queen's nest. He kissed Arthur’s forehead and promised that he would be back.

"I'll be back for sure." It had taken a long time, but Gilberto managed to keep his word. Gilberto's eyes curved like a crescent moon. "I’ll keep my word once more., so don't be afraid and wait for me.”

“Why would I be afraid?” Arthur grumbled.

However, his complexion looked visibly better as he said, "Come back safely."

Arthur was then escorted out of the vacant lot.

The vacant lot was silent.

The village chief finally broke the ice. "Tell me when you're ready.”

"No need to drag it out. Let's go."

The village chief nodded and said, "Well, I wish you the best of luck."

Mutter, mutter, mutter…

The failures started chanting in an unknown language.

“…” Gilberto’s eyes and senses didn’t detect anything, but Gilberto could feel it.

‘It's coming.’

Something huge was coming.

Gilberto gnashed his teeth and braced for impact.

Boom!

“…!” Gilberto almost collapsed at the inexplicable pain that penetrated him, and his blood vessels exploded at the same time.

‘Ugh!’

He had no idea how to scream. His mouth opened unknowingly from the pain, and he had no idea how to close it. However, Gilberto quickly composed himself.

'I have to… capture it…!' He had to capture the energy that had inundated him like a deluge. He had to capture it to live. ‘But…’

The iron walls he had established to protect his mind abruptly collapsed upon being struck by the tsunami of energy, and Gilberto's eyes turned white.

***

The Frost Queen's face peeked out of the bushes.

Her eyes narrowed, and she glared somewhere.

"What is it?"

"Did you find an enemy?"

Seo Jun-Ho and Baek Geon-Woo immediately took on a stance.

The Frost Queen returned to the bushes and rubbed her eyes with her fists.

"Dust got in my eyes…” she muttered.

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho and Baek Geon-Woo didn’t know what to say. They were about to laugh, but the Frost Queen beat them to the punch.

"Contractor, I think that’s the entrance to the Chronos Laboratory,” she said.

"I guess we arrived safely," said Seo Jun-Ho with a light sigh.

Helic had marked the location of the facilities where her holy relics could be found.

“We found it thanks to the map.”

"And it’s thanks to Frost as well…”

The Frost Queen could become invisible to others if she wanted to do so. In other words, the Frost Queen was the strongest among them when it came to reconnaissance.

Thanks to her, they managed to avoid encountering any Overminds as they made their way toward the Chronos Laboratory.

"The emperor probably has no idea that our target is the Chronos Laboratory.”

"I guess that’s true since we have been avoiding any skirmishes.”

"Will there be any fight soon?" asked Rahmadat. He sounded feeble because he hadn’t really received any proper treatment, so his condition wasn’t that great.

"Ugh, I'll tell you in advance, but I may not be that helpful,” added Rahmadat.

"Don’t worry; I just have to fight even harder for your sake," said Baek Geon-Woo.

"...You said you’re Jun-Ho's senior brother, right? Are you sure it's okay?” Rahmadat asked.

However, Baek Geon-Woo only smiled confidently without saying anything.

Seo Jun-Ho answered Rahmadat’s question, "The two of us are strong enough to kill even an Imperial Knight Division, so don’t worry about us.”

"Hey, you forgot me,” the Frost Queen chimed in.

"The three of us are strong enough to kill even an Imperial Knight Division, so don’t worry about us,” Seo Jun-Ho repeated and emphasized.

"Yup, that’s correct." The Frost Queen nodded with a satisfied look. "Contractor, I have been thinking about it, but I’m really convinced that this is going to be a race against time.”

“I think so, too.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded. He was convinced that the emperor would instantly discover them the moment they attacked the Chronos Laboratory.

“But he won’t be able to do anything…”

By then, Helic would keep the emperor in check.

"Jun-Ho, what are you going to do if the emperor ignores Helic?" asked Rahmadat.

"What do you think I can do? I'll run away, of course."

If the emperor ignored Helic to come here, then it meant that the Float Force Power Plan was without any defenses. Helic would definitely take advantage of that opening to recover her holy relic by herself.

"In other words, it’ll be a checkmate."

"It’s most likely that the reinforcements that will arrive at the Chronos Laboratory will be the generals and their men whom we met yesterday.”

"And Prince Digor..."

Predicting their movements was one thing, while the success of the operation was another.

"Frost, be honest.”

"What is it?"

"If Digor and I fought, who do you think will win?” added Seo Jun-Ho. He had heard from the Frost Queen that Seo Jun-Ho managed to reach the Star Destruction Stage in one of his regressions and that he literally tore Digor apart.

‘But I can't do that right now...’

He had fought Digor many times in his head, but he still found the latter a difficult opponent to defeat.

"Huh…? I have no idea.”

"What? What do you mean?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

The Frost Queen was flustered, and she hurriedly explained, “W-when you got rid of Digor, you tore him apart so quickly that he couldn’t even fight back…”

Therefore, the Frost Queen didn’t get to witness Digor’s true strength. In other words, it was impossible to deduce who was stronger between the two.

“I guess we won’t know until we try…” muttered Seo Jun-Ho with a sigh.

He swept his gaze across the group members and said, "All right. I will eventually have to deal with him, so I don’t mind even if I have to deal with him sooner rather than later.”

"Isn’t our goal the recovery of a holy relic?”

"Yes. It is presumed that the holy relic is somewhere in that temple." A holy relic was found in the basement of the Radio Tower, so there had to be a holy relic in the Chronos Laboratory as well.

"Secure the holy relic and go straight to Point C,” said Seo Jun-Ho before handing out emergency flares to the group members.

"There are three colors. Red, blue... and green?"

"Oh, I know these flares. Our party has been using these color-coded flares for the longest time, and each color has its own meaning.”

Red meant the failure of the operation, and the next action the party members had to take was to retreat. Blue meant the success of the operation, and the party members would then group up at where the flare was fired.

However, green was different. One had to put down whatever they were doing and rush toward where the flare was fired.

"Hm." Baek Geon-Woo turned to the green flare. "I guess shooting this guy means that there’s a huge issue.”

"Yes, and it indicates the catastrophic failure of the operation, and it’s even more terrifying because it also means that the party members are in danger.”

In other words, even the rearguards were in danger.

Rahmadat looked exhausted upon being reminded of those dangerous days.

“Whenever I see a green light in the sky, I always have to overcome a life-or-death crisis or survive an extremely dangerous predicament.”

"...Aren’t those the same?"

"Yeah, but in a nutshell, those days were hard,” said Rahmadat.

The green flare was the harbinger of despair. The Frost Queen and Baek Geon-Woo gulped while staring at the green flare.

"No, you can't throw it away just because you're scared…" said Seo Jun-Ho.

"..." The Frost Queen was about to secretly throw the green flare in her hand away, but Seo Jun-Ho saw through her intentions.

Seo Jun-Ho checked the time on his Vita and said, "We’ll start in three minutes. I’ll go ahead with Night Walking.”

Moments later, the Watchguard of Darkness devoured their presence.

***

The Chronos Laboratory didn’t look like a laboratory at all. It looked more like Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was more like a historical site rather than a laboratory filled with state-of-the-art facilities.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

However, it seemed that the group had been too greedy to think that the laboratory wouldn’t have any modern equipment because the moment they got close enough to the temple, alarms started ringing.

“Did we trigger the alarms?”

"What do you think?”

"Well, maybe it’s just a mistake?"

"Do you really think so?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

The Frost Queen looked like she wanted to cry, and she prayed that the alarm rang because of a false alarm, but her prayer wasn’t heard.

"An intruder! An intruder!"

"A human? Wait, the intruder is a human!"

The Overminds emerged from the temple with weapons in hand.

Rahmadat started stretching to warm up despite his injuries.

"I think there are about five hundred of them? Ah, I really haven’t recovered yet,” he muttered.

Bzzt, bzzt.

"Didn’t I tell you earlier?" Lightning danced around Baek Geon-Woo. "I’ll just have to fight even harder for your sake!"

Rumble!

Thunder rumbled as lightning bolts fell toward the Overminds like rain.

"Arrrgh!"

"I-I can’t feel my body!”

The Overminds were electrocuted, destroying their formation.

"The Overminds here sure are sturdy. I wanted to kill them instantly…" muttered Baek Geon-Woo with a smile. He could already see that tonight would be a long night.

***

A rift in space opened, and hundreds of figures emerged from the rift.

"W-welcome!"

The Laboratory Director of the Chronos Laboratory saluted the figures. He had no choice but to be respectful because two of the empire’s four-star generals had arrived at the laboratory.

'Above all...'

Prince Digor was at the helm of the group, and he was only below one individual but above ten thousand. He was a man whose power was second only to His Majesty the Emperor.

Prince Digor asked with a grin, "So, there's an intruder?"

"Yes! It’s a human!"

"A human... Humans have really become a real problem these days." Prince Digor nodded and said, "Generals, lead your men and crush those rats."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Let's go!"

The two generals led their men out of the temple.

Left alone with Prince Digor, the Laboratory Director felt awkward, so he ended up saying something out of the line. "Ah! Fortunately, we’re holding those enemies back, so the holy relic is safe. Please rest assured.”

"Are you sure?"

"...What?"

"I'm asking if you're sure about it. Are you willing to put your life on the line?”

The Laboratory Director was at a loss for words. He was confident, but he couldn’t help but start doubting himself because the question had come from Prince Digor.

"The fact that you are hesitating makes me nervous. Guide me there. I'll see for myself."

"Yes? Ah, no! I cannot do that, Your Highness." The Laboratory Director shook his head, but it wasn’t an issue of clearance. Even he—the Laboratory Director—could only see the holy relic through the monitors.

"Only His Majesty can approach the holy relic, but you may confirm its status on the monitors," said the Laboratory Director.

"What if the image in the monitor had been tampered with?” asked Prince Digor.

"What? I don’t think—”

"Listen here, Director. I dismissed the news about how the humans killed a gatekeeper as well as how the humans killed General Ceylonso as mere rumors. However, the horrors I witnessed in Gulat made me change my mind. I have to take those humans more seriously.”

The Laboratory Director stood there, rooted in place. He was soaked in his own sweat because he couldn’t refute Prince Digor’s remark.

"Haaa." Prince Digor sighed and asked, "How long has it been since you became the director of this lab?"

"T-thirty-seven years, Your Highness."

"Wow, really? I'm sure your father’s death allowed you to take over the position. Yes, I think that’s it. I can still remember attending your inauguration.”

"It is my honor, Your Highness!"

The Laboratory Director was moved. He hadn’t expected that His Highness could still remember him despite the latter’s busy schedule.

It was even more unexpected because the Laboratory Director was a researcher who had to spend his days locked up in a laboratory.

Prince Digor gently tapped his shoulder.

"You know, I’m really proud of you. You have been faithful to the laboratory over the past thirty-seven years.”

"Thank you!"

"What I’m trying to say is that we should be flexible and adapt to changes in the situation. If the holy relic here disappeared, then it had to be known immediately. I think a good researcher has to be flexible…”

"B-but, Your Highness! It’s fine! There’s no way it’ll disappear—”

"Oh, really?" Prince Digor's hand stopped patting the Laboratory Director’s shoulder, and his eyes turned cold. "Remember that I will not be able to protect you if things were to go awry…"

"That's…" The Laboratory Director bit his lips, looking aggrieved. His Majesty was a cruel emperor, so the Laboratory Director could already imagine his fate if something were to go wrong here.

"T-then…" The Laboratory Director gulped and muttered, "I-I’ll show the holy relic to your Your Highness, but this matter—”

"Hahaha, Director! Come on, aren’t we familiar with each other?" Prince Digor beamed and started patting him once more. "This is beyond my authority as well, I just asked you for a favor because I was worried about the holy relic. I'm not going to tell Father about it."

"I-is that so?"

"Yep! It's our secret. It’s a secret that we will carry to our graves~" said Prince Digor with a chuckle.

The Laboratory Director could only smile awkwardly.