Return of the Frozen Player

‘What is this pair of gloves? Is this one of the monster’s skills?’

Gilberto frowned and gnashed his teeth. He was about to make a move when a stream of information filled his head.

“...!”

The stream of information contained instructions on how he could use Force.

‘But how? This is totally out of the blue.’

Gilberto’s confused gaze turned toward the gloves.

‘Is it perhaps because of these gloves?’

He had no idea how and why these gloves appeared, but he knew exactly what he had to do with them at the moment.

Gilberto muttered, “Particle Development.”

The energy in his body unfolded as if it had been waiting.

Gilberto pressed down his excitement and calmly continued. “Structure Registration.”

The particles in front of Gilberto converged to form a sniper rifle with impeccable detail, according to Gilberto’s memory.

Gilberto scanned the sniper rifle. “Effect Verification.”

The particles scanned the sniper rifle, and its corresponding parts turned green as the wave of particles passed by them.

“Production Authorization.”

The entire sniper rifle momentarily turned green, and the fine sniper rifle was finally complete. Gilberto put down the revolver he was holding and held the sniper rifle.

“Grrr… Krrr!”

The monster saw what happened, and it charged at Gilberto. However, Gilberto was currently in Bullet Time, so the monster was as slow as a beetle in his eyes.

Clank!

‘I like it.’

The crisp noise of the bolt and the heaviness of the sniper were perfect.

Gilberto aimed the barrel of the sniper rifle at the monster’s glabella.

“Piss off.”

‘Silent Assassin.’

Bang!

A bullet made out of Force instantly tore the monster’s head apart.

Gilberto immediately felt dizzy, and the world around him crumbled.

“Father, father…!”

Gilberto woke up drenched in a lukewarm liquid. He opened his eyes and saw his son’s face looming over him.

Arthur was crying, and he looked heartbroken as he stared at his father.

“Your eyes are swollen,” said Gilberto with a smile.

“Damn it. This is your fault!” Arthur cried out and punched Gilberto’s chest.

Gilberto grinned at the sight, but he noticed a familiar face behind his son.

“A ghost?”

“That’s rude. I’m still alive, man,” said Seo Jun-Ho before holding out his hand to Gilberto.

Gilberto used Seo Jun-Ho’s hand to stand up, and that was when he noticed that he was wearing a pair of white gloves.

The village chief explained, “Those gloves belong to your friend. You would have died if it weren’t for those gloves.”

“...”

‘Is that so?’

Gilberto smiled slightly. “So it’s you again.”

“Again? I’m pretty sure this is my first time giving you a pair of gloves.”

“I’m not talking about these gloves.”

Seo Jun-Ho was the one who helped Gilberto become the world’s best sniper.

‘And he helped me again… he helped me use the Force that I couldn’t use at all.’

Gilberto owed Seo Jun-Ho a lot. After all, the latter was the one who turned the garbage called Gilberto into a valuable figure.

“You’re the most eco-friendly person that I know, Jun-Ho,” Gilberto said with a grin.

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

“You don’t need to know,” said Gilberto.

He couldn’t allow Seo Jun-Ho to know what he meant.

Meanwhile, Gilberto looked around and frowned. “Huh?”

Gilberto couldn’t feel any Force from the surrounding failures.

Those who noticed Gilberto’s confusion spoke one after another.

“Our Force is useless if we can’t even scratch the emperor.”

“We will have no regrets as long as that bastard falls.”

“It’s all up to you now. Make good use of it, okay?”

The village chief spoke once more, “We decided to call the fruit of our research Ether, which means the clear sky beyond the clouds.”

“Ether…” Gilberto muttered.

“Ether’s foundation is similar to Force, but it takes a different approach.”

Gilberto nodded. Force was a domineering power that sought to dominate those weaker than the wielder, while Ether was pursuing coexistence rather than domination.

“Go to the Float Force Power Plant if you can…”

“Float Force Power Plant? Why should I—wait, is it because…?”

“The energy loss is terrible when converting Force to Ether, but the Float Force Power Plant contains an enormous amount of Force.”

In other words, Gilberto would become stronger if he managed to get his hands on the Float Force Power Plant’s Force.

“What are you going to do from now on?”

The failures would find it hard to survive here without Force.

“Hehe. That’s why I’ve been going around hunting,” Stony answered with a chuckle before explaining, “Nothing can threaten our village. I’ve already hunted them down.”

“Yes, so don’t worry about that part. We’ll be fine.”

‘It’s been a while since I’ve carried the heavy weight of someone else’s dreams.’ Gilberto made eye contact with each and every failure before saying, “I promise to make a world where you can roam around wherever, anywhere, and anytime you want.”

“Indeed, that is our dream.”

“I’m curious if there’s an ocean in the west. I would love to see the ocean once I’m out of here.”

“I’m sick of this jungle. I want to head north. It’s apparently cold there.”

Gilberto wordlessly listened to the failure’s dreams.

“I promise.”

‘I promise to give you back your freedom with the power you have entrusted to me.’

***

“Today’s dinner is grilled mushrooms.”

- All right. Thank you for the meal.

The helmet’s LED display sparkled. Mr. Shoot nodded while munching on the mushrooms that Mio had handed over to him.

- This tastes much better than the dishes in the lunch boxes you gave me last time.

“...That’s impossible. I did not season these mushrooms.”

- And that’s why it tastes better.

It had already been ten days since Mio started traveling with Mr. Shoot.

She had already analyzed Mr. Shoot.

‘He’s not as suspicious as I thought, but his taste in food is weird.’’

Mr. Shoot was more polite than she thought, and she had never felt uncomfortable around him so far.

‘It feels like I’m with the others, even though I’m with him.’’

Setting aside Mr. Shoot’s unexpected kindness, Mio was actually frustrated these days.

It was all because she hadn’t been able to make any significant progress toward mastering the Purple Dawn Style.

“Sigh.”

- You’re sighing a lot today. Is there any problem?

“I can’t share it with a stranger.”

Hmm. Is it because of that booklet?

Mio hurriedly hid the old booklet behind her.

”I won’t show it to you even if you ask.”

- I don’t really want to see it either. I mean it.

Mr. Shoot’s voice sounded modulated, but one could still feel the sincerity in it.

- But I do recommend asking other people for advice in the face of a bottleneck. The opinion of a third party might prove helpful because they can see the bigger picture.

“...I’ll think about it,” Mio said, sounding helpless. She looked up at the night sky and added, “I can’t wait to see them again.”

- I’m sorry about the change of plans.

The two should have reached the Wailing Mountains five days ago, but they saw too many Overminds on their path, so they had to take a detour and move along the eastern coastline.

- Hmm.

Mr. Shoot seemed to have recalled something.

- Are you going to train today as well?

“I train every day, and I have never skipped a day,” said Mio. She tapped her bloated stomach and continued. “I should probably get going.”

Mio was a widely acclaimed genius, and it was true that she was a genius.

However, even geniuses had to put in the effort to achieve greatness.

- I admire you. It’s difficult to train for three hours a day consistently.

“My routine is not strange for a child born in a martial arts family,” Mio got up and said, “I will stand guard while training. You should go to bed early.”

- You’re very sweet.

“...Sweet? Like candy?” Mio blinked, confused.

Mr. Shoot smiled and tucked himself into his sleeping bag.

- Nevermind. Anyway, please wake me up once you’re done training.

“All right.”

Mio nodded and headed for the nearby beach with two swords in her hands. She pulled out her magic and stretched it until it was as thin as a thread. Then, she attached them to her immediate surroundings.

‘With this, I’ll notice anyone’s approach.’’

“Sigh.”

Mio took a stance with the swords and started dancing.

The sword dance she was performing beneath the bright moonlight was breathtakingly beautiful and graceful.

However, Mio soon frowned and stopped moving.

“This isn’t it…”

‘I can’t get past this part.’

Mio had already performed the dance of the Purple Dawn Style at least a thousand times by now, but her sword dance was still not as neat as it looked. Mio could still see tiny openings here and there while she was performing the sword dance.

‘I don’t understand...’ Mio glared at the old booklet in her hand. ‘I’m doing it with adherence to every detail.’

“Lift sword at shoulder height; strike like a mantis with a foot forward.”

Slash!

The two swords tore the air apart, but Mio couldn’t get past the next part.

“Be a tempest; attack in all directions. Be a towering tree, stomp with both feet.”

Mio turned into a blur as she sent a flurry of attacks from all directions at her imaginary enemy.

‘Faster. I have to be even faster…!’’

There was a loud noise as Mio shattered the sound barrier, and her attacks rained down on her opponent from all directions. Unfortunately, Mio was still dissatisfied with what she had done.

She looked down at her tiny feet.

“They’re nowhere near a towering tree.”

Mio’s feet couldn’t be a towering tree. They were too fast and as light as a dandelion.

“How do I stomp like a towering tree?”

‘Is this booklet lying to me? Is it fake?’ Mio flipped through the old booklet with doubt, but the seal on the old booklet made it clear that it was legitimate.

“Perhaps it’s an unfinished sword technique?” Mio was starting to think that the Purple Dawn Style was an incomplete sword technique. ‘Come to think of it, I have never seen my father use it.’

The reason Mio’s father had never used the sword technique in front of Mio was that he was afraid that Mio would copy the sword technique upon seeing it.

“Sigh.”

Mio let out a sigh as she looked up at the bright moon.

Ping!

“...!”

Mio abruptly turned around.

She grabbed her swords and glared at the forest connected to the beach.

“Show yourself.”

“It’s me….” A man walked out from behind a tree.

Mio’s eyes narrowed. “Mr. Christin Lewis…?”

“I swear I didn’t mean to peek. I noticed the undulations of magic, so I decided to come here.”

Christin Lewis’ signature white cassock was torn here and there. Christin Lewis’ current appearance was the exact opposite of his usual tidy appearance, and he was even blushing as he walked over to Mio.

“Um, I am ashamed to ask you this, but… do you happen to have some food?”