Return of the Frozen Player

"400%."

The moment that number escaped his mouth, the gazes of the Princess and Baek Geon-Woo turned toward Seo Jun-Ho at the same time. No, it would be more accurate to say that Seo Jun-Ho had "stolen" their attention. The energy flowing from his body was so strong that they couldn't help but give him their attention.

"... Phew."

His body felt heavy. This was Seo Jun-Ho's first impression upon entering the world of 400% Overclocking.

‘As expected, it’s probably too much at this point.’

Pushing the Overclocking to 400% was a lot for his current level. It was premature.

‘But there's no other way.’

To restrain someone as powerful as the princess, this was the only method available. That was a hard fact in his mind. Of course, forcing the Overclocking to such extreme levels was already resulting in side effects.

‘It hurts.’

The frost-covered magic circuits screamed, and the heat struggling to break free scorched his magic circuits and flesh. It felt as if a giant nuclear reactor inside him was collapsing, causing his whole body to tremble.

"How surprising," the princess sincerely admired. Seeing a human instantly increase their power five times was truly astonishing.

"Indeed impressive... but..." Her gaze fell upon Seo Jun-Ho's trembling hand. He was clearly lacking control.

‘Indeed, sometimes, pushing yourself too much is worse than not being up to the task.’

He had pushed himself to an extreme state, and the reason was obvious—to hold her back. However, she was not bothered by that fact.

‘That power is dangerous. Even though he's just a mere human and it’s unlikely, if he gets even stronger…’

If he got even stronger from that point, he’d be troublesome to deal with.

‘I better deal with him now.’

Decisively putting aside her pride, the princess rushed toward Seo Jun-Ho.

Bzzt!

Despite Baek Geon-Woo's attempt to strike her down with the Lightning Domain, she broke through it and attacked Seo Jun-Ho directly.

"...."

A whip-like leg filled Seo Jun-Ho's vision. In literally the blink of an eye, she was in front of him.

‘Is it the same attack?’

It was the same attack that had instantly shattered his defenses and both his arms before. Seo Jun-Ho couldn't help but smirk.

‘Jeez.’

It seemed that he had been underestimated. Between the princess's shoe and his own pupils, a brief message appeared in his mind.

[The Vermillion Fruit has erased the sense of disharmony from a difference in stats.]

[The body's condition has been set to its best state through the effect of the Vermillion Fruit.]

Thud.

The moment that the relentless shivers that tormented him disappeared, the basement room echoed with a loud noise.

Boom!

"... Huh?"

Confusion spread across the princess's face. Blinking in surprise, she straightened up. Her foot had been millimeters away from smashing the man's head. But that very moment, a hand had lightly grabbed her ankle and thrown her at the wall.

"...."

She looked down, and her eyes met a pool of bright red blood spreading on her dress.

‘Shattering my leg wasn’t enough, so you even shattered my heart?’

It had happened in an instant.

The princess laughed lightly as she stood up.

“Were you pretending, or was it pure luck?"

"Neither."

"Then?"

Seo Jun-Ho’s reply was flat and nonchalant as he looked at her.

"Results."

Her eyes opened wide and her shoulders shook with laughter.

“Ha, hahaha! Ah, indeed.”

Not an act, and not luck either. There was no result without a process in this world. She didn’t know much about this man’s life, but she knew one thing.

“You… You’re not a very normal human being.”

For a normal person, it would have been nearly impossible to stay sane through the hellish process that would yield such impressive results.

“Perhaps.”

The princess stopped laughing. In her eyes, filled with both elation and greed, there was no denying that this man before her was an equal, even though he was a human. The fact excited her. He was the same level of existence as her…and she was thrilled.

"My father always said I was half a step short."

Half a step. Despite working relentlessly to take that small step, she had made no remarkable progress.

"Just half a step short. That's probably true for you right now too."

The man in front of her was indeed an equal, an opponent to compete with. That was what excited her.

"Don’t you find it intriguing? The winner of this battle might be able to take that step."

The broken ankle and even the crushed heart quickly recovered.

"You and I. One of us may open the door to a new world today."

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho knew it was not a favorable situation. The princess seemed very eager for power, and her greedy eyes confirmed it.

‘From now on, she'll probably use any means necessary to kill me.’

On the other hand, as long as the power plant kept running, she was virtually immortal, and he couldn’t kill her.

‘The only thing I can do is to buy time.’

He could only hope that the main force would destroy the power plant within that time. Enduring the stinging pain in his fingers that even the Vermillion Fruit’s effect couldn’t alleviate, he calculated something quickly.

‘33…no, 32 minutes.’

That was how long he could maintain this state. Once that time passed, he would be forced to deactivate Overclocking, and facing the princess would become impossible.

“... So, I'm counting on you."

He left those few words for the main force that wasn’t able to hear him. But as he turned away, the figure of the princess in front of him disappeared.

‘Inventory!’

He quickly took out the Twilight Sword from his inventory.

[Concentration is active.]

[Indefatigable is active.]

While holding this sword, one's fatigue would disappear, and one’s concentration would become sharper than ever.

But that wasn’t all.

[Twilight Time is active.]

During twilight time, when the sun set, the sword's power would double, and the more depleted one's stamina, the stronger they would get.

Seo Jun-Ho's focus was clearer than ever.

‘To the left.’

Claaaang!

As the sword clashed with a fist, sparks flew. It was an abnormal speed, such that even at 350%, he would’ve been just a bit too slow to react.

‘However….’

Now he could react perfectly to the opponent's speed. With a swift turn of his palm, the princess's center of gravity was directed toward him.

"Ice Spears."

Stab! Stab! Stab!

Dozens of ice spears shot up from the ground, piercing her body and immobilizing her.

"Ugh!"

At the moment she coughed up blood, an obsidian scythe formed in Seo Jun-Ho's left hand. He slashed from the side to her heart, inflicting a long wound.

‘Even if she's a princess, recovering from this level of injury will take some time,’ he thought.

But he was wrong. In just 1.3 seconds, the princess fully healed all her wounds and opened her mouth wide. What emerged from her mouth was a snake-like long tongue.

"Ugh!"

Crack! Crack!

In an instant, twelve exchanges of blows occurred, and their positions were swapped.

"..."

Watching the two fighters, Baek Geon-Woo tightly clenched his fists. Sweat dripped from his fists onto the floor.

‘Indeed. Now I understand why Junior Brother left me.’

The reason was simple. No one else beside him could keep up with that speed. Their combat was at a ridiculously high level, and their exchanges were blindingly fast.

‘... Even if we join forces now, we probably can't kill the princess.’

Since the battle began, they hadn't exchanged a single word, but he felt that he could tell when Seo Jun-Ho would need him.

***

"Fireworks first!"

With Shin Sung-Hyun's shout, several Players set off fireworks into the sky. The colorful display illuminated the night sky, visible even from the opposite side of the city. He immediately divided the group.

"The Camilla Party and the Shohei Party, head to the entrance of the power plant right now."

The plan was to open the power plant doors from the inside, letting in the waiting Failures and Yuri. Having confirmed their movement toward the entrance, Shin Sung-Hyun said, "We'll infiltrate the power plant as is."

"Any instructions or requirements?"

"Blow it up. That's it."

"... But it seems they're already done with their preparations over there."

Gilberto pointed toward the interior. An army of Overminds, numbering around three to five thousand, was neatly assembled, waiting for them.

Wei-Chun Hak said nonchalantly, "Can't be helped. We'll have to fight our way through. There wouldn't be any idiots here who thought they could destroy the power plant without fighting, right?"

"That's also true... but what are you doing right now?" Shin Sung-Hyun shot a threatening glance at Wei-Chun Hak as he was lighting a cigarette, seemingly oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.

"Put out the cigarette while I’m telling you nicely."

"..."

Wei-Chun Hak calmly ignored the threat and took a final drag on his cigarette before holding it like a piece of chalk. Then he drew something in the air with the glowing cigarette—a fiery talisman.

"I think I won’t put out anything."

Talisman Art 46. Conflagration.

He flicked the cigarette butt toward the talisman, turning it into a massive fireball that covered the army of Overminds.

"Aaargh!"

"T-the fire won't go out!"

"Damn it! Those immune to fire, go to the front!"

Wei-Chun Hak looked at the enemy running around in panic and said, "Let them put out the fire if they want to."

"..."

Shin Sung-Hyun had nothing to say in response. He turned his head and shouted, "All troops! Charge!"

***

"Grrr, grrr..."

Several monster corpses were lying on the ground. They were all Overmind researchers who had failed to take down a single man even after transforming.

"Phew..."

As the man released his grip on a throat, a dead researcher's body fell limply to the ground. The Heavenly Demon was savoring the fulfilling power he hadn't felt in a while as he picked up the pace.

‘Thanks to those Player bastards, things have become much smoother.’

The Float Power Plant was the place with the greatest power accumulation on the continent. It had been his target even before the Players came into the picture.

‘I couldn't take on the army alone, so I was just looking for a way... but…’

Obviously, he had never expected those sworn enemies of his to wage a war against the Overmind army in his stead. Thanks to that, all the plans he had made became futile, but it was actually better this way. His tasks now required fewer steps.

"Is this the place?"

The Heavenly Demon looked at the massive generator in front of him. It was said that humans found it difficult to sense Force, but when it was this amount, it was a different story.

"Frightening."

It was so much power, massive to the point that it made him shiver. It was not only because of the fear that came naturally to living beings, but also because of excitement. If he could consume all this Force, reaching the Star Destruction stage wouldn't be a dream.

‘Revenge is not far off.’

Today, the phantom pain in his left arm bothered him again.

Specter.

"My enemy. My archenemy."

A hero of mankind who took away everything he had and pushed him to the end of the world.

"I'll pay you back in kind."

He’d take away everything and drive him to the end of the world and make him cry.

His smile turned bright.

The moment the Heavenly Demon reached out toward the generator of the power plant, however, the demonic energy that arose naturally protected him. At the same time, his face hardened.

’... What is this... Am I dead?’

If the demonic energy hadn't protected him, he definitely would have died.

He put his hand down and looked around.

‘It's not an Overmind.’

Since he had killed everyone around, there was no way Overminds could be here, and Players couldn't have reached this place already. They were busy fighting the Overmind army outside, after all.

‘Then…’

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes flushed red. He looked toward the direction where the attack had come from. 2x, 4x, 16x... His magnified field of view caught sight of a small dot.

"Tch, just trash."

White gloves, long blonde hair fluttering in the rough wind and a massive gun longer than a normal person’s height.

The world's greatest sniper placed a red dot on the Heavenly Demon’s forehead.