Return of the Frozen Player

“...” Seo Jun-Ho stared at the tip of the wooden stick in a daze.

Kis’ exposition made him feel as if his head was going to explode.

The cold wind chilled Seo Jun-Ho’s forehead as he raised his hand and swept up his hair. A moment later, he came to his senses.

“So you’re saying that I have the potential to kill the Archduke?”

Kis nodded.

“...I’m not sure about that.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s voice was as weak as a deflated balloon as he briefly pictured the future in his head.

‘Even the Transcendents couldn’t do anything about the Archduke.’

Such meant that the Archduke was at least a Transcendent, and there was a very high chance that he had reached the Absolute Stage by now.

“And I’ll be the one to kill him? How am I supposed to do that?”

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t hold back an embarrassed laugh.

“What if… what if Frost chose the wrong person?” he asked in a diffident voice.

“Her Majesty is never wrong.”

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Her Majesty makes no mistakes.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho looked at Kis with a frustrated gaze. Kis stared back at Seo Jun-Ho, but the look on his face was confident.

“I’m not just saying this out of blind faith. There’s a basis for my trust.”

“Like what?”

“...I’ve been watching by the side all along.”

Kis reached out his palm into the empty air. Soon, the scattered snowball piled up on his palm.

“What are you saying out of the blue…”

At that moment, Seo Jun-Ho trailed off and turned his head.

The surroundings were changing. The snowstorm had stopped before he knew it, and warm sunshine shone through the clouds.

“Even the snow that seems to remain freezing cold forever…”

As spring came, the dried trees blossomed beautiful flowers.

Time flew by and the leaves began to change color.

“…and even the leaves that seem to remain fresh forever…”

Tap, tap.

Then the leaves hardened by the cold fell to the ground one by one.

“…they all disappear when the time given to them is over. That’s the law of nature.”

“...”

It was winter again.

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the snow falling down from the sky and asked.

“What is it that you’re trying to say?”

“People also belong to nature. Nothing lasts forever.”

“...Are you saying that The Frost Queen also changed?”

Kis slowly closed his eyes.

“That would have been better.”

A small voice scattered away in the snowstorm.

“What?”

“Her Majesty did not change.”

‘I must be the only one who knows she hasn’t changed. Only this part of me trapped in this frozen world with Her Majesty remembers everything. My young monarch has walked alone on a long journey through thirteen thousand, seven hundred and twenty-nine worlds.’

“...”

Just as long as she had been holding back the Archduke, the Archduke had also been holding her back as he thought that if she remembered everything, she was bound to give up and let the Archduke go.

“Her Majesty did not give up on anything.”

The Frost Queen believed that there would be someone somewhere on Earth. She firmly believed that Chaos would never ask a question with no answer.

“...”

Kis slowly opened his eyes.

Through the drifting snowstorm, he saw a face that he could never forget and shouldn’t forget.

“You are the fruit of Her Majesty’s agony. You are the only hope that Her Majesty has been searching for.”

There was no mistake in The Frost Queen’s choice. Kis could be sure because he had watched everything from the beginning beside her.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t easily open his mouth.

He couldn’t tell if it was because he was in Kis’ mind space or because the connection with him had not been completely cut off yet. However, an unknown mournful emotion kept pounding on his heart.

“Do you still not get it?”

Squeeze.

The blunt wooden stick gently pressed against Seo Jun-Ho’s left chest.

Kis rebuked Seo Jun-Ho in a slightly angrier voice than before.

“Her Majesty trusts you more than she even trusts herself. The only one who doesn’t trust you is yourself.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho’s heart ached—perhaps due to the wooden stick poking him in the chest. It felt like it was not a blunt stick but a sharp skewer piercing his flesh.

“Sigh.”

Seo Jun-Ho let out a deep sigh and nodded.

“All right. I’m the one chosen by the Frost Queen, who does not make mistakes. I understand so far.”

“That’s a relief.”

Kis lowered the wooden stick and went on.

“To be honest, I was unsure when Her Majesty first chose you.”

“...Did I look that untrustworthy?”

“Of course. But as time went by, I could understand the reason why Her Majesty chose you out of everyone else.”

“I’d like to hear the reason.”

Kis closed his mouth at Seo Jun-Ho’s question. He took a long time to answer, and when he did, his answer was anything but one.

“You will find out the reason pretty soon.”

Seo Jun-Ho did not bother to ask any further because he didn’t think Kis would give him a proper answer anyway.

“Do you have any other questions?”

“Oh. Um…”

Seo Jun-Ho hesitated for a while and asked in a careful voice.

“The Frost Queen got sick as soon as she came to the eighth floor. Do you know why?”

“It’s probably because of synchronization.”

“What do you mean by synchronization?”

“She forcefully divided herself into two. It’s only natural that there is a backlash since the divided are trying to become one again.”

Kis’ words shocked Seo Jun-Ho.

“What? Then what happens to The Frost Queen?”

To Seo Jun-Ho, the Frost Queen was not the Frost Queen of the 8th floor. She was a precious spirit who spent a long time together with him.

Kis calmed Seo Jun-Ho down.

“I know what you are worried about. You must be afraid that Her Majesty you knew might disappear.”

“Of course I’m afraid.”

“Don’t worry. What you’re worried about won’t happen.”

“You mean…I don’t have to worry about The Frost Queen becoming a completely different being?”

“...”

Kis nodded heavily, then looked up at the sky for a while.

“It seems that the time allowed to me will end soon.”

“What?”

“I am nothing but an ordinary soul now. It was against providence to bring the living person to the space of mind at my own will.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s face hardened.

“You know what?” asked Kis.

“Know what?”

“You and I have a slight resemblance.”

“...Huh?”

Seo Jun-Ho compared himself to Kis. No matter how much he looked, however, he could not find the slightest resemblance.

“What resemblance are you talking about?”

“I deal with mist and you deal with darkness.”

“So? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Niflheim means a world of darkness or a world of mist.”[1]

Darkness and mist.

These were Seo Jun-Ho’s and Kis’ emblematic abilities.

“Just as Her Majesty thought dearly of me, she probably thinks dearly of you as well. She must be attracted to abilities like ours.”

“...The Frost Queen is my spirit.”

‘I’m the superior one here, not her.’

Kis smiled at Seo Jun-Ho’s cute argument.

“I’ll let you do me a favor,” he said.

“You sure are impertinent for someone asking for a favor. I’ll hear you out and decide later.”

“Whatever you want.”

Fwoosh!

Kis threw his cape backward and fell on one knee all of a sudden.

“Will you take my soul and let me protect Her Majesty until the end?”

“...That means?”

“You can use me like a chess piece on a chessboard. You can simply regard me as a consumable.”

Kis was ready to sacrifice his soul as long as he could protect the Frost Queen and keep his oath even after death.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho looked down at the top of the confident knight’s head. Kis was kneeling down, but he looked huge for some reason.

“Even if you make a contract with me and become a knight, you won’t be able to talk to the Frost Queen.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

The mist in front of Seo Jun-Ho felt even harder than steel, and Kis’ determination only made Seo Jun-Ho’s own determination stronger.

“All right. Then, Sir Kis. From now on, please lend us your strength and—”

“I’m a little disappointed. Aren’t you?”

“A little disappointed? I’m hella disappointed.”

“This is betrayal.”

Surprised by the voices coming from behind, Seo Jun-Ho and Kis turned their heads at the same time.

‘Kis definitely said this was a space inside his mind, didn’t he?’

This was a cold place where only the lost souls who gave up all honor could come.

“You guys are…”

Kis’ expression turned intense for the first time. He opened his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing on the training grounds.

“Come on. You’re always playing the coolest role, but not this time.”

“Let’s do this together.”

“WHYYY!?”

Kis broke out in a roar. It was an incredibly fierce voice, so much so that it was hard to believe it was produced by a soul.

“Why would you guys give up everything and come here! Why!?”

Kis’ voice was full of grief and reproach.

Seo Jun-Ho glanced at the people occupying the previously empty training ground.

“...”

‘It’s winter.’

It was winter that filled the training ground.

Swoosh!

Horun, the captain of the Order of Winter, pulled out the sword stuck in the ground and approached Kis.

“I am winter. We are where winter is. Wasn’t that our slogan?”

Fwoosh!

Segio also pulled out his spear from the ground and followed.

“My lord, did you know that the Knights’ Corridor serves fantastic meals three times a day?”

Labona, Hawk, Schwartz, and every knight Kis knew approached him as they drew out their own weapons.

“It’s not as cold as this place.”

“It was literally a paradise. We could train all morning, eat, and train all afternoon.”

“But you know what?”

“For some strange reason, I think I liked it better when I was by your side.”

“Why do you think we trained so hard in the Knights’ Corridor? It was all for a moment like this.”

“...”

Horun stood in front of the knights neatly standing in line with their weapons drawn. Then he knelt down on one knee and shouted, “Captain Horun and the ninety-nine knights of the Order of Winter. Ready?”

“READY!”

A huge roar reverberated across the training ground.

The sight made Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes tear up.

‘...They are pretty cool.’

They sure knew how to warm up someone’s heart.

And it did not end there.

“Although we belong in a different knight order…”

“...there is only one place where our loyalty is headed.”

The Orders of Spring, Summer, and Autumn each appeared and filled the empty space.

“Wherever Her Majesty goes, we will follow!”

“For the Queen!”

“...You guys.”

Kis bit his lip and lowered his head.

Seo Jun-Ho looked around without saying a single word.

“...”

Four hundred knights knelt down and formed a circle surrounding Seo Jun-Ho and Kis.

It was an overwhelmingly touching sight.

Behind each knight order, their respective seasons were clearly showing their presence.

“Four Seasons.”

Seo Jun-Ho murmured to himself. Then he turned his head and looked down at Kis.

“Sir Kis. I think you were right earlier.”

“...?”

“What you said about nature consisting of finite things.”

When spring left, summer came. When summer left, autumn came. When autumn left, winter came.

“There is no winter that lasts forever.”

“...”

Seasons would come and go, and the following seasons would take their place. Such was nature.

‘...So he is enlightened.’

Kis proudly lifted his head and chuckled lightly.

It was winter.

***

Seo Jun-Ho slowly came to his senses.

In front of him was the Frost Queen. She was sitting on her throne like a doll, and his hand was on her shoulder.

‘It seems like that wasn’t a dream.’

Clang! Clang! Clang!

About four hundred soul stones pouring down from behind proved that what had just happened wasn’t a dream.

After looking back on the soul stones behind him, Seo Jun-Ho finally cast his eyes on the woman in front of him.

“Frost.”

“...”

As if she came to her senses due to Seo Jun-Ho’s call, the Frost Queen’s eyes, in which any trace of emotion seemed to have frozen, slowly moved toward him.

1. The word “nifl” in Old Norse means “mist” and is a cognate of Old English “nifol” which means “darkness”. Did the author know this and plan the characters accordingly? Who knows, not me. ☜