Return of the Frozen Player

Chapter 135. A Seoul Night (3)

The old fiend's wave attack quickly flooded toward Seo Jun-Ho.

Crunch!

As the wave moved forward while using the air as a medium, fine cracks began to appear on the Curtain of Darkness. The wave attack was a formidable destructive force that damaged the entire space.

‘...Will it work?’

It might have been a pity for the old fiend, but Seo Jun-Ho did not panic. This was because even in the middle of the short skirmish they had earlier, Seo Jun-Ho also hadn’t revealed all his skills.

'There's usually only one reason for him to do this…’

He had done this because he sought to turn things around with a single shot. People like him were those who would hide their secret weapons and would only use them at important moments to make fools out of their opponents. The old fiend thought that he had completely hidden his abilities, but in reality, he had not.

‘I shouldn't have said that…’

The old fiend thought.

During the massacre of fiends in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris 27 years ago, Seo Jun-Ho was someone who had killed the fiends while acting as Specter. For the old fiend, it was a memory akin to a fading picture in a 27-year-old album. But it wasn’t the case for Specter; subtracting the time he spent sleeping in the ice, it had only been about two years for him.

‘The number of fiends who survived and fled from there is fifty-seven.’

Specter, no, Seo Jun-Ho still remembered all of their skills.

‘So it was you...’

He was the one who used a mysterious ability called a Wave to send a punch from a long distance. If you were trying to hide a skill till the very last moment, you had to hide it completely, because if it was discovered before you could use it, a strategy against it could be made.

'His wave attack is probably coming at me right now through the air.’

Then, the way to defend against it was simple. At that moment, Seo Jun-Ho lightly flicked his finger and muttered, “Frost.”

Crackle.

The air froze and four Ice Golems appeared.

'I wish I had more magic and had better mastery over Frost...’

To freeze nitrogen, which accounted for 78 percent of the air, the temperature needed to be lowered to -210 degrees Celsius. His ability fell short at the moment. However, it was sufficient to freeze the water vapor floating in the air.

"What, Ice Golem...?”

The old fiend’s eyes opened wide. Could the Archmage’s magic influence even the inside of this space as well?

"No, it's not. It's not like that…" The old fiend denied it.

An idea that was infinitely close to the truth flashed through his mind.

"It's not the skill of the Archmage...”

It was Specter’s skill. He came back after 26 years as an even more ridiculous monster. The moment the old fiend noticed it, his attack smashed through the four Ice Golems and flew toward Specter.

‘Four Ice Golems are perfect as tankers.’

The old fiend’s attacks had become weaker than ever after smashing through the Ice Golems one after another. Seo Jun-Ho put magic on the back of his hand and swatted away the attack lightly as if chasing away a fly.

“…”

A cold silence fell in the Curtain of Darkness. At the same time, the old fiend's legs began to tremble. The thought that he might die today changed into the confirmation that he would die soon.

***

"You're here?" Skaya warmly greeted as she sat on the railing on the roof of a building.

She frowned as she looked at the old fiend's body on Seo Jun-Ho's shoulder.

"Why are you bringing that here? It's dirty, dirty."

"I have something I have to check. Let's move places first. My house will be good."

Skaya naturally used teleport magic and the location changed.

Plop.

Laying the old fiend’s body on the floor, Seo Jun-Ho placed his hand on the old fiend’s forehead.

"What are you trying to do?"

"You'll know when you see it. Confession of the Dead."

Skaya's eyes twinkled as the memory video came up.

"Is this perhaps...”

"Yeah, it's the dead's memories."

"…Awesome. Depending on how we use it, it might be possible to completely uproot the fiends.”

"Yeah, I think so, too."

The two crouched down in front of the video window and scanned the old fiend's memory. Perhaps because the old fiend was a first-generation player that had debuted over 30 years ago, there was a lot of information to sort through.

"Jun-Ho," Skaya remembered all the information meticulously and called him in an uncharacteristically serious voice. "I've changed my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I was originally going to move with you but I've come up with a more efficient way."

"…What is it?"

"I hunt the fiends alone and take them to you, then you just extract their memories. How about it? In the meantime, you’ll be able to build up your strength safely. To be honest, when I look at you right now, I feel nervous like a child in a dangerous place.”

Skaya had a point. Although it could be said that she was weakened, she was still strong. But compared to his heyday, Seo Jun-Ho was much weaker, although he thought that he had almost fully narrowed the gap. Unfortunately, the gap widened once again when he removed Skaya from the ice.

'Even if a month goes by and the 50% reduction in stats disappears...’

The lack of magic in combat would likely remain. In fact, even in today's battle, he didn’t use any skills that consumed a lot of magic. It would have been hard if he hadn’t summoned the Ice Golems with the help of the Frost Queen twice.

"But that's too heavy of a burden for you…”

"No, it’s not that heavy at all," Skaya smirked. "There are two of us here. You can share what you have been carrying by yourself for the past 10 months or so.”

“…”

"Rahmadat, Mio, Gilberto… When all five of us get together again, you can just be the face of the group as you used to be."

"Hey, I used to do most of the work in the past. What do you mean, be the face of the group?”[1]

"What are you saying? You always came shamelessly to me like ‘Skaya~ Skaya~ Please do this for me, do that for me~’"

"Hmmm."

Come to think of it, Skaya was so versatile that he had often asked for this and that from her. Gilberto would snatch most of the mobs, and Rahmadat faced the strong monsters alone with a big smile. And for political things… Mio usually solved it using the power of her family. Shim Deok-Gu also helped a lot with problems they couldn’t solve.

"...Wait a minute. Was I really just a pretty face?”

When Seo Jun-Ho asked with a sour look, Skaya rolled on the floor laughing. After laughing for a long time, she wiped away the tears from her eyes and said, "That's what I'm saying~ Don't worry, you weren't that bad."

Then, Skaya tapped Seo Jun-Ho's back with her palm and continued. "Simus? I'll only heal that son of Gilleon’s city lord, then I'll go capture the fiends."

"But you're not in a normal state either. Will you be all right by yourself?"

"I'm Skaya Killiland. No matter what happens, I can escape by myself. Besides…"

She spat out a ‘hu’ and then laughed like a pervert. Afterward, she revealed a very insidious look.

"I'll study new magic here and there and experiment with those magic on the fiends…”

"So that's your main goal…"

"Isn't the proposal wonderful? And you're supposed to be Seo Jun-Ho for a while anyway."

"Mmhmm."

Certainly, if Seo Jun-Ho and Skaya Killiland went around together, they were bound to stand out. It would be fine if he wore Specter’s mask like today, but he announced that Specter would be on the 1st floor for a while.

"26 years have passed. I’m sure those fiends are no longer small fries; they must be unimaginably strong right now. And like the information I read in the old fiend's memory today... They have become incomparably larger than before," Skaya commented.

Four among the Nine Heavens belonged to the Fiend Association, which said a lot.

On the other hand, only three Players belonged to the Guilds. The other two were independents who were basically wandering around as rogues.

"As we have also read in the memories today, there are four factions inside the Fiend Association," explained Skaya.

The leaders of each faction were weaker than the Nine Heavens, but they were presumed to be strong Players comparable to the guild masters of the Big 6.

Skaya smacked her lips. "Tsk, it would have been nice to know their faces, names, and their exact skills...”

"I guess it's because my skill level is still low."

"I’m not exactly complaining, since I've seen where the fiends I can hunt are right now."

Skaya stretched and rose from her seat.

"I'll never let my guard down and I’ll definitely contact you if anything happens. That’s fine, right?”

"…Sure."

She had always been the type to never listen. However, Seo Jun-Ho nodded because it was Skaya and he knew her strength well.

"Then, when are you going to go up to the 2nd floor?" asked Skaya.

"Hmmm, I think in about two days? I'm thinking of going to Kwon Noya's workshop tomorrow."

"Oh, that grandpa is still alive?"

"Do you want to go with me?"

"Later. I don't think I'll have enough time since I need to get ready to go upstairs," Skaya responded coolly and went into her room.

***

It had been quite a while since the two met, but Kwon Palmo shouldn’t have been rendered speechless like this. After barely coming to his senses, he managed to open his mouth and asked, "Player Seo Jun-Ho, what's this black lump?"

"It's... It's the Black Armor."

It was the Black Armor that had become a rag in the kobold hunting competition. The helmet even broke in half.

Kwon Palmo asked, touching his forehead. “You’re not perhaps… asking for repairs, are you?”

"Is it not possible?"

"I'll be honest with you. It's much better to just make a new one,” Kwon Palmo said, tapping the broken Black Armor.

"Once it turns into rags like this… Even if it's repaired, it won’t be as durable as before."

Kwon Palmo looked at the Black Armor, turned it around, and added an apology. "And I'm sorry. I thought it wouldn't get destroyed in most situations, but I was wrong.”

"No, it's my fault. On the contrary, the Black Armor saved my life several times."

Seo Jun-Ho took out 10 kilograms more of the dragon bones from his inventory. This was the end of the 20-kilogram dragon bones that he had obtained from defeating the Nameless Dragon.

"If Mr. Kwon Palmo doesn't mind, will you make me the Black Armor again?"

Kwon Palmo’s eyes opened wide at the unexpected request.

"…Are you sure you’re ok with me?"

"Yes, in fact, I would rather request you to do it.”

The Black Armor Kwon Palmo had made was the best. It was a great armor that he had never even seen during his days as Specter. That was why it was a state-of-the-art armor that combined 25 years of new technology. Kwon Palmo smiled faintly at Seo Jun-Ho's polite request and put his hand on the dragon bones.

"All right, but I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Since we're making a new one, I want to add new features and make it even more perfect.”

"If that's the case, I'll do my best to support you. Do you need any other materials?"

"...Could you possibly acquire some mithril?"

"Mithril, where could I get such precious ore… Hmm?” At that moment, Seo Jun-Ho thought of something and replied with sparkling eyes, "I think I can get that. How much do you need?"

"Well… The more, the better, right?”

"All right. Then, please wait a moment."

When Seo Jun-Ho quickly left the workshop, Kwon Palmo scratched his head.

"Hmmm, I wonder where he is going to get it from…”

One could not acquire mithril even in the black market as far as he knew. It was such a rare ore that it was almost certain that it would only be available when the auction was held next year.

"Oh, is he planning to go to the 2nd floor? Then, it'll take a while.”

His prediction was wrong. Seo Jun-Ho returned to the workshop after only 20 minutes.

1. Skaya is telling him that he’s just a pretty boy. ☜