Return of the Frozen Player

Seo Jun-Sik stared nervously at the utterly unfamiliar Seo Jun-Ho.

‘What the heck is going on right now?’

Not only did Seo Jun-Sik get lost in a different dimension and lose his connection to his original, but there was another original giving off a strange vibe in front of him.

Seo Jun-Sik gulped and asked, “I’m Jun-Sik, but… who are you?”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho looked around coldly.

“This is not exactly the most suitable place to talk.”

The unfamiliar Seo Jun-Ho split the world apart.

“Black Moon.”

The boiling dimension immediately calmed down.

“...”

Seo Jun-Sik didn’t know what to say, but one thing was for sure.

‘No, seriously. What is this guy? Why is he so strong? He’s not the original I know.’

The Seo Jun-Ho in front of him was strong enough to silence a dimension in one move. The power he was exuding was telling Seo Jun-Sik that he was at least a Star Destruction Stage creature.

‘Hang on. Star Destruction Stage?’

The light bulb in Seo Jun-Sik’s head lit up.

“Are you…the Star Destruction Stage Jun-Ho by chance?” Seo Jun-Sik asked.

“...The Star Destruction Stage Jun-Ho?”

“Yes, Frost was saying that the Seo Jun-Ho of the world she had come from was already a Star Destruction Stage creature.”

Seo Jun-Ho remained silent for a long time, and his voice was filled with longing when he finally spoke and asked, “...Is that so? Did she make it back safely?”

“So it’s you I knew it!” Seo Jun-Sik clapped, but another question popped up in his mind.

“Wait. Then, why are you in front of me? Frost was the one who regressed rather than you, so the world you have been living in should have already disappeared.”

“...It didn’t disappear.” Seo Jun-Ho’s voice was cold and bitter, similar to the smell of cigarettes during Winter. “This world isn’t a game, after all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jun-Sik. What do you think regression is?”

“Regression is just regression. You’re going back to the past.”

In Seo Jun-Sik, Seo Jun-Ho, and the Frost Queen’s eyes, regression was returning to the past to change the unwanted present and the future.

“...There was a time when I also thought that way...”

‘And that was why I kept on regressing. I was ignorant to the pain of those who were left behind.’

“The one returning to the past can leave everything behind and start over, but those who are in the present will remain in the present,” said Seo Jun-Ho. Those who were left behind had no choice but to continue living in a world without the time traveler.

The same was true of the current Seo Jun-Ho standing in front of Seo Jun-Sik.

“Wait, wait! What the….. what the hell are you talking about right now?”

Seo Jun-Sik’s eyes trembled. The man in front of him was trying to change the definition of regression he had long acknowledged.

“Are you saying that…”

“Yes.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded. “I turned back time to protect the people who are precious to me, but I have actually abandoned them hundreds of times before.”

Seo Jun-Ho had abandoned the world three hundred and fifty times on the 4th Floor and three hundred and eighteen times on the 7th Floor.

“The people I abandoned… I’m sure they resent me.” Seo Jun-Ho thought about what he looked like in the eyes of those people he had left behind.

‘A hero? Can I truly be considered a hero if I always escape to a parallel world whenever things go wrong?’

“I was no hero. I was nothing more than just a greedy and selfish Player.”

“...No way.” Seo Jun-Sik shook his head in disbelief. “No, that can’t be… the Administrators and the transcendents won’t let that happen...”

“They had no other choice but to allow it…”

“What? Why?”

“The weight of the scale has already tilted to one side...”

The Administrators and the transcendents only had one way to face the Archduke.

“The Archduke cannot recklessly interfere with the Floors and the System…”

In other words, only a Player could pierce the Archduke’s heart.

“...” Seo Jun-Sik couldn’t say anything.

Seo Jun-Ho’s exposition was simply too shocking for him to process.

Eventually, Seo Jun-Sik organized his thoughts and asked, “Are you here because you’re dead? I heard that you got hit by Kineos Mullibach’s Breath.”

“Ah, yes. I certainly did die at the time.” Seo Jun-Ho nodded. “But I resisted death.”

“...Are you messing with me?”

“I’m not joking. The lowest-level Death Resistance activated somehow, and it saved me from death.”

“Ah!” Seo Jun-Sik nodded. “Right, you did have that.”

“I got extremely lucky that it activated, and I managed to catch Kineos off guard.” Seo Jun-Ho easily cleared the 7th Floor after catching Kineos off guard, similar to how the emperor had caught him off guard by attacking the ice castle outright.

“We’re both at the Star Destruction Stage, so our battle ended in the blink of an eye.”

Seo Jun-Ho managed to land a devastating blow to the emperor, which turned the tables around. Kineos Mullibach was the Floor Master of the 7th Floor, so his death meant that the 7th Floor was cleared.

“Then, that means…” Seo Jun-Sik clenched his fists. ‘The 8th Floor.’

Seo Jun-Sik was thrilled that Seo Jun-Ho managed to clear the 7th Floor, but he suddenly recalled something and asked excitedly, “Ah, I almost forgot! Did you manage to clear all the Floors?”

Seo Jun-Sik’s eyes flashed.

He expected a touching story, such as Seo Jun-Ho saving them belatedly.

However, Seo Jun-Ho shook his head mechanically. “No, I only reached the 9th Floor.”

“...You did not manage to get to the 10th Floor?” Seo Jun-Sik was stupefied. He didn’t expect that not even a Star Destruction Stage creature could reach the 10th Floor.

Seo Jun-Ho said, “Listen to me carefully. The Floors above the 7th Floor are not functional at all.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t mind that and continued. “From the 8th Floor onward, the Floors… can’t function as a Floor. You’ll get a rough idea of what I’m saying since you’ve experienced the 9th Floor, albeit for just a short moment.”

Seo Jun-Sik could still remember that the demons had already occupied the 9th Floor.

“I know, but is the 9th Floor the same as the 8th Floor?”

“It’s still somehow holding out, but it won’t be that long until it collapses.” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes momentarily revealed sadness and frustration. “...You’ll soon know the details once you’ve reached the upper Floors.”

“Can’t you just tell me right now?”

“No. You should know better than anyone else the consequences of having too much information about the future.”

In addition, Seo Jun-Ho could no longer regress, so he couldn’t pass on something so burdensome to the current Seo Jun-Ho.

“Then, tell me what you can tell me.”

“I cleared the 7th and the 8th Floor, and then I went up to the 9th Floor to fight the Floor Master there.”

‘And I failed…’

Seo Jun-Ho glanced at his empty left arm, and Seo Jun-Sik saw a glimpse of fear in the former’s eyes.

“That’s when I lost my left arm,” added Seo Jun-Ho while biting his lips.

“You have Cell Regeneration, how is it that you still haven’t recovered your arm?”

“The Floor Master’s ability nullifies regeneration.” Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes and looked down to recall the painful memories of the past. “I… crawled underground like a worm, and I ran with my tail tucked between my legs just to survive.”

Seo Jun-Ho was in charge of the front lines, so it was only a matter of time before it collapsed without Seo Jun-Ho at the helm.

“The front line that started on the 8th Floor was destroyed, and the demons sped up their invasion of the Floors.”

The defensive lines on the 7th and 8th floors were destroyed, and it didn’t take long for Trium to be destroyed. Neo City’s destruction followed suit, and Frontier was also destroyed.

“Daily life was suffocating. I couldn’t even sleep because I was afraid. I had no idea when the world would end. Was it today, or was it tomorrow? No one knew, including me. Humanity lived in fear of the impending destruction of the world.”

Seo Jun-Ho could still remember seeing people laughing in joy upon seeing the demons. They were laughing because they no longer had to be afraid and could finally die.

“But I fought back...”

Seo Jun-Ho fought not only for a day, a week, or a month but for an entire year.

“I cut down every demon I saw on Earth.”

However, there was only one thing he managed to protect.

“The only thing I managed to protect… was my own life.”

The demons didn’t hesitate to kill every single human they saw.

“And that was when I realized that there was no way I could deal with them by myself.”

Therefore, Seo Jun-Ho took a gamble.

“I squeezed every ounce of power I had to tear space apart. Then, I threw myself into a dimensional gap.”

“You threw yourself into a dimensional gap? Why on earth did you do that?!”

Seo Jun-Ho looked up at Seo Jun-Sik’s question and said, “I was hoping that I could go into a parallel world through a dimensional gap. I couldn’t regress anymore, so I had no other choice.”

However, he failed. Those who had gotten lost in the dimension could never escape on their own. Unfortunately, Seo Jun-Ho belatedly learned such a harsh lesson.

“No way… then… how many years have you spent here…?”

“Who knows?”

Seo Jun-Ho’s lifeless eyes were starting to look different in Seo Jun-Sik’s eyes now that he had heard of the former’s story.

“Anyway, the past is water under the bridge.”

“What do you mean, water under the bridge? Are you mad?!”

“Stop screaming…”

‘This Seo Jun-Sik in front of me is the Seo Jun-Sik of the past. In other words, I can deliver something to myself in the past through him.’

“I can’t give you much information about the future, but…”

‘Passing on the experience and skills that I learned should be fine…’

Seo Jun-Ho picked up his broken sword and said, “Raise your sword, Jun-Sik.”

“...”

‘There will be no more fallen worlds…’

Seo Jun-Ho needed a ray of hope that would change the regretful ending of his world.

“I will hand over my everything.”

‘To you and to myself in the past...’

***

Crashhhh!

Seo Jun-Sik crashed to the ground and looked up. “Ugh. It’s doing that again.”

The dimensional gap was chaotic, and every time it divided to reveal a disorderly space, Seo Jun-Ho would calm it down with a flick of his sword.

“Don’t let it distract you. Focus on your training.”

“...Damn it.”

The Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho was much stricter than the original who only prohibited Seo Jun-Sik from eating sushi to his heart’s content.

It had already been a week since they started training here.

“Hey, can you really consider this training?” Seo Jun-Sik lowered his sword and complained. ”You’re not doing anything other than beating me up. Yes, my endurance is improving through the beatings, but I’m not really learning anything, you know?”

Seo Jun-Sik thought that Seo Jun-Ho would enlighten him about some powerful techniques. After all, the latter said that he would pass on everything to him. However, the unfortunate reality was that Se Jun-Sik had only received beatings, nothing else.

“That’s because you’re not good enough. Don’t just sit there and accept the beatings. Think about why I’m beating you up while you’re getting beaten up,” Seo Jun-Ho replied firmly.

“...Are you actually fucking insane?”

‘Did he just tell me to think about the reason why he’s beating me up while he’s beating me up?’

It had to be known that there was a huge power gap between Seo Jun-Sik and the Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho.

“You’re overwhelmingly stronger than me in magic, strength, stamina, speed, and experience. I can only use seventy percent of the original body’s strength since I’m a clone, but I feel like you can easily beat even Original.”

“Trust me. We’re on the same level right now.”

“Hah! Same level, my ass!” Seo Jun-Sik snorted.

If Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t lying, Seo Jun-Sik should have managed to win in strength and speed. However, Seo Jun-Ho was always one step ahead of Seo Jun-Sik.

‘This bastard’s not only ruthless, but he’s also a liar...’

“...Does he only have seventy percent of his Original’s intelligence?” Seo Jun-Ho muttered and shook his head. “This is bad. I don’t think we have much time left.”

“Time? What time? Is someone going to kick us out? We’re not in a karaoke room with a time limit, you know? It’s not like someone owns this dimensional gap, so we’re not squatters by all means.”

“The dimensional gap has a parasite, and it’s a monster that consumes those who are unfortunate enough to get lost in a dimensional gap.”

“Huh, is that so?” Seo Jun-Sik nodded as if it wasn’t a big deal. However, he blinked and stared at Seo Jun-Ho in doubt. “Wait, don’t tell me that you can’t beat that monster.”

“...I’ve been running away from it. He’s my archnemesis.”

“You can’t call him your archnemesis if all you do is run from him! You are basically his punching bag! And you call yourself a Star Destruction Stage creature?” retorted Seo Jun-Sik.

‘Come to think of it, I remember the Original messing with a Spirit-user, who was also a Star Destruction Stage creature using his Dignity of an Emperor.’

“Can you even feel its approach?”

“The dimension’s getting more chaotic than usual, so it’s getting closer to us.”

“T-then, should we make a break for it right now?”

“Sigh.” Seo Jun-Ho sighed and turned to Seo Jun-Sik. “It’s very difficult to cross over into another dimension. I can endure it, but your existence will be erased.”

“Really? Then, what should I do?”

“What kind of dumb question is that?” Seo Jun-Ho frowned and said, “The only thing that you can do is learn as much as you can from me as fast as you can, so hurry up and lift that sword again.”

“...Damn it! You damn originals are the worst regardless of which dimension you’ve come frooooom!” Seo Jun-Sik looked like he wanted to cry as he raised his sword once more and started swinging.