Return of the Frozen Player

Midnight Visitor (3)

The first thought that Seo Junho had was to dodge. Kal Signer might not know, but the fact that Seo Junho even considered it was impressive.

…No, I can’t. He quickly realized that he couldn’t. The Storm Dragon flew closer and closer. It’s too fast. Even if I move now, one of my arms or legs will get hit.

That meant he had to block the powerful attack. Seo Junho’s eyebrows furrowed, but he already knew the answer.

I’m an idiot. He’d been too careless. His stats were equal to a level 100 player’s, and after he cleared the Cave of Trials and the Proof of Knighthood, he’d gotten too cocky.

Get it together, Seo Junho. He was no longer the strongest person in the world, and he wasn’t the only one who thought that. But deep down, he must have been clinging onto the glory of the past.

How could I defeat a high ranker without even using my full strength? He already had two skills that no one else had: Watchguard of Darkness and Frost. But how could he defeat the Demon Bow without them?

I really have to get it together. I was way too reckless. He acknowledged his arrogance. He felt ashamed for showing such a weak side to a formidable opponent.

“…Phew.” He looked past the Storm Dragon and at the fiend with a dark expression and burning eyes.

He’s trying his best to kill me… And yet the weaker of the two had underestimated him. Seo Junho couldn’t help but chuckle at himself.

His current Magic stat was 150 and had been 183 when he was Specter. It was overwhelmingly powerful. As he raised his hand, his magic burst out.

“Explode.”

All the magic within him released at once, creating hundreds of icicles. Enough to shred Kal Signer’s dragon into pieces.

“…?!” Kal Signer’s face fell as he felt the heavy surge of magic. Something was wrong.

Then, hundreds of icicles dug into the dragon’s body before Signer could even shout.

“…Ice?” he whispered, staring up at the spikes floating in the air. He finally processed what had happened. The Storm Dragon’s Arrow… exploded? Why is there ice? His questions only brought on more questions before he arrived at an answer.

“…Seo Junho was hiding his abilities?” There was no other explanation. What was more shocking was that he’d been able to break through his most powerful technique. “Impossible…”

In the span of an hour, he’d seen too many things that shouldn’t have been possible. But first, he had to complete his mission. I have to take back control and create distance between us.

He felt pathetic, but it would be dangerous to continue like this. Signer turned around and started to run. It would be a funny scene to anyone else—the Demon Bow running away from a level 34 newbie.

Is he trying to create distance? Seo Junho’s eyes narrowed as he watched him flee. He wouldn’t let him go like this. Archers are harder to deal with when they’re further away. Even more so with the Demon Bow. If he couldn’t reach him in time, he’d be sniped.

“Curtain of Darkness.” Seo Junho clenched his fist as darkness covered them both. Signer was caught by surprise and whipped around. There was nowhere left to run.

“I can just cut through it!” He pulled out a sword from his inventory and infused it with Demonic energy as he slashed at the curtain. It made a loud ripping sound, but it didn’t leave a single scratch.

“It’s no use. I didn’t make it easy to escape.”

Kal Signer turned around at the sound of Seo Junho’s voice, glaring. “Who are you?”

He could understand the ice skill. In fact, it was better that he’d been hiding a skill rather than some unexplainable power. He’d even let out a sigh of relief when Seo Junho used the ice skill because it meant that he’d been pushed into a corner. Signer grew confident knowing that he’d be able to kill him if he could just create distance between them.

But Seo Junho had two elements—and one of them was Specter’s. The Ice element was rare enough, but the Darkness almost made him yelp in surprise. The Fiend Association has been trying to create it for decades… They’d even founded Paradise to try to reproduce it, albeit unsuccessfully.

“Who are you? What are you planning?” Signer judged that Seo Junho wasn’t working alone because it was impossible for one person to have two elemental skills—let alone one of Ice and Darkness.

“I already told you. I break the rules of the world.”

But Seo Junho’s face was grim. He hadn’t wanted to use Watchguard of Darkness. If he left Specter’s traces behind, it was possible that some skill could discover his identity.

It was too late now that he’d used his skill. There was only one thing left to do.

“I can’t let a witness live.” He had to kill Kal Signer here. His eyes were cold enough to make even the fiend shiver.

“So you won’t tell me who you are.”

“It’s only fair. You wouldn’t tell me where you were going to take me.”

“…Fine. I’ll make you talk.”

Kal Signer pulled out a new bow from his inventory. As he drew back the string, dozens of arrows formed, all of them filled with Demonic energy.

“Rain Arrows!”

As they shot into the air, the arrows came in a downpour, multiplying into the thousands.

“No matter how fast you are, you can’t dodge the rain.” The arrows he used weren’t tedious like the darters, nor were they fierce like the Storm Dragon’s Arrow. They were normal arrows infused with Demonic energy, but there were thousands of them. He’ll be able to block it if he focuses on defense, but he won’t be able to reach me if he does.

In other words, he was buying time to prepare for a big attack. Storm Dragon’s Arrow hadn’t worked, and he didn’t have a technique stronger than that. His next attack would have to be a primitive onslaught.

“Open inventory.”

Kal Signer’s second nickname was ‘The Collector’. Bows, crossbows, ballistas, and even automatic cannons filled the air. Every type of arrow-wielding weapon surrounded him, numbering 142 in total.

“If I can’t kill you with a technique, I’ll overwhelm you with numbers.” Signer steeled himself as his face scrunched in pain—142 bowstrings slowly being pulled back. “I’ll finish this with one strike.”

* * *

How many damn arrows is that? Seo Junho’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked up at the sky. The sound of the multiplying arrows was reminiscent of rain. He’s trying to corner me. It was obviously a distraction. Signer’s weapons caught his eye.

“So, is this how a collector fights?” He sighed, but his neck was covered in cold sweat. The bow that Signer just used had the ability to multiply its arrows, which meant that there were over a hundred weapons with similar skills he didn’t know of. The best way to deal with this would be to kill Signer before the weapons fired.

“Booster,” he whispered. His body was already as hot as burning coals. If this took too long, his brain would fry before he could reach his enemy.

But I don’t have enough time to block all the arrows first. Signer had the advantage of time. Seo Junho had to reach him no matter what. But if he dashed forward without a plan, thousands of arrows would pierce through him until he resembled a porcupine. He had to run forward while blocking them at the same time.

As soon as he kicked off the ground, the world around him blurred. Immediately after, arrows soared toward his head.

Please, hold…! Thousands of arrows fell on his ice shield like rain, but it started to crack after a few dozen hits. Seo Junho gritted his teeth, but he didn’t let his concentration slip. Right before it shattered, he created another shield with his free hand and covered his head so that not a single arrow could get through.

“You fucking monster!” Signer cursed. His usually smug face became uneasy as Seo Junho came closer and closer. Dammit, I’m not ready yet… If he had ten—no, seven seconds, he’d be able to strike, but Seo Junho looked like he would reach him in five.

“Tsk.” He would have to use the 62 weapons that were ready. He felt like his head was about to explode from controlling so much Demonic energy, but he closed his eyes and raised his hand.

“Die!”

It seemed like ages ago that he’d been ordered by Nazad Hallow to kill Seo Junho. If he went easy on him now, he would die.

When the arrows released, it sounded like an entire army had fired. They rained down like petals.

Flower Rain. It was a technique that covered the entire field with arrows. It looked beautiful from afar, but to its victims, it looked like hell.

(TN: Lit. name is ‘Full Sky Flower Rain’.)

“You can’t block this.” All the bows in his collection were Rare and Unique, and they had the effects to match. Fire arrows, illusory arrows, exploding arrows… Even a single ability was tedious. There were 72 of them and hundreds of arrows along with the ones already falling. There was no escape.

“You won’t even leave a corpse behind.” Signer smiled wickedly. He looked at Seo Junho, expecting his face to be dark with despair.

“…What?” His face fell. “Why… Why are you smiling?”

Seo Junho was smiling just like Signer had. He stood straight and set his shoulders as he looked up at the arrows. His magic wavered and wrapped around him like yarn.

I was waiting for this. He couldn’t use the skill carelessly because it consumed so much magic, and he hadn’t used it yet in the battle. He waited for the moment that Signer thought he was inevitably dead and let down his guard.

“Shadow step.”

Seo Junho’s body melted into darkness.