Return of the Frozen Player - chapter 128
Reader settings
font size
A- A+Font type
background color
Chapter 128
âSimus!â Baron Vashti shouted, slamming open the door and running into the room. Seo Jun-Ho followed behind him, and his nose twitched.
âThe smell of herbsâŠâ
Like an apothecary, the room was filled with the scent of herbal medicine
Baron Vashti watched helplessly as a boy of about 7-year-old whimpered on the bed.
âIs that his son?â Seo Jun-Ho asked Phivir.
âSo he is. He is Young Master Simus Gilleon. Heâs very clever, butâŠâ Phivir let out a sigh.
âH-honey, what can we do for our poor child? UrkâŠâ a woman asked.
âWe must be patient. There will be a solution,â Vashti said, comforting his wife. He turned to a man wearing priestsâ robes. âWhat in the world happened? Didnât you say that the progression of the disease has stopped?â
âW-well, he suddenly got a high fever. I tried to use holy power to put the disease in a stasisâŠâ
âThen⊠Then what am I supposed to do?!â Baron Vashti yelled, gripping his fists.
The priest bowed his head. From the very beginning, it had been impossible to completely cure Simusâs disease with holy power. âIâm sorry. I can no longer delay the diseaseâs progression with my abilities as an excommunicated priest alone.â
âNoâŠâ Vashti stumbled in shock, gripping his forehead, and Phivir quickly moved to help him. When he saw that the baron had fainted, he whipped toward the priest.
âBrother Hanon! Help the baron!â
âA-alright, please lay him down in a nearby bed.â
As the two men started to leave, Seo Jun-Ho slowly approached Simus.
âPlayer Seo Jun-Ho! I told you to keep your distance!â Phivir shouted. He was on edge from the current situation.
However, Seo Jun-Ho simply held a finger to his lips and walked over to the boy, who was covered in cold sweat. He placed a hand on Simusâs forehead, and it burned like fire.
Seo Jun-Ho slowly closed his eyes and concentrated on the sensations beneath his fingers.
ââŠHeâs in serious condition.â
All living things had magic in them, from normal people who couldnât use Player skills to housecats. Simus was no exception.
âBut itâs all knotted upâŠâ
The magic should have been evenly spread out throughout his body, but it was tangled and knotted. It was no wonder that he was in so much pain. After all, humans were weak beings who felt pain if even just one of their tiny veins were injured.
âBut thatâs not allâŠâ
For some reason, he sensed dark demonic energy in Simusâs body.
âWhat are you doing?!â
Phivir had returned from laying down Vashti, and he roughly pulled away Seo Jun-Ho by the shoulder. He placed himself between Simus and Seo Jun-Ho, glaring at the latter.
âDo not touch the young master so carelessly. Iâll let you off for a warning because of what youâve done,â he warned.
âI sense demonic energy from the young masterâs body.â
ââŠ!â
Phivirâs eyes darkened as he quickly checked the area. He seemed to consider something when he confirmed that no one else was around.
âIs he planning to kill me?â
On Earth, fiends invoked fear and repulsion, but in Frontier, simply mentioning demonic clans was a taboo in itself. It was all because they didnât have fiends who drank the blood of demonic clans, they had pure-blooded demons.
âThe Ruben Empire worships the sun.â
The national religion considered the sun to be holy, and those that were associated with demons would be persecuted. That was probably why Vashti had hired an excommunicated priest. Nothing good would come out of other people finding out that Simus had demonic energy in his body.
âDonât worry.â Seo Jun-Ho held up his hands, trying to show Phivir that he didnât have any hidden intentions. âI donât plan to spread rumors. Actually, I believe that I can help.â He explained.
ââŠHelp?â Phivir asked. His eyebrows furrowed.
âI can get rid of the demonic energy in the young masterâs body.â
âGet rid of it? Donât be foolish. Not even the sun priests could do that.â
âAre you sure? Iâm a Player.â And Players had mysterious powers that made the impossible, possible. Phivir was silent for a moment, trembling.
âDammit! How will you get rid of it?â
âItâs related to my skill.â
Shing.
Phivir unsheathed his sword. âTry it. But if you do anything foolish, regardless of your statusâŠâ
âIf I do, cut off my head. Donât hesitate.â Seo Jun-Ho tapped on his neck with his finger. Phivir saw the confidence in his eyes, and he bit his lip.
âAh⊠It hurtsâŠâ
As Simus cried out, Phivirâs face twisted as if he was the one in pain. He jutted his chin. âDo it. Hurry.â
âPlease excuse me.â
Seo Jun-Ho pulled up a chair next to the bed and squeezed Simusâs small hand. It was covered in sweat from the boyâs high fever, but Seo Jun-Ho barely noticed it.
The messages he had been waiting for appeared.
[You sense low-grade demonic energy from the target.]
[Watchguard of Darkness can consume the demonic energy.]
[Upon absorption, your magic stat will increase.]
The demonic energy he had absorbed from the children at Paradise had been lesser-grade, so that meant this was one level higher. That was probably why Seo Jun-Ho had gotten the feeling that removing the demonic energy wouldnât be easy.
âIâve absorbed mid-grade yin energy before, butâŠâ
Last time had been easy; all he had to do was extract the energy clogging up the magic circuits. But this time the magic was knotted like a ball of string, and he would have to absorb the bits of demonic energy stuck in between the tangles.
âIf I mess up, Simus might end up in a dangerous position.â
And if that happened, Phivirâs sword would come flying toward his head.
Seo Jun-Ho gulped and slowly pushed Watchguard of Darkness into Simusâs body.
âBe careful. Donât let him get hurt.â
He wasnât sure if it heard his command, but the dark energy shot toward Simusâs magic circuits.
âApproach carefullyâŠâ
Untangling the magic was not within the scope of Seo Jun-Hoâs abilities. He had perfect control over his magic, but only his own.
âIn order to untangle the magicâŠâ
They would probably need someone at around the Archmage Skaya Killilandâs level.
âSlowlyâŠâ
Riding the magic circuits, Watchguard of Darkness covered the tangled knot.
âUgh!â Simus cried out. Seo Jun-Ho hissed at the same moment.
Phivirâs sword started to tremble against Seo Jun-Hoâs neck. His eyes were wide, unsure if Seo Jun-Hoâs treatment was working or not.
âDammitâŠâ
He lowered the sword helplessly to the ground. It would be imprudent to trust in Seo Jun-Ho, whom he had only met a few days ago, but there was no other way. The healers, mages, and excommunicated sun priests that they had all hired in secret had failed to help Simus. The only person Phivir could place his faith in was Seo Jun-Ho.
âPlease⊠Please take care of him.â
However, his sincere request failed to reach Seo Jun-Hoâs ears. It was all because the latterâs attention was on controlling his magic.
âI canât mess upâŠ.â
Simusâs magic just so happened to be coagulated near his heart. There were many surrounding veins, and if Seo Jun-Ho made the slightest mistake, he could seriously damage Simusâs heart. Because of this, extracting the demonic energy from the tangled magic was extremely difficult.
âLetâs get the ones on the outside first.â
Watchguard of Darkness slowly dispersed and covered the tangled knot of magic. It started to remove the demonic energy on the surface.
Rrrrip!
The evil energy stuck stubbornly like gum. But once it was removed by force, Simus let out a gasp, and he seemed to appear a little more at ease.
âNow for the demonic energy on the insideâŠâ
Sweat dripped from Seo Jun-Hoâs forehead as Watchguard of Darkness lengthened like sharp fangs. He planned to use the tendrils to pierce the demonic energy.
âThis is it.â
He had to concentrate. Seo Jun-Ho forced his breath into a shallow rhythm, trying to stop himself from trembling.
âSlowly⊠Thatâs it!â
The long, sharp tendril dug deep into the tangle, piercing through each fragment of demonic energy.
âAnd pull it out all at onceâŠâ
Still cautious, Seo Jun-Ho adjusted the tendril to the shape of a hook. He slowly dragged it across to remove all the demonic energy, and Simusâs body temperature returned to normal.
[Magic has increased by 0.8.]
The task was enough to make his head spin, but he would have to do this at least five more times.
âTowel,â he muttered.
âI canât hear you. What did you just say?â Phivir asked.
âI need a towel. The sweat keeps breaking my concentration.â
ââŠâ
Phivir stood bewildered for a second, but he reached into his jacket and wiped Seo Jun-Hoâs face with a handkerchief. âI-is that alright?â
âYes, thank you.â
In an instant, the cityâs knight commander had turned into a surgery assistant while Seo Jun-Ho continued the operation.
***
âUhâŠâ Baron Vashtiâs eyes fluttered open. As the ceiling came into view, he sat up.
âM-milord. The priest said that you must still be carefulâŠâ
âI canât.â
Vashti stood up from the bed, stumbling over to his sonâs bedroom.
âHoney.â His wife, Helena, looked up at him. She was sitting on a chair next to the bed, holding their sonâs hand tightly.
âHow is Simus?â he asked.
âHe has gotten much better, thanks to the Player you brought here.â
ââŠPlayer?â Vashtiâs eyes widened. What Player was she talking about? âAre you perhaps talking about Player Seo Jun-Ho?â
âThatâs right. He said he finished the first round of Simusâs treatment.â
âHah.â Vashti hadnât brought Seo Jun-Ho here for that reason. He had simply been planning to reward him for his contributions.
âBut I ended up being the one receiving the greatest gift of allâŠâ
He watched as his cute little son let out light breaths. âWhere is the man? I must thank him.â
âYou mean Player Seo Jun-Ho? He returned to his world,â Helena said.
ââŠYou mean the place called Earth?â
âYes.â Helena stroked Simusâs hair. âHe said that our son isnât completely cured yet and that he has only completed the first stage of treatment.â
âT-then how will he do the next oneâŠ?â
His wife shook her head. âHe said that he canât attempt it with his level of skill.â
âHaaaâŠâ Baron Vashti let out a heavy sigh. âI suppose we must find another healer.â
âNo, that wonât be necessary.â
ââŠ?â
Helena smiled softly when she saw his confused expression. âHe said that he thinks that one of his friends can cure Simusâs diseaseâŠHe left after saying that heâll try to bring them over.â
âHmmm. If that is the case, we owe him a great debt.â Vashti nodded.
âEven if he doesnât bring them over, we already owe him a lot.â
ââŠYouâre right.â
Baron Vashti nodded quietly. He started to think about what he could do to repay the Player.