Return of the Frozen Player - chapter 154
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Chapter 154
âHis fist⊠Is it faster than my eyes?â
Wang-Heon immediately took out a dagger and cut the swollen flesh beneath his left eye. It stung as blood flowed out, but the swelling went down and his vision was restored.
âPiercing Eyes allows me to see my opponentâs movements and intentions.â
In other words, it was the same as seeing into the immediate future.
But Seo Jun-Ho was fast enough to render his skill uselessâŠ
ââŠYouâre dangerous,â Wang-Heon said. The warning bells finally started to go off in his head.
He had thought of Seo Jun-Ho as nothing more than a mere newbie who had debuted less than a year ago, but his opinion of the Player was quickly changing.
âIf heâs this powerful after merely a yearâŠâ
The new Kim Woo-Joong? The new Shin Sung-Hyun? It really was bullshit.
âHeâs way better than either of them.â
Both Kim Woo-Joong and Shin Sung-Hyun had been much stronger than other rookies back in their time, but Seo Jun-Ho was already more skilled than a member of a prestigious squadron.
âI have to let them know.â
He had to tell the Association that such a monster was growing.
Wang-Heon made a choice.
Rrrrip!
He poured demonic energy into his fist, punching a hole through the Curtain of Darkness. He cried out.
âClear it! Clear the Dungeon! Kill the boss!â
âHuh?â
âWang-Heon-nim? What are youâŠâ
âRight noooow!â He roared, furious. Unnerved, Stan and Banjo nodded and ran out of the maze.
âPhewâŠâ Wang-Heon let out a sigh of relief as he watched the two fiends run off through the shrinking hole.
âThatâs one less thing to worry about.â
It might take some time with just the two of them, but it wouldnât be too difficult for Stan and Banjo to defeat the boss. Now, all he had to do was fight Seo Jun-Ho.
But Wang-Heon seemed to have forgotten somethingâŠ
âSo you canâtâŠâ Jun-Ho let out a low laugh from inside his armor.
âWhat?â Wang-Heon demanded.
âYou donât have a way to contact someone outside of the Dungeon. Thatâs why you ordered them to defeat the boss as fast as possible.â
ââŠ!â
Seo Jun-Ho had immediately grasped the situation the same way Wang-Heon had been able to deduce all the information just from one tip-off.
âHe doesnât have a way to contact the outside world.â
This also meant that he had no other way of getting out the information he had gathered about Seo Jun-Ho. If Wang-Heon did have a way, he would have called the other fiends over for a pincer attack.
âSo he thinks that he canât defeat me alone.â
It was a little surprising. Seo Jun-Ho had thought that all fiends were selfish, but Wang-Heon seemed to have a deep sense of trust. Well, he would find out everything once he read Wang-Heonâs memories.
âI canât drag this out either.â
If too much time passed, those two might really be able to clear the Dungeon.
âLetâs go.â
Seo Jun-Ho had already finished adjusting to his change in stats. He summoned a tremendous amount of magic and ran toward Wang-Heon.
âHup!â Wang-Heonâs fist flew toward him, wavering.
âHeâs nervous. His bodyâs all stiff.â
It was an opening for Seo Jun-Ho. He followed Wang-Heonâs fist with cold eyes. He caught it in his hand and slammed the fiend to the ground.
Crack!
The Frost Queen made an ice coffin in tandem, freezing his limbs.
âUgh!â Wang-Heon was caught off-guard. He felt like the black sword above him could come down and cut his head off at any moment, like a guillotine.
But Seo Jun-Ho merely looked down at him once before he turned around and walked away.
ââŠWhy?â
Wang-Heon could still fight, so why did Seo Jun-Ho leave his back open? Was he being careless? Perhaps this was an opportunity. He started to prepare a powerful attack, hoping to overturn the situation.
Rrrrip!
The ground below him was torn apart, and he started to fall.
âHuh?!â The sight of wolf-like fangs filled his vision.
âFangs of Darkness⊠WolvesâŠ?â
Wasnât thisâŠ?
Wang-Heonâs eyes blazed red. He looked up.
âAhhhh!â
The starved fangs feasted on his body. The ceiling closed above him.
âA member of the Pride Squadron⊠His skill was more useful than I thought.â
Wang-Heon had been a difficult enemy while the Curse of Bitter Coldâs effects were ongoing, which reduced Seo Jun-Hoâs stats by 50%. But after it was dispelled, Seo Jun-Ho became confident that he could even defeat someone a full step above Kal Signer, not to mention Wang-Heon who was merely half a step above Kal Signer.
Ptoo!
A moment later, the ground opened up and spat Wang-Heonâs tattered corpse.
âUgh, disgusting.â The Frost Queen wrinkled her nose in disgust, but Seo Jun-Ho merely shrugged, seemingly unbothered.
âYou gotta do what you gotta do.â He held out a hand toward the body. âConfession of the Dead.â
[Confession of the Dead has been activated.]
[Wang-Heonâs memories are being replayed.]
***
ââŠâ
They said that people who spent a lot of time together would end up resembling each other sooner or later, but this also seemed to apply to Spirits.
Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen blinked in unison, crossed their arms, and exhaled.
âHmmâŠâ
âHmâŠâ
As expected, Wang-Heon was quite the catch.
âWe found a great lead,â Seo Jun-Ho said.
âThe problem is⊠We thought we found the tail of a snake, but the bodyâs much bigger than we expected,â the Frost Queen remarked.
âExactly.â Seo Jun-Ho narrowed his eyes.
He had expected the Seven Squadrons to be a little bigger than the Watchdog Corps, but they were actually much bigger.
âThey are reminiscent of the Playersâ Guilds,â the Frost Queen noted.
âThey had probably modeled it off of the Guild system.â
But the Seven Squadrons werenât just like any Guilds. They were at the level of the Guilds ranking immediately below the Big 6.
âOf course, the Big 6 are stronger in some ways.â The Squadrons had fewer members than the Player Guilds. But it was hard to tell if their individual members would be able to win against each other.
âAt that level⊠The victor would be decided based on the skill match-up and how theyâre feeling that day.â
Objectively speaking, both sides only harbored monsters. Even Wang-Heon, whom Seo Jun-Ho had considered highly, seemed adorable compared to some of the higher-ranking members of his squadron.
Seo Jun-Ho started to sort through the information about the Squadrons that he had retrieved from the fiendâs memories.
âPride, Despair, Wrath, Silence, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth.â Each of the Seven Squadrons had the power of a major Guild. âMembers within the same Squadron sometimes exchange information⊠But other than that, thereâs not much sense of camaraderie. And like Player Guilds, they barely know anything about the other Squadrons. This is so that they wonât be able to give up much information if they get captured by an enemy.â
And the reason for the squadronsâ existence was simple.
âEach one is a weapon for one of the seven executives of the Fiend Association.â Each Squadron Leader was one of the few people who could contact the executives. Not only that, but the Squadrons were more cooperative with each other than the Guilds or the Player Association.
âSo thatâs what separates them from the Guilds,â the Frost Queen commented.
âTheyâre all under one organizational structure.â
This was going to be harder than Seo Jun-Ho had expected. If they were that big, it would take a long time to break them down one by one.
âThe best-case scenario would be destroying a key piece and having the whole thing tumble down. But that probably wonât happen.â
The Squadrons were organized the way they were precisely to avoid such a disaster. Like a cat with nine lives.
âContractor, I believe that this is a success. We found more than expected.â
âYeah, we got a lot of info about the members of the Pride Squadron.â
Wang-Heon had known several sunbaes. If Seo Jun-Ho ever ran into them, he would recognize their faces.
âStill, Iâm a little disappointed. It wouldâve been nice if we were able to find out where each Squadron is and what theyâre doing.â
âA Squadron Leader may be in possession of such information,â the Frost Queen said.
Seo Jun-Ho tapped on the Curtain of Darkness, and it melted downward, disappearing along with Wang-Heonâs corpse. Seo Jun-Hoâs eyes started to sparkle as he looked up at the maze.
âThey really mustâve been in a rush,â he muttered as he looked down at the footprints.
***
âStan! Distract it!â
âDammit⊠I get it, so hit it with something strong!â Stan ran left, increasing the distance between him and Banjo. A monster chased close behind him.
âKyaaaak!â It was the boss monster of the Dungeon, the Wall Mantis Queen. After leaving the maze on Wang-Heonâs orders, the two fiends quickly arrived at the Boss Room. The walls, ground, and ceiling were all covered in darkness.
âDammit, even if our eyes are better than the wall mantisâsâŠâ
Swish. Swish.
The Wall Mantis Queen was at least four times as big as a normal wall mantis. Every time it moved, its wings flitted like a sharkâs fins. This made it easy to locate, but Stan and Banjo were still on edge.
âThe exoskeleton is insanely strong! How will we pierce through its armor?â
âIt has those spikes on its front legs, and they cut like a Rare-grade sword. If it hits one of us, weâll be seriously injured.â
That wasnât all⊠As it was a boss monster, the Wall Mantis Queen flew off the wall every five minutes and into the open air.
âNow that I think about it⊠Itâs not even a wall mantis!â Stanâs hairs stood on end as he rushed forward, shouting.
Swish. Swish.
He could hear the chilling sounds coming from above his head.
âShit!â
Stan instinctively used Homing Intuition and was transported to the Boss Roomâs entrance. He gulped. From afar, he could see that the enormous Wall Mantis Queen had made its way over to where he had been standing.
âIf I hadnât used my skill just nowâŠâ
Stan stroked his neck and trembled. Even imagining it made a chill run down his back.
âItâs⊠ready!â Banjo yelled. Stanâs efforts had paid off. While he had been buying time, Banjo had finished preparing his spell. âGet out of the way!â
Two enormous fireballs blazed next to him. Banjo knew how to double-cast. He was a renowned mage, and it was rumored that he would soon enter the Pride Squadron as Wang-Heonâs successor.
âNo matter how tough its exterior is, itâs still a bug in the end.â He held out his hand as he aimed the fireballs. âBurn.â
Woooosh!
Unexpected for their size, the fireballs flew forward at a high speed, demonstrating Banjoâs talent for magic control. They struck the Wall Mantis Queenâs wings.
Kaaa! Kyaaaak!
The Wall Mantis Queen shrieked as the fireballs struck her, and she fell to the ground. The fire quickly spread across her body and started to melt both her exoskeleton and her wings.
âIt worked!â Banjo turned toward the Boss Roomâs entrance. The Wall Mantis Queen was heavily injured, so he was about to tell Stan that they should finish it up.
ââŠ?â Banjo frowned. Instead of Stan, all he saw was a strangely posed ice statue. It was in the shape of a human covering its mouth with both hands.
âWhatâs with that weird statue?â
As soon as the question popped into his head, his mouth froze.
Crackle.
âMm? Mmph!â Taken aback, Banjo frantically tried to pull off the ice. But as soon as he touched it, the cold started to travel up his fingers and down his arms.
It was then that he had finally realizedâŠ
âOh, that statueâŠâ
It was Stan.
Seo Jun-Ho approached from behind Banjoâs frozen body with a tired look. âThis sucks. I donât like this skill.â
âWhat? I am unamused. Did you not tell me yourself that my power looks convenient?â
âI did, but that doesnât mean that it doesnât make me feel horrible,â Seo Jun-Ho replied, rubbing his aching temples. It was still too early for him to use such a high-level skill. Even now, he could feel it draining a large amount of his mental power.
âI shouldnât use this too recklessly.â
But since they were in a closed-off space, he had decided to test it out. It was okay if he pushed himself in his current situation.
âAs for the one and only boss monsterâŠâ
The Wall Mantis Queen was still wailing as it crawled on the ground, burning. Seo Jun-Ho gestured with his finger. âHereâs a tip. Always be careful in dark places,â he said lightly.
Because you would never know if Specter was hiding or not.
Crack! Crack!
Dozens of Watchguards of Darkness emerged from the ground and began to feast on the Wall Mantis Queenâs flesh.