Return of the Frozen Player - chapter 184
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Chapter 184
Skaya was originally one year older than Seo Jun-Ho. In theory, since Seo Jun-Ho had returned to the world a year earlier, they were now the same age⊠Still, she strongly denied it.
âI think I know how Skaya feels now.â
Seo Jun-Ho was bitterly looking at the touching reunion of the father and son. For Gilberto, it didnât matter. He was a 30-year-old married man.
âArthur is 29 years old, so heâs only one year older.â
To be honest, it was the right age to call him hyung rather than father, but Gilberto had a face to save anyway. The problem was Seo Jun-Ho himself. Reunited after 26 years, Arthur was older than him and was now the hyung.
âI canât. I canât even if I die.â
He raised Arthur like a nephew. Seo Jun-Ho couldnât call Arthur âhyungâ even if he was beaten to death. But his troubles were solved more easily than he thought.
âUncle.â
Arthur was a young man of the 21st century who knew manners.
ââŠFor a young man, you really act like a gentleman.â
âYes?â
âNo, nothing.â
With a satisfied smile around his mouth, Seo Jun-Ho looked at the swollen-eyed Arthur.
âSo⊠Did you like the gift I gave to you after a long time?â Seo Jun-Ho asked, pointing at the blond married man with his chin.
âThank you. Really⊠Itâs more valuable than anything else to me,â Arthur replied shyly.
âAhem, AhemâŠâ
Gilberto tried hard to stop the corners of his mouth from going up.
âI heard from Deok-Gu that you made the Watchguards?â asked Seo Jun-Ho.
âYes. I wanted to continue my disappeared uncleâs willâŠâ Arthur looked bitterly at the bloodied land. âIt was too much for me.â
âNo, looking at kids these days, itâs great to achieve that much at your age.â
ââŠâ
Arthur had something to say, but he held back. Didnât the 5 Heroes establish the new world order in their 20s?
âBut⊠thatâs because the 5 Heroes are special.â
Arthur wasnât such a remarkable person that he could compare to them and he knew that better than anyone else. Seo Jun-Ho, Skaya, and Gilberto exchanged glances.
âJun-Ho, Arthur seems very depressed?â
Gilberto seemed as if he was asking the others with his gaze.
âYeah, even though heâs not bad to the point that he should look down on himselfâŠâ
âDonât harass my son.â
To be honest, Arthurâs skills were superior to his peers of similar age. Now that they were stuck trying to clear the 3rd floor, most Players had chosen to live in comfort. It wasnât exactly their fault. There was just no âreasonâ to risk your life to become strong.
âI know it because I experienced it. Comparing the two generations is meaningless.â
In a way, Seo Jun-Ho and they were also born with the times, unlike now, where you could be infinitely lazy if someone didnât urge you to do something. They were Players who lived in a generation that had to fight endlessly.
âSkaya.â
When Seo Jun-Ho slightly hinted, Skaya clapped and drew their attention.
âCome on, kids? Shall we go over there and heal our wounds first?â
Seo Jun-Ho turned his head when she took the hint and slipped away. There were dozens of fiends who died here. Seo Jun-Ho approached the remaining upper body of the closest fiend.
âThe Confession of the Dead.â
Fiends had work to do even after death.
***
[The skill rank is too low. You could not recall the memory completely.]
[The skill has been automatically deactivated for the safety of the user.]
It happened again. Seo Jun-Ho blinked and read the message window in front of him.
âGrade⊠Are you saying a B-grade isnât enough?â
The Confession of the Dead was now B-grade. Its grade had gone up after reading Kal Signerâs memory. Despite that, accessing information about the âleaderâ was still impossible.
âIn that case, does it need to be A-grade?â
Seo Jun-Ho didnât act hastily because there were corpses all around. When the sun rose in the morning, the first thing that flew over were crows. Seo Jun-Ho walked among the crows like a plague doctor and forced the bodies to confess. When he heard his 63rd confession, he received a message.
[Repeated use of the skill has increased the skillâs grade.]
[The Confession of the Dead (B) has risen to the Confession of the Dead (A).]
[Memory projections will now be automatically saved.]
The Confession of the Dead once again rose in grade. An additional skill was even added as it rose to A-grade.
âSave?â
Memory projections could now be stored. Seo Jun-Ho was lost in thought for a moment.
âIs this a necessary skill?â
His memory was never bad. He remembered the faces of every fiend he saw through the memory projections, and he could also perfectly recall every piece of information. This meant that he didnât have to save and watch those memory projections later.
âBut itâs better than nothingâŠâ
Seo Jun-Ho walked to the body of a member of the Gluttony Squadron.
âConfession of the Dead.â
A memory projection came to mind, and he skipped over all the meaningless details.
â Iâll make you guys strong. Have you ever heard of the strengthening treatment?
â My cooking has never failed. However, 9 out of 10 die from tasting it.
â Deputy Chef, these are the new recruits. Take them away.
ââŠâ
The first thing Seo Jun-Ho saw was the past in the memories of the Gluttony Squadron member. In the memory, he saw a fiend he had seen before.
âChefâŠâ
He was an executive of the Fiend Association and was called the Skill Maker. From what Seo Jun-Ho knew, Chef had a unique skill: to manufacture skills himself.
âThat valuable skillâŠâ
Why did he have to use it in such an evil way? Seo Jun-Ho looked at the memory projection with an annoyed look. The number of fiends in the Gluttony Squadron exceeded 500.
âWhat a crazy number. Other squads⊠No, itâs comparable to most large guilds.â
The only reason this was possible was because of Chefâs existence. He forced the fiends to eat the so-called strengthening treatment. In other words, the skill he had created.
âSurvival rate of 10%.â
9 out of 10 die from tasting it, but if one survived, they would obtain a stronger skill. Of course, compared to the other squads whose skills were trained from scratch, their skills were bound to be worse off.
âSo this is why the members of the Gluttony Squadron were weaker than Jang Seon-HoâŠâ
The Gluttony Squadron dealt with the Fiend Associationâs troublesome matters using their overwhelming numbers. In short, they had the role of a cleaner who took care of jobs that were too vague for other members to come forward.
âThe leaderâs name is Guladin.â
All Seo Jun-Ho knew about him was his appearance and name. No one had ever seen the leaderâs skills based on what Seo Jun-Ho had seen from the memories of the Gluttony Squadron members.
âStill, I thought that a squadron member would be a key member of the Fiend AssociationâŠâ
No, maybe the Gluttony Squadron was just a special case.
âHmm.â
The memory projections were naturally saved, and now, there was only one fiend left whose memories Seo Jun-Ho hadnât read just yet.
âJang Seon-Ho.â
He was the best among the fiends here, and he belonged to the Pride Squadron. When Seo Jun-Ho made him confess, the corners of Seo Jun-Hoâs mouth slightly rose.
âYeah, this is what I wanted.â
Thanks to his unique skill, Jang Seon-Ho was highly regarded in the Fiend Association. He had even once witnessed Prideâs skills, the leader of the Pride Squadron.
ââŠâ
Seo Jun-Ho clenched his fist and opened it without saying anything. To be honest, he was a little shocked. The strength of a leader was higher than he had thought.
âIf the leader is at that level, the executives will be much stronger, right?â
If that was true, then an executive was a tower that was still too much for Seo Jun-Ho to climb. From the memory projection, the skills of the leader of the Pride Squadron, Pride, were one step higher than the current Seo Jun-Ho.
ââŠIâm also certain that there will be a gap in skills even among the leaders.â
If Seo Jun-Ho was unlucky, Prideâs abilities may be at the bottom among the leaders. When the memory projection ended, the light in Seo Jun-Hoâs eyes became calm. He knew from experience thatâŠ
ââŠThe scariest enemy is the one whose power cannot be measured.â
But now, he knew some of the enemyâs power. Of course, what he had done could only be considered scratching at the surface, after all, there were still the leaders of the other Squadrons, the executives commanding them, and the Heavenly Demon himself.
âItâs still not enough.â
Seo Jun-Ho couldnât shake off the uncomfortable feeling in his heart. His mind was constantly asking, âwhy?â
âIf Deok-Guâs data is correct⊠The Fiend Association is a force that can confront even the world right now.â
But the Fiend Association remained low profile for decades now. Many Players even started to think that their existence wasnât that important anymore.
Whoooong.
Seo Jun-Ho looked up at the sky, feeling the chilly desolate wind that could only be felt in the mountains.
âThose guys⊠How have they been suppressing their desires all this time?â
Seo Jun-Ho was familiar with the fiends. He was confident that he knew them better than anyone else in the world. But⊠Now, they were unfamiliar. The only fiends he knew in his generation were those faithful to their desires.
ââŠâ
The peaceful times⊠Seo Jun-Ho began to feel uneasy about the current peace. After all, there would always be a calm before the storm.
* * *
âOh, heâs here.â
When Seo Jun-Ho returned, the party welcomed him. In particular, River and Arthur looked at Seo Jun-Ho with a different look compared to before after they had come to their senses.
âH-Hello. My name is R-River.â
âNice to meet you.â
It had been very difficult for him to greet Seo Jun-Ho. As such, River looked ecstatic as if he had heard the best compliment in the world when Seo Jun-Ho replied.
âItâs because everyone is your fan,â Skaya said as she approached and pouted. âWhatâs up with the name of this group? Watchguards? Descendants of the Archmage⊠Isnât something like this better?â
âI like it. The Watchguards.â
âTsk, anyway, Iâm going to see Arthurâs comrades. Apparently, theyâre held in restraints.â
âBy Arthurâs comradesâŠâ
They were the Watchguards. Seo Jun-Ho turned his head toward Arthur and asked, âArthur, whatâs the level of the Watchguards?â
âUh, umâŠâ
Arthur looked slightly apologetic. âThere are a lot of non-combatants. There are only nine combatants, including me and Iâm the best among them.â
ââŠâ
Seo Jun-Ho fiddled with his mask and thought for a while. The reason why he asked this question was simple.
âThe power of the Fiend Association is beyond imagination. It might be hard to deal with them even if I wake up Mio and Rahmadat.â
It was because he needed a strong ally. Of course, he did have a powerful ally, albeit perfunctorily, in the form of the Big 6. They had made a pledge to cooperate with him, after all.
âBut using me politically is a stronger goal for them. I donât know how theyâll react when put in front of danger.â
In other words, Shim Deok-Gu was the only ally who would help him without questions or complaints.
âIf I donât have any, I have to make themâŠâ
Seo Jun-Hoâs eyes hidden in the mask began to shine. The Watchguards were worth raising as long as their abilities werenât too bad.
âAnd itâs a group of people who are hostile to the fiendsâŠâ
Most importantly, it was an organization where Arthur, his nephew, was the leader. In other words, even if he worked them hard, there would be no way for them to refuse.
âArthur, I want to see your comrades too,â Seo Jun-Ho said in a honey-coated voice.