Return of the Frozen Player - Chapter 32
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Nourish Your Mind (1)
ââŠWhat do you think?â The subordinate carefully asked the man reading Seo Jun-hoâs interview. They watched Kal Signer silently, and he slowly nodded.
âIâm sure of one thing. This guyâs luck is damningly good.â Seo Jun-ho explained the conquest in great detail in his interview.
Seo Jun-ho had been shocked when he first went in.
âŠWell, it makes sense. No one would have guessed that a Gate with a dragon would be formatted as a maze.Â
Generally, Gates with dragons were large, open spaces. But this time, it was a tight, narrow maze. It was something even Kal Signer hadnât expected.
On top of that, itâs the type that separates them from the beginning⊠The worst.Â
But the Gates that separated the teammates often had a pattern.
[I barely managed to escape from the twisting maze⊠That took me about five hours. And when I finally got out, there was an open space. And there were the Shadow Brothersâ⊠c-corpses⊠and a dying dragon. If Iâd only gotten out a little earlierâŠÂ Sniff, itâs all because I wasnât strong enough.]
Kal Signerâs face contorted even more. As Seo Jun-ho twisted the story even more, his teary face became detestable.
Hoo⊠The most frustrating thing is that it makes sense. Even if heâs strong for someone barely over level 10, the Shadow Brothers were stronger and would have come out earlier.Â
And their superior skill had gotten them killed. Theyâd encountered the Nameless Dragon and fought without a moment to prepare.
In the end, it was mutual destruction.Â
As ridiculous as it was, the weakest one had emerged last and lived.
âHe really is lucky.â
ââŠItâs my first time seeing someone like this.â
âHow shall we deal with the Las Vegas auction? It was originally assigned to the Shadow Brothers.â
âUgh.â Talk about adding insult to injury. This yearâs auction would feature the top-grade magic core, âHeavenâs Breathâ. The Fiend Associationâs executives had directly ordered for it to be retrieved. They had to get it no matter what.
âFuck. The Shadow Brothers were perfect for the jobâŠâ Kal Signer looked like he had a headache.
If he didnât figure this out, he would be in danger.
I sent the Shadow Brothers to find the Tempest Butterfly⊠out of my own judgement. When heâd given the command, he didnât expect things to get this complicated. Heâd thought that the brothers would be able to kill Seo Jun-ho easily, but theyâd died because of the Gateâs unexpected pattern.
If I canât retrieve Heavenâs Breath because of their absenceâŠÂ It would become an issue that would even affect the area around him.
Kal Signer seemed to have decided something as he spoke to his subordinate.
âArenât the Watchdogs coming to the 2nd floor?â
âYes, the superior said their skills were wasted on the 1st floor. They were ordered to advance to the 2nd floor.â
ââŠSend them the order to push it off. Iâll leave the Las Vegas auction to them.â
âHuh? But Signer-nim, their summonsâŠâ
The executive whoâd called the Watchdogs to the 2nd floor was of higher status than Signer. He was overstepping his authority. The Fiend Association was ruled by a single, powerful ruler, and no one would bat an eye even if Kal Signerâs head was cut off.
But he had no other options.
âDid you forget? The Fiend Association only cares about results and skill. I might get beaten a few times⊠but thatâs better than losing Heavenâs Breath.â
His subordinate gulped.
He made sense. The Watchdogs were the strongest fiends on the 1st floor.
But if the Watchdogs failâŠÂ Their boss would definitely die, but they might die too. Their shoulders shook as they bowed their head.
(PR: âTheirâ and âtheyâ both refer to the subordinate here.)
âIâll tell them that they must succeed.â
âThey wonât fail. The Watchdogs⊠Itâs a waste for them to be on the 1st floor.â
The average level out of the three members was 53. Their level and skills no longer suited the 1st floor, so Kal Signer was sure that they would succeed.
* * *
ââŠWhatâs all this?â Seo Jun-ho stared blankly at the mountains of documents on the desk. Cha Si-eun poked her head out from behind it.
âTheyâre love calls for Jun-ho-nim. Personal commission requests.â
ââŠWhy didnât you sort them this time?â He asked, looking at the enormous pile of documents. She looked tired as she responded.
ââŠI worked hard to organize them.â
âThereâs still this much after you sorted them?â Seo Jun-ho was shocked. Sure, clearing the Eastern Sea Gate was a great achievement. Now, South Korea was the first country in the world without Uncleared Gates. It was even deemed the first special safe zone.
âBut still, I didnât expect this much⊠I barely even helped in clearing the Gate.â
âBut in the end, youâre the only one who survived. Luck is also a skill for players.â
ââŠTouchĂ©.â Slowly nodding, Seo Jun-ho looked at the mountain of documents in disgust. âSo, you wanted to show me these because you wanted me to choose?â
âYes. Iâve picked out the best ones by taking into consideration the commissioner, compensation, and difficulty.â
âUgh. I got it.â
âAndâŠâ Cha Si-eun took a step toward Seo Jun-ho.
âWh-what is it?â She stared closely at him and gave a look of dissatisfaction.
âAs I thought, you need to get your hair done. Iâve noticed it for a while now, but itâs a lot more obvious in the pictures from yesterdayâs press conference. Your hair is too messy right now.â
ââŠIâm not a celebrity or anything. Is it really necessary?â
âYes!â She shouted with a determined voice. She tapped on her Vita and pulled up a window for reference. It was a list of profiles of the current star players. Not all of them were as handsome or pretty as celebrities, but it was clear that they were all well-maintained.
âSome of them arenât even as big as you. But at least they donât look lame in their official photos.â
âLameâŠâ Seo Jun-ho muttered sullenly. He picked up the mirror on the desk and looked at his hair.
âŠYeah, itâs gotten a lot longer. It had already been a month since heâd emerged from the ice. His hair had kept growing, and it looked messy.
âYouâre planning to rest today, correct?â
âWell, yeah.â
âThen please go to the salon on this business card and get your hair cut.â Seo Jun-ho took the card and sighed. At times like this, he missed being Specter.
Now I get why my friends always complained about makeup.Â
Whenever the Five Heroes held a press conference, he always had to listen to their grumbling. Of course, he always wore his mask and had never gotten his makeup done before.
âYou should go home early too, then.â
ââŠReally?â
âI canât imagine how much you worked if this is the result of sorting the commissions. Go home for today.â
She looked the happiest heâd ever seen her.
âThank you!â Cha Si-eun bowed and quickly dashed out of the room, leaving Seo Jun-ho alone.
âWow, she sure is happy.â He reached into a drawer and put on a face mask. There were too many people that recognized him now.
Seo Jun-ho studied his freshly-cut hair in the elevator mirror, looking satisfied.
âYou handsome bastard.â If someone heard him, theyâd call him a narcissist and look at him weirdly, but they wouldnât be able to deny it. He really did look good with his voluminous swallow perm.
Getting a haircut is pretty refreshing. In the past, heâd go to a nearby hair salon whenever he felt like his hair got too long. It was run by an old lady who was always chewing gum and had a dog with a tail that was dyed pink.
âYou take some, you lose some.â When he was Specter, no one would recognize him if he simply took off the mask. But now, it was different.
He was Koreaâs young hero and a rising player. Heâd made the country into a special safe zone and was just as good as the other star players.
Well, itâs just annoying for me. He grumbled as he sighed and put his face mask back on before the elevator opened again. He went out into a crowded street and hailed a taxi to go to a manhwa bang*.
(TN: âManhwa roomâ, you pay to sit in a quiet space and read the manhwa/books that they have. Usually quite cheap and often offer snacks/drinks.)
âItâs nice to relieve stress like this every once in a while.â
Heâd done that often when he was Specter. When you lived your whole life training and fighting, you needed to breathe every once in a while.
Ring! Seo Jun-ho entered the manhwa bang and started to pick out some novels.
This place never has any customers. I wonder if theyâll go under. This was only the third time heâd come here, but it was easy to guess why that was the case.
Thereâs a lot of luxurious book cafes these days. Those places were like cafes or restaurants and offered coffee, drinks, and good food. On the other hand, this was a classic manhwa bang that only offered ramen, frozen dumplings, and fish cake bars.
Well, itâs better for me if there arenât any customers. He pulled off his mask and found himself a spot in a corner.
âHuh?â He paused. Heâd thought that there werenât any customers, but there was an occupant. She was wearing a sloppy gym suit, and there was a hair roller in her windblown hair. She was blowing on the ramen in one hand, but her focus was on the novel in the other. It wasnât the skill of a manhwa bang newbie.
She noticed his presence behind her and glanced up. When she saw him, she started coughing as if she were poisoned.
âUrkâŠÂ cough, cough!â She placed her chopsticks down at the speed of light and hid her face behind the book.
The book was enough to cover her entire faceâperhaps because it was smallâbut it was too late.
ââŠSecretary Cha?â Seo Jun-ho asked awkwardly.