Return of the Frozen Player

Beyond the door was a bloody fog. Recognizing it, River spoke with a serious look, "This is Jang ahjussi\'s skill…?”

“...”

Arthur\'s eyes narrowed as he turned his head without saying a word.

"Eup! Eup!"

"Eup...!"

His fellow Watchguards were detained in the spacious central living room of the hideout. Their arms and legs were tied with restraints restricting the use of magic, and their mouths were also blocked with tape. Even in that state, they looked at Arthur and shouted. They wanted Arthur to run away, but Arthur counted them first.

‘One, two, three...’

There were thirty in total. The first thought that dominated his head was \'relief.’

‘I wasn’t too late.’

He could change the outcome if he had a chance. It was too early to regret.

‘But if the number of people tied up is 30...’

The Watchguards had 33 members in total, so excluding himself and River, there was only one left.

"Oh, so you\'re here."

The last Watchguard slipped out of the kitchen with a beer bottle.

Staring at him piercingly, Arthur asked in an eerily calm voice, "What happened, Jang ahjussi?"

"Huh? Hmm... I don’t think you’re stupid. Do I have to necessarily explain it to you?” The pot-bellied man with a bushy beard scratched his head and shrugged. "It is what it is?”

Sitting comfortably on the living room sofa, he brought the cold beer bottle over to his mouth.

"Why bother explaining?"

"What a waste of time…"

Strange voices interrupted the conversation and at the same time, two more people walked out from inside the hideout.

‘Just two people…’

But Arthur\'s eyes trembled as he looked at them. These fiends made him feel a sense of breathlessness the moment his eyes landed on them. At that moment, he knew that he could not guarantee victory against them.

"Why on Earth?!"

Arthur\'s anger turned to Jang ahjussi, Jang Seon-Ho.

"Just why did you betray us?”

"Huh? Betrayal? Me?" Jang Seon-Ho asked with his eyes wide open, and the fiends around him chuckled and laughed.

"Betrayal, that\'s a fresh word."

"Well, as a member of the Pride Squadron, the art of deceiving people is quite useful.”

"Shut up, you guys…"

Jang Seon-Ho had always laughed happily in front of his grateful family and took good care of them. But now, Jang Seon-Ho uttered a harsh swear word that he had never uttered before with a twisted smile around his mouth.

"You called us family, but it must have been family only in words. I can\'t believe you didn\'t notice this.”

"What...”

“The Jang Seon-Ho, who you used to think of as family died long ago. That was a year and a half ago, too.”

“…!”

Arthur\'s belly swelled up. Taking a deep breath in, he forgot to breathe out and looked at Jang Seon-Ho with surprised eyes.

"The skill he had was useful, but he was sloppy." He sipped his beer and told the past story in a calm voice. "With that ability, he stumbled upon me and even dared to come at me, so I killed him."

If the story had simply ended with Jang Seon-Ho\'s death, this tragedy wouldn’t even happen in the first place.

"When I killed him, I was envious of his skill.”

The man gave himself a good tap on the stomach.

"This guy\'s looks and body are ugly, but his skill is better than the ones I\'ve eaten before."

"...Eaten?"

"Ah, my skill, \'Perfect Person (A)\' can inherit the memory, skill, and appearance of a Player by eating their bodies after killing them. The cooldown lasts for months, though."

That was the beginning of this story—the fiend, who had transformed into Jang Seon-Ho, was lucky to gain one interesting piece of information.

"That\'s when I got to know a group called the Watchguards, and I also got to know of your existence... Arthur Green.”

“…!”

Jang Seon-Ho smiled. "The only child left by the 5 Heroes of the past. We\'ve worked very hard to find you, even with the power of the Fiend Association."

"You\'re very lucky…"

"Even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while.” [1]

"Don\'t you know that luck is part of one’s skill in this industry?”

The fiend had immediately reported it to his boss and from then on, he was given a special mission.

"To remove the Watchguards from the world and capture Arthur Green alive."

That was his mission…

"Then, on my way slowly to the Watchguards\' hideout, a very interesting article popped up in the world." Jang Seon-Ho asked in a subtle voice, "Do you know what kind of article it is?"

"…My god." River in the back covered his mouth with a pale complexion.

River knew at once what interesting article the fiend was talking about.

"River seems to know about it. Yes, the return of Specter. That interesting article flipped the world.”

The fiend’s duties were immediately changed from an order to eradicate all of the Watchguards, to sneaking in and assimilating with them.

“…”

Arthur\'s body trembled. If so, it meant that the person he and the Watchguards had treated as family was a fiend who simply pretended to be Jang Seon-Ho.

"Eurgh!" Arthur felt like vomiting.

It gave him goosebumps to think that he spent time laughing and chatting with a fiend wearing the skin of his family member.

\'Even worse...\'

The reason why he had done such an exhausting act by his side was also abominable.

‘To kill my uncle, Specter.’

It was to use Arthur as bait to catch Specter.

"The other day, I even heard that the archmage had woken up. It\'s a double celebration."

Jang Seon-Ho emptied the bottle of beer and slowly got up from his seat.

"Two people, Specter and the archmage, are now on the 2nd floor looking for you."

"…What?" Arthur\'s shocked lips quivered.

Arthur had wondered when he handed over the report to Shim-ahjussi, but he didn\'t expect them to act so fast.

"Did you ask them for help while running away? Frankly, this was beyond our expectations."

The fiend looked slightly uncomfortable.

According to the original plan, he would have acquired Arthur\'s form, and through it, he would threaten Specter.

‘He\'s a proud man, so I didn\'t expect him to ask for help from Specter…’

It was his own complacent judgment, but it didn\'t matter too much. Arthur\'s form was basically in his hands already.

‘Nothing will change…’

At the same time, demonic energy soared, thickening the blood-colored fog that lay throughout the hideout. The stinging scent of blood became even more intense—it became so thick it would leave anyone in a daze.

Arthur momentarily was overwhelmed by Jang ahjussi… No, the fiend imitating Jang Seon-Ho.

"It won\'t make any difference if you resist now. So let\'s make it easier for each other, shall we?" Jang Seon-Ho beckoned as if telling him to come closer. "If you come over here on your own feet, I\'ll spare the other Watchguards who are like family to you."

“…”

It was a lie. He was a fiend. As such, even if he listened obediently, it was impossible that the fiends would spare the lives of his friends. It was a fact that River and of course, the other Watchguards listening to the conversation knew.

"Ueup! Uuuep!"

"Ueup! Ueup!"

This was why they fiercely shook their heads and shed tears even when they were tied up.

"These punks…"

"Stay still while I’m still being nice."

The fiends trampled on their bodies and broke their arms and legs. Seeing his family being trampled on and beaten up, Arthur bit his lips tightly. A strong smell of blood spread through his mouth. After biting his lips so hard that they bled, he slowly opened his mouth to speak, "Everyone."

He was the leader of the Watchguards. As the head of the family, he spoke with sincerity. "I\'m so sorry."

Baang!

Arthur drew his revolver like lightning and fire ignited in the barrel of the gun. He had no intentions to compromise with fiends.

‘I\'d rather die here than be caught and be a burden to my uncle and aunt.’

That was why he apologized.

‘I\'m sorry for being a weak captain. All of you… please die with this fool here.’

Arthur\'s eyes were filled with anger as he was prepared to die. It was anger toward the fiend, who killed his family, Jang Seon-Ho ahjussi, and the main culprit who had created this current situation.

"Huu, this is why I don\'t like kids. They’re always troublesome.”

"The orders from above were to just get him alive... It should be fine if he doesn’t have arms and legs."

"Yeah, that’ll make it easier for us to take him away. Let\'s cut them off."

Jang Seon-Ho let out a light sigh and gestured with his hands while easily avoiding the bullet. At the same time, the blood-colored fog spread rapidly.

“…!”

It was fast. Arthur was familiar with Jang Seon-Ho\'s skill.

\'B-grade skill, Blood Fog.’

It was a skill to lay a blood-colored fog around the enemies to disturb their sense of smell. In addition, this fog could also be controlled. Jang Seon-Ho had poor battle sense and honestly didn’t use this skill well. Although it was upsetting, the fiend’s battle sense in using this skill was a few steps ahead of the original user.

Boooom!

The bloody fog came up in a flash, flipping over the walls and floors. Its goal was Arthur\'s arms and legs.

"L-Leader!"

Two fiends strode over to River, who was pacing about while watching the scene. Scared by this, River quickly opened the door of the hideout and disappeared outside.

"You\'re too slow!"

One of the fiends chased after him and opened the closed door, but there was only an empty cliff.

"Damn it, you rat!"

The fiend who followed after him nodded slowly as he grasped the situation.

"Was it Moving House? It’s the skill to connect doors and corridors to one\'s home in the void."

"I can\'t catch him like this!”

"Whatever, it doesn\'t matter if it\'s just one guy."

The two fiends opened the door again with a grin and tried to go inside the hideout.

“…!?”

"What’s this?"

It was no longer the Watchguards\' hideout. They could only see the inside of someone else\'s house along with a can of beer.

***

"Haaa, haaa…"

Having used his wits to keep the two fiends out of the hideout, River gasped. As a non-combatant, even this was enough for a story to tell at a drinking party for the rest of his life.

\'I-I did it!’

However, this wasn’t the time to relax... River returned to the hideout using a different corridor of the Moving House and saw a fierce fight happening inside the hideout.

Kang! Kakakang! Bang, bang!

"…No, maybe it\'s not that fierce."

Even from River’s perspective, who was not good at fighting, the difference between the two was clear. Unlike Arthur\'s constantly distorted face, Jang ahjussi\'s face remained calm and composed.

‘What should I do?’

After a moment\'s hesitation, River looked at his bound companions. The situation would be reversed if only the restraints were released, but he was missing the most important key. The key was probably in Jang Seon-Ho or the other two fiends’ hands.

‘Fortunately, I don\'t have the fiends in my house right now.’

Rather than entering the house where they didn\'t know what traps might be lurking, they chose to keep a very close watch from the cliff outside the hideout.

\'Then, what I have to do now is…’

First, River had to move the Watchguards to a safe place. That way, Arthur would be able to find a way to escape, rather than engage in an all-out battle.

"Shhh, everyone be quiet."

“…!”

The eyes of the Watchguards who found River approaching shone brilliantly. They looked at River proudly. This was because they had never imagined that River, who had always been doted on for being the youngest, would accomplish such a big thing.

"This way, this way."

River began to move the Watchguards toward the refrigerator in the kitchen where the nearest door was located. And as soon as he opened the refrigerator door, the inside was once again connected to the Moving House (B).

"Hmm?"

After a while, Jang Seon-Ho instinctively turned his head when he noticed something awry. The moment his eyes landed on River, who was sneaking away with the Watchguards into the refrigerator, Jang Seon-Ho’s face twisted like the devil’s.

"Idiots! That\'s why you guys are the pigs of the Gluttony Squadron!"

How could they let things get to this point without being able to do anything about River? But on the contrary, Arthur smiled brightly despite his exhaustion.

"…Well done, River."

It was a clear voice, like that of a man who had been relieved of all his burdens.

Arthur urged River with a bright expression. "Hurry up and go, you idiot."

"…I’ll definitely come back for you. I’m not abandoning Leader. I promise," River muttered in tears.

Now, River had to find a way to release his comrades\' restraints or find a helper.

Squeeeeaak!

River watched the blood-red weapons coming toward the refrigerator until the end before he tightly closed his eyes.

Tak!

The door of the refrigerator closed.

1. The Korean proverb is “소가 뒷걸음질 치다가 쥐를 밟은 격이지” which is directly translated as ‘It\'s like a cow stepping backward and stepping on a mouse’ and basically means even incompetent people can be lucky once in a while ☜