Return of the Frozen Player

- Kiii!

He did it!

As Janabi shot through the floor and onto the roof, he laughed with his lips stretched. He now had a scorpion-like stinger protruding from his tailbone.

- Kihihi.

He looked gleefully at the prey pierced at the end. It had been very annoying for his regeneration skills, but it had lost in the end.

-Kihihihihi!

He laughed giddily at his victory. Janabi placed Gong Ju-Ha down and pulled out his stinger. His white stinger had started to stain purple from all the blood.

- Kihi, kihihihi.

Janabi jumped in excitement as he imagined something funny. Once Specter saw how he had overpowered his prey and stabbed it with his stinger, what would his face look like?

The stinger was covered in a substance that would put its target to sleep. It seemed to nod like it was a sentient creature.

- Tchrr,

Wooosh!

Its tail flew toward Gong Ju-Ha’s head.

Crackle!

However, the stinger froze over. At the same moment, the shadows wavered in front of him, creating a humanoid shape.

-...!

It was Specter. Janabi froze as soon as he was met with Specter’s mask. Obviously, he couldn’t see the latter’s eyes. But somehow, Janabi got the feeling that his opponent’s gaze was piercing his body.

He pictured his body being shredded into a thousand pieces. The mere thought of that was enough to make his entire body freeze up.

- Kii…

Specter’s hands exuded the energy of darkness and ice, one on each side. They instantly pushed into Janabi’s chest.

His body flew to the opposite end of the roof, rolling several times on the wet roof. It was covered with the remnants of the ice castle that Gong Ju-Ha’s flame pillar had melted.

“Please, please open your eyes, Gong Ju-Ha.” He stared at her silently. She looked like a sleeping doll. Blood was flowing out of the large hole in her chest like a waterfall, and he could see the shreds of her damaged organs.

Crackle.

He quickly froze her injuries and grit his teeth. “I promise. I won’t let you die. No matter what happens, I’ll save you.”

Suddenly, Specter realized that he had become worked up. It wasn’t like him.

‘...Maybe she’s grown on me.’

They had already known each other for over a year. She wasn’t someone he could hate. With the way she exuded positive energy, there weren’t many people in the world who could.

‘She has helped me out a lot as well.’

But still, these kinds of emotions weren’t befitting of Specter.

“Hoo…” He gently closed his eyes, and the memories started to surface.

The reason why he ended up working all alone at some point.

The reason why he didn’t have a single teammate before he met the other 5 Heroes.

‘The people around me always fall into danger.’

It wasn’t a matter of bad luck, either. It was because Specter only ever went to dangerous places.

However, he was still human. If he didn’t have to go, if everyone would still be happy if he didn’t go, of course, he wouldn’t want to go to those places.

‘...But that had never been a choice.’

In the end, safety and happiness were only ever built on someone else’s sacrifice. And in the past, Specter had built the foundation for everyone else’s happiness with his own sacrifice.

‘There was no one but me.’

In the past, there were barely any Players strong enough to stand on his level.

However, there were weaker ones who followed him. And Specter didn’t hate hardworking people.

‘It was the worst.’

He would lead them as they went around Gates. Then, his friends, party members, and comrades would die.

One day, as he was wrapping his former comrades in white and lowering them to the ground, he made a decision.

‘I won’t make any more.’

He wouldn’t make any more comrades. He wouldn’t make any more friends. He wouldn’t make any more relationships at all.’

‘I won’t be able to protect them, anyway. And they’ll all die before I do.’

He decided that he would stop getting attached to people.

‘But why am I acting like an idiot after all this time…?’

…He had overestimated himself.

After his return, the new world he had encountered seemed so simple, and yes, it was simple.

That was why he had forgotten about the feelings that had driven him to make such a decision—about the mindset and determination that had made him interact with people the way he had always done.

“It’s all my fault.”

He thought that it would be easier to kill Janabi with Gong Ju-Ha’s help. And it was true. She was famous for having the hottest flames in the world, after all. Not only that, but she had even gone beyond her limits while fighting Janabi and created white flames. If that had been Janabi’s real body and not a clone, they actually would have won.

‘I will repay this debt, no matter what.’

He placed her down carefully onto the ground as if she were a fragile crystal. Her body was covered in a layer of darkness and a layer of ice on top of that.

“...”

Specter slowly stood up and turned around. He looked at Janabi, who was shaking the water off his body like a wet rat.

‘He’s a Floor Master.’

An impossibly strong monster that would always surpass the expectations of Players.

Specter admitted that he had been too idle. Back when he had killed the Frost Queen, he had become a monster himself. He had fought with his life on the line as if his life didn’t matter to him.

‘But now, I…’

Now, he was human. A human who was boundlessly weak.

So, he made up his mind once more.

‘I will become a monster...’

To kill a monster…

- Kiiii!

Bam!

Janabi stomped roughly on the ground. The fact that he had caved momentarily under his prey’s gaze left a big scratch on his ego. He started slow, and then he shot toward Specter.

“I’ve only done this once…” Specter muttered as he stood over Gong Ju-Ha’s body.

‘I’ve run hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of simulations in my head at the Goshiwon.’

He had invented enemies in his head and tried it several times against them. But even at his peak condition, there was only one time that he was able to use this technique.

‘This is the strongest attack I can use right now.’

And if he failed, he would die. It was a dangerous double-edged sword.

Specter watched as Janabi ran toward him, and then he raised his hand.

‘I’m putting my life on the line.’

All the magic energy he was using to maintain Overclocking receded like a tide. It felt very refreshing, considering that he had maintained this state ever since he reached a full understanding of the technique, including the year he had spent in the Goshiwon.

‘Gather every single drop of magic.’

He put all his focus on concentrating the energy. Overclocking had warmed up his magic circuits, and now, they were working even harder than before.

As a great amount of magic energy was concentrated, a powerful gust kicked in, making the air vibrate.

“...Contractor?” The Frost Queen sensed the energy in the middle of fighting the wasps and looked toward the roof. He had never used this technique on an enemy before. This meant Janabi was powerful enough that Seo Jun-Ho had to put his life on the line.

“...”

All she could do was bite down on her lip and silently cheer him on.

“I will not allow a single bee to reach you.”

When the Frost Queen thrust her small body into battle, Janabi was still running across the roof.

- Kii?

He had sensed it as well. He saw that his prey was using some kind of amazing technique. There was so much magic that it was enough to overwhelm even his kingly body. He wondered what Specter was making with such a great amount of magic energy, but his fear was stronger than his curiosity.

- Kii?!

Yes, fear. Janabi finally realized what he had felt before. When he had frozen like a mouse in front of a snake, it was because he was fearful of his opponent.

- Kii…!

King. He was the king. He led ten thousand insects, and he would lead his species into prosperity by taking over the world. He couldn’t afford to lose, and he didn’t think he could.

Swoosh!

Janabi flung his stinger without hesitation. And somehow, it pierced Specter’s torso.

- Kii?!

Even Janabi was surprised by how defenseless he was, despite being the one who had sent the attack. Specter had been gathering magic, but now, he slowly opened his hand.

Ssshhh!

There were two overwhelming magic energies—darkness and ice. There was no way they could mix, but they had folded over and over again to create something in his hand.

-...Kii?

It was a flower made of black ice; it was transparent and sparkling.

-...

Janabi’s eyes filled with confusion. Other than the fact that the two powerful energies had been concentrated down to a small object, he didn’t sense any danger from it at all. He didn’t even sense any destructive energy from the flower.

- Kii.

It was his victory. He had won. His prey had lost his mind with fear and had done something crazy in his final moments.

At least, that was what Janabi thought.

“...It’s much more beautiful than I thought.” Specter looked down at the flower in his hand. It was much more beautiful than it was in the thousands of simulations he had run through his head.

“Moon Eye.”

The evening primrose—also known as the moon-watching flower[1] curled up when the sun rose and bloomed once the moon rose. The people who had witnessed it described it as a fairy opening its eyes in the darkness.[2]

-...

pαпᵈα-nᴏνɐ|·сóМ Janabi stared at the fairy, entranced. He couldn’t sense any power from it, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from it, as it gave off a strange, dreamy aura. He reached up to touch it as if possessed.

Fwoosh!

The petals scattered. He didn’t know how the small flower could have so many petals, but all Janabi could see were the black petals.

-...!

He started to feel a sense of ecstasy. The heart of his ancient ancestors was embedded in his DNA, and it rejoiced. Before their food had gone extinct, they had been indistinguishable from normal bees.

Crackle.

The jet-black petals brushed past his skin as they started to cover his body. Every time they did, he felt warm and comfortable. He felt extremely tired, and he felt like he would fall asleep. His eyes slowly started to close.

“Bleghh!” Specter vomited dead, black blood. The place where Janabi’s stinger had stabbed him had already turned dark blue. He wiped the blood off his lips and glanced toward Janabi, who was covered in black ice.

‘Breathe in. Breathe out.’

Moon Eye had exceeded his expectations. In the beginning, he had merely tried to mix Watchguard of Darkness and Frost just for fun. But after having a long conversation with the Frost Queen, he came to learn that it was a much more powerful technique.

‘Frost, which can freeze anything and everything layered with Watchguard of Darkness and its scornful power.’

Moon Eye was the result of that. It was a technique that froze his opponent down to their cells and every particle. It didn’t matter how great their regeneration ability was or if they had elemental resistance. They would be entranced by the beautiful, unassuming flower, unable to dodge the attack filled with the scornful power of darkness.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the Frontier Area Boss, Janabi.]

[You have received the title ‘Exterminator’.]

[Safe zones will now appear in the Frontier Area.]

[The 3rd floor Balbortan has opened.]

[Please hang on until you reach the final floor.]

“Huff…Cough, cough.”

With his magic exhausted, Specter no longer had the strength to maintain his armor of darkness. His dusty White Armor came into view, and he took off the mask.

“Hurry…” He wrapped Janabi’s nucleus with a thick cloth and put it into his Inventory with the mask.

‘It won’t be good if I touch it and fall into a deep slumber again.’

As blood started to pour from his mouth again, he quickly froze his abdomen.

“Hurry…Hurry…” He picked up the princess lying on the ground and stumbled forward. However, he couldn’t go any further than a few steps before he lost his balance and fell forward. His willpower wasn’t enough to keep him moving, considering that the poison had started to spread throughout his body.

‘Haa…Ha…

Every time he blinked, his vision became darker and smaller.

Pat pat.

Just then, he felt a small hand stroking his bloodsoaked hair.

“You did a very, very good job. I am proud of you, Contractor.

“Not… the time…”

“Do not fret. I have already…”

The sound of many footsteps filled his ears. And a moment later, he saw someone approach as he lifted his head.

“...Move them to my tent immediately. We have to treat them right away.”

‘The Schumern…Saintess…’

The light was shining down on her back, and she took off her hood.

That was the last thing Seo Jun-Ho saw before everything went black.

1. The Korean word for evening primrose reads as ‘moon eye flower’, in reference to the fact that it only blooms when it sees the moon. ‘Moon-watching flower’ is a separate name from ‘moon eye flower’ and uses a different spelling. ☜

2. The evening primrose is bright yellow, so it stands out in the dark. ☜