Return of the Frozen Player

‘What should I do?’

Seo Jun-Ho trembled as he stared at the cockroaches. They were frozen like stone statues.

‘Are we still safe? Or... Is he coming?’

He didn’t have an immediate answer.

The party members looked up from the entrance and started speaking.

“...What’s with those guys?”

“They suddenly stopped moving. Shall we kill them?”

“How strange. This has never happened before.”

Still on guard, they slowly stepped back toward Seo Jun-Ho. Rahmadat strode forward with a solemn look.

“Hey, does this have something to do with how you’ve been bluffing about being sick?” Rahmadat asked Seo Jun-Ho.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t hold back the sigh he let out. He had put in so much effort to prevent something like this from happening, but in the end, nothing had changed.

He pondered for a long time before gathering their attention.

“Since it has come to this, let me tell you all what happened.”

He explained his situation as fast as possible. “So, in a few hours, Erebo may appear, leading his army.”

“...If you’re telling the truth, isn’t it more likely that he won’t appear?”

“Yeah. We haven’t killed off all the cockroaches yet, and we haven’t even gone to the sewage treatment plant, either.”

“We can’t be so sure,” Skaya said, stepping forward. “Because there have been drastic changes from the future Jun-Ho had experienced before. Back then, we killed a lot of cockroaches in one day, but this time, we consistently killed a lot of them over the course of a month.”

At the moment, no one could say for sure what would happen because they had no idea what the hivemind was.

Rahmadat crossed his arms, deep in thought.

“I’m sorry,” Rahmadat said. It was a genuine, honest apology, not just for show. “You’ve been fighting a lonely battle all by yourself. I didn’t even know that, and yet for a moment, I thought you had lost your courage. Forgive me.”

Gilberto, Mio, and Cha Si-Eun apologized as well.

“Ahem.” Only Kim Woo-Joong looked confident as if he was saying that he had never blamed Seo Jun-Ho in the first place. It made sense, seeing how this kind of misstep tended to hurt more the closer you were.

“No, I should be the one apologizing for lying to you all,” Seo Jun-Ho said, sounding stunned. His chest grew warm. Even though he had never said it out loud, he felt quite sad and guilty for the past month whenever he saw the way they looked at him. “But more importantly, there’s something I want to ask you guys now that I’ve shared all this.”

Seo Jun-Ho then asked them for their opinions on what to do. Two heads, or in this case, seven heads, were better than one, so a good idea was bound to come out of them.

“Hm. Instead of complicating things, can’t you just ask that Chinese guy to bring all the Players from the other city here?” Rahmadat suggested.

“Mr. Chun-Hak, you mean?”

“Yeah...”

All the party members took a moment to consider this. Skaya was the first to speak up.

“It’s a pretty simple plan, but other than the fact that it’s your idea, it’s not bad. We can take that Erebo guy by surprise.”

“Skaya, do you think it’ll work?”

“Yeah, but if we’re talking about details, we should hide the other Players all throughout the city instead of keeping them out in the open. Then, when Erebo appears again, we can take him all at once.”

The pieces were starting to come together.

‘With just the seven of us, we killed several million cockroaches and even ripped off that bastard’s wings.’

If they had the support of thirty thousand Players on top of that, Erebo would die no matter what.

“...The more I think about it, the better it sounds. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.

“Heh.” Rahmadat gave Skaya a smug look and smirked. Usually, they would have had another big quarrel, but the latter let it go this time.

“The best-case scenario would be ending it here, but if I go back again, I’ll try it out.”

“...”

Mio spoke after staying silent the whole time. “No, we will end it here. I swear it.”

“Oh, of course, we’ll try out best to do that. I didn’t mean that I’m giving up.” After all, no one here wanted to die. Moreover, it was highly likely that Mio was greatly attached to her life, considering that it hadn’t been long since she emerged from the...

“If this keeps repeating, you won’t be able to hold out for long, Jun-Ho,” Mio said.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t say anything when he saw the concern in her eyes. He chewed his lip a few times before awkwardly laughing.

***

“...The sun is rising.”

“We can relax a bit now.”

As the party members watched the sunrise, the tension loosened a little. However, Seo Jun-Ho shook his head. “I told you guys. We fought him for a week.”

“Strange. But these cockroaches cannot move around during the day, correct?” Cha Si-Eun asked, sensing that something was off.

“They’re weakened by sunlight, but it’s not that they can’t go out at all,” Seo Jun-Ho explained. Besides, even the weakest of the cockroaches Erebo personally led were immune to the effects of sunlight. “They could fight during the day because—”

Seo Jun-Ho shut his mouth and stood up, staring out the window.

“I suppose there’s no need for me to explain.”

A large shadow fell over them, and it was a figure with a peculiar shape. With the hotel at the center, only the area around them had gone dark.

“T-the sky!”

“What is that?”

“Wait, are those all...Cockroaches?”

The sunlight was being completely blocked by a giant, jet-black circle made up of tens—no, hundreds of thousands of cockroaches. It was a stunning sight.

‘It’s starting again.’

No matter how many times they tried to get rid of it, the giant shadow kept on regenerating. It was a battle tactic consisting of a sea of bugs.

Just witnessing such a sight on the battlefield would fill anyone with a newfound sense of fatigue, and their breaths would be knocked out of them.

“Get ready.” A bright white armor unfolded across Seo Jun-Ho’s body.

The midnight sun was a phenomenon where the sun stayed up, preventing the arrival of the night. However, the current situation was the complete opposite. Seo Jun-Ho could only let out a weak laugh.

***

Seo Jun-Ho watched as the army of cockroaches marched forward. At that, he gathered his magic power.

‘There’s something I learned from last time.’

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“Freeze,” he ordered, squeezing his fist.

Crackle!

The streets and the buildings below them froze. However, he remained dissatisfied as he wielded his magic once more. Blades of darkness broke the ground and the outer walls like icebreakers as they shot out.

“...”

“...”

The party was captivated by the sight of the incredible massacre. More specifically, excluding the 5 Heroes, Cha Si-Eun and Kim Woo-Joong looked stupefied.

‘The legends... They’re true!’

‘So, this is his true power.’

Kim Woo-Joong couldn’t help but gulp. He wasn’t sure about one-on-one fights, but Seo Jun-Ho was practically a god against so many enemies.

Kim Woo-Joong immediately thought of two people who might be on a similar level as Seo Jun-Ho: one was Shin Sung-Hyun, and the other was the late Thunder God.

‘I’m glad we’re allies, but...’

A newfound sense of fear crawled into his heart. It was all because Kim Woo-Joong had realized that they had already died once, even though they had this much firepower.

‘This will be a long battle...’

Kim Woo-Joong unsheathed his sword.

***

“Huff, huff.” Seo Jun-Ho’s breaths were filled with heavy despair.

He was confident that they had fought much—much better than the previous time. Actually, Erebo had been wary of them, and he hadn’t entered the battlefield until ten days had passed.

“You are strong, my enemy...” Erebo muttered as he dropped the pieces of Rahmadat’s heart. Last time, he had taken Rahmadat’s body with him to experiment on, but this time he didn’t do so. It was more like he couldn’t afford to do so.

“There was only one time when I was pushed into a corner like this,” Erebo said. For a moment, he couldn’t speak, perhaps because of the shock. The lower half of his body had been severed, but he seemed unconcerned for his life. “I did not know there were others who could hurt me other than them...”

“Cough! Ptoo!” Seo Jun-Ho spat black, dead blood.

Midnight Sun was no longer effective because he had lost his magic power long ago.

- If you’re about to die again, gather as much information as possible. Especially about the hivemind.

- It’s fine if you only learn the little things, too. They’ll eventually add up and help us.

Skaya’s words rang in his head. Deep down, he didn’t want to talk to Erebo. After all, the latter was an enemy who had killed his friends.

However, he had to talk to him—he had to do it so that their deaths would not be in vain.

Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and squeezed the words out. “How did you know I was here?”

“Hm?” That piqued Erebo’s interest. His beady insect eyes stared at Seo Jun-Ho. “Why do you wish to know when you’re dying?”

“I don’t want to die without knowing anything.”

“...You’re not lying.”

Seo Jun-Ho froze.

‘He even has the ability to tell if someone’s telling the truth or not?’

Erebo laughed. “Are you surprised? That a mere insect was blessed with such a skill?”

“...”

Alarm bells went off in Seo Jun-Ho’s head. This was dangerous, very dangerous. If he ever misspoken, Erebo might discover the diary.

“It seems you are surprised. Your face has gone pale.” Erebo gave a satisfied smile before he continued, “Predator, have you ever heard of the World Tree?”

World Tree? He had never heard of that. This was the first time—

‘No, wait.’

Seo Jun-Ho’s brows furrowed. Something crossed his mind.

- Take it if you want. It’s weak, but it contains some power from the World Tree.

‘Huh?’

High Elf Rodomir. He had been the boss monster of the Wild Forest Gate in England, and he died at Seo Jun-Ho’s hand. Rodomir had noticed his Spirit Egg and said those words as he ripped off his necklace and offered it to him.

‘And...’

- It’s my first time seeing a tribe with so many dark elves. You’re like cockroaches.

- Do not speak of those cursed beings in front of me!

When Seo Jun-Ho mentioned cockroaches, Rodomir’s reaction was full of hatred.

In spite of himself, he looked up at Erebo and spoke, “Did you...”

“Ah!” Erebo grinned cheerfully and unhinged his jaw. His tongue wriggled like a worm. “I ate the World Tree and the elves protecting her as their mother!”

“...”

“Just remembering her makes me want to eat her again! She was without a doubt the finest delicacy I had ever had while traversing planets.”

Seo Jun-Ho trembled as he gulped. He was now certain that this insect had eaten the World Tree of all things.

“She tasted delicious, but her abilities were even finer. She helped me evolve to another stage.” Erebo nodded. He had introduced himself as a revolutionary of evolution. “Of course, it’s all thanks to her that I can now distinguish lies. And I can also connect and control those of the same species."

The pieces had fallen into place all at once...

“So, the hivemind you mentioned... It\'s the cockroaches.”

At that, Seo Jun-Ho finally realized why Confession of the Dead wouldn’t work on them.

‘This fucking lunatic. He forcefully disposed of their intellect.’

It was all to prevent them from carrying a single thought—so that they could do nothing but deftly carry out his orders. Just like the way one could issue any command they wanted into a computer, Erebo had turned them into empty shells.

“...Wait. How strange. I have never spoken of the hivemind.” Erebo turned his head like an owl and stared straight at Seo Jun-Ho. His empty bug eyes gave the Player goosebumps.

Seo Jun-Ho squeezed his trembling hands into fists.

‘This is still enough.’

He had collected all the important clues.

- Get it together! You have to move!

“Enemyyyyy! Where did you hear that wooooord?!”

Erebo crawled forward like a lunatic to capture him. But before he could reach Seo Jun-Ho, the Player pushed the broken half of the Sword of Ambition through his heart.

“...See you later, you pest.”

All his questions had been answered.