Return of the Frozen Player

“Uhn…”

“You’re awake.”

“Eek!” The boy’s eyes widened at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

“Don’t be scared. Hyung is a good person.”

“...” The child stared at Seo Jun-Ho for a second before asking carefully, “If you’re a good person, does that mean you’re part of the Murim Alliance?”

“Hm?” Seo Jun-Ho looked at the child with interest. The kid looked like he was about five years old at most. It would only be natural for him to be screaming with fear, but instead, he bravely asked him a question. “I’m not part of the Alliance, but they requested me to do something. We’re basically collaborators.”

“...”

The child didn’t seem to understand, so Seo Jun-Ho added, “What I’m saying is that I’m on the same side as them.”

“Ohhh.” At that, the child’s face brightened.

“What’s your name?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, giving the boy a piece of candy.

“Dong-Chil.”

“Okay, Dong-Chil. Can you tell me how that guy from earlier came in here?”

A small shudder ran through the boy’s body. He raised his hand and pointed to the entrance. “I was sleeping when I heard the door open. When I opened my eyes, he was looking down at me.”

“You must have been really scared.”

“Yes. I was going to scream, but he covered my mouth. And he started saying something.”

“What did he say?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“I don’t know. I couldn’t understand it.”

Seo Jun-Ho nodded. The cyborg had also spouted gibberish when Seo Jun-Ho faced him earlier.

‘It’s possible that his vocal cords were also replaced with machinery, and it malfunctioned.’

Seo Jun-Ho stood up and inspected the front door. Just as he hadn’t been able to open the door from the outside, there was no sign of forced entry. ‘Hm, maybe the door is also electronic, and the Lightning Scythe used some kind of hacking program.’

The Lightning Scythe was probably planning to hide in here to lick his wounds before eventually running away.

Seo Jun-Ho turned back to the boy. “Do you live here alone? Where are your parents?”

The boy’s face darkened. “My mom is in heaven.”

“I’m sorry. What about your dad?”

“He’s a martial artist working for the Murim Alliance. But he’s always busy catching bad guys, so he only comes home about three times a week.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho looked at Dong-Chil with pity. “Come with me. I’ll take you to your dad.”

“He said not to leave the house.”

“Then do you want to sleep here alone?”

“...” The boy looked blankly at the empty room and stood up. “I-I wanna go with you.”

He was a precocious child, but a child was still a child.

Holding a big piece of candy in one hand and Seo Jun-Ho’s hand in the other, the boy left the house with the Player.

***

It had only been a few hours since Seo Jun-Ho arrived at the Murim Alliance headquarters, but he had already gotten a good look at the chaos here. It was crowded with martial artists, but there were even a good amount of Players.

“Go wait. You’ll gain nothing from irritating the higher-ups.”

“Please.”

“I told you. Go wait until the Alliance Leader gives orders.”

“...I will heed your command.”

The man who received the order had a sharp aura about him. He led his subordinates away and disappeared.

Director Hyun-Baek let out a long sigh. He spotted a young man enter the room out of the corner of his eye. “Why are you here?”

It was the Player Seo Jun-Ho. He had only left a few hours ago to chase his target, but he had already come back. In fact, he came back with a child in hand—a child Director Hyun-Baek had never seen before.

“And who is this child?”

“This is Dong-Chil. Dong-Chil, say hi.”

“Hello…”

“Please, just answer my question…” Director Hyun-Baek pleaded.

Seo Jun-Ho sat the boy down on a nearby sofa and explained what had happened.

“Ah, I see. That could have been disastrous. You did well for bringing him here,” the old man said. Director Hyun-Baek’s subordinates brought them sweet senbei[1] on his orders, and he spoke to his subordinates. “It seems that this boy’s father is affiliated with the Alliance, so go look for him and bring his child to him. We should grant him a few days of rest as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

With a large pile of snacks in his arms, Dong-Chil waved his hand cheerfully and disappeared.

Director Hyun-Baek watched as Dong-Chil left and turned to look at Seo Jun-Ho again. “Tonight, you saved the lives of two people.”

“Two?”

“If his father had lost his only remaining family, a young child at that, he would have become nothing but a shell of a man. Once again, I thank you.”

Seo Jun-Ho scratched his cheek at Director Hyun-Baek’s repeated expression of gratitude and changed the subject. “Anyway, what’s going on? Everyone seems to be busy.”

“You noticed?”

“They’re all running around with such pale faces. It would be harder not to notice.”

“...Sigh. It is because of the Demonic Cult.”

The Demonic Cult. They were located in the eastern region of Neo City, and the Murim Alliance believed that they were in possession of the fourth chip.

“Is there some kind of incident ?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“Indeed there was. A few hours ago, the fiends in the city gathered at their headquarters.”[2]

“...” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes narrowed. “I’m assuming that today wasn’t the anniversary of their founding or something?”

“You are correct. That is why it has become chaotic here.”

“So you don’t know why they gathered?”

“If we knew, we wouldn’t be so apprehensive.” Director Hyun-Baek sighed again, and the wrinkles on his face deepened. “I worry that things will unfold similar to the old Great War of Good and Evil.”

“It can’t be...” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.

If such a large-scale war were to occur in such a small city, everything would be destroyed.

“I pray that it would be the case, but the paranoia of an old man cannot help it.”

“I pray that it would be the case as well. Oh, and this.” Seo Jun-Ho retrieved the Lightning Scythe’s body. Director Hyun-Baek stared at it with admiration.

“Ho, you are a fine swordsman.” He pictured their fight.

‘I didn’t know that he was strong.’ Director Hyun-Baek muttered to himself.

Based on the injuries on the cyborg’s body, it seemed that he hadn’t even been able to land a counterattack, despite being a first-grade martial artist who could generate a current of 50,000 volts.

‘Then the Player is at least as strong as a first…No, a high-grade martial artist.’

Director Hyun-Baek’s newfound admiration showed in his eyes. “You must be tired because you have just returned, but may I shamelessly give you another request?”

“What is it?”

“Would you be willing to survey the eastern region? I would feel uneasy assigning this mission to a member of the Alliance on the off chance that it provokes the Demonic Cult.”

“Hm.”

“It will not be difficult. You simply need to inspect the area around the Demonic Cult’s headquarters and get an idea of what is going on there.”

Seo Jun-Ho thought for a moment and nodded. “That doesn’t sound too difficult. I’ll do it.

“Thank you. As this is a personal request, I shall pay you in advance.”

Director Hyun-Baek paid Jun-Ho 1,500 credits for the bounty and 1,000 for his own commission. After receiving 2,500 credits in total, Seo Jun-Ho left the building with a smile.

“So, what are your thoughts?” the Frost Queen asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” he said. The smile disappeared from his face as he thought about what the director had said.

- Tonight, you saved the lives of two people.

- If his father had lost his only remaining family, a young child at that, he would have become nothing but a shell of a man. Once again, I thank you.

Obviously, it was something positive. Actually, his chest warmed up when he heard those words, and he felt a sense of duty and pride.

“But I never told him that Dong-Chil’s mother is dead.”

Why had Director Hyun-Baek referred to the child as ‘his father’s only remaining family’ so confidently?

Seo Jun-Ho’s lips curled up as he muttered, “I’ll do as he orders for now.”

It was all so that Director Hyun-Baek would come to trust him even more.

***

The area where the Demonic Cult’s base was located had a different air from the slums. The streets were tense like a string pulled tight on a guitar.

“Contractor. Something keeps coming out of the building.” Just as the Frost Queen said, dozens of large trailers were rolling out of the building. “What might be in those trucks?”

“I don’t know.” Seo Jun-Ho had no idea, so he would go there to find out.

Seo Jun-Ho concealed his presence with Night Walking and climbed on top of the backmost trailer.

Arranged in one line, the trucks started heading out of the city rather than deeper into the city.

“We have to follow them.” Seo Jun-Ho had heard that the air outside the city was thinner, but he couldn’t just stop here.

A thick gate opened, and they passed through a long tunnel.

Once they were out, the landscape became completely different. The magnificent cityscape was far behind them, and all they could see was a landfill filled with a mountain of machine parts and scrap metal.

Thud! Thud!

The trucks emptied their containers and left swiftly.

“Contractor, this is…”

“Hm.”

Seo Jun-Ho was still as he studied the contents the trucks had dispensed. Robot arms, robot legs, robot torsos, robot heads…If you put them all together, they could make a human being. And there were countless parts, which would easily amount to one thousand cyborgs.

“Was there an inner conflict within the Demonic Cult?” the Frost Queen said.

“I don’t know. Even if you’re right, how could a thousand of them be killed in just one night?”

Not even the Fiend Association would do something like that, and they were known for their brutality.

Seo Jun-Ho climbed up the mountain of machine parts and knelt down to one knee.

“...”

He spotted the resolute fate of a middle-aged man. His eyes were still open even in death. Seo Jun-Ho had to wonder what had made him so vengeful.

He placed his hand on top of the head. “Confession of the Dead.”

The skill didn’t work on the Lightning Scythe, but it worked this time.

“Talk.”

He wanted to know the target of his vengeance.

***

Crackle. Crackle.

The memory playback was pixelated like it was being played from a scratched tape. It was also very short.

All he could see was the ground covered with the bodies of hundreds of martial artists.

‘They were all his subordinates.’

Seo Jun-Ho’s heart throbbed. He could sense the heartwrenching pain of the man as he screamed.

- This is entertaining. I feel like I have become a god.

A man wearing a purple suit weaved through them as he killed them like they were toys. The man looked familiar to Seo Jun-Ho.

‘Isn’t that Isaac Dvor?’

The shock of it only lasted for a moment as an idea passed through his mind.

‘Wait. If that guy is here right now…’

Someone else’s voice interrupted Seo Jun-Ho’s train of thought.

- The beta Chip contained three thousand gapja of neigong. I see. So this was the secret of his limitless magic power.

Thump. Thump.

Seo Jun-Ho stopped breathing as his heart started madly beating against his chest. He didn’t adjust the playback speed, but the video seemed to have slowed down in his eyes.

Seo Jun-Ho was awfully familiar with that voice.

‘This is…’

How could he not? Why wouldn’t he? The voice belonged to the man he wanted to see in his dreams so that he could kill him several times.

The cyborg managed to lift his head. A white-haired man came into view, and he was holding a small chip.

“...!”

Seo Jun-Ho saw red.

The white-haired man turned his head, and their eyes finally met.

The white-haired man smiled.

- I will make good use of this.

His smile was as warm as an angel’s smile, and that was the final scene in the memory playback.

***

Seo Jun-Ho sat without moving for a few minutes. Whenever he thought that he had already pulled himself together, the memory playback would replay in his head from the very beginning.

- I will make good use of this.

It was him. Seo Jun-Ho was sure of it.

He had a handsome face that didn’t match his bloody hands.

His voice sounded as arrogant as ever, like the whole world was beneath him.

He was the Heavenly Demon.

“...I found you.”

The Thunder God’s sworn enemy.

Seo Jun-Ho looked up and stared at the transparent force field covering Neo City. Right now, the man he had been looking for so long was somewhere in there.

“Contractor. Do not be rash.”

“I know,” he said calmly as he stood. Seo Jun-Ho had no intention of being reckless. “I can’t waste this one-in-a-million opportunity.”

He wouldn’t show his claws until the moment he knew he could kill the Heavenly Demon for good. It was all so that the Heavenly Demon wouldn’t be able to run away and resurrect like last time.

In that case, there was something he had to confirm.

‘Does he actually have the Neigong Chip with three thousand gapja?’

If that were the case, Seo Jun-Ho would have absolutely no chance of winning.

His head became filled with many possibilities as he bit his lip.

- How unseemly! How impudent! Remove your foot at once!

All of a sudden, a youthful voice came from below him.

1. rice crackers

2. It should be noted that the term ‘fiend’ translates literally to ‘demon human’ or ‘evil human’ and thus shares a character with ‘demonic cult’.