Return of the Frozen Player

"Technically, this is heaven, you know,” said Hart.

The two moved slowly down the corridor.

Seo Jun-Ho followed closely and asked, "What do you mean you invited me?"

"Literally. As the rightful inhabitant of this corridor, I invited your soul up here for a bit."

Seo Jun-Ho knew the reason for the invitation without asking. Hart had told him that he shouldn’t blame himself for Hart’s death, but he still ended up blaming himself. Hart had to have called him up here out of frustration.

‘Ah, this is embarrassing.’

Seo Jun-Ho turned his head away out of embarrassment, and he heard a chuckle from Hart.

"It seems that you know what you did wrong."

"It wouldn’t have been weird otherwise…”

"That\'s true.”

‘So cool…’

Seo Jun-Ho coughed and said, "How have you been, Sir Hart?"

"I\'m doing fine here, and I have already met many energetic people from the past, even though it had only been just a few hours."

Energetic people from the past? Seo Jun-Ho\'s stopped walking. Now that he thought of it, the Knights’ Corridor was where renowned souls gathered upon death.

‘Then, maybe Teacher, Cheon-Gwang, or the other Players I know…’

Seo Jun-Ho was about to ask, but Hart shook his head as if he had seen through Seo Jun-Ho’s thoughts.

“This place is exclusive only to the souls of those who had been recognized as great knights while they were still alive. Aside from me, there isn’t anyone here that you’re familiar with.”

"…Is that so?" Seo Jun-Ho awkwardly smiled and swallowed his regret.

Meanwhile, the souls of the other great knights started appearing one by one.

"Hmm? A new soul is here again?"

"Two in a day. Did a major war break out?"

"Who knows? Perhaps someone used their authority to invite him."

"Haha, if that\'s true, they must care terribly for that person.”

The souls of the great knights examined Seo Jun-Ho with interest, and the latter did the same.

‘Interesting.’

Seo Jun-Ho felt like he was in a museum of history. The armor of the great knights looked archaic and antique.

"Is there nothing else but a corridor here?"

"Of course, this isn’t just a corridor. There are hundreds of restaurants, accommodations, private training rooms and baths, and there are also training grounds."

"It really deserves to be called the heaven of knights."

Wasn’t it basically heaven for a knight to be able to swing their sword without worries?

Moreover, the Knights’ Corridor only allowed entry to rare and exceptional knights, so even if they sparred all day long, they would still have something to look forward to when tomorrow arrived.

"Frontier’s history is long, so there has to be a huge number of souls here."

"There aren’t as many as I thought. At most, there should only be five hundred."

"What?"

What, five hundred at most? Seo Jun-Ho was surprised.

"The criteria seems to be stricter than I thought."

"That\'s true, but there are also souls who simply refuse to wield their swords anymore and disappear just like that."

"Ah…

It wasn’t strange that a knight would want to retire. It was an exhausting lifestyle, after all.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded and asked, "So, where are we going?”

"We’re going to the training grounds."

"Why?"

“I really felt like giving you a knuckle sandwich or two while I was watching you from above. I couldn’t help but invite you over here.”

"Uh." Seo Jun-Ho had no idea what to say to that. However, Seo Jun-Ho was looking forward to their arrival at the training grounds.

\'It\'s been a long time since I sparred with Sir Hart.’

Seo Jun-Ho wanted to show Hart the Black Moon Martial Arts he had learned. They soon arrived at the end of the corridor, and upon opening another huge door, an unprecedented sight appeared in front of Seo Jun-Ho.

"Wow..."

Floating islands dotted the skies, and each island was connected to the other by white staircases. Seo Jun-Ho became sure of it, especially when he saw the gigantic statues of knights dotting the islands.

This was a sacred utopia for knights.

Slice!

"Hahaha! I won!"

"Oh, damn it. I wasn\'t feeling well today."

"Stop making excuses. With 12,023 wins and 12,021 losses, I have the advantage."

The knights\' souls freely clashed swords, sparred with each other, and discussed martial arts with each other. They weren’t really afraid of death because they would quickly recover from any injury. After all, they were souls.

"It looks fun, right?"

"Yes, it does. It looks very fun."

Seo Jun-Ho\'s eyes sparkled brightly. There were strong people everywhere.

"Sir Hart, can I train hard here for a while before leaving?”

"I don’t think that’s allowed."

"Oh, why?"

"I\'ll let you know in a while."

Hart walked forward and unsheathed his sword out of the blue. The moment his sword was unsheathed, the air around him changed and became oppressive.

"Oh, Hart Weeper drew his sword.”

"He’s apparently strong. At last, I can take a look at his skills."

"Wait, who is his opponent? I\'ve never seen that guy before."

"A new soul… Or a guest?"

Hart Weeper was a newcomer, so many knights were curious about his abilities. At the sight of Hart Weeper with his sword unsheathed, the other knights stopped what they were doing and observed both Seo Jun-Ho and Hart.

"Hmm. How old did you say Hart Weeper was?"

"He is over a hundred and thirty years old by the standards of the human world."

"Huh, so he wasn’t satisfied with just stopping the process of aging. He decided to look younger as well. Hm, he must be powerful.”

Hart Weeper was one of the most famous knights in the Knights’ Corridor. There were quite a few knights who had gone to the corridor ahead of Hart, and they kept on talking about Hart.

"I’ll ask one favor of you," Hart spoke. He sounded more serious than ever. "I will go all out—no, beyond that. I want you to do your best as well."

"…I will."

Seo Jun-Ho nodded at the request, which he couldn\'t bear to refuse. When Seo Jun-Ho unsheathed his sword, darkness emerged like a tide from his figure. The faces of the observing knights stiffened.

"Hey, who the hell is Hart Weeper\'s opponent?"

"I-I don\'t know. I’m not familiar with his face.”

"I think he also decided to regress his looks. I think he’s 150… No, 200 years old."

Seo Jun-Ho was emitting a massive and ferocious energy that contrasted his young looks. The knights never thought that Seo Jun-Ho was as old as he looked.

“Take this…” With a warning, a tremendous amount of energy emerged from Hart as he took on a stance that would enable him to display a sword stroke containing his experience as a knight.

Craack!

The stone floor on Hart’s feet exploded, and the debris from the stone floor was suspended in the air by the fierce energy he was emitting.

He was about to execute a sword stroke that was more perfect and powerful than any sword strokes he had ever executed throughout his entire life.

"Cut the mountain."

It was an attack that distorted the space itself.

Seo Jun-Ho\'s gaze turned cold.

‘It’s an attack filled with killing intent. He means it…’

Seo Jun-Ho could still remember that Hart didn’t display even an ounce of killing intent toward him and Seo Jun-Sik when they were training on Frontier back then.

But now, it was different...

However, Hart was already a soul, so it didn’t matter even if he suffered a mortal wound.

Seo Jun-Ho smiled lightly.

\'How can I not go all out facing that kind of sword strike?’

Setting aside Hart’s personal request, he also had his own desire as a warrior. He wanted to go all out against the best knight of Frontier.

‘Overclock Maximum Output...’

Seo Jun-Ho exhaled a mouthful of hot air as the darkness around him blotted out the skies. A moon manifested overhead, but it was a black moon devoid of any light. It was a moon that signified death.

"Black Moon Martial Arts Final Skill: Black Moon[1].”

The black moon was a definitive death sentence for those who were unfortunate enough to face it. Seo Jun-Ho carved that moon out of the skies with his sword and swung his sword at Hart.

“…!”

Hart’s sword move, which could cut even a mountain into two, was torn apart. Hart smiled at the sight. They had only exchanged a single move, but Hart was already sure of it.

‘He got it.’

Specter had finally learned a top-level martial art, and it was evidenced by how he only used a single move to smash Hart’s lifetime experience apart.

“…” Seo Jun-Ho remained calm as he stared at Hart. The black moon covered by the darkness’ power to scorn had flown noiselessly over to Hart. It didn’t do anything fancy at all. It simply destroyed everything that dared to stand in its way

‘Was it too much?’

Seo Jun-Ho’s sword move had destroyed the island they were standing on, the white staircase connecting the island to another island, Hart, and a few dozen knights who had been standing behind Hart.

"What a ridiculously destructive move…"

Hart’s soul was restored.

He seemed both despondent and refreshed as he muttered, "I lost."

"This is all thanks to your guidance. You told me to learn a top-level martial art."

"Nice of you to say that.” Hart smiled.

“Anyway, I think it’s about time I tell you why you can’t spar with the other knights here,” said Hart. He stared at Seo Jun-Ho before continuing. “A human can only be invited here through a dream, and a knight can only invite someone else once.”

“Yes?” Seo Jun-Ho asked with a surprised expression. Only once? Then, why did he use that precious opportunity for Seo Jun-Ho?

"I think it would have been better if you had invited His Majesty or any of your family members…"

"It’s fine. I’m sure they’ll do fine without me,” said Hart.

However, Hart knew that his stupid junior Seo Jun-Ho would definitely live while carrying an enormous burden in the form of letting him die. Therefore, Hart had to inform Seo Jun-Ho that he was happy and that he wasn’t blaming him at all.

"Once you wake up, you’ll forget everything that happened here. Of course, you will be able to remember a few vague details."

"That\'s..." Seo Jun-Ho muttered. So that was the reason why the Knights’ Corridor had remained a rumor even now. It meant that Seo Jun-Ho’s regret and self-blame would disappear by the time he woke up, but he wouldn’t have any idea why.

\'Yes, I will have no idea why...’ Seo Jun-Ho bit his lips and bowed deeply. He could see his torso slowly fading away.

"I guess it’s time for us to say goodbye," said Hart.

“…”

Goodbye? Seo Jun-Ho raised his head. "What would you do if there’s a way?"

"Hmm?" Hart looked surprised. "Are you trying to make a fuss?"

"No, I’m not." Seo Jun-Ho had the Soul Collector (A). He had no idea about the skill’s activation conditions, but he could apparently collect Hart Weeper’s soul.

"Please save the world with me."

“Those eyes… Hm, you’re serious.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s sincere eyes contained no falsehood.

Hart looked into those eyes for a moment. Then, he coldly turned his back on Seo Jun-Ho and sheathed his sword.

"Ah…"

Seo Jun-Ho lowered his head as Hart started walking away. There was no way he could stop Hart. After all, Hart had to be exhausted by now. In addition, Seo Jun-Ho was familiar with the feeling of wanting to rest forever.

‘Besides, Sir Hart has lived for over a hundred years now…’

Seo Jun-Ho was sure that Hart was tired, extremely tired. Seo Jun-Ho understood with his head and sympathized with his heart, so he turned around with a bitter smile.

“You heard him.”

Seo Jun-Ho came to a halt when he heard Hart\'s voice behind him.

"Sorry, but I think I\'ll have to postpone the fulfillment of my promise. I will have to take care of your swords later.”

"Well, we have been waiting for decades, so it doesn’t really matter if we have to wait a bit longer.”

"You better tell us a ton of great stories the next time you come here."

Hart said goodbye to his disciples and friends before returning to Seo Jun-Ho\'s side.

"Hmm, what’s with that dumbfounded look?"

"…I didn\'t think that you would really accept it.”

"Why not? Anyway, let us go."

The two walked down the street toward the corridor, and every knight they met on the way saluted them with their swords over their hearts. Seo Jun-Ho was amazed to see hundreds of knights saluting them at once.

\'I knew Sir Hart was great, but I didn\'t expect his reputation to be so great here, either.’

Hart stared at Seo Jun-Ho’s face for a moment before commenting, "You’re calmer than I thought.”

"Oh? Well, of course, I also think that you’re great."

"What? Don\'t tell me—Haha.” Hart chuckled at the realization and tapped him on the shoulder with his fist. "It\'s you, not me."

"What do you mean?"

"They’re saluting you, not me."

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes widened at that. He looked at the knights and saw that they were looking at him rather than Hart.

"Why?"

“It’s obvious. You have reached such an unprecedented level despite your young age, and…”

These knights knew how hard Seo Jun-Ho had to have worked to reach his current level. They could also deduce the hardships, the pain, and the sadness he had to endure in the process.

The knights saluted Seo Jun-Ho as a sign of respect for remaining steadfast in the face of such adversities.

"Teacher!" A knight waiting at the end of the procession stopped the two. She handed over the red fabric she was holding to Hart. "I kept it with me."

“It’s our first time meeting in decades, so I’m sorry for leaving right away.”

"No, I actually wanted to scold you because it’s still too early for you to be here.”

"Pffft!" Hart burst into laughter. He then stared at her for a moment before saying, "I\'ll be back."

Swooosh!

He donned the red cloak, and it fluttered gracefully in the wind.

"Shall we go, my lord?"

1. On 409, the name of this technique was Profound Righteousness. But after clarification, it turns out that the technique name is Black Moon ☜