Return of the Frozen Player

“The red fog,” Seo Jun-Ho answered immediately.

If it hadn’t been for the red fog, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did.

“The red fog quickly drained the werewolves’ Lunar Force, and it increased the number of enemies as well.”

The sharp increase in the number of enemies caught the Players off guard.

“We had to save the citizens of Trium and protect the werewolves while killing the enemies at the same time. It was chaotic.”

“Hm, I’m sorry. I kind of feel bad,” Arnold said awkwardly as he scratched his beard.

The werewolves seemed to have become nothing more than a nuisance judging from Seo Jun-Ho’s words.

“Oh, by the way. What time did you say the red fog covered the sky?”

“It should happen in twenty-one minutes…”

“Twenty-one minutes… twenty-one minutes, huh? Our schedule is tight, then.”

Skaya pursed her lips. It was a habit that she often showed whenever she was in deep contemplation.

“All right. We don’t have much time left, so listen carefully.” Commander Skaya came to a conclusion and said, “This plan can only be executed once.”

“Why?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“Tepes will immediately stop us from using this plan again, even if your memories remain intact despite going back in time.”

This plan would be rendered useless once Tepes learned that Seo Jun-Ho’s memories would remain intact even after he had turned back time.

Skaya swept her gaze across everyone before continuing.

***

It was finally 6:12 AM.

Tepes closed his pocket watch and got up.

He relieved his anxiety by walking around the vast throne room.

‘His name was Seo Jun-Ho, huh? He’s a madman.’

Tepes felt like he had pushed Seo Jun-Ho too hard. Even a rat would bare its teeth when driven into a corner. He couldn’t have expected that Seo Jun-Ho would go down the mutually assured destruction route.

‘Everything was going according to my plan...’

Tepes clicked his tongue. He remembered that everything had gone perfectly. The werewolves had been wiped out, and the plan to exterminate mankind was also going smoothly. Things would have been perfect if it hadn’t been for his potential death.

The annoying woman and the tough guy were missing as well.

‘All right. I’m going to use the same strategy.’

Tepes looked up at the ceiling.

‘But I will have to change the battlefield…’

Tepes came to the conclusion that he had to avoid fighting Seo Jun-Ho in an enclosed space. He was sure that once cornered, Seo Jun-Ho would create that nightmarish storm of petals once again.

‘I’ll win as long as I don’t get caught up in his last stand.’

Tepes revealed a determined look and started arranging things.

***

“Father, is this really fine?” said an anxious voice from inside a blanket.

Gilberto was currently cleaning his gun.

He turned toward the voice and replied, “Maybe.”

“What kind of irresponsible answer is that?!”

“Just trust him. That’ll put you at ease.”

Actually, even Gilberto was confused by Seo Jun-Ho’s unreasonable request.

‘But there has to be a reason behind it.’

Seo Jun-Ho had never been the type of person who would ask someone to do an impossible task.

Gilberto checked the time and said, “It’s time. Let’s get started.”

Gilberto lifted the blanket and pointed his gun toward the sky.

The red fog was expanding so fast that its expansion was visible to the naked eye.

‘Jun-Ho was right…’

The werewolves should have lost all their power by now. Gilberto was right because winged creatures started flying toward the sky.

“The vampires!”

There were so many vampires that it would be a daunting task to count them.

At first glance, there seemed to be at least ten thousand vampires.

‘It was said that there are more than fifty thousand vampires in this city.’

There was no way that the Players could stop them all. After all, the vampires were scattered all over Trium.

Click!

Gilberto loaded his gun and aimed.

‘You better keep your word, Jun-Ho.’

Seo Jun-Ho had said that he would take care of everything as long as Gilberto managed to buy him fifteen minutes.

“How are we supposed to stop them?!” Arthur made a long face, but he still reached for the weapons piled up on the rooftop. Arthur’s Invisible Hand (B) lifted the weapons off of the roof and suspended them in mid-air.

“I’m not really sure about this, but here goes nothing!”

Fwooosh!

The many weapons pierced the vampires in mid-air, and the vampires plummeting to the ground served as the signal for the twenty-thousand Players to come out of hiding.

The twenty-thousand Players proceeded to shoot the flying vampires down and disperse the red fog.

***

“...”

Tepes was in the middle of looking for a new battlefield. At the sudden commotion, he took off his fedora and looked up.

Hundreds of vampires were plucked out of the sky every second. The red fog also failed to expand. In fact, it was actually dispersing as the Players poured all their skills into dispersing the red fog.

‘I see. So this is your strategy, huh?’

Seo Jun-Ho was definitely thinking that his previous failure was due to the red fog.

Tepes grinned at the sight. “Great.”

If the red fog managed to expand, the Players’ chance of victory would plummet to negative zero. Once the red fog covered the entire city, it would become a utopia for vampires.

‘It’s a shame. How long does he think they can stop the red fog from expanding?’

The red fog was not something that anyone could stop even if they tried. The red fog was kind of like a natural disaster, and even Tepes himself couldn’t get rid of it once it had expanded to a certain extent.

‘You people will collapse first...’

Tepes wore his fedora again. He took a step forward, but once his foot landed on the ground ahead of him, an unknown chill crept up his spine.

“...!”

There was no way he could forget this feeling.

It was the same feeling he felt just before he was forced to turn back time.

An overwhelming presence from the other side of the city grabbed Tepes’ attention.

‘It wasn’t an illusion.’

Seo Jun-Ho was capable of raising his Stage to the extent of rivaling a demon count.

‘It’s not real… It was just an imitation.’

If Seo Jun-Ho were a transcendent being, Tepes would have already run away.

Therefore, Tepes quickly came to a conclusion.

‘It’s temporary, but he’s capable of raising his Stage.’

Tepes thought that it was impossible at first, but he couldn’t find any other explanation for Seo Jun-Ho’s sudden increase in strength.

Many thoughts popped up in Tepes’ mind.

‘A human being won’t be able to stay in that Stage for too long.’

He was the first True Vampire, but even he wasn’t a transcendent. Seo Jun-Ho was indeed an extraordinary human being, but forcefully becoming a transcendent; albeit temporarily was bound to injure his body and soul.

‘I thought he would only use that power in front of me. What is he thinking?’

Tepes was confused.

However, one thing was clear—Tepes couldn’t leave Seo Jun-Ho alone.

- Ghost, Stigma.

The red fog delivered Tepes’ voice into Ghost and Stigma’s heads.

- Stop whatever you are doing right now and kill Seo Jun-Ho first. That is our priority.

***

“The target is leaving the location! He is headed toward Specter-nim!” Gong Ju-Ha shouted as she lowered the handheld telescope.

At that, Skaya spoke, “All right. It is exactly as expected. Now, the group will be divided into two.”

Skaya’s eyes scanned the Players around her.

“Gong Ju-Ha, Shin Sung-Hyun, and Kim Woo-Joong will be in Group A. Wei Chun-Hak, Milphage, and I will be in Group B.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They were satisfied with their group members.

“Group A will stop True Vampire Ghost, and Group B will stop True Vampire Stigma.”

They had only one purpose…

“Do not let either of the True Vampires disturb Jun-Ho.”

“Got it.” Shin Sung-Hyun answered and lightly clapped his hands together.

The space was immediately split in half.

“Kim Woo-Joong and Team Leader Gong. Come this way.”

Group A disappeared into the rift in space.

Milphage blinked and stared at Skaya before asking, “How are we going to get there?”

“We have the Archmage with us, so why are you even worried about that?” Wei Chun-Hak said.

“No, no. I’m no longer the Archmage.” Skaya corrected as she pulled up her magic.

Their surroundings changed in the blink of an eye.

“Huh?”

The first thing that filled everyone’s sight was a bloody fountain in the royal square.

Stigma was looking at the fountain, and he turned around with a perplexed look. “Are you here to make things difficult for me? I’m in a hurry, so can you just step aside?”

“No can do.”

“Why is that?” asked Stigma.

Wei Chun-Hak was smoking a cigarette. At Stigma’s question, he exhaled a cloud of white smoke and explained, “Let’s just say that kids are not allowed to go where you are headed.”

***

A tall man emerged from a rift in space.

‘Is that the place?’

The overwhelming presence was inside the building in front of him.

Ghost stepped into the building.

However, the space in front of him suddenly split open like the mouth of a beast, devouring him.

“Haaa… haaa…” Shin Sung-Hyun desperately tried to catch his breath.

“Nice! I knew you could do it, Master!”

“...”

Ghost inspected himself briefly before saying, “I see. I had no idea that someone among the humans has the same ability as me”

‘I didn’t think that they’ll abduct me like this.’ Ghost looked at the alley and murmured to himself. ‘I’m sure they couldn’t drag me that far, and their motive is obvious as well; they’re trying to keep me away from Seo Jun-Ho.’

Ghost’s red eyes scanned the three. “Is it just the three of you?”

“Do you have a problem with that? If you do…” Kim Woo-Joong took the initiative and unsheathed his sword. “You should speak after you’re done taking us down.”

“...I like how straightforward you are,” Ghost said with a light nod.

It was Ghost’s first time seeing his abductor, but the other two were familiar to him.

‘I’ve met those two before…’ As far as he could remember, the woman was capable of spitting out fire, while the man was a swordsman. ‘And they were terrible....’

The woman’s fire was scorching hot, but her flames couldn’t reach him.

The man’s sword was fierce, but his sword couldn’t reach him as well.

‘And the one who brought me here is already gasping for breath after abducting me to a nearby alley.’

The fact that he was already tired after a simple abduction meant that he wasn’t that great of a talent as well.

“Come at me,” said Ghost. He had no time to waste. After all, Tepes had given them the order to prioritize killing Seo Jun-Ho.

Kim Woo-Joong charged at Ghost.

‘I’ve had enough practice.’

A blue aura coated his sword. It was the perfect application of sword ki—the aura was neither too much nor too little. Kim Woo-Joong swung his sword confidently.

“...!”

Ghost didn’t even bother blocking Kim Woo-Joong’s sword strike. He was confident that things would remain unchanging from their previous encounter.

‘Huh?’

Ghost flinched in surprise. He was surrounded by an armor of space, and there was no way that someone could inflict a single wound on him. In addition, his armor could reflect damage proportional to the attack that it received.

“...”

Ghost groped around his neck.

There was no blood, but he could feel the wound.

‘He broke through my armor?’

Ghost’s eyes quivered ever so slightly. Until now, only his fellow True Vampires were capable of penetrating his armor of space.

“You…”

‘How did he grow so much in such a short period of time?’

Ghost’s curiosity got the better of him. He was about to ask a question, but a pillar of white flame fell toward him from the sky.

Ghost hurriedly raised his head.

“Ah!”

Ghost hurriedly flicked his finger toward it. Fortunately, the outcome was the same as the previous encounter. A rift in space opened and contained the woman’s scorching hot flames.

“Hehe.”

“...?” Ghost frowned when Gong Ju-Ha chuckled.

‘What is she laughing about when her attack failed to reach me?’

Gong Ju-Ha simply shrugged. “I have to admit, our master is ruthless because he’s not that considerate, and he refuses to send us on vacations. Anyway, he’s weaker than you when it comes to firepower.”

Gong Ju-Ha made a sidelong glance at Shin Sung-Hyun.

“However, I respect him next to the 5 Heroes.”

Shin Sung-Hyun had always taken the initiative to do things without losing sight of his goals. It seemed that Shin Sung-Hyun had proven his consistency this time as well.

“Our hardworking master can’t possibly lose against an arrogant, prideful genius who thinks that he’s better than anyone else.”

“Be quiet, Team Leader Gong,” said Shin Sung-Hyun, seemingly annoyed.

He placed both of his palms on the ground.

Ghost’s eyes widened. ‘Wait, could it be…’

Ghost finally realized that he had fallen into their trap.

His space wasn’t the one that had contained the woman’s scorching hot flames.

‘He placed a layer of his space in front of my space?!’

For the first time ever, Ghost became wary of a human being.

However, Shin Sung-Hyun was one step ahead. “You have no idea how much these two idiots bothered me, and I had to entertain them for more than ten days. You have no idea, but it’s all because of you.”

‘This is my revenge…’

“I hope you’ll enjoy it.”

Crash!

A rift in space opened behind Ghost and poured a pillar of white flame over him.

“A-aaarghhhh!”

The scorching hot flames wrapped around Ghost and delivered extreme pain that penetrated even his bones. It wasn’t strange because Gong Ju-Ha’s white flames had an average temperature of 1,400 Celsius.

The arrogant Ghost was forced to start rolling on the ground while screaming.

“Haaa… haaa…!” Ghost eventually managed to contain the flames into his space.

He looked down at his hands and saw that they were still boiling.

Ghost glared at Gong Ju-Ha.

“I’m going to kill you… I’m going to tear you apart…!”

“Gosh, you’re scaring me! I’m so scared…!” Gong Ju-Ha trembled. However, the huge amount of magic flowing out of her tiny body betrayed her words. “I-I still have a bright future ahead of me, and I don’t want to die yet, so…”

Seven pillars of white flames descended, instantly creating an inferno in the narrow alleyway.

“So you should die in my stead!”

“Team Leader Gong!”

Shin Sung-Hyun dragged Gong Ju-Ha away and into a rift in space.

‘They ran away?’

Ghost looked around with furious eyes.

This time, he was definitely using his own space to absorb the scorching hot flames.

‘I will follow you even to the depths of hell once I’m done absorbing these flames, and I will kill you in the most terrible way possible.’

Ghost was determined to make them pay for causing him such tremendous pain.

“...!”

All of a sudden, Ghost felt a shiver down his spine.

‘Wait. That bastard only took the woman away with him. What about the swordsman? Did he leave his ally to die in this inferno?’ Ghost shook his head. ‘There’s no way they would do that.’

Ghost swept his gaze across the pillar of scorching hot flames.

As expected, Kim Woo-Joong emerged from one of the pillars.

Swoosh!

- Yes. I received a Title called Cutter of Flames. Its effect is resistance to flames.

Kim Woo-Joong earned the Title Cutter of Flames by eliminating Phanactos, the Floor Master of the 3rd Floor. The Title’s effect meant that flames could never have a profound impact on Kim Woo-Joong.

Kim Woo-Joong chuckled at Ghost’s dumbfounded face.

“What a shame.”

Ghost quickly realized what was going on, but Kim Woo-Joong was even faster.

Kim Woo-Joong’s sword was swung at the speed of a lightning bolt.

Sword Saint Style Third Sword: World Split.

‘Split the world into two…’

The beautiful sword move literally split the world into two.

Crack!

Kim Woo-Joong’s sword move split the buildings, the ground, and even the red fog into two. Ghost took the brunt of Kim Woo-Joong’s World Split, so his outcome was a foregone conclusion.

“Argh…!”

True Vampire Ghost staggered backward and wrapped his arms around his body, but he wasn’t trying to embrace himself.

‘I-If I let go…’

Ghost felt like he would split into two if he didn’t hold himself together.

Kim Woo-Joong looked at Ghost and said, “How annoying. Get lost.”

Kim Woo-Joong said what Ghost had said to him fifteen days ago, and the moment his words fell, Ghost’s head flew into the air. At the same time, Ghost’s body was vertically split into two.

‘Ah…’

Ghost’s severed head looked up at the sky. He wanted to see the blue skies before he died, but he couldn’t see anything else other than the red fog.

‘Tepes, that useless bastard…’

Ghost’s eyes dimmed, and he blamed Tepes as he took his last breath.