Return of the Frozen Player

"That\'s..."

The people in the hospital room wore miserable looks.

Bang!

The door was flung open, and a woman covered in stately luxury goods and jewels from head to toe appeared. She lowered her sunglasses and said, "Save him. No matter the cost, I’ll pay it."

"I feel insulted. Are you trying to buy me with money?"

"I\'ll give you 300 billion."

"…I will do my best,” the doctor immediately said and reached out for a handshake.

- Cause~ You\'re my girl ♬

A cheerful song could be heard, and a sponsored banner filled the screen.

Rahmadat peeked and clicked his tongue before saying, "What a ridiculous drama. Is it fun?"

The Frost Queen holding the tablet immediately nodded.

"It is fun. My hands are sweating, and I am looking forward to the next episode."

"Uh... Play the next episode. I want to see how ridiculous it is.”

"Do not speak informally."

It was a boring afternoon, and Seo Jun-Ho’s friends were gathered in the hospital room of a Korean hospital.

Click.

Skaya put down the coffee cup and looked at the sickbed with a bitter expression.

"It has already been a year, but he still hasn’t opened his eyes."

A reply was heard almost immediately.

"What nonsense…" Seo Jun-Ho on the bed seriously considered throwing a pillow at her. "It hasn’t even been ten days, let alone a year.”

"Wow, good for you. Do you want me to hang a banner for you outside?”

Everyone\'s sharp glare struck Seo Jun-Ho, and their glares definitely hurt.

"I\'m the one who got hurt...” So, why was he being scolded? The aggrieved Seo Jun-Ho’s shoulders drooped.

Fortunately, the hospital room’s doors opened just in time.

"Si-Eun, hi!"

"Hello."

Cha Si-Eun was clad in her saintess outfit, and she bowed lightly toward the others. The Korean hospital had hired her to take care of the injured from the 6th Floor.

"You have a weak pulse. Can you put some strength in your fist?”

"…I can’t muster my strength yet..."

"Just take your time recovering, and you will be fine.” Cha Si-Eun was finally done with the brief examination. She cast her Breath of Restoration (S) and asked, "Are you uncomfortable anywhere else?"

"Yes, I still feel uncomfortable." Seo Jun-Ho looked around the hospital room. He heard that absolute comfort was best for the patient, but those people were making him feel uncomfortable.

"The next episode is starting."

"Oh. It just started, but it’s already this spicy.”

There were two people loudly discussing the drama that they were watching.

"A tablespoon of soy sauce."

"Mio, that’s a ladle, not a tablespoon.”

"Then, a proper tablespoon."

"You already put a ladle of soy sauce, so a tablespoon won’t fix it."

Mio was trying to improve her cooking in the hospital room, and Gilberto was teaching her sincerely.

"Hmm, I think I think this formula should be used here...”

Skaya was researching magic on her own, but she would bother him whenever she got bored.

Seo Jun-Ho sighed and said, "What\'s wrong with them?"

"Pffft!"

"…Why are you laughing?"

Cha Si-Eun quickly composed herself and replied, "I didn\'t laugh."

"No, you laughed."

"You must have misunderstood my cough.”

"Then, let me change the question. Why did you cough?"

After a moment of hesitation, Cha Si-Eun said, "It\'s good to see that you’re beloved."

"…Are you serious?" Seo Jun-Ho chuckled dryly. Where did she get the courage to say that after seeing what they were doing?

Cha Si-Eun shrugged at his confused look.

They’re doing that because they’re worried about Jun-Ho-nim," she said.

"No way. Why are they bothering me if they’re worried?"

"That’s..."

His reactions were funny, so they kept on teasing him. Cha Si-Eun couldn’t bring herself to say that, so she swallowed her words and smiled awkwardly.

At the sight, Seo Jun-Ho pouted and grumbled, “You said that I’m beloved, but they didn’t even greet me when I opened my eyes.”

They acted as if he had only taken a two-hour nap.

Cha Si-Eun smiled softly and said, "That is not true. When Jun-Ho-nim was still unconscious, the atmosphere felt like we were at a funeral house.”

"...Really?”

"Give me a moment. There are cameras here, and the medical staffers had turned them on when you arrived, so there should be a recording of what happened.”

Cha Si-Eun repeatedly tapped on her Vita. She projected a holographic display, and the screen depicted his friends surrounding the unconscious Seo Jun-Ho.

- Sniff! Contractor…!

The Frost Queen was weeping.

- I believe in him. He won’t die like this. He said that he’ll go on a world muscle tour with me.

Meanwhile, Rahmadat was spreading false information. What in the world was a world muscle tour?

- W-what do we do? If Jun-Ho never opens his eyes again…

- Calm down, Mio. Calm down, Mio. Calm down, Mio. Calm down, Mio…

- First of all, you should calm down first, Skaya. Both of you take a deep breath in and exhale... that\'s right.

Mio and Skaya were freaking out while Gilberto worked hard to calm them down by making them take deep breaths.

‘What is this?’

They looked like they had some screws loose. They whimpered like puppies who had to go to the restroom, and it was such a refreshing sight for Seo Jun-Ho.

“Pffft!” Seo Jun-Ho laughed without realizing it.

‘You guys were actually trying your best to control your facial expressions when I woke up. You guys were actually acting like nothing happened.’

Seo Jun-Ho could understand their actions. After all, even he would do the same thing to avoid being teased about it later down the road.

Cha Si-Eun started changing his bandages and said, "Everyone is still worried. You’re like a child by the riverside in their eyes; I’m sure they aren’t willing to take their eyes off of you for even a second.”

"I actually want them to back off and calm down. I\'m an adult, after all."

Cha Si-Eun narrowed her eyes at Seo Jun-Ho.

"Adults are good at taking care of themselves."

"I\'m good at that, too.”

"No, Jun-Ho-nim, you aren’t good at it at all. You suck at it."

And that was why he would always receive such severe injuries at every major expedition. He would always faint and would always get carried away.

‘Come to think of it, it was a Korean hospital back then as well.’ The day Seo Jun-Ho dealt with the Cinder Fox, Cha Si-Eun saw him on the sickbed for the first time. At the time, Cha Si-Eun thought, ‘So he’s another Player who rushes ahead of everyone else. There are always Players like him every year.’

Cha Si-Eun didn’t have many expectations because she reckoned that Seo Jun-Ho would soon lose his fervor and cool down.

‘It has long become a well-known fact that everyone will eventually get tired of this industry, no matter how great their dreams were…’

The harsh reality and the primal fear of death would quickly shatter a Player’s dreams and mind. Cha Si-Eun thought that Seo Jun-Ho wouldn’t be an exception—she thought that he would eventually behave like an ordinary Player or outright retire.

After all, she had done the same because she was weak like the others.

\'But...\'

Seo Jun-Ho ended up being different. His heart was like a furnace that would never run out of flames. He became more passionate the more levels he earned and the more Floors he cleared.

Eventually, his passion became too solid to break.

‘When I found out that Jun-Ho-nim was Specter-nim all along, I also realized…’

Ah, so a Hero was like this.

Upon realizing that, Cha Si-Eun also became aware of a sad fact.

‘I had no idea…’

The books depicted only the Heroes’ achievements but never the pain they had to go through.

‘So they had to suffer this much pain and endure these kinds of injuries behind their brilliant achievements…’

Cha Si-Eun realized that she had been admiring them like an ignorant child. She had no idea that her admiration would put a tremendous amount of pressure on the Heroes, which made their journey more difficult.

Cha Si-Eun smiled lightly and said, "From now on, I will work harder to become a Player capable of reattaching your head if it ever gets severed from your body.”

"…Your choice of words is a bit… scary."

Seo Jun-Ho trembled.

***

"Jun-Ho, we will be going now!"

"We’ll come again!"

"Don\'t come back."

His friends got ready to leave the hospital room.

Gilberto tapped on his shoulder and said, "Once you recover, let\'s look at Tepes’ memories together."

"Sure."

Tepes still hadn’t confessed. Seo Jun-Ho was afraid that he would die if the Archduke appeared in Tepes’ memories.

"Queen, hold on to this, and if Jun-Ho says that he’s going to train, call me right away, okay?"

"Oh… Got it!"

The Frost Queen nodded and received a Vita from Skaya.

The others left, and the hospital room seemed to have gotten a bit desolate.

However, the silence made Seo Jun-Ho feel comfortable enough to rest.

“…”

The Frost Queen lay on the sofa and started playing with the Vita she got from Skaya.

‘I can finally relax…’

Seo Jun-Ho sighed lightly. He raised his trembling hand and tapped on his Vita.

Many articles flooded his vision.

[6th Floor Cleared! Specter, an Undying Myth.]

[World Player Association: The 7th Floor Clearing Schedule Will Be Announced Later.]

[I Want to Be a Hero like Specter When I Grow Up. A Letter from Elementary School Students, a Wave of Emotions.]

…

The articles looked the same as usual. Seo Jun-Ho had seen so many articles like these that he didn’t even have to read them anymore to know their contents.

Ring!

Seo Jun-Ho\'s Vita suddenly rang.

‘An unknown sender?’

Seo Jun-Ho frowned and opened the message.

- Contractor, can I eat the chocolate cake in the fridge?

He turned slightly and saw the Frost Queen staring at him from the sofa with bright eyes.

‘So you texted me right away because you got your own Vita...’

- You can eat it.

Upon receiving the reply, the Frost Queen excitedly ran over to the refrigerator.

This time, Seo Jun-Ho checked the system messages.

‘My level went up by 22 to 302. My stats went up evenly, too.’

His level rose significantly after hunting down so many vampires on the 6th Floor. He reckoned that he was overwhelmingly ahead in terms of level compared to the other Players.

‘Now, where is the next Floor?’

Seo Jun-Ho finally saw the relevant system messages.

[The 7th Floor, Adonia Area has opened.]

[Players, please stay strong until the final floor.]

“Adonia...” muttered Seo Jun-Ho.

Adonia was the name of the new Floor that they had to clear.

- Contractor, can I eat the strawberry ice cream in the refrigerator?

- You can eat it.

She really liked eating.

He had just given the Frost Queen permission to eat the strawberry ice cream, but someone else was already contacting him.

This time, it was Shim Deok-Gu.

- Jun-Ho. I\'ll be at the hospital soon, and I have a present for you.

- A present? Anyway, sure.

He tried to get up to greet Shim Deok-Gu, but he saw the Frost Queen staring at him.

It was clear that she had already eaten the strawberry ice cream and was asking permission to eat another flavor of ice cream.

Seo Jun-Ho said, "Go ahead...”

The Frost Queen immediately ran over to the refrigerator.

Seo Jun-Ho grinned and looked at the system messages to turn it off and paused.

[The 7th Floor, Adonia Area, has closed.]

[Players, please wait for further notice from the Administrator.]

[Please do not press the button for the 7th Floor in the Dimensional Elevators.]

"…What’s this?” muttered Seo Jun-Ho with a stiff look.

This was an unprecedented event.

***

Static.

A giant planet burst into flames, but no sound could be heard, which made the scene even more eerie.

“…”

The people watching the video wordlessly stared at the unfolding scene.

Gray shattered the ice and spoke, “As you can see, the 7th Floor Adonia Area is gone. It exploded eleven minutes ago.”

"I know it\'s a meaningless question, but who did it?”

"The Archduke…"

"That bastard. I knew it...” Reiji sighed and looked at the other Administrators. "Are you all mute and dumb? We have to take action."

"Quiet. We can’t resolve this using just our heads,” a woman said coldly.

Gray nodded and said, "Yes, the higher-ups have already issued an order to designate another area as the 7th Floor."

"Where?"

“…” Gray put up a picture without saying a word.

Bang!

Reiji stared at the picture and slammed her fist on the desk.

"Don\'t make me laugh! There’s a limit to our patience as well. We can’t just let them drag us along!"

"It has been decided." The woman stood up. She looked like she didn’t want to stay here any longer.

Reiji said fiercely, "Sit down. The meeting is still ongoing.”

"Meeting?" The woman chuckled and looked around the meeting room. "Is this really a meeting of Administrators? How come only the six of us attended? How pathetic.”

The woman’s cold voice made even the World Tree shrink into her pot. Until recently, she couldn’t take part in the Administrator meetings.

“It’s all over, anyway.”

The woman smiled bitterly and shook her head before disappearing.

The remaining five transcendents remained silent for a long time.