Return of the Frozen Player

‘It’s a sword that has overcome many life-or-death situations.’

Seo Jun-Ho was impressed, but he also felt a sense of longing at the same time.

‘Unfortunately, he still needs more practice.’

Seo Jun-Ho twisted his wrist slightly and gently swung his broken sword as if it were a table tennis racket.

Thwack!

“Ah!”

Seo Jun-Sik’s elbow was struck, and he ended up dropping his sword. He glared at Seo Jun-Ho with teary eyes.

“You’re so mean. Did you really have to hit me in the funny bone?”

“I will aim for your head next time if you want.”

“...Ugh.”

Seo Jun-Sik pouted and picked up his sword once more.

Their training continued until it was already ten days since it began.

“You’re already extremely strong, so how come you became a punching bag for that guy? What kind of ridiculous world are we in?”

The Star Destruction Stage Jun-Ho was unbelievably strong, so it wasn’t strange that Seo Jun-Sik was questioning the logic of the world itself. Seo Jun-Sik was stronger than most elite Players, but he was like a child in front of Seo Jun-Ho.

Seo Jun-Ho was beyond superior to Seo Jun-Sik.

Seo Jun-Sik couldn’t even find a gap to attack Seo Jun-Ho.

‘But…’

However, Seo Jun-Sik learned something by facing Seo Jun-Ho in the last ten days.

Seo Jun-Sik felt like he finally understood why he was slower than Seo Jun-Ho.

Seo Jun-Sik glared at Seo Jun-Ho.

“What? Do you have something to say?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

“I finally discovered your secret!” Seo Jun-Sik pointed at Seo Jun-Ho with his index finger and acted like he was a lawyer in a court trial. “First of all, let’s talk about Overclocking! Your Overclocking output is beyond a hundred percent, right?”

“Go on.”

“And you’re using Wheel of Time on top of that...”

“I’m listening.”

“Um… there are more?” asked Seo Jun-Sik, looking uncertain.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded and remarked, “Well, I guess you’re not too bad, even though you’re just Jun-Sik.”

“Even though I’m just Jun-Sik?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Seo Jun-Ho ignored Seo Jun-Sik’s complaint and continued. “There are two main reasons why I’m faster than you.”

The first reason was Overclocking.

“Skaya’s advice led to the creation of Overclocking; I’m sure you already know that.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s physique was superior to most Players, but his physique was inferior to physical reinforcement Players. It wasn’t strange at all, but Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t accept that because he had too many fiends to kill.

“Overclocking is basically strengthening one’s body using magic by running it down the magic circuit at full throttle.”

Under normal circumstances, the magic circuit would melt due to the heat. However, Seo Jun-Ho had a cooler called Frost (EX).

“Your Original should be capable of using Overclocking at a hundred percent output.”

“That’s right.”

“But you know that’s not Overclocking’s limit, right?”

“Well, the output can be raised infinitely…”

It was possible, but it could only be done if one’s magic circuit and body could endure the burden.

“So how much is output?”

“Why don’t I just show you?”

Seo Jun-Ho swung his sword lightly, and it left a clean silver line in the air.

“That was two hundred percent.”

“Wow, that was fast.”

“This is five hundred percent.”

“What?!”

Boom!

This time, Seo Jun-Ho’s sword left a vivid afterimage, and there was a loud explosion afterward as Seo Jun-Ho’s movement shattered the sound barrier.

“And this is…”

“...!” Seo Jun-Sik’s eyes widened. He suddenly felt like Seo Jun-Ho was sucking him in, but it wasn’t actually an illusion because Seo Jun-Ho had just circulated the Black Moon Heart Method to absorb every magic particle in the air.

“That was a thousand percent.”

“...What?” Seo Jun-Sik asked with a dazed look. He didn’t even see Seo Jun-Ho move.

“Did you even move…?”

Rip!

There was a ripping sound, prompting Seo Jun-Sik to look up.

It turned out that Seo Jun-Ho had split a dimension into two.

“...”

‘W-what a monster…’

Seo Jun-Sik couldn’t describe what Seo Jun-Ho had just done in front of him.

“Of course, I can’t maintain a thousand percent output for a long time. I can only do it in bursts whenever I’m attacking or dodging attacks.”

“I think that’s crazy enough…” Seo Jun-Sik muttered and started calculating in his head about what he and his Original could do to imitate what the Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho had just done in front of him.

“Step one—absorb every particle of magic in the surroundings using Black Moon Heart Method. Step two: compress that magic into the magic circuit, and then wrap the magic circuit in dozens of layers of fine ice…

”Wait, is your Circuit Strengthening at S grade?” asked Seo Jun-Sik.

“Yes, it has to be S grade, and there’s one more on top of that. You need to use Wheel of Time to hasten the cooling process while slowing down the heat.”

“Goodness…”

In other words, Seo Jun-Ho used four abilities on Overclocking to reach a thousand percent output. Needless to say, it could only be done by practicing for a long time.

Seo Jun-Ho ignored Seo Jun-Sik’s shocked face and continued speaking. “The second reason why I’m faster than you is because of Wheel of Time..”

“Hey, so I was right! I got the reasons right!”

“Not so fast. There’s more,” Seo Jun-Ho clicked his tongue. “Wheel of Time can be used in many ways. I think you already know that, right?”

“I remember the Original saying something like that, but he’s still not used to using it.”

“I’ve discovered a total of four ways to use Wheel of Time.” Seo Jun-Ho spread four of his fingers and said, “Predicting the future, returning to the past, self-acceleration and slowing down a target.”

“Oh? What you’ve discovered isn’t too far from what we have discovered. We just couldn’t really practice it because we were not strong enough to keep on using it.”

“You must become good enough at using those four abilities until you can use them with the same ease as breathing.”

“...I’m sorry?” Seo Jun-Sik asked. He thought that he had misheard as he said, “Are you saying that I have to become good enough at using those four abilities as if they were passive skills rather than active skills?”

“That’s a good way to put it.”

Seo Jun-Sik didn’t know what to say. He felt frustrated because the Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho’s patterns and techniques were on a completely different level compared to his and his Original’s.

“But… my head will explode with that much exertion.”

“Mine didn’t explode.”

“...” Seo Jun-Sik shut his mouth tightly. He had no idea what to say in response to that.

“Oh, of course. I did get terrible headaches at first.”

“Are you kidding me? I think you just got lucky that your head didn’t explode.”

“I was regretful.” Seo Jun-Ho suddenly looked down. “I regretted not mastering these techniques when I fought the 9th Floor’s Floor Master. Perhaps the result would have been different if I had mastered these techniques a bit earlier. I’m blaming myself at least a few hundred times a day.”

“Um, why are you saying that…” Seo Jun-Sik trailed off.

‘Great. Now I feel like the biggest trash in the world if I were to give up because it’s too hard.’

“You’re my past, so you can do it. No, you must do it even if you can’t.”

“You’re so unreasonable!” exclaimed Seo Jun-Sik. The guilt abruptly disappeared as he suddenly thought of a question that had to be answered.

“Won’t I need a lot of time to master those techniques?”

There was no way anyone could master Seo Jun-Ho’s techniques in just a few days or weeks.

However, Seo Jun-Ho nodded as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“You’re right, but it’s fine. I’m willing to spare you my time.”

“...Okay. You seriously don’t care about me…”

‘Is he treating me harshly because I’m not his own clone or what?’

Seo Jun-Sik sighed deeply and lifted his sword.

The Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho stared at him with an expectant look.

“What, why are you looking at me like that? I already know that you’re going to tell me to raise my sword so you can beat me up again!” Seo Jun-Sik said.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho wordlessly lifted his sword.

Seo Jun-Sik couldn’t have been more accurate.

***

It had been half a year since Seo Jun-Sik entered a dimensional gap.

“Keuk…!”

“Come on! Just a little more! Just one more percent!”

“Keuakkkkk!”

“Good. It seems like you have room for more. Then, let’s do one more percent.”

Seo Jun-Sik was drenched in sweat. His face was red as he trembled at the exertion, but he soon collapsed to the ground.

“Huff, puff!” Seo Jun-Sik lay on the ground and closed his eyes. His world was spinning.

“Two hundred and seven percent, huh? Not bad.”

Seo Jun-Ho stood next to Seo Jun-Sik and was meticulously writing down Seo Jun-Sik’s progress in his notebook as if he were the latter’s personal trainer at the gym.

Seo Jun-Sik was furious. “Hey, you punk! Why do you keep raising the output by one percent? I was about to die, you dumbass! Are you blind?”

“Well, it’s the fastest way to increase your Overclocking output. You don’t have forever to reach a thousand percent, you know,” Seo Jun-Ho answered firmly and gave Seo Jun-Sik a ten-minute break.

Huff, puff…

Seo Jun-Sik caught his breath and asked, “...Are you sure that the time outside the gap has stopped?”

“How many times have you asked me that question?”

A dimensional gap was like a bug in a computer program.

It was born from the haphazard confluence of dimensions.

“Time and space do not exist here.”

Therefore, the ground they were standing on would sometimes become rock, grave, grass, and even nothing.

Seo Jun-Sik groaned and grumbled. “Ugh. The Original should have been the one here rather than me. Why am I the one who’s suffering?”

“Does that even matter? Your memories will be shared with him once you’ve returned to him, anyway.”

“Do you not have even an ounce of empathy?”

‘Suffering and sharing a memory are two different things…’

“Originals really are the worst… tsk, tsk.” Seo Jun-Sik clicked his tongue and shook his head before standing up.

Seo Jun-Ho was busy wiping down his sword with an indifferent expression.

Seo Jun-Sik didn’t mind that and asked, “...But seriously, are you really not going to give it to me?”

“Are you not tired of asking that yet?”

Seo Jun-Sik had been constantly requesting something for the past half a year, and it was none other than the Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho’s memories.

“Your Confession of the Dead is EX grade, so you should be capable of sharing your memories with other people.”

However, the Star Destruction Stage Seo Jun-Ho didn’t do that.

Seo Jun-Ho continued wiping down his sword in silence, but he soon said, “...I can, but I won’t. There is no reason for me to do that.”

“What do you mean, no reason? Your memories and experiences will be a great help to me and my Original.”

“Receiving contaminated memories will do more harm than good…”

“Contaminated…?”

“Yes, just like this cloth.”

Seo Jun-Ho looked down at the cloth which he had been using to clean his sword. The cloth was so dirty that one couldn’t even see its original color anymore.

“A sword can never be cleaned by a dirty cloth. It will only get dirtier.”

“...Are you saying that we’ll become just like you if we receive your memories?”

“Yes. I’m sure the Frost Queen has already told you that I’m broken.”

And that was when Seo Jun-Ho was still on the 7th Floor.

It had been a long time since then, and Seo Jun-Ho had suffered a lot since then.

“Do you know how my Confession of the Dead reached EX grade?”

“...” Seo Jun-Sik didn’t know, but he had his guesses.

“I don’t remember the exact number, but I’ve made billions of lives confess.”

He had done it to assuage his guilt somewhat, and it was also a desperate move to shake off the loneliness after everyone else had departed his world.

Seo Jun-Ho looked up and stared into the void.

“I have a duty to remember everyone.” The people he had abandoned would never forget him, and Seo Jun-Ho had ensured not to forget them. Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes slowly. “Perhaps that’s why I can see them and hear their screams whenever I close my eyes.”

‘So that’s what he means by contaminated…’

“My memories will contaminate you both..”

“...What about the Hero\'s Mind? Original’s Hero’s Mind is EX, so it should be capable of preventing us from becoming contaminated, right?”

“Of course, Hero’s Mind is a great skill. I think the reason why I’m still sane is all thanks to Hero’s Mind and my Imperturbable Mind.”

However, there was a limit to everything.

“I think I have already exceeded Hero’s Mind and Imperturbable Mind’s limit because I keep on seeing and hearing things.”

“What if I only receive the important parts of your memory? Will it still be dangerous?”

“I don’t know. And I’m not going to try because I don’t know...”

Seo Jun-Ho started wiping down his sword once more.

“You have three minutes of rest left until we resume training.”

“...Okay.”

As usual, Seo Jun-Sik wasn’t gutsy enough to ask for five more minutes of rest.