Return of the Frozen Player

"Maybe the password was simple, like 1q2w3e4r?"

"Ayyy, no way."

"If it isn’t a simple password like that, then how did Specter-nim guess it?”

The Players were curious, but there was one person who was dying to know the answer. It was Namgung Jincheon. He had been searching for the password for seven hundred years, so his reaction didn’t really come as a surprise.

"Uh, uh… Uhhh!”

He screamed as if he had gone senile when he saw the green glow the system window was giving off. It was his first time seeing that green light despite his long life. How many times had he imagined seeing that screen in the past hundreds of years?

‘I can\'t even count how many… I can\'t even count the number of times I couldn\'t enter the password and just closed the window!\'

Failing once meant that it was all over. He had no choice but to give up repeatedly because he knew that his grand dream would collapse if he failed. However, Seo Jun-Ho actually managed to solve it without even thinking about it?

Namgung Jincheon roared, "What is it?! What the hell is the password?!"

The suicide attack failed, but he didn’t care about it anymore. It was impossible to reverse the situation since Seo Jun-Ho had already received the emperor’s authority.

‘He’s going to kill me anyway…’

However, he didn’t really care about dying anymore. He simply wanted to know the password, Namgung Jincheon thought he would be able to remove the lump in his chest and cross the Styx River once he discovered the password.[1]

"Hmm." Seo Jun-Ho smiled coldly, annoyed by Namgung Jincheon’s arrogance in demanding something from him.

"Contractor, you’re not going to tell him, are you?" With her arms crossed, the Frost Queen looked like she didn\'t like the idea at all. "Why are you thinking of such mercy? Just kill him.”

"Use nicer words..."

"Let him sleep—forever."

"That\'s not bad either. But…"

Seo Jun-Ho smiled as if he knew something. If he was right, then it would be much more fun to give Namgung Jincheon the password.

"Before anything else…"

Seo Jun-Ho snapped his fingers, and the A.I. of the System Chip came into action.

[What can I do for you?]

"Stop all the robots that are attacking the Players."

[Understood.]

Kwaaaaa!

The System Chip replied kindly, and a huge wave started spreading throughout the city with Seo Jun-Ho at the center.

***

The Players squeezed out the final vestiges of their strength to live or to save their comrades. However, the weapon that they could barely swing finally fell to the ground. They had thoroughly exhausted themselves.

‘Is this the end?’

‘Damn it, I can’t even raise my weapon anymore.’

They were angry and frustrated. They tried so hard to the point that they couldn\'t even believe that their willpower was this strong. They fought really hard, but the fact that they couldn\'t go any further because their bodies wouldn’t follow them made them really furious and frustrated.

Was it because of that?

"This way, trashcans."

Perhaps it was the reason why the Sword Saint, Kim Woo-Joong, looked more dazzling than usual. He was still wielding his sword, even though everyone around him was collapsing from exhaustion one by one. His hand was torn and bleeding, and his hair was thoroughly drenched with sweat. Despite all that, he was still wielding his sword.

‘If I had done a little more physical training.’

\'I could have wielded a sword by his side.’

‘I wouldn\'t have been reduced to a mere spectator like this.’

They had no idea that it was so painful to be someone else’s burden. The Players on the ground closed their eyes and started urging him to escape.

"Sword Saint, run while you still have the energy to escape."

"You will die with us if you keep this up..."

“…”

Kim Woo-Joong looked down at his hand. Obviously, he couldn’t exert that much force anymore.

‘You\'re not supposed to hold a sword like this.’

He had to hold it harder and tighter so that it wouldn’t tremble. He knew that fact better than anyone else, but his body didn’t follow along.

\'…I guess I\'ll get scolded a lot.’

He closed his eyes and recalled the face of a close childhood friend, who was like a family to him.

‘Should I run away? I\'ve already done my best, and they’re telling me to run away.’

Kim Woo-Joong suddenly smiled. They could have told him to cheer up and save them, but they told him to run away.

‘Is it on purpose?’

Even if they uttered those words with that purpose in mind, he had no choice but to be deceived. He shook his head and shook off the weakness in his mind that had been seducing him into resting.

‘Sorry, Son Chae-Won.’

He didn’t think he could leave them behind and run away. If his idol were in his shoes, he would definitely make the same decision.

"Come,” Kim Woo-Joong coldly muttered at the robots surrounding him.

However, the robots suddenly exploded in a fiery blaze.

"What do you mean, come? You should be telling them to go away even if it’s not working."

“…”

Kim Woo-Joong thought saw a petite red-haired woman approaching him. He thought for a moment before saying, "Are you that kid from Goblin?"

‘Ah, I made a mistake.’ He was so tired that he unknowingly said his thoughts out loud.

"What? Why are you suddenly picking a fight with your benefactor?"

"I\'m sorry. I should have kept it to myself as usual.”

"That\'s even more annoying!” She couldn’t believe it. Gong Ju-Ha stared at him with narrowed eyes, then turned her head and asked, "How much magic do you have left?"

"I used it all up."

"Uh, then…” Gong Ju-Ha looked around and revealed a tearful face. "What should we do? The skill just now used up all my magic...”

While they were muttering to each other, the robots continued to emerge from alleyways to surround them. The Players couldn’t deal with them at all. After all, they had long exhausted their magic, and they were too tired to even move.

"Ah!"

A Player cried out before she subsequently collapsed to the ground.

“…!”

She needed help. Kim Woo-Joong and Gong Ju-Ha started running without hesitation because they knew that she could still be saved.

‘Damn it, why am I so slow? Why?!"

They should have been able to run much faster than this. If they had just a bit of magic or stamina, they would be able to save her quite easily. Maybe if their legs were just a bit longer…

The robot raised its sword.

"N-no! Don\'t…!"

Gong Ju-Ha kept flicking her fingers, but without mana, she was like a lighter without gas. She couldn’t create even a spark.

“…!”

However, the robot suddenly stopped halfway to its sword stroke.

Crack!

A beat later, Kim Woo-Joong kicked the robot to the side. He huffed and puffed to catch his breath and frowned.

‘Was I mistaken?’

The robot seemed to have stopped working at the last minute.

"Hey, Mr. Swordsman."

Gong Ju-Ha’s trembling voice made him turn around.

Clank, boom, boom! Booooom…

The robots trying to kill them just a moment ago stopped working one by one.

"I don\'t know if I should say this about a robot, but they look like they’re dead.”

"…What?"

"We’re… alive?"

"Why did they suddenly stop? Did they run out of battery?"

The collapsed Players started joking around, but the robots still showed no signs of getting up. It wasn\'t until ten minutes later that they finally felt relieved.

"Haaa, we survived! We really survived! Goddamned it! To think that we survived through all this…"

"Haha! I’m glad I will be able to see my son’s face."

However, who stopped the robots? For some reason, there was only one person who came to their mind.

***

A procession of the injured followed. A group of Players supporting each other, as well as those being carried on stretchers, started to gather in groups. They were definitely hurt and exhausted, but the smile on their faces was bright. It was all because they were alive. They could continue to share lame jokes with their comrades and go back to the arms of their families.

Looking at them, Seo Jun-Ho said, "You asked for the password."

“…!”

Namgung Jincheon hurriedly turned to look at him.

"Yes, I certainly asked. What the hell is the password?"

"Well? Why don\'t you ask the person yourself?"

"The person...?"

A hologram figure manifested in front of them. The figure was His Majesty The Emperor, and he was currently a young man. The same young man Seo Jun-Ho had seen several times in his memories.

His Majesty the Emperor opened his eyes slowly and said.

- First of all, it is imperative that I express my gratitude first. I owe you a big debt, Player.

"Don\'t mention it."

Seo Jun-Ho shook his head lightly. This victory didn’t belong to him alone.

“The seed that His Majesty and the general sowed and watered eventually grew a fruit. I simply ate the fruit.”

- It was difficult, right? As far as I know, that fruit has a lot of thorns, and it’s even poisonous.

"It was more or less edible. Even though it had some kick to it."

- Hahaha! Really? That\'s a relief.

The smiling emperor turned to look at Namgung Jincheon with a wide smile.

- Iya, Jincheon. You look awful. You\'ve really become a fool. Ah, I shouldn’t use crude words.

"Y-Your Majesty…!" Namgung Jincheon growled.

Namgung Jincheon’s eyes turned red the moment His Majesty the Emperor appeared. He knew that the emperor himself had become an A.I.—a part of the management system to protect the city. However, he hadn’t been able to unlock the System Chip, so it was his first time meeting the emperor like this.

- I told you, didn\'t I? Despite what you have, you remained greedy. You should’ve just been satisfied with the little things I gave you. You’ve lived in vain for not just a year but seven hundred years. You’re so pitiful…

"Shut up! If it weren’t for you and Cheon-Gwang acting foolishly, the System Chip would have been mine!"

- Hahahahaha!

The emperor grabbed his belly and laughed.

- Aigo, I’m dying of laughter. Oh, I’m already dead, right? Ahahaha!

It became clear that His Majesty the Emperor decided to become an A.I. to screw with Namgung Jincheon.

It was evidenced by the fact that Namgung Jincheon couldn’t stop trembling amidst his boiling anger. However, Namgung Jincheon suppressed his anger and asked, "This is the last time I\'ll ask you. What was the password?"

- Oh, that?

The emperor smiled and looked at Seo Jun-Ho.

- Player, what was the answer you typed?

"I just answered HOPE."

- Ah, as expected, you definitely know something. Hope! What a nice word.

"…Hope, that was the answer?"

Namgung Jincheon bit his lips as his head drooped. There was definitely ‘hope’ in his list of passwords. This was because the emperor often said that Neo City was the final hope of the midlands.

- I never said that it’s the password.

“…?” Namgung Jincheon slowly raised his head. The way he stared at the emperor made it obvious that he was asking the emperor about the nonsense the latter was talking about.

- Because there is no password…

Namgung Jincheon blinked. He couldn’t understand what the emperor was saying.

"W-What does that mean? What do you mean there is no password?”

- It’s as I said.

"Then, if I had typed in any word, the System Chip would have been mine…?”

- That\'s right.

Namgung Jincheon\'s face started quivering. He shook his head madly and denied it.

"Lie! It\'s a lie! You\'re a liar trying to harass me!"

- Didn\'t I keep telling you? You\'re small-minded. Your mind is as small as a small bowl of soy sauce.

The emperor looked at Namgung Jincheon with a gaze that seemed like it could see through everything. There was a slight sneer around his mouth.

- I know very well about your greedy nature.

The emperor didn\'t just know Namgung Jincheon’s shortcomings. He also knew of Namgung Jincheon’s persistence and intelligence.

- If I had set up a difficult password, you would have found the answer somehow. You have a pretty good head on your shoulders, after all.

As such, the emperor decided to use Namgung Jincheon’s inherent greed. It was all because the emperor knew that such greed wouldn’t go away no matter what.

- If I said there’s only one chance to unlock the chip, I knew that you wouldn’t even be able to attempt it. I knew you wouldn’t risk losing the System Chip by submitting an uncertain answer.

The prediction was right, and that was enough. The emperor only had to buy enough time until the seeds he sowed grew and bore fruit.

"C-contractor, are you a genius? Did you predict this whole situation?"

"Uh, mmm..."

To be honest, he had no idea about all this. The only word that came to mind at the time was HOPE, and he tried it because he didn\'t have much time.

‘But it was weird how I randomly got the answer, so I knew that something was wrong.’

Getting the right answer on the first try was a miracle that wouldn’t happen that easily…

After contemplating for a while, Seo Jun-Ho nodded boldly.

"Of course. I know almost everything.”

"Woooow! Our contractor is a great genius! A famous detective! How did you know?"

The Frost Queen stared at him with respect and admiration.

By the way, where was Jun-Sik? What was he even doing?

1. River that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld in Greek mythology - Wikipedia. ☜