Return of the Frozen Player

Shoot came down to Earth using the Dimensional Elevator. The artificial island in the Pacific Ocean was unprecedentedly full of people.

"Get in line!"

"Please show us your Player license!"

"Hey, don't you know who I am?”

"I know. But I must ask you to identify yourself."

A security Player even approached Shoot, who came out of the elevator. He asked with a slightly awkward look, "Welcome, Mr. Shoot. Excuse me, but could you show me your Player's license?"

They would have usually let him pass after just a single look at his helmet, but the inspection was tighter than expected. The man who confirmed Shoot's license nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation, and welcome back to your home planet."

- Thanks.

As he walked out of the checkpoint, his subordinate teleporter approached.

"Hello, Master."

Shoot nodded and headed to the Labyrinth’s headquarters in Silicon Valley. Entering his office, he immediately used his Vita to access the Internet.

[Seo Jun-Ho ran away after killing hundreds of Players. Where is he now?]

[World Players Association, ‘Still investigating the situation’. The end of incompetence.]

[Strengthening security checks at the Dimensional Elevators. Unprecedented.]

[The bereaved families protest in front of the Players Association. ‘Fair punishment for the murderer!’]

...

Sure enough, articles about the incident could be seen everywhere. It had already been two days since he rescued Seo Jun-Ho.

R-r-r-r-ing!

Shoot received a hologram video call request from the secretary's office.

- Master, the Guild Master of Sky Soul requested a private meeting with you. What should I do?

The time had come. With a nod, the screen immediately switched. Depicted on the screen was Tenmei Yugo.

- You seem to be busy these days. Have you heard?

- Yes, yes.

- It's pathetic. I didn't expect to lose half of the forces we sowed.

- …

Shoot did not answer. It meant that he wanted Tenmei Yugo to stop beating around the bush and bring up his business.

- I called you because I wanted to ask you something. I got an interesting piece of news. Did you know? Two days ago, Seo Jun-Ho was rescued by a man with a helmet.

- ⊙▂⊙ㄱ▂

Shoot revealed an expression as if he had never heard of it.

- I'll ask you seriously. Are you the one who rescued Seo Jun-Ho?

Shoot was silent for a moment, and then he replied in Japanese.

- Who knows? The 5th floor is a cyberpunk world, a helmet like mine would be a dime a dozen. Isn't that a leap?

- I see. I asked, just in case. Just to be sure.

Tenmei Yugo nodded slowly, with a unique ‘I know everything’ smile on his lips.

- All right. I'm done with my business, so have a good rest. I'm sure you’re tired from your travels.

The call ended, but Shoot looked at the dim screen without saying a word.

‘Is it as expected?’

Tenmei Yugo used the word ‘travels,’ which meant that he knew about how Shoot had used the Dimensional Elevator. Shoot had deduced what happened and moved accordingly. However, the Sky Soul Guild wasn’t a Guild full of fools, so there was no way they wouldn't have noticed Shoot’s movements.

‘It's too bad. It's not time to show my fangs yet.’

The timing was too bad. He went up to the 5th floor just in case something really happened. However, he didn’t expect that Namgung Jincheon would actually try to kill Seo Jun-Ho with the Players.

‘Is this the end of the play?’

They had an alliance with Sky Soul, but it would be dissolved from now on. From today, he would be at odds with them in everything.

‘I don't think it’ll matter.’

He had no regrets. He had already severed those feelings twenty-seven years ago. He would never make the same mistake again.

‘What should I do?’

Shoot closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time. How could he save Seo Jun-Ho?

‘I can't do it alone.’

The issue was magic, if he had taken a bit longer to rescue Seo Jun-Ho, then they would have been stuck there, helpless. During that short period of time against the Four Divine Beasts, he had used thirty percent of his total magic. In that case, who should he bring to his side to increase his chances of success?

‘There’s no need to worry.’

There was only one answer. Shoot got up and used his Vita.

- My apologies for calling you back so soon, but let me ask you for one more favor.

"Of course. What is the destination?"

When the teleporter asked, five letters appeared on his face.

- KOREA.

***

Wisoso rolled to check the box and clicked their tongue upon seeing what was inside.

- Geez. That funny-looking head, Shoot, was careless.

"What about Shoot?"

- Look at the food in the bag.

The box was packed with bottled water and rations.

- The rations taste bad.

"It'd be nice if the food were delicious, but I don’t really expect anything in this situation."

Seo Jun-Ho liked Shoot’s consideration. Hundreds of low-volume rations were much better than a few delicious meals.

"Even during my time. I couldn't even eat these because there were none.”

Seo Jun-Ho could still remember how he would pick up leaves and start eating them whenever he ran out of food inside Gates after something went awry. Of course, he knew that leaves had no nutritional value. However, his stomach ached so much that he ate anything to fill it.

- You actually had such a sad story?

"Yea, so this is a feast for me."

Crunch, crunch.

Seo Jun-Ho chewed the hard rations and swallowed them gently with water in his mouth. It was only the size of a finger, but it was a type of food that made him feel full just by eating one.

‘Well, let's get started.’

Seo Jun-Ho crossed his legs and sat. He devoted himself to training with the heart method

Whoo.

His magic ran along his magic circuits. Rather than going around in a circle, its pathing had changed.

‘In even more detail, according to Cheon-Gwang’s rules.’

He followed the milestones Cheon-Gwang left behind and guided his magic through those milestones. He could feel his magic efficiency increasing. However, the issue lay in the final section of the Black Moon Heart Method.

Clack!

The sports car called magic suddenly turned upside down.

"Cough! Cough!"

Seo Jun-Ho's brows narrowed as he let out rough breaths. The final section of the Black Moon Heart Method was the stage of collecting all the magic spread throughout his body into the dantian. It was a path that had been troubling him for quite a while now.

‘Just what's the problem?’

As if he had struck a speed bump, the flow of magic snapped, suffocating him. He could properly execute the other parts of the heart method, but he was having trouble with this section.

‘At first, I thought it was all because I still haven’t gotten used to it...’

But after hundreds of tries, that thought collapsed like a sandcastle.

‘Is there something wrong with the phrase Cheon-Gwang taught me?’

Whenever he got lost, Seo Jun-Ho would look at Cheon-Gwang’s hologram through Wisoso. Cheon-Gwang always spoke with the same posture, the same expression, and the same tone.

- This martial art is a martial art made to change the world.

Seo Jun-Ho memorized everything Cheon-Gwang had said without missing a single word. However, the result remained unchanging. Seo Jun-Ho was starting to get impatient.

"…Why isn’t it working?"

While he was stuck doing nothing but trying to overcome the final section of the heart method, Namgung Jincheon had to be moving even closer to his goal. As such, Seo Jun-Ho knew that he couldn’t dilly-dally here.

"Again."

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes. Once again, his magic moved around his body.

***

"The requests for interviews are endless."

"The press is still sending reporters over to us, but it will be too reckless to answer them."

"The bereaved families have set up camp in front of the building and are protesting. I don’t think that we will be able to send them away peacefully."

"Whew..."

Listening to the report, Shim Deok-Gu kneaded his throbbing forehead. Every piece of news was making things harder for him. In addition, he also had no idea what the exact situation was like.

‘There’s only one thing I know.'

Seo Jun-Ho was definitely not the kind of person to do such a thing. Unfortunately, all he could do was trust his friend.

"Keep rejecting the interviews, please. As for the protestors, don’t touch them."

"I understand."

The association staff member quickly left the conference room. Shim Deok-Gu could see the staff member’s fatigue from their drooping shoulders.

'The staff are shaken as well.’

They didn’t really know Seo Jun-Ho as well as he did. They knew him through the media, so they believed in the media’s depiction of him so far, and they respected him. However, the media was now denouncing Specter. Specter was now being depicted as a villain, so it was only natural for their faith to get shaken. Fortunately, the staff members had faith in Shim Deok-Gu, so they were still here.

‘Whew, how should I resolve this?’

Even Seo Jun-Ho's condition was unclear. He had no idea whether Seo Jun-Ho was alive or if he was seriously injured. He hadn’t heard from Seo Jun-Ho since he went missing.

- President.

Shim Deok-Gu opened his eyes upon receiving a phone call from the secretary’s office.

"What's going on?"

- We have a visitor.

"I believe I told you to turn down all those who are looking for me for the time being."

- Well, he said that he has to see you, President. The visitor is the Guild Master of the Labyrinth Guild...

The Guild Master of Labyrinth? Mr. Shoot? Shim Deok-Gu frowned.

‘He’s one of the two people behind Climb.’

So why was he here?

Shim Deok-Gu thought about it for a while before saying, "Send him up to my office."

- I understand.

Shim Deok-Gu waited for a while, and the secretary eventually knocked on the door. The person who came through the open door was a man wearing a neat suit and a Guy-Manuel helmet. It was Mr. Shoot.

"I'm Shim Deok-Gu, President of the Korean Player Association."

- Hello.

The two shook hands, and Shim Deok-Gu asked as soon as he sat down.

"Yes, so why did you want to see me? If it's a trivial reason, I'll send you back right away."

Shim Deok-Gu remained unfazed even in front of one of the Six Masters. Shoot remained silent for a while before taking a device out of his pocket and aiming it at a few corners in the office.

"Wait, what are you doing?”

- Wiretaps, checking the CCTV.

"There's no such thing in my room."

Shim Deok-Gu's boasting wasn’t just mere boasting since the device didn’t let out a signal. Confirming that, Shoot got to the point.

- Seo Jun-Ho is alive.

“…”

Shim Deok-Gu's eyes turned sharp.

"You’re telling me to believe that?"

- I know it's hard to believe because I’m one of the forces behind Climb.

"Why did you even bring it up, then?"

- Because I saved him.

“...” Shim Deok-Gu closed his mouth. He recalled the report Moonlight had sent over to him.

- Specter-nim was rescued from the scene after the explosion. The rescuer is an unidentified man wearing a helmet.

The first one who came to his mind when he heard the rescuer’s description was Shoot. However, Shoot had no reason to rescue Seo Jun-Ho. The Murim Alliance would have killed Seo Jun-Ho if he had been left alone. In that case, why did Shoot rescue Seo Jun-Ho?

- Evidence.

Shoot tapped on his Vita to show a picture of Seo Jun-Ho eating porridge in a cave. At that, Shim Deok-Gu clenched his fists tightly.

‘So you were alive!’

Shim Deok-Gu didn’t think that Seo Jun-Ho was dead, but he also didn’t think that he would look fine. After all, the bomb was strong enough to kill hundreds of Players, and it exploded directly in front of Seo Jun-Ho.

"What do you want?"

- Cooperation.

"Cooperation?"

Shim Deok-Gu's eyes narrowed. He thought Shoot would take Seo Jun-Ho hostage and threaten him, but Shoot actually asked for cooperation from out of nowhere.

Shim Deok-Gu thought for a while and said, "I would like to express my gratitude to you as Seo Jun-Ho’s friend and as the President of the Korean Player Association for saving Jun-Ho. But what is the cooperation for? In addition, we don’t even know each other."

A suspicious ally was more dangerous than an enemy one could see.

- …

Mr. Shoot did not say anything. Since Shim Deok-Gu didn’t know him, then he would just tell him more about himself.

Psshhh.

Smoke rushed out from the helmet, and the sound of rushing wind could be heard as if the helmet was depressurized. The helmet came off. Finally, Shoot’s face, which had remained hidden for decades, was revealed.

A calm yet rough voice emerged from his lips.

"Long time no see."

“…?”

Shim Deok-Gu stared at Shoot’s face for a moment, and his expression gradually became dyed with shock.

"My god..."

Shim Deok-Gu started trembling. He was so overwhelmed by the reveal that even his head started trembling. Shim Deok-Gu nodded. The man in front of him was undoubtedly an ally.