Return of the Frozen Player

Yuri immediately pulled up her Trophy Slot.

1. Blessing Strengthening (S)
2. A Thousand Faces (A)
3. Runner of the Night (A)
4. Messenger (B)
5. Lucky Day (A)

Her current slot configuration was truly not suitable for combat, especially when the opponent was a True Vampire.

‘I need to run away.’

Yuri immediately threw herself out the window.

Crash!

“Ahhhh!”

“W-what’s going on?”

The startled citizens screamed upon seeing someone suddenly falling from the third floor. Yuri disregarded the citizens’ reactions and immediately stood up to activate Runner of the Night (A).

Swoosh!

Yuri’s figure blurred until she became completely transparent.

“She disappeared!”

“Ah! She’s a ghost!”

The people started running away in panic, and Yuri blended in with them.

‘I have to run as fast as I can.’

Yuri’s goal wasn’t too grand. The nearest Dimensional Elevator was located only three blocks away, and that was actually the reason she stayed here. She wanted to make sure that her escape route downstairs was nearby.

‘I’ll win as long as I reach the elevator—’

However, Yuri had to stop moving upon entering an alleyway.

A familiar boy was waiting for her in the alley.

“You run much faster than you did earlier, sis,” Stigma said as he looked directly into Yuri’s eyes.

‘Is he clairvoyant?’

The boy laughed upon seeing Yuri’s stern look.

“Hahaha! You look funny. Anyway, do you have anything else to show me?”

“...”

‘Of course, I do.’

Yuri opened her Inventory and pondered. ‘I don’t think a gun would work against that monster.’

Yuri just had to break through Stigma once, and she would be safe as long as she managed to get into the elevator located behind Stigma. It didn’t matter even if she had to sacrifice some of her limbs.

Yuri eventually decided that a spear was the best weapon to use in an alleyway, especially when she only had to charge forward.

Stigma clapped upon seeing Yuri pulling a weapon out of nowhere.

“Wow! Was that magic? Where the heck have you been hiding that long thing?”

Yuri bit her lips. “Blessing Strengthening.”

Fwoosh!

Yuri’s silver-colored magic engulfed the spear in her hands, and an unexpected message popped up in front of her eyes.

[Lucky Day (A) has been activated. Blessing Strengthening’s effects are tripled.]

Yuri’s gloomy expression brightened upon seeing the system message.

‘Lucky Day works here? Then, I might be able to…’

A True Vampire was strong, but Yuri was still a Heaven.

‘I can get through him.’

In addition, Yuri didn’t have to kill Stigma. She simply had to go past him once.

Having made up her mind, her spear felt more reliable than usual today.

“Kekeke…!’ Stigma simply laughed out loud at the sight.

***

If a third party were here, then they would say that Yuri Alekseyev was in a mess.

Yuri was just one step away from the elevator, but she couldn’t make it.

“Ah, it was pretty fun.” Stigma laughed and squatted in front of Yuri. Yuri’s limbs were bent in strange directions, and she could only look at Stigma helplessly.

“Hey, sis. Are all humans in your world as strong as you? Are you the one who killed Paradox?”

“...”

“I guess you’re not Paradox’s killer based on your expression. In other words, there are people who are stronger than you, am I right?” Stigma retrieved a lollipop from his pocket. He peeled off the wrapper and stuck the lollipop in his mouth. “It would be a shame if you die here. I really had fun playing with you, sis.”

Grab!

Stigma grabbed Yuri by the ankle and dragged her away.

“There’s this guy called Chef, and he’s apparently good at healing. I’ll tell him to fix you up, then we’ll play again, sis.”

“...”

Yuri closed her eyes without saying anything.

Right now, she wasn’t even concerned about herself. Her mind was filled with nothing but the details of Tepes’ goal.

‘I have to let people know about Tepes’ plan no matter what.’

Yuri gnashed her teeth. She forcibly lifted her fractured wrist and tapped on a hologram window with her trembling fingers.

[9, 12, 362, 26, 52, 17, 141, 5.]

“Huh?” Stigma turned and let go of Yuri’s ankle. He approached her with puffed cheeks and grumbled. “You shouldn’t make any unnecessary movements, and I also didn’t give you permission to move, did I?”

Crack! Crack!

“...!” Yuri’s eyes widened as Stigma broke all her fingers one by one.

Stigma then patted her head and said gently, “You need to behave well and be nice. Can you do that for me, sis?”

‘T-this madman…!’

Yuri’s eyes quivered ever so slightly as she glared at Stigma.

***

“Huh?” Skaya repeatedly blinked.

She was floating around the room when something caught her attention.

Snap!

Skaya snapped her fingers, and Seo Jun-Ho instantly appeared in front of her.

Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth. He turned to Skaya with a face covered in soap bubbles and asked, sounding slightly resentful, “Why did you Teleport me here?”

“Wait, calm down! I didn’t call you to ask for ice,” Skaya hastily answered, “Have you already seen that post in Community?”

“Post? What post?” Seo Jun-Ho said. He immediately realized that Skaya didn’t Teleport him here for fun, so he quickly logged in to Community.

[9, 12, 362, 26, 52, 17, 141, 5.]

Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes narrowed when he saw the post.

It was posted by Thousand Faces just a few minutes ago.

“Thousand Faces?”

“Yes. Have you seen this ID before?” The advance party members were the only Players on the 6th Floor right now, aside from Chef. In other words, if Chef wasn’t the one who had posted it, there could only be one person who could have posted it.

“Yuri Alekseyev…”

“I think so, too. They’re the only one who comes to mind...”

Yuri Alekseyev was a Heaven with a penchant for working alone. Therefore, everything about her was shrouded in mystery, and it included her skills as well as her age.

“You have no idea what these numbers mean?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“Yep, no idea. I used a few different cryptographic hermeneutics, but it still doesn’t really make sense. I think there’s a codebook for it.”

“A codebook?”

“Something like the twelfth word on page nine and the twenty-sixth word on page three hundred and sixty-two. It’s a type of cipher.”

“I see,” Seo Jun-Ho nodded and memorized the numbers. “Then, I’ll have to visit the Russian Player Association to find out what the numbers mean.”

“I suppose so.”

“...Can you get me some water?”

Seo Jun-Ho washed his face and told her. “I’ll be back.”

***

Seo Jun-Ho came down to Earth and immediately requested a Teleporter.

“A Teleporter? Where are you going?”

“Russia.”

Shim Deok-Gu frowned upon hearing Seo Jun-Ho’s explanation.

“That’s not good. Yuri Alekseyev has never left a trace like that before.”

“Which means that her situation is dire...”

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t bother mentioning it, but there was a possibility that Yuri Alekseyev was already dead.

A Heaven could easily deal with a vampire apostle, so…

‘Yuri Alekseyev must have stumbled upon a True Vampire.’

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t even have to think deeply about it to know the result. After all, he had faced a True Vampire before, so he knew that a Heaven would struggle against a True Vampire.

“Did you call me?” said a Teleport as they entered the room.

Seo Jun-Ho reached out his hand for a handshake and said, “To the Russian Player Association, please.”

***

“I-it is such an honor to meet you like this…”

The President of the Russian Player Association was deeply moved to hear that Specter had visited him in person. However, his expression quickly turned grim upon hearing Seo Jun-Ho’s reason for his visit.

“Are you sure? Is it really Yuri who left that message?”

“I came here to confirm that.”

“...”

“Do you know what these numbers mean?” asked Seo Jun-Ho.

The confused president finally recovered, and he retrieved four books from a nearby bookshelf.

“You can check it. It’s from left to right…”

“Let’s check it together.”

Seo Jun-Ho opened the books and organized the words.

The twelfth word on page nine—Human.

The twenty-sixth word on page three hundred and sixty-two—Extermination.

The seventeenth word on page fifty-two—War.

The fifth word on page one hundred and forty-one—Ready.

Seo Jun-Ho muttered, “Extermination of humans and get ready for war?”

“My god…!”

Seo Jun-Ho glanced at the pale president.

“Y-Yuri told me that she would focus on the enemies’ ultimate goal.”

“So you’re saying that…” Seo Jun-Ho looked at the four words once again.

‘This is Tepes’ ultimate goal?’

Yuri Alekseyev was clearly telling them to prepare for war because Tepes was planning to exterminate humankind.

“But this is strange...” Seo Jun-Ho was aware that humans needed human blood to exert their full strength, similar to how the werewolves needed moonlight. “So why are they trying to exterminate humankind?”

“I-I have no clue.”

“...”

‘I’ll have to watch Paradox’s memories again.’ Seo Jun-Ho nodded.

He actually hadn’t gone through the entirety of Paradox’s memories. He only watched the important parts because Paradox was hundreds of years old, which meant that he was bound to have a ton of memories.

However, Seo Jun-Ho figured that there had to be some information related to Tepes’ plan within Paradox’s memories.

Seo Jun-Ho got up from his seat. “I’ll get going then.”

“W-wait!”

The President of the Russian Player Association hurriedly took out a transparent green jewel from a drawer.

“This item is called Jade of Life, and it was created by a Player in Mongol.”

“Jade of Life?”

“Yes. It’s an item that indicates the condition of the individual connected to it.”

Seo Jun-Ho stared at the jewel and said, “The light is off...”

“No, it’s not!” The President of the Russian Player Association looked like he was about to cry as he said hurriedly, “The Mongolian Players aren’t strong enough, so…”

“Oh, I see.”

In other words, the Jade of Life couldn’t detect the life force of the individual it had established a connection with if the individual in question was too far away.

Unfortunately, the Mongolian Players weren’t strong enough to climb up to the 6th Floor, so the President of the Russian Player Association could only ask Seo Jun-Ho for help.

The President of the Russian Player Association hurriedly handed over the Jade of Life to Seo Jun-Ho.

“Could you please check if Yuri is still alive on the 6th Floor?” he asked desperately, “She has been by my side since she was young, and I already consider her my child, so please… please help me find out if she’s still alive.”

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho stared alternatingly between the Jade of Life and the president.

Eventually, Seo Jun-Ho sighed and said, “Sigh, Mr. President—”

“I-I will give you anything! If you want, I can give you money, items, or even territory in Frontier—”

“It’s fine.” Seo Jun-Ho wrapped his hands around the president’s trembling hand. “I’ve never met her before, but Yuri Alekseyev is a member of the same advance party as me, so you don’t have to worry because—”

The president’s hands eventually stopped trembling. Seo Jun-Ho pulled the Jade of Life out of the president’s hands and stared at the latter’s face before continuing. “—Specter does not abandon his colleagues.”

***

Seo Jun-Ho checked the Jade of Life as soon as he came up to the 6th Floor.

‘The light is on.’

However, the light was faint and the interval between flickers was long.

‘He said that the light will tell me a lot about Yuri’s condition…”

Yuri Alekseyev was in terrible condition based on the light. Even worse, she might actually be on the brink of death right now.

‘Which direction is it…’ Seo Jun-Ho moved the Jade of Life around. ‘East?’

Seo Jun-Ho’s intuition was telling him that he had to go east. In addition, Paradox’s memories had also told him that the Vampire’s House was located east of Trium.

Seo Jun-Ho fell into deep contemplation. ‘As long as there isn’t any True Vampire there, I should have no trouble getting past security by myself…’

The light’s flickering interval was long, and the light was dim as well. This meant that if Seo Jun-Ho wanted to save Yuri, he had to go there as soon as possible. However, he still had to watch Paradox’s memories once more.

In the end, Seo Jun-Ho decided to book a nearby hotel room first. As soon as he stepped into the hotel room, he commanded. “Recall Frost Queen; Summon Frost Queen.”

Pong!

The Frost Queen holding a fork in her hand abruptly appeared in front of him.

“...”

She stared at Seo Jun-Ho without saying anything, but one could see the anguish in her expression. It looked like she was just about to eat a cake but was abruptly teleported here.

Surprisingly, the Frost Queen didn’t kick up a fuss. She put down her fork and asked, “Sigh, what’s going on? What’s with that grave look?”

“Wait,” replied Seo Jun-Ho. He then summoned Seo Jun-Sik and finally explained, “I need you guys to go through Paradox’s memories.

“And what is it that we need to find out?” asked the Frost Queen.

“You want us to find out how exactly is he going to exterminate humankind, is that right?” said Seo Jun-Sik.

Seo Jun-Ho nodded. “That’s right. In the meantime, I’ll be looking for Yuri Alekseyev.”

The Frost Queen and Seo Jun-Sik would go through Paradox’s memories while he would rescue Yuri Alekseyev. This was the best plan that Seo Jun-Ho eventually came up with at short notice.

“We have to hurry up. This is a race against time.”

Seo Jun-Ho felt as if a clock was ticking in his head.