Return of the Frozen Player-Chapter 334: That Which Cannot Break (2)

~ 15th Regression

Seo Jun-Ho’s confidence was finally starting to grow.

He was regressing with the Frost Queen, who had grown stronger as well.

It took him less and less time to reach a hundred percent Overclocking output.

And he was starting to learn Erebo’s patterns, which gave him more hope than he had expected.

“How in the world did you...” Erebo’s voice trembled. He didn’t understand how a human could slaughter his army of cockroaches by himself and fight for four days straight. “I am afraid. Very much so. It is such a blessing that I met you early on.”

Erebo’s rants were getting shorter, and he started to take less time to cut off Seo Jun-Ho’s head, which also boosted the latter’s confidence.

“He’s getting more and more scared of me with each regression.” Seo Jun-Ho pointed out.

“That is proof that you are going down the correct path,” Frost said.

Both of them thought so. Slowly but surely, they were going forward one step at a time. He was getting so strong to the point that even Erebo was scared of him.

However, no one told them that Seo Jun-Ho would have to die a few more times until he reached the finish line.

~ 35th Regression

This was when the fatigue was starting to pile on ever so slightly. However, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t lose his confidence. Actually, this was when all the confidence he had built up over time reached its peak.

“Guaaah!” Erebo’s left arm flew into the air, and he quickly retreated. Every movement he made was filled with fear and confusion.

It was only natural because his mysterious ‘natural enemy’ had stood against his army all alone and even injured Erebo himself. Moreover, this was his first time meeting Seo Jun-Ho.

“Are you... some god of combat?” asked Erebo. The man blocked every one of Erebo’s attacks, but all his own strikes were successful. If he wasn’t a god, what was he?

Seo Jun-Ho laughed, exhausted. Nowadays, his face was always tired. “If you’re my opponent, that might be the case.”

“What are you—”

Erebo didn’t understand. So, he simply spread his wings and took off into the sky.

“This is the third time already...” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.

He wouldn’t make any mistakes this time. Wrenching out the last of his magic energy, he threw his sword and cut Erebo’s body in half.

Fwump.

When Seo Jun-Ho saw the long, lower half of Erebo’s body on the ground, he felt reassured.

‘Geez, I finally got him.’

Up until now, each regression was about a month-long on average. Nearly three years had passed already, and it seemed like it would never end. Now, he finally had a chance to end it all.

“U-ugh!”

However, even though he only had his upper body left, Erebo writhed in pain and stood firm as he flew into the air.

“...”

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t even have the energy to be mad.

All he did was stare at the cockroaches rushing toward him.

“Let’s do this again...” he muttered with an empty voice.

He prayed that the next regression would truly be the last.

~ 60th Regression

“Every day at 6 am, the city neatly initializes itself like that.”

Seo Jun-Ho suddenly felt out of place. He was watching the same scene he would see in every regression, but a scary thought occurred to him.

In a daze, he received his hotel room key card from Wei Chun-Hak and went to the bathroom in his room. Like a robot, he turned on the faucet.

“...”

He stood frozen under the shower booth, letting the water drip over him. His body trembled ever so slightly.

‘Something’s wrong with me.’

Little by little, he was no longer starting to see his one and only friends as humans. With each repeat, he would always see them doing the same things, so he was starting to see them as machines.

‘I’m lonely...’

He felt a wave of loneliness. It felt like he was the only person left in the world.

He turned up the heat until it was boiling hot to the extent that a normal person would be scalded. However, thanks to Fire Immunity (S), not even water that hot could warm his body up.

‘I have to kill that bastard Erebo.’

For the first time, he realized that he would only succeed in the third Quest if he killed Erebo before his mind shattered. Killing Erebo after his mind shattered meant there would be no going back for him.

Seo Jun-Ho finished his shower and stared into the mirror.

“...”

Now that he had returned to the past, his body should be in peak condition. However, there was a reason that they called the eyes windows to the soul, and they told him the truth.

‘Why didn’t I know until now... No, was I just pretending I didn’t know?’

The man in the mirror was tired. After all, he had died dozens of times in a short period of time when most people would only ever die once.

“Just a little more. Just hold on a little longer.”

Now, eradicating the army of cockroaches was a piece of cake. Fighting Erebo was still as difficult as always, but he won more than he lost with a win rate of sixty percent.

‘If I can just kill him before he runs away, I can break this curse.’

That day would come. He knew it would come.

~ 100th Regression

Seo Jun-Ho took the hotel room key card from Wei Chun-Hak like a robot.

“I’m sorry,” he said as soon as he went to his room.

The Frost Queen stared at him, confused.

“I shouldn’t have made you evolve that time. I was wrong.”

“You say that very often these days,” she commented.

“It’s because I mean it.”

Seo Jun-Ho closed his eyes in regret. If someone had to endure the pain of this endless curse, he should only be the one to go through it.

‘I’m fine because I have Hero’s Mind.’

To be honest, it was extremely difficult, but he could barely get by without breaking.

However, that wasn’t the case with the Frost Queen. When she evolved, she started regressing with him, and she had to watch him die a hundred times.

“Are you actually okay?” he asked her.

“Oh, you.” The Frost Queen smiled bitterly and waved him off. “I have watched hundreds, even thousands of loved ones die in my past life. Truly, I feel unaffected.”

“...”

Liar. There was no way that was true.

These days, the Frost Queen’s face was very similar to that of the tired man in the mirror.

“We can’t go on like this.” Seo Jun-Ho made a decision. “We need a break.”

“...Do you really think we have the time to waste?”

“I have only been running forward this whole time. We gained a lot, but we lost some things as well. We have to acknowledge that.”

If they ended up sacrificing their sanity just to complete the third Quest, there was no way they could still continue their journey.

‘There’s no way we can complete the fourth Quest if we have gone insane by then.’

Seo Jun-Ho thought that this was their last chance. His mind was still intact, and he still had a bit of his heart left. They just had to take a break and relax.

‘If it weren’t for Hero’s Mind, I wouldn’t have been able to reach even ten—no, even five regressions.’

However, even Hero’s Mind had its limits. If he kept this up, he would lose his mind sooner or later.

Even now, Keen Intuition was still yelling at him, saying that Seo Jun-Ho was at his limit and that it would be foolish to march on.

“So, how do you suggest we rest?” the Frost Queen asked.

“I feel bad for the others, but we’re walking out in this regression.” This meant Seo Jun-Ho wouldn’t do anything even if the others ended up dying. “It’s fine if you think it’s selfish. This time, let’s only think about ourselves.”

“...Are you serious?”

“I am. Rest as much as you want. Watch dramas, eat good food, and take naps.”

For over eight years, he had forced himself to keep going without resting for even a second, telling himself that he only had to go a little longer. However, it wasn’t like he was just working the whole time; he still had to endure the pain of death over and over.

During that time, there were many times when he could feel the weight boring down on his shoulders. Now, it was time for them to slow down, just for a bit.

“First, let’s eat something good. Let’s start with that,” Seo Jun-Ho said. He turned to the Frost Queen with tired eyes. “Tell me everything you want to eat. I’ll make it.”

“...Everything?”

“Anything and everything...”

“I actually will, you know...?”

“I said you can tell me.”

The Frost Queen thought for a moment, unsure if she could actually do that.

“Then, I would like to eat spaghetti with tomato sauce,” she said slowly.

“Sounds good.”

“And lemon cake and cranberry scones. Along with the tea you brew.”

“That’s a lot.”

“Please?” The Frost Queen looked at him with puppy eyes.

Seo Jun-Ho shrugged. “Hey, don’t give me that look from now on.”

It was cheating.

***

He made spaghetti and baked the cake and scones well. He conveniently obtained the missing ingredients from a bakery in the area.

“Mm~ That’s the taste!” The Frost Queen swung her legs and let out a happy sound for the first time in years. After she ate the spaghetti, she ate the lemon cake, unable to hide her delight. “I love it!”

“You do?”

“Yes! Isn’t this what you humans call an amusement park?”

“No... But if you like it that much, sure.”

Seeing the joy on her face, Seo Jun-Ho could finally relax for the first time.

“What will you do to relax, Contractor?” she asked.

“I don’t know. In the last battle, I saw a sauna nearby, so I’m planning to go there.”

“Then, may I go to the ice cream shop in the department store over there?”

“I told you. Do everything you want to do.”

They went all out to have fun. This was also the first regression that was still going on even after more than two and a half months.

“They said that a lot of Players returned to the second city,” said Seo Jun-Ho.

“How fascinating. I did not see any people passing by.”

“Maybe they can go straight to the second city with a specific command?”

“Are they making any progress with the conquest?”

“I don’t know... I think the front lines are fighting at their peak by now.”

“Goodness, everyone is so busy. I feel sorry.”

They chatted over a game of Go. Seo Jun-Ho made the board, as well as the stones, and he taught her how to play.

“You’re starting to get better. I bet Noya would like that,” Seo Jun-Ho remarked.

“I have always been pretty intelligent.”

‘Humans aren’t robots.’

This was something Seo Jun-Ho had been feeling a lot these days. Actually, even machines would break if you left them on for too long. As such, the fact that a mere human had gone nonstop for eight years without breaking was actually fascinating.

“I have Hero’s Mind, but it seems that Spirits have pretty strong minds, too,” he said.

“It is not Spirits that are so terrific; it is I.”

“Sure...”

Neither of them said it, but they both knew that the leisurely life they were enjoying would come to an end sooner or later. They knew that they would have to continue on the Quest again.

“I won,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“...Next time, I will win.”

They cleaned up the Go board and headed up to the sky lounge. They made a pizza and ate it.

The Frost Queen looked down at the blinding morning of the city and spoke, “Contractor.”

“Yeah...”

“This has been a joyful time.”

Seo Jun-Ho turned and looked at her. There was a bright smile on her face, and she truly seemed happy.

“This has been the happiest time as far as I can remember...”

“Did you rest well?”

“But of course. On the contrary, my body has grown itchy, and I have actually been wishing to start moving.”

“You should’ve been reincarnated as a person rather than a Spirit.” Because the Frost Queen was acting in the exact same way Players would act. Seo Jun-Ho laughed softly and nodded. He finally felt like his racing heart had settled a lot.

Now, his mind felt as clean as a stainless mirror. After enduring so many hardships, frustration, and failures, his stormy mind felt like it had turned placid and wiped clean.

“Next time we feel sad after failing, let’s rest again,” he said.

“Are you an idiot, Contractor? You cannot consider failure a possibility.”

As they reached the end of their vacation, someone stepped onto the neatly initialized street.

“...It’s hot.”

The small girl wiped off the droplets of sweat dripping between her bright red hair.