Chapter 337. That Which Cannot Break (5)
“Hm. Hmm.”
The Frost Queen grunted, and she was deeply frowning. She had been uncertain, but now, she was a hundred percent sure.
‘This is an emergency. Contractor is broken.’
This was an obvious result. Death was the biggest shock a person’s brain could ever receive. Since he had died over a hundred times, it would actually be strange if he was fine.
‘To be frank, I believed he would be fine because he has Hero’s Mind.’
But even though it was an S-rank skill, apparently it wasn’t a perfect skill.
The Frost Queen looked at Seo Jun-Ho with pity.
‘Poor Contractor. How will I fix him?’
Seo Jun-Ho himself had no idea that he was broken. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said something like that to the little fox.
The Frost Queen knew exactly how he was inside.
‘He is dead on every level except physical.’
However, that didn’t really mean that Seo Jun-Ho’s personality had changed drastically. He was righteous, he cared about his friends, and he was trying to clear the Floors as best as he could just like always.
There was just one thing he lacked: the ability to empathize.
‘Because he has died so many times, he has started to view everything else as trivial.’
Once, Seo Jun-Ho had told her that he was scared—scared at he would start looking at his friends as if they were NPCs in a game rather than humans.
What did she say to him back then?
‘Since you know that, can you not simply stop? …I believe that is what I said.’
She was a stupid, stupid idiot. She hit her head in regret. It hurt.
“Eek. Ugh.”
Eventually, she came to a conclusion.
The only solution was to interfere until her Contractor broke even more.
***
They decided to leave for the second city the next morning after spending a day resting.
Gong Ju-Ha was laying on the plush sofa in the cafeteria.
“…”
She silently fell into thought as she drank iced tea from the refrigerator.
‘What should I do?’
Seo Jun-Ho’s current mental state was unstable, like a ticking time bomb. She wanted to help him. If she could, she wanted to get rid of the bomb altogether.
There wasn’t a deep reason for this. Seo Jun-Ho was a hero she had always been looking up to, and at one point, he had been a hubae she supported.
‘But it’s impossible to do it alone…’
Gong Ju-Ha didn’t think she would be able to fully understand and give advice to a man who had died over a hundred times.
“Ugh.”
What would Ha In-Ho do in this situation? He was the most quick-witted person she knew, and he was also the most logical one. She recalled how he usually spoke.
‘Princess, please turn the socks you washed inside out.’
‘And please separate the darks and lights…’
‘I won’t chide you for drinking iced tea, but can you at least throw away the cup, please?’
‘Please don’t come close to me if you’re over 28 degrees Celcius. It’s hot.’
Gong Ju-Ha blinked.
‘…What’s with that? It’s not really helpful; it just pisses me off.[1]’
Gong Ju-Ha sighed and stroked the stump of her shoulder. Her heart felt just as heavy as the weight she felt from losing her arm.
“Hello…”
Just then, someone spoke from next to her.
“…!” Dumbfounded, Gong Ju-Ha shot up from her seat.
‘I didn’t even sense their approach?’
Moreover, the voice belonged to a girl. She thought she was alone in the hotel with Specter, but now, a third party had appeared. She felt a chill deep inside, similar to how the temperature suddenly dropped around her.
‘Oh, that feels nice—wait, no!’
Gong Ju-Ha scanned the speaker with sharp eyes.
The other party was a pretty foreign little girl with fair skin.
Gong Ju-Ha swallowed and started to panic.
‘Now that I think about it, I don’t even have my Vita…’
She lost it when the cockroach took her arm. In other words, she didn’t have any means of language interpretation.
Gong Ju-Ha trembled and hesitantly opened her mouth to ask in English, “W-who are you?”
“Use the language you are comfortable with,” the girl said in fluent Korean.
Gong Ju-Ha let out a sigh of relief. Of course, that didn’t mean she let her guard down.
“Who are you? Why is a kid like you at this hotel…”
“I believe that this will take some time to explain, so sit and let me tell you the story.” The little girl looked much younger than Gong Ju-Ha herself, yet the way she spoke informally to her didn’t offend her[2], strangely enough. Perhaps it was because she got the sense that this girl was once a ruler her whole life.
As Gong Ju-Ha sat down, the girl spoke with confidence, “Little fox, I believe we must do something together.”
“…Why should I?” If some suspicious, unfamiliar kid suddenly came up to them and said this, how many would actually comply?
The Frost Queen smirked at her predictable question. “Looking at your expression, I suppose I cannot simply convince you with words, as I expected.”
That was why she had made ample preparations for this. She scanned their surroundings and slipped something out of the backpack she was wearing. And just in case someone came in, she whispered quietly, “If you help me, I shall give you this.”
“T-this is…?”
Gong Ju-Ha’s eyes went wide when she saw what the girl was holding. She then looked at the girl, unsure if she was serious, but the latter gave the haughtiest smile possible.
“This is my treasure.”
It was a small piece of paper that said ‘Cake coupon x10’.
***
While they were resting, Seo Jun-Ho trained his Overclocking. Now, he would have to fight Erebo’s true body, so he had to prepare as thoroughly as possible.
“Phew.” He stood up. He had stayed up the whole night. When he did, the Frost Queen also stood up from where she was sitting in the corner and ran toward him. She then held out a cup of water.
“You have worked hard, my Contractor. You did very well.”
“…”
What was this?
He stared at her dubiously. “What is it? You know that I don’t have Spirit Crystals.”
“I see. So you don’t…”
“Hey… Why are you speaking differently?”
“I see…[3] So you believe that my manner of speech has changed.”
“…”
After hearing it a few more times, it annoyed him a bit. Seo Jun-Ho stared at her and frowned, and the Frost Queen let out a long sigh. She then took out a notebook from her bag and wrote an ‘X’ next to something.
“Number 1… I see… It had no effect…”
After that, the Frost Queen left the training room, muttering something about a strategy meeting.
Really, why was she acting like this?
***
“Sniff, Specter!”
The next day, Gong Ju-Ha suddenly started sobbing while they were eating breakfast at the restaurant. “I’m so sad. I think it’s because I lost my arm. Sniff, I’m so sad.”
“I see…” Of course, it would be inconvenient to lose an arm. Seo Jun-Ho nodded bitterly. “If the Save Point hadn’t been created, I could have fixed it for you. I’m sorry.”
“Aren’t you worried about anything else? Like, about my feelings or something.”
“Worried…?” Seo Jun-Ho thought for a moment, and his spoon froze. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t think he ever felt worried about her. As such, his brows furrowed.
‘Why not?’
Gong Ju-Ha was someone pretty important to him. But he was so unconcerned about her that it came as a surprise to him. Moreover, his heart didn’t react at all when he heard that she had lost her arm.
‘Hm.’
Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t sure why…
For some reason, his mind grew restless, and he placed down his spoon before standing up. “Enjoy your meal. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Once he left, Gong Ju-Ha’s eyes sparkled as she muttered, “I think that actually had an effect…”
“Despite your poor acting, I agree,” The Frost Queen said, squaring her shoulders.
***
“And so, because the queen now understood the heart of the people, she acquitted the charges,” Gong Ju-Ha said.
“What a heartwarming story…” Seo Jun-Ho said, nodding.
While they headed to the next city, Gong Ju-Ha told him a number of stories. Overall, they were… the types of stories kids would like? They were full of emotions and moral lessons.
“Isn’t that amazing? Someone as high as a queen actually understood a lowly farmer.”
“Mm, is that really so impressive?”
“Very much so. In that world, the social hierarchy is very strict, is it not?” the Frost Queen said while nodding eagerly with a pleased look.
Why did she look like that?
After hearing the story, Seo Jun-Ho thought for a bit.
‘She understood their hearts…’
To be honest, he didn’t understand their reaction. Why was that so amazing? Inherently, rulers had a duty to be fair and just to their people.
‘And, understanding someone else is something anyone can do…’
Even Seo Jun-Ho would do that at any moment if the situation called for it. He didn’t know about anyone else, but he was also someone who always naturally ended up being worshipped by others.
“Oh, there’s the city,” he said, pointing at a giant settlement in the distance.
“It doesn’t look like a city. It looks like there are outer walls, too,” he said with admiration.
“The Players made it, you see. As you know, the war has reached its peak,” said Gong Ju-Ha.
It was difficult to stop the cockroaches that descended upon the city every night. So, the Players used the time they had during the morning and day to build walls all around the city.
“We’re lucky that we have an intermediate-level Spirit user who can control earth,” Gong Ju-Ha added.
“An intermediate-level Spirit user…”
Seo Jun-Ho glanced at Frost. He could arguably be considered an Intermediate-level Spirit user as well.
‘Now that she mentioned them, I want to meet them.’
He would be able to hear this and that about Spirits, and he also wanted to check if their Spirit was big and strong like the Frost Queen.
“I should go meet them when I have the chance,” he remarked.
“I’ll help you with that,” Gong Ju-Ha promised.
***
A huge ruckus ensued when news of Specter’s arrival spread throughout the city.
“You’re saying Seo Jun-Ho is actually Specter?”
“I told you, didn’t I? It made huge waves on Earth.”
“He fooled the whole world.”
“Well, he’s naturally talented after all. He even took the Thunder God’s seat as the Second Heaven.”
Even Players who would have normally been jealous welcomed him with open arms. It was a given, considering that every last powerful Player was necessary.
“Yo, Jun-Ho~ You scampered away without even a word to your noona. What were you doing, and why did you just come here?” Skaya said.
“She’s right. You said you were lethargic, but you didn’t say anything else. Why the hell did you do that?” Rahmadat asked.
“Jun-Ho, I would like to know as well,” Mio added.
“Well, you know. I had my reasons.” Seo Jun-Ho smiled bitterly when his friends approached him. He hadn’t told them about the regressions this time because he truly wanted to take a break with the Frost Queen from the very beginning.
‘Still, it’s nice to see them since it has been a while.’
They weren’t acting like machines like usual. Now that they were showing new reactions in a new place, he felt like they were his real friends.
“Uncle!” Arthur ran up to him with Gilberto and greeted him in joy. The Watchguards were also with them. However, three or four of them were missing.
“I don’t see a few people, including River.” Seo Jun-Ho pointed out.
At that, Arthur and the Watchguards’ faces darkened.
“They passed away. They fell to the special entities.”
“Oh, no.” Seo Jun-Ho frowned. If they had died a week ago, he might not be able to save them. He patted Arthur’s shoulders. “They’re in a better place now.”
“…Thank you,” Arthur revealed a resolute look. Just then, another group of Players approached them.
“Ju-Ha.”
“Master!”
Shin Sung-Hyun was wearing a suit. When he saw Gong Ju-Ha’s missing arm, his face fell. “What happened to your arm?”
“Oh, this…I’m sorry. I let my guard down, so.”
“…” Shin Sung-Hyun’s eyes furrowed. Looking at the stump, he saw signs of cauterization.
“I had to keep fighting, but the blood just wouldn’t stop,” she explained.
“Why not? You’re smart. Why did you fight so recklessly when you couldn’t handle it?”
Gong Ju-Ha shut her mouth. If she revealed the reason, she would have to tell him everything about Specter’s situation.
After watching the conversation unfold, Seo Jun-Ho stepped in and said, “It’s my fault.”
“Specter,” Sung-Hyun said politely. He couldn’t speak to him casually like he used to. After all, Seo Jun-Ho was no longer the super rookie; he was the savior of humanity, Specter.
“Captain Gong fought well. To be honest, it’s a miracle that she even survived.”
“…Why did such an intense battle occur?”
“It was all so I could kill Erebo’s clone.”
“His clone? What do you mean?”
After Seo Jun-Ho was done explaining, the Players around them couldn’t hide their surprise.
“Ohhh, so that was the guy who appeared every now and then to slaughter Players?”
“…Shit. No wonder he was that strong; it turns out he’s actually Erebo’s clone..”
“I can’t believe you killed him. He was strong. As expected of Specter.”
Amidst the others’ cheers and applause, Shin Sung-Hyun held back his words. He understood the situation, but he didn’t like the way how Specter had basically said that they should be grateful for Gong Ju-Ha’s survival.
‘…Has he always been this kind of person?’
The last time Shin Sung-Hyun saw him, Seo Jun-Ho was polite. Moreover, he seemed like he cared more about Gong Ju-Ha.
If that had merely been a mask…
Shin Sung-Hyun would be a little—no, he would be very disappointed.
“Let us return,” said Shin Sung-Hyun.
If he stayed here any longer, he felt like he would start losing the respect he always had for Specter.
As such, Shin Sung-Hyun hurriedly left with his party.
