Chapter 158. Frozen Spirit (1)

Kim Woo-Joong must not have had the ability to resist the cold. As he left the house, he wore thick clothes and mufflers, and even goggles, before saying, "It'll take about two days if you run."

"It's not that far then." Seo Jun-Ho nodded.

Kim Woo-Joong smiled faintly when he heard Seo Jun-Ho's relaxed reply.

"Then, let us move."

Afterimages appeared as they left the village. Kim Woo-Joong kept glancing behind him even as he moved at a fairly fast pace. It was to be considerate in case Seo Jun-Ho was having a hard time. Rather than thinking that it was difficult, Seo Jun-Ho’s head was full of thoughts about Overclocking.

‘Two days. Let's take this opportunity to practice Overclocking.’

He had managed to roughly get used to using 15% of Overclocking’s maximum output all the time. As expected, techniques were completed through actual practice and the battle with the fiends in the dungeon had been very helpful.

"How is the speed? Is it too fast or too difficult?"

"It's all right. You can speed up a little bit."

Kim Woo-Joong's eyes narrowed into half-moons as Seo Jun-Ho replied calmly without even losing his breath.

"As expected, Player Seo Jun-Ho, you are interesting. You are always exceeding my expectations."

"Yes...."

"I will change the schedule. We'll be there in a day."

Kim Woo-Joong’s speed across the snow became much faster than ever. Not losing out, Seo Jun-Ho also raised his output to 25%.

‘It's going to be hard training.’

Seo Jun-Ho thought as he looked at Kim Woo-Joong's wide back.

***

When Seo Jun-Ho and Kim Woo-Joong were traveling to meet the dwarves, a man entered the ‘Blackwall Maze’ Dungeon. After taking a closer look at the entire Dungeon, he burst into laughter and spoke, "Puha, isn’t this interesting? There's no trace."

[Not even one?]

"Yes, not at all. The cleaners couldn't have come in that short period of time, and this is definitely not their handiwork. They erased everything and they have been really meticulous about it."

[Any survivors?]

"I don't feel any presence. I don't know who had done this, but... they are a really interesting bastard. If you erase it this thoroughly, it raises even more suspicion."

He continued, scouring the walls and floors of the maze, "There are no footprints, magic, signs of battle, and no hair or blood. It's a maze-type Dungeon, so I'm sure there were monsters, but… there's also no trace of that.”

The man’s expression grew colder.

"They erased everything—as if they do not want their identity discovered at all cost."

[…]

The person on the other end of the communication magic conversation stopped speaking. A few moments later, they continued.

[Was there a high Ranker Player nearby while the Dungeon was being cleared?]

"There's no one who got caught in our network. In the first place, didn't we calculate everything before moving?"

Fiends were strong. They even had confidence that they would win if they fought with most Players. However, it was clear that they were a weak force compared to the huge number of Players. Because of this, they had always been very careful. They thoroughly investigated the movements of high Rankers who could always threaten them and established intelligence networks to ensure they would not encounter high Rankers.

[There’s no one? No high Ranker we may have missed?]

"Well, except for Kim Woo-Joong and Newje, there’s no one…” As he trailed off, he suddenly burst into exclamation. “Come to think of it, Skaya Killiland. Her whereabouts are also unknown."

[Skaya Killiland… She is indeed dangerous.]

"Even though she is one of the 5 Heroes, isn't she a relic of the past? It has already been 26 years, after all."

[That is not up to you to judge. Those who have no experience fighting the 5 Heroes are not qualified to judge them.]

The man shrugged at the other’s sharp words.

"Still, Wang-Heon, that guy, he's a rookie who had only joined for two years, but he's not someone who could be beaten up by a run-of-the-mill opponent. Did he really get killed by a granny magician from 26 years ago?”

[I don't know. We'll need to figure out her abilities soon to find out. However, the timing is bad.]

The Pride Squadron was currently busy preparing for a big mission.

"Busy… Do you mean the Port Lane joint mission with the Despair Squadron?”

[Always watch your mouth. Birds hear what you say in the daytime, and rats hear what you say during the night.]

The man nodded, thinking that his superior was simply being inflexible.

"I understand."

[Don't go elsewhere. Go straight back.]

"Oh, Leader-nim, I'm not a child... Don't worry.”

When the communication magic was cut off, the man looked at the empty maze and muttered, “Just who could it be?"

It had been a long time since there had been a Player who could clean up their tracks so thoroughly. Furthermore, it was a talented person who didn’t even get caught in their 'intelligence networks.’ There were two possibilities.

'An established Player who went off the grid so he wouldn't get caught in our intelligence networks.'

Or...

'A powerful rookie Player that we still aren’t tracking with our intelligence networks yet.'

The man wet his lips with his tongue. It didn’t matter either way. He was sure someone of this caliber would be fun to hunt. He mumbled as he stretched lightly, "Oh, I can't hold back. My body is so itchy. I'll catch a few guys on my way back."

That day, seven Players in Denver territory were killed by the infamous fiend, 'Colorless Spider.'

***

Seo Jun-Ho's magic was not infinite. Naturally, he had to rest when he ran out of magic to use for Overclocking. Four times in the past day, he used his ability to make an igloo and rested in it with Kim Woo-Joong.

"I hope you aren’t having to take a break too often because of me... I'm sorry," Seo Jun-Ho apologized.

"No. I was planning to pass through the snowfields as fast as possible because there's no way to stop the cold, but with you, even camping out is not that scary.”

Kim Woo-Joong poured a glass of water into a paper cup and poured magic into it.

Boil.

Kim Woo-Joong boiled the water instantly and gave it to Seo Jun-Ho. It was a high-level magic control where only the water inside boiled while the paper cup remained cold to the touch.

"It's hot, so be careful."

"Thank you…"

"And your Spirit... Also, be careful."

Likewise, Frost received the same paper cup of hot water. She stared at it then reached out.

Crackle.

The hot water in the cup quickly turned into ice. Just as Kim Woo-Joong showed, there was no effect on the paper cup.

‘I can do the same thing that Player Kim Woo-Joong did, but... freezing is a little hard.’

It meant that the Frost Queen was still one step higher than him in the ability to handle frost. However, his intelligence seemed to be much higher than hers. Perhaps because she was thirsty, the Frost Queen was about to drink the water, but she soon looked sad.

"…The water is frozen.”

"You froze it.”

Seo Jun-Ho sighed lightly and melted the ice with the hot water in his cup. Kim Woo-Joong watched the two bickering with a faint smile.

"Oh, come to think of it...” As if something came to mind, Seo Jun-Ho spoke, "What did you mean when you told me not to look forward too much to my first meeting with the dwarves?"

"Oh, that... There’s no other meaning. I was just saying that you shouldn’t fantasize too much."

"What do you mean?"

"For example, what do you think a dwarf looks like?"

"Well, of course..."

Seo Jun-Ho slowly recalled. Before the Gates appeared, the image of dwarfs drawn in various novels, games, and movies was simple.

"They’re aggressive, talkative, dexterous, like beer, heavy drinkers… They are bearded ahjussis that are loyal if you get close to them?

"…Yes, that's the common image of the dwarves.”

"Do you mean that real dwarves are different?"

“Hmmm..."

After thinking for a while, Kim Woo-Joong revealed a playful look. When Seo Jun-Ho first met him, he had a scary and stiff face, but he really hadn’t expected that Kim Woo-Joong could make such a face.

"I don't think it'll be fun if I tell you now. You can experience it yourself."

As if he wanted to introduce the dwarves as soon as possible, he quickly resumed his steps after their short break.

"This is where the White Anvil Dwarves live."

"White Anvil? Is that the name of the dwarf kingdom?”

"Well, to be exact, it's the name of a tribe, but it doesn't make much of a difference if you think of it as a nation."

Kim Woo-Joong and Seo Jun-Ho were now standing in front of a huge snow mountain. It was a tall snow mountain where you couldn’t even see the peak because of a snowstorm. It was difficult to tell where the dwarves’ residence was. Kim Woo-Joong looked around.

"I don't think there's anyone... Let's go in."

He bent down suddenly and began to remove the white snow that had covered the ground. Then, Seo Jun-Ho saw a small hole under the ground. At first glance, it could be mistaken for a naturally formed hole.

"Looking closely, it looks like a keyhole."

"That's right..."

Kim Woo-Joong responded to the Frost Queen's words. Then, he took a key out of his bosom, and inserted it into the hole. And when he turned the key, rumble! For a moment the earth rumbled.

Kirik, Kiririk!

Then, Seo Jun-Ho heard the sound of a clock ticking.

Boom!

The ground where they stood turned upside down in an instant. In the snowy field where Kim Woo-Joong and Seo Jun-Ho once stood, only the sound of the snowstorm lingered.

***

Tap, tap.

Seo Jun-Ho fell on a soft bed of snow. He shook the snow off his body and discovered that they were currently in a warm cave.

"…It’s beautiful,” the Frost Queen said in awe.

"I know," responded Seo Jun-Ho.

Explaining this location with the word ‘cave’ was tantamount to disparaging this place. There was a cave in front that looked like an underground kingdom he had seen in the past myths.

"This place..."

"Yes, it’s the residence of the White Anvil Dwarves called, ‘Del Ice.’"

"It’s cool."

Kim Woo-Joong led the way for Seo Jun-Ho. The two went down the endless stairs and soon entered a huge square. At the entrance of the square, there were several small children, who came up only to Seo Jun-Ho’s waist, sitting on the side.

"Contractor, are they dwarves?"

"Hmmm..."

Seo Jun-Ho looked at their faces. He thought there would only be bearded men, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

‘I'm sure everyone had a time when they were cute.’

The little dwarves were cute. The eyes of the young boys and girls looking up at him with wide-eyed eyes were full of innocence. Seo Jun-Ho crouched in front of them with a smile. The children's eyes changed slightly. They looked wary of him.

"Hello, my name is Seo Jun-Ho."

He took some candy out of his inventory and held it out to the children. One of the children looked alternatingly between him and the candy, then opened their mouth slowly. A soft, pretty voice came out through their lips.

"Hey, Kim Woo-Joong, who is this idiot doing the same thing as you had done before?"

"Hohoho, why, isn’t it cute?"

“…?!”

Kim Woo-Joong chuckled and approached Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen, who had their mouths opened in a daze.

"Keup… I'm sorry. That was too much of a prank, right? It's a little late, but I'll officially introduce you," Kim Woo-Joong said, pointing at the displeased child with his arms crossed.

"This is Graham Gouldir-nim, the chief of the White Anvil Dwarves Tribe."

"He doesn’t have a mustache and his voice is not husky."

"It's a bias created by the media and fictional books."

Kim Woo-Joong whispered, "For your information, he is more than 250 years old."

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho’s 51 years of living thus far was nothing when compared to 250 years. Seo Jun-Ho pulled back the candy with an awkward look on his face. It was the worst first encounter he had with somebody else.