Return of the Frozen Player

tstanding person, but he is very efficient in teaching as well.’

He was very efficient.
The problem was that it was too efficient.

Burrr.

Gilberto shivered when he remembered the memories he had of that time.
Unaware of Gilberto’s thoughts, Arthur casually said, “I'm rather worried.
Uncle is so honest and considerate, what if he holds back while teaching me?”

“Arthur, let me tell you just one thing…” Gilberto placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder.
“Consideration and kindness aren’t always good.
Sometimes… they’re worse than any evil out there.”

Especially when Seo Jun-Ho was the one teaching you… When Gilberto saw Arthur tilting his head in confusion, Gilberto couldn't help but say one more thing.
“If you ask me to stop him now…
I'll help you.
I'll go find him right now and make it as if you never asked him.”

“No, I will do it.” Arthur clenched his fists and said, “I felt it for sure this time.
Not only me, but the other Watchguards have to become stronger—weakness is a sin.”

“Wait, the other Watchguards? Then, all of them?”

“Yes, we will all be taught by Uncle.
It's meaningless if I'm the only one who becomes stronger.”

“[email protected]#$%^&”

Gilberto buried his face into his hands and exclaimed a strange sound.
He thought he should stop Arthur, but considering the future of both his son and the Watchguards, it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

‘Jun-Ho's class may be harsh, but…
I'm sure it'll help.’

Despite roaming at the bottom for so long, he had eventually became stronger through Seo Jun-Ho’s kind lecture and had later become one of the 5 Heroes.
As such, Gilberto trusted Seo Jun-Ho that much.

“Arthur, I hope you get through it.
At the end of the pain, there will be results.”

“Of course.
Despite how I seem, my body has passed through seven trials in the Cave of Trials, so I'm confident.”

“…Umm, okay.”

Do your best—that was all Gilberto could say.
He himself had gone through eight trials in the Cave of Trials.

***

“Then, I'll be back~”

The next day, Skaya waved the others goodbye along with Gilberto.
Gilberto was still recovering and he also had to receive nerve treatment at a hospital on the 1st floor so he wouldn’t be going with the others.

'And there'll be a news article…’

The Return of the Third Hero—Specter and the Watchguards who were waiting for the delightful news article on the 1st floor waved their hands.

“Goodbye!”

“See you later!”

“We’ll become strong!”

“…Yes, I’m sure you will become strong.”

With a gloomy look, Gilberto hugged Arthur with mixed emotions and then left for Gilleon.

‘That son-loving fool really takes care of his child until the end…’

Gilberto came to Seo Jun-Ho’s room last night and nagged him a lot.
They talked a lot, but to sum it up, Gilberto basically said, “Don't bully my son.”

“If someone else heard what he said, they would think I’d bully them while teaching…”

Pouting, Specter turned around.
Skaya and Gilberto were gone and they wouldn’t return for 15 days.

“Did you all hear from Arthur?”

“Yes!”

“We’re looking forward to it…”

“It's such an honor.”

They all had sparkling eyes.
They couldn’t believe they would train under the legendary hero they admired! They even found it hard to sleep last night when Arthur broke the news.

“Well then, everyone, take this.”

Specter handed out a sheet of paper to the 33 Watchguards.

“Specter-nim, what's this?”

“Height…
Weight…
Skills…”

“You can fill in your profile according to the questions written there,” said Specter in a clear voice.

He had always been a man of efficiency.

'I'll use my valuable time efficiently…’

Of course, it would also become a very efficient training for the other side as well.
He wouldn’t waste even a minute or a second.

“Wait.
There's something weird at the end.”

“This trainee’s participation in this training is voluntary and Specter-nim is not responsible for any subsequent injuries or trauma…?”

Everyone wore bitter looks.
Some who were quick-witted rolled their eyes and made faces as if something was wrong.

‘Tsk, this is why smart kids…’

But Specter had something to believe in…

“Arthur?”

“Yes!”

It was because he had their leader in his hands.

“Everyone must have felt it from this incident, but we have to move forward.
There's no room for complacency.
Even if I get seriously injured in this training, as long as I become even stronger…”

Sssk!

Arthur coolly drew his signature on the paper.

“It’s just injuries.
It doesn't matter if I get a hundred or a thousand wounds because I want to protect you guys, my comrades.”

Seeing Arthur’s determined and honest eyes, the Watchguards teared up.

“Leeader…”

“…Yes, Arthur is right! Considering our situation, does the difficulty of the training even matter?”

“Getting stronger is definitely the most important!”

“I had always been ashamed of not being helpful to the Watchguards who I think of as my family.
I’ll do it!”

Sssk.

Signatures being signed could be heard everywhere.
Specter slowly nodded as he collected the papers.

“All right, I've got the consent of all thirty-three of you…”

There was no turning back anymore.
No one could give up his class in the middle of it all.
Specter scrutinized the Watchguards’ profiles one by one.

'This guy is a supporter.
He’ll just need to improve his stamina…’

‘Oh, he has two combat skills? Let's train him hard.’

‘In Arthur's case, he uses a knife.
I can show him various methods with the knife and how to counter it.’ 

Thirty-three training methods suitable for each individual were created in an instant.

“Thank you for readily revealing your skills.
We'll do personalized training for each person later, but first, we’ll start with physical training.”

“Yes! Specter-nim!”

“If you want to give up during training, or if you're having a hard time, just tell me.”

“We’re confident in physical training!”

“We have no special training methods, so we have been spending all day and night doing physical training.”

Confidence lurked in the Watchguards' eyes.
They were young people with healthy bodies that wouldn’t get tired even after running for hours! They really were confident in their physical strength.

“Well, that's a relief…”

Specter raised his wrist to check his Vita.
The current time was 9 AM.

“In that case, for the first day, let's simply run until 10.”

It could be considered light exercise—all they had to do was run with all their strength for 13 hours.