The Frozen Player Returns

s he wandered the road with the Frost Queen, the banshee crept in.

[Hey, human.]

“What?”

[What are you going to do with the Ice Witch?]

“…”

Seo Jun-Ho looked at the banshee without saying a word.

[Wh-what are you looking at?]

“You should ascend.”

[What?]

“You and your siblings.
You guys should ascend.”

They had wandered this world for hundreds of years now.
The vengeful spirits that followed her were not banshees.
They could have ascended if they wanted to, but they couldn't because they were worried about their older sister.

[…]

The banshee's lips opened and shut without a sound for a moment after hearing something completely unexpected.
She pondered and slowly opened her mouth to speak.

[Are you confident?]

“Do you know who I am?”

[How would I know that?]

“When I appear in my hometown, half a million citizens gather…
It's really crazy.”

[You're not telling me to believe that, are you?]

Seo Jun-Ho kept his mouth shut.
It was hard to explain the concept of the 1st and 2nd floors here.
He asked as he looked ahead and walked, “How’s the pain?”

[Where you hit me?]

“Not that pain.”

[…]

The banshee looked down near her heart.
There was a strong ice curse planted there.
It was a terrible curse that the Ice Witch extended every year.

[It doesn't hurt.]

“You're lying.”

There was no way it wouldn’t hurt.
It was a curse engraved on the soul, and with it causing a snowstorm of this level, it was sure to cause a lot of pain.
However, the banshee opened her eyes wide and shook her head.

[It really doesn't hurt.
I'm just used to it by now.]

“…”

The way she talked as if it really didn’t matter deeply permeated his heart.
Seo Jun-Ho quietly swallowed and nodded.
“Is that so?”

’

He didn't even give a little bit of consolation as his pace up the canyon became faster.

***

“Kirrrk.”

“Krrkrr.”

Two snowfield goblins were coming down the canyon while cracking jokes.

“Kirik?”

Then, a goblin patted the other one on the shoulder.
The goblin's eyes widened as it hurriedly followed the other’s gaze.
It was because a rough snowstorm was approaching them.

“Kieeck!”

The frightened snowfield goblins quickly returned to the Dungeon.

– I’m certain I told you to bring humans.

The lich murmured, looking down at the back of the prostrated goblins’ heads.

– But I don’t see humans.

“Kirrr!”

“Kyak!”

The goblins raised their heads and looked as if they had been wronged.
They hurriedly explained the whole story using gestures.
The lich’s head tilted to a side as if she had understood what they were saying.

– If it's a snowstorm…
Does that mean she's coming?

Just why?

Whenever that banshee approached the vicinity, the lich would drive her out using pain.
Having repeated that for hundreds of years, the banshee had eventually stopped coming about 50 years ago.

– Is that so? Did she forget the pain?

It was possible, as humans were forgetful creatures.
The lich may have lost her soul, but she didn’t have the blessing of forgetfulness.
As such, she knew that a banshee was a soul in itself.

It was possible for the banshee to forget the pain of the past and challenge the lich’s authority once again.

Boooom-!

All of a sudden, the Dungeon trembled.

– An earthquake?

There was no way.
There hadn’t been a single earthquake in the last few hundred years.

Boooooom-!

Once again, the Dungeon shook.
The intensity had become even stronger than before.
At that point, even the lich could not help but feel uneasy.

– Send all the guardians out.
Check what's happening out there!

After issuing the order, the lich hurriedly began to gather her research materials.

***

Arriving in front of the Dungeon, Seo Jun-Ho looked around.
The surrounding was full of the snowstorm caused by the banshee.

“…Hey, can you adjust the intensity of this snowstorm?”

[Only a little bit.
But why do you ask that?]

’

“That's a relief.
Listen to what I'm going to say from now on,” Seo Jun-Ho calmly said as he looked at the entrance of the dungeon.

“Let out the snowstorm as hard as you can.”

[Uh…
Why?]

“No one can see what's going to happen from now on.”

It was hard for her to understand, but the banshee nodded instinctively.

[Oh, all right.]

Seo Jun-Ho thought about why she accepted it so easily, but he couldn't figure it out.

He had no idea that his voice—no, his entire body emitted a strange energy.

[My Lord?]

It was similar to what the Lord of the northern region emitted, whom she had seen when she was a child.
It was an overwhelming aura that made people bow their heads.
But the banshee shook her head.

'Something… something’s different…’

It was much, much more powerful and ferocious than that.
He wasn’t a very tall man, nor was he full of muscles.
But his aura was more intense than anything she had seen in the last few hundred years.

[Maybe…
more than… the Ice Witch?]

The moment she said that without realizing it…

Whaaaa!

The white land of Hamel Ice Canyon began to turn black.
The center of the pitch-black land was none other than Seo Jun-Ho's two feet.

“Crawl out.”

Seo Jun-Ho murmured and slowly raised his hand.
Darkness slowly began to rise from the pitch-black earth.
The moment it rose to a certain height, Seo Jun-Ho flicked his finger.

Ttak!

Boooom-!

At the same time, the darkness fell back to the floor, generating a tremendous echo akin to an earthquake throughout the area.

“One.”

After counting, he did the same thing again.

Ttak! Booooom-!

“Two.”

Just before the count of three, the guardians of the Dungeon began to come out of the entrance while holding weapons in their hands.

“Kyak!”

“Kirrrr!”

Goblins, orcs, trolls, and even snowfield wolves came out.
Seo Jun-Ho looked at the dozens of monsters coming out like a swarm of ants and nonchalantly flicked his finger.

“Three.”

Booooom-!

Darkness fell, and the monsters were crushed to death like ants.
At the same time, the Dungeon couldn’t withstand the impact and finally began to collapse.
Finally, the existence Seo Jun-Ho was waiting for had come out of the Dungeon.