The Frozen Player Returns

g Seon-Ho.

“It won't make any difference if you resist now.
So let's make it easier for each other, shall we?” Jang Seon-Ho beckoned as if telling him to come closer.
“If you come over here on your own feet, I'll spare the other Watchguards who are like family to you.”

“…”

It was a lie.
He was a fiend.
As such, even if he listened obediently, it was impossible that the fiends would spare the lives of his friends.
It was a fact that River and of course, the other Watchguards listening to the conversation knew.

“Ueup! Uuuep!”

“Ueup! Ueup!”

This was why they fiercely shook their heads and shed tears even when they were tied up.

“These punks…”

“Stay still while I’m still being nice.”

The fiends trampled on their bodies and broke their arms and legs.
Seeing his family being trampled on and beaten up, Arthur bit his lips tightly.
A strong smell of blood spread through his mouth.
After biting his lips so hard that they bled, he slowly opened his mouth to speak, “Everyone.”

He was the leader of the Watchguards.
As the head of the family, he spoke with sincerity.
“I'm so sorry.”

Baang!

Arthur drew his revolver like lightning and fire ignited in the barrel of the gun.
He had no intentions to compromise with fiends.

’

‘I'd rather die here than be caught and be a burden to my uncle and aunt.’

That was why he apologized.

‘I'm sorry for being a weak captain.
All of you… please die with this fool here.’

Arthur's eyes were filled with anger as he was prepared to die.
It was anger toward the fiend, who killed his family, Jang Seon-Ho ahjussi, and the main culprit who had created this current situation.

“Huu, this is why I don't like kids.
They’re always troublesome.”

“The orders from above were to just get him alive…
It should be fine if he doesn’t have arms and legs.”

“Yeah, that’ll make it easier for us to take him away.
Let's cut them off.”

Jang Seon-Ho let out a light sigh and gestured with his hands while easily avoiding the bullet.
At the same time, the blood-colored fog spread rapidly.

“…!”

It was fast.
Arthur was familiar with Jang Seon-Ho's skill.

'B-grade skill, Blood Fog.’

It was a skill to lay a blood-colored fog around the enemies to disturb their sense of smell.
In addition, this fog could also be controlled.
Jang Seon-Ho had poor battle sense and honestly didn’t use this skill well.
Although it was upsetting, the fiend’s battle sense in using this skill was a few steps ahead of the original user.

Boooom!

The bloody fog came up in a flash, flipping over the walls and floors.
Its goal was Arthur's arms and legs.

“L-Leader!”

Two fiends strode over to River, who was pacing about while watching the scene.
Scared by this, River quickly opened the door of the hideout and disappeared outside.

“You're too slow!”

One of the fiends chased after him and opened the closed door, but there was only an empty cliff.

“Damn it, you rat!”

The fiend who followed after him nodded slowly as he grasped the situation.

“Was it Moving House? It’s the skill to connect doors and corridors to one's home in the void.”

“I can't catch him like this!”

“Whatever, it doesn't matter if it's just one guy.”

The two fiends opened the door again with a grin and tried to go inside the hideout.

“…!?”

“What’s this?”

It was no longer the Watchguards' hideout.
They could only see the inside of someone else's house along with a can of beer.

***

“Haaa, haaa…”

Having used his wits to keep the two fiends out of the hideout, River gasped.
As a non-combatant, even this was enough for a story to tell at a drinking party for the rest of his life.

’

'I-I did it!’

However, this wasn’t the time to relax…
River returned to the hideout using a different corridor of the Moving House and saw a fierce fight happening inside the hideout.

Kang! Kakakang! Bang, bang!

“…No, maybe it's not that fierce.”

Even from River’s perspective, who was not good at fighting, the difference between the two was clear.
Unlike Arthur's constantly distorted face, Jang ahjussi's face remained calm and composed.

‘What should I do?’

After a moment's hesitation, River looked at his bound companions.
The situation would be reversed if only the restraints were released, but he was missing the most important key.
The key was probably in Jang Seon-Ho or the other two fiends’ hands.

‘Fortunately, I don't have the fiends in my house right now.’

Rather than entering the house where they didn't know what traps might be lurking, they chose to keep a very close watch from the cliff outside the hideout.

'Then, what I have to do now is…’

First, River had to move the Watchguards to a safe place.
That way, Arthur would be able to find a way to escape, rather than engage in an all-out battle.

“Shhh, everyone be quiet.”

“…!”

The eyes of the Watchguards who found River approaching shone brilliantly.
They looked at River proudly.
This was because they had never imagined that River, who had always been doted on for being the youngest, would accomplish such a big thing.

“This way, this way.”

River began to move the Watchguards toward the refrigerator in the kitchen where the nearest door was located.
And as soon as he opened the refrigerator door, the inside was once again connected to the Moving House (B).

“Hmm?”

After a while, Jang Seon-Ho instinctively turned his head when he noticed something awry.
The moment his eyes landed on River, who was sneaking away with the Watchguards into the refrigerator, Jang Seon-Ho’s face twisted like the devil’s.

“Idiots! That's why you guys are the pigs of the Gluttony Squadron!”

How could they let things get to this point without being able to do anything about River? But on the contrary, Arthur smiled brightly despite his exhaustion.

“…Well done, River.”

It was a clear voice, like that of a man who had been relieved of all his burdens.

Arthur urged River with a bright expression.
“Hurry up and go, you idiot.”

“…I’ll definitely come back for you.
I’m not abandoning Leader.
I promise,” River muttered in tears.

Now, River had to find a way to release his comrades' restraints or find a helper.

Squeeeeaak!

River watched the blood-red weapons coming toward the refrigerator until the end before he tightly closed his eyes.

Tak!

The door of the refrigerator closed.

1.
The Korean proverb is “소가 뒷걸음질 치다가 쥐를 밟은 격이지” which is directly translated as ‘It's like a cow stepping backward and stepping on a mouse’ and basically means even incompetent people can be lucky once in a while ☜