Return of the Frozen Player

‘Rodomir, the vice-chief of Black Moss, and Kis, the Knight of the Fog.’

Seo Jun-Ho felt the same when he faced those two beings. Of course, the enemy he was about to face wasn’t as hard to deal with as them.

‘But it's a big penalty to have a restriction on my skills…"

Seo Jun-Ho slowly looked at the mutant troll. He could feel the same thing that Oh Dae-Sik and Choi Kyung-Hoon had felt earlier.

“What strange eyes…” Even the Frost Queen agreed. Coming down from Seo Jun-Ho's shoulder, she looked at the mutant troll with an ambiguous expression. "It is definitely a monster that ate the marble, but I feel that it’s more ‘awake’ rather than being driven by anger and killing intent."

"It's fascinating, but it's not that important.”

Seo Jun-Ho took a glaive from his inventory. [1] When dealing with trolls and their excellent regenerative power, it was better to use a single-edged weapon rather than a sword. Because the glaive’s blade was shorter than a sword’s, it was more faithful to the act of cutting, and it could transfer power even better than the latter.

“…”

The mutant troll slowly raised its fist as it stared calmly at Seo Jun-Ho. And at that moment, its figure disappeared into the ground just like how a magician would disappear on stage.

"I-It's gone!?"

"It just moved very fast…"

"However, the level difference is so big that our eyes can't keep up."

Finn had never seen the mutant troll’s skills before so when he made a fuss, Oh Dae-Sik and Choi Kyung-Hoon bit their lips and explained. Oh Dae-Sik, the most talented of them, shouted, "Careful! Behind you…”

But before he could finish, the mutant troll’s fist that appeared behind Seo Jun-Ho was already blocked. And it was by none other than Seo Jun-Ho's palm.

'He blocked it even before the mutant troll’s power was fully transferred to its fist?’

Oh Dae-Sik’s eyes became round.

‘Was it a fluke?’

Sadly, they found it hard to follow the mutant troll with their eyes. Did it make logical sense to be able to stop such a monster’s attack by a fluke? Feeling an unknown sense of being overwhelmed, Oh Dae-Sik gulped and stared at the battle in silence. He had a strong feeling that he would be more helpful if he stayed quiet during this battle.

***

‘It's definitely fast.’

Its attack was also very heavy. Seo Jun-Ho’s palm felt numb as if electricity was flowing through it.

‘I blocked it before its power was fully transferred to its fist, but it’s still this strong?’

If so, being struck with the mutant troll’s entire strength would be dangerous.

‘I better not get hit…’

Seo Jun-Ho came up with a simple solution and retracted his left hand. At the same time, his right hand fell like a thunderbolt. The glaive in his hand snapped the mutant troll's wrist in a flash.

“Ah!"

In the background, Oh Dae-Sik screamed unconsciously. He had injured the mutant troll earlier, and it was also the reason why he was hit.

"Careful! Its regenerative power is incomparably higher than that of a regular troll!"

‘Really…’

Even with a hand missing, the mutant troll still swung its arm at Seo Jun-Ho. And in the time it took for the attack to fly over, its fist had already regenerated.

'That's a relief.'

Anyone would panic when faced with an opponent like this for the first time, but Seo Jun-Ho wasn’t panicking at all. He had only panicked at first.

"I'm glad I know a guy whose regeneration power’s greater than this troll."

He was a man with a screw loose. In addition, that guy even took pleasure in receiving his enemy's attack with his bare body. He was none other than Rahmadat Khali.

'And so…’

He wasn’t surprised by this level of regeneration. Rather, Seo Jun-Ho lowered his posture and went up close.

Hwaaak!

The mutant troll’s fist narrowly passed by his ear, but he didn't blink an eye.

‘First, I need to check as to what extent this guy can regenerate…’

Checking it was simple… He just had to cut it up until he found a part that couldn’t regenerate.

Slice, slice!

The glaive moved so fast that even the moonlight couldn’t keep up. It sometimes moved heroically, in a straight line, and some other times in a beautiful curve.

“…!”

The mutant troll began to stagger and stumble thanks to its enemy’s unprecedented speed and difficult attack trajectories. Eventually, it tripped, and while it was falling backward…

Slice!

Seo Jun-Ho's glaive passed through its throat.

Roll.

Looking at the mutant troll’s head rolling on the floor, Seo Jun-Ho lightly sighed.

"Hmm."

The man who had just killed his enemy sounded bored. But as if he realized something, he turned to look at his enemy once again and nodded. "So you can regenerate there too."

The mutant troll, whose head was detached from its body as if it were a Dullahan, rose up as if nothing had happened.[2] However, its head was regenerating significantly slower than how it regenerated in other areas.

‘Well, if we disregard the fact that it has a demon jade implanted in it, it's still a troll in essence; it’s just a monster.’

He had been rude to compare Rahmadat, with his Super Regeneration(S) skill, to a mere troll.

"Contractor, do you have any bright ideas? If I were you, I would freeze and break it into pieces, but…” Frost Queen glanced at the Blue Guild members in the back. "There are a lot of eyes for that right now."

"It's a little tricky, but it's not like there's no way."

The only problem was that it was tricky.

'The regeneration of trolls is not an infinite blessing.'

If they had the ability to create something out of nothing, that ability would be no different from God's ability. However, the trolls’ regeneration worked at a level that even the general public could understand.

'The trolls’ regeneration requires energy.’

In other words, every time it regenerated, it burned a huge amount of calories. As he saw earlier, important parts like the brain needed more calories.

"So I just have to cut it down until it runs out of energy and can't regenerate anymore."

It was simple and barbaric, but it was the most effective way. However, the mutant troll wasn’t a fool. After it realized that its skills were inferior to Seo Jun-Ho’s, its posture changed.

'It's pulling its lower body back…’

It was basically telling Seo Jun-Ho that it was going to stick to defense from now on and would try to get used to Seo Jun-Ho’s movements first before doing any offense. Sadly, there was one thing the mutant troll had no idea about.

‘Sorry, but that's going to be hard against me…’

His current Overclocking was only at 15%. However, the maximum amount that he could operate at for a short period of time was 30%.

"Well, give it a try.”

After provoking the mutant troll, Seo Jun-Ho's wrist slightly twisted.

Chwaaaak!

At the same time, one of the mutant troll's arms flew into the sky. The mutant troll frowned and tried to back off.

"You have to keep an eye out below you, too…”

Everything below its right knee was already in Seo Jun-Ho's hands. This was a battle between an adult and a child. Oh Dae-Sik and Choi Kyung-Hoon’s eyes opened wide as they watched the battle.

'…Overwhelming power.’

‘He’s hunting the mutant troll so easily? Like he’s dealing with a kid?'

The monster in front of them was definitely not a weakling. It was the opposite. Wasn't this the monster that had dealt with the nearly 40 Blue Guild members without moving from one place?

'…It’s different.'

Envy and jealousy were things you only felt when your levels were roughly matched. A successful venture capitalist in his 20s would receive envy, but Bill Gates would receive respect.

‘That's the skill of the man Specter acknowledged.’

‘I thought something was different about him from when he first cleared the Cave of Trials perfectly, but…’

It was overwhelming.

He was so perfect that there was no room for envy and jealousy to seep in. Even Oh Dae-Sik, who had lived as a Player for 15 years, had to admit it.

‘He's a much better Player than I am.’

The mutant troll that had looked so huge a while ago now looked small. It was being overwhelmed by the spirit of a man significantly smaller than itself.

"Regenerate." Seo Jun-Ho ordered. This way, he could cut it off again.

The mutant troll frowned as if it understood what he said.

Crack!

New arms and legs sprang out and they were severed; new arms and legs sprung up once again before being sliced off once more. As the mutant troll regenerated the severed parts of its body, it suddenly realized one thing—what it was doing was meaningless.

“…”

It looked down at its right arm. There was an empty space below the elbow, and it didn't regenerate the missing part.

Clatter.

All of a sudden, the mutant troll picked up the sword of an unknown Blue Guild member on the floor.

‘A monster is picking up a weapon?’

Seo Jun-Ho made a grim expression. Well, what could a cornered and terrified monster not do?

"Hmm?"

It was then that Seo Jun-Ho’s expression became strange.

'What? Its posture has… become stable?’

It gave off the feeling of a swordsman who had handled swords for a long time. It was better than most sword-wielding Players on the 1st and 2nd floors.

‘How in the hell?’

That was the first question that crossed Seo Jun-Ho’s mind. How was a monster familiar with that kind of posture?

"Contractor, that troll is strange. In my world, trolls did not wield swords."

"It's probably the same in this town."

This troll was just special. Seo Jun-Ho aimed his glaive at the one-armed swordsman in front of him.

‘Did it use all the energy that it would have used to regenerate its arm to strengthen its body?’

He could see bulging veins all over the mutant troll’s body. He could now even feel an overwhelming aura that he hadn’t felt before from the mutant troll’s body. Its posture also showed its determination to win with the next strike.

"Okay, I'll be your opponent.”

When Seo Jun-Ho agreed, the mutant troll kicked off the floor with the strongest force it had used in its entire life. Its body flew toward its opponent at the fastest speed it could muster and its sword was drawn in the most beautiful trajectory.

“…!”

Its face was stained with joy. Its face was as bright as that of a navigator who had found his destination.

Slice!

What followed was an addictively clean sound.

“Krrr."

The mutant troll fell forward. It stared at Seo Jun-Ho's indifferent eyes until the end. The arm holding the sword was severed from the shoulder, and both of its legs had disappeared. However, the sound of only one stroke was heard. It showed how quickly and accurately its opponent had executed his attack. Seo Jun-Ho approached the dying mutant troll on the floor.

"It wasn’t a bad stroke…"

It was too much praise for a monster who had harmed more than a hundred people. The mutant troll that had already used up all its power to continuously regenerate earlier had a rather refreshed face. In the final moments of its life, it gazed gloomily at the West Sun territory.

"Goodbye, then."

Slice!

Seo Jun-Ho sliced its throat then sat in front of it and waited for a while. He was going to wait until he was completely sure that it was dead since it might regenerate again.

"What an incredible battle."

"I never imagined there would be a monster like that…”

"How can a monster wield a sword?"

The Blue Guild members approached and praised Seo Jun-Ho for his achievement. Their eyes were full of respect. Regardless of his age, they admired his ability.

"Thank you very much." In particular, Oh Dae-Sik, who approached with help from the others, bowed his head. "…And I'm sorry."

Oh Dae-Sik's way of talking to a Player of his son’s age was polite. He had obstructed Seo Jun-Ho from carrying out the quest, but Seo Jun-Ho had still saved his life. The man was outstandingly strong, yet had the temperament of a gentleman. No matter how big the age difference was, how could he not respect Seo Jun-Ho?

"As long as you know, it’s all right," Seo Jun-Ho replied coolly.

In fact, by Seo Jun-Ho’s standards, Oh Dae-Sik hadn’t crossed the line.

‘If you had employed a wicked method at me, then it would have been different.’

The tactic he employed could be considered clean based on their level of competition.

"That must be this guy’s place."

"Maybe we’ll find out why this troll could wield a sword?”

At Finn’s question, Seo Jun-Ho gave an order very naturally. "Check it out and give me a report on it, then."

"Yes!"

Choi Kyung-Hoon looked momentarily stunned, but he couldn't say anything to his savior.

"Oh, ohhh?!"

"What's this?!"

After a while, the bewildered voices of Guild members rang from inside the cave.

"Ugh, is there a new enemy?"

The moment Oh Dae-Sik got up with difficulty whilst grabbing his aching ribs, the Guild members rushed out of the cave and cried out.

"S-survivors!"

"…What?"

"People are tied up inside the cave! They're all Players and Adventurers!"

"About forty of them!"

Everyone looked at each other's faces at the absurd report. The moment Oh Dae-Sik and Choi Kyung-Hoon entered the cave to check with stiff faces, Seo Jun-Ho turned his head and checked the mutant troll’s body.

"What the hell is this guy?"

Seo Jun-Ho was originally going to take a look at the mutant troll’s memories later because the mutant troll had a demon jade implanted in it, but now, curiosity got the better of him and he decided to take a quick look.

"Confession of the Dead."

A familiar screen popped up above his hand hovering over the mutant troll’s head. The background, surprisingly, was a familiar place to him.

1. A glaive is a single-edged bladed weapon with a long handle like a polearm. ☜

2. Dullahan is an irish mythological creature that’s a headless rider on a horse that carries its head with it. ☜